I woke early the next morning to my phone playing an urgent jingle. Two seconds later, my bed was rocking gently like a boat on the sea. It might have lulled me back to sleep but the rocking increased to a shaking, almost vibration. I cursed under my breath as I shot out of bed and sprinted to the door. My dad was doing the same from my parents' room, and he pounded down the stairs after me. 

Mom was already up and holding rattling dishes on their shelves.

“Take cover,” my father insisted, going to her and trying to pry her hands away. She settled for taking down her favourite family heirloom dishes and setting them on the floor as the shaking increased.

I knelt down, with my hands gripping the kitchen countertop, and watched with a sense of unreality as the quaking went on. Holding my breath and waiting for the house to fall. This wasn’t our first time, not even close, but each time we waited with bated breath until the quake proved not to be the final big one. The light ‌in the kitchen flickered then the shaking slowed to a stop. 

My parents hugged each other and I joined them, making it a group hug. We’d been spared again. It wasn’t the big one but big enough. 

“You can go back to bed,” Mom said to me.

“I’m awake now, I’ll stay up.” I took a deep breath, trying to slow my heart. My body ached like I’d just recovered from a major fall on the soccer field. “The rudest way ever to be woken up.” 

Everyone was bleary-eyed at work that day from interrupted sleep. My parents and I had watched the news that morning, and scientists warned that the morning quake was likely a precursor to a bigger one that could happen in the next forty-eight hours. A smaller quake occurred when I was in the middle of class. Following a couple of errant shrieks, everyone fell silent and listened to the room vibrate until it stopped.

I left class to pick Gabbie up for a walk home, as it was prime time to talk alone with her. But when I found her, her face was haunted.

“Are you all right?” I asked as soon as we were outside Motto. 

She shook her head. “I can’t stop thinking about it, the panic I felt this morning.”

“I know, it’s a terrible feeling,” I said. “Being woken up like that.”

“Victor said there’s an even bigger one coming?”

“Yep, there’s usually more than one. They come in clusters.”

“You’re way too calm about this,” she huffed.

I shrugged. “It’s part of life here. Aren’t there natural disasters in New Mexico?”

“Mostly wildfires, but they’ve never been in my bedroom. The earthquake felt so… widespread, like the whole country was shaking. There’s nowhere to run to even if I could run away.” 

“You know, we have an alarm system that goes off a few minutes before a big one. And buildings here are made to withstand the quakes.” 

“I know,” she agreed slowly, then looked up at me. “I’m afraid of the bigger one coming. Waking up to that alone, it was horrible.”

“Want me to stay with you?” 

She looked at me, silently pleading.

“Come on, are you hungry?"

She half shrugged. “Kinda.” 

"Let’s get dinner.” I dragged her by the arm down a side street to a Family Mart convenience store. She didn’t look around with any interest once inside, though. 

“I’ll get two of what I want, okay?” I said and grabbed two containers of katsu curry. I paid at the cash register, carried the bag out and we exited back to the street her apartment was on. 

She still hadn’t responded to me, listless. I tapped her hand with mine, inviting her to hold it if she wanted to. No response so I knocked her hand again and she flexed her fingers open. I grabbed her hand and pulled it to my side, squeezing it.

“Come on,” I said again. “Everything is going to be okay. I’m here.”

She squeezed my hand back tentatively.

I followed her up to the sixth floor of her building on foot as there was no elevator. She unlocked her apartment door and let me inside. Immediately, her concentrated scent hit me as I removed my sneakers in the genkan. She and her apartment smelled like a bakery mixed with the scent of clean laundry, which was disrupted as soon as I opened our katsu curry. They were already hot as the convenience store employee had microwaved them for us. We sat at her tiny table, Gabbie still looking upset and uninterested. 

“Starving is going to make you feel worse,” I chided as I scooted my chair over to her. I snapped apart a set of chopsticks and pinched up a bite-sized piece of the katsu with rice then turned her chin in my free hand. My touch made her snort and she obediently took the bite of dinner I held out to her. After she finished chewing she wiped her face resignedly with the back of her hand then took her set of chopsticks from me to continue eating. 

I dug into my own katsu once it was clear she would continue eating. 

“So, did you talk to Yuya again?”

Gabbie nodded solemnly. “He’s not happy that I went out with you.”

