Black Out

That Night

Rain was in the passenger seat of Mathana's Ford Focus, blasting the sound of My Crazy Girlfriend's "Go F**k Yourself". The lyrics spoke to him and the beat was loud enough for him to stare out of the window and not worry about Mathana asking any questions. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and reached for the volume dial.
"Something on your mind?" She said as she turned the volume down just as Sarah Blaine's "Never Get to Heaven" started. She looked as calm as she never has. Her outfit was just so simple and her hair was just in beachy waves and what most people would consider a normal length. Her red and black plaid button up covered majority of a Paramore band T-shirt and a pair of ripped, black short shorts were on her legs. Rain thanked God she wasn't dumb enough to get leather seats when she bought a car. He knew that her legs would stick to the seat when it got hot.
Rain rose his head and turned to her. He felt overly dressed in a blue and purple shirt with abstract cloud-like designs all over it. He had on a pair of black skinny jeans and classic Chucks. His hair was freshly cut as well and dyed a pastel lavender colour. "Just wondering where we're going." He finally said.
"I told you, it's a surprise." She smiled as she pulled into a warehouse parking lot. They got out of her car and she raced to the trunk. Rain closed the door gently and looked around the lot. Not a car in sight. One lamp provided minimal light besides the one above the lone door.
"And I told you I hate surprises." He threw his hands up and walked to the back of the car. "What are we doing here?"
"Rain, my dearly impatient protege, this abandoned Land for Exiles is where you and I -the most notorious power couple who never dates- will celebrate their eight year anniversary. That, my sweet child, is why we are here." She handed him a box with tons of fun toys and messy sprays in it. There was even some dangerous equipment Rain was sure he thought you had to have a permit to rent. "To-night, we're doing what normal friends do. That's why we're dressed like the normal people at school."
"What exactly do normal people do?"
"I was thinking about getting rid of all of our anger about everything we've been through and what people have said about us, but on this warehouse." She sensed Rain's lack of understanding and hesitation. "Relax, this place is closed. Has been for about five years. I brought eggs, classic toilet paper, silly string, knives, sparklers for pictures because, duh, and some other stuff. What do you want to start with?" She smiled. It was kind of a creepy smile, but Rain didn't seem to notice it.
"TP... Less messy," Rain smiled feeling something on the inside he thought only psychopaths feel before they kill someone. He couldn't describe it; A little twinge of nervousness, a sprinkle of fun, a dash of insecurity at his choice, one as lame and safe as most of the kids at his school.
Nevertheless, Mathana handed him a six pack of two-ply toilet paper and set the box down. She grabbed the carton of twelve eggs. They smiled at each other quickly and began their Reign of Revenge. Rain took the toilet paper and imagined it were a football. He threw it with all power his forearm had. It slammed through a window on the second floor, or what Rain imagined was the second floor. He laughed just a little bit and felt something that he could describe. Happiness. Satisfaction. The need to continue. Rain grabbed another roll and tore some pieces of paper from it. He shoved them into holes he found, imagining they were the mouths of every cheerleader who insulted Mathana's awkward appearance and slightly above average intelligence. Mathana grabbed individual eggs and imagined a face she'd only seen once. She threw half of the cart at it on the front entrance. She threw some more around the building closing her eyes to see if she could hit a target. She failed. She was academically inclined, not physically. Mathana met Rain back at the box. He was almost happy enough to call it a day. She knew better. He grabbed a huge hunting knife he figured she stole from her dad's hunting cabinet and handed her a metal bat. She ran to the first wooden crate she saw and swung as hard as she could at it. It broke down the more times she swung at it and the harder she hit it. She moved on to a window and broke all the tiny panels. The ones that she could reach anyway. He took the knife and stabbed holes into the wall with all his might. He scratched the inscription "M&R" on the side of the building. He grabbed the silly string and began spraying all over the lot. He even got some on Mathana causing her to shout a very indecent word and run to him. She yanked the spray bottle out of his hand and sprayed him. He tackled her playfully, she flipped him over and walked over to her car. She sat on the hood. He breathed slowly as she tapped next to her, signalling for him to join. He walked over and sat where he was wanted.
"Rain?" Mathana said as she rested her head on her best friends barely strong shoulder. Her voice was soft and earnest. Rain almost felt compelled to wonder what was on her mind.
He replied a chilled out and calm, "Yeah?" He was surprised. He couldn't grasp that Mathana had been friends with him for eight years. Through thick and thin. Through the rough patches and the not so rough ones. The death and rebirth of himself over and over again. It was like they had stopped being kids anymore and transformed themselves into the oldest couple alive. Even older than Rose and Jack had she not let the dude go, or at least let him join her. Seriously, there was enough room for both of them! That's how Rain felt about Mathana hogging the hood of the car.
"I think Joey and I should have sex." She blurted after a moment of silence. She turned on her side and Rain turned his head. His face made an uncomfortable look and expressed an inner anger he no longer wanted to dwell on.
