Distant Whipping Winds

Minutes ticked by slowly becoming hours as Kenny and Nicole made their way up their hiking path. They'd occasionally take their eyes off one another to make sure they were still following the marked trail, but beyond that, the two barely took their eyes off one another. Their time was spent in conversation, diving a little deeper into one another, and learning exactly who they were friends with, something they once thought they knew already but quite clearly had a lot to learn. "I feel like an idiot, I never knew you used to be on the volleyball team," Kenny smirked with a shake of his head,

"Ken, I was fucking honor roll, super sweet, good girl up until sophomore year," Nicole laughed back, "I did volleyball, after school tutoring, fuck I even went to some dumb ass science camp freshmen year," Nicole thoughtfully continued,

"So...what changed then?" Kenny asked with a small tilt of his head,

"What you think I'm a dumb bimbo now?" Nicole shot back in a playful tone,

"Oh quit deflecting," Kenny chuckled while giving the girl the lightest of shoves with his hand, "Serious, how does one go from...science camp, to party rocker?"

"One grows breasts," Nicole sarcastically replied as she brought her hands up and gave her large twins and a short shake, "Started growing a lot during my time at camp that summer, and by the time school started back up, these puppies were fully grown," Nicole explained only to giggle and shake them again when she noticed the slight blush on Kenny's cheeks,

"Alright, alright, you can stop that now," Kenny hummed with a slow roll of his eyes, doing his best to keep them off Nicole's body, "So you got boobs and just stopped caring about school?"

"There was more to it than that, I...had some other changes in my life, I found my music, met some other friends besides Anna, got to know Devin, and then of course I -- h-honestly this story is fucking boring," Nicole abruptly said with a quick clear of her throat, "What about you, what the fuck did you do in your free time when I wasn't forcing you to come to a party with me,"

Kenny felt a bit curious by the sudden change of subject but decided to not push it, "Honestly, I don't know what to say, I was...pretty boring? I spent most of my days after school just hanging out with JJ, Mindy, or Will. I never had the urge to do much, I mean I had summer jobs and whatnot to afford my own car, and did a lot of deep dives on town history, learning about old crime cases, and infamous people, but that's really it,"

"Huh..." Nicole merely replied making Kenny's stomach drop, wondering if he just nerded Nicole out of interest completely, "Find anything cool out? I mean do we have anything that could make it onto one of those cold case podcasts? I'd fuck with that." Nicole suddenly followed up with an eager smile, "Did we have a crazy fucked up cult in town or a never caught serial killer who could still be wandering around this mountain to this day?"

Kenny let out a long laugh, "Sorry to tell you, nothing so interesting but...well, I mean, back in the seventies, there was this kinda...prolific master thief," Kenny replied causing Nicole's jaw to slightly drop,

"Shut the fuck up, you mean like he was robbing banks and shit?!" Nicole asked with a little jump in her tone,

"Banks, houses, even a museum once, detectives eventually found his name but could never catch him or recover the stuff he stole. I have a little file on him back at my house, if you're interested I could give it to you," Kenny offered,

"Oooor, I can just come over to see it, and maybe we can crack where this guy went," Nicole suggested before letting out a near purr, "Think you and me, pulling late nights, believe me, I am very thorough in my...research,"

"I absolutely believe that," Kenny smoothly replied, slowly starting to get used to this game with Nicole, "So, is sex and partying the only thing you like to do then?"

Nicole giggled, "Yes I am that short of a book, just play some music, hand me a drink, and stick it in! Woooooo!" The redhead sarcastically exclaimed, letting her voice echo through the hills, "My real answer, dick, is of course not. Arcades and mini-golf are part of my lifeblood, not to mention the shows I binge when I am actually home,"

"Okay, okay," Kenny laughed while holding up his hands, "I came off snarkier than I wanted there, my bad. But that's cool, sounds like we'll have to put something on when you come over...you know, for research,"

"Research...exactly, Clark," Nicole agreed, a mischievous look resting in her eye. The pair went silent for a minute or so, focusing on the trail until Nicole let out a near-irritated scoff, "Okay, I just have to fucking know, what's your body count? I mean, I take you to all these parties but I never see you leave with a girl, so what, you have a personal method I'm missing?"

