I didn't know rain could stay in your mind even after it stopped.
But the walk with Devin…
the silence…
the way neither of us spoke yet everything felt weirdly soft…
Yeah. It stayed.
---
The classroom was its usual mess — people shouting, dragging chairs, complaining about homework — but none of it felt real to me.
Maybe I was still feeling the coldness of yesterday's rain.
Or maybe… maybe I was feeling the way Devin looked at me under that streetlight.
I didn't want to think about it.
So, I dug my face into my notebook like I was preparing for a science exam instead of processing emotions.
I should've known Meera wouldn't let that slide.
She plopped into the chair beside me like she was landing a plane.
"Start talking."
I didn't look up.
"There is nothing to talk about."
"Arista Rivera. You walked home in the rain with a boy. A BOY. That is literally 'talk about it for 3 business days' worthy."
I sighed. Hard.
"It wasn't dramatic, okay? It was just… quiet."
Meera gasped, hand on her chest.
"Oh no."
I glared. "Oh no WHAT?"
"When a moment is quiet and peaceful," she whispered dramatically, "that means something emotional happened."
I covered my face.
If even Meera could sense something was off, then maybe… something was.
---
The door slid open.
And everything inside me froze.
Kaelor walked in with wet hair, uniform damp, as if he'd run through the last bit of rain before reaching school.
His eyes scanned the room once.
And stopped.
On me.
I don't know what I expected to feel.
Maybe nothing.
But instead, my heartbeat sped up like I'd been caught doing something wrong.
He kept staring.
Not angry.
Not sad.
Just… searching my face for something.
And then he looked away.
Meera leaned toward me.
"He saw you."
I whispered, "Shut up."
But my chest tightened anyway.
---
Devin sat in front of me at lunch, smiling politely like he always did.
But something was different.
His eyes kept softening whenever he looked at me. Like he was studying me. Like he remembered last night too.
"You got home safe, right?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. And thanks—for the walk."
He looked down, smiling a little.
"It was nice."
Nice.
That word echoed in my head way too loudly.
Before I could respond, I felt someone watching me.
I didn't even need to look to know who it was.
Kaelor.
Sitting two tables away, staring like he was trying to decode yesterday from the energy in the air.
Meera elbowed me. "He's jealous."
I choked on my water.
"He is NOT."
"Girl, he hasn't blinked in thirty seconds."
Zoe nodded. "He's studying the situation like an investor reading a scam contract."
I hid my face again.
Why was everything so complicated suddenly?
---
I just wanted to go home without drama.
But life clearly hates me.
"Arista."
I stopped.
Of course, it was him.
Kaelor stood behind me, hands deep in his pockets, looking unusually serious.
"Why did you walk in the rain?" he asked quietly.
"…It was raining?"
"You could've gotten sick."
"I didn't."
"That's not the point."
I stared at him, confused and weirdly bothered.
"Then what is the point, Kaelor?"
He didn't answer.
His jaw tightened.
His eyes flickered.
He looked like he wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out.
Before either of us could make it more awkward, Devin approached.
"Arista? Want to walk home again today?"
Kaelor's whole posture stiffened.
I wanted the ground to open and swallow me.
I stepped back.
"I… need to go."
And I walked away before I could cause an emotional explosion in the school corridor.
---
As I walked toward the gate, I heard Meera whisper loudly:
"Devin likes her."
Zoe: "Kaelor is losing his mind."
Sana: "Arista is pretending she's fine."
And maybe they were all right.
Because something between us — me, Devin, Kaelor — had shifted.
Just a little.
Just enough for me to feel it.
But I wasn't ready to face any of it yet.
Not the softness in Devin's eyes.
Not the tension in Kaelor's voice.
Not the confusion inside me.
So I kept walking.
Because thinking about it scared me more than the rain ever did.