The Only Exception

The roaring thunder and cracking lightning shakes the windows. Rain pours from the sky, pounding against the dirt, creating a beat of beautiful music. I close my eyes and I can almost feel the vibrations of nature. It shakes me to the core and I smile because I love storms.

And when I open my eyes, that beautiful stranger of mine is sitting across from me with his head in his hands, eyes shut and smiling just like me. He lets out almost a relieved kind of sigh and turns to me. I bite my lip and try to pretend that I wasn’t just staring at him.

He smirks and leans towards me, asking in that low voice of his that could send a shiver down anyone’s spine, “Are you in high school?”

I nod. “Yeah, I’ll be 18 soon…how old are you?”

The boy chuckles softly and shakes his head. He looks out towards the dark sky that’s blocking out the sun and asks, “How old do you think I am?”

“19,” I reply without hesitation because in all honesty, that’s how old I think he is. He looks so young and when I see him look at me with a grin, I know I’m wrong and my jaw drops. “Younger?”

He shakes his head.

“No way, you can’t be a day over 19!”

“Flattery won‘t get you anywhere,” he laughs, throwing his head back in amusement. He leans forward to face me and I nearly fall out of the booth when I hear him say how old he is. “I’m 23.”

With wide eyes, I stare at him in awe because, I can’t believe it. 23? There’s no way. He doesn’t look a day over 19. But I guess the saying is true, never judge a book by its cover. And suddenly, I feel a bit odd because he’s actually five, almost six years older than me and here I am with my little “stalker like crush” on him.

“Here you are,” Nina says, breaking the silent atmosphere between us by placing two plates of steaming hot food before us. I inhale the intoxicating scent through my nose and salivate just thinking of the absolutely delicious food.

And it’s like a routine and I’m not surprised at all that we eat in silence. But I can feel his eyes on me and I know he can feel mine on him. Neither of us stop though, even if we get caught looking by the other, we continue to sneak peeks. I don’t think his peeks are the same as mine, though.

I continue to look at him out of curiosity. I continue to look at him because he’s absolutely stunning and I just want to know so much but at the same time, keep him a mystery to myself. It’s kind of like a game where I have to guess and try to find out everything and it’s nice. I’m enjoying it but isn’t it rude to think that? To think that he’s a game? I bite my lip.

When we finish the storm isn’t nearly as bad. The music created by thunder and lightning can no longer be heard but the soft pitter patter of the rain against pavement, against glass, and against nature can still be heard. It seems to echo throughout my skull so that nothing else around me really exists. My eyes focus on him across the table and he seems to be staring off into space with this look of slight frustration but when he realizes my eyes are on him, it disappears.

Dark eyes that could put anyone into a trance stare me down like a cat would its prey. The stare sends a slight shiver down my spine and I rub my neck, feeling the hairs standing at attention. I avert my eyes elsewhere and try to think of something, anything to say but nothing seems to come to mind because I really do know nothing about this man…

So wouldn’t it be logical to ask him? Shouldn’t I just ask what he likes and doesn’t like? That way we can actually have a conversation, that is, if we have anything in common. I hope we do.

And suddenly there’s a loud clap and everyone inside the diner jumps. All our eyes look outside to see the blaring winds, ripping limbs off tree’s and sending them through the air. Purple lightning shoots throughout the sky, dancing together to the beat of the thunder and I watch, mesmerized because, like I said earlier, I really do love storms.

“My parents use to tell me that when it thundered God was bowling,” he snickers, catching my attention. I look away from the beautiful sight, only to see something much greater. “I believed them for the longest time and told all my friends about it…I think they only did it so I wouldn’t get frightened.”

“Really?” I mumble more to myself than him. “That’s cool…” Mine use to tell me to suck it up and take it like a man, stop crying. “I use to be scared of them. I always thought I’d get hit or a tree would topple over and squash me like a bug.”

He snickers. “You are quite small. A tree would definitely squish you into a pancake.”

“Hey!” I shout, throwing a finger in his face. Mother use to tell me it’s rude to point and she’d grip my finger and bend it back until I’d beg for her to stop. She told me never to point at her or anyone or she’d break it and maybe, if she were here, I wouldn’t have pointed but she isn’t so I did. “I can’t help it if I’m small! Besides…the girls think it’s cute.”

“I bet they do.” He scoffs in slight amusement. “Because all girls love small men.”

“I have a feeling you weren’t talking about my height…”

“Teenagers.” He shakes his head at my devilish grin. “You’re all so immature.”

“Hey, don’t talk like you’re some old man. You were a teen four years ago,” I tease, twirling my fork in his face like that’s supposed to somehow make him remember the “good old days.”

“Eh…” He shrugs his shoulders and pulls out his wallet. I watch as he flips it open and pulls out a twenty for the bill and a five for the tip. He lays the money on the table and gets to his feet. Looking towards me, he gestures towards his car just out side. “It’s getting late. We better get going.”

“Buzz kill.” I pout but he simply shakes his head and walks ahead of me. I get to my feet and slowly follow, until we reach outside to the pelting rain and I bolt for the passenger door.

The ride back is silent and short. We reach his house, my once sanctuary, in no time. And when we pull into his drive way and he kills the engine I look towards him with a thankful smile because although he didn’t know it, he just saved me from spending time with my beloved parents. Even if it was just for a little while.

“Thanks, you didn’t have to pay.”

“I figured a brat like you wouldn’t have any money.” He shrugs, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips. He lights it up like he’s been doing it for years, which by what I’ve seen is probably true.

I scowl. “I’m not a brat.”

“You’re probably still waiting for your balls to drop.” He exhales the smoke with a far too smug expression on that cool face of his. And I’m tempted to smack it off but at the same time, keep it there, because it’s kind of…how do I say…seductive? Um…lets not tell him that though.

“You’re an ass,” I state and I cross my arms and bring up my hand to swat the smoke away, which is swirling around in this cramped car. And I begin to wonder why we haven’t gotten out yet but I won’t question it because I'd rather stay here than go back to that house.

“So I’ve been told.” He rolls down his window and flicks the now useless bud to the ground. He sighs and leans back into the chair with his eyes closed. “You better get going while the rain has stopped. Don’t want you getting sick.”

I look outside to see that the rain has indeed slowed and I realize that he’s right. So I sigh and step out of the car at the same time he does. We send each other a smile and he goes to his door while I go to mine. And just as I reach out for the handle, it hits me, so I turn quick and see that he’s just about to close the door and I know that if I don’t do this now I might not ever so I take a deep breath and shout over the wind and the rain, “Hey! You never told me your name!”

The man looks at me and I can hardly see him. His face, his entire being is distorted by the rain, which is once again picking up. And I stand there, letting it soak me to the bone and allow the wind to bite at my exposed flesh just because I need to hear his answer.

And somehow, I can’t hear the rain or the wind. All I can hear is his deep voice shouting back the one thing I wanted to know most and when I finally hear it, I smile.

“Harper! My name is Simon Harper!”

His name. I’ve finally got…his name.