Rainy Days

These kinds of days make some people want to just close their eyes and crawl back under the blankets, nestled in warmth.1

Not me.2

It was pretty early, six thirty on a rainy Saturday morning when he called.3

“Kate?” His voice was breathless, earnest. “Did I wake you up?”4

“No,” I could feel my heart leap. “Honestly, I was just going to call you.” I stared out my window into the downpour. The leaves on the trees were being flattened into submission by the pounding rain.5

“Hungry?” he asked, and I could hear his hope through the phone.6

“Sure. Meet you at the Starbucks on 89th at seven.” Just like Nathan to call at 6:30 a.m. on the night after the first date. He had crudely disobeyed all the rules of dating, and I grinned. I hung up after he said a quick, “See you there,” and he hung up as well.7

Taking one last, longing, glance out the window; I opened my bedroom door as softly as I could.8

My slippered feet tiptoed down the hall, forgetting about the board that creaked right outside my brother’s door.9

He popped his head out of the room. “Knew you’d be up by now,” he said through a big smile, and I was struck once more of the striking resemblance between us. “Nathan call you?”10

I nodded, smiled back, was unable to respond.11

“Kinda nice having a twin brother that can get you boyfriends faster than you want them, huh?” he asked, and winked. “I know a couple more that really wouldn’t mind you…” he trailed off suggestively, and he adopted a falsely serious look as he cocked an eyebrow at me.12

I punched his arm jokingly and groaned, “Oh, Michael. Kinda nice having a twin sister whose entire circle of friends would die to have him in their arms, isn’t it?”13

Michael’s smile widened, showing off his perfect teeth. “Sure is, sis, sure is.”14

When his head disappeared and his door clicked shut, the house was totally silent. I could hear a deep rumble of thunder in the distance, like a big, sleeping beast being woken up after a long sleep.15

Turning the gold handle of the bathroom door slowly, I stepped onto the cold tile floor and let my body give off a delighted shiver.16

Dropping my pink pajamas in a pile on the floor, I hopped in the shower and turned it up so hot it would make any sane human’s skin practically boil.17

I jumped when the steaming liquid hit my bare back, letting the heat unfurl one tense muscle at a time. When I shut my eyes, I could see Nathan’s face – smiling, with those cute dimples he had showing on either side of his mouth. His nose; pretty standard-sized and right in the middle of his face. And those eyes – they were lively green. They were the color of a tree’s leaves after a rejuvenating rainfall.18

Shampooing quickly, I let the shower rinse out the bubblesbefore soaping up the rest of my body. Halfway through, I squeezed the bar too tightly and the soap flew out of my hands. I swear, there must be a technique that I just can’t get the hang of. If there’s one thing I absolutely cannot do, it’s hold onto a bar of wet soap for more than a minute at a time. You hold it too hard, too tight, and it slides right through your fingers. Just like boyfriends.19

In five minutes, I was out of the shower and running back down the hall – leaping ungracefully over the squeaky spot – and back in my own room with my towel wrapped crazily around my body.20

It was still raining as hard as ever. It would likely rain all day, too. A tiny flash of lightning lit up the room and another soft grumble of thunder played somewhere far away.21

Slightly exasperated, I slid my closet door open and surveyed the overstuffed contents. After much deliberation, I selected a plaid dark blue tank top that flared out at the bottom and had a navy ribbon that encircled my ribcage. Pairing it with my favorite pair of worn and ripped jeans, I threw on a pair of gray flats – plus little bow – and checked my hair in the mirror.22

Unfortunately, my hair looked as if it had been strangled in a garbage bag, wet and framing my face in an uncultivated mass. I grimaced, wrinkled my nose, and ran to my desk.23

It was 6:45 and it took about ten minutes to drive to the Starbucks, which gave me five to put on make-up and brush my teeth.24

In record time, I’d applied a bit of eyeliner around my eyes, some shimmery blue eyeshadow, and two coats of mascara. This should be an Olympic sport. I’d smoke ‘em all. A slightly louder clap of thunder reverberated around my house.25

I hate having an unclean mouth. I timed my brushing carefully, spitting out the burning hot cinnamon toothpaste right on the mark. I hate that stuff. It’s almost impossible to keep it in your mouth for two minutes without gagging from the pain.26

Two sharp raps on Michael’s door and he reappeared, sniffing loudly. “Well you certainly don’t smell perfumed and look perfectly manicured.”27

I rolled my eyes. “Tell Mom and Dad to call me if they need me.” I showed him my phone before slipping it into my pocket.28

“Sure thing, babe,” he said and slapped my butt when I turned around. I mumbled under my breath as he retreated. I could hear him from behind the door. “I crack myself up.”29

Of course he meant well – or else why would I be dating his best friend? He knew perhaps more than anyone else what would happen if this didn’t work out splendidly.30

