Rushed: Hushed Part 1

Hushed.

The Rushed Series.

Gina Robinson.

Prologue.

May 18, 1980.

Laura.

I was determined to get a golden glow to set off my white halter dress. And make it impossible for Rick to keep his eyes, and hands, off me when he got back tonight.

Sandy was lying next to me on the sun porch on her stomach. With her hair pulled up and the strings to her bikini top untied and sprawled out beside her to avoid tan lines.

"Squirt my back, will you?" Sandy turned her head to face me. "What are you and Rick doing tonight? If he makes it back."

I frowned at her. It was none of her business what we had planned. This might be the night. "Shut up. He'll make it back."

I hoped. I was still a little peeved with him for going home to Seattle for the weekend when summer vacation was looming dangerously close. Just another couple weeks until dead week and finals. Our relationship was barely older than that. Too new. Summer and separation had been known to kill much more established couples. I wouldn't lose Rick. I wouldn't. I was going to give him what he wanted. What I wanted, too.

But now, after months of geologists' empty promises, that stupid volcano had finally erupted. The news was full of dire predictions and stories of death on Mount St. Helens. Some old guy named Harry Truman had refused to leave and was presumed dead. Which was sad, of course. But right now I was worried about Rick driving back and the reports of roads closing between here and Seattle.

As I sprayed Sandy's back, the portable radio next to me crackled. I reached over to adjust the dial on the university-run station. Mostly it was DJ-free and played a tape of music in an endless loop. After a while I felt almost psychic as I began humming the next song in the rotation without thinking. "Dream Police" was on the tip of my brain as an announcer broke in with another volcano update.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special report. The ash cloud that has been blowing east on the jet stream and heading toward the university since the eruption of Mount St. Helens this morning has arrived!

"University staff and geologists have gotten the first glimpse of the ash cloud from the top of the physics building. Because health risks from breathing ash are unknown, students are advised to head inside and close all windows-"

I snapped the dial and turned the radio off.

Sandy shook her head, pretending to be bored with it all. But she was worried. Her body language gave her away.

A girl leaned out her dorm window above us and yelled down to those of us on the sun porch, "We can see the cloud from up here!"

A couple of girls next to us jumped up and headed inside.

Sandy sighed and reached behind to tie her top on. "How many times will a volcano erupt in our lifetime?"

I pulled on my bright yellow terry cloth jumper over my bikini, stood, and slid on my platform flip-flops. Sandy got to her feet.

On the top floor, half a dozen girls had gathered at the end of the hall by the only west-facing window. They silently stepped aside for us. I didn't understand their mood until I went to the window and saw for myself.

My heart stopped. The sky looked bruised, as if it had taken a beating at the hands of nature. Purple, green, and black, a cloud of sorts, though I'd never seen anything like it, rolled over the hills, taking all light with it. Blocking out the sun with complete darkness as it descended on the town and university like h.e.l.l itself had come calling.

"Rick," I whispered, suddenly understanding the panic spreading across the state. No one could see to drive in that blackness.

"Oh my G.o.d!" someone whispered. It was more a prayer than anything else. A plea to the Almighty to do something. Anything.

"So that's an ash cloud," the girl behind me said, as if she was finally getting it. We were all getting it.

More girls gathered behind me in an awed hush. The edges of the cloud moved toward us like an angry thunderstorm. But unlike an approaching storm, there was no smell of rain in the air. No wind blowing it in. No bursts of lightning. No claps of thunder. The air didn't cool like before a storm. Or when evening fell.

The cloud was not only in the sky, but on the ground. Denser than any fog. Powerful enough to laugh at the inability of the sun to penetrate it. Quiet. Calm. Frightening.

As the first gray flecks of ash began to fall, I grabbed Sandy's arm. "Come on! Let's get our stuff."

By the time we reached the sun porch, the birds were roosting, even though it was only three in the afternoon and the days were long in May. Twilight had already fallen, and with it, bits of ash. The lighting was eerie. Scary. It was like all sense of well-being in the world had disappeared.

Sandy held her hand out to catch some of the falling ash. "It's so weird. It looks like snow. I almost expect it to be cold, but it feels gritty, like sand."

"It is." I coughed on the thick air. "It's pulverized mountain."

The few diehards who'd stayed on the sun porch were grabbing their stuff and scrambling to get inside. My towel was already covered in a fine coating of light gray dust. I grabbed it and shook it out. Someone's radio was blaring the number of people missing and presumed dead in the eruption. Shaking, and trying to hide it, I picked up my radio and my tanning lotion and headed back into the dorm.

