Rainy Days

Rainy Days

     "Aren't you cold?"

     Vicky turned to the blond boy in the beanie. "What?"

     "You look cold," David repeated. "How come you're not wearing anything?"

     Vicky raised a brow. "How come you're not?"

     David frowned. "Touche."

     It was a rainy Saturday in Whoville. The clouds were gray, the early afternoon seemed like nighttime, and the citizens of the microscopic town were hiding securely in their warm homes, watching TV and drinking big mugs of hot chocolate.

     Well, most.

     Whoville’s streets were empty but for the two teenagers, one brown and one green, separated in age by a year and a half. Their reason for being trapped in the soaking weather? All because the second oldest Barnes brother had the urge to throw a stink bomb into Chairman VonFrood's office. The only sounds in the town were the patter of raindrops against the ground, the bickering voices of the young rivals, and the squishes of their feet against the sidewalk. Their fur was beyond wet, and they themselves were beyond unhappy.

     "This is your fault, you know," Vicky grouched.

     David stopped in his tracks. "My fault? What, all of the sudden I control the weather?"

     "Why the hell did you decide to throw a stink bomb into VonFrood's house today?" Vicky asked. "Of all days? When the weatherman predicted a ninety percent chance of heavy rainfall?"

     "Well I don't watch the news," David shot back, "how was I supposed to know?"

     "How were you--" Vicky growled. "The shy was dark ALL DAY, and you couldn't guess it would rain today?"

     "Well I'm not good with predictions!" David pouted. "Damn, you should know me better."

     Vicky snorted and rolled her eyes. They started walking down the wet sidewalk once more, the fur on their feet starting to cling to the concrete.

     "So why'd you agree to come along?"

     This time the green-haired girl stopped. "What do you mean?"

     "I mean--" David groaned as his beanie fell over his eyes, pushing it back up before he continued. "I mean I wasn't forcing you to come with me or anything, why'd you come anyway?"

     Vicky didn’t miss a beat. "Because if I said no then you'd start bitching about how I'm no fun." She walked ahead. “Besides, I was bored.”

     David stayed where he stood. “So bored you agreed to help?”

      “Yes.” Her tone became firm as she stopped once more.

     “And why would you care if I’d bitch or not?” David persisted, coming closer. “I thought hated hanging out with me.”

     “I do.”

     “So why’d you come?”

     Vicky’s response boomed as she whipped back to him. “Because I hate hearing you whine, all right?!"

     David stumbled backward at her sudden aggravation. He stared back with wide eyes, a little surprised at her reaction to a simple question.  He turned away from her, slightly hurt. “You didn’t have to yell."

         A sting of guilt pierced Vicky’s stomach, and she bit her lip slightly. “Forget about it,” she muttered, and David followed her down the sidewalk.

     The silent drone of the rain surrounded them as the waters slowly rose. Neither of them made a sound, nor made eye contact. At one point David became so cold he began hissing through his teeth and hugged himself, running his hands up and down his arms to be warmer.

     Then he heard a giggle.

     He glanced at Vicky, who was smiling a bit, from the corner of his eye. "...What?"

     Her smile broke. "Nothing," she said, turning away fast enough for her wet pigtails to slap her face.

     David stared back, puzzled, before he returned to warming himself up.

     Then Vicky began staring again. David was never the guy to show weakness. He was cocky. He was rash. The words "look before you leap" made as much sense to him as "gauge your eyes out with a screwdriver if you want to improve your vision". But right at that moment, he looked vulnerable. His lower lip quivered from the cold. His chocolate eyes were downcast, watching his feet splash against the path. The rain matted his blond hair to his face, framing his fuzzy peach cheeks.

     A warm sensation came over Vicky’s cheeks. She couldn’t explain it. She’d been feeling it for almost three years, but she couldn’t explain it. Sometimes something in the back of her mind would slap her and tell her she knew exactly what it was, but she was afraid to admit it. Every time that would pop up, she’d dismiss it and continue on with her day, never thinking about it again until the next time it happened.

     These were the worst moments. The moments when she would look at David, her heart would almost hammer out of her chest and something inside her screamed “You like him! You know you do!” and wouldn’t stop.

     David turned to her again. “Why are you staring at me?”

     Vicky blinked hard. “I wasn’t staring at you!”

     “Yes you were, you were doing it just now!”

     “I wasn’t!” Vicky argued, turning redder.

     “Cut it out!” David demanded.

     “I wasn’t staring!” Vicky’s voice rose as she stopped again to challenge him.

     “Yes you were!” David’s voice rose as well, slightly echoing.

     “I WASN’T!”
   
     “You WERE!”

     They angrily locked eyes, brown against green. Their height difference was slight, but when David was annoyed or frustrated, or put off in any way, he became a giant. The fighter in Vicky cared in the least about this, for when she was tested, there were no bounds to hold her back, no wall that could block her, no weapon that could bring her down.

     But because it was David, she only punched him in the stomach and stormed off before he could notice her blushing. David, amidst his pain, stared in confusion at Vicky as she avoided a fight with him. He ran to her, more concerned than upset, and spoke to her again. “What’s up with you today?”

     Vicky turned away. “Nothing.”

     David tried to face her again. “No, something’s wrong, what’s up?”

     Vicky turned away again. “Nothing’s wrong!”

     “Yes there is!” David grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside, gripping her shoulders tightly. “Something’s bugging you in that twisted, sadistic mind of yours and you’re not telling me!”

     Vicky clenched her teeth and glared furiously at him, fists slowly forming. David glared back for a short instant, then squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. He looked into her eyes again, his frustration replaced with a gentler expression.

      “Look. I know we’re not close, but if something is bothering you, I want to know.” His grip on her softened. “Tell me what’s wrong. Please.”

     Vicky gazed into his eyes, her heart pounding once more. She didn’t understand him. No matter how cruel she was to him, no matter how much she beat him, no matter how badly she ridiculed him, he never stopped caring about her. It was almost as if he had…some unconditional love for her.

     The voice in her head spoke again. Tell him! Tell him you like him! This is the perfect time! Tell him!

     Vicky sighed, blushing harder.”I…”

     David listened. “Yes?”

     Vicky bit her lip nervously, calming her breath, then broke eye contact, crossing her arms. “I don’t wanna fight today.”

     David raised his brows. “…Why?”

     Vicky’s calm tone became a mutter. “I’m just not in the mood.”

     David waited for a longer explanation, but he didn’t get it. “Okay.” He moved away from her and led the way down the sidewalk.

     The rain still hadn’t died. A strong wind picked up around them, forcing Vicky to shiver and hug herself as David did not too long ago. She quietly cursed under her breath, wondering how she ever became so blindly infatuated with someone who couldn’t even use his common sense to predict the weather.

     Then David slipped his beanie over Vicky’s head and wrapped his arm around her, holding her close to him as the rain continued on. She looked up at her rival, her unrequited crush, as he smiled down at her, his own cheeks flashing the vaguest shade of pink.

     Vicky snuggled against him, looking away bashfully to hide a subtle smile of her own, and she remembered why.