I snagged the car keys that Michael and I shared along with a stick of Mint gum from the pack I kept behind the cabinet – Michael would take them all in a heartbeat if he knew they were there.31

Purposely, I didn’t bring an umbrella – I wanted to see if Nathan liked rain as much as I did. I did, however, grab a hooded sweatshirt in case I got cold.32

I snapped on the audio and blasting Green Day music made my heart jump and skip a beat. My hand came up to my ears and I thought dimly that I’d forgotten. Michael likes loud rock music.33

Cursing his guts, I tuned the song down to a slightly less ear damaging level and turned it to my favorite song.34

I sang along, horridly off tune, but singing nonetheless. “She’s a rebel, she’s a saint, she’s a salt of the earth and she’s dangerous.”35

The song made me smile. Almost always, I listened to it before I thought something big was going to happen. It got me in a nice, smiling mood. Although… I didn’t know what was so big about today. Just seeing my boyfriend for breakfast on a nothing-special rainy Saturday morning.36

I slammed on the breaks – stop sign, though luckily the roads were mostly deserted – and thought about this “nothing-special rainy Saturday morning”. Was it really “nothing-special”? Frankly, there wasn’t a thing about Nathan was “nothing-special”. He was… not your average boyfriend. Sometimes he could get excited about the tiniest thing – “You’re wearing a new pair of socks, aren’t you?!” – or he could be completely serious and grave – “Kate, will you go out with me?”. It was 6:57 when I passed the High School – which meant I was five minutes away. Damn. I hated being late. It’s a show of disrespect, and Nathan would most likely worry himself silly about me not being there on time. In fact, he was probably there now, standing all by his lonesome in the rain.37

I accelerated slightly and saw the brightness of the store approaching through the gray flecks of rain chasing each other down my windshield.38

I pulled into the parking lot. Sure enough, one figure was standing under a green umbrella – frog shaped, with little eyes poking out of the top.39

Nathan’s face collapsed in a relieved smile when he saw me park the car and get out. I’d slung my sweater over one arm.40

Oh, crap, I’d forgotten to check myself in the mirror. Did I look bad? Had my make up smeared? God, what if I’d forgotten to put on—41

“Hey, Kate,” Nathan said and gave a little wave. I blinked, and all of a sudden he was standing right next to me, the rain angling around us and dripping to the ground after hitting the umbrella. He was just my height, too.42

Knowing that Nathan was too shy to take the initiative, I took his hand and laced my fingers with his. He gave my hand a squeeze and I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I like your umbrella,” I said softly.43

I could hear him grinning in his voice. “It’s Natalie’s. As a six year old, she’s entitled to one of these things.”44

Nathan pulled the door open for me and the bell dinged loudly as we stepped inside. It was almost empty, save for a business-y man typing away on his laptop while drinking mocha and a girl with dark circles under her eyes probably feeling the death claws of a caffeine addiction closing in on her life. Nathan closed the umbrella and shook it out.45

“What would you like?” Nathan asked.46

And suddenly, I felt oddly out of fashion when I replied. “Hot chocolate. Extra whipped cream.”47

Nathan eyed me carefully. “You have excellent taste in Starbucks drinks.”48

I breathed an inner sigh of relief. “I positively detest coffee. It’s so bitter.”49

He nodded emphatically and grinned, showing a flawless smile. I found myself staring at him while he ordered for us. The way his dimples showed, the perfect tilt of his head that made his black hair fall away from his eyes. And then his lips, they looked so soft; I wondered what it’d feel like to kiss them.50

Suddenly realizing what had just gone through my mind, I snapped my gaze away from his face and felt my face go slightly red. ‘Kissing? KISSING, Kate? How low have you brought yourself? Remember the LAST time you kissed someone? Yes, well, let’s not have a replay of that, shall we?’ I scolded myself.51

Caffeine Freak coughed loudly and ordered another big cup of steaming black coffee.52

Nathan’s thumb rubbed the back of my hand, and though I had no sleeves on and I was terribly damp, I felt warm and fuzzy all over.53

After we got our drinks, Nathan and I selected a table for two near the window. I sipped my hot chocolate pensively as he looked out the window. Rain pelted out of the heavens with a mission to drown the world.54

He turned his gaze back to me, and his face softened up in a smile. In skepticism, he shook his head. “Kate, I cannot believe that for the last year, you were unaware of how much I liked you.”55

I giggled. “I noticed that you talked to me a lot, but that’s about it,” I replied.56

Nathan took a gulp of his latte before responding. “It took me a long time even to confess to Michael. But he already knew when I told him. He said, ‘any monkey with half a brain could have seen it, Nathan. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.’”57

“So he’s saying that my intelligence is less than half of a monkey’s?” I said lightheartedly. Thanks, Michael. Thanks a bunch.58

