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chapter two: umbrella

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While it doesn't rain consistently in Minnesota, it can rain quite a bit in September. Jamie is too far from home and too close to the bus stop to turn back around when the dark clouds roll in overhead.

She doesn't have an umbrella.

"Oh, come on. Seriously?"

The universe takes no pity, as it normally does, and the sky opens up, drops pouring down on her. Flinching, Jamie covers her head with a folder and picks up the pace, hoping the bus makes it there at the same time she gets to the stop.

She hates the rain. It's cold and it makes her feel dirty.

The bus is, unfortunately, not at her stop when she gets there. However, Adam Banks, wearing his varsity jacket and holding a big black umbrella over his head, is.

Today just keeps getting better and better.

Still holding the plastic folder over her head, her arms starting to shake, she stands on the other end of the bench. After a few moments of awkward silence, nothing but the sound of the rain hitting their protective tools and an occasional car going by filling the space, Adam sighs.

"Take the umbrella."

He holds it out to her and she looks at him, her face scrunching up.

"What- no."

"Jamie, please just take the damn thing. I'll be fine, I know you hate the rain."

Sighing herself and seeing no way out of it, she takes the umbrella. It's much better at protecting her than the folder was.

"Thanks..."

Jamie tries not to look at him, but she does anyway. She watches Adam as he pulls the collar of his jacket up over his head, frowning slightly. Before she can offer to let him stand under the umbrella with her, the bus arrives, and he gets on without another word.

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Now that Adam has found Jamie again, he sees her everywhere.

Her locker is in the same hall as his, just the way down the row and on the opposite wall. She's in most of his classes, always answering questions or participating in the best way she can while ignoring the way people react to her- in gym class, he contemplates telling some whispering person to just leave her alone, but then he remembers that she hates that and that Jamie's not really his person to protect anymore.

Adam spends most of his day contemplating her, coming up with thousands of questions, and being too chicken shit to find any answers. He knows, deep down, that the little girl who swung on tree branches with him is long gone.

Still, he goes to Scott during lunch and pesters him.

"Scooter, what do you know about Jamie Johnson?" He keeps his voice quiet, scooping something onto his tray.

Scott shrugs. "Not much, she keeps to herself."

"Why?"

"She's the know-it-all daughter of a nutcase, people like her don't have friends. Besides, her tutoring keeps Cole on the team and so Rick leaves her alone- nobody wants to really get involved with a kid that Rick Riley says to leave alone."

Adam wrinkles his nose, glancing over at Jamie. She's sitting with Linda and another brunette he doesn't quite recognize, laughing at something that was said.

"Her dad isn't that bad."

Sure, he was always afraid of the silent veteran, but he wouldn't call him crazy.

"Man, you're really out of the loop."

"What?"

Scott, rightfully, doesn't elaborate.

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In their last-period English class, Adam doesn't sit in his usual seat, taking one that's closer to her but not close enough. Jamie can't help but think about the fact that his umbrella is in a plastic bag in her locker.

"Good afternoon, everybody!" Their teacher greets them enthusiastically. "Ean ēis philomathēs, esei polymathēs, said Isocrates to Demonicus, If you are fond of learning, you will soon be full of learning. I want you all to keep this Greek saying in mind because we're going to be reading the Iliad."

Most of the students groan but Jamie finds herself smiling. She's always liked Ancient Greece.

"Oh, please, you should hear yourselves. The Iliad is one of the oldest books people still read to this day- it's a story of war and love, losses and wins. You'll all come to like it when we read it, but, before that-"

More groans sound throughout the classroom.

"- we're going to do some research on Ancient Greece. More specifically, their gods. The gods had a big role in the Trojan war."

She starts to write on the board.

"I have some books in the back. You can all start picking through them and reading about the gods. Tomorrow, I'm going to pair you guys up, and you're going to do a project on one of them."

Jamie is among the first that gets up and crosses the room. She and Adam reach for the same book, their fingers brushing, and she lets him have it. It's a book on Aphrodite and Ares.

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It isn't raining anymore by the time school ends.

Jamie stands at her bus stop, her coat pulled tightly around her and Adam's umbrella in hand. She decided that she'd give it back to him, but the bus was due any minute now and he still wasn't there. Eventually, she turns to Linda.

"Hey, does Varsity have practice today?"

Linda shrugs. "Probably."

"Oh for-"

Just as the bus turns the corner toward them, Jamie leaves the bus stop, ignoring the way the other girl calls after her. She storms all the way back up to the school, pushing through the masses exiting the school and even stepping onto the grass to avoid larger groups (the wet ground squishes under her feet, splashing muddy water up her legs.)

She has to go through the halls of the school with wet socks.

By the time she reaches the ice rink, Jamie is absolutely ticked off. At herself? At the rain? She's not sure.

"What the hell are you doing here, Johnson?"

She gestures at Rick, who stands on the other side of the ice, with the umbrella.

"Umbrella!" Jamie says, putting emphasis on every syllable. "It's Banks', I want to give it back."

Rick rolls his eyes and turns around, calling out Adam's name. He skates up to join them, taking off his helmet and showcasing his confused expression.

"What-"

Jamie simply shakes the umbrella. She's starting to get cold.

"Oh, uh, just leave it right there! I'll come grab it after practice."

She nods, putting it down, and starts to walk away.

"Why did you come out here to give it back?"

Jamie turns back to him and shrugs, continuing to walk away. She's not sure why she was so dead set on returning it, she just knew that she needed to do so.

Back at the stop, she has to wait a whole thirty minutes for another bus.