[ went on a writing binge today ]

☁︎

YOU OFFERIN', BABY GIRL?

THE FURTHER WEST THEY DROVE, the worse the road got as it turned to gravel and eventually a dirt road. The storm was picking up, and Carolina watched from the backseat while monitoring all the vitals of the storm.

It was her first time driving close to one, and her nerves were shot, hoping everything went okay.

"What'd the tornado cowboys have to say?" Javi asked, looking at Kate before glancing at Carolina in the mirror.

"Exactly what you'd expect," Kate said, rolling her eyes.

"That Tyler seems like an asshole," Carolina muttered. God, she wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face.

That made Javi and Kate laugh, knowing Carolina rarely made mean comments about people. So, Tyler had really done a number on her.

Then Kate looked out the window. "Care, notice how the updraft is cycling. Okay, let's lake a right up here."

They ended up heading for a wind farm, and Carolina watched with a frown as the wind turbines began trembling, a sign that most of them wouldn't hold up if things got much worse. While she was mystified by storms, she hated the destruction they caused.

"It's forming just like you called it," Javi said excitedly.

Carolina then watched Kate, who was watching the clouds circling nervously. This was the first real tornado Kate had been in since it happened, and Carolina just hoped she wasn't too scared — because one of the Carter siblings needed to not be scared, and that wouldn't be Carolina.

As they continued down the road, Javi called to the others on the radio.

"Scarecrow, Tin Man, get into position?" Javi said over the radio. "Wizard, stick with me."

"What's the plan?" Kate asked.

"Yeah," Carolina said, leaning between the seats. "You never actually explained how this works to me. Like, what are you doing?"

"We want a 3D scan of the entire area around the vortex, which means we're gonna surround it with three radars, each one pointed at the tornado," Javi explained. "Tin Man will get in there behind the tornado and plant its radar on the right hand side. Scarecrow is gonna get behind the tornado and plant his on the left. And all the data that they collect will be received by Wizard."

"How about Lion?" Kate asked, knowing it was the one saddled to their truck.

"We gotta complete the triangle. We get right in front of that thing and set up our radar," he said before noticing how she was taking deep breaths. "You got this Kate. Just tell us where the front of the tornado is. Give Care a good show."

"Okay," she breathed out.

Then a thin funnel began forming, which excited Javi and Carolina. "That's our tornado, baby!" he exclaimed.

"Holy shit!" she said excitedly, pulling out her phone to film it. She couldn't wait to show her friends in her classes.

But suddenly, an annoyingly large truck came in front of them, running them off the road. Carolina grabbed the back of Kate's seat and cursed as she was thrown around, glaring at Tyler's truck as Javi tried to regain control.

"It's like psycho Wild Wild West out here!"

Carolina just huffed as Javi got back on the road, now behind the truck that was blaring music. No matter what, Javi couldn't get past Tyler's obnoxiously large vehicle, who was purposefully blocking them. And behind them, the caravan was blocking the rest of their team as well.

Choosing to ignore them, Caroline looked out at the wind turbines, noting that they were beginning to shake more. She just hoped they held up, as they could cause a lot of damage and even start grass fires if they broke apart and sparked.

"Get me in front of it," Javi told Kate, trying to ignore Tyler's car. They could hear the radio blaring from the speakers. Carolina secretly liked the song, but would never admit it.

"Okay, okay. We need to take a right. Here!" Kate instructed.

They made a sharp right, and hail began falling. It was easily golfball-sized, Carolina noted, which was a good sign that the storm would hold. She kept her eyes on Tyler's car, her eyes going wide as one of the fans on a turbine fell and the blades nearly crashed into them.

She gasped and pressed up against the window, all her previous annoyance at Tyler and Boone for acting like they didn't know her was now gone. She couldn't bear the thought of them getting hurt — of them being crushed to death by the fans.

Thankfully, they swerved right out of the way, no doubt terrifying that reporter that was with them just like they'd terrified Carolina.

And the show was certainly exciting to a group of fans who were parked nearby, cheering for the YouTubers. Much to Javi's annoyance, one of their own trucks pulled over to watch.

"Hey!" Javi shouted, honking. "What are you doing?"

