Under the Rain

The rain came down harder, the soft drizzle turning into a steady downpour. The playground was nearly empty now, most of the kids and parents having rushed off as the storm approached. But Mike and Emi stayed on the swings, the rain soaking their clothes, clinging to their skin. Neither of them moved to leave. It was as if the storm had created a little bubble of quiet for them—a space away from the whispers, the teasing, and the confusion that had been building between them.

Mike's clothes were starting to stick to his skin, but he didn't care. His mind was too busy replaying the last few days over and over again. The rumors, the awkward silences, the looks from their classmates—none of that had really bothered him at first. But lately, it had all started to get under his skin, and he wasn't sure why.

He glanced over at Emi, her hair plastered to her forehead from the rain, her face tilted slightly upward as she stared up at the gray sky. She looked calm, at peace, as if the rain was exactly what she needed right now. Mike found himself staring at her, longer than he should've, trying to understand what was going on inside his own head.

Emi caught him staring and raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked, her voice soft.

Mike quickly looked away, feeling heat rise to his cheeks despite the cold rain. "Nothing," he muttered. "Just... thinking."

"About what?" Emi asked, her swing creaking softly as she swayed back and forth.

Mike hesitated. He wasn't sure if he could say it out loud. Not yet, at least. "Just... everything," he finally said, his voice quieter than usual. "All the rumors, the teasing... it's getting old."

Emi nodded, her expression thoughtful. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

She fell silent again, her gaze drifting back up to the sky as the rain continued to pour. Mike couldn't help but watch her, mesmerized by how calm she seemed. He wished he could be that calm, that collected. But something inside him was unsettled, something that had been growing since the moment he had started spending time with her.

"Why do you think people care so much?" Mike asked suddenly, surprising even himself.

Emi blinked, turning her attention back to him. "About what?"

"About us," Mike said, shrugging as he kicked his feet in the dirt. "Why do they care whether we're just friends or something more?"

Emi tilted her head slightly, considering the question. "I think... people like to put labels on things. They want to make sense of what they see, and when something doesn't fit into a neat little box, they don't know what to do with it."

Mike nodded, letting her words sink in. That made sense. But there was something else, something he hadn't been able to shake since the teasing had started.

"Do you ever wonder... what we are?" Mike asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Emi froze, her swing coming to a gentle stop. For a moment, she didn't say anything, and Mike felt his heart start to pound in his chest. Had he gone too far? Should he have kept that thought to himself?

Emi slowly turned to look at him, her eyes searching his face. "What do you mean?"

Mike hesitated again, his hands gripping the chains of the swing. The words were right there on the tip of his tongue, but saying them out loud felt like stepping into uncharted territory. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that—if they were ready for that.

"I don't know," Mike said finally, shaking his head. "It's just... I feel like things have changed. Between us."

Emi didn't say anything for a long moment. She looked down at the ground, her hands fidgeting with the sleeves of her soaked jacket. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, almost hesitant. "Yeah. I've felt that too."

Mike's heart skipped a beat. There it was—the acknowledgment that he hadn't been imagining things. She felt it too. But where did that leave them?

Emi stood up from the swing, her shoes squelching in the mud as she took a few steps toward the empty playground. She wrapped her arms around herself, though whether it was because of the cold or something else, Mike couldn't tell.

"I don't want things to get weird," Emi said quietly, still not looking at him. "I mean, I like hanging out with you. You're one of the only people who... gets me."

Mike felt a rush of warmth in his chest at her words, but there was also a pang of something else—something that felt like fear. He didn't want to lose what they had either. But what if that wasn't enough anymore?

"I get that," Mike said, standing up from the swing and walking over to her. "I don't want to mess things up."

Emi finally turned to face him, her eyes soft but uncertain. "Then... what do we do?"

Mike didn't have an answer. He wished he did, but everything felt too complicated, too messy. They were just two kids in the middle of a storm, trying to figure out what they meant to each other. But there was no easy way to explain what was going on inside him—no way to put into words the way his heart sped up whenever she smiled at him, or how the teasing had started to feel less like a game and more like something else.

"I don't know," Mike admitted, his voice low. "But... I think we should figure it out."

Emi looked down at the ground, her brow furrowed. For a moment, Mike thought she was going to say something, but then she just shook her head, letting out a small laugh. "Why does this feel so complicated?"

Mike smiled softly, his heart feeling lighter just hearing her laugh, even in the middle of the confusion. "Because it is. But that doesn't mean it's bad."

Emi looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. For a second, everything around them seemed to fade away—the rain, the empty park, the whispers from their classmates. All that mattered was the space between them, the questions they hadn't answered, and the unspoken feelings hanging in the air.

Before Mike could think about what he was doing, he took a step closer to her. He could feel the warmth of her breath, the soft rain still falling around them, and the pounding of his own heart in his chest. His hand twitched at his side, as if unsure whether to reach for hers.

Emi didn't move. She just watched him, her expression unreadable. And for a moment, Mike thought maybe—just maybe—he should tell her everything. That he liked her. That he wanted to be more than friends. That the rumors didn't matter, because what he felt for her was real.

But then, just as quickly as the moment had come, it was gone.

Emi took a step back, breaking the spell. She smiled at him, but there was something guarded in her eyes now, something that told Mike she wasn't ready. Not yet.

"I should get home," she said, her voice quiet but steady.

Mike nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. "Yeah. Me too."

They walked in silence, the rain falling steadily around them, each step feeling heavier than the last. When they finally reached Emi's house, she turned to him, her smile softer now, almost sad.

"Thanks for walking with me again," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Mike nodded, forcing a smile. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

Emi hesitated for a second, then gave him a small wave before disappearing inside her house. Mike stood there for a moment, the rain continuing to pour down, soaking him through. His mind was spinning with everything that had just happened—and everything that hadn't.

He started to walk home, his thoughts tangled. The teasing, the rumors, the feelings that were starting to get harder and harder to ignore—it was all too much. But as much as he tried to push it down, he knew that things between him and Emi had changed.

And there was no going back.