I used to imagine that the sky was crying when it rained, holding in its tears and turning grey and greyer from the effort, till it looked like it could hold it in no more. And then it sort of lets go, emptying out its tears and soaking everything beneath it.

I hated the rain because it hid the sun away, taking its warmth and golden glow with it. I hated it because everywhere became gloomy, cold, and wet. I especially hated it because of the way it gets my hair in tangles.

I hated the rain, and that day was no different.

I woke up to the sound of the rain on the roof, that soft pitter-patter that meant the worst of it was over.

Sighing, I got out of bed, pulled back the curtains, and peeped out.

It was as dark and gloomy as I had suspected, a monochromatic grey colour. The sun was probably hiding away behind some dark and menacing clouds, it'll be hidden for at least an hour or so.

I walked into the adjourning bathroom and had a quick shower, much to the complaints of my rumbling tummy. I was always hungry in the mornings. It was a private joke in my house that I was always starved in my dreams, thus hungry when I woke up.

It took about ten minutes for me to shower but dressing up always took longer. I just couldn't decide what to wear, it was like all my clothes magically disappeared at night. So every morning was a big game of hide and seek, the clothes hiding in whatever nook or corner of the room they seemed to be in, and me, trying to find them before I was late for school.

I finally pulled on a pair of blue jeans, a white tank tank top with the phrase "Bring it on" written on it in tall red lettering, and a deep blue jacket with red sneakers. It didn't matter what I wore under the jacket anyway, it would be too cold out to take it off.

It was always cold when it rained in May around here.

I rushed around straightening and arranging things in my room, the books that never seemed to stand straight on the shelf, the pencils scattered on the desk - I put those in the purple mug my grandma bought for me on her last trip to Wales, it had my name written on it in Welsh- and straightened my comforter and bed spread then dashed out of the room taking the stairs two at a time.

I ran into the kitchen and grabbed two slices of bread, buttering them in a hurry. I jammed them in the toaster and cursed silently under my breath when I caught a glimpse of the wall clock, the bus was going to be there in 10 minutes. I poured myself a glass of milk and gulped half of it down, then pulled the half-done bread out of the toaster and stuffed it in my mouth, washed it down with the rest of the milk, and then ran into the lobby and grabbed my bag from the table where it always sat, waiting to be picked up.

I had to get out of the house before my mum woke up, she always frowned on tardiness. She said the whole day always went downhill when someone's late for something. I didn't quite believe that, but I didn't disagree either, things ran more smoothly when time was on your side.

I took off at a sprint as soon as I shut the front door, dodging and jumping over puddles, and somehow got to the bus stop with 3 minutes to spare, then stood panting next to a petite brunette whose hair was pulled up into a ponytail so tightly done, I wondered if she had no nerve endings on her scalp, the ponytail's end buried beneath her sweater.

"You're late again", Tory sounded like she was trying hard not to laugh as she gave me a once-over

"And you've got the buttons on your jacket done wrongly"

I groaned and fixed the jacket, just as the bus came to a stop. We piled in together with a bunch of other kids from my school.

"Jamie! Hi!", Sadie from Biology waved frantically from the back of the bus.

Oh, shoot! I forgot to introduce myself didn't I? I'm Jamie Hawkins. Average height, black haired, thin, olive skinned, oh and I pretty much keep to myself, Tory was my only friend, although I did get along well with the rest of my classmates.

So I smiled and waved back at Sadie

"Hi"

The rest of the bus ride was spent listening to Tory as she went on about whatever series she'd watched during the weekend. Her mum doesn't let her watch anything other than national tv on weekdays, so she records all the latest episodes of her favourite series, and watches them on weekends.

"...and can you believe it? She was actually a witch! I knew something was off about her. Oh, we're here"

I should mention, Tory was into paranormal and fantasy books, movies and series. She's always talking about vampires, witches, or werewolves. One time she kept going on and on about hell-hounds (creepy), she even wrote a story about them for English.

I shook my head fondly at her, and followed her out the bus, bracing myself for seven long hours of school. I could already feel my mood darkening to match the already gloomy weather.

"Hey Tory! What's up?!", some freshman -Rigel- called out as he passed us in the hall-way. One advantage of going to school by bus was, we were always early, so the hallways were pretty much empty in the mornings.

"Hey Rigel, I'm cool, how was your weekend?"

We didn't get to hear Rigel's answer because someone else was calling out to Tory from the opposite side of the hallway.

"Hey Tory, wanna come over so we'd go to the library later on today?"

"Sorry, I can't Allie. I've got plans with Jamie"

"Nice tee Tory!"

"Thanks Kristen!"

Tory's insanely popular, not the rude and mean popular-girl type, but the nice and ready-to-help-anyone type. Pretty much everyone in the whole school knew her. She was president of Help foundation, class vice president, captain of the girl's football team, an all-rounder really. It was hard not to notice her. So it was basically like that every day. People called out to her from across hallways, between classes, and in the cafeteria, and she always replied or waved, or smiled back at them.

I could never do that, I was just shy Jamie, nose always stuck in a book, reading in a corner. I tried as much as possible not to draw attention to myself. Tory and I were so different it was almost comical. I guess it is true what people say, opposites attract, we may not always understand each other, but we tried, and maybe sometimes trying was enough.

