lover boy & dollar store girl ♬ matt sturniolo

XIV

CHAPTER XIV
[ severe thunderstorm warning ]
♬

     on the car ride back to the triplets' house, the skies opened up in a storm that was borderline biblical. matt had to drive fifteen below the speed limit with his brights on just to get them off the main road and into the neighborhood safely. with the rain falling in sheets so solid they could barely see, nick was panicking quietly in the backseat to chris, who was doing his best to keep him calm.

     "jesus. did you guys know it was going to rain?" chris grumbled to the front seat passengers, patting nick's shoulder reassuringly.

     "i had no idea. i'll check the weather, maybe it's just a quick storm." minnie pulled out her phone and clicked around for the app, glancing at the driver from the side of her eye. the boy's jaw was clenched so tight she could see the tension festering below his ear, but he kept his eyes on the road and his hands steady on the wheel. normally minnie would be nervous during rainfall this heavy, but with matt driving, the idea of being unsafe never crossed her mind.
     "okay, it says here that... shit."

     "what?" nick asked, his voice thick with worry.

     "the app has a severe thunderstorm warning over our county. 100% chance of rain every hour until tomorrow afternoon."

     "well, we better get home now, then," matt stated, making a slow right hand turn, "we're on our street anyway. i'll drop you guys off and bring minnie home."

     "minnie cannot go home in this rain!" nick protested.

     "yeah, no way matt's driving you home and back in this shit."

     matt said nothing, he only leant the girl an expectant glance. he wants me to decide?
     minnie didn't want to make matt drive any longer. the roads were too slick, and it wasn't worth chancing. but she has no clothes with her, nothing to clean herself up or make herself nice. she wasn't sure if she was ready to let so loose as that around the boys.
     when matt slowed and turned into the driveway of his house, minnie took one more look at the rain, and practically listened to it tell her what her only choice was. that was when she said, "yeah, i don't think going home is a good idea right now. i don't want you driving on the roads while it's like this."

     nick piped up in the back, all worries gone and replaced with joy. "agh! sleepover!"

     the four collected all their bags from the music store and their belongings and beelined for the front door. the water hit them for not even twenty seconds, but it was falling in such heavy wind and waves that their clothes got nearly soaked through to the skin. nick juggled his keys around and unlocked the front door, letting the group into the foyer; chris scurried up the stairs behind his brother, eager to get inside and away from the storm.
     matt kicked his shoes off at the welcome mat and made for the stairs, but was stopped moments before the first step by something tugging on his jacket sleeve.

     "matt, i- uh..." minnie scrunched her face up, not sure how to ask for what she was going to need. "i don't have any stuff with me."

     "you mean like, clothes and everything? i've got it all covered. don't worry about it," he assured her, "come on, let's get upstairs."

     minnie let go of his sleeve and let him walk up first, taking a second to unlace her boots and leave them next to his sneakers. then, she took a deep breath.
     a million thoughts were racing through her head, all of them panicked and afraid.
     i don't have any makeup with me.
     what if mom doesn't want me to stay?
     what if the clothes he gives me don't fit?
     she knew it was irrational to think her mother would drive all the way here to get her- mrs. mcallister wouldn't care. she trusted her daughter to make smart decisions. but what if minnie needed to shower? what happens when she has to walk around with a bare face? and she certainly isn't matt's clothing size- what in the world is she going to do if the clothes he picks out don't fit her?