Chapter 8: Reminiscence
The sea suited me.
I watched the dark waves crash against the beach.
The gloomy water reminded me of another time.
A time before Team Glop'emm and Masters.
A time that I lived on the other shore.
A toddler clutched his father's hand as they made their way through the crowd. The boy was amazed by the plentiful colors that surrounded him. It seemed that everywhere he looked merchants were showing off Pokemon dolls, balloons, mats, and a wide variety of furniture.
A woman accosted the father. "May I show you this table, sir? It—"
The father ignored the woman and kept walking. He kept scanning the crowd, as if he were looking for someone.
"Daddy, when can we go to the beach?" the boy whined.
"We need to go find Mommy and Auntie to tell them where we are going while they shop," the father replied. He wished his wife had left her PokeTech on.
The father finally spotted the women he was looking for just beyond the market place fence, stepping into a store.
Despite the mass of people around them and the bright overhead sun, the air chilled the boy. He moved closer to his father as they escaped the lively market place and followed the women inside the store.
The store was named "The Submerged Swamp" and had obviously at one time been someone's house. Upon entering, the boy was astounded by the vast number of pretty trinkets lying in every nook of the room.
"Don't touch anything because you might break it," the father warned. He held onto his son's hand and carefully made his way around the random ornaments to where he could see his wife was standing; she was talking with his sister-in-law and the apparent owner of the store.
As the father moved toward his wife, a small T.V. caught his eye. It was a noticeably new television, and it seemed out of place in this cluttered store.
On the T.V., a news woman stood in front of an image of Hoenn.
"A drastic change in weather has occurred in the past hour in several Hoenn regions," the women announced. She gestured to the map behind her. "Sootopolis City seems to be experiencing the worst of this disturbing weather, and all Sootopolis citizens are advised to evacuate the city. Lilycove City and Dewford Town are also experiencing mild flooding. The cause of these storms has not yet been identified, although—"
"Hello, there." The father was distracted from the television by a woman hugging his waist. "I didn't expect to see you here. You said you were going to spend the day at home relaxing and catching up on some well-earned sleep."
The man raised his eyebrows at his wife and chuckled. "That was the plan, but I was convinced otherwise by a devious child." He nodded toward the boy, who despite his father's warning was reaching to touch a glass knick-knack.
"So, what's the plan now?" the wife pulled away from her husband to pick up their four-year-old son.
"We're heading out to the beach. It's a nice day; a bit of a chill, but not a cloud in the sky here." The man then added hesitantly, "Though that doesn't seem to be the case in other parts of Hoenn. Did you see the news?"
The wife nodded. "It is horrible," she agreed.
The sister-in-law approached the couple. "Sue, what do you think of this vase for my kitchen?" she asked the wife, holding a neon green vase up in one hand and another young boy with the other.
"It's too brightly colored to fit in. Do they have it in any darker shades?" Sue, the wife, answered.
"I'll go check with the owner," the sister-in-law replied.
The dark haired boy she was clinging to complained, "Why can't I just go home?" but she ignored the plea and dragged the boy with her.
"Maria brought her boy?" the father questioned in a surprised tone.
Sue laughed. "Yeah. Apparently, Don is at a Corporate event right now in Rustburo, and she didn't want to bother you with another kid to watch. I told her she was being ridiculous, but you know how stubborn she gets."
"I can't believe my own brother didn't tell me he was going out of town! We could have helped Maria out… Well, now that I'm here, why don't I just take both kids to the beach?" the father suggested. "You two will be able to finish your shopping faster, and there will be no opportunity for our rambunctious nephew to break something."
"Great! Now you just need to convince Maria—"
CRASH
Sue and her husband could hear a stream of apologies spout from Maria's mouth. "Oh, I am so sorry. Here, let me get that. Really, sorry. I'll pay for it, of course. Wait here for a second, and then I'll help clean up this glass."
Maria came from around the corner, now holding her son. She looked at her brother-in-law with pleading eyes.
Before she could say anything, the man held out his hands for her son and said, "I'm taking the boys to the beach."
Maria smiled gratefully, handed over her son, and rushed back to help the store owner to clean up the broken glass.
Sue kissed her husband on the cheek and placed their son in his free arm. She patted the two boys on the head. "You two be safe. What do you do if a stranger offers you candy?"
"Run away screaming," the two cousins replied in unison.
The mother smiled and began walking toward the back of the store where Maria was cleaning up glass. "We'll meet you boys on the beach once we're done here," she called over her shoulder.
