Why Does Rain Fall

Henning

"You did it, Henning!" Jace yelled. "New running back record! Alright!"

The team cheered for Henning, who had just put his all into running as fast as he could. He didn't mean to run as fast as he did, he was just trying to make a touchdown. His coach didn't exactly approve of his play, but they won, and the coach just smiled and shook his head. Henning was proud of himself, really proud. For a minute, he thought he was really the best in his school, but he thought that it was rude to compare himself to others. Even so, he just wanted to bask in the glory. He liked the attention.

"Nice job, Hen." He heard a sweet voice from behind him, he turned around to see the brightest smile in the world. Emma. His girlfriend for five months. Even though they were in eighth grade, people thought Emma and Henning would be the power couple through high school. He thought he loved her, but he was still easing into the idea that he was loved by an amazing girl. He was happy.

Emma jumped into his arms and he spun her around, never letting go.

"Thanks a lot, Em."

"I'll be here no matter what, Henning."

After that night, Henning went home with a ride from his friends. They weren't really friends of course, except for Jace, but they were awesome guys to talk to. They liked talking to each other, they weren't exactly there for each other, but they were still cool. They revolved around Henning, wherever he went or whatever he did, they thought it was cool. It was annoying to have "yes men" at his side every day, but it was nice at the same time. His life was like that, annoying, but nice.

They dropped him off, and he said his last goodbyes to the group.

"See you tomorrow, all-star!"

"Man, that was so cool. Wait until everyone hears about this!"

"You're awesome man, see you later."

Henning waved as the car sped off, and he walked up to his house and opened the door.

Of course, the first thing he heard was yelling. His sister Lily and his mom were fighting, again.

"Who cares what I do? You specifically don't! None of you do!"

"Lily, if this keeps up, you are moving out of the damn house. That is final."

Lily went quiet. She wasn't shocked, Henning knew this. His mom had used that threat on her almost every day. Lily wasn't exactly a role model. She was drinking and smoking a lot, his mom didn't know the extent of it. Lily would drink and smoke in her room, Henning felt terrible for Lily. He missed his older sister, the real her. The one that would give him piggyback rides whenever he asked. The one that would scoot over on the couch to watch her play a violent video game. The one who would willingly give him the remote because she was too tired to argue with him. He missed her.

Lily finally noticed Henning was at the door, which made his mom notice. His mom gave him a smile. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes seemed so empty and sad. It made Henning shrink down a little.

"Sorry you had to hear that, buddy." His mom sighed.

"Yeah. I'm going to my room." Henning knew what this meant. Lily was going to drink.

"I'm gonna go hang out with her, mom."

"Okay, sweetie."

Henning walked up the stairs to his sister's room. He knocked on the door.

"Henning?" Her voice sounded so sad, so defeated.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm coming in."

He hadn't gone into his sister's room in a while, Lily asked him not to. He walked in, and he didn't see the room his old sister used to be in. There were beer bottles and wine bottles everywhere. The room smelled like smoke and the carpets were slowly coming up. Clothes were on the floor, and a smoking pack on the table. Henning walked over to the pack and put it in his pocket. Next to the pack was a knife.

"Lily, what is this?" He pointed to the knife.

"Relief." She simply replied.

Henning was terrified. There was crusted blood on the knife. He wanted to hug his sister and bring the old her back. He missed her so much.

She was sitting on the window, one leg up and the other leg dangling in her room. She was rested again the wall, bottle in hand. She looked tired. Sad. Her hair was a mess, she was wearing baggy clothing. His old sister always had her thin hair in a girlish braid. She was always wearing the most stylish clothing, he never really knew what broke her down so far. He couldn't take it anymore. He ran over and hugged his sister.

"Woah, easy there kiddo." She hugged him back.

"I miss you. The old you."

"Yeah," she looked out the window. "I miss the old me, too."

He walked downstairs to his room, holding the pack of cigarettes. He shifted it in his hand, back and forth. He didn't want to smoke, there was no reason to. The only pain in his heart was his sister's sadness. It wouldn't go away even if he numbed it. He didn't want to, he wanted to stay normal, popular.

He threw the pack away and went to bed.