redamancy || georgenotfound

one

The rain never let up. The downpour was constant in Brighton, and I absolutely loved it. The only exception was when I was actually caught in the crossfire.

I made a quick calculation as I stood in the midst of the pouring rain, feeling the liquid seep into my shoes and leak into my socks. It was a seven minute walk back, but Ria would kill me if I came home empty-handed. It was only a three minute walk to the store, however, I would have to walk in looking like a soaked rag. I would also have to purchase the three useless items requested by Ria, and walk back in the rain again. So I made the smarter choice.

I was thankful I was wearing a black jacket over my white shirt, which would've resulted in a disaster if it were on its own. I quickly rushed into the store and slightly panted as I let my legs rest for a second on the large mat before stepping onto the white floor. My shoes quietly squeaked with each step I took, drawing some looks from people that I tried to ignore.

I looked up to read the sign that pointed towards the restrooms, and followed it down a short hallway that branched off into two areas. I took the right, and almost stumbled into a tall man with tousled dirty-blonde hair, who was standing next to another man who was more around my height.

"Sorry," he apologized, and moved aside so I could enter the restrooms. I shot him a forgiving smile, as my words had been washed away by the rain. I opened the door, a little confused as to why two men were standing outside the women's restroom.

"Oh," I breathed out unintentionally with the sight I was met with in the restroom. A dark brown-haired man stood above the sink, mouth full of what I assumed was a hamburger due to the wrapper and single tomato in his hands. His head immediately snapped up from looking down, and his face darkened to a light shade of red. He stood up and turned to face me, wiping his mouth with his sleeve while swallowing the bit he was chewing.

"This is the women's restroom... correct?"

"Y-yes, um..."

"Alright then."

"This was a dare from my friends, I apologize."

I pursed my lips and tried not to display any sign of amusement, as I didn't want the poor man to feel more embarrassment than he already was. He laughed nervously as he scrunched the wrapper into a tight ball and tossed it into the trash can next to me.

"You're fine. Just... caught me off guard, I guess," I finally responded after a moment of contemplation. His face tugged into a little frown, which I couldn't understand at first, but then realized he was looking at my soaked jacket and pants.

"Is it still raining?" he questioned.

I nodded. "Downpour." He sighed in exasperation, but it sounded like he had expected the answer. After a brief moment of awkward silence, he walked over to where I stood, and I moved to the side to let him grab the door handle.

"I have to get back to my friends. Sorry for scaring you," he shot me a flustered smile, and I didn't have time to open my mouth before he hurriedly swung the door open and closed. If I listened closely, I could hear what sounded like a "Dream!" on the other side of the door.

Bewildered by the sudden conversation, I quickly shook myself out of my trance and stepped in front of the mirror to become horrified at the disheveled mess of hair from the rain. I reminded myself to curse Ria out once I arrived back home with the three things she assigned for me to bring back: a box of tampons, Pringles, and two packets of cream cheese. After an attempt to dry myself off with paper towels, I wandered back out to the store and located the three items easily, although I had to bounce around aisles for most of the time. I was thankful the store had lightened up in the amount of people, as I didn't want to run into anyone else.