Reading in the Rain

Ch. 3 - A Challenger Approaches

*Edited but no promises

It was the first day of school, and I guess I was ready, sort of. I mean, I had all the materials for any situation that could possibly occur on the first day. The problem was the outfit.

I will admit, it was a cute outfit. It just wasn't something I was used to. I was used to sweatshirts, T-shirts, worn-down hoodies, regular blue jeans, cheap sneakers, funny colored socks.

This, however, was definitely not that.

It was simple enough, thank goodness. I wasn't going to be parading around in a dress and stilettos. At least, Delilah had some sense of my abilities.

It was just a plain white blouse, super tight maroon skinny jeans, a light blue denim jacket, and white converse high tops.

I had never worn any of these types of clothes before and it was really bugging me. I avoided white shirts like the plague because I could never figure out how to keep my bra from being shown off to the world. Thankfully, Delilah taught me a few tricks to save myself from the embarrassment of highlighting my subpar...bosom.

And to be honest, I'd like to actually feel my legs when I'm walking. I prefer to actually be able to walk without worrying about splitting something and revealing my undies.

I liked the shoes and jacket, though. They were nice.

I stared at myself in the full mirror hanging on my bedroom wall, silently judging my looks. I was plain, really. Dull, lifeless brown hair, pale white skin. I hated it. I know that I wasn't helping the paleness of my skin by hibernating in my room or the library every summer, but I hated it so much. The hair, I could change that if I felt like it, which I was too lazy to go and do.

The only thing I liked were my eyes. The were a deep forest green, just like my mother's. They were one of the few things that reminded me I was her daughter.

I backed away from the mirror, sighing as everything instantly became blurry. Where did I put my glasses?

Yes, you heard right. I wear glasses, just not in the summer. I really don't look far distances during the summer when my nose if usually stuffed into a book.

Once I found the black rimmed glasses, I slid them onto my nose and smiled. I loved the feeling of putting on your glasses for the first time in a long time and suddenly everything becomes clear again.

As I walked out with my umbrella and book bag, I began to wonder how Winston—I mean, my new friends—would react to my glasses.

📖 📖 📖

I stiffly made my way through the traffic of people, my body tensing every so often. I hated crowds, a side effect of having agoraphobia. It always felt like I was going to get trampled in hallways.

Another person pushed me out of their way. Why couldn't the hallways be wider? Why wasn't there anyone controlling this madness?

Finally! I thought, having caught sight of Mr. Kennedy's class. I shoved my way through the crowd and pushed myself into his classroom, taking a deep breath as I was finally free.

A man, who I assumed was Mr. Kennedy, shot me a strange look. I just shrugged at him.

"Do we need to sit in a specific seat?" I asked, staring at the pairs of desks.

"You'll be assigned a seat when the bell rings," He said simply, typing away on his computer. I nodded and sat down in the desk nearest to me. There were only a handful of people in the room. The rest of the class must be loitering the halls or something, taking their precious time to get to class.