I'm sitting under one of the school's many waiting sheds, sighing as I take another good look at the fading gray sky. Another thunder clap rings at some point, and I jump on my seat, my fingers shaking badly as I increase the volume in my phone. I'm going to be fine. I close my eyes and start levelling out my breathing, which is getting faster and faster by the minute.

I couldn't just go out there with my jacket. That'd be actual suicide. I've already texted Mom about this, and she says that I'd be fine, the rain would come off eventually, and that I should be safe. The lyrics pound against my ears, but I couldn't make out a single one of them. My ears are all trained on the loud, splashing sound of rain on concrete, the rain making everything beyond it fade out, leaving everything to our imagination. The sky flashes white as another clap of thunder surround the whole place, and I think I'm going to cry right now.

God. Me and my damned fears.

My chest constricts at the thought of me crying, and I could already feel the lump in my throat. I really couldn't believe how this makes me look like a kid. And I also couldn't believe how fast the rain has thickened. One minute it was just a cool drizzle, and then a minute after the real storm had come. It sickens me. I raise my legs and wrap my arms around it, tucking my head on the knees as I start thinking happy thoughts.

The guys, unfortunately, have left when it was still clear, and the whole time I was here under the shed I was thinking why I didn't left back then. And then with each question the answer pops out: I left something in my locker. And after realizing the answer I bombarded myself with every adjective I know that's the same as 'stupid.' And then the whole cycle repeated itself.

Stupid, idiot, moron, dumbass, baka . . . "Megumi?"

I jump in my seat again, and I almost fall off when someone catches me, an arm protectively wrapped around my waist as he/she hoists me up. I stop myself to breathe, putting a hand on my chest. And then I take a good look at my savior.

"Hey, it is you!" The redhead hugs me, and I actually enjoy the warmth his thick sweater gives. I take my arms around him to hug him back, and then I start gripping on him tighter as if for dear life. He must have sensed it now, because he backs off to look at me.

"Are you okay?"

"I . . . I don't know." Another thunder clap and tada, I automatically close my eyes and hang my head low. "I'm fine."

"You're a terrible, terrible liar, Megumi. Remind me to give you lessons," Drake says. He stares at me for a longer while, and I'm starting to think he doesn't know what to do with me when he starts pulling me to him with his left arm. He holds my shoulder gently as he looks at the sky.

We stay like that for a minute, my head on his chest as he played with my hair. I keep on blinking and running my head over as to what happened. I'm practically hugging a guy right now. I don't know if I'm supposed to smile or cry.

"Um . . . where's Blake?"

Drake looks at me again before answering, "He went home first with the car. I, uh, I had to do some errands for the school."

I snort quietly. "Errands?"

"Uh-huh. You heard that one right." He runs a hand down his slightly wet, red hair, shaking his head a bit like that's supposed to dry it. He plays with my hair a bit more when he stumbles at a lock near my ear. He tucks it in, and that's when he has probably noticed the earphones. "What are you listening to?"

"Remixes, mostly," I say in a quiet voice, still a bit stunned with our situation. The rain hasn't thinned the littlest bit, but I'm not feeling scared anymore. A bit awkward, yes, but it makes me feel better.

"How about this?" I'm about to ask him what the heck he's talking about when he pulls the earphones from my ears and puts on another. The music was . . . calming. I think I'm hearing a song from The Fray but I'm not really sure. I blink before looking up at Drake, the other earphone placed on his left ear.

"How did you know I was Drake?"

The lyrics are all drowned out with the tsunami of thoughts that raged in my head. How did I know that he's Drake? I . . . I'm not sure why. I can't really explain it. I just, I just know that he's Drake; my inner self is a hundred percent sure.

"You're . . . you're not just guessing, right? Megumi?" his voice rings out again. He's asking me now but he isn't looking at me. He stares ahead as if he's looking at the rain, but I know he has his mind set in another world.

"Drake, I'm not guessing," I say, my voice very clear. I hold my breath, and I'm not sure why.

I hear no response. I look up once again to see Drake's usual cheery face replaced with a darkened look, as if a shadow stole over. He's gripping my shoulder tightly.

"Megumi, the sky's clearing," Drake states a moment later, looking down to me with a toothy grin as if nothing had happened earlier. Deciding not to delve any further on the topic beforehand, I give him one of my appreciative smiles as I lift my head to look at the sky. Sure enough the gray clouds are drifting past, the clear, blue sky they'd been blocking now peering down to us. I quietly breathe out a sigh of relief as Drake slowly retreats his arm from me, dramatically setting me down on a proper sitting position. I snicker to myself, actually half-meaning it.

"Shall I take you home?" Drake says as he escorts me towards the school gates. I honestly feel surprised as to how they're not closing it yet, but now I'm really thankful, and finally decide not to dwell on that thought any more. I profusely shake my head no, and Drake shrugs.

