A rainy love story

Love begins with a drawing

Toni noticed Penny long before Penny ever noticed her.

It started on a rainy Tuesday, the kind where the sky looked smudged with charcoal and everyone rushed through the halls trying not to get their shoes soaked. Toni was sitting on the floor outside her class, sketching the way the water slid down the windows. She liked drawing storms — they made everything feel dramatic, even when nothing dramatic was happening.

That's when Penny walked by.

She had this bright yellow backpack that looked like sunshine in the middle of all the gray. Toni didn't know her name yet, but she noticed how Penny paused to help someone pick up the books they dropped, how she laughed softly at something the person said, how she didn't seem bothered by the rain at all.

Penny felt like a warm spot in a cold day.

The next time Toni saw her, Penny was sitting under the big oak tree behind the school, reading a book with a purple cover. Toni wasn't brave enough to say anything, but she sat on the opposite side of the courtyard and sketched the tree — and maybe, accidentally, the girl under it.

She didn't expect Penny to look up.

But she did. And she smiled.

And Toni felt something flutter in her chest, like a page turning.