Chapter 35 – Rain

As it turns out, being single was miserable. I had only been without a boyfriend since yesterday afternoon, yet I was already regretting my decision. Did I have a valid reason for breaking up with him? From what Mum had heard from Joan, he was not in a right state of mind at all. I hated to think that I had caused someone to become depressed. It was for the best though, wasn't it? I missed him, sure, but there was no direction for our relationship. We were too young; I said so from the start. Truthfully, when be told me he loved me I was scared. Being fifteen and having someone confess their love to you was scary. We really were too young to have a proper relationship, in my mind anyway. If we were a few years older it might have been more acceptable and I might have felt more comfortable. But the question was, did I love Max in return? The answer, I did not know.

I'd had no trouble with the full moon last night, but I couldn't say the same for Max – who knows what happened with him. I had been contemplating calling him all day to check, but the wounds were too fresh and it would be awkward. I wouldn't be able to relax if something had happened to him though.

My mother and I sat down to watch the morning news. It was unusual for me to be up this early as I valued my sleep on school days, but my thoughts were plaguing me and keeping me from sleeping in. There was a local breaking story on the news.
"The southern suburb of Blair has flooded overnight. Torrential rain poured over the suburb and close surrounds for over twelve hours. This is the first time that Blair, a high-sitting suburb, has ever flooded in known history. Some residents have been forced to evacuate their homes in search of dry ground."
Well, shit. That was where the Edisons live. They cut to a reporter standing in the visibly wet streets.
"We have heard from the weather bureau that last night's storm, that ravaged the suburb you see behind me, was not on their radars and they had henceforth not issued any warning. There was minimal rain around the whole city overnight, which makes the devastation seen here in Blair a true freak of nature. Back to you."
I couldn't help the tears that flowed. I knew it was Max. This was my fault.
"Oh my god!" Mum exclaimed, "I better call Martha and see if they're okay! Honey, why are you crying?"
"It's just… those poor people," I cried.

That was it. I had to call him now. The whole situation screamed Maxwell. His suburb just didn't flood – it was unnatural. I knew it was him. That partial lunar eclipse last night must've made it a hundred times worse for him, poor baby. I ran upstairs and called him from the house phone so he wouldn't see it was me. Nervously, I dialed his number.
"Hello," he answered on the fourth ring in a monotonous and depressed voice.
"Max, are you okay?" I gushed.
"Sadie?"
A hint of surprise and something else was in his voice as he said my name.
"I've just seen it on the news. The floods. Was it… was it you?"
"I think so," he cried, "I couldn't help it! You know how much our emotions affect it, Sadie! My tears were being reflected in the rain. It doesn't help that it was a bloody lunar eclipse or whatever. Now I've gone and damaged everyone's homes and the whole suburb and-."
"Max, it's not your fault, it's mine."
"You don't cause spurts of rain every time you sneeze!"
"No, but I caused you to cry. How could you even cry that much?"
"I can't believe you asked that."
He hung up on me, the hurt in his words hanging. I still didn't find out if he was okay or not.

Downstairs, Mum had just gotten off the phone with Joan.
"Well, she said that they had a little bit of flooding in the garage, but since they're on the hill it wasn't too bad."
"That's good," Dad quipped from the office.
"Sadie, are you still crying?"
"No," I insisted, wiping my eyes and sniffling. Before she could ask any more questions, I had ran upstairs to my bedroom for a little crying session.

At school that day I tried to act like everything was normal and no one picked up anything different, at least at first. I managed to hold it together and not go off bawling in the bathrooms. Maybe it was because I was the one who had done the breaking up. But truly, I was very upset. Mainly I felt guilty. I had really hurt Max and now he had caused his suburb to flood. I had convinced myself that it was my fault and it didn't bode well with me for the rest of the day. At lunchtime I holed myself up in the library to study for my impending exams. The semester would be over in two weeks. Now that I was in Year 11, I really had to buckle down and work harder. Max was just plaguing my mind, preventing me from concentrating.

Patrick eventually found me in the library.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" he asked, taking the seat opposite me.
"Studying," I replied without looking up from my notes.
"What's the matter?"
"What do you mean?"
I snapped my head up to look at him now.
"You've been quiet all day. Is something wrong?"
"No."
"Are you sure? You actually look quite depressed. Come on, you can tell me. I'm your best friend."
I didn't think he had ever declared me his best friend before. I certainly considered him one of mine. It was nice to hear him say it, and it made me want to tell him.
"Fine," I huffed, putting my pen down and leaned back crossing my arms, "I broke up with Max yesterday."
"Woah," he breathed, wide-eyed, "What happened?"
"It's really quite complicated."
"I think I'll be able to understand."
"He told me he loved me. It freaked me out a little and I told him we were going too fast. I really hurt him. Now he's done some bad things and it's all my fault?"
"What things?"
"Now that, I can't tell you."
"Well, if you need anything, I'm here for you. Okay?"
"Okay."

It made me happy knowing Patrick was so supportive of me. He really was a friend I could count on. At the moment I was having slight trust issues with Anna and Prue, with them not telling me about Prue's situation, but Patrick had never lied to me or kept things from me – he'd always been upfront, even admitting to the scheme with Daniel and Tim. He ended up staying in the library with me all through lunch, helping me study.
"Hey, do you want to come over this afternoon?" he suggested.
"Oh," I breathed, "Normally I would, but I don't think I'm up for it at the moment, sorry."
"No, that's okay. Hey, my birthday is in a few weeks you know."
"Yes, I know," I chuckled.
"I was going to have a party. You want to help me organise it?"
"Patty having a sweet sixteenth?" I playfully teased and he elbowed me, "Of course I'll help."
And with that we abandoned our studying and got to party planning.

When I got home that afternoon, Mum was already there.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"Fine," I responded.
"You holding up okay?"
"Yeah, fine."
Her questions were annoying me. Why did she have to assume I wasn't fine?
"Max didn't go to school today."
I just dumped my school bag on the floor and went upstairs to my bedroom without saying anything to her. Was she trying to make me feel guiltier than I already was? It was fucking working. I lay down on my bed and went through my pictures on my phone. There was a selfie of Max and I taken in my backyard. He was kissing my cheek and I was smiling. There were other photos of us, including ones of us in Max's studio and our first selfie together, taken when we were living in David Jones after the moon attack. Looking back through those memories made me well up. I really liked being with him. What had I done?

Mum insisted we sit at the table for dinner that night. My (quite accurate) assumption was that she wanted to grill me about how I was feeling about Max. As I stabbed into my pork chops, it was actually my Dad who broke the ice.
"How are you holding up, sweetie?" he asked.
"I'm fine," I replied.
"That's what she said earlier," Mum interjected.
"That's because it's what I am!"
"So you're not upset at all? You've just broken up with your dream boy," Dad added.
"Dream boy?" I echoed incredulously.
"Well, we all thought you were perfect for each other. You were meant to be. Why did you break up?"
"Is that really any of your business, Dad?"
"Hey," Mum scolded, "That's not very nice."
"Neither is you asking me all these questions! It's private between me and Max, alright?"
I hurriedly finished my meal so I could get away from the table.
"Joan says Max won't say what happened either," Mum whispered to Dad. Little did she know that with my enhanced hearing could hear her very clearly.
"Maybe because he doesn't want to tell everyone what a massive bitch I am!" I exclaimed, standing up and storming away. What I had done was really getting to me.