A Sky of Rain

Chapter Five

        Light flashes against my eyes, and I groan. It must be morning already. I roll over on my bed, lying down for an extra minute or so before rising. Stifling a yawn, I make my bed and get out clothes for the day: a dark green shirt with a light, soft grey hoodie over it, and black pants. I comb through my silken hair a few times after I have showered and dressed myself to take out any tangles. 

        Abruptly my phone sings out my ringtone and I turn towards it, my hand flying over to cover my chest. That scared me. It can't be the job I applied for already calling me, right? I mean, I applied merely last night.

        I answer the phone, and low and behold it is actually the job I applied for. I listen to the person, respond appropriately, and hang up once the conversation is finished. They want me to go over to the newspaper center to get a tour, meet the staff, my boss, and start as soon as possible. Well, that worked out really well. It looks like I will be editing the newspaper for a job, and I will be able to make extra money for Raine and me.

        We settled the time for me to be there by as noon, which gives me—I glance quickly at my clock's angry numbers—two hours to get ready and burn time until I have to be there. What to do in those two hours, however, is the current question. I look outside and see that it has just about stopped raining. The rain clouds are gone for now, and I am on my own for a bit, without Raine.

        Since the world is damp, still smelling of petrichor, I might as well go out for a short walk. Tightly wrapping my grey hoodie around me, I step outside my front door and lock it behind me. Although I shouldn't really be outside with Adrian lurking around, I don't know what else to do. So I walk around for a bit, up and down a few streets for a while, admiring the orderly houses and trimmed grass of my neighborhood before heading back to my house.

        On the way back, I spot a familiar face: my friend Katie. I can tell she sees me too because she waves at me, and I give a faint wave back. Walking alongside Katie is Angela, another friend of mine, whose dark hair is quite wavy today. I would say that they are the closest female friends I have here in this small town. When we reach each other, we chat for a while, talking about the downpours of rain we have gotten lately and what has been going on in each other's lives. At least with this, I am talking to some friends and passing the time.

                Now, I haven't told anyone about Raine. However, since I trust both Katie and Angela, I probably should tell them. It is one of those things that you want to keep a secret, but you need to tell someone at the same time, as if it is slowing burning away at your insides if you don't. So before we part ways, I tell them they can come over to my house tomorrow if they want, and they both exuberantly agree. It seems like I get to tell them about Raine tomorrow. 

        I head home to see that I have successfully burned an hour away. One more hour to go. I think I will leave early though, so reduce that to only a half hour. Not really knowing what else to do to spend time, I walk around my house, tidying objects, straightening, and fixing little things. After a boring half hour is successfully burnt, I head out of the house and towards the newspaper center, where my new job will be. I am not quite sure though, if I am editing just the articles or everything on the newspaper. I guess I will find out.

        As I continue towards the newspaper center, I see the skies have started to lighten up a bit. They are clear, and only spotted by small, fluffy clouds. That is good, because right now I have to focus on this job and Raine can’t distract me. The newspaper center isn't too big. It is a medium-sized tan building, with chunky letters above stating what it is. It seems like a fairly new building, but worn down because of the weather at the same time. I look around and see a few other cars parked near the newspaper center. There must be other workers that are here right now.