in the cracks of light, i dreamed of you

01

The rain pounds on the hard tennis courts. Practice ended hours ago but I couldn't fathom the idea of going home. Not to my house at least. I lie here soaked completely through, my clothing getting heavier by the minute. I want to scream or cry but nothing comes out. "Hey, what are you doing out here still?" a girl calls out to me. I slowly stand up and walk in the direction of the voice. "Um, I just needed a minute. I'm ok." I respond hoping whoever it is will just go away. As she walks over to me, I begin to recognize her from my chemistry class, though I've never actually spoken to her. She stands shyly about ten feet away from me. Her hair and clothing getting wetter by the second.

"I don't think you would be out here if you were ok," she says with a little laugh.

"I'm fine. I swear. I just didn't want to go home." I say, getting quieter at the last part. I stare at my beat up shoes like they're the most fascinating thing.

"Hey, it's ok. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything." I glance back up at her smiling. Something about the fact that she actually cares makes my heart flutter a little.

"No no, you're good. I was gonna go home soon anyways. I just like the rain. It's peaceful, you know. It feels like I can wash away all my feelings. And when I wake up in the morning, all traces of them will be gone and I'll finally be clean. Fuck, sorry that was deep and personal." I pause for a second, "I don't know why I said that." I mumble, my cheeks turning red. I can't even say this to my best friend, so why is it so easy to say to almost a complete stranger?

"It's ok. I get it. You don't have to explain yourself or anything." She replies with a comforting smile.

"Thank you. That really means a lot. And sorry for just dumping this on you." I say, embarrassed of my little crisis moment.

"I was the one who asked what was wrong. Plus any halfway decent person would listen." she responds, instantly easing any of my worries. "Um, do you wanna come to my car? I can give you a ride home or wherever you want to go." she asks fidgeting with her hands.

"Yeah that would be really great actually. My brother was supposed to pick me up but something about his girlfriend blah blah blah. Honestly, I really shouldn't have expected anything different from him.

"Oh shit that sucks. Well I'm happy to give you a ride if you're ever in the predicament again. I like to stay late working in the library. Sometimes I get lucky and the librarian brings me coffee and a warm croissant"

"I would really like that. Thank you! Also I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Taylor."

"I know." she responds "You're in my chem class right? I'm Karlie by the way."

We walk back to her car, still getting soaked by the rain. She pulls me in closer to her when she notices I'm shivering. I know she had no intention behind it but the butterflies in my stomach are back. How does this girl I've known for all of ten minutes make me feel like this. We're just friends, I remind myself. If you could even call it that. After much deliberation, I settle on acquaintances. We walk through the school parking lot over to her black Volkswagen golf that is almost completely invisible in the darkness . She opens the passenger seat door for me like a gentleman. "One sec, I think I might have towels and extra clothes in the trunk." she calls out through the rain as she runs around the car. A minute later she's climbing in the driver's seat with an assortment of beach towels and sweatshirts. "Here" she says, handing me a towel.

"Sorry for getting your seat all wet." I say, completely flustered by her effortless charm.

"It's ok, I keep the towels in here for a reason. I like going to the beach early in the morning, probably for the same reasons you like lying on tennis courts in the pouring rain." she replies. "So where do you wanna go? I can drop you off at your house or a cafe." she asks, concern etching her face.

"Anywhere, just not home" she opens her mouth to ask more but quickly realizes it's not the right time. I appreciate that. I don't want to explain, not tonight.

"Alright well there's this little cafe we could go to. We could study since I'm sure you've got work to do and I wouldn't want to be the reason for your grades dropping" she says chuckling.

"Sure that sounds great!" We sit in comfortable silence for a little while. I stare out the window. This is a weirdly good ending to a very shitty day.