For a while, I held the hope that maybe Rowen would stop for gas; I might be able to get his attention if he got out of the van to fuel up. However, after an few hours or so, I realized that Rowen had no intention of stopping. The van was built for long hauls, and Rowen would probably drive through the night.

I laid on my back on Rowen's bed, feeling tears well up behind my eyes and making my vision hot. What kind of cruel joke was life playing? Of all the people for fate to set me up with, why did it have to be Rowen? Why did it have to be now? Why did this have to happen at all? I was personifying a subjective object of fiction, giving intention to chance, but everything about this was so fucked up in the worst way; I needed an outlet.

I put an arm over my face to soak up my tears with my sleeve, but it only worked for so long. My throat got tight as the salty water slipped down my face, and I begged to whatever may be listening to let me out, to get me home. I doubted anything heard me.

Suddenly, as if all of my anger had decided to burst out all at once, I sat up and glared at the baseball by my feet. Then I snatched it off the ground and flung it as hard as I could at the back doors of the van, furious with the inanimate object. The ball slammed into the metal doors and my ears rang with the noise as it fell to the the floor, bounced slightly, then rolled under a desk. There was a dent in the van doors, but somehow that wasn't hardly enough to sate my fury.

I was about to root around for the ball again, to keep tossing it until my arms gave out, when the van began to jolt and slow down. Hoping for freedom, I ran to the wall and listened for anything I could distinguish. The van had stopped at several lights before, but this felt different. We weren't on a paved road anymore.

After moving slowly for a few more torturous minutes, the van came to a stop and the engine was switched off. I heard the door to the driver's side open and then close as footsteps and whistling came towards the back of the van. I didn't need to shout before the doors were thrown open and Rowen stood there smiling like Christmas in July. 

However, his smile vanished in an instant when he saw me and his eyebrows drew together. "Kevin? What are you-"

I raced past him before he could finish and jumped down from the moving van. The smell of chilly rain filled my senses as I looked around. There were frosty trees encircling the area, and freshly fallen leaves covered the ground beneath my feet. Except for the single, barely noticeable gravel road leading up to a brand new looking cabin, there was nothing but wilderness. I let out a despairing breath. Where the hell was I?

There was a long silence as Rowen finally got up the courage to clear his throat. However, I think we both wished he had kept his mouth shut. "Of all the people to stow away in my van, you were at the bottom of my list," he said, giving a forced laugh.

I turned slowly. My hands shook where they hung at my sides. I clenched my teeth. With the last of my patience shredded, I stormed up to him, my fist swinging into his jaw with a punch hard enough that I felt my hand ache upon impact. Rowen stumbled back in surprise barely catching the side of the moving van before he could fall into the leaves.

"You think this is funny?! I am hours away from my home, in the middle of nowhere, and with the worse person on the planet to be stranded with! How the hell is that funny?!" I was practically screaming at him by this point, and resisting the urge to sock him again on the other side of his face.

Rowen sulked. "Sorry..." he said. "I was just-"

"Just what?" I asked. " My parents are probably freaking out! They've probably called the cops already!" I couldn't control myself as I shook with anger and fear all at once. "I don't care what you were 'just' doing, keep your fucking jokes to yourself!"

Before I even knew what I was doing, I turned and kicked the closest tree, taking my anger out on the nearest and least retaliatory thing I could. My blind rage must have been unsettling because I had barely begun wreaking havoc on the tree when Rowen hurried to grab my arms, preventing me front bloodying my knuckles on the bark. I fought with him, but he easily shook my into a clearer state of mind.

"Kevin!" he snapped. When he had my attention, albeit a loose attention, he sighed deeply. "Calm. Down. We'll figure this out. If worse comes to worse then you might be stuck here for a couple months. But it's not that bad."

My skin crawled where his hands touched me and the hair on the back of my neck rose with a feeling akin to disgust. I shoved him away. "No. There is no way in hell I'm staying here, with you, for 'a couple of months'," I said. The thought was enough to turn my stomach. "Absolutely not."

*******

"The flood has completely washed away the roads. Honestly, Tim, I don't even know if can call them roads anymore. If there are any people still out and about right now, get to higher ground. If you already are, the best thing you can do right now is sit tight. The mountain will hopefully start to dry out in a week or so, but for now, driving isn't safe. Stay inside and stay dry, everyone."

I stared at the TV screen with increasing despair. "Oh, God... What am I going to do...?" I groaned.

Rowen sat awkwardly next to me, his eyes flitting uncomfortably between the TV screen and my fallen face. "I'm sure it'll clear up in a few days," he prompted, hoping to ease my worry.

His reassurance didn't help, and I dropped my head into my hands.

A moment of awkward silence passed between us as we both slowly came to the realization that we would be stuck in close proximity to one another for the undetermined future. While I couldn't say how that made Rowen feel, it certainly made me feel like death had come knocking.

Finally, having enough of the silence, Rowen stood up. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.

I shook my head without looking up.

"Want to play a board game or something?" Rowen tried. 

Another wordless shake of my head.

With a sigh, Rowen returned to the couch, and put a hand on my back. "I promise, I'll take you down to the phone station tomorrow and you can call your mom. I'm sure she'll understand if you explain everything," he said.

This had more to it than just my mom's worry; Rowen and I would never get along for "a few days". We'd be lucky if we didn't strangle each other by nightfall. That's not even talking about the fact that Rowen was a murderer. Though I didn't bring it up often, even to myself, I had a reason to fear solitude with Rowen. He could kill me if he wanted to, make it so that I was never found. He had done it before, he could do it again, and that wasn't something I would be able to sleep knowing. 

Not to mention that Rowen was an absolute creep. As we sat on the couch, I could feel his hand sliding further down my back until it was dangerously close to being a full grope. Scowling, I dug my nails into his wrist when I grabbed it.

Rowen chuckled. "I was just trying to lighten the mood," he claimed.

Fat chance, I thought.

The two of us decided that the only rational thing to do at that point was to unload the van. Rowen promised me again as we were carrying in the couch that he'd take me to the phone station a few miles down the mountain and I could call my mom. Apparently, no one got good signal up here, so everyone used this big, old-fashioned, telephone-booth-like building whenever anyone had to make a phone call. I felt a little better knowing I could tell my mom I was safe, but only a little.

"Are you sure you're okay on the couch?" Rowen asked, handing me a blanket.

I unfolded the blanket to look at the size. "I'll be fine," I said. "It's kind of like a sleepover, you know?" I

"Does that mean you're having fun?" Rowen asked, smirking.

I glared at him. "No, it does not mean I'm having fun."

For possibly the first time ever, Rowen smiled and it wasn't malicious. It was kind. With one hand, he ruffled my hair. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "Maybe you'll have a little fun after you get used to things."

As Rowen went into his room and closed the door, I finally dropped my guard. I didn't want to get used to things, I wanted to go home. The longer I was away, the more my mom would worry, the less time I had to prepare for my entrance exams, and the worst part: the longer I had to spend living with Rowen. I grimaced at the very thought and sunk under my blanket. It wasn't just frustrating being stuck up here. It was dangerous.

*******

Subscribe to my YouTube at: Melanie Eberheart

Donate to my Patreon at: patreon.com/MelanieEberheart

Buy me a coffee on my Ko-fi at: Ko-fi.com/melanie_eberheart

Tweet me on Twitter at: twitter.com/MelanieEberhea1

Check out my Facebook at: www.facebook.com/melanie.eberheart.1

Or follow me on Tumblr at: nekosaysmeow333

-Nekoco