"Is that the Tyler Owens effect?" Carolina asked weakly. How had he failed to mention he was a famous YouTuber when they met? Surely he'd have bragged about that.

"Wizard, hang back. Get those hard drives fired up," Javi ordered over the radio.

"Copy that, Wizard hanging back."

"The path is shifting," Kate noted before looking at a map. "Okay, there's a right coming up."

The truck turned down a muddy side road. And as they drove, the units with Tin Man and Scarecrow got their PARs in position, sending in the hard date.

"Where at, Kate?" Javi asked, knowing they were the last step. "I gotta be within three hundred meters for the radar to work."

"I think we're almost there," Carolina said, leaning forward a bit. She was still unsure until Kate nodded in confirmation.

Javi then held out two pairs of goggles to the girls. "Kate, Care, take these."

"I ain't getting out of this car, Javi," Carolina reminded him.

He nodded and dropped her pair after Kate took hers, sliding them on to protect her eyes from debris. Then she noticed the windshield wipers beginning to shake, unable to fight the wind.

Carolina also noticed her sister, who tensed up, unknowingly being reminded of that day when the wipers had done the same thing.

"Come on, Kate. Talk to me. Talk to me," Javi said, noticing her silence as well. "We're getting close."

"Just up there in the clearing," she finally said, pointing it out. Javi came to a quick stop, facing the bed of the truck toward the oncoming tornado.

While Javi and Kate got out, Carolina just watched from the back window. Javi rushed to the bed of the truck and tried to pull out the PAR, but Kate was frozen in fear, staring at the incoming storm.

Carolina glanced at the tornado, expecting for it to have grown based on Kate's reaction. But it was still a baby EF 1 that was plenty far enough away.

"Kate! I need you! Kate! Kate!" Javi shouted, realizing that Kate wasn't at his side.

Then Kate snapped out of it suddenly and ran to the truck. "Javi, get in! Get in!"

Carolina frowned by kept her mouth shut as Kate got behind the wheel and Javi was in the passenger seat. Clearly, Kate was having a panic attack as memories flooded her mind, and Carolina wished she could comfort her.

"What is it? What do you see?" Javi asked, scared that the storm was going to get worse or change paths.

"This isn't right," she muttered, stepping on the gas.

"Hang on, guys. We're gonna find a closer spot," Javi said over the radio. "Is this where it's headed?"

Once they were back on the road, Kate brought the car to a halt. "Javi, I—"

He was already scrambling out of the truck, prepared to set up the PAR. However, after opening up the bed, he actually looked at the tornado, which he realized was too far away. And Kate knew it too.

"We're too far!" he shouted angrily, slamming the bed closed.

And of course, Tyler had to pull up, his music blaring. Carolina leaned out her window, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Javi! What are you doing out here, man? Tornado's that way!" he teased. Then he looked at the girls. "Hey, Kate! Howdy, Carolina."

Carolina huffed, but bit back a smile when she saw Boone wave sweetly at her. He didn't deserve the anger that she was directing toward Tyler.

Finally, Tyler drove off, while shouting, "Nice goggles, Javi."

Curiously, Carolina couldn't help but climb out of the truck and watch Tyler as he drove right for the tornado. He and his crew were hollering at the top of their lungs, and she gasped, worried that they'd be swept up as they disappeared inside the tornado.

Suddenly, bright red and orange lights shot up into the vortex. Her mouth fell open, thinking it was beautiful as the tornado lit up.

"Are those fireworks?" Kate asked, not believing it.

"Yup," Javi muttered.

"That's... that's beautiful," Carolina said in awe, running a little closer to get a better look.

She could hear them cheering as the tornado passed them, leaving the truck in tact. Then all of them got out of the truck, jumping around excitedly. Except for Ben, who stumbled on his feet and then threw up. Carolina figured she wouldn't be in much better shape were that her.

"He's insane," Kate breathed out.

"Yeah," Javi said, clearly very upset as he went to the truck. The girls silently followed, knowing that they couldn't fix this. They'd missed their chance.

As Kate got in, Carolina just sat sideways in her seat with the door open, her feet hanging down. And of course, Tyler had to drive his truck back up to theirs. And he fucking smirked before swirling his finger like a tornado mockingly.

