Healing Rain (5 page)

Aiden was already in the room, sitting on the right side. He smiled at me and nodded to the empty seat beside him. “Rain, hey! Saved ya a seat,” he said.

“Thanks!” I said, relieved not to have to look around and decide where to sit. I sat down just as the final bell was ringing. The teacher wasn't in the room yet, but I could see a woman standing just outside the classroom who I assumed was Mrs. White, talking to another teacher. Aiden was relaxed in his chair, leaning back with one arm sitting on the desktop and his other arm leaning on the empty desk behind him. He tapped his hand on his desk and moved his head as if he could hear some sort of music in there.

“So, how was your first class?” I whispered.

“Oh, you know. It was class,” he said quietly. “How about you?”

“It was class,” I agreed.

Just then Mrs. White came breezing into the room. She was fairly young-looking with shoulder-length straight brown hair and really tall pink high heels. She wore a dark brown knee-length skirt and a pink sleeveless shirt with lots of jewelry. She smiled at all of us and said, “I apologize for being late. I was helping another teacher with something. Welcome to American Literature. I am Mrs. White and I will be your guide through the literature that has shaped our country. I think you will really enjoy this class. We will cover a lot of great material and do some really fun activities and projects. But for today, we're just going to get to know each other and discuss my expectations for this class.”

I liked her already. She seemed friendly. I glanced at Aiden, who was still drumming along to the little tune in his head. She continued, “We are going to play a game called
Two Truths and a Lie
. The way you play the game is by coming up with three facts about yourself – two of them true, and one of them a lie. The class then has to guess which one is the lie. So take a few minutes and come up with your three facts while I pass out your textbooks.”

Well, maybe I didn't like her as much as I thought. I hated anything where I had to stand up in front of the class. Inwardly I groaned as I tried to come up with my facts. The whole class began talking quietly. I saw Aiden looking at me out of the corner of my eye, so I turned toward him. “You know your facts?” I asked him.

“Um…” he said, tapping his chin like he was thinking, “yes. You?”

“No,” I replied, hitting my pencil against my cheek.

He grinned. “This should be easy for you. I bet you're full of interesting facts.”

I rolled my eyes at him, smiling. “I'm actually quite boring,” I said.

“Oh, I don't believe that,” he said as Mrs. White handed us our textbooks.

Once everyone had a book, Mrs. White turned to the class. “Okay. Everyone should have had time to think of their facts by now. We'll start over here,” she said, indicating the left side of the room. I was relieved to have a little more time to think.

As the other students stood up and gave their facts, I barely listened. I knew I should have been paying attention so that I could at least start learning names, but I was still trying to come up with my three facts.
Hi, I'm Rain
, I thought to myself.
My dad killed himself, I almost died from a drug overdose a month later, and now my family is completely screwed up and broke.
Except the sad part was, all of those things were truths.

Before I knew it, it was my turn. I stood up slowly. “My name is Rain. I just moved here, and I have six brothers and sisters,” I said, feeling stupid as I said the first lie that came to my head.

Right away, a boy shouted, “Your name isn't Rain. That was easy.”

Ugh, this stupid name!
I thought. I always got reactions like this. “Unfortunately, no, that one is true. My name actually is Rain,” I said, and several people laughed.

“Oh, Rain, you should be proud of that name. It's so unique,” Mrs. White said, tilting her head.

“Thanks, but I doubt you'd be saying that if it was your name,” I said, giving her a small smile.

The same boy from before opened his big mouth again. “If you hate it, why don't you just be one of those people who go by their middle name?” he asked, propping his head up on his desk with his fist.

I sighed. “Um, because, believe it or not, my middle name is actually worse,” I told him truthfully.

Automatically, several people said, “What is it?”

I smiled. “I'm only obligated to give three facts, and that will not be one of them. Now guess which one is a lie so I can sit down,” I said.

Mrs. White smiled. “Fair enough. Maybe once you get to know us and trust us a little more you can share that with us,” she said. “So, the lie has to be…your six brothers and sisters.”

I nodded, sitting down. “I only have one brother,” I mumbled.

“How old is he? Will he be a student of mine, too?” Mrs. White asked with genuine interest.

“Not for a few more years. He's seven,” I told her.

She nodded. “Thank you, Rain. That brings us to Aiden,” she said, turning to him. “Aiden, I know you played this game when you had me your freshman year, and believe it or not, I actually remember your facts. I expect different ones this time.”

