Vivi: The Trenches Day One of the Hurricane

BETWEEN THE CRIPPLING BOUTS OF panic about what my parents were going to do to me if I lived through this storm, I had to wonder: Was the storm of the century a bad time to try to get a boy to kiss you? I mean, was it inappropriate to be thinking about how adorable he was while you were supposed to be looking for binoculars?

We were standing in Sloane and Adam’s walk-in closet, which did feel a little wrong since it was such a personal space. But it was practically the apocalypse. Privacy rules went out the window, right?

I was on a stepladder, rustling through some stuff on the top shelf, trying to search for Adam’s binoculars as best I could with my flashlight. “Man, this dude has a lot of guns,” Tyler said, peering into the locked gun case that was built into Adam’s side of the closet, his light reflecting on the glass.

“He’s ex-military,” I said proudly. “A real-life, serious war hero. He was captured and held captive and everything.”

“Wait, I remember my sister talking about that,” Tyler said, as if putting the pieces together. “That was your uncle?”

“Yup.”

“My dad’s ex-military too. Just retired after thirty-five years.”

“Wow,” I said, feeling around the shelves. “So your parents are pretty old.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I hadn’t said them.

But Tyler laughed. “Not that old. Fifty-three or something? I can never remember exactly.”

Okay, so not old old. But way older than my parents… I felt a small, square box, and I pulled it down. “Bingo!” I said, handing the binoculars to Tyler.

“Awesome,” he said. “And, hey, not to be greedy, but I’m soaking wet here from saving someone. Do you think it would be weird if I borrowed a T-shirt?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. Adam doesn’t care about anything like that.” I paused. “I mean, don’t even think about touching his guns. But, otherwise, help yourself.”

He pulled his T-shirt over his head, and I finally understood what the word “swoon” actually meant. I was a little light-headed. I looked away so as not to be tacky. I stepped forward to look at Adam’s neat stack of folded T-shirts right as Tyler did and bumped into him and his bare chest. And I realized that he smelled very good, which was really saying something for someone who had just rescued me from a hurricane.

“Sorry,” he said, looking down and laughing.

I laughed too. “No, I bumped into you.”

He pulled on a T-shirt, and I looked up at him, and he looked down at me. It was a real-life Hallmark-movie moment where everything went silent, and our eyes locked, and I knew he was going to kiss me. But right as he leaned in, “Kids! Fish sticks and tater tots!” rang out from the third floor. We were eating up there since the unboarded window gave a little light.

It was probably for the best. I mean, I’d just met the kid. But, then again, he thought I was someone worth saving.

I turned and walked out of the closet. “It is so, so dark,” I whispered, jumping as something crashed outside the window. Tyler grabbed my hand. I kept holding his as we made our way upstairs, presumably because I was leading him. That was legit, right? My heart was pounding, a little because of him and a little because of how scary this storm was.

Up here on the third floor, you could actually feel the house swaying in the wind, which couldn’t be a good sign, right? But I felt better when I saw Gransley and Grandjack sitting at the game table, which they had covered with candles to make it almost light. I went to the table, but Tyler beelined for the window seat, binoculars already on his eyes. “Oh man, you guys,” he said. “The water is already at the seawall.” Gransley and Grandjack shared a look.

“That’s bad, right?” I asked.

I could tell Gransley was trying to formulate a response when Tyler said, “Well, it sure isn’t good.”

I took a bite of fish stick. I was pretty sure I’d never had a fish stick. It wasn’t something that my mother would have served in the gluten-free, sugar-free, organic Beaumont household. But, dang, it was good. The tater tots were even better. I was savoring my second one when Tyler exclaimed, “Oh my God! Oh my God!”

Grandjack jumped up, and Tyler practically threw the binoculars at him. “Off to the east,” Tyler said. “Blow out the candles! A waterspout is headed straight for us!”

“Downstairs bedroom! Now!” Grandjack yelled.

