Unsettled, I took a few pictures of the broken clouds, all too aware of Ozrik a few feet away and the effect he had on my entire being. I was walking naked in class again, certain everyone saw what lived under my clothes, under my skin, inside my secret heart.
The guys searched for their probe. They talked and bantered and laughed. For a moment, I didn’t exist, and that was fine by me. Invisible was my preferred state of being.
When they returned to the vehicle and piled inside, Ozrik waved for me to go ahead of him. Vern and Elliott fit a device into a padded case. The device was covered in mud and bits of grass.
“Is that a turtle?” I asked.
“Yep. The EOS,” Vern said. “Isn’t she a beauty?”
I nodded, a gesture that did nothing to convey my amazement and mild jealousy. An EOS, or Eye of Sauron, turtle probe was a scientific device used to collect data in the eye of a storm. It had 360-degree recording capability and took a wide range of readings. Data from these probes could be used to improve forecasting.
I wondered if Olivia knew Twisted Fates had something like that. I had so many questions, and if I was a different person,a braver person, I might have asked them, but my social skills were nonexistent.
Back in the vehicle, I hugged my camera with a sudden urge to be at home in the darkroom, developing photographs. Guilt and shame rode on its coattails.
At one point, I checked my phone again. Still no signal. Was Olivia looking for me? Had they gone home without me? Did anyone realize I’d been left behind? Was it on purpose?
The drive back to Oklahoma was long, and although everyone else found something to occupy themselves, Ozrik seemed only to be interested in me. I was a specimen under a microscope. A butterfly pinned to a board, unable to get away. I sat perfectly still and endured, avoiding his gaze at all costs. What if he saw lust in my eyes? What if he sensed in me those very things that made guys like him hostile toward me? What if he called me out?
I thought of the pictures I’d taken and wanted to vomit. Squirm. Close my eyes.
“Hey, Gale,” Vern said, shaking me from a borderline panic attack. “Does Olivia have a boyfriend?”
“Shut up, Vern,” Ozrik snapped.
“What? It was a question. I was doing my bro a favor.”
“Yeah, maybe don’t.” The snap in Ozrik’s tone made me tense. It was the first time I’d heard him sound truly angry.
“Dude, if you want dirt, who better to ask?” Vern waved a hand in my direction.
Ozrik shot his friend a venomous glare.
Vern raised his hands in supplication. “Fine. Never mind. I was only trying to help.”
Was Ozrik interested in Olivia? I was reminded of the way he’d checked her out at CineVision a few weeks ago. It would figure.
A stone of disappointment formed in my belly. It was stupid for a million reasons, not the least being that I was too cowardly to admit who I was, even to myself. Never mind that I’d onceconsidered a life of celibacy. Never mind that someone like Ozrik Devereaux wouldn’t even notice someone like me, and that was assuming he was interested in men at all, which Vern’s comment seemed to imply he wasn’t.
To my horror, the silence in the car broke, and I became the subject of conversation.
At first, their questions were focused on my education.
Where had I gone to school? What was my official degree? This led to the annoying and inevitable confusion over the difference between meteorology and atmospheric science. I stumbled through an explanation before getting bombarded with more questions.
“Do you work in the field?” Vern asked.
“No.”
“At a research facility?” Lex inquired.
“No.”
“You’re a real chatterbox,” Elliott said, laughing.
I looked out the window, wishing we were closer to home.
Ozrik’s inquiry came next. “What’s with the photography gig you mentioned?”