By the time I reached my room on the second floor, it was almost completely dark outside. I wanted to call the Tau Psi house and see if Rick had made it back. I needed to hear his voice. Hear him laugh and tell me I worried too much.

But the line in the hall outside the two phone carrels on my floor ran the length of the hall with girls waiting to call home. Some girls were crying. Others prayed.

I fought the urge to push them out of the way. Rick, where are you?

Becky, from 210, came out of one of the carrels and shook her head. "It's no good. The phone lines are overloaded. All circuits are busy. You can't get through. All you get is a fast busy."

I swallowed hard and flipped on my portable radio. We sat in the hall and listened in silence. Get inside. Stay off the phones. Leave them open for emergency situations.

Everything was stalled, including the news crews. No one knew anything new.

"Is the ash poisonous? Will we die, like the people in Pompeii?" one of the girls who was a notorious worrier asked.

"Shut up!" Sandy's eyes snapped. "We're still here. Still breathing. No one on the news said anything about dying."

I switched stations, looking for music, something cheery. Nothing but news was on. Even that stupid taped music on the university station had been replaced with constant volcano updates and repeated warnings to stay inside.

Two girls came up from the living room downstairs, where they'd been watching TV. They paused and listened to the radio. "They're saying the same thing on TV. It's all over the national news."

Our resident a.s.sistant Carla came through. "Close the windows! Make sure all the windows are closed! Every one. Don't run the bathroom fans! They bring in the outside air." She ducked into a bathroom to check on it.

The dorm wasn't air-conditioned. All closed up, it quickly grew hot and stuffy and tense inside.

I cracked. I couldn't take it anymore. "This is ridiculous." I sounded braver than I felt. "I'm not sitting around waiting for the worst to happen. Let's put some music on. Any requests?"

As I stood to go to my room to put a record on, the fire door at the end of the hall opened. Rick Butler strode through the door as casually as if it were an ordinary Sunday afternoon.

My heart stopped. My legs went weak.

Rick was Rick, heart-poundingly gorgeous. A total fox. Looking perfectly normal and relaxed. The same as usual, except for the white dust covering the hems of his faded, a.s.s-hugging jeans. Ash. A battered Tau Psi spring fling T-shirt skimmed his broad shoulders and showed off his perfectly formed biceps. His hair and those toned shoulders were covered in a film of light gray ash.

He had never looked so good. No one had ever looked so good. A ripple of giggles, whispers, and awe erupted among my dorm mates in the hall. I almost collapsed with relief at the sight of him.

When he spotted me, his face lit up, emphasizing the dimple in one cheek. Having only one dimple should have made his face lopsided. Instead it added character and made him all the more attractive.

My heart fluttered wildly. Standing there, staring at me as if we were the only two in the hall, he was as s.e.xy and confident as a rescuing white knight. G.o.d knew I needed a hero just then, someone reckless and unafraid of anything. How was it that he was always coming to my rescue?

d.a.m.n him. He had a way of stealing my breath just by being. His dark blue eyes danced with excitement, like being in the middle of a volcanic eruption was an epic adventure.

"You're back!" I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. "You're safe." I lifted my face to his. "You scared me. I was worried you'd be stranded in the ash. The news says it's clogging air filters and stalling cars all across the state."

"You shouldn't have worried. In my Camaro, I can outrun Satan." He grinned, but his eyes were apologetic as he stroked my cheek. "That d.a.m.n cloud must have been going at least seventy. I had the pedal to the metal the whole way back. I beat the storm to town by minutes."

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "I've been trying to call. The trunk lines have been busy since I arrived." He tipped my chin up and pressed his lips to mine.

I opened my mouth to him, like I'd opened my heart. So glad, so completely happy he wasn't stranded somewhere in the ash. Rea.s.sured. With Rick beside me, I was unafraid. The taste of beer on his tongue was as intoxicating as the heat of his body next to mine.

Rick is back! My heart danced at the thought.

I wanted to kiss and kiss and kiss him. To cuddle into his arms and never let go. To h.e.l.l with the ash. The world could completely crumble and it didn't matter now. Rick was back!

Eventually, I pulled away and pressed my head against Rick's chest, listening to the strong, steady beat of his heart.

"How long have you been back?" I let suspicion fill my voice. "Long enough to pound one down? You taste like beer."

