An hour later, Kate is laying on a towel on the deck. I came outside and took a sideways glance at her.
"Getting nicely toasted, Kate?" I asked, then smiled when she turned to look at me.
"Yes, I am, actually. You, on the other hand, would get burnt to a crisp," Kate said.
"Don't you think I know that?" I asked. "I put some sunblock on before I came out... Well, actually I didn't put it on..."
"Stop, just stop! I don't wanna hear about it!" Kate said, digusted.
"Can't take a little joke, can ya, Kate? Yes, I put it on, just had to do that to you, though," I said.
"Don't scare me like that! Geez..." Kate said. "So... where is Lewis, anyway?"
"Believe it or not, but he's taking a nap," I said.
Kate grinned and sat up.
"I see that your mind is only one step away from the gutter. Is it nice there?" I said.
"Yeah, it is, actually," Kate said, then got a more serious look on her face. "See, it's just that the few times he's had girlfriends... you know."
I sat next to her. "None of those stories are true."
"What?" she asked, sounding surprised.
"I have ways of making him talk and when he did, he spilled his guts. Man, what a mess that was to clean up," I said, then smiled.
"Wow," Kate said. "He tells some great stories, then."
"Apparently!" I agreed. "Say, Kate, I've been wondering, and please don't hurt me for asking, but..."
"I never wanted to. There was that certain something that happened between me and Oswald, and there was Drew's life-long crush on me. Truthfully, I've always liked Lewis better as a friend. That, and he's too weird for me," Kate said, then grinned.
I returned her grin. "That's understandable." I paused. "I think that's what I like best about him."
Kate shook her head. "And to think, you're pretty normal, too."
I glared at her.
"Okay, maybe I overstepped that one," Kate said.
Drew and Oswald came over to the deck.
"We just heard on the radio there's another thunder storm coming and this one's gonna be around for a couple of days!" Drew said.
"Well, glad I got my tan," Kate said.
"Looks like it's gonna be a while before they're gonna get that damn bridge fixed," I said.
That night, I'm in my room, staring out the window at the rain. It's just been downpouring. No thunder or lightening, yet. Also, it's amazingly bright outside. It's kinda yellow/orange tinted out there. It's really beautiful, and kinda scary at the same time.
"Lauren?"
I turned, jarred from my thoughts.
"You're still awake? It's almost two o'clock," Lewis said, coming over to me.
"I know, I was just watching the rain," I said.
"Oh," he said. "Why?" He sat across from me on the other side of the window.
"I've just always liked watching the rain. It's calming... most of the time," I said, then paused. "How'd you know I was still awake?"
"I didn't," he replied. "I was gonna go downstairs and get a snack and thought I'd see if you were awake."
"Well... you should've knocked, atleast," I said, then gave him an evil grin.
"Yeah, like you'd leave the door unlocked if you didn't want me to come in," Lewis said. "Anyway, do you know why Kate kept smirking at me earlier?"
"Uh..." I said, then swallowed. "No."
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, nervously, then went back to looking out the window.
"Did you tell her something?" he asked.
"Maybe," I said, still looking out the window.
"What'd you tell her?" Lewis asked. The man's relentless!
I didn't answer.
"Lauren, you didn't..." he said.
"It just came out!" I said, finally looking at him. "I... I hope we're talking about the same thing, here." I paused. "The stories?"
"That explains the look she kept giving me," Lewis said. "Well... it isn't like she didn't already know."
"What!?" I asked, increduously.
"She never believed any of those. Oswald does. Drew just gets a kick out of them. He doesn't believe them either. I keep telling them for Oswald. The others just go along with it," he said, then added, "actually, I did stop."
I got his drift. "I bet you could gross him out pretty good, though," I said, a bit of evil slipping into my voice.
"Yeah, and a good laugh out of it at the same time," Lewis agreed. "But does it have to be just a story?"
I smiled. "Yes." I paused. "Well, some of it... maybe."
"How much?" Lewis asked.
