Stories of LITA 1

IV - Blue Sky

Sky laughed, unable to understand how Rain had managed to get himself in this situation again. Only Rain could actually do something like this and get away with it. When Sky had moved to the city from Lobpuri, both his dad and he had been afraid that it would be tough for him to manage alone. Then on the first day of school, he met Rain. Clumsy, goofy, silly Rain, who was the veritable ball of sunshine in his life. Terribly naïve in certain matters, and appallingly street smart in others, Rain had become his protector and he had become Rain's.

Rain had climbed into the tree to rescue the cat, which clearly did not need rescuing, since it jumped off almost immediately after Rain reached there. But the problem was, now Rain did not know how to climb back down. He whined, and Sky just could not stop laughing. "Can I help you Nong?" a voice in his ear jolted the hell out of him. He turned around to see a boy, maybe slightly older than him, dressed casually, and looking completely relaxed.

"Thank you Phi. My friend is stuck up there," Sky pointed at the tree, giggling. The guy was seriously cute. "Let me help," the senior said, and true to his word, got Rain down safely. Both the boys thanked him, waiied gracefully and left. For days after, Sky could not stop gushing about the senior. Eventually, the pains of being a teenager and the stress of high school made him forget everything.

They were in their final year of high school when Sky met the handsome guy again. Late night hunger pangs had led Rain and him to a nearby convenience store, where they were busy buying snacks and drinks when the senior walked in with some of his friends. He seemed surprised to see Sky there. "Hello Nong. No friends in the trees today?" he laughed, showing even, pearly teeth. "No Phi. He is here only," Sky pointed Rain out. "I didn't get your name Phi," Sky added, finally thrilled to meet the older man who had occupied his thoughts for a while now.

"My name is Gun Nong, and yours?" he asked. "I am Sky. My friend Rain," he said, after Rain had finally joined him. Rain waiied politely. After that he just took all the stuff they had picked up and walked to the counter. Sky was a bit surprised. Usually, Rain was the epitome of sunshine and rainbows. But something about his demeanour and stance felt off. But Sky ignored that, thinking Rain was just tired. After a while, he went out to see Rain waiting there with all the goodies they had bought.

"What's up with you?" Sky asked. "Nothing!" he said brightly. A little too brightly. "Let's goo na Sky!" he whined, dragging Sky along. That was Rain. Bright and whiny by turns. But there had been something lurking in the depths of his brightness. Something Sky had never seen, something unidentifiable. Something that brought out a flash of fear in Sky. But this was Rain, his quirky and crazy best friend, so he ignored it as they made their back to the dorm.

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Couple of days later, Sky was telling Akk and Kan about his P'Gun when Rain came and plonked himself down. He looked utterly exhausted. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, trying to stop the yawn that overtook him. "Sky is extolling the virtues of his P'Gun," Kan said, grinning. Akk looked unimpressed. "I don't see how great it is that he helped Rain. I mean, eventually, either Rain would have figured out how to get down on his own, or someone else would have helped. That guy was just there at the right time!" he said frowning.