He nodded and stood up. “Well, I'm Aiden. I have twelve pets, I ride a motorcycle, and I'm in a band,” he said.

Automatically, a girl in the front row said, “You don't ride a motorcycle anymore. You sold it to buy your amps and guitar.”

He smirked at her. “That's not fair; you're my neighbor. You shouldn't get to answer,” he told her as he sat down.

Before the next person could go, I whispered to him, “You have twelve pets?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I have three dogs, four cats, a python, an iguana, a tarantula, and two chameleons. But they're not all really mine. Just the dogs. The cats are my mom's, and the reptiles are my fourteen-year-old brother's.”

I felt my eyes widen. “You sleep in your house with all those crazy animals?”

“Well, they're in cages. Or, the reptiles are, anyway. I don't worry about it,” he said.

I shuddered. “Wow,” I said. “So, you're in a band, huh? What do you play?”

His eyes suddenly lit up. “I'm the lead singer and I play guitar. We've been playing together since our freshman year. We play at parties and stuff, and we've even done a few gigs at a local restaurant/bar in town.”

“That's awesome,” I told him. “I love music. I play a little piano because I was forced to take lessons when I was younger, but I've always wanted to learn to play guitar. My dad played. He always told me he would teach me, but he never got around to it.”

“Oh yeah? I could teach you if you're really interested,” he said.

“Really? That would be great!” I told him.

“Rain and Aiden, if you guys could just wrap up your conversation, we could continue the game,” Mrs. White said. She didn't really seem mad, but I still felt bad.

“Sorry,” we both mumbled.

After the game was finished, Mrs. White talked to us about what was involved in our grade for the class. She said the major assignments would be to write two literary analyses, a research paper, and give a persuasive speech. I didn't mind writing papers, but I cringed at the thought of the speech. Other than that, the class didn't seem so bad. Before I knew it, the bell was ringing and it was time to go to third period, which was our last class on short days like today.

Aiden walked with me out of the room and down the hall. “You know, if you're not doing anything tonight, we're actually playing at Logan Johnson's back-to-school party. You should come by and check us out.”

“I'd love to hear you guys, but I don't know,” I said. I didn't know Logan Johnson and had no idea who I would go to the party with.

He seemed to read my thoughts. “Logan always invites pretty much the whole school. Trust me, he would not care if you came.”

“Well, even if that's true, I wouldn't know anyone else but you,” I told him. “If you're playing the whole time, what would I do?”

“Um, listen to the really amazing band, obviously,” he said with a grin.

I laughed. “I really appreciate the offer, but maybe next time, okay? I may have to babysit my little brother anyway.” That last part was a lie, but I needed an excuse.

He shook his head. “Okay, but you'll be missing out on some great rock and roll and first-class entertainment,” he told me, wagging his eyebrows up and down.

“Well, at least you're modest,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Next time, I promise.”

“Fine. Well, here's my next class. Guess I'll see ya Monday,” he said. I could tell he was disappointed that I wasn't coming.

“See ya Monday,” I said, suddenly aware that I wasn't sure where I was going for my next class. I frantically searched for my schedule to see where Home Economics was located. To my relief, I saw that it was right across the hall from Aiden's class.

As I turned to walk toward the classroom, I heard Aiden from behind me. “Hey, Rain?”

I turned around. “Yeah?”

He walked up to me and handed me a little slip of paper. “Here's my number. In case you change your mind. I could even come pick you up,” he said casually.

I smiled and looked down at the number. “Thanks, Aiden. I'll think about it.”

He nodded. “Okay. See ya.”

“Bye,” I said and turned around to walk away. I paused for a second when I realized that I probably should have given him my number as well, but the moment had passed. It would have been weird if I would have turned back around to stop him from going into his classroom. So, I folded up the piece of paper he gave me and put it in my back pocket. I couldn't help but smile as I walked into my third and final class of the day.

It was like I blinked, and Home Economics was over. The whole class barely paid attention as Mrs. Wilson, an older white-haired lady wearing a flowered dress who looked like she could have been my grandmother, talked to us about the class. It was going to be exactly what I expected – cooking, sewing, all that domestic stuff. I knew it wouldn't be my favorite class since I didn't really enjoy any of that, but I also knew it would be an easy grade. The hour passed quickly after she showed us the different work stations and went over safety rules for using the classroom equipment. I couldn't believe it when the bell rang and it was time to go.

