Spectral Storm - The Eye
an excerpt

“Izzy, oh my God, is that really you?!”
Zee turned around to the unfamiliar voice and the awful nickname. She saw a short little mature young adult with a spot on her chin, an upturned nose, small eyes, pretty brunette hair, and a metal retainer on her lower teeth. Zee almost did not recognize her.
“Marlene?” Zee said tentatively.
“One and the same, look at you, all tall and gorgeous. Oh, you could be a model. Have you ever tried it?” Marlene wrapped her arms around Zee’s waist and squeezed hard. “God, it’s been forever. I didn’t know you’d transferred to one of the colleges here. I thought you were… somewhere in the Northeast, I don’t remember where.”
“Y University,” Zee corrected, nodding. “Bit north of New York City, but close enough. I’m still there. At least, I was until this…”
“I know, can you believe it? You know, they’re talking about the end of the world and God’s perilous judgment, but if this is hell, sign me up as a sinner. Can you believe everything here is free?” Marlene asked.
“Well, free for now,” Zee said. “But yeah, Bruce and I had the coffee. And now we’re having… well, lunch.”
Marlene ran up to Bruce and gave him a hug, too. Bruce winced slightly, but Zee could see he was more amused than anything. “As if I’d forget good old Bruce. You still haven’t told Mr. Hunt about his shirts, have you?”
“I gave you my word of honor,” Bruce said. Marlene giggled and squeezed him across the waist like a doll before returning her attention to her old best friend. Zee and Marlene had been best friends until about junior year when Zee had been nominated one of the prom duchesses and Marlene had been sick that night with bronchitis. It was not that they had a falling out, just that they grew apart. Especially since Marlene went to Texas A&M to be a veterinarian. Zee would not say that she was introverted, but she felt like it around Marlene.
“Oh my God, have you seen the solarium?” Marlene asked. “I mean, you can see the storm. Through the glass. You can watch it. It’s horrible. I’m never going to go in there again. And this old man is reading a book in there as though the apocalypse weren’t going on above his head. It’s…” She shivered. “It’s awful. You’ve got to see it.”
“Well, with those rave recommendations, how could I resist?” Zee said. She rolled her eyes. The way she worried about the storm when she could not see it pretty much told her that she should not actually see the storm in all its spectral glory. It just would not be healthy. She could see concern on Bruce’s face that pretty much told her the same thing. “It’s probably not a good idea that I see it, Marlene. I’m sure you understand.”
“You lost folks up there?” Marlene asked.
“I… Well, I probably lost people I didn’t even know I lost,” Zee said.
“Like how you forgot about your old best mate?” Marlene asked, squeezing her again.
“It’s been five years,” Zee said, “and we stopped writing after freshman year.”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I almost didn’t notice that I recognized you. You’re about a foot taller than I remember you, you know.”
“I didn’t grow that much at school,” Zee laughed.