LIKE RAIN (5 page)

Chapter
Nine

It was just beginning to get dark when we arrived at Cael's house. I was starting to see a few stars in the sky, and the moon was shining faintly above us. It was still warm outside, even though the sun had gone down.

"Well, I guess I better get back to Mrs. Wonderful," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm sure she has plenty of questions for me."

"You don't have to go back. You can come in if you want," Cael said.

"Okay," I said. I sure as hell did not want to go back to my house. "Are your parents home?" I asked as we walked through the front door and into the living room.

"No, they went out tonight," he said. Cael walked into the kitchen and I sat down on the couch. "You want a soda?"

"Sure," I called. He set two pops on the coffee table and sat down next to me.
"Um, I wasn't trying to make a move on you before," he said quietly.

"Before when?" I asked confused.

"At your house, when your dad came in and said no fooling around."

I laughed. "We were sleeping. I hardly call that making a move," I said.

"I know, but I don't want you thinking it was anything more than friendly," he said, not looking at me. Friendly. There it was again. The word "friend" just always had to sneak in there somehow.

"Well was it?" I asked.

He hesitated a moment, still not meeting my eyes. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I kind of…put your head on my chest."

"You did?"

"Yeah," he said nodding.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said." I just wanted it there." He looked up and finally met my eyes.

I stared at him for a while, trying to comprehend what he was saying. If he had more than just friendly feelings for me, then why did he always throw that word in there? I just couldn't figure him out. He was so hard to read.

"Have you ever thought about being more than friends?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I have." I waited for him to say something more. "But it's probably not a good idea."

"Yeah," I said a little too quickly. "You're probably right. Listen, I should probably go."

"Yeah, okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah, see ya." I got up and let myself out. I walked back up the street to my house trying to figure out what had just happened. So Cael did think about us being more than just friends. But that had been an awkward moment, and we didn't often have those. It was just like I said it would be, weird. So maybe that was how it was supposed to be. Maybe we were only destined to be friends.

At that moment I felt a cool drop hit my nose, then another on my arm. It started out as a slow drizzle, then became heavier. I slowed down my pace as I was soon approaching my driveway. I didn't want to go inside. I looked up at the sky and let the raindrops hit my face.

"What are you doing?" I heard a voice call. I looked down and saw Nathan standing in my driveway.

"What are you doing here?" I called over the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement.

"I came to see you. What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I'm standing in the rain. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're getting soaked," he said, coming closer to me.

"That too." He smiled at me. I smiled back. "So, you missed me already, did you?"

He laughed. "Maybe."

"Is that a yes?" I asked.

"Probably," he said. "So are we just going to stand out here getting wet?"

"Yep," I said. He only stared at me. "Don't you just love the rain?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh I do. It's so pretty." I said, looking back up at the sky.

"So are you," he said.

I laughed. "I'm standing here in the rain. I'm soaking wet, my hair is a mess, I probably have make up running down my face, and you're calling me pretty?"

"Yeah," he said smiling. "Beautiful."

"And it feels good," I said.

"What does?" he asked.

"The rain." He stepped forward so our bodies were touching. He put his hands around my waist, leaned in, and kissed me. I wasn't sure if it was right, but I let him.

"So do you," he said after he pulled away. "You're pretty and you feel good, just like rain."

I smiled. "But you don't like rain."

"I do now," he said. "Who's that?" He pointed to something behind me. I turned around and it was Cael. We both stood there completely still, staring at each other. I didn't know what to say.

"Cael…," was all that managed to escape my mouth. He turned around without a word and walked back down the street to his house.

Chapter
Ten

I hadn't seen Cael in three days. Nathan had left that night without a word of explanation from me, and here he was again sitting on my couch. I sat down next to him, keeping a safe distance.

"Who was that guy?" he asked me. I had been waiting for that question from the moment he came to the door.

"He's my best friend," I said simply.

"Well, by the look on his face he seemed like a bit more than just your friend," he said.

"Well he's not. I don't know what to tell you. We're just friends. We've never been more than that. I admit the situation was awkward and maybe he did look a little hurt, but I couldn't tell you why. I honestly don't know."

"Well, do you like him as more than just a friend?" he asked me.

"No…maybe…I don't think so." I really had no idea. Sure I'd thought about dating Cael, sure he was an amazing guy, but he'd always just been my friend, and I didn't know how to be with him any other way. I still stood by my excuse that it would be weird.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means no," I said after only a moment's hesitation. I wasn't sure if that was absolutely true, but it seemed the appropriate thing to say.

"Okay then," he said. "What about us? Where do we stand?"

"Uh…I just met you. I don't know anything about you," I said.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"For starters, how old are you?"

"I'm nineteen. You?"

"I turned sixteen yesterday," I said.

"Oh, really? Happy belated birthday then," he said flashing me his white teeth.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Any other questions?" he said.

"Yeah, why are you even here? What do you want from me?" I asked

"What do I want from you?" he repeated, almost laughing.

"Yeah, I mean you delivered me a pizza, that's all. Why such an interest in me?"

