midnight rain | leighton murray

prologue.

2017
Freshman Year

A fourteen-year-old Maya King sat under the bleachers watching as the rain fell on the soccer field. She was happy that practice had ended before the storm began but she dreaded the moment that she'd have to leave her hiding spot and weather the storm.

"Holy shit!"

The exclamation startled Maya out of her reverie as she looked over to see a blonde girl wearing her school uniform shrug off her blazer and flip wet blonde hair over her shoulder. Maya watched her in silence and it was only when the girl began to fold up her blazer that she realized that Maya was sitting there.

"Shit Maya!" the blonde said as she pressed her hand to her chest. Maya let out a little laugh and Leighton rolled her eyes at the sound as she shoved her blazer into her bag. Maya pats the concrete beside her, and Leighton comes over and took a seat.

"I don't know why you're surprised to see me. You know I just had practice," Maya says.

"Yes I know that, but you could have still been in the locker room. You also could have just said 'Hi Leighton. How are you, Leighton."

"Hi Leighton, how are you, Leighton?" Maya asks and Leighton hits her on the shoulder, making Maya laugh.

"I hate you," Leighton responds.

"I do want to know how you are though," Maya says as she looks at Leighton with a small smile. Leighton looks at her and she looks away bashfully. Maya had this way of looking at her as though she were the only person in the world. She always gave Leighton her undivided attention and she always looked her in the eyes.

"I'm good," Leighton says with a smile. She nudges Maya, "How are you, soccer star?"

"I'm good," Maya answers, "Better now."

"Because I'm here?" Leighton asks with a coy smile.

"Duh," Maya responds, and Leighton laughs softly at the answer. Their hands rest on the ground beside one another and Leighton gently moves her hand over so that their fingers brush. Maya looks down at the action and then at Leighton with a shy smile.

"So, Esme invited me to her birthday party, which is kind of crazy because we've only talked like once and it was an accident because I was talking to someone else and she thought I was talking to her," Maya says and Leighton laughs loudly. Maya smiles at the sound as she looks at Leighton, "Did you force her to invite me?"

"What? No!" Leighton answers and Maya quirks a brow in response. Leighton sighs and shrugs, "It wasn't going to be fun if you weren't there. You know how I feel about sleeping over at her house. Besides with your parent's divorce, I thought you could use some fun."

"That was really sweet of you, kind of manipulative, but sweet," Maya says with a smile.

"Yeah," Leighton says as she looks away from Maya sheepishly, "Well I'd do anything for you."

Maya's heart pounds in her chest at the words and Leighton does something daring as she looks over at Maya. There's a loud clap of thunder, but neither girl hears it as they look at one another. Leighton's eyes steal a glance at Maya's lips before going back to her eyes. Maya notices and she does the same.

It's Leighton who makes the first move as she cups Maya's cheeks and pulls her in for a kiss. The kiss is chaste, their lips meeting and the two fourteen-year-old girls holding it there. They pull away after a second and their eyes flutter open.

They're both fearful of what they'll see in the other's face. Leighton's eyes search Maya's face and when she doesn't see regret, a smile graces her lips. Maya smiles back and her eyes flutter shut as she pulls Leighton for another kiss. This one is more confident as both girls move their lips against the others.