The husband watched his wife round the corner. He heard the store manager say, "Seriously, don't worry about it. Let me show you the vases we have in the basement…"
The man walked out of the store holding his son and nephew. The two boys were giggling madly as they played peek-a-boo, their green eyes shining with excitement.
A few blocks away from the beach, the father put the boys on the ground, mumbling, "You two are getting too heavy to carry anymore."
The boys sprinted ahead to the sand while the man sighed and jogged after them.
By the time the man reached the beach, the two boys were already splashing happily in the calm water.
The man sat down on a beach chair under an umbrella and pulled out a book. There was nobody else on the beach, but this was to be expected when there were big market sales. Plus, though it was sunny, the air was cool. It was definitely not beach weather, but the boys didn't seem to care.
The man read for a bit and then gazed over his book at the two boys. From his seat it was hard to tell which boy was which. He smiled. When strangers saw the boys together, they often thought the two were twins. Both had unkempt hair, green eyes, and differed in age by only six months.
He watched the boys play until he finally dosed off.
"Let's go searching for shells!" one of the boys suggested excitedly.
"Yeah! Oh, but not too far or Daddy will get upset," the other boy said.
"No he won't. He's asleep, silly!" The dark-haired boy started skipping down the shore.
"Wait for me!" The other boy ran after his cousin.
Several minutes later, the man awoke with a start. Something wasn't right. The sun was still shining brightly, but the air was too still. The man looked around for his son and his nephew, but neither was in sight.
The man rose in a hurry and quickly flipped his head side to side, looking down the shore. He noticed clouds were approaching rapidly.
There was also something weird about the ocean. The man squinted into the distant horizon. It looked like the horizon was getting taller for some reason…
The man froze in fright. His eyes widened.
He turned and frantically ran down the shore, calling "Landon Mendol! Liam Mendol! Get back here this instant!"
No reply.
"Liam! Landon! Where are you?"
Nothing.
The man saw the ocean grow even more out of the corner of his eye. Did the rest of Slateport City know? Should he go warn everyone? No, the boys were more important. "LANDON! LIAM!" he cried.
He spotted something a couple hundred meters away. Was it his son?
He pumped his legs faster than he ever had in his life. The mountain made of ocean rushed toward shore.
He could now make up the object he had spotted. It was his son. The boy stood staring at the ocean.
The man finally reached his son and pulled him into his arms.
"My son," he murmured, kissing the boy's head. Then he asked, "Where is your cousin?"
The boy shrugged. "He wanted to keep looking for shells, but I wanted to come back. So I turned around."
The man looked down the shore. He couldn't see the other boy; not a glimpse of his nephew's dark hair against the pale beach. The man turned to the ocean.
"Daddy, what's that?" The boy pointed to the ever-rising ocean. The giant wave was much too close.
The man estimated it would hit in less than two minutes. Not enough time to warn the city.
Now he had to make a decision.
His nephew or his son.
He knew what his decision would be in the end. He could not risk his son's life.
He could only hope that his nephew would get lucky.
"I'm sorry," the man murmured. He pulled out a Pokeball and released a Sharpedo.
Holding tightly to his beloved son, the man clambered onto the shark Pokemon.
"Alright, Sheedo, ride into that wave."
As the man departed from the beach, he imagined his dark haired nephew watching from a ways down shore. Guilt churned his stomach. He ignored the feeling.
The man and the boy rode toward the City's doom.
The sea suited me.
It reminded me of the day the Tsunami hit Slateport City.
The day of the battle between Kyogre and Groudon.
The day my cousin disappeared.
The day my father saved me.
The day my mother drowned.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, you're a psychic?" I repeated for about the thousandth time.
What a surprise; no reply.
Anita and I had been walking the entire morning and half the afternoon, and she had still not said a single word to me.
Unbelievable!
We were traveling southwest toward Tinted Town, which was a bit out of the way for me, but there was a gym leader there for Anita to battle.
At this point I was considering abandoning her. If she was going to ignore me the rest of our travel time together, then I was going to be bored out of my mind! Ugh.
I wished we could bicycle through these parts to make the time go faster. Unfortunately, there were too many trees and wild Pokemon. We could ride Griffy, but he would get tired if he had to carry the two of us for more than a few miles.
So we were stuck walking, and I was stuck being ignored.
Her two strongest Eevees did not appear to mind the silence. They trotted beside us and attacked wild Pokemon that crossed our path to gain battling experience. Strangely, Anita had not commanded them once. Maybe that had to do with the whole psychic thing….