"What! Why?" Rain's curiosity turned on. Did she really just say that? Did she really want to? With Joey of all people?
"I love him and he loves me. How else are we supposed to show our love for each other?" Now Rain knew she was kidding. She was just trying to get under his skin because she knew he didn't believe in love. "I just want to scream it out loud for the whole world to hear that I love Joey Randolf!" She jumped from the hood and landed on her tip toes, bouncing on them.
How do you know?" Rain protested. "How do you know you love each other? How do you know they're not just words you say to each other just to feel like someone cares besides the friends you have?"
"Because when I am somewhere without him or not talking to him, I feel empty. Like there's something missing. My heart breaks. Like literally. I can feel and hear it cracking when I am not near him." She looked down then back at Rain with a smile. "But when I am near him, the world slows down. The world around me is calm and the air around me is habitable. Everything is just perfect." You could be blind and think he's just incredibly beautiful and want to have sex with him. You're not in love with him. Stop saying that.
Rain knew a secret or two about Joey that would hopefully make Mathana "love" Joey a little less. He had known for a couple of weeks that Joey was starting to want to let Mathana go. He thought she had become distant anyway. Like she knew something and was obsessing over it, wanting it for herself. Joey told Rain that he hadn't felt like Mathana wanted him anymore. He said that he thought she found someone else. Rain knew that wasn't Mathana, but he entertained the paranoia, after all, if he could destroy Mathana's relationship to at the very least keep her less hurt, he will. However, Rain knew that for a fact, Joey didn't love Mathana. None of her boyfriends have. Only one boyfriend in her life loved her, but killed himself because she didn't feel the same.
"Typical," Rain muttered. Everytime he inquired about love and how it feels, he'd be given similar answers. Like everyone found it on Tumblr and said it. He was sure some hipster stood in front of his computer laughing at all the losers who followed his one post about loving someone with a girl holding a book as the portrait behind the text. "You know that he doesn't love you right?"
"Yes he does!" Mathana yelled. "You wouldn't know! You never let anyone in your heart or break down your walls! You prevent love at all costs!"
"Really? Two nights ago, he told me he was still in love with one of his exes. Tell me how he loves you and Chase!" He shouted, sounding a little hurt by her remark. He only had his heart closed because it belonged to one person. They just didn't know it yet. They never will if he has any say so.
Mathana stayed silent for a hot minute, the longest he'd known. Her heart had broken. Permanently. Rain had managed to break her heart and smash it into tiny pieces she knew couldn't be glued back together. He had to be jealous of her. That's the only way he'd do something like this. He was jealous of how she was in a real relationship and he was still in a state of lonely non-existence.
"You are lying!" She finally said, her voice trembling a bit. A big tear fell to the power of gravity and rolled down her cheek. The night sky helped in hiding it. But the street lamp and the car headlights reflected its raw power.
"You are my best friend! Why would I ever lie to you about something like that!" Rain screamed at her.
"Maybe we're not really friends," Mathana quietly muttered as she crossed her arms over her small chest.
"Really?" A tear rolled out of Rain's eye. His voice croaked. "After eight years, you're going to say that?" Why was she acting like this? All because Rain said something about her giving herself to a boyfriend he knew would hurt her? No because she thought he'd lied. There's no way Joey could still love Chase. Mathana made sure she was all he could think about. Lure him in, make him admire her, then start distancing herself like usual. But somewhere, her plan failed. She actually fell in love. For real this time. She knew she did.
"Yeah," tears poured out of her eyes as she avoided the hood distance of eye contact. "You obviously think we've changed too much to be friends anymore. That's what we're both thinking isn't it?"
"No, it's not. I am thinking about why you are acting so angry, because I told you the truth. You know it, too!" He continued yelling at her.
"You are not helping!" She screamed back, flailing her arms as she choked on tears. There was no way she could be having this fight with Rain on their Eight Year Anniversary. They just spent the past twenty minutes having fun and the last five arguing. Rain blinked and swallowed hard. He opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry, Mathana, but I'm done. Does that help you?" He said with a tone of true heartbreak. He'd never felt a pain less tolerable than this. His only friend in his entire life, gone. This was his last thought. He had enough. Rain never ever had the urge to say I'm done. He was much more laid back than that and never so protective. It made Mathana uneasy. Something else was wrong. Something had to be. Something else was bothering him.
Rain started walking away. Mathana wanted to chase after him but her pride and tears stopped her. Focus on stopping the rivers. That's what she had to do. Build as many dams as you have to. Just stop the tears!
Rain's silhouette faded into the dark night as Mathana witnessed the best part of her life leave her for good. She pulled her phone out and frustratedly dialed a number. She rubbed her face roughly wiping the tears away from her eyes and smearing her mascara. She knew she wasn't well enough to drive right now.
"Joey, please come get me."