Chance Of Rain (6 page)

“I think he gets it now. We had a talk. Anyway, it all ended well.”

Bri and I pulled up to the gym and headed inside. We were so excited about school starting in the morning that we opted to do the treadmill so we could talk. We discussed what we planned to wear, and of course Bri promised to drive me.

“I think I’m going to start looking for a car,” I said.

Bri’s face looked shocked then ecstatic. “For real, Ash? That’s great! I’ll help you find something!”

As we chatted I scanned the room every now and then, hoping I’d see Trent. A few times I thought I saw him. I guess it was just wishful thinking.

VI

40 %

I
couldn’t sleep that night. Even with the noise from my air purifier, it was too quiet. I finally had to get up and open my windows.

The sound of chirping crickets drifted in with the breeze.
Much better
, I thought.

It felt so nice that I stepped out onto the patio. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, so I looked through my telescope for a while. Then I watched lightning bugs flicker off and on in the distance until my eyelids were heavy with sleep.

I tossed and turned all night and woke before my alarm. I felt like I never went completely unconscious.

I jumped out of bed and closed my windows before my mom could see that I had slept with them up. I pulled on my favorite skinny jeans and a funky shirt from Forever 21. I applied my cosmetics and fluffed my hair, threw on a little bling, and grabbed my cell and backpack. I took one last look in the mirror.
Not bad!
I thought.
I look nice, but it doesn’t look like I’m trying too hard
.

My mom was already in the kitchen downing a cup of caffeine. “Ready for your first day? Senior year!”

Honk! Honk!

I smiled. “Wish me luck.”

She gave me a hug. “Oh, where did the time go? Love you!” She stood in the doorway and watched me go. “Be safe!” she called out.

Bri and I waved bye to my mom and headed to school. Bri looked great. She always did, though. She had thick, auburn hair and was voluptuous and gorgeous—a swirl of Marilyn Monroe and Adele.

When we got to school, the parking lot was loud and crowded.

“My, my, my,” Bri said, peeking over the top of her sunglasses. “Would you look at that?”

It was Angel Martinez. He and I had been friends since elementary school. He was my first crush, and it lasted for years, but he never liked me like that. At the time it almost broke my heart, but I eventually got over it and had a good friend that I probably wouldn’t have had if we had dated then broken up. And we would have broken up. Angel liked to flirt with everyone. He’d been in a dozen relationships, and none of them had ever lasted long.

Bri and I slung our backpacks over our shoulders and followed the crowd. We were like ants marching into our hill.

We waited in line for only a minute to pick up our schedules. We quickly compared first period.
Yes!
To our delight, we had English together.

We headed to the stairs, found our lockers, then went to class.

We were surprised to find not a single desk, other than the teacher’s, when we entered the room. Instead we saw a very large plush rug on the floor, sprinkled with huge, colorful beanbag chairs. We turned and looked at each other. The confusion on our faces was slowly replaced with toothy grins. “This is going to be freakin’ awesome,” Bri whispered.

Ms. Elliott greeted us. “Welcome, friends. Please take a seat.” She motioned toward the beanbags.

There was an empty one near Lacey, which we avoided like there was something sticky on it. We found two in the corner and plunked ourselves down into them. While other students filed in around us, Bri and I finished looking over our schedules. We didn’t have any other subjects together. That wasn’t so bad, though; we only had two other classes.

Bri and I, along with a large portion of the senior class, were in a work program this year. If you had completed your core classes or were on the verge of doing so and you were passing, you got to participate. We only went to school in the morning, and then we got to work the other half. It was a great incentive to get everyone where they needed to be to graduate. Not to mention, most of
the kids I went to school with needed to get a head start on earning money for next year’s college tuition.

The bell finally rang. We stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to announcements. Then Ms. Elliott called roll. She addressed everyone by his or her last name, and then each student told her what he or she went by.

“Miss Branson.”

“You can call me Bri.”

She continued, “Miss Devoe.”

“Everyone calls me Ash.”

She ended with, “Mr. Novak.”

A familiar voice said, “Trent, ma’am.”

Bri and I looked up and then at each other. I turned my head, and there he was. He raised his eyebrows at me and grinned.

“I know it’s the first day, but we’re going to jump right in,” Ms. Elliott said. “We have a lot to cover.” She handed out a set of small, worn paperbacks titled,
Edgar Allen Poe: A Collection
.

“This is a senior-level class. The purpose of this course is to refresh your memories for college next year. Everything I show you is supposed to be familiar. That’s why we’re going to zip through it.

“We’re going to read, read, read, then read some more. That’s why there aren’t any desks. Most of our tests will be oral. If I need you to write, we’ll use one of these.” She lifted a beanbag lap desk from a large stack in the corner. “We’ll read as a class and also silently in small groups and with partners. When we cover Shakespeare, you can do a little acting if you’d like. Let’s try to get to know someone today, shall we? Find a partner and take turns reading the first poem.”

I looked at Bri, and she knew exactly what I was thinking. I didn’t want to abandon her, but I
really
wanted to talk to Trent. I knew she would’ve been more than willing to take one for the team and partner up with someone else, but before I had a chance to even blink, Lacey had pulled her beanbag up to Trent’s.

Bri and I looked at each other. I pretended not to notice, and so did she. Bri opened her book and cleared her throat. “‘Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now…’”

I couldn’t focus. I wished I were seated at an angle where I could read Trent’s facial expressions. Was he enjoying himself? This was twice now that Lacey had interfered.

Maybe he liked her.

“Do you remember me from the Road House the other night?” I overheard Lacey ask Trent. I knew what she was thinking:
Of course you recognize me. Look at me—I’m unforgettable
.

