The hurricane came and the three of us (Ned,Tim (yes, that Tim), and myself) prepared by buying lots of beer and Diet Coke for Ned. We left the sliding glass door open so as to hear the storm better. Rain blew all over the kitchen floor. I tried to stay up, sitting in the living room and listening to trees crashing down all around us; it seemed like one went down every minute or so. It was thrilling at first, but finally got too scary and I retreated to my tiny bedroom, which seemed safer in its smallness and one little window.
In the morning the destruction revealed itself. Many roads were impassable for fallen trees. The power and water was out for several counties. We all had the day off of work.
That night, we went to a party in Durham - everything was candlelit and the beer was kept in coolers. Later, Tim and Sara and I put little pieces of paper under our tongues until they dissolved and then stayed up all night walking around on pitch-black Chapel Hill streets. I remember buying orange juice at a store and some cops came in - we were so paranoid. The creek nearby was high, but invisible in the darkness. We hung out on a playground jungle gym and listened to the water rushing through its courses, over its banks. I pretended I was Cool Hand Luke all night ("I can eat 50 eggs!"). The next morning, on no sleep, we went to breakfast at Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe, but the yellow decor was too much for me and they had no coffee as the water treatment plant was out of order. I hallucinated a packet of viscous, Windex-blue jelly in my stomach which threatened to rupture at any moment. I had awful cramps and, of course, what felt like lockjaw.
Sara's eyes were bluer than any eyes I had ever seen. I told her so. I walked up behind her as she was looking at herself in a shop window and she sort of leaned back into me. I didn't know her all that well yet. It was probably the first time I had ever touched her. Later, Tim and I went home and slept the rest of the day away.
The next day, we drove to Graham and washed up in a gas station restroom and went to a movie at the old restored cinema they have there. I believe the movie was Independence Day.
