My Adopted Dad Is A Vampire In A Boy Band (ON HOLD FOR A WHILE)

The Girl In The Rain

Nathan and I made our way to our first class: photography. As we walked through the dully colored hall, I ran my hand along the painted bricks that formed the walls on either side. The surface was gritty, but smooth in some places, a bit of plaster separating the hall for a split second as another hall formed. I stared straight ahead, not looking at Nathan or the pictures on the walls that were supposed to motivate kids not to do drugs or something that some would end up doing anyway. I kept my eyes on a large window at the end of the hall that led into a stairwell. I wanted to look out the window. I wanted to stand and look at the rain, which was currently falling as if the sky was crying, or just pouring giant buckets on us, punishing us for an unknown sin.

As we reached the window, I stopped. I felt Nathan stop behind me, but I coudn't look away from the window. In the rain stood a girl. She appeared to be older than me, maybe a year or two. I couldn't see her face. The rain started to pour harder and my sight of her blurred. I saw her black umbrella, trench coat, and boots, nothing else. I squinted to get a closer look, but she was gone. She hadn't walked away, she just disappeared.

"Did... Did you see that?" I whispered to Nathan, goosebumps rising on my arms. I turned to face him. "Did you see her?"

Nathan's face was covered in confusion. He took my hand and pulled me as he started walking, panic flooding in. "Liz, there was nothing there. You were just staring at the rain."

My hands started shaking. She seemed too real to not be there. She had to be real. She had to be. 

♦◘♦

The entire photography class I wasn't paying attention. the lesson was a blur.

Now, you change the lens like so, Kevin, put the microphone down, don't drop the camer- there goes another one, god Kevin, stop being a dumb ass.

I was becoming to preoccupied in being pissed at Kevin, the kid in front of me who was obviously on drugs of some sort, that I almost didn't notice the wall of pictures on the wall behind our instructor. I scanned it with my eyes briefly, hoping something would jump out at me to distract me from punching Kevin.

I saw nothhing, so I turned to look at Nathan, who was seated beside me, playing around with the camera on his desk. He'd push a few buttons, look at the screen and write a few notes. I watched as his nimble fingers typed something on the computer beside him. It occured to me why he knew what to do already: this was his old high school. He walked the same halls not long ago, he was retaking classes he'd already taken. He was bored out of his mind, learning things he already knew to keep me safe.

I smiled as I pulled my jacket around me tightly. The temperature had dropped a little since the beginning of class, but it was starting to get unbearable now. I looked around to see if anyone else was doing the same, but no body was. they all stared straight ahead as if the cold didn't bother them. Steph, the girl who showed us around, had taken off the cardigan she had been wearing. She turned and smiled at me. "Aren't you warm Liz? It feels like it's 80 degrees in here." she whispered.

I looked at her like she was crazy. Warm? Not at all. I shook my head slowly as she turned around. I felt colder and colder as the minutes passed. It felt as if someone was taking snow and just throwing it on me. My teeth began to chatter, and i shivered. It felt as if someone was placing their hand on the back of my neck. I turned to see who it was, but nothing was there. Just a shelf full of old photography text books. I looked closely at the cover.

"Photography For Students: Edition XVI" There was a collage of pictures on the cover. Trees, buildings, couples holding hands were sprawled across the book giving it a warm feel. In the corner there was a small photograph, it was hard to tell what it was at first. The dark colors bended with each other, but i realized what it was and I froze. I couldn't move. I felt the hand move down onto my shoulder and a whipser in my ear. "You may look innocent, but you don't know the whole story.."

I kept staring at the picture in horror. It was the girl in the rain.