Chance Of Rain

by Laurel Veil

  “Oh, thanks, Trent. That would be great,” I tried to say coolly. “Now Blake won’t have to go out of his way.” I attempted to play it off like Trent was doing Blake a huge favor. “I’ll see you Monday at school then, Blake. Thanks again.”

  Blake seethed as he looked at Trent. Then he turned to me with hurt in his eyes. “Are you sure?” I nodded, and he turned and walked to the kitchen. I felt horrible, and I’m sure it showed.

  “What’s the matter?” Trent asked.

  “Blake drives me crazy, but he’s my friend. I don’t feel right about doing this.”

  He looked at me quietly for a moment, and I felt nervous. I thought he was annoyed with me. Then he said, “She’s beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside,” and then he winked.

  My heart stuttered, and relief washed over me.

  “I would’ve had to pass on the coffee anyway,” I confessed sadly. “I have a ten-thirty curfew on Saturday. I have church in the morning.”

  “You’re sweet,” he said with a smile. He gave a slight wave of his hand and turned to go.

  I stood there and watched him walk away until he was completely out of sight.

  Blake was still willing to take me home. And as I figured he would, he took a jab at Trent the first chance he got. I barely had time to buckle my seat belt.

  “So what happened to Romeo? Did he back out and leave you stranded?”

  Anger sparked inside me. Don’t talk about my Trent like that! I decided it was time to get a few things straight. I tried to choose my words carefully. Blake was my friend, and I really didn’t want to hurt him.

  “Look, Blake—I don’t know Trent very well, but I would like to.” I waited for his response. He didn’t seem bothered. Good! That wasn’t so bad.

  “You go right on and get to know your new friend. No one’s stopping you.” He gave me a self-assured grin. The dude wasn’t lacking confidence; that was for sure. I couldn’t help smile. “You know, Ash,” he said, “you shouldn’t be taking rides from strangers anyway.”

  I cut my eyes at him. “Uh…OK, Mom.”

  As he laughed, his face lit up from the headlights of a passing car. “You just met the guy. I’m only trying to look out for you.”

  “Mm-hmm,” I said, not believing my safety was his true motive.

  He grinned. “I’m just saying.”

  A few minutes later, he had me home. “Thanks again for the ride, Blake.”

  “Anytime. Anytime.”

  My mom was relieved when she heard me come in. I told her I was exhausted and headed to my room. I got ready for bed, but once I lay down, I couldn’t sleep.

  I wondered how things had gone for Cole and Bri tonight. I wondered what school was going to be like, and most of all, I wondered if my dad ever wondered how my mom and I were doing. Then I thought about Trent and wondered when I would see him again.

  V

  35 %

  I woke up early for church. I was ready before my mom, so I made the coffee.

  When she came into the kitchen, I could tell she was feeling down by the way she carried herself. Her shoulders were slumped, and her eyes appeared far away. Sundays always made her sad.

  I decided right then that Bri and I would have to do some checking up on my dad again. I needed him to talk to me—and not just surface talk. I had to get him and my mom back together. It was killing her whether or not she wanted to admit it. And I knew my dad still loved her too.

  I drove so my mom could enjoy her cup of Black Silk. I knew it would help put her in a better mood. I needed to do something more, though, to cheer her up. Then it came to me. “I’m thinking maybe I will start looking for a car.” I said it in the spur of the moment, but I realized I really did want a car of my own. I guess it was one of those subconscious things.

  I felt her eyes bore a hole straight through me. “What brought this on? What happened to the schnoz fund?”

  I shrugged. “Change of plans. I mean, I can’t always expect Bri to chauffeur me around, right?”

  “True.”

  “I thought you’d be happier. You know…that I’m ditching the whole nose thing?”

  “Oh, believe me, I am. I guess I just got used to the idea of Bri or me driving you around. It’s nice to know you’re never alone.”

  “Yeah, well, you forgot Chase and now Blake. I’m tired of having to depend on everyone.”

