Track 36
‘NEXT TO ME’ (IMAGINE DRAGONS)
Adam stood in front of his mirror and stared at his reflection.
His eyes were ringed with the dark circles of insomnia.
Why hadn’t Lily messaged back? He’d checked the news online for updates, but they were few and far between.
Apparently, a hurricane in Florida wasn’t nearly as important as random graffiti appearing on zebra crossings in the south of the UK.
‘Where is she, Monty? Why hasn’t she replied?
’ he asked the dog who was staring intently up at him.
Monty’s tail wagged and he nudged Adam’s hand, giving it a lick for good measure.
Adam crouched down and buried his nose in the dog’s fur.
‘I just wish she’d message me,’ he said. ‘I’m terrified I’m going to lose her.’
His phone vibrated and he yanked it from his pocket, his heart racing and his eyes wide. It was just his mum asking if he’d heard anything. He quickly replied in the negative and then flicked to the last message he’d sent to his best friend in the whole world, his heart sinking once again.
Lil, please tell me you’re okay. This hurricane is doing a major number on the part of USA where you are. I’m terrified for you.
There had still, as yet, been no reply.
He was now regretting the fact he had agreed to meet some woman called Emily for a date.
The Head of Performing Arts at school, Diane Silverman, had introduced him to Emily, a friend of hers who she felt was perfect for him.
They had chatted via WhatsApp until Emily had suggested they should meet for a drink.
This kind of woman was new to him, but it was quite nice not being the one to do the chasing.
In light of the last twenty-four hours, however, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Diane was one of his closest work friends, he would have cancelled.
He couldn’t think straight. Going on a first date was probably not the best idea when he was this worried about Lily.
For some bizarre reason the conversation he’d had with Jaz back in March sprang to his mind.
‘Man, I can’t believe you didn’t get together with her. You clearly have the hots for her, dude.’ God, his American accent was irritatingly cool, and Adam hated that.
‘Jaz, I’ve known her since we were in primary school.’ Adam remembered his face flushing. ‘We used to make mud pies together and play cops and robbers. She’s like my sister.’
Jaz’s smirk had irritated him. ‘Yeah? Maybe once, but it sure as hell seems to me like there’s something more there now.’
Adam’s heart had lurched and he’d had to ask, ‘Why? Did… did Lily say something?’
Jaz had paused and shaken his head before fixing him with a knowing look, as if he’d been proved right. ‘Nope… not a single thing. But looking at the way you are right now? That speaks volumes, Armstrong.’
That conversation had kept on popping into his mind, and he had played things over and over.
Had he been so transparent? Had the feelings he had once had for Lily reared their ugly head again then?
And what about now? This churning in his stomach was surely just because his best friend was in the path of a destructive weather front, right?
Lily had never looked at him like that so what would be the point in feeling anything again after all these years?
It hadn’t got him anywhere before and he’d managed to push the feelings down and move on.
Reluctantly, he met Emily at the pub in Hawick, the town where she lived and worked as a primary school teacher. She was waiting outside and he was struck by how pretty she was in real life. Petite with dark blonde hair and smiling eyes.
She pointed at him. ‘Adam, right?’
He smiled and nodded. ‘Emily?’
‘Guilty as charged, guv’nor,’ she replied with a giggle.
He liked her immediately.
Emily took a seat at a table in the corner of the busy pub and Adam went to the bar.
He ordered a G&T for Emily and a lime and soda for himself.
As he walked back to the table, he spotted the TV screen over the fireplace and stopped dead in his tracks.
The footage showed the sheer devastation being left in the wake of Hurricane Erin.
A cold shiver travelled the length of his spine, and he felt the colour drain from his face.
He walked over and placed the drinks on the table with shaking hands.
‘Are you okay, Adam? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ Emily said with a crinkle of concern to her forehead.
He lowered himself gingerly to a seat but kept his gaze fixed on the screen, bending this way and that when anyone blocked his field of vision.
‘Adam?’ Emily’s voice pulled his attention back to her.
He shook his head. ‘Oh, shit, sorry, Emily. I’m just… my best friend is in Vero Beach right now.’
Emily’s eyes widened. ‘Where the hurricane’s happening?’ He swallowed hard and nodded. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. ‘Oh, Adam, you should have postponed this evening. I would’ve totally understood.’
He forced a smile. ‘No, no, I didn’t want to let you down at the last minute.’ He paused and added, ‘But the thing is there’s been no reply to my last message, and that’s really concerning me.’
‘Have you known him a long time?’ she asked.
He stared at the fizzing pale green liquid in his glass and nodded. ‘I have. We’ve been best friends since we were kids. She’s… she’s always been there for me.’ He waited for the fall-out after admitting his best friend was, in fact, female. It didn’t come.
‘Adam, I think you need to go home and wait for her to call you. Once you know she’s okay, we can rearrange. You won’t settle otherwise.’
He frowned, disbelieving her reaction. ‘Really? You don’t mind?’
She smiled. ‘I would be in a complete state if my best friend was in danger. I’ve only known him since university, but I’d be lost without him, so I totally understand.
Please, go home, eh? We can do this another time.
’ He nodded and made to stand. She reached out and took his hand.
‘If you want to meet up again just message me, okay? No pressure. I’d like to but—’
He shook his head. ‘Oh, no, I will message. I can promise you that.’ He bent to give her a quick hug. ‘Thank you for being so understanding.’ And with that he dashed from the pub and back to his car, flooded with relief.
