Spencer ambled along, not really paying attention as she let her mind fill to the brim with fears and worries. In fact, she was paying so little attention that she walked right into a girl who was turning the corner of an aisle with a bucket of water in hand, sending the water flying into the air and soaking them both.

“Oh my god, I am SO SORRY!” Spencer apologized quickly, her eyes wide as she bent over to pick up the bucket. When she looked back up her breath was taken from her lungs for a second time. This girl was drop dead gorgeous.

“Wow… That was cold.” The brunette spoke, blinking as she looked down at her wet jeans. She’d been ready to bite the other girl’s head off, but had stopped short once she’d gotten a good look at her.

“Oh look at you, you’re soaked.” Spencer spoke miserably before averting her eyes. Her face was flushed considerably, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, “I am really, really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not going to melt or anything. It’s so damn dry out here any ways.” The girl spoke with a casual shrug as she accepted the bucket back from Spencer.

Spencer sighed, her damp arms folding over her stomach, “Still, I feel terrible.”

“It’s fine.” The girl dismissed with a wave of her hand. A little smile delighted her face, and Spencer felt her heart melt a little, “So, do you have a name, Danger Mouse?”

“Spencer Carlin.” The blonde admitted, still appearing vaguely mortified as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, “And you?”

“Ashley Davies… You have horses here or what?” Ashley probed further, eager to have some good company. If she were going to be stuck in this hellhole, she’d at least have a little fun.

“Yeah, three. Had to evacuate from my house last night.” The blonde spoke, shrugging as she tried not to look at Ashley’s wet T-shirt. Not an easy task,

“That’s too bad. My mom’s got some fancy polo ponies or something like that, I pretty much just got dragged along for the ride.” Ashley admitted, shrugging slightly as they began to walk along side by side through the barns.

Over the next two days Spencer and Ashley became fast friends. They spent the majority of their days together, mulling about the fairgrounds and talking. It seemed Ashley didn’t care too much for the horses, but her mother needed someone to be here with them and she’d volunteered. It was better than being stuck in some hotel room with her. She envied Spencer’s painfully functional family, despite Spencer’s objections that they weren’t as perfect as they seemed to the outside eye. Both had never become such good friends with someone so quickly, and the bond developing between them was becoming a solid one.

A couple days from their first meeting, the pair wandered into the little feed store within the fairgrounds to order more feed for Spencer’s horses. Spencer placed the order, her eyes lifting towards the TV above the counter when she saw the caption of Lake Hodges run across it.

“That is going to be $21.24.” The woman behind the counter spoke, although Spencer didn’t hear a thing. Her unblinking eyes stared at the television, her mouth slightly agape as the air caught in her throat.

“Spence… Spencer, give the nice woman your money.” Ashley teased with a little smile at her spaced out friend. Spencer didn’t flinch, “Spencer?”

“That’s my house.” Spencer spoke in a barely choked out whisper, her chin quivering. The room had fallen silent, and Ashley just stared at her puzzled, eyes shifting to the screen.

“What?” The brunette inquired as she gazed at the home burning on the screen. The flames were engulfing it completely, and little captions ran across the screen about how overwhelmed the firefighters were.

“That’s my house.” Spencer repeated again, only this time loud enough to be heard. At that point you could hear a pin drop as everyone in the store paused to wait for a reaction. All color had drained from Spencer’s face, and the whole room was holding their collective breath. For once in her life Ashley was speechless, she had no idea what to do.