He must have nodded because I didn’t hear his response.

“‘My days have been a dream,’” Bri went on.

Lacey had silky blond hair that she wore in a pageboy-style cut, and she dressed very trendy. She had on T-shirt with a wild print and a brightly colored scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. Most of the time, she looked like she’d just finished shooting a cover for
Seventeen
.

“‘While I weep—while I weep!’” Bri continued.

It was a strange phenomenon; Lacey wasn’t very friendly, but she was popular. I guess it was like being infamous versus famous.

I think her dislike for me began in second grade, when Mrs. Royston chose me to play the role of Mrs. Claus instead of her. That same year she liked Chad Walker too, but he liked me. She hadn’t liked me since then.

“‘Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?’” concluded Bri. “Wow!”

“What? What happened?” I asked, trying to peek over my shoulder without being seen.

“What do you mean ‘What’? Didn’t you hear how well I just read that? I amaze myself.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“I know you weren’t paying attention, Ash. I can’t blame you, but you’d better read.”

I gave in. When I finished, I looked at the wall clock and saw that class was about to end. I whispered to Bri and told her to be ready to bail—and
fast
.

Ms. Elliott gave us the OK to leave when then bell rang. Before it even finished sounding, Bri and I were gone.

“I can’t stand Lacey!” I whispered to Bri as soon as we stepped into the crowded, noisy hallway.

“I hear ya. I gotta go this way now.” Bri motioned with a nod of her head. “Meet me by the car after school.”

I walked to Mr. Owen’s room for Spanish, found a table, and quickly sat down. I stared at my phone so I could ignore everyone around me.

I started to dread that I’d signed up for this class. I didn’t need the foreign-language credit; I’d already taken two years of French. I just felt like I’d be wasting my time if I took home ec. I would have, though, if I could have taken it with Bri. But she was still trying to get through geometry.

Unfortunately someone sat down next to me, and he was looking right at me.
Rude much?

“You ran off again.”

My head jerked up. “Hey, Mr. Novak. I mean, Trent.”

He grinned. “Is it OK if I sit here?”

I shrugged. “Whatever.”

Mr. Owen took care of some paperwork then instructed us turn to the person we were sitting with—
lucky me
—and practice the conversations in chapter one.

It was awesome. I didn’t have to think of anything clever to say for the next forty-five minutes, and I got to look into Trent’s eyes. Sometimes he’d look up at me through his dark lashes, and I’d forget what I was saying. He’d laugh at me whenever I had to start all over.

I couldn’t wait to tell Bri. She was so going to freak. I had to go to art class first, though.

After Mr. Owen dismissed us, Trent walked me to my last class.

“It was a nice surprise seeing you here today,” I told him.

“Likewise, Ms. Devoe.”

“Well, thanks for walking me,” I said, as we got to my room much too quickly.

“And thank
you
for walking
me
,” he replied.

I laughed and turned to go inside. I stopped when I realized Trent was following right behind me. I turned around and gave him a “What do you think you’re you doing?” look.

He walked past me and sat at the nearest easel.

“Are you for real? You’re in all my classes?”

“You’re in all
my
classes,” he countered.

I wasn’t sure whether it was too presumptuous to sit next to him. So I stood there awkwardly for a moment, hesitating.

“Are you going to sit down?” Trent asked me as he looked at the seat next to him.

What a relief. I gladly sat down next to him. I set my things on the floor and looked around.

It was more like a warehouse than a classroom, and it was chilly inside from all the huge widows. They let in a ton of light as well. It would be hard to be sad in this place; it was so bright and cheery. The ceiling must have gone up at least twenty feet over our heads. Large air-conditioning ducts ran in and out of the rafters like a giant silver anaconda.

In this class we didn’t just jump right in. Mrs. Frost gave us every last detail about her room. Before the hour was up, we knew every rule and where everything was located. The only thing that made it bearable was that I got to look at Trent now and then.

Ring!
Finally…the bell.

“See you tomorrow,” said Mrs. Frost, without looking up from her desk.

Trent and I walked to the parking lot together.

“So where are you off to?” he asked me.

I nodded toward Bri, who was sitting in her car. She was watching and waved.

“Bri and I were going to hang out.”

“You think we could finally get some coffee later?” he asked.

I smiled. “Wanna pick me up around six?”

“Six is good. See ya then.”

He started to walk away when I called out, “Hey, don’t you need my address?”

He turned back and grinned and entered my address and number in his phone.

“We…have…every…class…together!”

“No way!” Bri screamed.

“Yes way!”

“This is too good too be true.”

“I guess it’s destiny or something. Anyway we’re going on a date tonight!”

“What?”

“Well, sorta. We’re getting coffee. Does that count? As a date?”

“Yes.
Well…
I mean coffee is casual,” Bri said. “Yes! We’re counting this as a date! Definitely.”

“He’s coming by around six to get me. I don’t know how I’m going to the pass time until then. I don’t have any homework, and we don’t have to work today.”

“I know what I’m
not
doing,” said Bri. I gave her a funny look. “Going to the gym. My legs are killing me.”

“Do you think we could do a drive-by on my dad? I really want to talk to him in person. My mom is so bummed. I’m not sure if he’s at work or home, so maybe we could go by both?”

“No prob, babe. I told my mom I’d be home for lunch, though. You can come too. We’ll go spy on your
padre
afterward. I can’t wait to hear how my mom’s interview went this morning.”

“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “Today was the big day.”

“Yeah.”

“How long has she worked for J.T. Construction anyway?” I asked.