Rainy Days

Six Months Ago

I opened my eyes to see the familiar pair of green eyes look down on me, Matthew Bensons eyes.  If you would have told me six months ago, that I would be dating my childhood crush, and would be outside enjoying myself on a sunny day, I would've simply called you crazy.  Yet six months ago I, Danielle Morales, had to be reminded that at the end of  every rainy day the sun came out, and so did a rainbow.
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The sound of rain drops woke me up. It hadn't rained in days, and hearing the sound of the water drops hit my window was comforting. You see, rainy days were my favorite. They reminded me that I wasn't alone, the earth also had tears to cry. People, including my parents, thought I was depressed. Didn't know that just because I like rainy days, wore mostly black clothes, and well had basically no friends counted me as depressed. Okay, so maybe I was a little pessimistic 24/7, so what? At least, I wasn't like other people who constantly got disappointed. Although, I did have one friend, her name is-
"Dani! You may want to hurry...Zoe will probably be waiting for you at the bus stop!",my mom called out to me from downstairs.
And if you didn't figure it out already (which it would be sad if you didn't) Zoe, is my best and only friend. As I was finishing getting ready, my dad was already knocking and opening my door. His bluetooth speaker was in his hand, and already blasting some motivational speech he put on his phone. This was his routine every morning. My dad believes that you have control over everything you do, so yea he thinks you can decide whether you have a good or bad day. And to me that is a bunch of crap. Unfortunately this time, he left the speaker in my room, so I had to painfully let my ears bleed for a while. Once I was done, ears in pain and all, I rand downstairs and turned off the speaker. My mom glared at me from the living room.
"What?" I asked.
"You know your dad is going to get into full on rant mode..." she said through gritted teeth.
I understood her frustration because well, Zoe was very punctual, and I still hadn't eaten my breakfast. But sure enough, my dad came loudly down the stairs. I braced myself for the "mind over everything speech", but this time he gave me a hug.
"Dani, I know you don't like to hear this, but it's good for you," he whispered. "I'll let it slide because I know you like the sound of the rain."
When he let me go, he smiled at my mom and said, "Tomorrow I'm going to put this one about how to not let people affect you, so that..."
I tuned out the rest of the conversation, and decided cereal was my best and most convenient option. After basically gulping down my cereal, I checked my phone to see that the bus would be leaving in five minutes.
"Gotta go!" I said quickly, and I bolted out the door.
My parents loved to give me a hug and a kiss, but I didn't have time for that right now, plus I had some puddles to jump in.
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"I'm still not letting you copy my homework, so stop bothering me..." Zoe said, as she tried to dry her blouse. Little life lesson: don't jump in puddles anywhere near people.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drench you, but you have to admit it was kind of funny." I giggled, remembering the face Zoe made when I splashed her. She then froze.
"Did Dani Morales just laugh?" she looked at me, her glare replaced by a smile.
"Yes, and tomorrow I'll wear something pink!" I plastered a fake smile, and rolled my eyes.
Literally, ignoring my sarcasm, she looked at me, her eyes widening, "Does this mean you did your homework?"
I snatched the paper she was holding in her hands, "Nope, still going to need this."
She lunged at me trying to grab it out of my hands, and I bumped into somebody.
"Sorry..." I muttered. I turned around to see a pair of gray eyes.
"It's okay." the boy said, and smiled. I looked at him, unsure of what to say. Then he hesitated.
"I'm new," he said. "I have Physics first period, and I don't know where that is...?"
I knew he didn't look familiar, but I had to admit the boy wasn't ugly. He had an average height, dirty blond hair and gray eyes.s.
"Well, lucky you," I said, "My friend and I are headed there."
"Cool," he said. "Lead the way." Zoe, as always, took the lead. When she was slightly ahead of us, he turned toward me.
"I don't really believe there is such a thing as luck." he whispered, smiling shyly at me. It struck me that I really wasn't the only one. I looked at him, and smiled.
