LIKE RAIN (2 page)

Chapter
Three

Derek and I went out for about three months. He was a jock, I was a cheerleader. It was just typical. I really only went out with him because I felt I had to, like it was expected of me. I'd never really had much interest in him before Marissa, a fellow cheerleader, decided we would just be the most adorable couple. So at all the parties and after the games she'd shove us together, forcing us to engage in awkward conversation. After a couple weeks of this he asked me out, and I said yes because it was "the thing" to do.

There was nothing particularly wrong with Derek, but then again, there was nothing special about him either. He'd hold my hand, kiss me on the cheek before parting to our separate classes, and let me wear his letterman jacket…all that traditional stuff. But there was nothing exciting about him, nothing that made me actually want to get up and go to school in the morning. In all honesty, he was just plain boring, and so after waiting it out a few months seeing if it got any better, I broke up with him because it never did.

Maddy never said much about it when we started dating. She'd just nod her head whenever I talked about him and act like she couldn't care less. But I knew that she secretly thought Derek and I were totally wrong for each other, and she turned out to be right. She'd mumble under her breath, "you should be going out with Cael," but I never acknowledged the fact that I'd heard her. I'd just pretend I wasn't listening.

Derek didn't seem much effected when I broke up with him one day after school. If he was upset or disappointed he didn't let it show. I was relieved by this. I wanted the break up to be as easy as possible because I definitely didn't deal well with confrontation. I'd put off breaking up with him for days, even debating whether or not I should, because it just wasn't an easy thing for me to do. I wanted to be sincere, without being blunt, which I thought nearly impossible. But he just said okay, smiled weakly, and walked away. He made it easy.

Maddy seemed near ecstatic when I dumped him. She tried to hide it, but I could see right through her. Now's the perfect chance for you to snag Cael, she'd told me the day I broke up with Derek. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, wondering if Maddy would ever stop trying to get me and Cael together. Whenever she'd mention it to him that we should go out he'd just smile and continue with whatever he was talking about before Maddy interrupted.

I lay on my stomach on the front porch absorbing the sunlight, and I though about what Derek and I would be doing at that very moment if we were still going out. Probably at some football player's house, swimming in the pool and drinking beer. The only time I ever drank was when we were at those parties together. It wasn't that I felt a lot of pressure to, it was that I thought it would make the situation easier, seeing as I didn't want to be there in the first place. Drinking just made me relax and feel more comfortable. But I hadn't drunk a single drop of alcohol since Derek and I broke up.

"Another reason you should go out with Cael," Maddy would say. "He doesn't drink or go to lame parties." I always wondered why Maddy didn't just go out with him herself if he was so perfect.

I sat up on the porch and looked across the street at Maddy's house. I thought about all the late nights we spent there talking and watching scary movies, the countless makeovers we performed on each other, and all the dances we prepared for at that house, continually checking and rechecking our hair. There was now a 'for sale' sign in front of the house and I didn't know if I would ever even set foot inside it again.

The phone started to ring and I ran inside the house to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey Nev."

"Hi Dad," I said.

"Listen honey, I'm going to be late coming home today," he said.

"Again?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot of extra work to do for this new advertisement I'm working on. You can make something for yourself for dinner, right?"

"Sure," I said.

"Great," he said. "Thanks. I'll see you later tonight."

"Bye Dad," I replied, hanging up the phone and returning to the front porch. All my dad ever did was work, ever since I could remember. After my mom died it was my sister who raised me, not my father. He never had time for me or anything else, except his work and an occasional date. So now I was alone in the house because Jane, my sister, moved to New York the day after graduation.

I was pondering over what I should have to eat when I saw Cael coming up the street to my house. "Hey babe," he said when he reached my front porch. I stood up and he hugged me, which was unusual, even for Cael.

"Hey," I said.

"What are you up to tonight?" he asked me.

"Nothing. My dad just called and said he was going to be late tonight, so I'm on my own."

"No you're not," he said, "you'll be with me."

"I will?" I said with a smile.

"Yeah you will," he grinned at me. "Come on." He grabbed my hand and we walked back down the street to his house.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said. When we arrived at his house he led me up the porch steps, through the front door, and into the kitchen where he already had a full course meal set on the table. There was salad for starters, followed by corn, potatoes, and chicken for the main entrée, and a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. It was all my favorite foods.

My mouth dropped slightly and then a smile spread across my face. "What's all this?" I asked.

"This," he said, pulling a chair out for me, "is your dinner, made by the most famous chef in this house, me." He smiled.

I laughed and sat down. "Well what's the occasion?"