The sun came through my window at about 7:30am. I'd left the blinds open the night before. The sunlight hit my face. I blinked, getting the ful brightness. Actually, the only reason the sunlight was in my face was because I had my arm over Lewis and had my head on his chest. I blinked a few more times and squinted against the light.
I flung the blanket off, noting I was still in yesterday's clothes. Lewis, who had had a t-shirt and sweats on the night before, had shed his t-shirt. I paused for a moment, trying to remember when he did that. Nope, couldn't remember. I rolled right off the bed to standing beside it.
In the kitchen, Kate and Drew were having breakfast.
"I thought the rain was supposed to continue through morning. It's just like yesterday, though," Kate commented.
"Well, that's what I'd heard was that it was supposed to stick around. I don't know," Drew said.
I wandered into the kitchen, still in yesterday's clothes, half asleep.
"Morning, Lauren," Drew said.
I stopped. "It is?" I went back to getting some juice.
Kate leaned closer to Drew and whispered something in his ear. A smile formed on his face.
"Hey," Kate started.
"No," I replied, cutting her off.
Drew's smile faded and the two went back to their breakfast.
I wandered my way back upstairs to my room. I walked in in a dazed manner and headed back to the bed. I didn't even notice Lewis had left. I plopped down face-first and fell back asleep.
Noon. I was woken up by a loud crash of thunder. I sat straight up and stared out the window.
"It was sunny at 7:30," I said to myself. "Man..." I got up, grabbed some clothes, and went to the bathroom. I came out about a half an hour later and went downstairs.
Kate was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. She looked up. "So, you actually decided to be alive today." She grinned.
"Funny," I said. "Where're they guys?"
"They're out there playing pool. The idiots they are," Kate answered.
"Playing pool outside in a thunderstorm. Yeah, that's an accident waiting to happen," I said.
"I just wish it'd stop raining so they'll fix the bridge and we can get out of here when we want to... which'll probably be as soon as possible," Kate said.
"Probably," I agreed.
Outside, in the rain, the guys are actually playing pool.
Oswald got up off the ground. "That's the fourth time I've slipped in the mud!"
"Just shoot and stop complaining," Drew said.
"Notice how he startscomplaining after the third visit to the mud, never before," Lewis said.
Oswald broke and sunk four balls.
"Damn, I was trying to distract him," Lewis said.
"Good try," Drew said, then lined up a shot. He sunk the 8 ball. "So... anything interesting happen last night?" He looked at Lewis.
"Me? Not really, why do you ask, Drew?" Lewis said.
"Because Lauren staggered into the kitchen at about 7:30," Drew said.
"Well, yeah, she didn't get to sleep until about 3:30," Lewis said.
"Ah..." Drew said.
"What?" Lewis asked.
"Nah, Drew, it was too quiet," Oswald said.
Drew glanced at Oswald. "Shut up."
"Very nice, boy, very nice. Even if something did happen I wouldn't tell you," Lewis said.
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that!" I said, going over to them.
"An umbrella?" Oswald asked. "Afraid of a little rain?"
"No. Pneumonia," I replied. "Come on, guys. This is really ridiculous."
"I'm gonna play some more," Drew said, matter-of-factly.
"Me, too," Oswald agreed.
They looked at Lewis. Lewis looked at me. I glared at Lewis. Lewis looked back at them. They looked at me. I glared at them. They glared at Lewis.
"I'll go in," Lewis said, sounding defeated.
We headed inside.
"That was amazing," Drew commented.
We went in and Kate looked up from her magazine.
"I hope you're not gonna shake off like a wet dog," Kate said.
"no," Lewis said. "I'm gonna go wring out my clothes."
"Before or after you take them off?" Kate asked, grinning.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lewis said, walking past the couch. He went upstairs.
Kate looked at me. "I can't believe you got him to come in!"
"I can," I said, then realized. "I used an umbrella and still got soaked. Well, whadya know. Now, I gotta go change." I went upstairs and into my room. I rummaged through my stuff for a pair of jeans.