“Bye, guys! Have a good drive back!” Brian said.
“See you later!” Nick said.
“Bye! Give us a call when you get back,” Leighanne insisted.
“It’s raining pretty hard. You’re sure you’re gonna be all right on the road?” Nick asked for the millionth time when they got into the car.
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep.”
“Okay.” He put his seatbelt on and made sure hers was fastened securely.
“Nick, I’m all right. I don’t like rain, but I can handle this. Besides, since I’m this scared of thunderstorms and whatnot, don’t you think I already checked my seatbelt a dozen times?” she giggled.
Blushing, he started up the car. “I just don’t want you to be freaked out. I want you to be safe.”
“Thank you.” She settled into the seat and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the rain pelting on the top. It wasn’t calming her nerves. Somehow, though, she managed to doze off after driving for a while.
“Aw, shit!” Nick suddenly exclaimed, waking her up.
Her eyes snapped open. “What? Why are we slowing down?”
“We’re out of gas,” he muttered. “I didn’t even think to check the gas. We’re stuck.” Just then, a lightning bolt flashed across the sky in front of them, and thunder roared.
“We – we’re stuck?” she repeated in a childlike voice.
He scooted over towards her and put his arm around her. “I’m sorry. I’m so stupid. I should have checked to see how much gas we had.”
“What do we do?”
“Almost no one travels this road, so no one is gonna drive by to help us. We either wait here until the rain calms down and I can walk to a gas station or I can call Brian and see if he’ll bring us some gas.”
“It’s up to you.”
He reached for his cell phone and dialed Brian’s number, but only got static. “The storm clouds must be interfering with the signal,” he muttered. “Well, then, either way, we have no choice but to wait.”
Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, and Michelle burrowed her head into Nick’s shoulder. “Why’d it have to storm now?” she whispered. “Why’d we have to run out of gas? Maybe I should have gone to New York with Jesse.”
“If you’re not ready for that…” he trailed off.
“I know, I know, you already told me not to let him rush me. But maybe he’s not rushing me.”
“Did you ever meet Brad’s family?”
“Yeah, once, but he was away at college for most of our relationship, so that’s different,” she argued.
“Shelle, you knew him for three years. You’ve barely known Jesse a month. I find it hard to believe you’d be so ready to commit.”
“This coming from Mr. Noncommittal?” she scoffed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he exclaimed defensively, sliding across the seat against his door.
“It’s supposed to mean don’t think I don’t notice the girls who’ve been to our house since I’ve lived with you. I counted two who left in the morning, one who left in the middle of the night, and there probably were more,” she stated.
Nick sighed. Those girls had merely been distractions. He’d only been intimate with one girl before Michelle moved in. “I still know you’re not ready to commit to this relationship. I know you better than you think, Michelle Kristen Rudolph.”
“Ugh!” she seethed. “What do you know about my personal life? I can’t believe you’d even try to tell me what I am and am not ready for.” She took off her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.
“What are you doing? It’s pouring?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I need to get away from you,” she muttered, getting out of the car. He reached for her wrist, but she jerked it away and slammed the door.