I Kissed A Girl

9: Stranger Things

Mackenzie's P.O.V

I stirred behind closed eyelids, her mind ceasing nightmarish mode to bring me back to wakefulness. At first, my breathing was erratic. The ceiling of my room came into view as my vision adjusted. I was slightly confused; I hadn't turned on the fan before she went to sleep since it was frighteningly cold last night but I smiled at the realization that the sound wasn't a fan but the rain. I could tell the rain had been falling steadily without letting up since before I woke. As I glanced out the window, the rising sun was bearly lighting up the heavily soaked fall foliage.

I lay there, in the dark, awake, just listening to the heavenly soundtrack, slowly reeling from a mental ache, blaming it on the anxiety surrounding Winter Break but it might have been something else. I'd been losing sleep for a couple of weeks now and grades were paying the price. I had just recently started pulling myself out of the rut, bad juju and all.

Closing my eyes, I whispered a prayer to myself that only I could hear. Well, a prayer meant only for His ears. I hadn't been praying a lot. I was distracted and was ignoring the fact that I needed to make time for Him. Maybe all of this stress that was getting to me was a message. A message to seek him out. Mom had always told me that the rain was a blessing, a sign that good things were coming. I really hoped it was because I need a pick-me-up, a release from the anxiety, and clarity for things that worried me, I didn't know what I needed, I just knew I needed something.

The rain wasn't the angry kind. It was heavy enough so one could hear it without it stealing umbrellas. Something about this rain had me more relaxed than I had been in days and I was in no hurry for the gloominess to end.

The early morning had finally begun to light up, though surprisingly bright, I let the serenity of the rain chill me from the inside out, goosebumps eroding my skin like ripples in a pond, it made the skin on my arms feel slightly tender. Pulling the covers closer to my body, I allowed the warmth to seep into me. Besides, the rain, it was silent, a little too quiet, so much so, that the campus seemed like it was completely asleep. It made me wonder who else was awake experiencing this serenity in wonderment.

Winter Break was right around the corner and a part of me didn't want to go home, but the other half couldn't wait. I could already hear the thousands of questions I would get asked and how my allergy would act up when I lied about it. I sighed, deciding that I had to tell them about Xavier and me and that the break would be the best time to. My mind drifted from anxiety-filled thoughts to something way less stressful. Most likely because it wasn't happening to me.

I glanced at the Christiano Ronaldo poster that hung on the wall. I could hardly make it out in the dark but I knew it was a shirtless glossy poster of him, one that I'd come to know all too well. Especially since it was ritualistic for Anna to make out with poor Ronaldo... to ensure she had a good day, for luck. Truthfully, I hated that for Anna; I couldn't imagine being in her shoes nor could I imagine having to rely on a poster to have a good day. But who was I to judge... To many, I was just as bad, relying upon an imaginary guy in the sky to fix my problems.

I looked over at Anna who was deep in sleep, wrapped head to toe in thick blankets. I was glad she'd been getting some rest, maybe it was the sugar from all the ice cream last night but at least she wasn't crying anymore.

Last night...

"I don't know, Mac." Anna hummed out as her eyelids fell victim to gravity and slowly closed, "Something about him doesn't add up."

When she said that, I stopped caressing her hair to look at her, "He seems normal to me," I shrugged.

She opened her eyes, sighed and sat up, "He's... H-he's not normal. Not a normal guy at least."