Kian glanced over at me, and I shielded my phone with my hand. “Do you mind, mate? I’m trying to have a private conversation.”
He smirked at me, then shrugged before pulling out his own phone. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
I returned my attention to Raine. Fuck, what was I supposed to say?
Me: Parents. I’m under a lot of pressure. They constantly compare me to you. ALL the fucking time
Raine: That makes no sense
Me: You have to be aware of this. I’ve told you before and I know you’ve seen it for yourself. In their eyes you’re perfect. Perfect grades. Can do nothing wrong. It’s all Raine this, Raine that, why can’t you be more like Rainey? E.g. Last night my dad was telling me how proud he was that you were up for a model student award yet when I get awards for football he dismisses them as frivolous. You should be fucking proud BTW. That’s just an example
Raine: I didn’t know the extent of it. I’m sorry. That’s not right. They’re your parents, they should support you
Me: Now you know. Another reason why you and me would never work
Raine: That makes no sense. And if we would never work why are you texting me now?
I put everything I was feeling into my reply.
Me: Don’t you see? If you were my girlfriend they’d have even more interest in you and your life. I’d be constantly compared to you, even more than I am now. At least now you’re just my neighbour and I know this shit has an expiry date because you’re not sticking around once school finishes and you leave for uni
Me: You want to run away. I get it. I’d run away too if I had a choice. If I hadn’t worked so fucking hard to get to where I was. If I wasn’t going on to Alstone College next year
Me: And the reason I’m texting you is because I fucking miss you
Raine: Would you run away with me?
Would I? For a minute, I allowed myself to think of a different future, where Raine and I were together. A future that wasn’t a possibility.
And that was the final nail in the coffin, right there. I could only offer her something temporary, where we’d sneak around and only have stolen moments. She deserved better than that. Better than me.
Raine: Since you’re taking forever to reply I’ll take that as a no. I’m moving away once the school year is up and you have all these issues surrounding me, so I think it’s best if we stay out of each other’s way. I’ll try to avoid coming over to your house with my aunt. There’s plenty of excuses I could come up with.
Me: Fine. You’re right. I shouldn’t have texted you. I’m sorry. For how everything turned out
Raine: Me too. Goodbye Carter. Please don’t contact me again
Covered by my waterproof jacket, I jogged around the school building to head for the car park, when I stopped in my tracks. Raine was huddled on the steps, a bag clutched in her arms, sheltering from the rain and watching the road with anxiety all over her face.
I stood, not even noticing the rain as I watched her try calling someone, then hanging up with a resigned look on her face. She started down the steps, flinching as the rain hit her, then darted backwards under cover again. She was pulling off her coat. What the fuck? I watched as she covered the bag with her coat and hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders, then stepped out into the rain.
Fucking hell, Raine. Her school blazer wasn’t even waterproof. Did she want to catch hypothermia?
“Raine!” I shouted. She didn’t turn around.
I ran towards her, skidding across the wet tarmac as I reached her. Throwing my body in front of hers, I forced her to a stop.
“Go away.” Her voice was expressionless, and she didn’t even look at me, shivering in the rain, the water plastering her hair to her head.
“Raine. It’s fucking raining. Let me take you home.”
“No.” Her little chin set stubbornly. “We agreed we’d stay away from each other, remember?”
“Fuck, Raine.” I scrubbed my hand across my face. “What will it take for you to get in the car with me?”
“A personality transplant,” she muttered, then stepped around me, splashing through the puddles as she stormed off down the road.
I don’t think so.
I easily caught up with her, tugging on her backpack and spinning her around to face me. “Hold on.” That was the only warning I gave her before I scooped her up, bag and all, and began carrying her towards my truck.
“Stop manhandling me!” She couldn’t fight back since her arms were full with her huge backpack and her coat, so I ignored her ranting until we reached my truck. Putting her down, I held her in place with one hand while I juggled with my car keys, finally managing to press the button to unlock the boot.
“Why are you doing this? You’re just making things harder for us both.” She raised her eyes to mine, the rainwater glistening on her lashes. No make-up, she was fucking beautiful.
I didn’t have an answer, so I kissed her instead.
She shoved at my chest with her bag, refusing to kiss me back. I teased at her lips with soft licks and caresses, and finally, she gave in with a sigh. The feel of her lips against mine—fuck.
Raine was made for me.
The sound of a car horn, blasting long and loud, had her tearing her mouth away and ducking around my body. I could only watch as she made a run for a huge matte-black SUV, disappearing inside before I could even catch my breath.
I didn’t go straight home. I drove around aimlessly for a while, barely paying attention as the rain slowed and eventually stopped, the sun coming out from behind the clouds.
As I neared my house, I slowed my
