Rainy Days | ✔

The Book Shop

The deafening sound of the rain roared in my ears as I ran down the sidewalk. Not even my footsteps could be heard with my own ears.

As I breathed heavily my breath mingled with the rain causing my lungs to burn. What I needed to do was find someplace for shelter until the rain parted. I had checked the weather forecast this morning and it said blue skies with slight cloud coverage; not a full on rainstorm. So much for clear weather.

Briefly, I stopped running to take in my surroundings. Barely anything could be seen through the thick rain. But something I did see was a bright red door open across the street. Who would be crazy enough to have their doors open in this weather? Before I ran across the street I looked both ways but people in this town were smart enough to stay inside during this weather.

But me being me, there was no smooth sailing. As I ran through the intersection my foot landed in a pothole full of water causing me to trip. My bag landed beside me but nothing had slipped because thankfully it was zipped up. Standing up proved to be a hard task as a throbbing pain shot through my ankle. All the more reason to take shelter until the rain stopped. Maybe I could use their phone to call my mom once the sudden showers disappeared.

Once I was close to the building I could see the faint outlines of books in the windows. The red doors were opened showing the dry shop. Since the entrance was up on a slope the water wasn't coming in. I stood in the entrance guilt filled every part of my body as rain soaked into the carpets.

"Hello?" I called loudly. Hopefully a worker could let me use their phone. I looked down at my soaked school uniform, yeah I definitely should not walk in any further.

"Welcome, anything I can do for- wow, you're absolutely soaked, darling. Come on in back before you catch a cold." An older woman said yet I couldn't see her anywhere until she suddenly popped up in front of me. I slightly jumped backwards but as I did the rain fell on my back making me jump forward.

"S-sorry." My teeth chattered loudly as my soaked body registered that it was freezing.

The older woman didn't say anything as she took my hand to lead me through the book shop. She barely stopped as she wrapped a towel around my shoulders and handed me a cup of tea.

"Oh, thanks." I took a sip of the bitter tea and clenched my jaw so I didn't show the disgust on my face. "I was wondering if you had a phone I could borrow?" I asked.

"I'll tell you what... I'll let you call once this storm passes. It's too dangerous for anyone to be out right now. You're welcome to stick around until then. Rainy weather is best for reading. My grandson is around here somewhere if you want company. I'm Gwen, holler if you need me, darling." Wow, she seemed to be very straightforward. I didn't say anything after that, I only gave her a nod. But that seemed to be all she needed as she disappeared somewhere in the shop. I set the tea on an old table before I stepped into the main area. The throbbing in my ankle dulled but still hurt when I put pressure on it.

I wasn't one to read in my free time so I had no clue who any of the authors were. I couldn't even recognize a single title of any of the books. The smell of old books filled my senses as I walked through the tall maze of books. The space between the tall shelves were almost impossibly narrow.

As I turned the corner I ran into another person. I stumbled back but didn't fall over. A sharp pain shot through my sprained ankle as I held my weight on it. I tried to hold back my wince. I looked forward to see a boy around my age. His brown hair was pushed back out of his face, black glasses rimmed his blue eyes and he was dressed in a comfy oversized sweater.

"Oh, are you okay?" He asked. The way he held himself seemed so confident as he held a large pile of books to his chest.

"No, yeah, totally fine. Sure, I'm great." I spat out before squeezing my eyes shut in embarrassment. My cheeks warmed up and I wished my hair wasn't pushed back in a ponytail so I could hide my face. Or better yet I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

"Good, well I'm sorry again miss." He nodded as he took a step back to pass by me but he froze. "Damsworth uniform? I go there too but I don't believe I've seen you before. I'm Jessie. Jessie Gray."

"I'm Sky Day. I spend every second in the music room, maybe that's why." I said, internally high-fiving myself for a smooth sentence.

"Ah, okay. I'm a library kid. I take it you're not one for books? Well I have some easy recommendations." Jessie gave me a smile that caused my heart to beat wildly in my chest.

"Sure, I'd like that." I smiled as he turned to walk further in the maze. I stared memorized at the sight of him standing comfortably in this shop.

I think maybe, just maybe, rainy days weren't so bad after all.