"Thanks for the help man," Daniel Roberts said, as the two of us stood in front of the library, under the overhang.
It was pouring buckets outside.
It was so bad that I couldn't see the students out on the sidewalk less than 100 yards in front of me.
"Sure thing," I agreed, as I flipped the hood from my hoodie up onto my head. "Anytime you need any help just shoot me a text."
Daniel nodded before jogging out into the monsoon rampaging out in front us.
Fuck my life.
I let out a sigh, tightening the strings on my hood before I took off running back towards my dorm room.
When I was younger, my mom told me that when it was pouring rain it was because the angels up in Heaven. Not that they're crying for us or because of something upsetting, because they're fucking angels and they don't cry because they're sad. But because the angels were washing away our sins, which is why it practically rains daily here in Florida. We're a very sinful state.
At that point my dad would always cut in to contradict my mom, stating that it was just God taking his daily pee.
The two of them would argue, but in the cutest most loving way possible, laughing and kissing the entire time.
My parents were two of the most lovey-dovey people that ever walked the planet.
As I neared my dorm building, I noticed McKenna walking through the rain with a polka dot umbrella and rain boots, Lucy underneath as well.
There was probably room for three.
"Good morning," I chirped, joining McKenna and Lucy.
"Good morning," McKenna answered, with a smile.
"Thanks for walking me to my dorm," Lucy said to McKenna, coming to a stop in front of one of the girl's dorm buildings.
"No problem," McKenna said. "Do you still want to get lunch later?"
She nodded in agreement. "I'll text you when?"
The two girls hugged and then Lucy headed inside.
There they go with that hugging thing again. It's so much simpler being a guy. All it took was a wave or a simple nod as we parted ways.
"Can I walk you to your dorm?" McKenna asked, offering me part of her umbrella.
"I would appreciate that."
She laughed. "Where's your umbrella?"
"I don't have one."
"You live in Florida," she pointed out. "You have to have an umbrella."
"I've lived in Florida my entire life," I informed her. "And I've never owned an umbrella."
"So what do you do when it rains?"
"Run really fast."
She laughed, shaking her head. "You're ridiculous."
We came to a stop outside of my dorm building.
"Want to come up?" I asked. "It could take you off of chauffer-duty for a while."
She looked around. "Well I don't see any students in distress, so I guess it couldn't hurt."
I opened the door for her, following her inside the building.
She headed for the elevator while I headed for the stairs.
She paused. "Oh, sorry."
"I've ridden in elevators before," I said, as we headed up the staircase. "But I just don't really do well with them."
I opened the door to the third floor hallway for her before we headed back to my dorm room.
Of course I didn't lock it.
"I can get this door," she promised, opening it for me.
It felt strange.
"Thanks," I said, heading inside.
I grabbed a dry pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. "Do you mind if I run down the hall and change real quick?"
"I'm freezing just looking at you," she said, laughing as she peeled off her rain boots.
I headed down to the communal bathroom, changing in one of the stalls before rejoining McKenna in my dorm.
She was sitting on my futon, reaching around to find an outlet for her phone charger.
"You waste no time do you?" I teased, tossing my wet clothes in the corner.
"I forgot to charge my phone last night," she complained. "Don't judge me."
"I'm hardcore judging you," I said, taking a seat in the middle of my dorm room floor.
"You're welcome to sit up here," she said, staring at me. "It's your dorm room; you don't have to sit on the floor."
"I like it down here."
She just shrugged, checking to make sure her phone was charging.
"So how did you end up being the umbrella-girl?" I asked.
"Because I ventured out to get food from the vending machine because I'm all out of Pop-Tarts in my dorm room and there was this kid who was soaking wet and trying to get back to his dorm so I offered to take him under my umbrella and then one person led to another and I became The Girl with the Umbrella Who Will Take You to Your Dorm Room."
I couldn't help but laugh. "You're way too nice. I would've just laughed at the kid stuck in the rain and continued walking."
"Well if I would've done that then I'd be back in my own dorm room eating my Pop-Tarts," she pointed out.
"And that's a bad thing?"
"Well then I wouldn't be chillin' here with you. So you tell me."
"That's a bad thing," I agreed, hopping up and heading over to my desk drawer.
McKenna watched me with confusion as I opened my bottom drawer, and then her eyes widened as I pulled out a box of Pop-Tarts.
