A few weeks later, Nile, Dom, and some friends decided to take advantage of the upcoming meteor shower, planning a stargazing trip into the Angeles Crest Mountains. The event was meant to be a casual, relaxing evening under the stars, a prelude to Spring Break. But, as with most of their plans, it had quickly spiraled into something far more ambitious.

Rick and David Brocnes, better known around campus as “the Twins,” were seniors from back east. Tailgating was practically encoded in their DNA, and the idea of stargazing without some kind of party was, as Rick had declared, “a criminal misuse of the night sky.” Together with their girlfriends, Nicky Briten and Jacky Larson -the dynamic duo co-captains of the high school cheer squad- they had launched a full-blown promotional campaign for what was supposed to be a “small gathering.”

By the night of the event, their “small gathering” had snowballed into a full-scale phenomenon. Traffic on the mountain roads was bumper-to-bumper as hordes of students and random party-seekers converged on an old, abandoned ski resort about an hour from the city. The site was one of the few places spacious enough to accommodate the chaotic assembly of cars, grills, coolers, and the raucous energy of tailgaters who had never even heard of the Perseids.

Nile and Dom had originally planned to drive up together, but Nile had gotten an emergency computer repair call earlier that day. Ever since they had unofficially become the guardians of what Dom now called Canine Castle, Nile had taken on as many extra jobs as he could handle. His internship at S.E.C. (Software and Electronics Co.) made him indispensable to the team, and his bosses often let him call the shots. For a high schooler, he was pulling in respectable money -enough to support their four-legged freeloaders, anyway.

Dom knew Nile’s ambition and genius would take him far, but for tonight, it left her carpooling with Nicky and Jacky, who, despite their wildly different personalities, had been her closest friends for years.

The drive, however, was testing even the strongest of bonds.

After sitting in traffic for what felt like an eternity, frustration filled the car like an overinflated balloon. The glow of headlights stretched endlessly along the winding road ahead, and the occasional honking horns only added to the irritation.

“What the eff? Where did all these people come from?! I mean, jeez, c’mon already!” Nicky exclaimed, her exasperation bubbling over as she leaned across Jacky to lay on the car horn.

Dom couldn’t help a dry chuckle. “Umm, you invited them, remember?” she said, her tone equal parts amused and sarcastic.

Nicky paused, then burst into laughter. “Oh yeah! Right! Do we know how to promote or what? Right on!” She and Jacky shared a flawless high-five without taking their eyes off the road.

The mood lightened for a moment until Nicky glanced at Dom through the lowered makeup mirror. Her perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched, and a mischievous grin spread across her face. “So, D’, what’s the deal with you and Nile, huh?” she asked, her tone dripping with intrigue.

Dom froze mid-eye roll, already anticipating where this was going. Jacky joined in, her curious eyes meeting Dom’s in the rearview mirror as she added fuel to the fire. “Yeah, D’. Now that you’re back, like, for good, are you and he finally going to, you know…”

The two cheerleaders exchanged a look, then in perfect unison twined their fingers together in exaggerated enthusiasm. “Get together?!”

Dom groaned, sinking into her seat. “Yeah, right! Come on, seriously. Nile?! No way. Yuck, I mean, ugh. He’s like… so immature, and he’s, well, he’s-”

“Cute?” Jacky interjected smoothly.

“Hot?” Nicky chimed in, her grin widening.

“Available?” they finished together, the synchronization so seamless it might as well have been a cheer routine.

Dom glared at them, but her indignation only made their laughter louder. “What?! We’re just saying,” Jacky teased, turning her attention back to the road.

“Hell, girl,” Nicky said, spinning in her seat to face Dom fully. “If I wasn’t with David, I’d so take a ride down the Nile, if you know what I mean.”

“Slut!” Jacky giggled, swatting Nicky on the shoulder. “What we’re trying to say is that you two are perfect together. So why not?”

Dom sighed, her frustration tinged with confusion she wasn’t ready to unpack. “Because… it just doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t make sense. We don’t make sense. I mean, we’ve been friends since before kindergarten. There’s no way he and I are ever going to ‘get together,’ as you so eloquently put it. He’s my best friend.”