  We rode in silence for a while. I wanted to get her smile back.

  While sitting at a traffic light, I saw her dab at the corner of her eye. She was looking at the Waffle House where we always used to eat with my dad after church.

  It’s worse than I thought. Here goes nothing. “I met someone. A guy.” She turned to look at me. “Trent. His name is Trent.”

  That’s all it took. I had her distracted, even if it was only for a little while.

  I tried my best to pay attention to the pastor, but I was still worried about my mom.

  My mind drifted back to shortly after my dad had left.

  Bri and I had followed him from work one evening when he first moved out. I hadn’t been to his new place yet. Following him was how I’d found out where it was. We watched him come and go every day for about a week. I didn’t think he’d left my mom for someone else, but I wanted to make sure. We didn’t notice anything unusual or suspicious. I reported our findings to my mom.

  I thought it would make her happy to be reassured that my dad wasn’t seeing anyone. She wasn’t happy at all, though. In fact she was furious with me for following him. She said, “He has a dangerous job. Stop dragging Brianne into all of this. I don’t want either of you getting hurt!”

  I didn’t stop, and I needed Bri to drive me. I wish I had stopped, though. Not long after this, I saw a woman hanging around my dad. Bri assured me it was probably work related. I wanted to believe her, so I never asked my dad, and I never told my mom.

  Before leaving church I said an extra-special prayer for my mom and one for my dad too.

  I spent most of the day with my mom. It was nice; we hadn’t done this in a while. We avoided the Waffle House for breakfast and opted for China Garden for lunch.

  That evening Bri picked me up so we could get one last workout in before school. “Tell me about your date with Cole,” I said. “I’ve been dying to hear all about it!”

  “We went to La Maria for dinner. He paid! He’s amazing and so hilarious. I think I’m in love!”

  I told her about my bumping into Trent at work.

  “No way? Is he stalking you?” she said with a laugh.

  “I wish. He wanted a coffee. We were about to close, so he asked if I wanted to go get coffee with him!”

  “You’re kidding! Then what?”

  I explained about Blake.

  She rolled her eyes. “What’s wrong with that boy? If he messes things up for you one more time, I’m going to go postal on him!”

  I smiled. “No doubt.”

  “That boy has it bad for you, but he needs to back off.”

  “I think he gets it now. We had a talk. Anyway, it all ended well.”

  Bri and I pulled up to the gym and headed inside. We were so excited about school starting in the morning that we opted to do the treadmill so we could talk. We discussed what we planned to wear, and of course Bri promised to drive me.

  “I think I’m going to start looking for a car,” I said.

  Bri’s face looked shocked then ecstatic. “For real, Ash? That’s great! I’ll help you find something!”

  As we chatted I scanned the room every now and then, hoping I’d see Trent. A few times I thought I saw him. I guess it was just wishful thinking.

  VI

  40 %

  I couldn’t sleep that night. Even with the noise from my air purifier, it was too quiet. I finally had to get up and open my windows.

  The sound of chirping crickets drifted in with the breeze. Much better, I thought.

  It felt so nice that I stepped out onto the patio. There was hardl
y a cloud in the sky, so I looked through my telescope for a while. Then I watched lightning bugs flicker off and on in the distance until my eyelids were heavy with sleep.

  I tossed and turned all night and woke before my alarm. I felt like I never went completely unconscious.

  I jumped out of bed and closed my windows before my mom could see that I had slept with them up. I pulled on my favorite skinny jeans and a funky shirt from Forever 21. I applied my cosmetics and fluffed my hair, threw on a little bling, and grabbed my cell and backpack. I took one last look in the mirror. Not bad! I thought. I look nice, but it doesn’t look like I’m trying too hard.

  My mom was already in the kitchen downing a cup of caffeine. “Ready for your first day? Senior year!”

  Honk! Honk!

  I smiled. “Wish me luck.”

  She gave me a hug. “Oh, where did the time go? Love you!” She stood in the doorway and watched me go. “Be safe!” she called out.