"Bye, Megumi," Drake smirks as he ruffles my hair - the dishevelled, poor thing now worsened up to a whole new level. I pat it down feverishly before giving him a tired glare. Although the real storm has stopped, I could still feel the light touches of the pitter-pattering raindrops. I fish for my jacket inside my satchel before shrugging it onto me. With a final glance to Drake, who's already at least four blocks away from where I'm standing, I put my hands inside the jacket's pockets and take the walk to home.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

"Aww . . . why didn't you like being in the library? I thought you were one of those cliché heroines who like to be in these places to have some place to think . . ."

"Chris, you know what, there's a lot of things wrong with what you said. First off, I don't like to be in here because, of course, it's too quiet and I get uncomfortable when . . ." I falter. I've been saying too much. Chris must have noticed the awkward chill in the conversation because he looks away reluctantly to stare at the old books' spines. He then gives me a sideward glance. I clear my throat before continuing, "Second off, who the heck says I'm a heroine? And lastly, I could really clear up my brain and think when inside a noisy room. Because, you know, reasons."

"Uh-huh. If you say so, Megs."

"Well, I don't know about you but, why are we here in the first place?" I recall in my mind what had happened just a few minutes ago. It was break and I was in my locker to get my books when someone gripped my arms and made a beeline for the end of the hall, which had of course, the entrance for the library. I was about to scream when I saw Chris's gleaming faded blue eyes. I swear internally after leaving this train of thought.

"I was thinking of having you help me for the Math class, because - you better believe it - we're classmates! Now I have something to brag about," Chris adds thoughtfully, nodding as he does so.

"What am I, a toy? Something to brag about? The heck's wrong with you guys?" I ask incredulously, creasing my eyebrows as I make a stare-down with Chris. I regret doing it as soon as I've done it.

Chris squeals and pinches my cheeks. Here we go again. I exhale out my exasparated sigh as Chris starts on gushing, repeating the same words all over again. I roll my eyes as he keeps on blabbering random, cutesy things as he leads me to a table quite far away from the librarian. Finally he stops, but he still has this adorable, amused grin on his face. He props up one elbow and leans his chin on one hand, looking at me.

I raise my eyebrows. "Why are we studying? I . . . I really don't think this is your thing."

His grin widens, and he looks at me under his lashes. "Then what is my thing, Miss Steele?"

"The fu - ?"

"Oops, did I just make you swear, Megs?"

"You guys are really something. You're crazy, period."

"Can I braid your hair again? Or can I try setting them up into pigtails? Oh my God, why didn't I think of that before? I'm so stupid . . ." His words overlap each other as he starts leaning near me, his hands reaching out to my hair. I sigh again as I push my chair, creating that ear-splitting sound that makes my sensitive ears daze me for a moment as I help him go near me.

I got to admit: He's awesome at hair-styling, or whatchamacallit. He starts parting my hair in two, and I take a moment to look at the librarian and the other people inside, wondering if they really are minding their own businesses. Fortunately, they are - some were sleeping so, check; the librarian was looking at something on her laptop so, check. Chris hums behind me as he does his own work, and I can't stop myself from giving an amused grin.

"Say, Megumi . . . Can you come at home after school? We'd have some great bonding time and, oh! I'll let you see my baby!"

I choke on air. "Your baby? What, a literal baby or a 'girlfriend' baby? That would absolutely be weird."

"I don't have a girlfriend. Psh," he creases his eyebrows and puts on an amused smirk, as if sharing a private joke with himself. Then he changes mood again, and he's smiling that big smile of his again. "But, yeah, a literal baby - Haha, what kind of term is that, Megs? - Anyway, it's my cute little sister. Born two weeks ago."

"Really? That's great." I think about it for a minute . . . Wait, who am I kidding? Of course I'll go! I hear the familiar snap of the elastic put on place, and I stand to make Chris see me.

"You're so adorable. You're like the sister I never had."

"You're like the brother I never wanted."

"Ridiculous. Everyone'd want to be with me," he stands up again and slings an arm over my shoulder. I blink as he leads me towards the exit, giving a salute to the librarian as we do so. Together we walk to the cafeteria, which had been our more-than-usual meeting place, and meet up with the others.

I'm nervous. It's the first time I'd be inside another house since we'd moved here about a week ago.

Ah, what am I fussing about? What's the worst thing that could happen?

Author's Notes: Waiii~! It's been a long day . . . without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. Okay, I'm weird. I'll shut up now.

I made Jack and Finn Harries the twins! They're cute so why not. I had been overtaking the YouTube dimension lately, and I gotta say, and I repeat, I GOTTA SAY, that YouTubers sure are good-looking. God. Pass me a glass of water, please.

Anyway, did you listen to the song I attached too? It's Nightstep version of Meg and Dia's Monster. It's awesome; I hope you liked it. And I'm going to say the same thing for this chapter too.

Please stay tuned for the next one!

♪ ♥ The Mofo-Potato; Isabel ♥ ♪