I really wish she would explain it to me.
Huh, when I consider the questions I've been asking all morning, they all had to do with her being a psychic or whatever the heck she is. Maybe if I asked something that has nothing to do with that whole business, she'd answer, as any procrastinator would to keep me from asking worse questions.
"Why don't you keep your Pokemon in Pokeballs?" I asked, actually curious.
Anita didn't answer for a whole minute. I was about to return to my pouty plotting when she answered, "They don't like their Pokeballs. I only keep the other Eevees in their Pokeballs because they are too young to be left unsupervised and I can't have them wandering off."
One of her Eevees, the one with ragged hair, growled at her.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," I told the girl, thinking of my own Pokemon. They never minded their Pokeballs. Well, it didn't seem like it, as far as I could tell. Then again I wasn't a psychic…
Ooh, I had a great question for her.
"How do you know they don't like their Pokeballs?" I asked. Hehe. She was caught in a trap now.
Anita seemed to know this too. She whipped her head forward and went back to pretending I didn't exist.
"It's not because you're a psychic, huh?" I taunted.
I was ignored again, but mostly because the ragged Eevee (ugh, why couldn't I remember his name?) had Anita's attention.
For some reason, the Eevee seemed upset with Anita. They were having an intense staring contest… I think. I'm not really sure what Anita is doing half the time; she's very strange.
Suddenly, the Eevee pounced at her. I was too shocked to react and Anita fell backward.
The ragged Eevee disappeared in a flash of light.
I glanced at her hands, expecting to see the Eevee's Pokeball. However, there was none.
Was this another one of those psychic tricks?
Then I spotted her Pokeballs hanging from her belt. She couldn't have had time to snatch and put back that Pokeball so quickly…
I remembered the ragged Eevee letting itself into the Pokeball before bed yesterday. Everything fell into place.
I started cracking up.
"You were just tackled by your Eevee because you wouldn't let him back into his Pokeball," I choked through my laughter. "Talk about irony."
Anita glared at me, her face bight red.
I grinned widely- mostly because Anita's face might as well have been an announcement that she really could communicate with her Pokemon psychically.
I'm sure the last thing Anita wanted right now was me to start rambling. So I did just that.
"You know, Pokeballs are specifically created to feel spacious and comfortable on the inside. Plus, Pokeballs exist for a good reason. Wanna know why? So, a couple thousand years ago someone decided it would be a good idea to get protection. You know, from opponent families, tribes, clans, or whatever other dangers there were back then. Anyway, some person recruited Pokemon to do their protection, and soon everyone was feeding, providing shelter for, and befriending these creatures in order to gain their security. It was a mutual agreement between Pokemon and human: food and shelter for protection. Eventually, the world became a safer place with no rival tribes straining for survival - Pokemon became more of a sport than a need. Then shrinking technology was invented. Before that, there was usually only one or two Pokemon for one person because it was hard to keep track of more than that, but with the invention of the Pokeball, a person could carry many Pokemon at one time. So many, in fact, that a rule had to be made limiting a person to carrying 6 Pokeballs—"
"SHUT UP!" Anita yelled. Ah, just the reaction I loved and expected. Now that Anita was sufficiently annoyed, phase one of my evil plan was complete.
"So, wanna tell me about your psychic powers?"
"NO!"
"Well, then I'll just have to continue talking—"
"WILL YOU JUST SHUT IT!?" Ooh, she was really getting mad now. Her face was practically purple.
I smiled playfully and retorted in a sugary voice, "Only if you tell me about your gift."
Anita snorted. "Yeah, my gift of attracting annoying…people." Her eyes flickered to her Eevee, Apple.
A wild Nidoran popped out of the rustling grass. Anita watched Apple defeat the Pokemon in silence.
"So..?" I led.
Anita sighed and muttered, "If it will get me some peace and quiet… fine."
I cheered but held my tongue.
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, what's 'The Gift'?"
"It's basically where a person has some sort of Pokemon power."
I nodded. That would explain Abalina…
"So you have the powers of a psychic Pokemon?"
"Yes," Anita confirmed.
"What can you do? I know you can read minds, but can you go deeper, like memories?"
The brown haired girl shrugged. "I can mostly just listen to thoughts."
"And that includes Pokemon?"
"Yup." Well, that clarified a lot.
I tried to act like I was having a normal conversation on a normal topic. "So, how'd you learn to do that stuff?"
"Apple taught me," Anita said seemingly automatically. Her hand suddenly flew over her mouth as if she had said something dangerous.
