Thunder

Chapter 15

"Bowling?!"

"What?" Ryan questions. "You don't like the idea?"

"No, no, it sounds fun. It's just... I'm not really that good at bowling," I admit.

"You'll do fine. I can teach you to bowl," he offers.

I laugh as I reply, "Good luck with that."

Andrew comes up from the basement, his hands full of papers and folders from the hospital. Taking his place in one of the chairs, he pulls the coffee table towards him and drops the stack in his hands. He turns on the television as he starts sifting through his papers. I almost feel sorry for him. The way Ryan explains it, Andrew doesn't seem to have a single moment away from his work.

The reporter on tv is in the middle of reading the current stories. "In other news, a local teen girl, Kat Watson, finally woke up from a year long coma about a week ago." A picture of Kat appears on the screen; brown hair, blue eyes. Family and friends are thrilled to finally have Kat back home."

A whole year? I was in a coma for a week. I can't imagine what it would be like to wake up an entire year later...

"In other news, Thunder has been at it again.  Our sources say that she stopped..."

"Kyleigh?" Ryan draws my attention away from the news.

"Huh? What?"

"I said, 'Are you ready to go?'"

"Oh, yeah, I'm ready."

He leads the way out of his house. Before I follow him, I politely say, "Goodbye, Andrew."

He grunts in reply not taking his eyes off his work. Poor Andrew..

***********************

We arrive at the bowling alley several minutes later. Ryan offers to pay as we walk inside. Music is playing, and the sound of pins being knocked down at irregular intervals fills the room.

Speaking to the worker behind the counter, Ryan says, "I need size 11 shoes and she needs..."

"9," I answer for him. Ryan pays the worker and we are given our bowling shoes.

"I'll claim a lane for us," Ryan tells me after his shoes are on. I'm still tying my left shoe when he walks away.

I stand, taking a few steps until I accidentally collide with another girl around my age. She drops the drink and fries she had in her hands. Using a little speed, I catch the items before they hit the ground, only losing a few fries in the process.

"I'm so sorry!" I say, giving the items back to the brunette with blue eyes.

"It's fine," she responds. "Wow, you have quick reflexes."

"Oh... Yeah..." The girl's face seems familiar, but it takes me a moment to place where I've seen it. Then I remember. I hold myself back from blurting 'you're the girl that was in a coma for a year,' because I know how sick of the attention I was. "I'm Kyleigh, by the way," I introduce myself.

"I'm Kat." Kat Watson, yep. That's the name from the new story I saw.  "Anyway, I better go. I think my friend is waiting on me."

"Okay. Sorry again for running into you."

As we part ways, she comments, "I like your hair, by the way."

"Hmm?" I wonder, then remember my streak. "Oh, thanks."

I walk over to grab a bowling ball, a light blue and white one. Ryan is at the third lane, entering our names in the computer that will keep our score for us.