"I've also never been one to believe in luck."
Yet something inside me decided that something along the lines of luck brought us together.
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If you haven't put the puzzle together, Zoe is the classical nerd, except she's more social than most. She's always prepared for anything, overachieving is one of her favorite hobbies, and somehow she can always find the bright side to things. (Apparently this is why she's "good for me".) So, no surprise that while we were heading to lunch, she was telling me how she was going to start on this English project we were assigned. This project was due until next week, and it was barely Monday!
"Zoe," I rolled my eyes. "This project isn't due until next week!"
She opened her mouth to argue but she was interrupted.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, but where is the cafeteria?" a voice said behind me. I flinched, I had totally forgotten that the new kid was still with us.
"Jackson, right?" I asked, unsure if I had gotten his name wrong.
"Yea." he smiled. "I'm surprised you remembered considering you were drawing or whatever."
"Right," I said. "Can I just call you Jax?"
He nodded, and turned to Zoe.
"Wait so judging by what I heard you already want to start on the English project?"
"Absolutely," Zoe beamed, and she began. "I think this project is a good idea to start..."
I stopped listening, and I started thinking about how Jax had noticed that I was sketching. Then I felt my sketchbook slip out from under my arm. It fell on the floor, Jax turned around and walked toward me. But as he bent down, another pair of hands beat him to it.
"Here." a familiar voice said.
I looked up to the familiar tall figure, dark hair, and green eyes I knew well. I froze. Matthew Benson held out my sketchbook,
"Here you dropped this."
Matthew, or Matt, was my old childhood crush. When I was 7, I was a sucker for those green eyes, but not anymore. He's your typical optimistic, always smiling golden boy. Although he didn't have the best grades, or was the star jock, almost everybody liked him. It was his annoying optimism that bothered me. How could anybody be so happy all the time? Jax nudged me and I snapped me back into reality.
"Right." I said. "Thanks, Matt."
"No problem."
He smiled at me with those dimples, and said, "I always liked it when you called me Matt."
I was still debating on what to respond when he flashed me another smile, said goodbye and left. Little did I know it wouldn't be the last time I talked to him.
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Weeks passed, and Zoe and I fell into a routine that now included Jax. I didn't realize how much we had in common. First of all, he was realistic, which some people would see as pessimistic. Unfortunately, Jax still hadn't arrived at the bus stop, so it was just Zoe and I. The only thing that made me happy, and not regret getting out of bed today, was the fact that it was a rainy day. Then out of the blue, Zoe took a deep breath and broke the silence.
"I, Zoe Black, promise today, on a rainy day to get you a life."
"What do you mean?"
"Dani you need a life, you need someone in your life other than me. You need a hobby or something or just, you know, someone that gets you."
I looked at Zoe.
"Are you serious?"
"Look I have school and college and being a 'nerd' as my thing, and honestly I'm okay without a significant other."
She paused, and hesitated.
"All I'm saying Dani, is that maybe having somebody other than me by your side would be good for you. Just, you know, choose wisely."
"You know you didn't have to ruin my favorite kind of days."
"I don't think your dad would approve of that. Shouldn't you decide what kind of day you have?"
I turned around to see Jax chuckling to himself. I smiled, it seemed that the only person who seemed to understand me was Jax. I laughed, and began to watch the small water droplets fall onto the ground.
"You should know, rainy days are also my favorite." he said, his eyes meeting mine.
"I know, it's nice to know you're not alone, because on rainy days-"
"It's like the world cries with you." he finished.
His gaze never left mine. I guess I was literally not alone, and the way he was looking at me proved he felt the same way. Then Zoe nudged me and I realized the bus had arrived. I looked at Jax and without hesitation, he took my hand, it was slightly cold, but it didn't matter, because as I got on the bus I understood that whatever this was it was real.
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"You know, you're a pretty good artist." Jax was looking through my sketchbook.
"Thank you." I said.