"I thought Apple was a normal type Pokemon. How could she teach a psychic?"
"Um… Apple used to have a friend Natu who was being taught by a Xatu," Anita said sheepishly. "She ended up learning all of the techniques as her friend learned them, even though she couldn't actually perform them."
Anita blushed and wouldn't meet my eyes. Was this something I wasn't supposed to know? Or maybe she was lying… though there was no apparent reason for that.
"Well, maybe Griffy could teach you a thing or two," I said casually, as if this psychic thing did not bother me a bit. In fact, though I was slightly unnerved by the situation, I was mostly curious. I wanted to know the extent of her powers, exactly how she used them and what she could do…
Get ahold of yourself. You are a Pokemon researcher, not a human scientist, I reminded myself.
Another part of me argued, Well, she has Pokemon abilities…
Anita rolled her violet eyes at me… or maybe my thoughts.
I'd have to see if there was a way to keep Anita out of my head. The idea of her reading my every thought was rather uncomfortable. My head was supposed to be private!
Anita's attention suddenly turned to Apple, who was trotting beside us.
I grinned. Even if she did have psychic powers, she was awful at hiding who she was communicating with psychically. This sure was going to be an interesting journey.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
<Come on, Anita! Now is the perfect time!> Apple whined.
<I don't want Erin investigating me any more! She's too perceptive! She is already suspicious of you!> I replied.
Apple scoffed, <Well, that's your own fault, you blabber mouth. A friend Natu? C'mon.>
<Well, if Fiery hadn't decided he wanted to go back in his Pokeball just to prove me wrong, she would have never figured out I could use telepathy!>
<Yeah, because Abalina didn't already give that away,> Apple said sarcastically.
<She didn't say any specifics!>
<Whatever, you know Erin would have figured it out eventually. You suck at lying, and your body language always gives away who you are using telepathy with.>
<That's not true!>
<Then why is Erin already suspicious?>
Apple had me there. <Fine,> I muttered.
<Hey!> Apple narrowed her eyes at me. <You've been distracting me!>
<From what?> I asked innocently… not.
<From my original suggestion. You should practice your psychic abilities now.>
<No!>
<Why not?>
<I already told you. Erin is suspicious!>
<Suspicious! She KNOWS you are a psychic!>
<Not of that, of you. She already suspects something is up with you.>
<Which is why I recommended you ask Erin if you could use Griffy to practice right now.>
<I can practice without Griffy's help!>
<Yeah, you could. But if you want to learn something new, you should ask for Griffy's help.>
<I don't want to learn anything new,> I explained.
<Didn't you hear Abalina? You can't go into these gym leaders unprepared or you'll get your *ss handed to you! You have to learn to use all of your powers if you want to gain gym badges!>
Why is it that everyone but me seemed interested in my powers? Sure, they were kind of cool, but they seemed to be causing more trouble than they were worth.
Apple suddenly smiled widely with her miniature fangs.
<What?>
<If you had been listening to Erin's thoughts, you would already know.>
I hadn't been listening to Erin's thoughts because I wanted to respect her privacy… somewhat. Mostly, I just didn't care what she was thinking.
Now that I was paying attention to her thoughts, I could feel her dying curiosity about what Apple and I were discussing.
"What are you two talking about?" Erin suddenly blurted out.
"Nothing."
Apple started growling at me, and then looked directly at Erin with wide eyes.
"Why won't you—" Erin glared at me, and started again, "You know what—" The girl pulled out a Pokeball and pressed the release button. "Griffy, can you tell me what that Apple and Anita are discussing telepathically?"
Griffy was confused for a moment, but then Erin showed him what she already knew about my psychic abilities. <Why certainly, Erin.>
I heard his tail say, <We can use this situation to our advantage if we build a giant vacuum to suck up all of the mind energy in the world. Wahahahaha!>
Yeah, that tail had serious issues.
<Will you ask Erin to allow you to teach Anita some psychic stuff right now while we are walking?> Apple asked Griffy.
I groaned as Griffy relayed the message to Erin.
"Sure! I think that's a great idea!"
"I don't," I mumbled.
<Well, then. Anita, you're outvoted so it's lesson time!>
<Since when are we taking votes?!>
<Since I decided you should have a lesson now.>
<But you didn't even vote!>
<All in favor, raise your hand, paw, or hoof,> Apple said and Griffy relayed to Erin.
