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pitter...patter...pitter

The early morning drizzle thrummed against the awning overhead in a soothing rhythm. I focused on the sound in an attempt to ignore the intermittent stabs of dread that kept rolling through me. But my thoughts kept returning to the fact that I was about to spend the next three days in the Shinning Hotel with a boy who may or may not hate me. 

Twenty minutes passed by with me debating on whether or not Briar had it in him to murder me up in the mountains when the rain began to pick up. The little that was left of the snow was gradually washed away in the torrent save for the small piles that were packed against the base of the tall windows behind me. I moved back a bit to escape the droplets of water that were carried by the wind until I too was pressed against the glass next to the green Starbucks Siren. 

I stared down at my shoes in thought. Perhaps, it was dumb of me to wait outside on a cold rainy morning, but I was too hungry and broke to sit inside the coffeehouse. I didn't need to be constantly reminded of something that I couldn't have. It was bad enough that I got a whiff of bacon and coffee every time someone either entered or exited the cafe.

"Abbi! Hey!" 

Maggie's voice dragged my attention from my feet to her approaching figure. A clear polka-dot umbrella bobbed up and down as she ran to my spot under the canopy. Her happy demeanor was almost contagious, but once I saw Briar rounding the corner behind her, I felt my reality set in. 

"Oh my gosh, you look like you're freezing!" Maggie fretted when she came upon me - her brother only a few feet behind her under his own umbrella. "Why didn't you wait inside for us?"

"It's not too bad out," I insisted, attempting to ignore the anxiety churning in my stomach when I made eye contact with Briar. His face didn't give away any of his thoughts, but I sensed that he wasn't in a good mood. That feeling only intensified when he slipped away from us and into Starbucks without so much as a word.

"Don't mind him," dismissed Maggie when Briar had disappeared out of sight. I lugged my duffle bag off the table and hung it on my shoulder. I was kind of curious about what she had told him in regards to why I was here, or if she even did. 

"But I do want to thank you for doing this. I know that this is probably all very weird to you, but I appreciate it all the same. I should also thank your parents for allowing you to come, which speaking of them...are you sure your mom doesn't want to talk to me before I take her precious daughter out of town?"

I wanted to laugh at being called someone's precious daughter. My mother probably won't even notice I'm gone. She's too busy with her drug-fueled benders to even come home much less remember that she even had a daughter. 

"Nah, she trusts my judgment," I lied, "Also, I'm 18, so...it's not a problem."

Maggie latched her arm around mine, drawing me close to her so I could take shelter under her clear polka-dot umbrella. "Then that's good," she chuckled.

We walked shoulder-to-shoulder in silence to a silver Highlander parked around the corner from Starbucks. Our steps were quick, eager to get out of the cold, wet morning. Already, the bottom of my jeans and my tennis shoes were soaked from the rain, chilling me even more. 

Maggie brought me to the back of the SUV and opened the hatch. Several suitcases, a few garment bags, a cooler, and strangely enough, a sewing machine were already stored in the trunk for the long trip ahead. I added my luggage to their pile and stepped away to give Maggie enough room to close the trunk. 

"The front has a seat warmer," Maggie began, leading me to the side of the car after the hatch clicked shut. "So, go ahead and sit up there. I'll sit in the back with Thatch." 

Hearing the new name made me remember that she had mentioned a second brother during our first meeting. Curious about the youngest Hunter sibling, I climbed into the passenger's side and glanced behind me under the guise of keeping the conversation going with Maggie. I watched as she sat in one of the captain's chairs while further back I saw a body lay sprawled out on the bench in the rear row.

Maggie reached behind her and slapped her brother's leg to get his attention. The blow roused him from his relaxed position to sit straight up. A hard glare was set on his older sister. His short, curly brown hair stuck up in every direction from his time spent lying down. It almost surprised me how much he looked like a mini-Briar. 

"What the hell, Mags?!" he demanded as he removed his Airpods out of his ears. 

"Language," Maggie scolded and then looked at me. "Abbi, this is my brother Thatcher." She looked back at him. "Thatcher this is Abbi."

I gave him a slight wave when his gaze shifted to me.  

"So, you go to Mountain View with my brother?" he asked with an even tone that didn't have any hint of emotion behind it.

"Yeah..." I hesitated, wondering if I was about to be interrogated. 

His green eyes began to dance with excitement when he broached his next question, "So you know the members of Flood Night? Like personally?"

"Uh," I stammered, not expecting him to ask that. Flood Night was Mountain View High's unofficial rock band started by a few students in my grade. They were pretty well known for their Paramore cover songs. "I think I've had a class or two with the drummer, and P.E. once with the pink-haired one," I eventually replied, tugging my tresses behind my ear in thought. "Oh, I have hung out a few times with Rain, though."

Rain was a cute emo girl with fire-engine red hair and the band's lead singer. There wasn't much I could say about her other than the fact that she had a friendly disposition. She was even nice enough to make out with me a few times. 

Hearing that I had hung out with Rain was all that it took to send him into unadulterated happiness. His smile grew, scooping out a small dent in his left cheek. "What about Luna?"

I nearly told him that I hadn't made out with Luna when I realized that wasn't what we were talking about. "I've hung out a few times with her. It's been a while, though, since she goes to a completely different school."

Luna was the guitarist of Flood Night and the only member who didn't go to Mountain View High. I met her once at a hockey game between our schools a few months back, but we hadn't seen much of each other since. 

"I'm so jealous!" he nearly squealed in excitement. 

The two of us fell silent when the driver's side door clicked open. I turned to see Briar balancing a drink tray, a Starbucks bag, and his umbrella in his hands. He reached into the car and placed the cardboard holder on top of the center console, briefly making eye contact with me. The space in the car began to fill with the smells of coffee, food, and Briar's cologne as he climbed into his seat behind the wheel. Something occurred to me then.

"Briar's driving?" I voiced out loud, forgetting myself for a second. "But he has no sense of direction."

Thatcher and Maggie burst into laughter. 

"Ha...ha," grumbled Briar as he started to hand out some wrapped sandwiches and drinks to his siblings. 

"Well, hopefully, Siri will keep him on track," giggled Maggie from behind.

"I rather get lost than have Maggie drive though," Thatcher chimed in. "At least, we'll get somewhere alive."

"Says the boy that crashed Briar's car into a light pole last week."

"Shut up. That wasn't my fault!"

"Here," spoke Briar close to my ear, shutting out all the other voices in the car but his. "I wasn't sure what you liked."

He passed me an oblong wrap that smelled of bacon and eggs along with a warm cup. I stared at the items in my hand in bewilderment. I didn't expect him to get me anything. 

"Don't worry, it's on Maggie since she's the one dragging you into this mess," he sighed, easing back into his seat with his own food.

Oh. It was apparent that he didn't want me to go. I was an outsider, intruding on something personal to him. At that moment I felt that there was a lot that I had to apologize to him for. 

"Thank you. This is fine," I said with a forced smile. 

Briar didn't say anything more as he pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot and onto the main thoroughfare. Any chance I had of escaping this predicament became slimmer the further we went until all I could do was hope to be abducted by aliens.

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A/N so it's FINALLY here after years of waiting. 

Flood Night and the band members are characters in my friend's NyanNyanNyan_chan book 'Unravel the Truth'. Both our books are set in the same universe so our characters will be appearing in each other's work. Be sure to check her stuff out!