"Plus you should know that I always have Pop-Tarts," I informed her, tossing her the box. "Always."
"You're the shit," McKenna said, as she reached in and extracted a package of Pop-Tarts.
I reached over and took a package for myself. "Thanks I think."
"You're not shit, but the shit. There's a difference I've been told."
"Told by Gerard?"
She nodded. "He was told me that I wasn't up to date on my vocabulary."
"Well you aren't. But that's okay because it's kind of cute."
That just sort of slipped out without thinking about it.
McKenna just smiled. "Well then I'll make sure to remember that."
I ripped open my package of Pop-Tarts, taking a bite out of the top one.
"So do you have therapy today?" McKenna asked me.
I nodded, taking a seat criss-cross on the opposite side of the futon instead of on the floor. "Later this afternoon. Hopefully it stops raining by then."
My skateboard is nullified in the rain. And that's pretty much my only means of transportation.
"I hope it stops raining soon too," McKenna said, looking over her shoulder towards my window. "It's so depressing."
I couldn't help but notice how close McKenna was to me, her knee brushing up against mine.
My heart was pounding my chest, but I wasn't sure whether this was anxiety or something else.
McKenna looked back over at me, waiting for me to say something.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from hers, my heart racing.
"Do you want something to drink?" I blurted out, jumping to my feet.
I needed to put distance between us. Now.
McKenna seemed a bit taken aback by my sudden outburst. "Um, yeah, sure I guess."
I turned my back to her as I headed towards my mini-refrigerator, taking in a few deep breaths.
I couldn't let McKenna in, not after what happened with Polly.
It was too risky.
"I have soda or water," I said, looking back over at her. "Sorry, I haven't been to the store."
"Water is perfect for me."
I grabbed two bottles of water, retaking my seat on the futon as I handed her one.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, as she cracked open the bottle of water. "You seem a bit jumpy. Do you need me to move?"
I haven't felt this way about a girl in a long time.
And I knew that I couldn't kiss her. Not just because it was dangerous, but because I'd have a full-blown panic attack.
Sitting this close to her was already giving me slight anxiety.
"Lee?" McKenna asked, studying me.
"I should go," I said, standing up.
"You should go?"
I nodded, able to feel my heartbeat pulsing throughout my entire body.
"It's your dorm room," she pointed out, standing up as well. "If you want me to go, all you have to do is say so."
I didn't want her to be upset.
But I wasn't well-equipped to deal with emotions. Especially overwhelming ones.
"I like you," I blurted out, as she reached my dorm room door.
Holy shit I need to get a grip on myself.
She stopped, slowly turning to face me.
Well shit, there's no going back now.
"I mean, it's not like you have to like me back," I pointed out. "But I just wanted you to know that."
Yeah that was real romantic Lee. Way to take it home.
"You like me?" she asked, still standing by the door.
"I like you, do you like me?" I asked, with a slight laugh. "Check yes or no."
"You're such a romantic Lee," she teased, laughing as well.
Not in the least bit actually.
"But I check yes." She came back into the main part of my dorm room, standing a few feet away from me. "Yes Lee, I like you back."
"I mean that's great to hear," I said, reaching up and rubbing my left bicep with my right hand. "But I'm the worst person to start a relationship with-"
"Don't do that to yourself," McKenna interrupted. "Don't self-doubt or self-deprecate. I like you back. That's the end of it. Or rather, the beginning of it."
"I can't even kiss you," I pointed out. "Or probably hold your hand. Maybe I could, but I highly doubt it because you'd have to stand incredibly close to me-"
"Lee," she interrupted, reaching over placing a hand on my shoulder.
I flinched back from that simple touch.
"We can figure it out," she promised. "It just takes patience."
"But what happens when you get bored?" I pointed out. "Or when you get tired of being patient? Because let's face it, you will. And I can't blame you for it, because who wants to be in a relationship with a guy who can't even hold their hand or kiss them on the cheek or stand too close to them-"
"I don't think you're giving me enough credit," McKenna said, her eyes boring into mine. "Lee, I like you. I've liked you since the first day I sat next to you in English and I couldn't stop staring at your perfectly tousled hair or the bracelets on your arm. I'm not going anywhere."
I feel like this is the appropriate time in the cliché love movies to kiss the girl.
So I smiled at her. And she smiled back.
And that was our shared understanding.
~*~
"Lee Adams?" one of the office aides called, stepping into the student lounge.
