Feels Like Rain

Chapter 2: Crushes

Kalista

I got into my car, pressed the destination button, and said, "School," before I pulled out of my driveway. I sipped on my breakfast, knowing it would leave me hungry, and that my stomach would be growling before lunch, probably during AL-11, which was one of my quietest classes. I'd only been going to this school for the past few months, but was thankful to be there and not at my old school back in Arizona. I hated the humidity that smothered me during the summer, but other than that, I loved Tennessee.

When my dad said he was coming to Dandridge to do an expansion on his business, I begged him to bring me with him. My mom couldn't come because of her job, but Jennifer, our live-in parent substitute, could and did, so here I am. I had lived here briefly when I was younger, when he'd first opened his factory here, and had looked forward to seeing my old friends, since I was leaving mine behind. However, I never thought they'd change as much as most of them had. The ones I had been closest to then were insufferable now. Maybe it wasn't them who'd changed; maybe it was me.

Luckily, I was still at the top of my class, which was a miracle, since I had switched schools mid-year. I'd worked hard to get to where I was, though, and would continue to work hard to stay there. If not, I'm sure Dad would send me right back to Arizona, which I wasn't about to let happen. Even though the school here was big, it was still smaller than my school back home, which was the second largest in the state. I hated it.

As my car pulled into the parking lot, I willed it to move faster. "Come on, come on," I urged until it finally pulled into the designated spot. Once it finally stopped, I grabbed my Notebook and headed inside, only to hear the warning bell sound as I walked through the scanner. "Great," I mumbled to myself as I took off in a sprint to my first class, hoping I wasn't late. I busted through the door right as the last bell buzzed, embarrassed as all eyes fell on me, which, between the classes on both sides of me, were probably a little over a hundred. I was just glad I got the door open in time or I would've had to have been buzzed in, which was even more embarrassing and included a mark on my time chart.

I glanced to the left, trying to find a seat before the lights dimmed to start the class, knowing it would be next to impossible to find one after that. Luckily, my friend's bushy hair caught my attention. She waved at me, letting me know the seat next to her was free.

Our classrooms were square with a round cubicle in the center, which was the teacher's area. There's a class on all four sides of the room, all facing the center cubicle and angled so students in the back of the classes could see. These classes were non-lecture, so no glass separated them, leaving one opened to the next.

Once I sat down and fired up my computer, my nerves calmed. "Thanks," I told Makenna, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Oversleep again?" she asked.

"Apparently so."

Makenna was one of the few girls I'd stayed friends with over the years and the one person who seemed as happy as I was about my move back to Tennessee. She looked practically the same as she did when we were young, with light hazel eyes that contrasted beautifully against her dark skin. Her hair was an unruly dark caramel color, with curls sticking out all over her head, and she'd gotten taller but was still thin, which made her look like she was all hair. Nonetheless, she was stunning.

As I looked around the class that sat across from me, which was a pre-career prep class and was comprised of mostly seniors, I found who I was looking for. He was sitting in the back, staring out one of the windows that was to his right like he was daydreaming, which he did quite often. My heart seemed to beat a little faster, knowing he was here. As if he heard it, his eyes turned towards me, catching me staring at him... again. When I got brave enough to look back at him before the lights went down and I wouldn't be able to see him as well, he was staring back out the window.