Across From Me

Forty(End)

The last day had come as a surprise. The surprise was that it was raining. On the last day of school.

Elizabeth had woken up that morning fully expecting a sunny day. Not only was she shocked to find that it was pouring outside when just the day before the sun was out and shining, but she was also shocked to find out that it was also freezing cold.

The weather here is so awful, Elizabeth thought idly as she opened her umbrella and stepped outside. Clementine happened to be outside at the same time too, but she was dressed in her pajamas and holding a toothbrush in her hand.

"This weather is shit," Clementine called, a smile on her face. She seemed uncaring at the fact that she was getting soaking wet.

Beth stepped over into Clementine's driveway, holding the umbrella over Clementine's head, "Come on you're gonna get soaked," Beth muttered, fully aware of how close she was standing to Clementine.

"You underestimate my ability to give a shit in the morning."

Beth stared at Clem's smirking face, before finally smiling herself and giving Clem a light punch in the side, "Jeez, go get dressed so we can walk already."

Clem held her arms up in surrender, stepping outside the umbrella, with her arms over her head. Beth waited, the wind whipping rain into her face, but the rain seldom bothered Beth. In fact, she enjoyed it quite much. She mostly enjoyed the smell after it rained, and waking up to it pouring outside in the early mornings.

Clem stepped outside with a thick hood over her head, still looking as beautiful as always. Beth offered space under the umbrella, which wasn't a very large space but could fit the two of them. Clem took her spot next to Beth, and they walked with their shoulders occasionally bumping into each other, and their footsteps side by side. Beth didn't mind adjusting her walking to fit Clem's, as she was taller and would walk farther than Clem.

When they arrived, they weren't shocked to find that there was next to no one at school. Beth had always had the habit of coming to school ridiculously early, and so did Clem apparently. The weather didn't help much either.

Beth watched as people trickled in as the minutes passed, her hand intertwined with Clem's with no words spoken between them. It was odd to imagine she started the year out with no friends, a loner who preferred her own company. But looking at Clem, Beth knew that although some part of her wished she still had those days, alone with just her, she was also happy with Clem. And maybe one day when Violet was better and Beth could repair the broken relationships of her family, she will be happy that she persevered to the next day.

The bell rang, and Beth waved goodbye to Clem.

The end of the day came faster and slower than Beth could have imagined. When the final bell rang, Beth just about jumped up from her seat.

Beth walked among the exhausted crowds outside, where the rain was still pouring even after a whole day of it. Beth stopped under another overhang, figuring it wouldn't hurt to sit for a few minutes and watch the rain. She wanted time to think more than anything.

The air was icy cold, and Beth wrapped her coat around her as the wind whipped her hair. Beth remembered many rainy nights with her family, sometimes good, sometimes bad. She mostly remembered the nights she and Violet would watch movies as the wind would blow outside. Beth was perfectly warm and safe inside, which made those memories all the more painful.

Beth had little time to process Violet and everything that happened with her. Violet had agreed to some sort of hospital in order to get better, Beth didn't know the specifics, and her mother refused to tell her. Occasionally, Beth got to call her, and most of the time, a raspy and tired voice would answer. But Violet was the same Violet as she was before everything went to shit. Joking around and kind like she used to be. Not the angry and violent person she was before. Of course, some days were harder than others, that was just how it was going to be, and Violet said so. But no matter how hard it was to deal with it, Violet had made her own decisions about her life, and Beth would always love her as her sister, even if parts of her despised parts of Violet.