My rainy morning with you

That afternoon, I sat reading by the window and listened to the gentle patter of rain. It sounded like thousands of grains of rice. And the many traces of raindrops on the window twisted and turned the town into funny towers that reached into the peaceful grey sky.

Even though I usually don't like to read a lot, I am glued to the book I'm reading right now. It's a romance novel about a man from Kyra that travels to the old motherland and falls in love with a rich woman that lives there. The book speaks out about discrimination between foreigners and islanders. It's one of the few foreign books they teach about in schools.

When I reached the end of the book, I threw it to the table. And hugged my legs. The old motherland is strict when it came to relationships with us islanders. You could end up losing your status, wealth, everything. That's what happened to the heroine of the story.

"Big sister, you shouldn't throw books." My little sister said. She dropped the doll she had been playing with, and ran over to grab the book. I snatched it away before she could get a hold of it.

"Go away." I said. "It's none of your business."

There were lots of adult scenes in it, so I couldn't let her see it.

"Let me see. Let me see." She tried to grab it, but I pushed her away by the face. Her arms were too short to reach me. She soon gave up her assault. "Big sister, you meanie."

She stuck out her tongue at me.

"You won't understand it anyway." I said, waving her away.

"Will too." She crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. "Tell me what it's about."

I gave her summary of the story, skipping all the dirty details of course.

"That's so stupid!" She said when I told her about the foreigner lady. "Why would she give up everything for that guy?"

I was about to reply 'because she really liked him'. But that wasn't the whole story right?

I thought back to the first day of high school: When Terrence told me he wanted to leave Heaven's Gate. I like Terrence. I really like him. But would I be able to leave this place and my family to go with him?

"What if somebody said that you would have to give up all your toys, or you wouldn't be able to see me again?" I asked. My little sister rubbed her chin, appearing to be deep in thought. "Ha? You're actually thinking about giving me away!"

I grabbed a cushion from the sofa, and went to hit her. But she got away giggling and squealing.

***

The next morning, it was raining when I woke up. I watched the rain through my bedroom window for about an hour, thinking: Did I have to go to school today?

Suddenly, my little sister pulled the covers off and climbed on top of me.

"Leave me alone." I said, but she would have none of it.

"You have school today, big sister." She said. "Come on, get up."

She started rocking me. So annoying.

"Go away," I said louder. "I'm not going to school today."

"What really?!" She said, her voice high with surprise.

I grabbed my blanket and turned, wrapping myself tightly in it, but I didn't reply to her.

"Big sister, you meanie." She said. "Are you going to make that boy wait for you in the rain?"

"Ha?" What boy? It took my sleepy brain a few moments to piece together what she was saying. Terrance! I shot up, suddenly wide awake.

"I can't play with you right now." I said, pushing my little sister out of the way. "I need to go to school."

***

The rain fell hard as I left the house. And in the distance, the sea looked wild and sent large jets of water into the air. Terrance lived much closer to the sea than I did, and the area by the fish factory is prone to flooding. I opened my umbrella and hurried to where Terrence would usually wait.

He isn't there. My heart sank. Was he okay? In the whole time that I knew him, he never took a single day off school. I balled my hand into a fist and placed it against my chest. Maybe the road on his way here was blocked because of the rain. And he just decided to stay home. I would definitely give him an earful for that, next time I see him.

Suddenly, I heard some loud footsteps in the rain. Terrance ran towards me soaked in water. His short hair is damp and sticking to his head. But he seemed cheerful and waved good morning to me.

A smile had formed on my lips the moment I saw him, and suddenly everything seemed a lot brighter. I am so glad he's okay. I quickly hid my excitement and walked over to him. "Did you bring your umbrella?"

"N-no." He laughed, and felt his wet hair. Then turned to look at the rain and went quiet. It is falling much stronger now then when I left the house. Of course, there is a chance that it will stop soon, but if we waited too long we would be late for school.

I sighed, trying to appear reluctant as I reached out my umbrella to him.

"Well, I guess we are going to have to share." I had to look away from him as I said that. My face went hot as hands brushed against mine.

Terrence and I walked shoulder to shoulder. Even then, my umbrella didn't cover both of us completely, and his shoulder got caught in the rain. But he did his best to shield me from the rain.

My heart raced when I felt the warmth of his body against me. Did Terrance also feel something like with me? I put on my poker face as I looked up at him. He noticed me and smiled back. I am so glad he is here.