Linger

S E V E N T Y - T H R E E

"It's never gonna stop." 

"Now, what are we supposed to do?"

I let out a sigh as I stared at the pouring rain outside the window in the school hallway, somehow finding comfort in the cloudy dark skies, almost reflecting the way I felt inside. 

Each day that passed, Daniel seemed to become more and more distant. His words in class had grown fewer and I had lost track of how many times I had picked up my phone to call him just to put it down again.

The distance between us was crushing me. 

But seeing him so stern, so distant, so cold, crushed me even more.

And I couldn't help but wonder if it was all because of me. Because I never answered his call Saturday. 

But I couldn't. He knew that. He couldn't get in more trouble than he already could be. 

Then why else would he be acting so cold? Not just toward me, but to the entire class? 

"Let's just go rehearse in the gym." I grabbed my lunch from my locker and headed toward the basketball court. 

"We can't." Kelsey caught up to me. 

I stopped, turning to her. "Why?"

"The hockey team is meeting in there. Again." She rolled her eyes. 

"Oh." My face fell. 

"Maybe we can find a place to rehearse in the cafeteria," Sophia suggested.

"We are not rehearsing in the cafeteria," I mumbled as we headed toward the cafeteria. 

"We can't even go in the cafeteria," Kelsey said as we stepped up to the cafeteria doors, eyeing the very large and very crowded room in front of us. Not a single table was empty. 

"There's no way you could pay me to go in there," Chelsea said as she stepped up to us. 

"Where should we go to have lunch?" I turned to her. 

"The bathroom," a new voice replied and we looked up to see Sasha walking up to us, her lunch bag clutched in her hand. 

Kelsey scrunched up her nose. "No way." 

"Is it really different from being in there?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, nodding toward the cafeteria. 

Footsteps could be heard approaching and we looked up to see Mr. Hayden walking up to his classroom door. The stern look remained on his face as it had all week, causing my heart to sink. He unlocked the door before walking in, closing the door behind him. 

I glanced outside the windows. "Maybe the rain will stop and we could find a spot outside that's not that wet." 

As if on cue, thunder boomed loudly through the sky, prompting the rain to fall even harder. 

"Or not," I mumbled. 

"Whoever said rain was romantic is a liar," Sasha muttered, glaring at the rain. 

"Is the cafeteria packed?" a familiar voice asked. 

We all turned around to see Mr. Hayden standing outside his classroom. 

"Yeah, but we'll find a spot." Sophia huffed, heading toward the cafeteria.

"If you'd like, you can have lunch in here." He held his door open, shifting his gaze between us. "All of you." 

"It's okay. We could just sit on the floor or something." Chelsea shook her head. "We wouldn't want to bother you on your break." 

"It's not a bother. I had my lunch already anyway."