“And where exactly do you think we’re going to go? Home? Because I don’t think anyone brought their ice skates,” Delilah fires back, equally as annoyed, if not more so.
Rat Boy huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes.
I swear, if I have to spend the whole night in his proximity I’m shoving his ass in the lab supply closet with all his relatives. It’ll be like he never missed a minute of Thanksgiving.
Looking determined, Tracy skids around the corner with a flashlight, even though it’s still daylight and everything is visible inside the building with all the large floor-to-ceiling windows. She makes her way to the center of the crowd, then stands on top of one of the side tables to make herself more visible.
“All right, everyone!” she calls, trying to gain everyone’s attention by waving her arms above her head. “It looks like we’re going to be stuck here for a while, but don’t worry, the science department has some water bottles, granola bars, and flashlights to get us through however long we’re going to need to stay here. If there is an emergency, I and some of the staff are going to be in our offices just down the hall,” she informs us, acting as if she’s taken on the role of the main character in a postapocalyptic movie. “Just hang in there and we’ll be out of here in no time,” she chirps before hopping down from the table and heading back to the offices.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Delilah mumbles sarcastically, giving a less-than-halfhearted two-finger salute.
She turns to Olivia. “Have you talked to your parents?”
“Yeah, Mom just made it home, but it looks like Dad’s going to be stuck at the store. At least the store has electricity. For now. If it goes out, though, I’m pretty sure there are some battery-powered space heaters in stock, thankfully.”
“Speaking of that,” Delilah says, shifting around in the chair to slide on her winter coat. “How long do you think it’ll be before we freeze our asses off?”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Olivia groans, pulling her coat tighter around her body.
Instinctively, I drape my arm over her shoulders and pull her into my side to provide her warmth. Delilah grins, her brows rising suggestively, and while I don’t look at Rat Boy, I can practically feel the steam rolling off of him. Maybe if I piss him off even further we’ll have heat for the whole damn building. Problem solved.
On a serious note, I can’t help but worry about Olivia as night approaches. I know her tall, willowy frame won’t retain a lot of heat, and there’s only so much body heat and layers I can provide her. If we’re without power for the rest of the night, we’re all fucked.
“We can go to my apartment,” Rat Boy suggests, looking solely at Olivia. I don’t think hisweincluded either me or Delilah. “It’s less than a half a mile from here.”
“Again,” Delilah chimes in dryly, “how are you going to get there?”
“Walk,” Rat Boy says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Delilah snorts. “Okay. I’m pretty sure Liv would rather stay here than freeze to death trudging to your apartment in the ice, with the possibly of breaking a bone.”
At least she said it and not me. Thank you, Delilah.
“We’d be fine,” he spits, throwing her a glare.
“Oh yeah? If it’s that easy, run to your place and bring us back some blankets, will ya?” Delilah counters, and the two of them bicker back and forth, Delilah clearly having the upper hand.
Olivia lets out a tired sigh, mildly surprising me by closing her eyes and laying her head on my shoulder. I stroke her hair, marveling at the silky smooth caramel-colored strands.
A couple of hours in everyone is bored out of their minds, and have resorted to using the flashlights Tracy handed out as the sky faded to black. Some kids sit on the floor, playing with them by making shadow puppets on the walls while others use theirs to explore and scope out a place to sleep tonight. Everyone is using whatever furniture is available as a makeshift bed.
Everyone has also slipped on their winter gear, the heat in the building significantly dropping. Olivia has her gloves on, and is struggling to tear open the wrapper of her granola bar. I gently take the food from her hands, using my ungloved hands to open it for her.
“Thanks.” She nibbles on it, looking down at my bare hands with concern. “You didn’t bring any gloves. Are you sure you don’t want your jacket back?” she asks, already trying to hand me the jacket that Brennen returned to me this morning. I draped it over her about an hour ago.
“Nah, Finch. I’m all right,” I assure her, securing my jacket back over her.
She frowns. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m all right,” I lie. It’s fucking freezing in here, but I know she needs it more than I do.
Her frown deepens and then her eyes widen as if a light bulb just went off inside her head. “Are you sure? I can check if Professor Cooper has a blanket in her office or something. I don’t think she’d mind if I borrowed it.”
“You have a key to Professor Cooper’s office?” Delilah asks, stunned.
Olivia looks away nervously. “Yeah.”
“Why am I even surprised,” Delilah mutters under her breath. “I told you, that woman’s in love with you.”