Nicky and Jacky made exaggerated pouty faces that Dom tried to ignore. Raising her hands in mock surrender, she added, “Besides you two, of course. And anyway, I highly doubt he has any interest. He’s never once looked at me as anything other than his friend-next-door.”

There was a flicker of something - regret? - in Dom’s voice, but she pushed it aside. Unfortunately for her, Nicky and Jacky picked up on it instantly, exchanging a knowing glance. Without missing a beat, Jacky flipped on the radio, the car filling with the smooth voice of the local DJ transitioning into the nightly weekend weather forecast.

“Residents and visitors across the New Los Angeles Basin should keep an eye to the sky this evening as a locally severe thunderstorm is in the forecast... That’s right, folks, if you’re heading out to see one of the greatest meteor showers of the year, you’re going to have to travel perhaps as far north as Mount Pinos or east to Joshua Tree this year, as the unexpected storm front appears to be settling in, causing severely limited visibility… In other news, it looks like Bieber Fever all over again, as J2’s debut single ‘Without a Limit’ tops the charts this week at number one, having sold over 100 million copies within its first day of release. And while it may be just one of many new releases this spring, it’s already looking to be the greatest hit of the year…”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Jacky shut off the radio with a definitive click, and the car fell silent. The three girls exchanged wary glances, their shared unease palpable in the confined space. Slowly, as though compelled, their gazes turned to the windows, where roiling black clouds advanced overhead like a tide of ink spilling across the sky. The faint outline of stars, so visible just moments ago, was swallowed by the storm’s encroaching shadows.

Dom’s breath hitched as an inexplicable wave of foreboding washed over her, sending a shiver up her spine. It wasn’t the simple dread of a ruined evening -it was something deeper, darker. She scanned the horizon, the jagged silhouettes of the mountains etched against the bruised sky. The oppressive weight of the storm seemed to press against her chest.

“Great,” Nicky said, her voice breaking the spell. “There goes that idea…” She shrugged, the picture of nonchalance, and forced a grin. “At least we still get to have a phenomenal party!”

“Could this get any better?” Dom muttered under her breath, shaking off the creeping unease. If she couldn’t banish the storm clouds, she could at least lighten the mood. Summoning her best gravelly voice, she launched into an exaggerated parody of a movie trailer narrator.

“‘On a dark and stormy night, a small group of friends decide to have a party at an abandoned ski resort. Only, they weren’t expecting to run into… THE BUG MAN OF ANGELES CREST.’” She leaned forward, fingers clawed menacingly, before finishing with a dramatic, “DUN DUN DUNNN!”

Jacky and Nicky stared at her for a beat before dissolving into laughter. Even Dom cracked a smile, though her humor had taken a slightly macabre edge.

Jacky, still giggling, shot Dom a teasing grin. “But sweetie, you’ll be there to protect us from the big bad Bug Man, right? With your super-black-belt-karate-ninja skills, no one would be stupid enough to mess with us. Isn’t that right, Nicky?”

Nicky nodded emphatically, her expression mock-serious. “Absolutely. Dom’s got our backs. She could take out a Bug Man in, like, three moves.”

Dom rolled her eyes, though her lips twitched in amusement. “Actually, it’s Monkey Boxing, which is a style of Kung Fu, not Karate. But yeah, I guess I’m pretty ninja.”

“Pretty ninja?” Nicky repeated with a snort. “Girl, you’re about as ninja as someone who learned to fight from watching YouTube tutorials.”

Dom gasped in mock offense. “I’ll have you know that my skills are highly legit, thank you very much.” She blew on her nails and buffed them on her shoulder with exaggerated flair. “And besides,” she added, her tone turning playful, “what better way to get up close and personal with a man than to do a bit of roughhousing?”

The scandalized looks on Nicky and Jacky’s faces were worth every second of the tease. Dom laughed, shrugging nonchalantly. “Hey, I said we were best friends, not that I was blind. And for the record, you two have been to enough of our classes to know I don’t mess around.”

Jacky groaned dramatically. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Are we seriously still on the hook for those classes this weekend?”

Dom grinned, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “Relax. You promised you’d get back to classes once cheer was under control, remember? If you still need more time, no worries. But eventually, you’re both getting black belts. Then little old me won’t have to defend your pretty butts anymore.”