He laughed, not looking even a tiny bit sorry or ashamed. "There's a party going on at the frat."

"Then what are you doing here?" I lifted my head and stared at him wide-eyed with admiration as I clucked my tongue. "It's not like you to miss a good party. And no one is supposed to go outside. You broke university rules."

He laughed. "Yeah? So what else is new." He leaned in and whispered, "I came to get you. You promised to come to the frat tonight and hang out. I'm not letting you back out because of a little thing like a volcanic eruption and stupid university scare tactics. Not when I drove like h.e.l.l to get back to you."

My heart skipped a beat. I couldn't keep a ridiculous grin off my face. Being this in love with him was dangerous business. "Anyone ever tell you you're crazy?"

"Every day." His eyes danced.

"According to the authorities, that stuff outside poses possible serious health risks, even death, eventually. They're saying it could cause cancer. We're not even supposed to open a window. The consequences could be deadly." I lowered my voice, mimicking the newscasters and their doom and gloom solemnity.

Rick laughed again and shook his head. "Do I look like I have the black lung?" His breath was hot in my ear. "They're just trying to control us by scaring us."

I put my hands on his shoulders. "I can't believe you risked your life to come see me."

I was teasing, of course, flirting, playing up to him. Inordinately pleased, almost euphoric. And relieved by his careless, fearless att.i.tude.

"Risked my life?" The whole situation seemed to amuse him. "Baby, I would risk my life for you. But this is nothing. I'm just here to rescue you from certain boredom."

He looked down the quiet hall. "Talk about dead. We have a keg and more half racks than you can count.

"The Tau Psis are having a volcano party!" he yelled over my shoulder to the girls loitering in the hall. "You're all invited."

He lowered his voice and focused his attention on me again. "Get your purse and let's go."

"But-"

He raised an eyebrow. "Afraid of a little ash?"

"No way!" I paused. Maybe I was a little afraid of going out in the stuff.

Rick made a sigh of exaggerated exasperation. "The university has more to worry about right now than you disobeying their martial-law-imposed curfew." He squeezed my hands. "Don't worry. I'll protect you from any big, bad enforcers on the way. Besides, it's dark as h.e.l.l out there. We'll be hard to spot from more than a couple feet away."

I bit my lip and hesitated. "You can find your way back?"

He grinned. "I'm like a bat. I can find my way back to the frat from anywhere by feel. I've done it dead drunk before."

I opened my mouth again to protest, but the s.e.xy look he gave me stopped me cold. If this was my last day on earth, I wanted to spend it with him. I nodded and pulled him by the hand to my room.

My roommate was out, leaving us alone in my room. He pulled me into a kiss as soon as I closed the door. I opened my mouth to him and kissed him back as he grabbed my a.s.s and rocked my crotch into his, showing me how hard he was for me.

"We could stay here," I whispered, trying to sound enticing.

"My roommate's spending the night at his girlfriend's." His eyes were round with desire and his voice was filled with innuendo.

My heart raced at the implication.

I nodded and pulled away to grab my purse and a sweater, even though it was still hot and stuffy inside.

He leaned in and whispered, "Grab a toothbrush. The ash cloud, and the party, could last all night."

I hesitated and swallowed hard.

His eyes sparkled with desire. "You promised you'd spend the night sometime soon. This could be our last chance." He grinned as he brushed a lock of hair out of my face, knowing full well he was taking advantage of the situation. "Who knows how dangerous that ash cloud could get?" His voice held a hint of tease and enough promise to make me feel tight and tingly all over.

I had promised. I never went back on my promises. I wanted to be with him so badly.

I nodded and grabbed my toiletries, threw them in my backpack, and took his hand. "Let's go."

He took the backpack from me and tossed it over one shoulder. At the front door of the dorm, he hesitated with one hand on the doork.n.o.b and one clutching mine, his eyes searching mine. "You're sure about this?"

I nodded. "I've never been more certain."

He brushed my lips with a light kiss and threw open the door, pulling me, laughing, into the darkness of the falling ash.

The air was oppressive with heat and heavy with ash. Foolishly, I inhaled too deeply and didn't cover my mouth. It was like breathing in the air behind a car driving down a dusty road. Only worse. The thick air burned on the way down. I choked on it and coughed.

Ricked had pulled the hem of his T-shirt up and held it to his mouth to screen out the ash. He stopped when I started coughing like a spaz. "You okay?"