"Marlee!" I snapped open my eyes quickly and jolted in my set. "Marlee, are you paying attention?" I looked up to see my grouchy history teacher, Miss. Cross. She was scowling down at me from over her thin wired glasses, as she tapped a foot in annoyance. "Oh," I grunted as I placed my hand on my forehead. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep." I felt my head pounding and my skin was boiling hot. Miss. Cross sighed loudly at me and handed me a pink piece of paper. "Have your father read this." she said in a cold scolding voice. I took the paper and slouched in my desk as she walked to the front of the class room to continue her boring ramblings about whatever she had been talking about. I turned to gaze out the window near my desk as I placed my hand back on my forehead. I was always hot lately like I had a fever but I wasn't showing any other sings of sickness, well other than a horrible migraine every time I woke up. I watched the rain fall outside and run down the window. I loved the wind and rain; it made me feel more alive than anything else. I always loved to sit outside in the rain, letting it fall over my face and run down my neck and arms. It was a feeling only real rain could give me no shower could fill me with such energy and life.
Suddenly the bell rang, making me jump, and everyone started to pack up their things to head home. I blinked to try to ease my migraine pain before I stood up and started to pack up my books, too. "Another headache, hu?" I didn't have to look up to know it was Selene. I nodded and growled slightly. "I don't know why I'm having them so often; it's starting to drive me insane." I vented, Selene hopped up onto my desk, skillfully crossing her long legs elegantly. "I think you must have a parasite in your brain." She said nonchalantly as she blew a large pink bubble with the gum she always seemed to be chewing. I glared at her feeling a vein in my forehead pulse in annoyance. Selene was one of my best friends but she didn't really have a filter. She would always just say exactly what she was thinking without thought of anyone else's feelings. "Gee, thanks." I said, as I swung my bag over my shoulder. "You're welcome." She said, not catching the sarcasm in my voice, as she emotionlessly looked around the room at our other classmates.
Selene was one of those incredible rare beauties, she had pale pink hair that hung down to her waist, and she always kept it up in a high pony tail because she was normally doing something athletic. She had perfectly tan skin, grey eyes, a thin waist and long long legs, she was always getting asked out but I have yet to see her take anyone up on their offer. She had a very intense personality; she didn't ever show much emotion which made her hard to read if you didn't already know her. Her clothing choice consisted mostly of super short shirts and tight tops with flats. Despite all this thou, I loved her. We were practically sisters; we have been friends for as long as I can remember, since our dads had been childhood friends, too. I often found myself being jealous of her beauty; I had dark chocolate brown hair that hung down to my shoulder blades, with bangs that would always fall into my eyes. My body wasn't a lean as Selene's, thou I did have an hour glass figure I was shorter than her by nearly a foot and I felt like I looked very average in comparison. The only thing beautifully unique about me was that I had two different colored eyes; one was a yellowish gold color while the other was a bright blue. MY clothing choice was pretty laid back, I liked to feel comfortable. I usually wore a large beanie, an overly large sweater with shorts and thigh high stockings and knee high boots. Nothing fancy but I liked it that way.
As we headed out of the class room I saw our other friend Zoey, hopping over to us. She was another unique beauty at our school; she had shoulder length bright yellow hair that she always wore in braided pig tails. She was shorter than most people but her outrageous personality rarely ever had people noticing her small size. She was always wearing skinny jeans with beautiful frilly tops and high heels, thou they didn't really help her, since she was so short to begin with. "Hey guys." She hollered loudly over the crowded hall way. I waved at her as she made her way through the crowd; her bright caramel colored eyes sparkled as she finally stood in front of us. "Are we still going to the coffee shop?" she asked us and I nodded eagerly. "I have been looking forward to this all day. A nice hot cup of gingerbread coffee with a pumpkin spice muffin, while we sit and watch the storm." I closed my eyes smiling, as we started moving with the flow of traffic down the hall. Zoey giggled beside me, "You are always so happy when it rains." I looked over at her smiling still. "How can you guys not be? The smell, the cool crisp air, the feeling of it dancing over your skin." I sighed in contentment just thinking about it. "If you ask me, it's kind of creepy how you change when it rains." said Selene, as she walked with her hands behind her head still blowing bubbles. "What's that supposed to mean." I huffed at her; she just shrugged slightly closing her eyes as we walked. "Just that you change from being stubborn, blunt, and confident; to a blushing, blubbering, idiot." I felt my head drop in embarrassment, 'Gosh, she really doesn't have any tacked does she.' I thought to myself.
