Eleven Eleven

Have You Ever Seen The Rain

A ray of sun blared down directly on my perch outside the front doors of Valley High, basking me in its warmth. The blue canvas of the sky above was clouded in various places; it just happened that the sun wasn't in a particularly good mood and didn't want to hide behind one of them. Rather than force myself up from the short brick wall encasing the last standing palm tree, I decided to bear through it and continue on with my article.  

The free period Mr. Collins had been giving me since the beginning of the year had been my only time to get any work down for the town's local newspaper; aka my job. Despite the blaring sun and anxiousness I felt as I awaited the final bell of the school year, I felt as if I were in my happy place. Serene and ready to write anything and everything. Of course it only resulted in my brain growing numb and nothing wanting to bounce around inside it when I needed a story the most.

The deadline for a story was this afternoon and it seemed no matter how hard I tried to force my head into the game over the last few weeks, no newsworthy stories had come to mind. I had endless stacks on the dresser in my bedroom, but they all sounded bland and I knew people would lose interest in a heartbeat. 

And when people lose interest, I lose my job.

As if it were a conspiracy to distract me from my thoughts, the last bell sounded and crowds of anxious and ecstatic teens busted through the front doors of the high school. I closed my notebook and pressed it deeper into my lap, my eyes scanning the disoriented crowd for my ridiculously tall, idiot brother, Blake.

It was no surprise that he had gotten caught up with his friends in the parking lot, swinging his school sweatshirt around in hopes it might cool him down. He was standing opposite of a kid from orchestra that I'd passed on various occasions but had never tried to make myself acquainted with. Breaking away from his friend, he spun on the heel of his dirty sneakers and searched the front of the school for me.

I couldn't say my brother didn't know me; he possibly knew me more than I knew myself. He knew the exact spot I spent my free period in, exactly the way I'd sit, and when and what I was thinking. He tried to explain they were only tells of a person and I could do the same with him if I tried hard enough.

"Freedom!" he shouted as he closed the gap between us, beads of sweat soaking his glistening forehead.

I cracked a smile. "You look happy. I thought you liked school."

"I do." he grinned. "But I love my girl far more than I love this hellhole."

He shot a longing look over his shoulder, brushing his matted dark blonde hair from his forehead. With the parking lot slowly emptying out either end, it was easy to catch sight of my brother's rusted old red '68 Ford Mustang Convertible. He had been working on the car for three years and the heartache of buying new parts and replacing them had finally come to a bittersweet end.

"It's a car, Blake." I stated flatly.

He shot me a dark look. "Don't you dare talk about Christine that way or I'll leave you here."

I fought the urge to stick out my tongue childishly and forced my pen and notebook back into my backpack. I tied my hair up to keep it from matting to my sweaty neck as I rose and started toward him.

"You wouldn't leave your sister to walk in this kind of heat." I responded with a small smile. "I'd die of a heat stroke."

"You're wrong. Do you want to test me, Willow?"

In all honesty, I knew my brother was all bluff. He didn't mean a word that left his mouth, but that didn't mean he wouldn't act on it if I kept pushing him to that point.