We were both in my room, and while Jax was looking through my artwork I was just sitting on my bed. Zoe was off with her other new friends. Jax and I had decided school wasn't worth it, so ditching classes became more normal, and not doing homework was also very normal. Zoe decided she couldn't take it, so she left Jax and I alone, and although we still hang out sometimes, it's really not the same. Although it really bothered me, Jax told me I should just move on, and that Zoe never understood me. I believed him, because he was just like me, so really he was the only one who understood me as me.
"I was thinking I should present them in the art class gallery." I said.
Jax frowned at me.
"But you're not even in art class."
"I know, but I could enroll this semester. Zoe said that it would be good to receive constructive criticism so, you know, I'll get better."
He sighed. I didn't understand what the problem was. Was I not good enough or...?
"I think you're amazing, but Dani..." He plopped down next to me, and took my hands.
"Dani...do you really want people criticizing your every single mistake. You're already good enough, trust me, the people at school will only want to criticize you and bring you down...it's not worth it."
I frowned remembering how excited Zoe had been when I had mentioned this to her. If this would be only to hurt me she would have said so. Zoe wouldn't let me get hurt. She would never think like that. As if to read my thoughts, he continued.
"Zoe also thinks its a good idea to waste precious time at school. Preston High School is a prison, and it doesn't get us. School isn't worth it."
He then dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Remember, Dani, I am the only one who gets you."
Then he did something, I would have never expected. He leaned in and pressed his lips on mine. Then he pulled back and smiled. My stomach fluttered, and I think it was time to acknowledge what we had.
"You should know Dani that we'll always be alone, but now we can be alone together."
I didn't really like the sound of being alone forever, but I smiled, and kissed him. He kissed me back and this time it lingered. The sound of thunder made us break apart.
"I think you should probably go, or else you will end up walking in the rain."
He grinned at me.
"I would be willing to take my chances, because you're worth it, but I have a feeling your parents wouldn't approve..."
I sighed because it was true. My parents thought we were home early to do a project. They didn't know I was skipping school. But Jax was right, they would get suspicious, and I didnt want my parents meddling in my life. Then if they found out what Jax and I were doing, they would take away the only person who understood me. Because what I had with Jackson was real.
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Unfortunately, Zoe found out that Jax and I were basically dating.
"Look I know we don't hang out as much, but you could at least tell me what's going on with you."
"I don't know what you're talking about Zoe."
"As in, why aren't you in art class? And what happened with meeting up to finish the English project? Also this weekend we were supposed to go to the library! And now I find out you're dating Jackson Warner?"
"Why is that such a bad thing?"
"Look I didn't want to tell you in front of him, but he's no good for you, Dani."
"Why would you say that?" I was mad that Zoe would ever think that. Then the sudden realization hit me and I remembered that she had told me a few days ago that he had been expelled from his old school.
"Oh my god! Do you honestly just care about school? Have you ever had a normal conversation with him anyway?"
She opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her.
"I don't want to hear it Zoe."
I turned around and walked away. I was sick of what other people thought of Jackson. The night before my parents had voiced their concerns, and I was just done with them. With everybody. I knew that I had to go find Jax. I knew where he would be, waiting for me at my locker as always. But as I was running I bumped into somebody. The familiar tall figure, and green eyes turned to look at me. It was Matt.
"Hey. You okay?" he said, frowning at me.
I couldn't speak, and my eyes began to water. Confusion was the only emotion inside me because maybe I had been wrong about Jax. I didn't know what to do and I felt the tears starting to fall down my face. Before I could say anything, he wiped a tear from my face. In contrast, to Jax's hands, Matt's touch was warm and gentle.
"Look," he said, grabbing both of my shoulders. "I know we don't talk much, but you can tell me what's wrong?"
I hesitated. I just wanted to see Jax. But the way Matt was looking at me made me realize he cared...he cared about me. After, a few seconds passed, he sighed, and smiled at me.
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me." he said, wiping away another tear. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his dark hair.