We finally made it outside and were heading to the coffee shop a few blocks away from our high school. I was walking with my arms stretched out wide letting the rain soak my hair and clothes. Selene and Zoey walked behind me sharing a green and yellow umbrella. "You're going to catch a cold." Zoey called to me as I jumped around splashing in puddles and lifting my face up so the rain would fall on it. "You know I never get sick. " I smiled back at her and she lifted up her hands, sighing in defeat. We continued walking for a bit in comfortable silence. "So how are you doing, really?" Selene asked suddenly in a quite voice, I slowly stopped and stood still in the rain staring up at the dark grey clouds Zoey and Selene stopped walking a few feet behind me. Zoey elbowed Selene violently in the ribs and she winced at the sudden pain. I felt my face fall and shoulder shag at the thought of my mother. She had died the month before, it had all happened so fast. She had gone in for a routine checkup and the doctor had found a lump. After that we had only 4 short months left with her and then… she was just simply… gone. I stared up at the moving storm clouds letting the rain coat my face. "She had always loved it when it rained." I said quietly, after a few moments of silence, I turned to face them. "It's getting easier, slowly. One day at a time, it gets easier." They both nodded and Zoey gave me a concerned look. "And your dad?" she asked slowly. I stared at her a moment before turning back to look up at the storm. "He hasn't left the house, not once. He hardly ever leaves his room. He is still morning her." "And you're not?" Selene said harshly, and Zoey turned to her stunned. "Of course she is. How could you say that?" I didn't look away from the sky as I heard them start auguring. "I am." I said quietly and they stopped glaring at each other and looked back at me. "I just know that he needs me to be the strong one." I finally looked back at them and gave a weak smile. "He loved her far too deeply to be able to move on so quickly. So for now I will be strong so he can heal." There was another moment of silence and then Zoey jumped forward and gave me a tight hug, making my soaked clothes drench her dry ones. "I'm sorry." She said as I hugged her back and Selene came to stand by us holding the umbrella over our heads. I pulled away gently and smiled. "It will be ok." I said "She wouldn't have wanted me to be sad." "Your strong." Said Selene flatly, I smiled at her before turning back around to continued walking to the coffee shop. They stared following me again, still under the umbrella. "Damn right." I said jokingly. "It's because I'm a warrior." I said as I punch the air above my head with a fierce look on my face. "There's the Marlee we know and love." Said Selene, with a rare small smile appearing on her face, I laughed and started walking backward so I could look at them.
Suddenly the back of my foot hit something and I fell backward landing in a puddle with a large splash. Zoey and Selene rushed over to help me, but when they reached me, I was laughing. "What are we going to do with you?" asked Selene, as her and Zoey helped me up. "Still graceful as always, I see." I froze at the sound of his voice and turned to look behind us. Standing a few feet away from us was a young man our age with blood red hair and matching eyes; he had pale skin and a muscular lean body. He was wearing large bagged tan pants with black boots that came up to his mid-calf over his pants and he had a purple hooded sweater with a black vest on over the top. He flashed a cocky smile at us and I instantly recognized him. "Barb!" we all shouted at once, before me and Zoey tackled him in a bone crushing hug. "When did you come back?" I asked, as I released him. Barb was a dear friend of ours, who had practically grown up with me and Selene and had also quickly befriended Zoey. But he had moved away a year ago, as his Dad gotten a job offer in another state. He laughed at us as Zoey also let him go and stood back next to Selene under the umbrella. "I just got back yesterday." "Why are you here?" asked Selene, in her usual monotone voice. I rolled my eyes at her as Barb smiled at her and stepped forward to give her a tight hug making her yelp in surprise. "And hello to you, too." He said as he set her back down chuckling at her expression. "But to answer your question, I came back because I needed to find someone." I looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? Who?" He smiled at me before answering. "We can deal with that later, for now I want to catchup." "We were just on our way to the coffee shop, come with us." said Zoey, Barb nodded and we started our walk to the coffee shop once again.
On the way there Zoey and Selene gave me a knowing smile as they walked a little ahead of me and Barb. Apparently, it was no secret that I used to have an enormous crush on Barb growing up. But when he moved after only three weeks he had stopped returning my letters and ignoring my phone calls, so I had just given up on him. Suddenly I felt awkward being near him even in the glorious rain. "So," Barb said clearing his throat, "I heard about your mom. I'm sorry." I nodded slightly as we kept walking in silence. I could see the coffee shop now, only about 2 blocks ahead of us. "I remember you loving the rain." He said looking over at me and again I only nodded. "Then why so glum?" he asked with a confused expression. "Just thinking, I guess" I answered lamely as we finally found ourselves in front of the coffee shop where Zoey and Selene where waiting for us. Barb opened the door for us to walk in first, once inside we went to our usual spot near the large windows after we had gotten our coffee. "So," Barb say shaking out his wet red hair, looking very much like a wild dog. "Fill me in on what's been happening."