Chapter 3: Jeremy

I pulled my hat lower down over my eyes, trying to keep the rain out. I shook my head, trying to flick some of the droplets off of my face. I leaned against the school gate, keeping my head down to keep the water out of my eyes.

Man, it was really pouring.

My clothes and shoes were soaked through, but I couldn't just leave. After all, Kayla would be getting out of school soon. Besides, a little rain never hurt anybody.

Okay, a lot of rain...

I pulled my jacket closed and hugged the fabric close to my chest, trying to keep warm. It probably wasn't doing any good, considering it was sopping wet by now.

Might as well wait... I focused my attention on watching the three small snails on the sidewalk below me. They were all moving in the same direction, sluggishly inching through the rain. I was so intent on mentally cheering on the smallest one that I almost didn't notice the rain stop.

At least, it stopped above me. It was still raining everywhere else. I could see it falling to the ground around me.

Then, what...?

"Jeremy?" A familiar voice asked as I looked up and noticed that my head was now covered by a large red umbrella. Holding the umbrella was none other than Kayla.

"What in the world were you doing out there?" Kayla asked, rubbing the towel all over my head, nearly smothering my face. "Are you trying to catch a cold or what?"

"I was waiting for you," I said as I sat down on an empty locker room bench and began to peel off my wet socks. Yuck.

"You have, like, magic or something, right?" she called over her shoulder as she began rifling through a giant plastic trunk marked 'Lost and Found'. "Why didn't you just use it to stop the rain?"

"They're wishes," I called back as I wrung out my socks over the locker room floor, the water pattering against the tile providing the only noise for a few seconds. "And besides, I only have one. So if I waste it on the rain, then I can't pay you back."

"Here!" Kayla suddenly tossed a bundle of clothes at my head, landing them right in my face. They smelled faintly of sweat and plastic. "I found some clothes for you in the Lost and Found. You can wear these until your old ones dry."

"Thanks..." I muttered as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to recover it from the damage that Kayla had done with her towel.

"I don't get why you feel like you owe me so much," she sighed as she closed the 'Lost and Found' trunk and sat down on it. "I mean, you don't even remember what I said to you back then."

"What you said isn't the important thing," I said as I shook out my jacket, playfully flinging water at her with a grin. "The fact that you said anything to me was more than enough."

"Hey!" Kayla laughed as she shielded her face from the sudden unexpected shower.

"After talking to you that day, I felt like I could do anything," I continued as I pulled off my shirt and shook that out as well, sending another spray of water at her. "Your optimism really inspired me."

She stopped laughing for a moment. Instead of smiling like before, her face now displayed an expression of shock and surprise. She looked almost... stunned.

She opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something.

But just then, the bell rang. We both looked up, startled, before chuckling awkwardly.

"Well, I'd better get back to class," Kayla said uncomfortably as she stood up. "It wouldn't be good for me to be caught in the Boys' Locker Room, even if there aren't any other guys in here."

"Yeah, see ya," I murmured as I pulled on the dry Lost and Found t-shirt.

Kayla playfully rumpled my hair as she walked past me on her way out.

My hair still wasn't back to normal by the time school got out that afternoon.

"Kayla..." I muttered to myself as I hopelessly tried to straighten it out. No matter which way I tried to smooth it down, my hair just wouldn't stay. It refused to obey the laws of gravity anymore.

"Oh, hey," a warm voice interrupted. "If it isn't Kayla's boyfriend."

"Huh?" I turned and saw Derek standing next to me, a faint smile on his face.

Better make things right. "Oh, I'm not her boyfriend," I explained. "I'm just a friend of hers."

"Oh, you're not?" He looked mildly surprised.

"Nope," I shook my head. "In fact, she already likes someone else at the moment, so..."

His face suddenly looked upset for a minute. "I see..."

"Huh?"

"Hey, listen," he said with a slightly saddened expression. "I've already guessed that that 'someone else' is me, right?"

"...So what if it is?" I asked, trying to sound suspicious. How did he guess that?

"Well, the thing is, I already have a girlfriend," he looked away uncomfortably. "And I don't think that Kayla knows that. "

...No, I don't think that she knows that, either.

She probably won't be happy when she finds out...

"Do you think you could tell her for me?"

"W-what?" I blinked in surprise.

"I don't wanna hurt her feelings," he said, his voice desperate. "Do you think you could just break it to her gently?"

"Well, I-"

"You can do it, right?" He stepped towards me, his eyes pleading. "I mean, you're, like, her closest friend."

"I..."

What was I supposed to do now?