Summer Rain

[1] Lila

I stayed in my exact spot, trying to resist the urge to watch Luke walk away. When I looked back a couple minutes later, he was gone. I smiled a little bit, impressed at the fact that I had only lived here for a couple hours and already some hot guy came to talk to me.

Go me.

I took that as a good omen. I wasn't big on 'signs from the universe' or any of that crap, but maybe living here wouldn't be too bad.

I stayed right there and watched the sky turn from pink to dark blue. I sat there, listening to the sound of rain hitting pavement until all the stars were out.

There is nothing in the world better than the sound rain makes against pavement, except maybe the sound that rain makes against water. And luckily, now that I was here in the charming town of Bridport I could hear both.

I just adore rain.

I snuggled into Luke's sweatshirt and smiled. It was extremely nice of him to give me it. It smelled like a hot boy's cologne.

Boy's cologne is an amazing thing to sniff. One time I bought a bottle for my boyfriend's birthday, but we broke up a week before. I kept it because it smelled incredibly good. 

I stayed, just sitting there, until I was absolutely shaking, then I walked back to my house. My mom and my adorable little sister, Anabelle were digging through boxes in the kitchen.

"Lila, I'm glad you're home, you need to unpack these box-" She turned around to look at me, "Oh Lila, you're soaked to the bone!"

"You know I like rain" I said simply.

"Take a warm shower" She said, exasperated, "Then we can unpack your room"

I nodded, and slowly climbed up the stairs to my new room. It was painted a light turquoise and had hardwood floors. The only thing in there so far was a bed, and a bunch of boxes on the floor. I opened the one labeled 'Lila's bathroom' in red sharpie and pulled out a fluffy white towel. 

While I was in the shower, I thought about how mom thought I'd just magically be okay with the move if she gave me room with a walk-in closet and attached bathroom. While these things didn't hurt, it didn't change the fact that the summer before my senior year, my mom moved our family from the home we lived in since I was born back to her hometown, Bridport. It was far and pretty different from our old town, but to give my mom some credit, it was a cute town on the beach, so it wasn't too bad.

As much as I didn't want to leave the comfortable, well established life I had back in my old town, I understood why we had to do it. I could tell it killed mom to live in the town that dad died in, and the only reason we stayed there for so long is she knew it'd be a huge blow to me if I had to move right after his death. Then I'd be fatherless and friendless.

Anabelle's only six, so she barely even remembers him, and more and more is going to slip away from her as she continues to grow up, sadly. Obviously, eleven years is a huge age difference, but my parents had me at 22 and her at 33. I'm not embarassed that I was an accident, my mom always insists that the word surprise fits the situation better. My parents were just finishing college when they had me, so they didn't want to have another kid until they were financially stable and settled. Sadly, four years after they had Anabelle, my dad died. So much for stable.

I got out of the shower and threw on yoga shorts from Victoria's secret and a white v-neck. I took Luke's sweatshirt with me, which dryed while I was in the shower.

"What's that, sweetie?" My mom asked as I put it on the counter, and grabbed a cup of water.

"Someone gave me a sweatshirt while I was sitting in the rain today" I explained casually.

"A boy?" Her eyes lit up excitedly.

"Mom!" I groaned, which of course she knew was a yes.

"Was he cute?" My mom asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Shut up, mom!" I put my face into my hands.

"Answer the question!" She insisted.

"Yes he was cute" I said finally, "Now stop with the questioning!"

She held up her hands in the 'I surrender' position, and pulled our coffee maker out of a box, placing it on the granite counter top.

"So tell me, what do you really think about the house?" She asked, looking nervous, "And Bridport?"

Even if I hated the town with everything in me, I'd never admit it to my mom who's had it so hard since my dad's death. I understood her slightly overenthusiastic need for me to be happy here.

"The house is beautiful" I said truthfully, "And I'm thrilled to be living on the beach"

"Good" She said, her face breaking into a huge grin. I knew it made her happy that I said that. She stressed over and over about how the move would affect me.

My mom wandered off to get another box while I put the silverware into a drawer. Halfway through this, Anabelle came and hugged my leg.

"Lila, I'm sleepy" She said.

"Come on, I'll tuck you in" I said, holding her hand and guiding her up the stairs.

She has the same grey eyes my dad had, and she also has his dirty blonde hair, like me. She looked just like him except that she has my mom's nose.

I put Anabelle into her new room, which was painted a pale pink, and tucked her into her bed. I kissed her cheek, turned off the lights, and tried not to trip over boxes or anything else on my way out.

When I got back to the kitchen, my mom was just starting on the last box with the label 'kitchen' placed on it.

"Oh Lila, is Anabelle sleeping?" She asked, turning to face me.

"Yeah" I nodded.

"Tomorrow morning the movers will be here with the rest of the furniture" She said, "Then I was thinking me, you and Anabelle could celebrate"

I knew this was coming. Tomorrow is my seventeenth birthday. It sucked that I had to move the day before my birthday, but I didn't complain. My friends from back home threw me a huge party as a going away/ birthday thing two days ago. It was very nice but also very surprising after the way I pushed them all away.

"It's okay, we don't have to do anything" I said.

"Nonsense" My mom smiled secretively, "I already have your present picked out"

"Okay mom" I kissed her cheek, "I'm going to bed, goodnight"

"Night darling" She said, continuing the unpacking of the kitchen.

I went up to my room and dug through two more boxes before I found my favorite memory foam pillow. I threw on Luke's sweatshirt just because it was easier than digging through more boxes to find one of my own. This 'just moved' thing is actually really annoying. I can't find anything.

I curled up in my new bed, and smiled. The sweatshirt had a faint scent of cologne despite the hours in the pouring rain.

(Author's note- Okay, here's chapter one! The POV's switch off every chapter between Luke and Lila, if you couldn't tell! Not to jinx myself but I'm actually excited about this book, and I hope you guys don't hate it. If you're reading it, thank you so much for giving it a chance! This one is dedicated to someone who is currently writing the most captivating, amazing, intense, beautiful, breathtaking story ever. Read Saving Elliot, or miss out on something awesome)