I went to my locker to get my things, thinking about Aiden's offer to take me to the party. As much as I would have liked to go, I felt nervous. I wouldn't know anyone there, and I really didn't even know Aiden, for that matter. Also, I didn't know how I felt about him coming to pick me up. Besides, he wouldn't be able to talk to me anyway, unless his band was taking a break.

By the time I walked out the door, I had convinced myself not to go. I had almost forgotten about my after-school plans with Anna until I saw her standing there, waiting for me as she said she would be. She was talking to several other people – a mix of guys and girls – whom I assumed were going with us. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that Ethan was one of those people.

 

 

I stopped abruptly and looked at the group. Before I could say a word, Anna noticed me standing there awkwardly and ran up to me. “There you are! Come on, you have to meet everybody!” she said, taking my hand and skipping over to the rest of the group.

Suddenly I felt timid. I looked at the beautiful people standing in front of me, all staring at me – some smiling, some not. Anna didn't seem to notice. “Guys, this is Rain. She's new here and we have math together, so I invited her to go with us. Rain, this is Melissa, Ryan, Alexis, Ethan, Scott, and Brooke,” she said, pointing at each one as she said their names. I looked at each one of them, trying to memorize their names as she listed them, but I was completely distracted by how beautiful they all were. Melissa and Ryan were standing with their arms around each other, and both gave me a quick smile and then turned their attention back to each other. They looked like one of those power couples you see in Hollywood; Melissa had beautiful, thick black hair and almond-shaped eyes with the most perfect body I had ever seen in real life, and Ryan looked like a department store model with his fitted T-shirt and cargo shorts and brown spiky hair. Alexis had a blond bob that was layered at the bottom and looked like she could have been in a magazine in her yellow sundress that showed off her tan skin and petite frame. She was one of the non-smiling people as she gave me a quick once-over and looked away, seemingly bored. Scott and Brooke stood close to each other, looking into each other's eyes as they talked. They both stopped their conversation to look at me. Brooke smiled sweetly and Scott gave me a nod. They also looked like movie stars. Brooke had long, straight blond-highlighted hair and teal shorts with a white halter top. Scott had dark smooth skin and a buzzed haircut, and I couldn't help but notice his huge muscles bulging out of the brown short-sleeved shirt he was wearing.

And then, of course, there was Ethan, looking even more gorgeous than I remembered him from registration. He was dressed very casually in gym shorts and a NCHS T-shirt, but he still somehow fit in with the rest of the group. As soon as Anna finished introducing everyone, he spoke. “Hey, I know this girl!” he said, winking at me. “How's it goin', Rain? How was the first day? You love it here yet?”

I smiled shyly, feeling everyone's stares. “Um, it's goin'. The first day was…short, um, which was good I guess.” I could hear myself stumbling over my words. Great first impression. I sounded ridiculous.

Ethan didn't seem to notice. “Glad you're going with us. No Tyler today?”

I smiled, pleased that he remembered my little brother's name. “Well, actually, Anna offered to give us both a ride to my house before we left for lunch. We just have to go get him at school and take him back to our apartment, but it's really close, so…” I stopped talking as I noticed Alexis staring at me with a disgusted look on her face. Her stare was so powerful, it was like it physically shoved me and I couldn't help but to take a step back. I was completely intimidated.

Ethan noticed my sudden pause and followed my gaze to Alexis. She was standing with her hands on her hips and one leg bent and was looking at Ethan. “How do you know her, anyway?”

He turned his body to her so that I couldn't see his face anymore and he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. I had to strain to hear what he was saying. “Alexis, don't start. I helped her out yesterday at registration. No big deal. Besides, we talked about this.”

Ouch.
No big deal
. Those words stung slightly, and I wasn't sure why. It really
wasn't
a big deal. But why did he have to defend the fact that he knew me, anyway? And why did he have to downplay it to her?

She turned to me, her glare fading slightly. “So you're going with us today, huh?”

I wasn't sure how to react. “Well, um, yeah, I was going to. I mean, Anna invited me, but um, I don't…” I trailed off, looking to Anna desperately for help. I knew she had to have noticed how nasty Alexis was being, but she pretended not to as she looked through her purse with her head down.