"You think it has to be a special occasion for me to do something nice for my best friend? I'm hurt," he said jokingly while putting his hand to his heart.

"Okay, okay," I said laughing. "I'm sorry. I just didn't realize I was special enough for this royal treatment."

He grinned. "Course you are."

Chapter
Four

I walked into my dad's room the next evening. He appeared to be in frenzy, rushing back and forth from one end of the room to the other, to the closet, to the bathroom.

"What are you doing Dad?" I asked him, while he was digging through his drawer of ties.

"I'm getting ready for a date," he replied, picking out a striped blue and red tie.

"A date?" I was used to my dad going on dates, but he'd been so busy he hadn't gone on one in months. "Aren't you too busy with your new advertisement?"

"Finished it early this afternoon," he replied, while assembling his tie.

"So who's the girl?" I asked.

"Just a woman I met at lunch today. Look Nev, I don't really have time for this right now. I have to finish getting ready. We'll talk about it later," he said with a tone of irritation in his voice. He directed me out of the room and shut his door. There was never time for me. I was always second or third priority, never first.

I went to my bedroom and looked out the window and across the street at Maddy's house. I looked at the sign in her front yard. Sold. I could see her mother, Scarlet, standing in front of the kitchen window. She was looking at me. She raised her hand and motioned for me to come over. I turned and walked out of the room and slowly down the stairs. I stepped out the front door barefoot and walked the 48 steps it took to get to Maddy's house. I recognized every crack on the sidewalk, every flower, every blade of grass that I passed on the way. I could make the walk backwards, deaf, and blind.

Scarlet stood waiting for me in the same spot she was when I saw her through the window. I looked around the room and saw boxes everywhere, piles of stuff on the floor sorted into categories and waiting to be packed away. Scarlet was cleaning out the cupboards, taking out bowls, plates, glasses, and silverware.

"Need some help?" I offered.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she said. "Could you wash those dishes that are in the sink?"

"Sure," I said. That was the thing about Scarlet; she always accepted my help whenever I offered it. I liked that. I liked being trusted with the responsibility. And I knew she could always use some help, so I always offered it. Her husband didn't help much around the house. He was the traditional type: I bring home the income so you take care of the housework. That was the one thing I hated about him, and it made me instantly sorry I hadn't come over earlier.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what honey?" Scarlet asked.

"For not coming sooner. It's just hard…being in this house when Maddy's not."

Scarlet put down the glass she was holding and looked at me. "It's okay Nevaeh, I understand. But I didn't ask you over to help me with dishes. I want you to look in Maddy's room and see if there's anything you want to take."

"Oh no, that's okay. I couldn't-," I started to say.

"Nevaeh," she stopped me. "I want you to take some things, something to remember her by. You can take whatever you want. Please, do it as a favor to me."

"Okay," I said and started down the hallway to Maddy's room. When I entered her room I saw that nothing had been packed yet. It was still exactly the way Maddy had left it, and exactly the way I remembered it. But it felt different, like a shadow had been cast over it. There wasn't that mischievous air there was when we stayed up late talking about school and our latest crushes, or snuck in after curfew from some party we were at. It was just quiet and lonely, as if the room could sense that its inhabitant wasn't coming back.

I looked around the room wondering what I should take. I stopped at the pictures that were stuck in the side of her mirror and overflowing her bulletin board. There were pictures of me and her, me and Cael, all three of us, and some of her various other girl and guy friends. I looked at all her dance trophies and medals that lined the edge of her dresser. I fingered the clothes that were hanging in her closet, many of which were mine, and a lot were clothes I had borrowed for numerous outings and events. It was like seeing her life just laid out in front of me and so easily thrown away.

I could feel I was on the verge of tears, so I grabbed a framed picture of me and her that she had on her dresser, a half-empty bottle that contained the perfume she wore everyday, and her favorite charm bracelet that made loud, jingly noises that told you she was coming before she was even in site. I took one last look around the room. "Good bye Maddy," I whispered before stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind me.

"You sure that's all you want?" Scarlet asked me when she saw what I had in my hands.

"I'm sure," I replied. She gave me a plastic bag to put everything in. "So when are you moving?"

"Next week," she said, "and I'm going crazy trying to pack everything up in time."

"Well if you ever need any help just let me know," I told her.

"Oh thank you sweetheart, but I think I'll be able to manage it on my own."

"But if you do need me-,"

"I'll call," she said with a smile. She gave me a hug before I left. "I'm going to miss you Nev."

"I'm going to miss you too." We exchanged one last smile before I turned and walked out the door, taking the 48 steps it took to get back to my front door.