𝐓𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 ~ 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

5. Bad Day

The bell of the store rings just at the top of your head as you push the door open. The cold air conditioning hits your warm skin and, almost right away, all of your body shivers.

The voices of your friends soon invade the silence of the convenience store, and you notice, from the corner of your eye, how the cashier leans back on his chair almost as if in defeat.

You look over your shoulder at your friends, and they are still loudly talking about some girl from science class - the only class all of you share. You don't say anything to be a part of the commentary about the girl's lifestyle, but you give them a grin when they notice you looking, to which they smile back.

You drag your feet over to the snack aisle, and your friends let you go on your way. They always seem to trust you to choose the snacks before going to the beach. They usually get the task to choose the drinks, so you have just as much importance to the group. As they say, you can ruin the evening with just the wrong bag of chips.

As you walk, you relax as you notice how you can very much only hear their voices in the distance as if they were mumbles. The distance is enough to muffle their overly excited voices. A miracle.

You turn around the corner to the aisle, just the one before the snacks, and see your eyes lay on someone. The person you've shamelessly grown accustomed to.

He's standing just a few feet away from you. He's wearing a blue t-shirt and black jeans. His hair seems a little messy from where you stand, and you can't really see his face, unfortunately.

You don't say anything to him at first, as he's focused on his phone and facing the products on the shelves, but you do continue to make your way over to your desired destination. You want to go over there and talk to him, of course, but if he's distracted... maybe you shouldn't? And your friends are still in the store. It wouldn't be safe to be seen with him.

Rafe lifts his eyes off his screen to look at the products again, and you can see the scowl on his face. It's not just his usual expression, as Rafe is, indeed, a moody person. You can tell that he's actually upset over something.

Your plan is quickly abandoned with that. You're not walking towards your destination anymore, you're now very much walking toward him. Your steps are slower and maybe even a little hesitant, but they're making you go to him.

Rafe's eyes lift from the product he's grabbing to the person in the corner of his eye, and his eyes land on you.

"Hi." You say in a whisper, not even being able to contain the smile that easily spread over your face.

"Hi."

He's still with that frown on his face.

You walk closer to him, but don't do as planned and simply walk past him. You stop right beside him and look up before beginning to speak.

You've seen and texted Rafe a few times in the past 4 days, but it's been a while since you interacted face to face. You missed him. And you really think that is an understatement. Missing doesn't even get to describe what you feel when it comes to that heartwrenching feeling you get every night. Sometimes you just want to be with him for 5 minutes, nothing more, because you swear that would cure you and your pained heart.

Rafe is always sweet with you and so caring. It's not even some sexual desire when you're near him, it's much more than that.

After that day in your backyard, your parents were home every day and all day. It's depressing how you went back to only seeing him cross the hallway at his home, but his house is also always with people there. His dad is always in his office, Rose is working in the living room and, well, Wheezie is with you. Sarah is very much the only one that you almost never see. And yet you can never talk to him when you see him. It's sad.