Love Me 'Till the Rain is Gone <Hiatus>

Chapter 1

Hey, this is my first story. Just, comment, no matter what you think of it. Please. I really would love to know how to improve.

I have no title or cover (in case you didn't notice). If any of you want to make me one, that would be SO awesome.

The road was glowing. That was what she first noticed as she glanced out the shaking window of the bus. A semi-truck's headlights glanced off the surface and into her eyes. She marveled at the sense of being as high off the ground as the giant truck.

The next things she noticed were the trees flashing past. Then, the spots of light coming from the reflectors on the road barrier. Finally, she looked up to see the stars winking at her through the omnipresent clouds.

She felt her eyes drawn back to the trees, spindly, bleached skeleton fingers clawing out of the earth. Coming for her. A glaring billboard passed, yelling the good news of some month-old product or another.

She swirled her index finger around the wheel of her iPod, turning the volume up and down, up and down.

Hold on, baby you're losin it.

The water's high, you're jumpin into it,

And letting go, and no one knows.

That you cry, but you don't tell anyone.

That you might not be the golden one.

And you're tied together with a smile,

But you're comin undone

She stabbed at the fast-forward button before the song could go any further into unwanted territory.

Spend all your time waitin,

For that second chance.

There's always some reason to feel not good enough.

And it's hard at the end of the day.

Really, what had she been thinking when she picked out the songs to go on her iPod? Angrily pushing the power button-perhaps a little bit too hard-she shoved the contraption into the backpack occupying the seat next to her.

Her fingers, now unable to twirl the volume, fastened in her hair. She had cut it, once, when she was seven. Right down to the roots to rid herself of the bubblegum stuck there. The ten years of new growth tumbled down to her lower back in a curly black mass.

The trees outside continued to beckon, but she turned her eyes from them, glancing over her backpack to see the people sitting across from her.

There was an old man wearing a faded business suit and a young man, probably in his mid-twenties. Both looked careworn. But then again, everyone on this bus at this time of night did. Both were asleep. She wished she were. Sadly, the men offered no entertainment.

She attempted to read her book, but the lights in the bus were too dim. Even though she used her phone to light the page, her eyes soon became scratchy.

Finally, she just sat back and accepted the fact that she was going to be bored.

You've made the right choice. You've made the right choice. Her mind reminded her for what felt like the hundredth time that night, but was probably more like the thousandth. She shivered from a sudden cold wind rushing through the enclosed area and wished she had had the kind of planning time that would have allowed the remembering of a jacket, or, even better, a coat.

Her name was Aribella Jasmine Cane, Ari for short, and she was leaving.