  Bri and I waved bye to my mom and headed to school. Bri looked great. She always did, though. She had thick, auburn hair and was voluptuous and gorgeous—a swirl of Marilyn Monroe and Adele.

  When we got to school, the parking lot was loud and crowded.

  “My, my, my,” Bri said, peeking over the top of her sunglasses. “Would you look at that?”

  It was Angel Martinez. He and I had been friends since elementary school. He was my first crush, and it lasted for years, but he never liked me like that. At the time it almost broke my heart, but I eventually got over it and had a good friend that I probably wouldn’t have had if we had dated then broken up. And we would have broken up. Angel liked to flirt with everyone. He’d been in a dozen relationships, and none of them had ever lasted long.

  Bri and I slung our backpacks over our shoulders and followed the crowd. We were like ants marching into our hill.

  We waited in line for only a minute to pick up our schedules. We quickly compared first period. Yes! To our delight, we had English together.

  We headed to the stairs, found our lockers, then went to class.

  We were surprised to find not a single desk, other than the teacher’s, when we entered the room. Instead we saw a very large plush rug on the floor, sprinkled with huge, colorful beanbag chairs. We turned and looked at each other. The confusion on our faces was slowly replaced with toothy grins. “This is going to be freakin’ awesome,” Bri whispered.

  Ms. Elliott greeted us. “Welcome, friends. Please take a seat.” She motioned toward the beanbags.

  There was an empty one near Lacey, which we avoided like there was something sticky on it. We found two in the corner and plunked ourselves down into them. While other students filed in around us, Bri and I finished looking over our schedules. We didn’t have any other subjects together. That wasn’t so bad, though; we only had two other classes.

  Bri and I, along with a large portion of the senior class, were in a work program this year. If you had completed your core classes or were on the verge of doing so and you were passing, you got to participate. We only went to school in the morning, and then we got to work the other half. It was a great incentive to get everyone where they needed to be to graduate. Not to mention, most of the kids I went to school with needed to get a head start on earning money for next year’s college tuition.

  The bell finally rang. We stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to announcements. Then Ms. Elliott called roll. She addressed everyone by his or her last name, and then each student told her what he or she went by.

  “Miss Branson.”

  “You can call me Bri.”

  She continued, “Miss Devoe.”

  “Everyone calls me Ash.”

  She ended with, “Mr. Novak.”

  A familiar voice said, “Trent, ma’am.”

  Bri and I looked up and then at each other. I turned my head, and there he was. He raised his eyebrows at me and grinned.

  “I know it’s the first day, but we’re going to jump right in,” Ms. Elliott said. “We have a lot to cover.” She handed out a set of small, worn paperbacks titled, Edgar Allen Poe: A Collection.

  “This is a senior-level class. The purpose of this course is to refresh your memories for college next year. Everything I show you is supposed to be familiar. That’s why we’re going to zip through it.

  “We’re going to read, read, read, then read some more. That’s why there aren’t any desks. Most of our tests will be oral. If I need you to write, we’ll use one of these.” She lifted a beanbag lap desk from a large stack in the corner. “We’ll read as a class and also silently in small groups and with partners. When we cover Shakespeare, you can do a little acting if you’d like. Let’s try to get to know someone today, shall we? Find a partner and take turns reading the first poem.”

  I looked at Bri, and she knew exactly what I was thinking. I didn’t want to abandon her, but I really wanted to talk to Trent. I knew she would’ve been more than willing to take one for the team and partner up with someone else, but before I had a chance to even blink, Lacey had pulled her beanbag up to Trent’s.

  Bri and I looked at each other. I pretended not to notice, and so did she. Bri opened her book and cleared her throat. “‘Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now…’”

  I couldn’t focus. I wished I were seated at an angle where I could read Trent’s facial expressions. Was he enjoying himself? This was twice now that Lacey had interfered.

  Maybe he liked her.

  “Do you remember me from the Road House the other night?” I overheard Lacey ask Trent. I knew what she was thinking: Of course you recognize me. Look at me—I’m unforgettable.