He seemed at a loss of what to say. "Well, for one thing, you're gorgeous."

"Oh, so you must do this a lot then if you go after every pretty girl you see," I said.

He shook his head and smiled. "I just think I have a connection with you. You seem like the kind of girl I can have fun with."

"What kind of fun?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

He laughed. "Clean fun…or dirty, whichever you prefer." I smiled. "So, can I come by again?"

"You know where I live," I said. He stood up, and I walked over to the door.

"Can I get a kiss?" he asked. I turned my head to the side and leaned a little towards him to indicate that he could kiss only my cheek. He kissed me and gave me one last toothy smile before stepping out the door and shutting it behind him.

As soon as I heard his car pull out of the driveway and down the rode, I slipped on my shoes and went out the door. When I got to Cael's house no one was home. I figured he was at work. I had no idea when he'd be home, but I sat on his front steps and waited. I ended up falling asleep sprawled out on the porch and baking in the sun. I awoke with a jump when Cael tapped me on the shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking confused. I sat up and looked around, waiting for my memory to come back to me.

"I…I was waiting for you," I said.

"For how long?" he asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Since late morning I guess."

"Nevaeh, it's almost 3 o'clock!" he said looking worried. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "Come on, let's go inside." I followed him in and sat beside him on the couch. "So what are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I…I wanted to talk to you," I paused, "about last night." He nodded and looked down at the floor. "Cael, look at me," I said. He looked up. "Why were you even out there? Why did you come back?"

He stared at me, straight in the eye. He waited a moment before he spoke and looked back at the floor when he did. "No reason," was all he said.

"Well are you upset or something?" I asked.

"No, no. Why should I be upset? You're allowed to have boyfriends. You're allowed to kiss guys. I'd just prefer if I didn't have to see it." He smiled.

I laughed. "So we're good then? No problems?"

"No problems," he said. "One question though. Why in the world did you sit out there waiting for so long? You're burnt to a crisp!"

I looked down at my arms and legs and saw that my skin was pink. I laughed. "That's how important you are," I said, pointing to my burned skin. He smiled. "But I should probably go now."

"Alright," he said. "I'll see you later then." I waved good bye and walked back to my house. I saw Halley and her mother getting out of their car with loads of shopping bags.

"Oh, hello Nevaeh!" Margaret called, waving her arms violently.

"Hi Mrs. May. Hi Halley," I called back. Halley waved and smiled at me.

"Would you like to come over later?" Margaret asked. "You can stay the night if you like." I pondered the idea. I couldn't imagine sleeping over at Maddy's house again with someone other than Maddy. But I was sure Halley could use the company, especially after spending all that time locked up with her crazy mother.

"Sure," I yelled. Halley looked positively thrilled.

"Oh great!" Margaret called. "Come over whenever you like."

"Alright, thanks," I said. "I'll see you later." I waved one last time before walking up the front steps to my house. When I got inside I saw to my horror that Jasmine was sitting at the kitchen table stirring a cup of coffee. She looked up when she heard me.

"Oh Nevaeh, I was wondering where you were. Come over here and sit by me," she said pulling out the chair beside her and tapping it with her hand. I sighed and dragged my feet over to the kitchen.

"Where's my dad?" I asked after sitting down at the kitchen table.
"Oh, he's upstairs. He'll be down in a minute," she said. "I took him down to my office and showed him where I work. He got to see everything involved in the making of Vogue. He just loved it." I rolled my eyes.

"I bet," I said sarcastically. She didn't notice.

"So what have you been doing today?" she asked, staring intently at me. I hated her fake interest in me. I could so easily tell that she didn't really give a damn.

"Nothing really," I said. "I was just at my friend's house."

"Oh, you're boyfriend?" she asked.

"Um, no."

"Oh, I was going to ask you," she said, "which one of those boys is your boyfriend."

"Uh…what boys?" I asked.

"You know, there was that one who was over here yesterday. What was his name?"

"Cael," I said impatiently.

"Yes Cael, that's it. And then I saw you outside last night with that other boy…dark hair, kind of mysterious," she said, trying to describe him.

"Nathan," I said.

"So which one is your boyfriend?" she asked.

"Neither," I said. I heard my father coming down the stairs.

"Hey Nevaeh, where ya been?" he asked, leaning over to kiss Jasmine. I gave them a look of disgust, but he didn't see.

"Cael's," I said. "Dad, don't you ever go to work anymore?"

He laughed. "Sure I do, but I'm not needed as much right now."

"Yeah, now that you got Miss Vogue to tie you down," I said under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I said. I got up and walked towards the stairs.

"Come back here Nevaeh, I'm not done with you," he said.

"Well, I'm done with you," I called, marching up the stairs and stomping into my room. I started to pack my bag to go to Halley's. I was already sick of being in this house, and I'd only been there for 10 minutes. I hated Jasmine, I hated my father. I was just biding time until she was gone for good and my dad went back to burying himself in his work. I didn't really like that either, but it was all I knew. I figured that was the way it should be.