• I didn’t feel the drop of rain as it hit my forehead. I was too busy lost in my thoughts. I tried to remember the last time I felt this feeling in my stomach, but I couldn’t. It was there. The feeling I was hoping I’d never feel. Rejection washed through me.
    It felt as if my whole world were shattered. Everything I had, gone. All because of this stupid guy. I’m only 15. I had just become the girl I hated and made fun of. I was heart broken.
    The rain was starting to come down really hard, but I didn’t care. The only reason I was still sitting here was because I didn’t want to go home. After all of this, I didn’t think I could face my mom. It was sad really. I was scared of her. She made me feel like I wasn’t strong enough to take matters in my own hands. She made me feel weak…vulnerable. I knew I was going to get it, when I came home. Earlier that day, I had made the mistake of leaving her bedroom door open. I thought I had closed it all the way, but I guess I didn’t because my dog went in her room and woke her up. The last time that happened, I got a yelling, and screaming from her. She had warned me that if this happened again, I would be begging for mercy and forgiveness. Both of the things she would never offer. I shuddered at the thought.
    The rain didn’t let up. It came down harder. I knew I couldn’t keep sitting here, so I got up and started heading for some shelter. I ended up hiding from the rain under a bridge. The freeway was only a couple of feet from where I stood.
    For a brief second, I thought of walking in the freeway and getting hit by a car or truck, but I knew better. I was definitely not going to kill myself for my own mom. I know it sounds cold, but all the crap she’s put me through, I honestly don’t think I’ll miss her. I didn’t need her. She didn’t pay anything for me. Not even the clothes on my back. Every year, I had to go to the good will and steal some clothes for myself. I also got food from either the church or random people off the street. I was lucky education was free; otherwise I wouldn’t be able to go to school.
    I had some friends. Only four and they were the only people who didn’t judge me when I met them. My first friend, Celina Osterman was the first person to approach me at school. I was surprised she did because on the first day, I know I must have looked intimidating, but she still gave me a chance.
    My second friend, Sandrea Hilton met me when she saw me looking for a science partner. Of course, no one wanted to work with me at the time. I was telling my teacher that I couldn’t find anyone to work with, and she threatened to humiliate me by asking the whole class if any of them would be willing to work with me. Sandrea heard this and came up to us saying she’d been looking for me and that she wanted me as a partner. From that day on, I was forever grateful.
    The third person I met was a guy named Julian Castro. We were on the bus and I needed a place to sit. I couldn’t find an empty seat and when the bus driver threatened to kick me off the bus, I just sat down on the seat closest to me. Ha-ha, I accidently sat on his lap. We got along and became good friends. We shared a secret that we swore never to tell.
    The next person I met was by accident. We were on a roller coaster ride. Two years ago, my grandma took me and my brother to a place called Falling Stars. The amusement park had an astronomy- like thing going on. There was this one ride that my brother refused to ride. It was called ‘mission fail’. You were strapped in a rocket for two people and it ‘crashed’ down from about 150 feet high. That was the reason I wanted to ride it. I was supposed to have a rocket to myself, but I ended up sharing it with a guy named Sean Todd. Before the ride started, he kept saying how excited he was to feel the experience. I just nodded, fearless. But when the ride started, I felt the trepidation rise up inside me. I confided in him that I was scared but he told me that if there’s something worth being scared of, than it’s something that needs to know your around now. I never forgot what he meant.
    The fourth guy was the one who didn’t catch me when I fell for him. His name is Miguel Ortega. There were plenty of reasons why I liked him the way I did, but the number one reason was because he was different. Everyday at lunch, I noticed that he would leave the cafeteria ten minutes before the bell rang. I always wondered what he would do. Normally I could easily predict what a person is going to do, but this guy left me without any guesses or theories. He made me think hard about my thoughts, which is what attracted me to him in the first place. I didn’t ignore the fact that he was breath takingly attractive too. I could also tell he was very intelligent too. Like me, he always wondered what was beyond, if there were any explanation why we were put on this earth. What was our purpose?
    A sudden door slam made me jump and forget what I was thinking about. I looked up to see what had made me stop musing my thoughts. I stopped breathing. There, standing outside his shiny Chrysler 300 was Miguel Ortega.
    I tried to pretend to not notice him, but I couldn’t help myself. I looked up at him. He was only about 100 yards away, staring at the 99 cents store. I was confused. Shouldn’t he go inside? His clothes were starting to soak through, exposing his muscular body. As much as I tried, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his perfect, beautiful body. I tried to imagine his big arms around me…him smiling at me whenever I walked up to him…As I mused these thoughts, I noticed his large brown eyes finally meet my own. I immediately looked away.
    Damn did he notice me staring at him like an idiot? What will he do? Is he gonna approach?
    Shakily, I looked up to see what he was doing, he was now staring back. I felt locked under his gaze. I couldn’t look away now. But it was a lot harder for me to see him for the rain had picked up and was literally pouring.
    However, I managed to force myself to look down at my clothes, my black sweater was soaked to the skin, my jeans now looked black because of the water, and my new suede shoes were ruined. Even my hair under my hoodie was dripping wet. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. Miguel started walking towards me with a black umbrella. Oh god.