I exchanged glances with McKenna and Warren before standing up. "Yeah?"
"You're needed in the front office," she informed me, holding open the door for me.
I headed down to the front office, wondering what I could've possibly done this time.
The possibilities were endless.
"Do you know what he wants?" I asked the office aide.
She gave me a confused look. "Um, no."
Well geez, sorry for assuming you might know something about Principal Wright.
I entered the front office, and Emmett was standing the main foyer.
"Emmett?" I asked, making my way over to where he was.
I had to sign for my release before they let me walk around the counter.
That's probably why the office aide was confused. She must've thought I was asking her if she knew what Emmett wanted, not what Principal Wright wanted.
"Are you checking me off-campus?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder. "Does Parker know about this?"
"Listen Lee, we need to talk about Parker."
So now Parker was sending Emmett to speak for him?
I hadn't heard from Parker himself in almost a week.
"So that's why you checked me out? To give me a lecture on Parker?" I rolled my eyes. "You might as well just check me back in then because I have nothing to say."
"It's not what you're thinking."
"Is that so? As if I haven't heard-"
"Lee, please," Emmett said, interrupting me.
I let out a sigh. "Okay Emmett, what is it then?"
"There's been an accident."
I felt as though the world stopped spinning, my chest tightening. "A what?"
"An accident," Emmett repeated, his voice tight. "Parker, he was uh... He was driving this morning in the rain? And another car ran right through the intersection and rammed right into him."
I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.
"He's been taken to the hospital. I really don't know anything more. One of his frat brothers called Emily a few hours ago and we got here as fast as we could."
I lost my dad upon impact.
I lost my mom three days later.
I couldn't lose Parker too.
My body was shaking and I was hyperventilating, endless scenarios running through my mind.
I hadn't spoken to Parker since our fight. Since our multiple fights actually.
I'd been so awful towards him.
"Lee," Emmett said, gripping my shoulders. "Lee, I'm going to need you to pull it together."
I nodded without really comprehending what he was saying.
"We need to go to the hospital," Emmett informed me. "But I'm not taking you there until you calm down a bit."
That time I got what he said.
I wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing my arms up and down as I tried to control my breathing, my teeth still chattering.
Parker had to be okay.
"There's one more thing," Emmett said.
Of course there is.
"I don't have access to the Edge for obvious reasons."
I slowly began to put together what he was saying.
"And I drove here, so all I have is my two-door."
"Emily drove here too," he added. "But she's already at the hospital. I could run over and get her car, it's a four door-"
"No," I declined, with a shake of my head.
That's probably the only word I could get out at this point, my teeth still chattering.
I'd never been able to get into Emmett's car, the compactness of it always giving me a claustrophobic panic attack.
But I couldn't idly stand by while he drove all the way to the hospital, picked up Emily's car, came back here, and then we drove all the way back to the hospital.
I can do this.
I stopped outside his passenger door, my hand gripping the handle.
"I can go get Emily's car," Emmett offered again. "It's really not that big a deal."
I shook my head, taking a few more seconds to compose myself before opening the car door.
Emmett's car was beautiful, don't get me wrong. He has a two-door sport Mercedes, and it was his pride and joy in life.
But it was not meant for me.
I kept my jaw clenched as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'll go as fast as I can," Emmett promised.
All I could think about was Parker.
How bad was the accident? What if he wasn't able to take care of me anymore?
What if Parker was dead?
I began to hyperventilate, and Emmett shot me an uneasy glance.
"Lee," Emmett said, slowly. "I need you to hold it together."
I pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them and wrapping my arms around my shins.
I just needed to see him.
Once I saw Parker everything would be okay.
***************************************************************************************************************
So what did you guys think about McKenna & Lee? I bet NOBODY saw that coming. Like boom. I think my favorite ship name for them so far is McKenLee. And then what about Parker's accident? Nobody guessed that either. That's two curveballs I just sort of threw you at you all wrapped up into one chapter.
The picture off to the right was submitted by ninety-degrees. Check it out! -->
So is anyone running in the Leukemia & Lymphoma 10K tomorrow morning at Epcot? If so props to you, because you're awesome. I'll be there too, only as a volunteer.
Teaser: Lee arrives at the hospital and learns about Parker.
Update: For the early update I'm asking for 2,000 votes and 1,200 comments. If there's no early update then the update will be on Monday, January 12th.