LOVELORN

29|Stories & water

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

RAIN WAS pouring down, making my clothes cling to my body in an uncomfortable mix of sweat and water. When I'd started my run, it had only been a drizzle. Enough for me to consider avoiding wearing my headphones, but not enough for me to skip the run altogether.

Ten minutes in, the clouds unleashed all their rainfall with vigorous intensity, drenching all the unfortunate souls who happened to be in their proximity. The logical idea would be to turn around and call it quits, I nearly had, but just as I was about to whirl around and sprint home, some ludicrous part of me decided to continue.

I was wet and cold, but I almost felt rejuvenated by the showers of rain. Free. I felt free. As if it was only me and the rain and the ground, my legs pumping me forward and droplets of water trickling down my face and body, catching on my eyebrows and lashes, forcing me to blink repetitively.

Somewhat subconsciously, my feet had carried me to the lake Caio and Mai took me to a couple
of weeks ago. I'd hardly recognized that I was there until the dock looking out the vast body of water had come into view. Slowing down, I caught my breath and made the impulsive choice to sit down on the damp wooden boards.

I pulled my knees to my chest, cradling my legs and craning my head back. The force of the downpour caused me to shut my eyes, so I could only hear the loud rush of the rain and feel it storm down on me with all its might. I sat like that for a little bit, before drooping my head and nuzzling the lower part of my face into the narrow space between my knees. Sharp inhale, shaky exhale. Steady rain. Trembling body.

Fishing out my phone from the pocket of my drenched jacket, I snapped a photo of my surroundings, then one of myself with the lake as the background. I wasn't sure what possessed me to do it, but I sent the photos to Mai. It took her a mere minute to respond.

Mai
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚁𝙰𝚉𝚈 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐??

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜

𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰𝙽 𝚄𝙼𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙰

I laughed under my breath, typing out a response before I shoved my phone back into my pocket to somewhat protect it from the rain.

True to her promise, she got there only fifteen minutes later, wearing a long purple raincoat and clutching an umbrella in her hand. She shot me an incredulous look when she was close enough. I only shrugged, as to say 'I don't know what I'm doing out here in the rain either.'

"The wind is making this umbrella only about 50% effective if I'm going to be honest. Even that is a bit of a stretch," she said, plopping down beside me. Her eyes trailed me down and then back up. "Were you running?"

"Maybe."

She shook her head in disbelief, holding one hand up. "You're something else."

"In my defense, it was barely raining when I left."

"And you decided to come here instead of going home?"