Free Force of Nature by Sydney Logan Page A

safe.”
    Sighing with
relief, she grabbed me by the shoulders and hugged me tight.
    “Promise you’ll
go down to the basement if things get too rough?”
    “I promise.”
    She had barely
stepped outside when the lights flickered, followed by the deafening moans of
students who had just lost whatever they’d been typing on their laptops.
    I glanced toward
the back window and watched as Aiden pulled his headphones out of his ears and
closed his computer. I busied myself by alphabetizing some magazines for
absolutely no reason at all. It was my futile attempt to keep my eyes focused
on anything but him as he walked to the door. Unfortunately, he headed straight
toward the counter, and I had no choice but to say hello.
    “Rumor has it
there’s a storm coming,” he said.
    “So I’ve heard.
Headed back to your dorm?”
    His eyes
searched my face for a few seconds.
    “I’m not sure.
Are you?”
    I shook my head.
“We don’t close until nine.”
    “You don’t think
a tornado warning and an empty library is enough incentive to close early?”
    “Not according
to Ms. Abbott.”
    Maggie Abbott
was our sixty-year-old librarian who didn’t believe in closing for any reason.
    “So it’s sort of
like going down with the ship?” Aiden grinned.
    “That’s exactly
what it’s like,” I said, laughing. He chuckled, too, and the sound was sweet.
“Besides, I’m not too concerned. These storms tend to fizzle out before they
hit campus.”
    “And there’s
always the basement, right?”
    “Right.”
    He leaned his
elbows against the counter. “What will you do if the electricity goes out?
    “We have
emergency lights,” I said, pointing toward the little domes in the ceiling.
“Plus, I have a drawer full of flashlights and batteries.”
    Despite my brave
front, I still jumped when the warning alert bellowed from the multimedia room
again.
    “I’ll go check
it out,” he said.
    The power was
sure to go out eventually, so I grabbed two flashlights out of the drawer and
checked the batteries. Moments later, Aiden returned, and the last of the
students headed toward the door and out into the torrential rain.
    “The storm is
headed right toward us,” he said. “I think we’re the only two left.”
    “I should
probably check the building to be sure.”
    He nodded toward
the flashlights. “Give me one of those. I’ll search upstairs.”
    I smiled.
“That’s really nice of you to offer, but you should probably get back to the
dorm in case the weatherman actually gets it right this time.”
    “Are you
staying?”
    “Yep.”
    Aiden grabbed a flashlight.
“Then I’m staying with you. I don’t want you to be alone if the storm hits.”
    He flashed me a
crooked smile and headed up the stairs before I could argue.
    I searched the
first floor. Finding it deserted, I headed toward the multimedia room and shut
down the computers. The television was blaring, so I grabbed the remote and
turned it off. We had a weather radio on the counter and in the basement, so
we’d at least have some type of communication even if we lost power.
    “The wind is
really picking up out there,” Aiden said as he made his way back downstairs.
“We won’t have electricity for long, I don’t think.”
    On cue, the
lights flickered once, and then again, before going out for good. We switched
on our flashlights at the same time just as the emergency lights kicked on
overhead.
    “Am I awesome or
what?”
    I smirked.
“Impressive. Let’s take a look outside.”
    He followed me
toward the door. The storm really had intensified, and I found myself having to
push with a little more force than normal to get the door open. Aiden helped,
and as he leaned forward, his chest brushed against my back, sending shivers up
my spine.
    “Sorry,” he
whispered close to my ear.
    “It’s okay.”
    He remained
close as we looked across the quad. It was just late afternoon, but the sky was
a shade of sickly green that made my skin crawl. Hail, the size