The two girls exchanged sheepish looks, their guilt momentarily tempered by Dom’s teasing.

But Jacky’s grin faded as her gaze drifted back to the window, her expression turning pensive. The storm clouds loomed closer now, their edges tinged with an eerie greenish hue. Lightning flickered in the distance, followed by a low rumble of thunder that seemed to vibrate through the car.

“You don’t think that thing is real, do you?” Jacky asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What thing?” Dom asked, though she already suspected the answer.

“The Bug Man,” Jacky replied, still staring out at the ominous sky. “Like, there’ve been strange sightings in the mountains, you know?”

Dom couldn’t help but smile, though she made sure to keep her tone reassuring. “Relax, that’s just an urban legend. The Bug Man doesn’t exist. He’s just a story to scare kids off the back roads -perfect for letting delinquents like us run wild.”

“I don’t know,” Nicky said, hugging herself. “I know someone who swears they almost ran him over a couple of years ago. She said it scared the hell out of her.”

Dom let out a dramatic sigh, determined to keep the mood light. “Oh, come on. Next, you’ll be telling me you believe in the monster under your bed.”

Nicky’s lips quirked in a small, mischievous smile. “Of course, I do. His name’s Fred.”

The laughter that erupted in the car was almost enough to chase away the lingering tension. Almost. Another roll of thunder swept across the mountains, this time closer, louder. The wind howled, shaking the car slightly, and for a moment, none of them spoke.

Dom glanced out at the horizon again, her brow furrowing. The storm wasn’t just unexpected -it felt wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the way the clouds churned, the way the air seemed to hum with electricity, set her on edge.

A faint shimmer rippled across her vision, like heat rising off pavement, and a translucent notification window blinked into existence just above the dashboard.

System Alert: Environmental Anomaly Detected

Category: Atmospheric Disturbance

Status: Active

Effects: Electrical interference, high winds, visibility reduction.

Recommendation: Caution advised. Potential escalation to Tier 2 event.

Would you like to analyze further?

[Accept] [Dismiss]

Dom blinked, startled by the sudden system notification. She hadn’t seen one since the Nightmare incident weeks ago, and part of her had almost convinced herself the whole “system” thing had just been a weird stress-induced hallucination. But here it was again, its sleek, futuristic design impossibly out of place in the cramped, slightly messy car.

Her hand hovered instinctively toward the [Dismiss] option – a habit born of ignoring pop-ups on Nile’s computer. But something stopped her. Instead, she tapped [Accept] in her mind, and the notification expanded.

Environmental Anomaly Analysis: Tier 1 Scan Initiated

…

…

Scan Complete.

Event Type: Unknown Storm Front

Energy Readings: Elevated

Probability of Natural Occurrence: 23%

Anomalous Factors: 77%

Warning: Unidentified energy signatures detected.

Possible correlation with localized ley line activity.

New Quest Unlocked: Eyes on the Storm

Objective: Investigate the source of the anomaly.

Reward: +XP, +1 Insight, ???

Dom exhaled sharply, her heart pounding as the quest window hovered in front of her. Eyes on the Storm? Seriously? She darted a glance at Nicky and Jacky, both oblivious to the glowing interface floating in her line of sight. Her friends were laughing and chatting as if the most pressing matter of the moment was whether they’d find a decent parking spot at the party.

“Not now,” Dom muttered under her breath, willing the system to go away.

Quest Response Logged: Postpone Active Engagement. Event Monitoring Activated.

The window flickered out, but the sense of unease it left behind lingered. Dom clenched her fists, her mind buzzing with questions she didn’t want to answer -not here, not now.

Still, she shook off the thought. Tonight wasn’t the night to dwell on shadows or storms. Tonight was for meteors, parties, and, if she was lucky, keeping her friends out of trouble.

“Well,” she said, forcing a grin, “if Fred and the Bug Man decide to show up, at least we know one thing.”

“What’s that?” Jacky asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.

Dom smirked, her tone dripping with mock bravado. “They won’t stand a chance against Monkey Boxing Ninja Girl.”

The laughter returned, lighter this time, as they pulled into the makeshift parking lot at the ski resort. The storm might have been closing in, but for now, their spirits were high -and Dom was determined to keep it that way.