Thank you to tk421beth and MidnightBlue88 who both pointed out to me that the last paragraph in the pervious chapter was odd. The two middle lines were flip flopped for some reason. I'm sorry if it confused anyone. It's fixed now.

Chapter Two

Allison liked rain. She enjoyed the pitter-pattering sound it made on windows. She loved the way the earth smelled the next day. However the one thing that she wasn't fond of was that when it rained it meant she had to ride the bus home instead of walking. She could have walked home if she really wanted to but Allison was like a cat, she didn't like to get wet if it wasn't necessary.

The bus was full of shrill and obnoxious freshman and sophomores and a few upperclassmen who didn't own cars. Where people sat was similar to where people sat in Allison's English class. The nerds sat up front talking about Dungeons and Dragons or Star Trek while the Claire Standish's of the younger set sat in the middle of the vehicle while chattering incessantly about boys and shopping, using the word like as many times as humanly possible and talking in loud voices. The sports sat with the princesses. They talked in even louder voices as they horsed around and threw wads of paper at the nerds. The criminals who road the bus sat in the very back, making fun of the jocks and princesses and geeks and trying to sneak cigarettes without the driver noticing.

Allison shook the rain out of her hair as she boarded the bus after the final bell. She took an open seat near the back, in between the criminals and the popular kids. She was aware that people were staring at her. Although it still made her uncomfortable it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. She leaned back in the worn seat, staring out the window at the rain as the bus pulled away from the school.

It was then that a few of the princesses started whispering about her behind their hands, talking just loud enough so she could hear them. This bothered Allison more than anything. It was one thing to make fun of her when she was out of earshot but to have people giggle about the way she looked when she was right there was another. Allison looked over at them, catching their eyes to make sure they knew she had heard them. After she had made her point she turned her gaze back to the window and watched the rain fall.

Twenty minutes later the bus dropped Allison off at her house. As she walked up the path to her front door she didn't make any effort to shield herself from the rain which had started to fall faster. She fumbled in her bag for her key before sliding it easily into the lock and opening the door.

Immediately she was greeted by her German Shepard, Dallas. Dallas had been a Christmas present to her and her sister Amy when they were eleven. Although he was getting to be an old dog Dallas was still as playful as he had been when he was a puppy.

"Hey buddy," Allison said, bending down to scratch him behind the ears before heading down the hallway to the kitchen. Her mother, who was sitting at the breakfast table reading a novel, didn't look up as she entered the room.

"Don't spoil your dinner," Mrs. Reynolds said turning a page in her book as Allison picked an apple out of the fruit bowl next to the coffee pot. Ignoring her mother's comment she exited the kitchen and headed up the stairs to her bedroom.

Allison liked her room. She had shared it with her twin sister Amy when they were little but now Allison's room was her own. She had posters of Cyndi Lauper and Pat Benatar and some of her drawings taped up on her off-white walls. Her bed was always unmade and her desk was always cluttered with old notebooks and loose papers. Clothing littered the area in front of her closet and her bookcase was a jumble of novels stuck every which way. In the frame of the mirror above her dresser she had stuck her pictures, although she had few of those. There was one of Dallas when he was a puppy and one of her and Amy in the photo booth at the mall when they were ten, giving each other bunny ears and crossing their eyes as they mugged for the camera.

Allison dumped her bag on her bed, pulling out her composition book. She sat down at her desk and turned to a fresh page, picking up the nearest ballpoint pen. Allison wanted to talk to Amy on days like this but since that wasn't an option writing seemed to be the best substitute. Allison bit the cap of the pen until the words came to her.

Dear Amy,
Today in English Ms. O'Conner paired me with Andy Clark, the most popular boy in school. He didn't even know who I was. The whole thing was amusing, but a little saddening at the same time for some reason. We have to do this stupid poetry thing. You would probably be really into it but I'm not. To make matters worse I had to ride the bus home. These stupid freshman and sophomore girls were talking about me, just loud enough so I could hear them. I hate that! You would have probably marched right up to them and told them off but I'm not brave like you are. I wish I was. I miss you.

Allison dated the entry and leaned back in her desk chair, pulling her feet up under her. She sat there daydreaming until her father came home. Allison didn't trust her parents to remember to call her for dinner so over the years she had learned to listen for her father's car in the driveway. Her mother wouldn't serve dinner until her father was home so once he arrived Allison knew it was time to head downstairs.

Dinner was always a very quiet affair at in the Reynolds's household. Her father, who was a manager of a business, always came home from the end of the day stressed so he didn't talk much, only to ask for someone to pass him the pepper. He didn't really care to hear anyone else at the table talk either because he was worried about more important work related things. Her mother was a quiet person by nature, in fact most nights Mrs. Reynolds read a book as she ate.

"Pass the mashed potatoes Allison," her father said, not looking up from his meatloaf. Allison did as she was told; wondering if those would be the only words her father would speak to her that night. Again Allison found herself missing her sister. She looked over to the chair that Amy had once sat in. If Amy were there she would have gotten the whole family in a discussion about anything from Gone with the Wind to the Periodic Table of Elements.

Allison pushed her chair back and stood up, unable to finish the rest of her dinner. She didn't ask to be excused. Her parents would hardly notice she left, unless one of them asked her to pass them something. She scraped the remains of her supper into the trashcan, pushing Dallas's nose away from her plate, before she headed back upstairs to her bedroom where she spent the remainder of her night doing her homework.