"Fuck you, Owens," Carolina said before she could stop herself.

Tyler just raised an impressed eyebrow at her unexpected attitude. "You offerin', Baby Girl?"

Her cheeks instantly flushed from the somewhat demeaning nickname, it not unnoticed by Tyler and Boone.

That infuriated Javi, who forced his door open. "Watch your fucking mouth!"

As he jumped out of the truck, so did Carolina, who got in front of him and put her hand on his chest. "Javi!" she snapped.

He huffed angrily, looking at Tyler, who had a sharp glint in his eyes. Deep down, he was jealous of how close Carolina and Javi seemed. But he still managed to smirk one last time before speeding off.

Once Javi helped Carolina back into the truck, Kate spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Javi. I - I screwed up," she admitted shamefully.

"Hey, we'll find another one," Javi said, trying to not make her feel bad. "That's all part of the gig, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I'm gonna go check in with Scott," he then said, walking off.

It left the girls alone, and Carolina saw how upset Kate was with herself. She kicked the side of the door and put her head in her hands.

"Hey, Katy Bear," she said, leaning between the seats. She reached for Kate's hand. "You're gonna get through this."

"No, I ain't."

"Yes, you will. You did so much better than I expected for you to," she admitted. "I didn't think you'd get near as close. I'm proud of you."

Kate looked in the rearview mirror at Javi, who seemed to be getting yelled at. "You're the only one.

☁︎

Carolina walked between Kate and Javi toward their rooms at the motel, Javi's arm around her shoulder. The parking lot was alive, a little party around every car. There was live music and food and chattering everywhere. It made Carolina grin, reminded of nights on the main quad at school.

"Haven't we stayed here before?" Javi asked, thinking it looked familiar.

It made Kate laugh. "Yeah, Javi. We've stayed in every motel in Oklahoma."

"Remember we used to have Addy check in," Javi said with a sad smile. "Then later, we'd all sneak into the room so that we could all sleep ten bucks. We'd have Addy do it cause—"

"Cause she looked so sweet," Kate said, smiling bitterly.

Carolina looked down, remembering how kind and funny Addy was. She'd met her a handful of times when she came over to work in the barn, and to Carolina, she seemed like the coolest person in the world.

An awkward silence fell over them as they came to a stop. Javi's room was on the bottom floor while theirs was on the second, so they'd be parting.

"Hey, um, you guys wanna hang out later?" Javi suddenly asked them with a hopeful glint in his eyes. Carolina smiled, seeing the plain adoration on his face as he looked at Kate. "You know, I'll just go up to the room real quick and, obviously, shower and we can come back out here."

"Um, look, I'm real tired," Kate mumbled. "But maybe another time?"

Javi was clearly disheartened. "Yeah. Alright. Night."

Rather than remind him that she was still free to hang out, Carolina opted to follow her sister, who was walking away and toward the metal staircase.

"Night," Kate mumbled.

"It's good to have you back," Javi said. "Both of you."

"I'm not back," Kate said, shaking her head.

"I remember. One week."

"Well, I never left Oklahoma," Carolina reminded him.

Then the girls walked up the metal stairs, heading toward their shared room on the second level. Only to pass by a big, tacky truck.

"Baby Girl? City Girl?" Tyler questioned, not expecting them. He thought they'd be holed up in some fancy hotel in town. Then again, he hadn't expected Carolina to be around at all, which he was still wrapping his head around.

And fuck, if Carolina didn't hate when he called her Baby Girl. It didn't stir up butterflies in her stomach like when he'd called her 'baby' that night. Now, he just seemed like an asshole.

Meanwhile, Boone perked up, reminding Carolina of some kind of excited dog, which made her smile at him, him matching it, glad to have her attention.

"Whoo!" Lily cheered.

"Hey," Dexter greeted cordially.

"The cells to the west will choke each other out, she said," Tyler repeated, shaking his head. "The one to the east will put on a show."

Kate just smirked. "Well, didn't throw you off the scent."

"Hey, that's what makes Tyler famous," Boone bragged.

"Oh, he's famous?" Carolina asked, raising an eyebrow. Tyler and Boone shied away from her clearly displeased look. They should've at least told her that about themselves.