Night fell over Vero Beach and the temperature dropped even further.
The storm still battered the building relentlessly.
Staff had handed out as many blankets as they could find on the lower floors, and people tried their best to sleep, but the cramped conditions were not conducive to relaxing and neither was the tense atmosphere.
Mack hadn’t returned and there had been no sign of Kyle.
Lily’s phone had died, but no one seemed to have a signal anyway.
The landlines were all down as well. It was as though they were completely cut off from the outside world in their own little corner of hell.
Just before midnight, the power went out, and an audible gasp traversed the room as the place was plunged into an eerie darkness.
Sadness washed over Lily, replacing some of the fear she had been feeling up to this point.
Almost everyone else was on holiday and had family or friends to hold onto as the violent storm raged around their safe haven.
She was quickly reminded that she had no one.
Even at home she only had her mum, and okay, she sort of had Adam too.
But she had no one special to hold her and comfort her.
No one to snuggle up to at night. In that respect she was alone.
Really alone.
Tears stung her eyes as she pulled herself into a foetal position and shivered beneath her thin blanket.
She had foregone a thicker one in the selfless hope that someone who had sustained injury during the ordeal would benefit instead.
Every so often crashes could be heard outside.
No one rushed to find out what the noises were any more, probably fearing what they would see.
The night seemed endless, and she fought against her tiredness, fearing that she would never wake up again if she gave in to sleep. As she lay huddled in a ball, she could hear quiet sobs and sniffs from somewhere within the room as the reality of what was happening continued to sink in.
Adam’s face sprang into her mind and tears stung her own eyes as she thought about his handsome face and thick dark hair.
His smiling eyes could see through her most of the time.
He could cheer her up simply with a quirk of his mouth.
And what a mouth. What she would give to taste his kiss once and have him kiss her back.
Fear struck her as she imagined never seeing him again.
And what the hell would he do if he lost her, too?
He’d been through so much. She had to stay safe and alive.
She had to. A sob escaped her as Adam’s grieving expression filled her mind.
Her chest ached as she tried to stifle her cries in the flimsy blanket.
‘Are you all right, sweetie?’ She looked up into the twinkling eyes of an older lady whose features she could barely make out in the darkness.
‘Y-yes… thank you so much for asking. Just feeling homesick and a little scared,’ she admitted in a whisper.
‘Oh, honey, you’ll be fine, you’ll see… it will all be over soon.’ The kind lady reached for Lily’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I’ve been through hurricanes before. I’m from Louisiana and Katrina was a doozy but I’m still here to tell the tale. Here, hold onto my hand. If it helps.’
Lily sniffed, feeling overcome by the stranger’s kindness. ‘Thank you, it does.’
At around eleven the following morning, the power suddenly brought everything back to life.
Lights came on, the TV began rotating images of sheer devastation, and a member of hotel staff announced that hot food was being prepared.
A short while later another person came in and said that the storm had moved on.
An audible sigh traversed the room followed by tears, whoops, and lots of hugging.
The older lady who had held Lily’s hand hugged her tight, and Lily’s eyes welled with moisture once again as the woman said, ‘See, sweetie, we made it… we made it.’ Lily clung onto her and sobbed into her striped nautical-looking T-shirt.
Pulling away, the lady wiped Lily’s tears with her calloused thumbs.
She had kind eyes and pinky-grey hair. The fake rinsed colour that old ladies seemed to favour. ‘I’m Maud, by the way.’
‘Thank you so much for everything, Maud. I can’t tell you what it meant to me to not feel alone through the night… I’m Lily.’
‘Well, Lily, if you need a hug anytime soon, you be sure to come find me.’ She patted Lily’s shoulder and turned back to fold her blanket.
Several people made their way towards the outside of the hotel. Lily followed behind, scanning the area for any sign of Kyle or Mack.
The scene outside resembled a war zone. Fallen trees, broken glass, crushed cars, and shattered windows were all that could be seen for many hundreds of metres. Paramedics and other people wearing bright fluorescent coats picked through piles of debris.
Lily’s next sight would remain etched on her brain for all eternity.
She rounded the corner and saw two bodies with blankets covering all the way from just above their feet right up and over their faces.
Her hand came to her mouth and her stomach lurched as nausea washed over her.
People really were dead? She felt the blood drain from her cheeks.
Her stomach roiled at the thought that Kyle or Mack, or worse still, both, could be lying there.
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she yelped as she swung around to see Mack. She didn’t speak, she just launched herself at him.
‘Thank goodness, oh, thank goodness,’ she said as she clung to him. She pulled away. ‘Kyle?’
Mack turned and nodded behind him. There was Kyle, his arm in a sling and a temporary cast from his hand to just beyond his elbow. Lily ran towards him and hugged him, careful not to catch his injured limb, relief flooding her from head to toe in a warm wave of emotion.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, concern furrowing his brow.
Lily nodded. ‘I’m fine, which is more than can be said for you.’
He glanced at his cast. ‘This? It’s nothing. I’m grateful the trash can hit my arm, not my head.’
Mack joined them. ‘Hey, your brain cell might have split and then it would have had a friend.’
Kyle nudged him with his good shoulder. ‘Jackass.’
‘Aye, you love me though, eh, pal?’
Kyle chuckled and shook his head.