Nathan was quiet for a second. “I watched him pick out those other boyfriends for you. I watched it all not work out.”59

I was silent. Michael hadn’t been too reliable with his selections lately. The last boy, Carlos, I had dated for under a week when he asked me to do it with him. Needless to say, I don’t see his behind around any more. Instead, I decided to gaze out the window at the peaceful turmoil happening behind that single pane of glass. That thin window of glass protected all of us from the terror going on outside.60

Perhaps from embarrassment, Nathan stared down into his drink and drummed his fingers. “I kept thinking how I could be better. How I wouldn’t hurt you like that.”61

I reached out my hand and set it on top of Nathan’s, stilling his fingers and cupping his fingers in mine. I didn’t know how I felt right then. Sure, I liked Nathan – he was a good friend – faithful, kind, loving. But he liked me. A LOT. Was I ready for this?62

After a little deliberation, I chose to remain quiet. I kept his hand in mine, scooted my chair closer to his and put his hand in my lap. At this, Caffeine Freak eyed us jealously and I laughed inwardly.63

Lightning flashed across the sky, brightening the room momentarily with an innocent pale light. Thunder cracked like a whip overhead. It was certainly getting louder –was it getting closer?64

Nathan shut his eyes for a minute and smiled. “Sorry,” he said at last.65

Puzzled, I sucked up the last of my hot chocolate. “What for?”66

He looked back at me, his eyes stunningly open and apologetic. “For dragging you out here.”67

“I want to be here,” I assured him, and moved my chair a little closer, so we were sitting adjacent to each other. And I did want to be here. Nathan was a great guy – so why not get to know him?68

Nathan smiled again – it seemed like he was always smiling, which I loved about him. His dimples made him look perpetually cute and cheerful. His lips were grinning, soft and friendly and again I thought about how they would feel against mine. Pliable, forming to fit my mouth like any good kisser would do—69

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the stick of gum. I popped into my mouth as a deterrent. I’d learned quickly that a guy wouldn’t kiss you if you were chewing gum. It’s not like he’d ASK me to take out my gum before putting his mouth on mine.70

Mint flavor exploded in my mouth. I imagined Nathan eyeing the gum warily, but he paid no mind to his seeming adversary.71

Lightning sizzled across the sky as Nathan leaned toward me to say something when everything went black. I was startled, an I gripped Nathan’s hand more tightly.72

Caffeine Freak let out a screech.73

Dimly, I heard tornado sirens moan in the background.74

“Oh shit,” someone muttered darkly.75

After Caffeine Freak had quieted, someone – a worker? –, called out, “Attention guests, this is officially a tornado warning. If we could please get away from the window and duck our heads.”76

We didn’t need another prompting. In a mad scramble, someone produced a flashlight and we all huddled up next to the wall farthest away from the windows. I sat with my back against the wall, Nathan next to me. I still held his hand tightly, as if its firm reassurance could keep me from being blown away. The flashlight swept around us light a spotlight, resting on Nathan and I for a second before moving on.77

Mildly, and somewhat stupidly, I leaned against Nathan and he took me into his lap. The lights stayed out as Nathan pressed his lips to the top of my head. They DID feel good.78

I chewed frantically.79

“Please,” the same authoritative voice called out for order.80

The few murmuring voices quieted.81

“As we all know, there is a tornado warning, so I’d advise to you leave only at your own risk.82

I must have shuddered then because Nathan wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close. “It’s all right, Kate, it’s all right.” He murmured, and my shivers stopped cold.83

I cocked my head to the side and looked up at Nathan discreetly. His steady green eyes stared back at me.84

His eyes seemed so deep and endless; I wanted to lose myself in them. The gum in my mouth represented a constant reminder.85

Lightning snaked down from the clouds, and thunder exploded like a bomb. The glow lit up Nathan’s intense gaze. He smiled down at me, quite content with the piece of gum making its home in my mouth. 86

My hand seemed to act of its own accord. Silently, I pulled the wrapper out of my pocket and slipped the gum into it. I crumpled it up decisively and tossed the little ball off into the darkness.87

All the while, Nathan’s puzzled gaze never left my face.88

Realization dawned on him.89

It was like an acceptance. It was like an okay. It was like an invitation to your favorite aunt’s retiring party. Whatever it was, it made Nathan’s grin widen.90

He titled his head down an inch, paused, and I came up to meet him.91

His mouth was soft, and he tasted like after dinner mints. Suave – I hadn’t seen him take one.92

Through my closed eyes, light flashed across our faces and Caffeine girl let out a hiss as thunder rumbled.93

Nathan pulled back and sighed. “You cannot imagine how long I’ve waited for that,” he whispered, and his breath tickled my ear.94

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I could do this all day.”95

Damn, the boy was a good kisser.96