"You mean on YouTube?" Kate asked, clearly judging them.

"Y - Yeah. We're on the YouTube," Boone said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "We've got about, what? A million subscribers now."

"Yeah!" Lily exclaimed proudly.

"Uh, Kate and Carolina what?" Ben then chimed in. "Your surnames just in case I include you in my piece."

Kate bit her cheek, knowing her last name would give her away. "Oh, um, just Kate is fine."

"And Carolina," she said, not quite wanting the boys to know Kate was her sister.

"She's a tricky one," Tyler told Ben. "Both of 'em."

"Actually, you made a good call earlier. The other storm, it looked stronger, but the cap never broke," Boone said to Kate.

"What's a cap?" Ben asked, unfamiliar with the terminology.

"Temperature inversion in the mid particle atmosphere inhibits the storm from forming," Carolina explained, having just learned about them recently.

"Okay," he said, clearly not understanding. It made her smile. "Good."

Then silence fell over them, so Kate broke it, curious about the little group.

"Where did you guys all meet?" she asked them. "Did you - did you study meteorology at the U of A?"

Lily, who was working on her drone, just laughed with the others. But it was Boone who answered.

"Me, you know, I just flow with the wind. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I never went to, like, school or nothin'," he said, blushing a bit shyly as he spoke to Carolina. He was suddenly very embarassed of his lack of education.

"There ain't nothing wrong with that," Carolina found herself saying softly, staring into his deep brown eyes as she leaned against the railing of the stairs.

It made him smile up at her before he kept going. "Tyler, he studied meteorology though."

"That right?" Carolina asked, acting surprised. "I am too."

"That right?" Tyler copied her, a knowing look in his eyes.

And then Boone kept going, unable to keep from bragging about Tyler. "Yeah! You know, he's a cowboy scientist. You know, he's got this natural instinct—"

"Okay, Boone," Tyler said, getting a bit bashful.

But Boone kept going. "Taught me everything I know. So—"

"Boone," he cut him off firmly. Then he eyed Kate. "You know, our crew's not like your crew, Kate. We don't need PhDs and fancy gadgets to do what we do. I gurantee you, these guys have seen more tornados than anyone else in this lot combined."

She raised an eyebrow. This guy had no clue what she'd been through. "Is that right?"

"Do you think there's a chance we'll see one tomorrow?" Ben questioned.

Dani threw him a beer that he barely caught. "Yeah."

"Oh, yeah," Boone agreed. "Outbreak baby."

"You know, if you can keep up, we'll put you two in the episode," Tyler offered before sipping his beer. Carolina followed the movement, her body betraying her as she recalled what it felt like to have those lips on her.

"Wow," Kate said, not impressed.

"Where are you chasing tomorrow?" Lily asked.

"Oh, no. No, no, no," Tyler said quickly. "Not falling for that again. Kate's from New York. Can't trust a thing she says."

"Well, you can always trust a guy that puts his face on a t-shirt," she shot back.

Carolina threw her head back and laughed, and both men were suddenly back in the bar, Tyler admiring the curve of her neck as Boone smiled at the way she crinkled her nose. But it was also when both men realized she had makeup covering all the bruises they'd left on her neck and jaw, which made them tick.

"Oh!" Dani and the others laughed as Kate finished going back up the stairs, dragging Carolina with her.

Tyler and Boone kept their eyes on the two girls, both quietly noting which room Kate pulled Carolina into. It wasn't too far from their shared one.

Once inside, Carolina sat her bag down, not catching the way her sister was studying her.

"That Tyler and Boone are lookin' at you like they know you or somethin'," she said, not beating around the bush.

Figuring she needed to be honest, Carolina clenched her eyes shut and let out a long breath before saying, "Oh, they know me. They know me real well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kate asked, clearly not understanding.

Carolina peeked an eye open. "That guy's room I was sneaking out of? It was... Boone's and Tyler's room."

Kate blinked repeatedly at her, trying to wrap her head around it. "I'm sorry, and? And? As in both?"

"Both," Carolina mumbled, her head hanging low in shame. "Today's been the worst day ever. I just want the ground to swallow me whole."

"Jesus, Javi's gonna blow a gasket."