The thunder rolled in slowly- not a bang,but a low growing promise .
Riley stared at the celling,arms behind her head, earbuds in but no music playing .she couldn't sleep - not with the air feeling thick, like the storm was crawling through the walls.
A flash of lighting lit up the whole room in blue -white , followed by a long rumble that shook the windows.
From the other side of the room she heard movement - a soft thump a rustle of blankets.
Then Ava's voice , quite in the dark.
"Riley?"
Riley pulled one earbud out "what."
A pause.Ava sounded different than usual. Not smug. Not teasing.
"Do storms ever... freak you out ?" She asked.
Riley blinked." No, do they freak you out?"
A longer silence this time. Then: " Kinda."
Riley didn't answer.She stared at the celling again.
Outside the rain started - light at first,then pouring like it meant something.
Another boom of thunder cracked across the sky.
"I know it's dumb," Ava muttered, voice muffled in her blanket. " But when I was little a tree fell through the kitchen roof during a storm.I was alone."
Riley sat up slowly. "That was not dumb."
She could barely see Ava in the dark just a lump of her under the blanket and the soft glint of lipgloss left from earlier.
" You want me to shut up now ,don't you ?" Ava asked. " This is like, the part where you tell me to journal my feelings and put in earplugs."
Riley hesitated "No."
That caught Ava off guard. " No?"
Riley swang her legs over the bed and stood. She crossed the room without thinking and sat at the edge of Ava's bed.
" You're not the only one who can break character," she said.
Ava peeked out of her blanket " Is this....a truce ?"
Riley raised an eyebrow. " Temporary ceasefire. Till the storm ends."
Ava smiled soft and surprised. " Deal."
They sat like that for few minutes. Quiet listening to the rain.
No yelling.
No insults.
Just two girls in the dark, sharing space in a way that didn't feel like war.
And for a moment - a very brief, a very dangerous moment - Riley didn't hate it.