Forget Her Not

7 | he was my rainstorm

It starts raining at the end of class.

It is a misty drizzle sort of rain. Not yet heavy enough to sound satisfying. Not light enough to be soft and harmless either. Miss Laney makes us close all the windows because the wind outside is almost strong enough to blow in the rain. They snap shut and seal the classroom up, but this traps the smell of rain in too.

Liam came into my life like a rainstorm.

Not a warm, sweet smelling summer rain. Rather, more like the spotty pitter patter outside right now. Something unexpected. Lasting for short enough, that it really does not do anything except dim the skies and wet the footpaths. A nuisance. One where, if I shielded myself underneath layers of blankets in my bed, I would feel small and safe. With the sound of rain outside, even a comfort.

I scrawl my notes down in messier handwriting. My mood sours.

When the bell goes, Kyle passes by my desk as he is leaving. There is another lowly whispered haw yeah. Then his funny wink again, as though he is sharing some sort of inside joke with me. Liam gets up to grab him by the shoulder from next to me, shoving all his books and things in an unordinarily messy fashion into his backpack.

Kyle has started snickering loudly about something, even before they are out of the classroom.

I am sulking while I walk outside. The rain has stopped, but the sky is still grey and clouded. Dull and chilled. The foot paths are spotted with wet patches too. I shove my numb fingers into my jacket pockets.

I meet Jisung at the Korean mart. He seems excited to show me around. All bouncy and light on his feet, even with the dampened atmosphere from the weather. He takes me through the store, pointing out each isle, and then to the back. He goes through how to man the cash register, and then the little notebook that they use to record all the expiry dates of the freshly made kimbab and snacks on the front counter. He leads me to some unopened boxes and tells me that we can focus on restocking today. He does not even mention anything about a 'haw yeah'.

I am still tired during the next day at school. Mum had not come home last night because of her late shift, opting instead to stay at a friend's place. Closer to where the hospital that she works at is. I had had a mountain of homework to do, so I had only fixed myself up a quick cup of instant ramen before getting started on it. Working through some reading summaries. Calculus problems. Ending with falling asleep at my desk.

This is probably why, my neck is sore right now. I carefully crane it to the side and roll it around experimentally. Sheila eyes me a little sceptically.

"Have you eaten yet today?" she asks.

I purse my mouth guiltily. My stomach twists. Sheila slides her box of cafeteria pasta across the bench, closer towards me.

"Here. We can share."

Then she gets up to grab herself a juice. I hum to myself, as I stab at the pesto pieces with her plastic fork. There is a nice breeze blowing, and the sky is lit up with moderate sunshine today as though it is apologising for yesterday, I am relatively content until someone slots themselves down into Sheila's seat next to me.

"Is this seat taken?" Kyle asks.

"Sheila just went-"

"Sweet. So, Arden what do you think about me? I'm hot stuff, yeah? Charming most of the time too. Great boyfriend material. We could be good together, yeah?"

I blink at him, still a little confused by his sudden appearance. I give an unsure laugh.

"What?" I ask.

"Can I just- can I?"

Kyle leans in, closing the space between us. He reaches a hand out to play with some of my hair and cocks his head to the side a little. His eyes are a gorgeous shade of blue. Pretty, deep, sea like blue. Not the shade that I am missing.

"Don't forget to breathe." he teases.

"Kyle, what- I'm not... Okay, so you're pretty. I get it." I say, fighting back an uncertain blush. "What are you doing here?"

Kyle noticeably pauses, hesitating for a second. I turn to scan the cafeteria, searching for his group of friends. There, right around that big table in the centre. A little rowdy. Somehow polished looking too. Not even a glance at our direction.

Then I spot Liam. He is standing with Shane next to him, over by the entrance. His hair is a little windswept, and he is looking soft, comfy and all boyfriend material in a big hoodie again. His face is stony. He is definitely staring at us.

I pull back from Kyle like I have been slapped.

"W-What, is this some kind of game to you? Another joke?"

Kyle gapes a little. "No, no. Hey, of course not."

He reaches forward as though to touch my arm. I flinch back again.

"Look, Arden. The thing is, I'm just trying to-"

"Kyle, I think you're done here."

Liam's voice cuts in from behind me. He sounds so chilled and detached, like he is another person entirely, that I flinch back from this too. Kyle's face scrunches up like he is irritated about something. His jaw tenses and he gets up.

"What happened to, do what you want?" he asks, a hint of snide in his voice.

Liam barely reacts to this.

"You're upsetting her." he says coldly.

"No, Liam. You're upsetting her, and yourself, and you're too-"

Shane presses a hand onto Kyle's shoulder. Kyle shakes his head, stopping what he had been about to say. He exhales loudly, angrily, and turns to walk off. Shane sends me a little apologetic glance before following. This leaves me alone with Liam. I avoid looking at him pointedly.

"Are you okay?"

He asks this after a paused moment, sounding as though he actually cares or something. I give him a stiff nod, still refusing to make eye-contact. I press my fingers into my thigh. What sort of game does he think he is playing here?

"Fine." I say.

"Fine." he says back.

Then with an exaggerated huff, he turns to follow his friends too. The temperature feels as though it has just suddenly dropped several degrees.

Sheila chooses this moment to return.

"I got watermelon," she says. She places a frosty glass onto the table, with condensed water droplets on the sides and two straws sticking out from the top. "Arden? Did I miss something?"

I want to bury my face into the pesto pasta bowl.

During Advanced English today, Miss Laney reminds us that there is one week left until our pair project is due. She only mentions it briefly, in passing, but I had almost completely forgotten about this, so I jerk up a little in my seat.

Liam drums a finger on my desk.

"Are you free to meet up tomorrow? To edit our parts?"

I have not even started my half of the script yet.

"I have work until night." I explain. I fidget with the hem of my sleeve. "Friday?"

"Sure."

We do not talk for the rest of the class. Liam looks a little pouty for some reason, bottom lip jutted out slightly like an unhappy child. Distracted too. When he catches me glancing at him, he narrows his eyes and turns his face away.

I rub at my temples. I look away too. 

☾☆♔

!! guess who went to the stray kids concert last weekend !! 

thanku everyone for all the support i've gotten for this story i'm still so overwhelmed ahhh y'all are angels ily and have good weeks my loves hehe