Lab Partners

Rain, Rain

I kept my head bent low as I jogged out into the rain. It was coming down hard. Like I-might-drown-standing-up hard. I can't even remember the last time it rained this much. It only took a few minutes for my golden blonde hair to plaster itself against my forehead.

I picked up my pace as I hit the sidewalk, determined to get home before the contents of my backpack became soaked.

I stopped briefly at the stop sign and checked for traffic so I could cross. A pair of headlights stopped before the crosswalk and I quickly moved to cross the street so they could go again.

As my foot left the road, I heard someone shouting my name.

"Hey, Elliot!"

I turned and squinted through the torrential downpour to see the passenger window of the car rolled down. Inside was none other than Jordan Hughes, ducking a little so he could see me.

"You need a ride?"

With a grateful expression I jogged back to his car and practically dove into the passenger seat.

"Thanks," I breathed as I slicked my sopping hair away from my forehead. I sat my backpack on my lap and pulled on my seatbelt.

"Where do you live?" He asked me.

"Take a right here, then the first road on the left, and stay on that for about two miles."

"You were going to walk home two miles in this rain?" He asked incredulously as he turned on his right blinker and left the stop sign.

I shrugged, unzipping my backpack a bit to check if my papers were still dry. They were a little damp on the edges, but they would survive.

"I don't exactly have a choice."

"What do you mean?" He asked, waiting for a car to pass so he could take a left.

"My parents work until 6:00 or later and my sister takes the only spare car off to the community college every day."

"Is she your only sibling?"

"Yeah. Her name is Ellie."

"Ellie and Elliot?" He raised a brow and chuckled softly.

"We're twins," I shrugged and ran my hands through my wet hair. "She's just insanely smart and took an exit exam to get out of high school early. Now she's loading up on cheap credits before she heads off to a real university."

"Whoa, whoa. Back it up. You have a twin?"

"Yeah, we're not very close though," I said as I watched the road.

"Why not?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "She's pretty much been gone since middle school. She's just so busy all of the time, and she sets the bar so high, I just- I don't know why I'm telling you all of this."

"Catharsis or some shit like that," he shrugged.

"What about you? Any siblings?" I asked, needing the attention to shift away from me.

"I have a younger brother and a baby sister."

"What are their names?"

"Andrew is fifteen, and Layla is three."

I smiled at the thought of a little girl running though his house, causing havoc at every turn.

"My house is the blue one coming up on the right," I informed him, leaning forward to squint for my driveway. "This one."

Jordan immediately slowed down and turned on his blinker. As soon as he pulled up and parked the car in my drive way, I gave him a grateful smile and said, "Thanks again. I owe you one."

I reached out to open up my door, but something warm covering my hand had me frozen in place.

"Elliot," Jordan said softly. I turned to see his hand over mine, and his blue green eyes looking straight at me. "If you ever need to get something off your chest, or vent or whatever, give me a call. I'd be happy to listen."

The warmth of his hand against my skin in combination with his words sent a weird, unidentifiable fluttering sensation through my stomach. I opened my mouth to respond, but didn't really know what to say. Instead, I only nodded and pulled my hand out from under his.

"Okay," I muttered awkwardly before jumping out of the car and running to the front door.

I quickly unlocked the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind me.

It was obvious the house was empty. There were no lights on and the only sound to be heard was the rain pounding against the windows, walls, and roof.

Running my hand through my soaked hair again, I leaned my back against the door and inhaled deeply.

"What the hell was that?"