She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 03

She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 03

When the movie ended, the rain had stopped, but the streets outside were flooded. The water was deep enough to reach my knees.

Auden handed me a bottle of water and allergy pills. “Take them.”

I stood there without moving.

He paused, then pushed two pills into his palm and twisted open the bottle. “Did you forget how bad your throat swelled last time? Don’t make people worry.”

I swallowed the pills and drank the water. My eyes stung.

One small act of kindness from him was enough to start wearing down all the resentment I had built up.

Auden crouched in front of me and rolled up the hems of my pants.

“It’s dark, and Bly still needs to go to urgent care and get home. The streets are flooded everywhere. It isn’t safe for her. I’ll go with her. You head home first and get some sleep. Don’t wait up.”

With that, he took Blythe’s hand and led her toward the escalator, disappearing into the crowd.

I froze for a moment, then chased after them. When I reached the steps by the entrance, I called out, “Auden.”

Auden had already lifted Blythe onto his back and stepped down into the floodwater.

My voice vanished beneath the noise of the crowd.

I stood on the steps until everyone else had gone. Then I stepped into the knee-deep water too.

Cold climbed from the soles of my feet all the way up my body. It was dark, and the water was deep. I stumbled forward, one uneven step after another.

I had not made it 20 yards before my foot suddenly missed the ground. I staggered hard, then fell straight into the floodwater.

Someone reached out and pulled me up. “Miss, it’s dark and the water’s this bad. Why didn’t you have someone come get you? It’s not safe to walk alone like this.”

My nose burned. “He had something more important to do.”

The rain started again, each drop falling harder than the last.

The stranger hesitated. “All right. Be careful, then.”

Rain slid cold down my face, but my eyes burned.

I kept walking like that, slipping and falling so many times I lost count, until I finally reached a shallower stretch of road.

Just as I let out a breath, my phone rang.

I pulled it out.

It was Auden.

“Tam, the streets are a mess,” he said. “Bly almost fell more than once. Thank God I was there. That water is freezing, and she’s already in pain from her cramps.”

He let out a low breath. “I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened.”

My nose stung again.

He continued, “Bly decided not to go home tonight. She’ll crash at a hotel. It isn’t safe for her to stay there alone, so I’m staying with her. Just letting you know. Don’t wait up.”

“Auds, come help me blow-dry my hair.”

Blythe’s voice came through the phone.

“Auden.” My voice broke before I could stop it.

The question I had not managed to ask on the theater steps finally came out.

“Did you think about me at all?”

The line went quiet.

“I was out there too. Alone. In the dark. Walking through knee-deep floodwater with an open cut on my calf.” My throat tightened. “Did that ever cross your mind?”

Only the rain answered me, hitting the pavement harder and harder.

Then the call went dead.

Blythe had asked him to dry her hair, so he hung up before I was even finished.

The next second, my phone rang again.

It was my mom.

“Tam, aren’t you and Auden coming over tomorrow for your dad’s birthday dinner? I wanted to ask what Auden wants to eat, so I can pick up groceries first thing in the morning.”

I clamped a hand over my mouth, forcing myself not to sob.

“Tam? Tam?”

It took me a long time to steady my voice.

“Mom,” I said. “He’s not coming.”