At that point, Ethan interjected. “So, you're going to trust Anna to drive? I don't think so. I will drive you two and pick up Tyler and take him to your house,” he said with a laugh.

Suddenly, Anna was paying attention to us again. “Ethan! I'm driving!” she said, putting her hand on her hip and pretending to be mad.

“No way, Anna. You're, like, the worst driver ever,” he told her, walking between the two of us and putting his arms around our shoulders. “Come on. I bet Tyler's waiting,” he said, looking at me.

I completely forgot about Alexis with his face that close to mine. I knew it was just a friendly gesture – I mean, he had the other arm around Anna in the exact same way that his arm was around me – but I couldn't stop my heart from racing and my face from getting warm. He led us through the parking lot to a dark blue expensive-looking SUV, where he removed his arms from our shoulders and opened the passenger-side doors. “Come on in, ladies,” he said, giving us that smile that made his dimple appear and my stomach flutter.

Anna hopped in the front seat and automatically looked in the side mirror, checking her hair and makeup. Inwardly I rolled my eyes as I got in the back seat with a smile. I couldn't believe I was going somewhere with Ethan, even if it wasn't just the two of us. I barely noticed my surroundings as we drove to the elementary school.

Sure enough, Tyler was standing just where I told him to wait, talking to two other boys. Ethan pulled up next to them and rolled down his window. “Hey, Tyler, what's up?”

Tyler looked at him for a second with confusion, but quickly recognized him. “Ethan! Hey!” he said enthusiastically. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm here to take you home. I've got Rain back here too,” he said, and I leaned up and looked out the window at him, smiling and waving.

“Cool!” Tyler shouted, and he opened the back door and jumped in. I laughed as I watched him bouncing in his seat. He obviously felt really big and important to be in the car with Ethan. I was embarrassed to admit that I felt the same way inside, and that I was bouncing in my seat right along with him in my head.

My great mood was quickly crushed as Ethan pulled away from the elementary school and looked at us in the rearview mirror. “So, where am I going?” he asked. That's when it hit me. The problem with Ethan taking us home was that it meant that Ethan would have to actually
see
our home. I knew it was shallow, but I was embarrassed for Ethan and Anna to know that we lived in that tiny apartment. They both looked like the type of people who lived in big houses in fancy subdivisions and had probably never even seen an apartment as small as the one we lived in. An incredible guilt overcame me as I thought about how hard my mom was working to even be able to afford that tiny apartment, but I couldn't help it. I did not want them to see it.

Of course, Tyler didn't think that way. He was already giving Ethan directions for the short trip to our apartment. I knew it was unavoidable – even if I could stop them from coming in with me as I explained to my mom where I was going for the afternoon, they were still going to see the building. I tried to think of a million excuses in my head for why we were living in this tiny apartment but nothing was coming to mind. All too soon, we were pulling into the apartment complex.

Tyler jumped out of the SUV and ran up to Ethan's window. “Ethan, you wanna come in and look at my model cars?” he asked excitedly.

“I love model cars!” Ethan replied. “I'll come in if it's okay with your sister,” Ethan said, looking at me with a smile.

I was screaming “No! No! No!” inside, but all I could do was smile back at him. “Um, sure. You guys can come in. I'll just be a minute,” I said.

Tyler wouldn't shut up the entire way up the stairs to our apartment. He was talking to Ethan about his race car collection and Ethan listened closely, pretending to be interested and excited. When we got to our front door, I hesitated for a second before I opened it and led them inside.

You could basically see the entire apartment as soon as you walked through the front door. The kitchen and living room are really just one big room that we divided with furniture so that you can tell where one room ended and the other began. The three bedrooms are down a small hallway, along with the bathroom. I did a quick look around the apartment and was relieved to see that it was at least picked up; I guess Mom had cleaned a little on her day off. I glanced at Ethan and Anna to try to gauge their reactions. If either of them was unimpressed, they did a great job of hiding it. They were both smiling and looked relaxed.

Mom was sitting on the couch in the living room watching some soap opera, but she stood up right away when she saw the four of us walk in. “Hey guys! How was school?” she asked, coming toward us.

“It was good,” Tyler said, running to his room to get his cars.

“Mom,” I said, “these are my friends, Anna and Ethan.”

