Raindrops Book 1: Cry

May 3rd 2013; 2:03pm

"Happy Birthday Shay"

"Have a great day!"

"Thanks for inviting us to your party"

"Happy Birthday"

This was all my day had consisted of: well wishes constantly thrown at me from left and right. Some of the students wishing me a good day meant every word, some just said it because they felt like it was the right thing to do, while the others were students that hadn't yet received invites to the party Justin was throwing for me, so they were being extra nice.

I rolled my eyes, thinking how much they were wasting their time. It wasn't like I hadn't wanted to invite them, because if it had been up to me, every single person in the school would have received invitations.

The more the merrier right?

However, since Justin was the one throwing the party for me, he'd insisted on being in charge of everything, and that included the invitation list.

Rain and I were free during the next period, so we decided to go watch the football team practice. Besides, Alex was going to be there and I hadn't seen him all day so score one for me. Rain placed all of her textbooks in the locker and slammed the metal door shut then, placed her handbag on her right arm, and hooked the left one through mine.

Together, we walked down the hallway, toward the double doors that led out to the field. It was the last period before the bell rang to signal the end of the day, and it also happened to be a Friday, so there were a bunch of students skipping the last period. Some of them had chosen to hang out in the hallways were the teachers didn't care enough to send them back to classes, while the rest of the student body sat in the bleachers, the girls cheering on the guys on the team to remove their shirts, and the boys were just laid back looking bored.

It was a torrid afternoon and the weather seemed especially hot; the sun blazed down from the cloudless azure sky, sending hot burning rays right through the atmosphere and down onto the field Rain and I stood upon. There was not a breath of wind, and everything seemed dry, brown and dusty; beads of sweat formed on my forehead, rolling down the sides of my face as though running from the scorching heat.

"Hey guys" Alex yelled from a row in the bleachers when he spotted us, so I placed my hand on my forehead to shield my eyes, and glanced up to meet his gaze, a smile stretching on my lips; straight away, Rain and I shimmied our way toward the seats Alex had saved for the both of us.

When we reached him, Alex stood and hugged Rain with a smile, before pushing her aside gently to plant a kiss on my lips.

"Ugh," Rain rolled her eyes, taking her seat on Alex's other side. I pulled away from Alex, laughing slightly as I cleaned the lipstick that had rubbed off from our intense make-out session with my thumb. Alex ruffled Rain's hair, leaving her a tad bit frustrated, before throwing his arm around me with a smirk. Angel showed up then, panting slightly as she flopped down into the chair next to me.

I smiled at her knowingly and shook my head.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

She smirked and fanned herself with her palm.

"Yeah," she shrugged, sticking her tongue out at me "me and about eighty percent the whole school"

I laughed slightly, turning my attention back to the football practice going on. The four of us watched the team run up and down the field, the coach barking out orders as they practiced gameplays. I had never gotten what the actual game of football was all about, and wasn't sure I was that interested in understanding it.

The track team ran past us then on the field, Lolita ahead of the group. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she had headphones on to keep from getting distracted; she also looked out of it, like she was there but not there. The team slowed to a stop, and Lolita put her hand on her knees, panting softly. After a while, she glanced anxiously around, before releasing her ponytail and combing her hands through her hair.

"Hey, is she okay?" Angel leaned toward me and muttered in my ear as we both observed Lolita. She was glancing around, an emotion that I couldn't define or understand masking her face. She looked nervous, as though anticipating something; something she was very much scared of. Suddenly, she stopped looking around, her eyes focused on something or someone behind the bleachers. Without another word, she ran off the track.

"I'll go see if she's okay"

Angel nodded as I stood, before pulling my t-shirt down and making my way out of the row. I shook out my hair and walked in the same direction I had watched Lolita disappear.

"I don't know okay?"

I froze for some unknown reason as I heard the frenzy in Lolita's voice. She stood a couple of feet away from me, her arms wrapped around her body as though trying to protect herself. There was another girl there; this girl was one I had never seen before. She stood tall, almost a foot taller than Lolita, with long silky raven-colored black hair, and bright blue eyes that shimmered in the sunlight.

"What, so he's after you?"

My gaze snapped back to Lolita when I heard her speak again, glancing frantically at the girl that stood in front of her.

Who was this girl?

How did Lolita know her?

The girl was wearing a red halter neck dress that stopped a few inches above her knee; the halter neck was sequined with miniature dark flowers and had jet black lace seams that matched her hair and stilettos. Frankly, she looked like some sort of high-end prostitute.

Was Lolita getting involved in something she should not be doing in the first place? She had only just turned sixteen for heaven's sake.

"Yes Lolita, he's after me damn it!" the girl spoke then, her voice flowing out like a warm, hot chocolaty river, causing me to stare at her in awe. There was no doubt that this girl was beautiful, so what was she doing dressed like that?

"Roxy, calm down! We'll fix it" Lolita moved towards the girl, placing her arms on the girl's shoulders. I watched the girl seethe, glancing away irately.

"How huh?" Roxy shook off Lolita's hands and took a step back "how can we fix it?"

Lolita sighed and bit her lip

"I…"

Roxy scoffed then, interrupting Lolita with a glare as she ran her hands angrily through her black locks.

"He thinks it was me that was there that night" she said, dragging her gaze back to Lolita, who was now staring at Roxy painfully.

"Look, I'll talk to Robby! He'll figure something out"

Roxy laughed bitterly and shook her head.

"Don't you get it? Robby," she spat his name distastefully "was the one who snitched."

Lolita stared in shock at the girl that stood in front of her, slowly shaking her head as though she couldn't believe it.

"What?"

"Yeah," the girl sighed softly "he sold us out."

Wait, us?

What did the girl mean by us?

What had Lolita gotten herself into?

Roxy's phone rang then, making both girls jump slightly. She pulled the smartphone out of her purse, glanced at Lolita before picking the call.

"Yeah"

Lolita crossed her arms and stared at Roxy expectantly.

"Yeah, I just told her! I'll be there"

Slowly, she hung up the phone, placed it back her purse, and stared at Lolita motionlessly. In shock, she took a couple of steps back until she hit the bench, slowly lowering herself into it. Lolita carefully sat next to her.

"Was that Tamara?"

Roxy nodded without, glancing up at Lolita. Slowly, tears formed at the corners of her eyes as her lips turned down sadly.

"I'm fucked" was all she muttered, before Lolita pulled the girl into a warm hug, allowing her to sob heavily into her shoulder.

"I promise we'll figure something out" Lolita cooed soothingly, although the fear on her face suggested otherwise. Roxy cried in Lolita's arms for a couple more minutes, before slowly sniffing and pulling away.

"I have to go"

Lolita nodded and watched the girl stand with a blank expression. She waved slightly at Lolita, before walking off into the school building and out of sight. Long after Roxy had disappeared, Lolita sat on the bench frozen, like a statue placed there for all eternity. Slowly glancing down at her hands, I saw them shake, as though she had just seen a ghost.

Lolita glanced up then, the blood seemed to have drained completely from her cheeks. Her eyes were wide with shock, and I could feel the terror radiating off of her. Wordlessly, she wiped her cheeks and stood, running her hands through her hair and glancing around, as though unsure of what to do and where to go. She turned then and disappeared in the same direction Roxy had gone.

I stared at the empty bench, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of what I had just witnessed.

Why was she so scared? What could she be so terrified of?

What just happened?