School ended without any sort of interruption. I walked home and I was graciously greeted with a tennis ball at my head.
“Ow,” I said acting like it hurt. For some reason, when it came to pain, it always seemed like an involuntary Ow always came out. “What was that for?”
My mother started to chuckle with enthusiasm about her spontaneity. I started to laugh a little with her.
“How was school, honey?”
“Eh, same as every other day. However, we did get someone new in the school today. It’s crazy how fast information travels at that school. If one small thing happens, the entire school knows in about…ten minutes. Who you slept with, who you even waved to. It’s ridiculous. In any case, his name is Tyler,” saying with a smug smile on my face. Unfortunately, she knew me all too well.
“You like him already, huh? Typical male.”
“I recall you being the same way with the people you look at. Mine are just more attractive,” sniggering as I start walking to the fridge to fix myself something before I go outside and run. Exercise is a bit of a hobby I contracted after I lost a lot of weight. More like a compulsion really. Ha ha.
I headed to my room to finish with some homework and started nipping away at the apple I had cut for myself. I started wondering about this new kid. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he here? I kept seeing his face move in and out of my mind like quick specters coming to frighten me. I don’t even know the guy and he is already in my mind. Jeez. What’s going to happen when I meet him? That very meeting terrifies me. I already see a house in the suburbs with a minivan. Soccer dads.
“Oh my God, no. Stop it,” I say to myself, removing any image from my mind and placing it in Pandora’s Box never to be opened again. I stopped and look at the clock and I see that three hours have passed by. I had lost track of time and I hadn’t even finished my math homework. As I was about to continue, the crash and bang of lightning caught me off guard and I jumped. Goosebumps appearing all over my body. Something came over me in that moment. It was pouring.
I don’t know what it was but I got up and headed to my closet. I grabbed my running gear. A white t-shirt and black shorts. I put them on and I headed for the front door. As I was about to open the door and head outside, I was caught.
“Are you crazy?! You—“
“Yup,” I said quickly before she could say anything else and I bolted out the door. I was immediately soaked. It felt exhilarating. I started to run around my apartment complex. I calculated it is roughly a mile around the circular housing facility and I always liked to do at two miles. As I was running, I realized I remember hearing about a hurricane coming into town not too long ago. So this must be it. It was extremely windy and the rain was blowing in all directions. It was in that moment where I had an epiphany.

He was the one I wanted and nothing will stop me from getting him.

“Man, I wish I had someone to kiss right now,” saying hoping for someone to just magically appear and give me what I wanted. The rain had given me a weird feeling. That fantasy of kissing in the rain was something I never had the pleasure of experiencing. I will have to remedy that one day soon.