“It's so nice to meet you!” she said, nodding at both of them with a bright smile. She couldn't hide how happy she was that I made friends. I knew she worried about me all summer because I was such a recluse.

“We're going to go into Evanston for the afternoon for lunch and to do some shopping,” I told her. “If that's okay with you,” I added.

“Well, of course it's okay!” she said. I kind of knew that was the answer I would get; she was relieved to see me getting out of the house with people my own age. I probably could have told her we were going to rob a bank and worship Satan and gotten her permission at this point. “Have a good time. What time do you think you'll be back?”

I looked at Anna and Ethan. Anna jumped in. “Actually, there's this thing tonight here in town that I'd like to take Rain to. Would it be okay if she just stayed all night with me?” she asked my mother with an innocent smile.

I looked at Anna suspiciously. What was she talking about? She hadn't mentioned this to me, so why would she mention it to my mother?

Mom didn't seem to notice my strange look. “Well, I guess that's okay, if you can try to make it back fairly early tomorrow morning, Rain. I have to work a double starting at ten o'clock, so if you could try to get back sometime around then…”

I cut her off quickly. “Sure, I'll be back by then. I guess I need to go pack some stuff?” I said, turning to Anna.

“Ooh, I'll help you!” she said, skipping after me to my room. About that time, Tyler bounced back into the living room carrying his race cars. At least that would keep Ethan occupied for a while.

I tried to pack quickly. Pajamas, toothbrush, makeup, contact solution, glasses. I threw everything into the bag and then turned and whispered to Anna, “What are we doing tonight?”

She laughed. “There's a party we're all going to. I thought you might want to come.”

I nodded slowly. “Sure. What should I bring to wear?”

She took a quick glance through my closet, and then turned to me. “You know what? Don't worry about it. We'll go back to my house before the party, and I'll find some of my clothes for you to wear. Just get your bag and let's go!” she said, pulling me out of my bedroom.

We went back into the living room, where Ethan was down on the floor playing cars with Tyler. I felt my heart melt a little. He was such a nice guy, and Tyler was already his biggest fan. I interrupted their game. “Okay, ready to go?”

Ethan nodded. “Can we continue this game another time?” he asked Tyler as he got up.

Tyler looked disappointed, but he seemed to like the idea of Ethan coming back over. “You should come back tomorrow!” he said.

Ethan laughed and looked at me. “Maybe I will. If your sister lets me,” he said, again giving me that wink. My knees almost gave out.

We told Mom and Tyler good-bye, and then we left. Anna took her place back in the front seat and began texting the others to see where they were. I sat in the back and enjoyed the drive, listening to the hip-hop Ethan was playing on the radio. I didn't mind hip-hop, but it really wasn't my type of music.

Ethan must have read my mind. As Anna was occupied with her text-messaging, Ethan looked back at me in the rearview mirror. “So, Rain, what type of music do you listen to?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I can listen to anything, really. I guess my favorite is rock. I'm really into a lot of underground stuff. You know, The Cold Uprising
,
Breaking Ties, that kind of stuff. I've been listening to a lot of Chris Sheen lately, too. He could pretty much sing the phone book and still make it rock and roll.” I stopped suddenly, realizing I was rambling. Sometimes I did that when it came to music.

Ethan was listening and nodding, but he seemed to be slightly tuned out. “Never heard of him,” he said. “You'll have to introduce me to his music, I guess.”

I laughed uncomfortably, suddenly feeling shy. He had never heard of Chris Sheen? I guessed music taste was something that Ethan and I definitely did not have in common.

About that time, we pulled into a Mexican restaurant called El Nopal. The first person I saw, waiting for us, was Alexis. She was standing up against a yellow Porsche, watching us as we pulled in. Behind her were Melissa and Ryan, and Brooke and Scott, coupled up as they were outside school. No wonder she seemed to be anxious for us to get there; she was the fifth wheel.

As soon as we got out of the car, I watched Alexis as she watched Ethan. It was obvious that she was into him – she always found a way to be near him. Once we were seated, she somehow ended up beside him. I was sitting across from them, so I had a great view of her constantly glancing at him, moving her chair closer to his, and putting her arm on the back of his chair. It was obvious that she was trying to make it look like they were a couple, and for some reason, she seemed threatened by me. Every time she would touch him or move closer to him, she would look at me to make sure it had not gone unnoticed. The worst part was that Ethan seemed oblivious to the whole scene.