"I hope everything works out, and if you need anything let me know." he said. "I'll see you later Dani." He turned around reluctantly and left. I was grateful for his effort of helping me, but Matt would've never understood me, only Jax did. Which is why I decided to run as fast as I could to avoid any other awkward encounters. So when I reached my locker and hugged Jax. I finally blurted out what I had been feeling.
"I'm tired of people's crap."
"Me too."
I looked at him slightly surprised and noticed his gray eyes became stormy.
He took my hand, and having no idea where he was taking me, I followed him. I followed him because even if I was a little unsure of what we had, I still trusted him more than anyone. We arrived at his house, and he quickly went inside, and when he came out, he had a backpack on. We walked to my house, and I went inside, but then walked outside.
"Wait, Jax, what are we doing?"
"Running away." he said bluntly.
"Running away?" For a person who doesn't get surprised easily, that definitely caught me off guard.
"Yes. Dani we could run away right now. And nobody could stop us."
It was true. My parents would at some point give up looking for me.
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I went back inside my house to find my parents, eating their lunch.
"What are you doing here?" My mom asked.
"I'm planning to sleep over at Zoe's tonight, to study." I smiled weakly.
"Dani, I know you," my dad said.
I looked at him.
"Do you really?"
"Yes. I know that you've been ditching school and sneaking off with that boy Jackson."
I froze and my dad continued.
"And I have a feeling he probably convinced you that it's a good idea to run away."
"How did you...?" Then I remembered that everytime we would do anything, I would always make sure my mom didn't know. Since my dad worked a lot, I never realized he would figure it all out. Yet he did.
"Dani, I know you don't want to do this. I didn't tell your mom, because I know you're smarter than this. And I know that you don't even know what to do with Jax."
Listening to my dad, and realizing my mom didn't turn this into a big deal I finally understood that my parents did get me. It was true, I had met Jackson, and though it was so real with him, his pessimistic attitude made me a little more depressed than what I was already becoming. He pulled me away from the things I loved including art, and my best friend. I turned around and walked out of my house. I saw Jackson leaning against my porch. He looked at me and saw that I had no backpack, and his smile was replaced with a frown. I realized I had to do what I should've done a long time ago. Taking a deep breath, I broke the silence.
"I think it's time we both grow up Jax, there's a lot of people who are willing to help us."
"No." He looked at me confused. Then the realization of what I was saying sunk in, and his face changed from confusion to betrayal.
"No, no, NO! Nobody understands us!"
"Jackson!" He looked at me shocked that I had yelled at him.
"Not everybody is against you! The only person who was no good for me was you! You didn't understand me, because if you did you would've known cutting me off from my family and friends didn't help me. If you really wanted to help me, you would've tried to make me smile or laugh, but all you did was remind me of how alone I was when I wasn't."
It was true. He always told me that we could be alone together. Of course that's when it began to rain.
"You know Jackson, a rainy day isn't just the world crying, it's the world cleansing itself to see a rainbow after the storm."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm done Jackson. We're done."
"You're making a mistake." he muttered and he walked away. I never saw him again after that.
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The next day, it was pretty sunny. Unfortunately this meant the weather was humid. As I was walking to my locker, I realized I had to do something. I waited until Zoe finally showed up. She gasped when she saw what I was wearing. A pink T-shirt, jeans, and pink converse. Zoe had always told me that I would look good in pink, so today I decided I would try something different. You could say that pink wasn't such a bad color, I had a feeling I could learn to like it.
"Are those...?"
"Yup." I smiled. "Turns out you can be right about some things."
"Some things?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Okay so maybe about almost everything!" I said, smiling.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Jax. I-"
She didn't let me finish. She hugged me before I could continue, and I didn't let go. Until she spoke.
"Look, apology accepted, but it will be rejected if we are late to class."
We ran and got their right on time. I gave Zoe my permission to introduce me to her new group of friends. Ironically one of those new friends included Matt Benson. Things were changing and I decided that it was time that I did too.