“I’m sure.” Lando winked. “Eli’s dating a girl already.”
“Well then.” Violet clamped her mouth shut.
“They’ve been together two years, I think she said. She’s dating Sadie Bade.”
“Am I supposed to know who that is?”
Lando’s eyes widened as she dropped her clothes for the day on the bed. “Are you joking with me right now?”
“I don’t joke often.”
“You don’t know who Sadie Bade is?”
“Can’t say I do.” Violet pressed her lips together, sure she was about to get a lesson of her own.
“She’s a musician, but she’s also one very out and proud lesbian. She’s kind of the voice for a lot of our people.”
Violet bristled, though she tried to hide it from Lando. Luckily, Lando grabbed her clothes and was already walking toward the door.
“I’ll be right back.”
Relaxing as soon as she was alone, Violet brushed her fingers over her eyes. She was going to have to get used to being in such close quarters as someone else. That was the biggest adjustment she was having to make that week.
In under two hours, they were all packed into the Hummer, driving toward the tiny little storm Lando had discovered. Violet had opted to sit in the back and let Lando have the front, since it was her storm they were driving to. She tuned out most of what they were saying, but Diane’s tone grated on her nerves. She was overly flirtatious, again.
Eli had directed them to an area with a cliff facing west where they’d be able to watch the storm come in. Violet was somewhat giddy for it. Rarely did she have a storm she could observe without thinking about data or wind speeds or air pressures.
“I loved that photo you took the other day.” Diane’s voice was dripping with…something. It set Violet on edge. She’d heard this tone from Diane so many times, and it irked her every time. Annoying her to the point where she’d boil over with anger. Diane knew it, too, that was the worst part.
“Thanks,” Lando answered. “It wasn’t anything fancy. I only had my phone.”
“We should get you a good camera. Would you like that?”
“That’d be nice, but I thought you were in charge of taking photos.”
Diane giggled. “I am, but that’s when we’re going out to a real storm. This isn’t a storm.”
Violet clenched her jaw, grinding her molars. Every storm was a real storm, and while this one might not have as much danger to it than others, it could still be dangerous. Glancing through the side window, she caught sight of the clouds rolling in from the west. Lightning visibly struck the earth below it. It wasn’t overly bright in the mid-morning light, but they could still see it well enough because those clouds were dark.
Her heart raced at the thought of just enjoying a storm for what it was: power, strength, nature at its finest tantrum. Violet was lost in the thunderous clouds off in the distance.
“A storm is a storm, Diane. And I’m just as excited for this one as I was the last one,” Lando stated confidently. Lando’s defense of her little storm brought a smile to her lips.
She’d said the same thing to Diane before. Sometimes Violet wondered if Diane even liked storms or what she was even in it for. Some days Violet wondered if she should find her own team. Then she’d think about going chasing without Diane’s insane organizational skills and nix that idea. She wanted to be with her best friend, with the woman she loved. That was the entire purpose of that season, to tell Diane how she felt, to finally come out with it. Though that had sort of happened for her, but she still wanted to try and get the words out herself.
Diane pulled up at the cliff, and they were all out of the Hummer in seconds. Diane had the camera in her hands, and she took a few pictures before handing it to Lando. They huddled close together, their foreheads down toward the back of the camera as Diane taught Lando something about it. Violet tried to block it out, the age-old ache in the pit of her belly starting up again.
She hated when Diane did this, when she threw herself at other people. She tried to play off being the nicest most helpful person in the world, and sometimes she was. Violet wouldn’t deny that, but most of the time there was something for her underneath it all. Violet had forgotten that the last few years when they’d been out with Erik. He’d grown wise to Diane’s personality and didn’t feed into it anymore. Lando, however, was fresh meat.
Violet scuffed her foot against the ground, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she stood at the edge of the cliff. The sky was gorgeous. It darkened slowly, the sunlight unable to penetrate the clouds. Violet’s heart raced with the thoughts of what the storm would bring. Perhaps they would get hail with it, though she doubted it would be much.
She’d left the computer in the vehicle, the one thing that could tell her what to expect. Instead, she opted to just feel. Diane’s giggle disturbed her peace. Violet threw a look over her shoulder at them still huddled together and taking photos.
“That looks good! Try quickening the shutter speed.”
“All right.” Lando did as she was told, making adjustments on the camera before snapping another photo.
Violet had no idea what the shutter speed was set at, but she wouldn’t have lowered it much. It would make the photos dark and hard to see. It would take a lot of manipulation to bring it back to life. She preferred less manipulation and more natural photos as possible. But that wasn’t her expertise on the team any longer.