I wasn't looking where I was going, lost in my thoughts as I was, so naturally, I bumped into someone. "Sorry", I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heating up.

Another thing was, I blushed easily, the tiniest thing could make me blush, it was really embarrassing.

The boy didn't even turn around, he just threw an

"It's okay" over his shoulder and walked off. Leaving me wondering who he was.

"Earth calling Jamie!", Tory's smiling face broke me out of my trance. "We're gonna be late for class, pretty ironic coz we came in early"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry"

I walked in class after her, and took my usual spot by the window, scowling as I looked out at the still grey sky.

"Class, please settle down, this is not middle school", that was Miss Summers, our English teacher, she looked like the youngest teacher in our school but she wasn't, not by a long shot, the youngest was in her middle twenties, and Miss Summers was almost forty.

Everyone scrambled to their seats, very much aware of her tendency to hand out detentions when provoked, nobody liked staying behind after school, cleaning out the supply closet or doing whatever chore Miss Summers had in hand for the day.

So looking pleased with herself she continued,

"We have a new addition to the class today, come on in Josh".

In walked the rude guy I bumped into in the hallway, he was tall, and had thick black hair, the kind you can't help wanting to run your fingers through, just to see if it was soft as well as thick. He was thin with a hint of wiry corded muscles underneath his grey sweatshirt. But most captivating of all were his eyes, they were a deep brown colour that sort of pulled you into their depths. Whoever said brown eyes were boring had definitely never seen Josh's eyes.

He smiled sheepishly at the class, and I actually forgot how to breathe, until I felt the burning sensation that meant my lungs were screaming for air.

Get a grip on yourself Jamie!

"Josh here moved here from the middle east, I know it's the middle of the semester so I'd like someone to volunteer to show him around, make sure he catches up, although I've been told that won't be a problem, he's an excellent student"

Half of the girls in the class had their hands up in the air, me, I just hunched over on my desk, silently counting down to the end of the class.

"Jamie, would you like to show Josh around please?"

I sat up straight, staring at Miss Summers with eyes as wide as saucers. "M-me?"

"Yes Jamie, I hope that wouldn't be a problem" she had one eyebrow up, and Tory was kicking my chair from behind whispering that I should say no, so I did.

"N-no, not at all".

Ok, maybe I stammered it out a bit, but I did mention not drawing attention to myself.

"Excellent, Josh go sit next to Jamie"

He walked over to my side of the class, much to the annoyance of the other girls in the class -I was making enemies without even trying, I almost withdrew my offer-and dropped his bag right next to his desk.

"Hi" he said, with a small smile, "so you're Jamie, nice to meet you again. Sorry I ran off in the hallway, I'm not a big fan of first days at schools"

"Hello, nice to meet you too, it's ok". I mumbled -keeping my eyes on my open book, we were going to read a passage, and mine was already opened to it- wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into.

A folded piece of paper of paper landed on my desk, and I opened it, rolling my eyes at the message on it.

"Relax, he's not going to eat you. P.S you really need another friend- Tory, the bestest friend ever"

Really? The 'bestest' friend ever? But somehow, her note helped me relax a bit.

I just had to show him around until he got used to the school, no big deal right?

I groaned and mumbled

"This is so not how I imagined the day starting"

"Hey, erm, do you mind sharing your textbook? I haven't got mine yet"

Startled, I looked up at Josh's sheepish smile. I'd somehow forgotten that he was right there. He probably didn't know he was to get his textbooks from the office.

"Oh, um, sure, no problem"

I nudged my book to the edge of my desk, and he brought his closer, making me cringe inwardly, I didn't like it when my personal space was invaded.

"Thanks", he flashed one of his small smiles and I smiled back, hoping it didn't look more like a grimace.

"You're welcome".

We worked in silence for a while, and then he said.

"So you don't actually stammer"

"W-what? No, I-I don't stammer"

He grinned and didn't say anything, while I tried to get my flaming cheeks to cool down. It was just first period, and I was blushing like crazy.

Great.

*********

Hello people!! I'm going to keep this as brief as possible, no one likes reading authors' notes, that I know.

I also know I said I was going to post a story, but I did say "sometime during summer". I'm still going to apologize for keeping you waiting though, I just couldn't decide on what to post. I might post the other one too, fingers crossed. But I should warn you it is a bit different from this. I'm trying out something that's not paranormal or fantasy for once, (Tory and I both love paranormal and fantasy, but I'm sorry to say that's about the only thing she and I have in common...maybe).

So the holiday has it's ups and downs (as everything in life). I've been going for graduation after graduation, two of my brothers are graduating -one from secondary (high) school, and the other from nursery (I think it's called kindergarten too, right???)- and my sister's graduating from primary school (middle school?).

And then there's ramadan...

So yeah, I've been very busy

I didn't get to edit this chapter, so please feel free to point out mistakes and I'll correct them as soon as I get a chance to.

Also, please don't forget to V.CaF if you like the story. It only takes a few seconds to do so 😇, and that'll make me really happy.

Anyway...I'm dedicating this chapter to @Bo_Omi, yes Mimi gets dedicated to first, the bff always comes first O:)

Have a great holiday.

Xoxo- Zara