Telescope

Early Morning Thunderstorms

*above is my drawing of the mural she draws in this chapter it's a very loose sketch please don't judge*

Juno

The thunderstorm woke me up at five in the morning. I was sprawled in my bed, my face tucked in my arm as the rain pounded against my window. I rolled over, staring at my dark ceiling, smiling into the early morning air. I sat up and walked over to my window, pulling back my curtains.

The wet pavement shown bright as the street lights lit it up, blips of light flickering as the rain poured from the sky. I grabbed a plaid blanket and my English notebook, then sat back down by the window, tucking my legs under myself. 

I flipped to a blank page, staring at the crisp lines across. I was planning on writing, another of the little moments that filled the back of my notebooks. Instead, I started sketching an idea, a whale. Then... mountains below it. Clouds around it. We could make them orange, like a sunset. I sighed, then looked back out the window, watching as the rain pounded the asphalt.

My alarm woke me up. I was lying on my floor, a tangled mess with my thick blanket. It was still raining pretty hard outside as I stood, crossing the room to press the button with my toe. I tossed my blanket on my unmade bed and glanced at myself in the mirror.

I smiled at my messy hair and Benny's large hoodie, which smelled of cigarettes and cologne and sea salt and sand. I shook my head, running a hand through my hair as I trudged to the closet. 

My fit for the day was a pair of high waisted jeans, a skimpy tank top, and my dad's old, soft oversized brown leather jacket with chunky pockets on the sides. I ran a brush through my hair and called it a day, doing my makeup like usual. 

I tossed Benny's hoodie on my bed. I would have to wash it and give it back, but I had a few days before I was going to do laundry and it was the best hoodie I've ever worn so...

As I bounded down the stairs, I was surprised to see my mom sitting at the counter, typing on a computer. 

"Hi, Mom," I said. She didn't look up. I nodded at this, then, since I was early, made myself a smoothie. 

"Hi, sweetie," My mom said a few minutes later, completely delayed. "Sorry, I'm working right now."

"All good," I said, whirring the blender to life. As it died down, I shouted, "Aaron! Almost ready?"

"Yeah!" He came downstairs, glancing at Mom and then at me. "Hi Mom," He said, grabbing a bar.

"Hi, sweetie," She said, in the same voice she had used with me a few minutes earlier. 

"Ready?" I asked, and Aaron nodded.

We climbed into my car, a 2000 chevy metro, which I bought myself and no one can shit on. Aaron slouched in the seat, looking through his phone. Noah and I were always closer than Aaron and I.

"Can you give me a ride to my friends after school?" He asked.

"Um, yeah I think so," I said. "Which friend?"

"Dean," He said. He put down his phone. "He's the one who shaved his hair to a mohawk."

I nodded. I remembered that, it had nearly inspired Aaron to do the same. I was fully supportive of this, but his dad was not so much. 

When we got to the high school, Aaron left to go hang out with his friends and I did the same. Ariana, Grace, Darius, Lilly, and Caleb were all sitting on the steps of the music building as usual. Lilly was leaning on Darius, eyes almost as dead as usual. 

Lilly is this small girl with dark brown hair which was piled on top of her head. She joined the group when she started dating Darius, who was this huge guy with a huge heart. 

Ariana was always our friend, since the beginning of Paralian. With her dark red hair and black eyeliner, she looks so fucking intimidating it's hard to believe she didn't always look like she came straight out of a horror film.

 Grace is a badass feminist, her black hair died blue and nails painted black. She also happens to be the sweetest person ever. 

And Caleb, where to start? He's the nicest guy I've ever met, with short light brown hair and a crooked smile, the type of guy who constantly has his arm over someone and hugs you whenever he sees you.

"Juno!" He ran up to me and hugged me like he hadn't seen me in forever. 

"Hi, Caleb," I said, smiling and ducking around him to sit on the steps.

"You're early?" Ariana laughed at my annoyed expression.

Grace hopped up suddenly, then bolted across the quad to a girl with short, choppy brown hair and chunky bangs. She smiled at Grace, who linked her arm through her's to pull her back to our friend group. I watched as her eyes traced all of us, a confused smile plastered on her face like those pictures on a science book cover. 

Grace looked at us, warning flashing behind her eyes as she said, "Guys, this is Everly. Everly, that's Caleb and Juno over there, Lilly and Darius, and Ariana," She turned to us again. "Everly's a new student, she's in my math class."

Ariana looked her up and down, then put on a weird face. "Hi, Everly," She said, giving her a nod. Everly reached up to her bangs, tugging on them. She kinda half-smiled, but her eyes were darting to Grace. Ariana can be very intimidating. 

"Hi!" Caleb said, smiling super wide. "It's so nice to meet you, come sit." He patted the step next to me, and I nodded, moving a bit to make room. 

"Hey," Everly said, sitting down. "Sorry for intruding."

"No," Ariana said flatly. "Don't be." 

Everly looked startled, so I said, "It's all good! Our group is constantly growing. Welcome to the music building. I'm usually late." I offered her a smile as Grace shot daggers into Ariana.

 Lilly and Darius hardly paid attention to the new, kinda lopsided, girl. They quickly returned to conversation. 

Throughout the day, Everly tagged along at every break. Even between classes, as Darius and I walked to fifth period, she jumped up behind us and walked nearly the whole way. It wasn't annoying per-say. But I was sure it would soon get there. 

I started longing for the rain to be over, to escape the small drama of my friend group under a dark, smokey sky as a fire crackled, where I was surrounded by the people who didn't have any falsities. People who were totally genuine, despite their differences, who could laugh and mock each other as waves crashed and stars glinted, far and out of sight, but there.

But that was all out of reach as long as the sky was crying and thunder was rolling and lightning broke through the sky, churning the water and destroying our warm, sandy nights. 

And as I thought of this and the unfortunate limbo we were in, my mind went to the alternative. Freezing water breaking over us, Benny and I, alone in complete darkness. Loud, screaming and laughing, huge smiles on our faces as we stood in pouring rain and roaring wind. Undeniably present and awake and loud, yet somehow completely silent to the rest of the world. Our voices and laughs as powerful as the wind and waves we were competing against, but no one to hear except me, Benny, and the gods. 

I thought of this all day. In every class period as I was asked a question I didn't know the answer to, in every moment my friends rolled their eyes, and as I rounded a corner after school, on my way to the parking lot to give Aaron a ride. 

Benny stood there, alone, a dark organish flannel that seemed a bit too big on him with his arms at his side, his head tilted up, blue eyes tracing the wall and sky. 

He looked over and saw me, then smiled. "Fancy seeing you here."