  He must have nodded because I didn’t hear his response.

  “‘My days have been a dream,’” Bri went on.

  Lacey had silky blond hair that she wore in a pageboy-style cut, and she dressed very trendy. She had on T-shirt with a wild print and a brightly colored scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. Most of the time, she looked like she’d just finished shooting a cover for Seventeen.

  “‘While I weep—while I weep!’” Bri continued.

  It was a strange phenomenon; Lacey wasn’t very friendly, but she was popular. I guess it was like being infamous versus famous.

  I think her dislike for me began in second grade, when Mrs. Royston chose me to play the role of Mrs. Claus instead of her. That same year she liked Chad Walker too, but he liked me. She hadn’t liked me since then.

  “‘Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?’” concluded Bri. “Wow!”

  “What? What happened?” I asked, trying to peek over my shoulder without being seen.

  “What do you mean ‘What’? Didn’t you hear how well I just read that? I amaze myself.”

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  “I know you weren’t paying attention, Ash. I can’t blame you, but you’d better read.”

  I gave in. When I finished, I looked at the wall clock and saw that class was about to end. I whispered to Bri and told her to be ready to bail—and fast.

  Ms. Elliott gave us the OK to leave when then bell rang. Before it even finished sounding, Bri and I were gone.

  “I can’t stand Lacey!” I whispered to Bri as soon as we stepped into the crowded, noisy hallway.

  “I hear ya. I gotta go this way now.” Bri motioned with a nod of her head. “Meet me by the car after school.”

  I walked to Mr. Owen’s room for Spanish, found a table, and quickly sat down. I stared at my phone so I could ignore everyone around me.

  I started to dread that I’d signed up for this class. I didn’t need the foreign-language credit; I’d already taken two years of French. I just felt like I’d be wasting my time if I took home ec. I would have, though, if I could have taken it with Bri. But she was still trying to get through geometry.

  Unfortunately someone sat down next to me, and he was looking right at me. Rude much?

  “You ran off again.”

  My head je
rked up. “Hey, Mr. Novak. I mean, Trent.”

  He grinned. “Is it OK if I sit here?”

  I shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Mr. Owen took care of some paperwork then instructed us turn to the person we were sitting with—lucky me—and practice the conversations in chapter one.

  It was awesome. I didn’t have to think of anything clever to say for the next forty-five minutes, and I got to look into Trent’s eyes. Sometimes he’d look up at me through his dark lashes, and I’d forget what I was saying. He’d laugh at me whenever I had to start all over.

  I couldn’t wait to tell Bri. She was so going to freak. I had to go to art class first, though.

  After Mr. Owen dismissed us, Trent walked me to my last class.

  “It was a nice surprise seeing you here today,” I told him.

  “Likewise, Ms. Devoe.”

  “Well, thanks for walking me,” I said, as we got to my room much too quickly.

  “And thank you for walking me,” he replied.

  I laughed and turned to go inside. I stopped when I realized Trent was following right behind me. I turned around and gave him a “What do you think you’re you doing?” look.

  He walked past me and sat at the nearest easel.

  “Are you for real? You’re in all my classes?”

  “You’re in all my classes,” he countered.

  I wasn’t sure whether it was too presumptuous to sit next to him. So I stood there awkwardly for a moment, hesitating.

  “Are you going to sit down?” Trent asked me as he looked at the seat next to him.

  What a relief. I gladly sat down next to him. I set my things on the floor and looked around.

  It was more like a warehouse than a classroom, and it was chilly inside from all the huge widows. They let in a ton of light as well. It would be hard to be sad in this place; it was so bright and cheery. The ceiling must have gone up at least twenty feet over our heads. Large air-conditioning ducts ran in and out of the rafters like a giant silver anaconda.

  In this class we didn’t just jump right in. Mrs. Frost gave us every last detail about her room. Before the hour was up, we knew every rule and where everything was located. The only thing that made it bearable was that I got to look at Trent now and then.