Blame It On The Rain

I press the phone to my ear and wait eagerly for her to answer the phone.

"What do you want, Travvy?" I hear her ask the instant she answers the phone.

"Well... I was hoping you might, uh, go to Leonard's with me tonight?" I ask and feel my face blush slightly. Alexis doesn't know but, I have a... Crush. On her. Okay, as wierd as it might sound, I think I love her. I figured this out a few months ago. We've been friends since sixth grade, and we have this amazing familiarity. I'm hoping she feels the same way, and I'm actually going to confess to her, tonight, at Leonard's. That is, if she accepts to go to Leonard's with me. It's a weekly ritual we have, going to Leonard's Coffee Shop and participating in the weekly poetry reading together.

"Do you even have to ask, Trav? I mean, we've went every weekend for the past two years." She scoffs incredulously, but I can practically hear her smile. "Are you performing this week?" She asks and I hear an electric beater come on.

"Yeah, I am..." If only you knew, I think to myself before finishing my thought. "Hey, can I come over?" I ask and she laughs loudly, obviously realizing I heard the electric beater turn on.

"Piggy!" She laughs and I hear the beater turn off. "Yeah, come on over. I've already made a batch of cookies, I figured you'd try to steal my beloved cake."

"Okay, see you in a bit Lex." I say happily and press the button to end the call. I put my phone in my pocket and put my iPod and notebook in my messenger bag and head to the door.

One of the reasons why I've been fiends with Alexis since sixth grade, is because she lives directly across the road from me. I walk twenty feet and I'm standing directly in front of her house. Long walk, right?

"Honey, I'm home!" I bellow sarcastically the instant I step through her front door.

"Oh Darlin'!" She shouts to me in an adorable mock southern accent, "I began to think you'd left me forever!" She clasps her hand over her heart dramatically as she rushes in the living room to stand in front of me, clad in a t-shirt, sweats, and a white apron.

"Dork!" I say with a 'cough' but laugh teasingly.

"Says the person who is a Star Wars lover and occasionally talks like Yoda!" She practically shouts with a loud roar of laughter. I turn my back and let my shoulders shake with silent laughter, hoping it gave the appearance that I was crying. It worked.

"Aww, I'm sorry Trav. I didn't mean it..." She trailed off and a few seconds later she jumps on my back.

"What the-" I collapse to the floor in a heap because my body didn't have time to prepare for the weight suddenly pressing against my spine. "Ugh." I moan from the ground, my cheek pressed against the hard wood floor.

"Next time you try to give me a guilt trip, make sure I can't see you in the mirror, my brilliant friend." With that and a laugh, she gets off of me and goes to the kitchen.

I flip over onto my back and shout lazily, "Room service?"

"Hah! You wish." She shouts back from the kitchen, but a few seconds later, she comes back with a plate of peanut butter cookies.

"Get up, lazy." She says, grabbing my hand and pulling me up.

"Did I ever tell you that you're an amazing friend?" I ask, staring lustfully at the plate of cookies in her hand.

"I know I am, but it still doesn't hurt to remind me." She says with a wink and places the plate of cookies in my hands.

"I'm going to take a shower, don't do anything stupid!" She smirks and walks away to her bathroom upstairs.

I rush to her family's den, to where the beautiful, ebony piano sits. I'd always wanted a grand piano, but my family never had the spare money or space for one. So, whenever I had the time to play Alexis' in private, I took it. Honestly, I don't think my best friend even knows I play... I shrug to myself and begin playing, let the familiar opening notes to Pachelbel's Canon in C radiate from my fingertips. When I finish, I turn back to glance down the hallway. No sign of Alexis yet, I'm sure I can squeeze in a few more songs. I let my fingers find their starting position and begin playing Like We Used To by A Rocket to the Moon, piano version of course. I get about halfway through the song when I hear a soft feminine voice start to sing the lyrics that I had been humming to myself quietly.

"Will he love you like I loved you? Will he tell you everyday?" I feel her sit next to me on the piano, and force myself to stay focused on the piano, knowing that if I let my attention switch to her for even a moment, I'll forget every note of the song. "Will he make you feel like you're invincible, with every word he'll say?" I smile as she sings it beautifully, I didn't know she could sing. We finish the song and I turn to look at her.