Tyler grabbed my arm and Jack shooed us all down the stairs. “Behind the mattress!” he yelled.

We all made our way behind the one king-sized mattress that was leaned up against the wall, and Grandjack and Tyler, like they had practiced it—well, maybe they had—each held on to one end of the rope for dear life. We were all panting, partly from exertion and partly from fear. Off in the distance, but getting closer and closer, was a crazy-loud noise.

“Is that a… train?” I whispered to Tyler.

He pulled me close with his free arm.

“No,” Grandjack said soberly. “It’s a tornado.”

My heart was thudding in my ears now.

“It’s okay,” Grandjack said. “The houses are close enough together and we’re low enough to the ground that we’re fine. We’re going to be fine.”

I flipped my flashlight on. I could tell by his face he was lying.

The sound was getting louder and louder, and now, even down here, I could feel the house shaking. A shattering sound came from the kitchen.

“Plates,” Gransley said. I could barely hear her over the noise, but she was practically yelling.

“Or windows,” Grandjack said back. That would be infinitely worse.

I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned into Tyler—not because I was flirting now, but because I was terrified. My breath was coming in short gasps. The sound got louder, and the shaking got worse. I was vaguely aware of how tightly Tyler was squeezing my shoulder.

And then, just like that, it was over. I looked up at Tyler and then over to Gransley and Grandjack. Grandjack let go of the rope and leaned back against the wall, hands on his chest. For a second I panicked that he was having a heart attack. But then he said, “Wow. Haven’t done that in a while.”

Gransley laughed with relief, and I felt Tyler take a deep breath. “You okay?” he asked, looking down at me, releasing his side of the rope. I was happy to notice he didn’t release me.

I nodded, brushing the hair back from my face, realizing that I was a little sweaty.

“Oh my gosh,” I said. “Can you imagine being outside in that right now?” Which led me to, “Oh my gosh! Tyler! What happened to the kitten?”

“Kimmy has the kitten,” Tyler said. “She’s fine.”

“I hope Biscuit is okay,” Gransley said.

“She’s fine, Ans,” Grandjack said. “She’s much safer with the vet than she would be with us right now.”

That didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Outside, the rain still pelted and the wind still raged. But, in comparison to the cyclone, it felt slightly less scary.

“What do we do now, weather expert?” I asked Tyler.

“Well, if anyone had a weather radio, I’d be a little better equipped to tell you.”

“Well, someone is supposed to be in Australia right now,” Jack interjected.

I cringed at the thought. I had made them miss the trip of a lifetime. It was all my fault.

“I’m going to go back up,” Jack said, flipping his flashlight on. We all followed suit. The darkness was one of the scariest parts of all of this. “I need to make sure everything is intact upstairs.”

“You know what?” Gransley said, suddenly sounding upbeat. “I don’t think anyone is getting a lot of sleep tonight. I say we set up a game of Monopoly and a bunch of candles in the dining room, so we’ll be close to the mattress just in case.” In spite of everything, that actually sounded kind of fun.

“I will warn you,” Tyler said. “I’m pretty good. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

I scoffed. “You’ve never seen Monopoly played until you’ve seen me play.”

He put his flashlight up under his chin. “Oh yeah? We’ll just see about that.”

Thunder crashed, making me jump a little. “Do you think we’re safe to come out from behind the mattress now?” I asked.

“I think so,” Tyler said.

“I think so too,” Gransley added.

Tyler slid out from his side of the mattress and I crawled out behind him. He helped me up and, as he did, squeezed my hand encouragingly.

I still had knots in my stomach, but there was something about him that made me feel like it was going to be okay. I thought about Adam then, about how he had spent so long never knowing what was coming next, living with something absolutely terrifying around every corner. He always told me that men bond in the trenches in a way that defies anything else. Looking at Tyler, this kid who had been a total stranger to me until a few hours ago, I finally understood why.