It's Raining Somewhere Else

3

"Can you hurry up?!" Christine cried at Del. "I told you I'm ready!" Del said walking towards the front door. Christine grabbed her sister by the hood of her jacket. "And I told you, you're not wearing that old jacket again you need to wash it!" Christine complained. Del barely took the thing off. "I'll wash it when we come home! Come on we're going to be late!" Said Del, jerking away. Christine sighed. She knew what Del was doing. "I know that was moms favorite jacket..." Christine started. Del froze in front of the door. "And I know you've practically lived in it ever since her and dad passed away..." Del didn't move. "But you really do need to clean it sometime. It's getting gross." Christine said softly walking to the door. "I'll see you at work." Christine said leaving the apartment. The elevator was out of order so she quickly ran down the stairs. Fighting back tears she tried to ignore the fact that she possibly just upset Del. She grabbed a ponytail holder from around her wrist and put he messy hair up before walking into the restaurant. She ran into Trace as she clocked in. "Hey. Where's Del?" He asked her. "She's still upstairs." Christine said as she clocked herself and Del in. "Whoa...you don't sound so happy. Did you two have a fight?" He asked concerned. "No...it's just." She paused looking over at the stairs as Del came down. "Wow..." said Trace looking at his friend.

She wore shorts and her hat how she normally did. Her grey, faded converse, and black ankle socks. But her torso looked almost naked without her oversized, light blue, jacket on. Her body looked skinny in just her normal, black band shirt. Trace leaned over to Christine. "You made her take her jacket off?!" He asked concerned. "She needs to wash it! It's getting disgusting!" Christine whispered to him. "I'm gonna go talk to her..." Trace said walking over to Del. "Trace!" Called out Christine. "Hey Del." he smiled. "Sup Trace." She smiled back. "You're already clocked in...How are you?" He asked. "I'm good." She responded calmly, walking to the counter. Trace slowly walked over and joined her. She didn't speak unless spoken to by a customer. Trace would try to have a conversation with her, but she wouldn't speak much. She didn't appear upset, but she didn't appear like herself either. "Hey Del...Christine told me about this morning. Are you sure you're not upset?" He asked. Del smiled. "That's just it." She started. "I'm not upset." Del laughed. This caught Trace off guard. "It's been over a year now. I haven't thought about it lately, and when Christine said something...I didn't get sad. Hearing about my parents didn't make me upset anymore, and that's all I can think about." She explains. "You aren't saddened about your parents anymore?" Trace questions. "No...this morning, I felt like a weight was lifted." She smiled. Del walked away from the counter and sat at the spot where she normally took her hour long "breaks". Christine came over to Trace. "What did she say? How is she?!" She asked in a panic. "Trust me. Del is great." Trace smiled.

Closing time had came around yet again. Over the day Del had slowly perked up again. She was over helping a trainee learn the basics before their first day tomorrow. Christine watched her sister explain everything with silly jokes and puns. "I'm going to go ahead and go home. Can you lock up for the night?" A co-worker asked Christine. She smiled and nodded as she took the key. "Night Trace." Del waved at him. "12:00?" He smiled. "12:00." Del said to him. "Okay Marcus. You're ready to go for work tomorrow! Have a good night." Del said to the trainee. She walked over to Christine. This was the first time they've made contact today other than that morning. "Thanks Chris." Del smiled before going to the stairs. Christine perked up at the sight of her sister. She walked to the front doors to lock up when she saw Trace walking away. "Trace!" She called out. "Gahh!" He jumped. Christine laughed. "Thank you for being there for my sister. I know we're only 2 years apart, but sometimes I'm such a mom to her." Christine told him. "Eh, no problem. I care about Del a lot. She's really special..." he smiled, blushing a little. "Well I hope you two have fun on your 'date'. You be good to her and remember she's someone's little girl!" Christine joked in her best dad voice. "Come on Christine, we're hanging out." Trace started. "This isn't a date...Is it?" Christine started to close the door. "This is whatever you make it." She said locking up the store.

"What took you so long?" Del asked as Christine came through the door. "Oh I was just talking to Trace about tomorrow." She laughed. "I know what your thinking." Del said strumming her bass on the couch. "I know, I know." She smiled. "Are you excited about tomorrow?" Christine asked. "Well yeah. This is the first gig we've had in a month. The whole band is excited." Del said. "I'm really going to try to be there but you know how the stage director is."  Christine sighed getting her things ready to go. "Eh it's fine Chris. You've missed almost all my concerts since we were kids. It's okay." Del smiled sincerely. Christine stopped. "W-What?! No I haven't!" She said defensive. "There was that one band concert during the spring an-" "You had a ballet recital. Dad went to yours and mom went to mine. Remember?" Del interrupted. "Oh yeah..." Christine sighed. "What about your first concert at the school dance?" She asked confidently. "You already graduated." Del said looking at her. Christine remembered it all. She really hasn't seen a performance. She began to cry and ran to her room. "Oh no!" Del started, running after her sister. "I didn't mean it like that!!" "I'm so sorry Del I never realized!" Christine cried through the door. "Sis it's okay! Open up! I know you're busy all the time. We both are! I'm used to it I know you would be there if you could." Del called out to her. The lock clicked and Christine opened the door. "There's been enough awkward sibling encounters today." Del laughed, arms wide open. Christine tackled her in a hug. "I really am going to try to see you." Christine sighed. "I know Chris." Del sighed. That bad feeling in the pit of her stomach returned.