Erin's hand shot up, as did Apple's paw. Griffy shrugged and raised a hoof saying, <I'll vote as my trainer does.>
Griffy's tail rose. <If you turn into a pineapple, we win.>
Apple and I stared.
I finally shrugged. <Bleh. You guys stink.>
<I beg your pardon, strange Eevee, but what shall I teach your trainer?> Griffy politely inquired.
<Well, we just worked on telepathy, and I was thinking of starting telekinesis next. How about you teach her the basics?>
<Very well.>
Erin squealed with excitement when Griffy told her what the lesson plan for today was.
<Miss Anita, are you ready to begin?>
If I didn't give in, I would never hear the end of it. <Fine,> I answered sourly.
<Psychic powers are based on the ability to project your mind elsewhere. The weakest form of projecting your mind is telepathy. The next level of mind projection is creating barriers.>
<Like Reflect and Light Screen?> I asked.
<That's correct, Miss. Like telepathy, the greater the distance you try to create a barrier from, the harder it becomes. This is why many Pokemon simply make a barrier directly in front of them during a battle, rather than when their opponent is halfway across the field. Very few Pokemon can do more than that, though there are a few exceptions, such as Mr. Mime.>
I nodded.
<Creating a barrier is very similar to projecting your mind into another's. You pour a small bit of your mind out of your body with such force that it freezes the air. Listen to my mind as I use Reflect.>
I tried to enter Griffy's mind, but I found it harder to enter this foreign mind than Apple's. It was also hard to concentrate on Griffy while walking. Eventually, Griffy had me ride on his back, but even then it was several minutes before I was deeper than the emotion level.
Erin watched us the whole time with a look of fascination. At one point, I thought I even saw her take out her notebook to scribble something down.
When I was finally in Griffy's mind, he illustrated Reflect. First he stretched a strand of his mind forward toward Apple and said <Moving your mind slowly like this is telepathy.> He retracted his mind, and then shot several strands forward in front of Apple very quickly. Apple walked into the solid barrier and fell down.
This sent me into a fit of laughter, and I was unable to maintain a connection with Griffy.
<Hey!> Apple exclaimed. <That was uncalled for!>
<Your blue frog-squashing watermelon is uncalled for!> Griffy's tail yelled back.
I sat up on Griffy's back and rubbed my head, slightly dazed.
<Ready to try, Miss?>
I definitely didn't feel ready, but it wasn't like I ever would. I tried to focus my mind on the air in front of Apple.
<Why me?> Apple complained.
I ignored her and continued concentrating.
Nothing happened.
"Um, what's going on?" Erin asked, probably hoping for some interesting data she could analyze.
I tried again.
And again.
And again.
Nothing.
No matter how hard I concentrated, nothing happened.
<She needs to really want it,> Apple finally said. <She needs to want it to the point of needing it; otherwise her mind will not gain enough force.>
I sighed. If that was the case, I would never get it because I really didn't want it. It was everyone else who was forcing this upon me. Even though I knew I would need my powers against gym leaders, I couldn't get myself to care enough.
I certainly wanted to beat the gym leaders, but psychic powers still did not appeal to me. The actual abilities were pretty cool and useful, I suppose, but they were not worth the complications they had caused. I didn't want to be gawked at, to be treated like an outcast. I had had enough of that in school…
After half an hour of trying, I gave up. <I'm just not ready for this,> I told Apple and Griffy.
Erin sighed sadly and returned Griffy to his Pokeball.
I enjoyed the half a minute we walked in silence, and then Erin started talking again.
"So, what is your favorite kind of ice cream?" she asked.
"Why are you asking me?"
"I needed an ice breaker."
"Because there is so much tension here," I retorted sarcastically.
Awkward silence.
"Touché," I muttered.
"Well, can you think of a better one?"
I shrugged.
"C'mon, I need multi-word answers here. How about, how has your life been thus far?"
I reflected a moment. "Pretty sucky."
"And why so?" I thought it was rude of her to be so nosy.
"Huh, let's see," I retorted scathingly. "My father left my mom and me when I was six, my mom hates Pokemon, I was picked on at school, my two best friends left on their Pokemon journey a whole year before I did…
"I'm sorry," Erin replied simply. She apparently hadn't recognized the "leave me alone or else" tone because she then asked, "Wanna expand on any of that?"
"No," I replied curtly.
"Okay then. How about boyfriends?"
I rolled my eyes at her. Was there an end to her shallowness?
<Technically, yes, assuming she is a shallow person,> Apple added to my thoughts.