That caused a mix of emotions to boil in me. On one hand, I gloated that our time alone together had made Yuya jealous. On the other hand, it might drive him to pursue her even more. He hadn’t given up easily in the past.

“But you like me more than him anyway, right?” I asked, half-smiling.

“Well, actually, yes.” Gabbie glanced at me shyly. 

My heart thudded. I hadn’t expected her to answer sincerely. Heat rose from my collar. I cleared my throat.

A blush pinked her cheeks. “So is this date number two?”

“Only if you want it to be.” I put my chopsticks in my now-empty takeout container. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, though. I can take you out on a proper date after this.”

Her blush deepened. “Sounds nice.”

“Do you feel better now?”

“Mhmm.” She closed her takeout container and turned in her seat to fully face me. 

The apartment was quiet, and it dawned on me that my fantasy was coming into reality. I was alone with Gabbie, truly alone in private. We gazed at each other for a drawn-out moment, and I hoped desperately there was no sauce on my face.

If I had game, I could have leaned in to kiss her but it still seemed too early. 

“So um was class okay today?” I gathered up the garbage and shoved it into the bag, standing, and feeling slightly lightheaded. The floor tilted.

“It’s— ” Gabbie cut herself off at the same time I realized it was another quake. She shot up from her seat in a panic. 

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her under the table, ensuring both our heads were covered.

As the shaking subsided, we stood back up, Gabbie still close to me. She looked up at me, close to tears but not letting them fall. 

“Come here.” I opened my arms, inviting her in for an embrace. 

She stepped into it and I tucked her head under my chin, my other arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. The ground rumbled again. Gabbie groaned into my chest, so I squeezed her a bit more tightly.

“We’re okay.”

That quake was much smaller, but being up high in the apartment building probably made it feel worse than it was. Once it subsided, she stepped back from my arms, gazing up at me with eyes shining. Again, I really wanted to kiss her, but the timing was completely inappropriate.

“Let’s try and relax,” I suggested. “What’s your comfort movie?”

She chuckled. "Don't make fun of me, but Major League is one of my favourites.”

My eyes bugged out. “Why would I make fun of you? I love that movie.”

Her face lit up. “You do?”

“One of the best, I swear. I love 80's movies.”

“We had the VHS tape when I was little. I used to watch it every day after school.”

She threw herself onto the sofa and picked up the remote. I sat more carefully next to her, keeping a respectful yet still close gap between us. She shut off the living room light with another remote. Once the movie was playing, Gabbie leaned to her left with her head resting on my shoulder. I leaned against her too, trying to give her support though my heart raced for a moment at her touch. I hoped another aftershock wouldn’t startle her away. 

I woke up some time later to a noise from the television, Gabbie’s hair tickling my cheek. I wasn’t sure if the same noise or my sudden movement woke her up, but she groggily lifted her head. 

“We fell asleep,” I murmured stupidly. 

“Yeah.” Gabbie rubbed her eye. 

She was so warm against me, like a weighted blanket. To my surprise her gaze was trained on my lips. Was she thinking of kissing me too? I clamped my jaw shut so I wouldn’t say anything stupid and ducked my head slightly. She moved in, her lips glancing off mine, as if judging the distance, then coming back to fully press against my mouth. I felt the hard metal of her braces behind her lips and her breasts squishing against my chest. A hot thrill shot through me, starting from my mouth straight down to my groin. She was kissing me more, pushing me down against the sofa. I moved my arm from where it had lain across her shoulders so I could cup the back of her head, my other hand finding its way down her hip. The kiss deepened, and her sharp braces on my tongue shocked me. I had never kissed someone with braces before. Some Western girls could be more forward than what I was used to, I knew from my year in Canada, but damn!

She pulled away suddenly. “Okay, that’s enough. Watch the movie.” 

“Okay,” I said obediently, grinning like a fool.

She was half-lying next to me, half-on me at that point and rested her head on my chest. We fell asleep again like that, waking later to the menu on the TV, the movie long over. Gabbie peeled herself from our slightly sticky embrace, taking my hands with her.

“Come on, let’s go sleep in my bed,” she said.

“Are you sure? I can stay on the couch if you want.”

“You're very cute but stop playing dumb, please.” She yanked harder on my hands and I followed her without further protest.