Kenny lightly rocked his head either way, fighting off the urge to lie about his virginity for a moment before letting out a sigh, "I don't...have a body count, Nikki. I haven't ever...you know,"

"Oh bullshit, you and Mindy totally have fucked," Kenny immediately burst out laughing, "What?! No! Are you telling me you've never slid ole' Ken junior into that Asian beauty?"

Kenny wiped his eyes, "Yes Nicole, I am being honest, "Ken Junior" which will be the last time I ever call it that, has never been inside Mindy or anyone else for that matter,"

"Okay so...blowjob?" Kenny shook his head, "A quick handy?" Another shake of his head, "I don't fucking know, felt a girl up, made out in her bedroom, anything Ken, there is no fucking way you're a complete virgin, you're too good!"

"Yeah, regular virgin stud at your service," Kenny lightly chuckled, "Well, I mean, I did at least kiss a girl as of this morning,"

Nicole's eyes sprung open, "First kiss...that kiss was your first? The one I cut short and acted all weird on, oh come oooooooon, nooooooo!" The redhead whined while halting in her tracks, "I ruined it for you, god fucking damn it!"

"Nicole, you didn't ruin anything, I still liked it but you had a reason to stop it and I respect that, doesn't soil the whole thing for me though," Kenny reassured the redhead who stood with a frustrated pout,

"If fucking Devin didn't fuck with my head, I'd have been fine..." The girl muttered under her breath. With a sharp exhale Nicole raised her eyes to look Kenny in the eyes, "Listen, I say we...we...whoa, that's different," The girl awed, interrupted by her own thoughts as she caught sight of a giant wooden structure that jutted up into the sky,

Kenny turned around and his brow jumped up, "Oh shit...it's an old fire watch tower. It looks pretty old, I'm guessing eighties maybe?" Kenny hummed as the duo immediately headed towards the base to get a closer look,

"I've never seen one up close before, these things are fucking huge as shit," Nicole hummed,

"Want to go check it out?" Kenny suggested as he put a foot on a wooden step and tested its sturdiness, "Feels still strong to me,"

"Fuck it, I'm in," Nicole instantly agreed. The pair ascended the flights of wooden steps that wrapped around the four main support beams of the tower, other than the occasional creaking, the pair were able to make it to the top without issue, beyond the occasional slip from the slick snow. Reaching the top Kenny felt his breath leave him and Nicole let out a gasping exhale. "Holy fuck...you can see fucking...everything from here,"

Kenny silently nodded, taking in the sight of a complete horizon, treetops, the distant base of the mountain, and even more mountains in the far away distance, "This is...incredible," The pair stood staring for another minute, soaking in the sight until Kenny spoke up again, "Except for that..."

Nicole let out a concerned hum and turned her head looking off in the same direction only to see distant trees whipping around hard, a thick barrier of snow coming from the sky, and deep heavy clouds flying their way, "Oh fuck..."

Kenny wasted no time and yanked out his phone, "Brian, it's Kenny, we got a situation over here," Nicole heard the teen say as he pressed the phone to his ear, after a moment of chatter Kenny continued, "Yeah, huge ass storm coming in, and I mean it's flying towards the lodge. If you and the others head back now, you'll probably outrun it," Nicole's eyes slightly widened, "No, Nikki and I can't make it, we're about to be in it but don't worry, we'll be okay, we can ride it out where we are and I'll call you guys back after it passes," Nicole tilted her head as Kenny heard a response and chuckled, "Well at least we'd be found then. Now I'm serious you guys gotta go,"

Kenny got a final response and then he clipped his phone back down to his belt, "Um, why the fuck did you say we'd be fine? We're about to be trapped in a blizzard, Clark!"

"Relax, it's alright, we actually got really lucky, we've got the perfect shelter for this," Kenny calmly reassured the girl while motioning his head to the tower's cabin,

"Oh, uh uh, no way, a ratty old, creepy, abandoned watch tower is your plan?" Nicole denied with near disgust, "It's probably full of animals or...a dead guy...or dead animals!"

"You got a better idea? Because it's either this, or we freeze," Kenny reminded her with an expectant look,

"I think I'd rather..." Nicole mumbled,

"Get in the tower," Kenny said with a light playful scoff,

"Fine!" Nicole lamented, "If me living matters that much to you, I will stay in creep-fest, but you're going in first,"

"Deal," Kenny finished with one laugh lighthearted laugh as he moved to the tower door and pushed inside just as flakes of snow began to fall all around them.