<Butt out,> I grumbled to Apple. Then to answer Erin, I said, "Kinda."
"What kinda answer is that? I want specifics!"
I sighed in exasperation. I turned my head toward the sky for a moment, and noticed some clouds rolling in from overseas. Great, more rain was just what I needed. I decided that answering Erin might appease her so I finally started talking about my one almost boyfriend…
"He invited me to the school dance, and brought me—
"A rose."
My best friend, Mia, giggled. "Awe, that's so cute! What are you going to do with it?"
Mia stuck her face over the sink to get closer to the bathroom mirror while she applied a thin layer of lip gloss to her lips.
I shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe I'll just stick it in my purse or something…"
Mia gasped, "You can't do that! Give that to me!" She snatched the red rose from my hand and twirled me around to face the bathroom mirror. I felt pressure on the back of my head as she fiddled with my pulled back hair to make the rose fit. "There, that's perfect! Look, the color even matches the dress we picked out for you!"
I rolled my eyes. She had done all the dress-picking. I had just followed her wordlessly, praying for the shopping to end before I dropped dead of boredom. "Whatever, can we go now? Matt probably thinks we're sick we've been in here so long."
Mia fixed one last invisible strand of her blonde curly hair and then turned to the bathroom door. "You're so lucky! My date abandoned me as soon as he saw the chicken wings! Yours has stuck with you thus far through the night, and he even gave you a rose after your first dance together!"
"He has been really nice," I agreed. "I just wish we could bring our Pokemon. We always have more fun with them around."
Mia opened the bathroom door for me. Matt, of course, was waiting just outside. Mia winked at me, and then scurried toward a table of boys to drag her date onto the dance floor.
The music changed to a slow song, and the DJ announced, "Alright, kids, last song of the night! Make it a good one!"
Matt held his hand out questioningly. I took it and we walked to the dance floor.
Slow dancing with Matt was slightly awkward. Though I was comfortable resting my hands on his shoulders, he held my waist as far away from him as possible, as if he was overstepping some boundary.
I was content to watch his cute round face as we stepped to the tune, but he tried to look everywhere but me. When our eyes met, we both looked away, blushing.
Carly spotted us across the dance floor, and gracefully pulled her date, Reece, toward us. "I always knew you two losers would end up together," she snickered.
I felt heat rise to my face.
Reece flicked his eyes from my face down to my shoes and then back again. "Yes, you could do much better, Anita," he taunted.
I grabbed Matt's hand and tore away from the dance floor, too angry to speak.
Matt and I left the dance and walked toward our homes through the cool, moon-lit night in silence. I missed Matt's normal friendly chatter.
For years Matt and Mia had been my two best friends, but when Matt asked me to the dance, things got weird between the three of us. Mia scurried away whenever she saw Matt, and my relationship with Matt was just plain awkward.
We finally reached my house. I didn't worry about Matt walking home alone; he lived next door. I turned to say goodnight when I suddenly felt Matt's lips on mine.
It certainly was not what I expected… more wet than anything.
"G'night, Anita,"
"—were the last words I heard him say. The next day he left to go on his Pokemon journey without even saying goodbye."
Erin whistled.
I grimaced.
"So, do you still, you know, like him?"
"I'm not sure I ever liked him in the first place," I replied. Then to change the subject, I asked, "What about you? Any boyfriends?"
"A couple," Erin answered.
"What kinda answer is that?" I mocked, "I want specifics!"
Erin was silent.
I was genuinely shocked. "Are you seriously not going to talk about it?"
Erin nodded and looked away.
I tried to read her mind, but she was just thinking about grey clouds.
A rain drop hit my head. I looked up and noticed the clouds I had seen earlier were now directly over us. Lightning flashed through the sky, and was followed by crashing thunder.
<A downpour is coming,> Apple warned. <There is a small ledge just ahead we can take cover in if we hurry.>
I relayed Apple's warning (without mentioning that it was Apple's prediction) to Erin, and we ran for cover through the drizzle. We reached to ledge just as the drizzle turned into a downpour. Erin, Apple, and I sat huddled in silence, watching the rain.
After an hour of squatting under the ledge, the rain had still not ceased. I sighed when Erin said, "Well, looks like we're going to be stuck here for a bit. We should take advantage of the opportunity by continuing to get to know each other better!"
Boy, would this be a long afternoon…evening…night. I suddenly realized how long the rain could keep me here…
under a rock…
in the cold…
….with Erin.
"So, you never answered my first question: what's your favorite type of ice cream?"