Sun Shower
Written by Leia Rondeau

Brief Summary: This about a girl named Sadie.  Her best friend moves away, and she has to learn to cope with her new, strange life.
Words: 3,700 (roughly 12 pages)
           

    “Hey Sadie, aren’t you going to come down and say goodbye?” my mom shouted from the bottom of the stairs. 

            “No way!  If she was a real friend, she wouldn’t be moving away!” I shouted back.  I was curled up on my bed, trying my best not to cry.  My long brown hair was a mess, falling all over my face. 

My best friend, the girl I had shared everything with, was ditching me for real.  In my hands I gripped a picture of my tenth birthday party.  We both looked like dorks, me with my afro-like hair-do, and Christy with her large glasses and braces.  It was my favorite picture, even though I would die of horror if any one but Christy saw it. 

Now, seven years later, she was leaving me.

            “Sadie, come downstairs right now!” she shouted up again.

            “No!”  I knew I was acting childish, but I felt I had a great excuse to do it. 

            “You’re going to regret this!”  I stayed silent, tears falling from my eyes onto the pillow below me.  It hurt too much to say a real good buy.  At least this way I could pretend for a couple of days that she was just on vacation.  Man, was I a brat sometimes.

            My mom didn’t call any more after that.  Outside my window I heard a moving truck start up.  I gasped, and stood up too fast.  Swaying from loss of blood in my head from the sudden movement, I moved over to my window and pressed my forehead to it.  Down below, I saw Christy waving to me from the front seat in the moving van as it pulled away.  I slowly waved back, tears falling down my eyes.  She was gone in a matter of minutes.  Still in shock, I moved back to my bed, and curled up again.  A wave of sleepiness came over me.  I put my earphones in, and turned up the volume on my Ipod as far as it could go, hurting my ears.  It numbed them, and I slowly faded into a restless sleep.

            My mom must have come in and covered me, because when I woke up I had a blanket over me.  Also, my Ipod was turned off, and placed on my dresser.  A glance at my clock told me that it was around midnight.  With a groan, I laid my head back down, and fell back to sleep.  The next day I had school, and it was going to stink. 

            “Oh, Sadie, I’m so sorry that Christy moved away,” Briana said to me, giving me one of those fake, sad smiles.  In my head, I just wanted to rip out her long blond hair and flush it down a toilet, her along with it.

            “Yeah, I know.  I’m absolutely torn over it,” I replied, giving her a fake smile back in return.  She looked at me a little funny, her smile still plastered on her Barbie face.  I so wanted to smash it in, but held back, like I had always done.  We both stood there, smiling at each other, for at least a minute.  A group of guys approached us laughing, but when they saw the two of us smiling like that, went quiet and walked around us like we were going to attack them.

            “Well,” Briana said at last, “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

            “Yeah, you do that.”

            She walked off, her henchmen following obediently at her heels.  I sighed, and went the opposite way down the hall.  I knew the whole day was going to be like this.  No one liked me due to the face that I was just different.  I loved cartoons, drew cartoons, talked cartoons, and I was going to be a cartoonist when I pass college.  My whole grade, with the exception of Christy, saw me as a lazy bum who didn’t really want to do anything with my life.  And I was getting my way, too.  I had an amazing talent for sketching, and Christy loved the little ideas I would come up with. 

            Where I was the “lazy bum”, Christy wanted to be a doctor.  She loved helping people put bandages on, and knew everything there was about medicine.  She would watch shows like House and Scrubs, just to learn more.  I just found them entertaining.  People couldn’t understand how she could stand to be around me.  We were more different than we were alike, but I think that was what brought us together.       Everyone loved Christy because all she wanted to do was help people.  I was glad she was my friend, because along with being my shoulder to cry on, she was also my shield.  No one would pick on me when she was around.  Now that she was gone, well, I was just going to have to put up with it again.

            The whole day I had to sit through fake, some-what fake, and gooey apologies for the fact the Christy had ditched me.  It was rough, because even though I knew most of them were just laughing at me, I still tried to be sincere back.  By my last class I was ready to punch someone, or at least through a wall.  My nerves were a wreck, and I tried my best to pay attention in class.

            “Sadie!  What is the force responsible for beta decay?” Mr. Geo said, of course picking on me.  I was his least favorite student due to the face that I did nothing and still passed the class with a B.

            “Um...the weak nuclear force?” I replied, looking down on my notes.  I was surprised that I had even taken them.  I didn’t remember that at all.

            “Ah, yes it is.” He looked taken aback for a moment, and then turned onto Billy, who was sleeping through class again.  I saw a small smile on his face, and knew I was free for the rest of the period.  My thoughts once again turned to Christy, who normally sat next to me.  I looked to my right, and the empty seat reflected the emptiness in me.  I sighed, and put my head in my hands.  Mr. Geo looked at me from the corner of his eye, but he said nothing.  Oh yeah, taking notes works wonders on teachers.

            I felt someone nudge me, and I looked up from my hands.  In front of me sat Trina.  She had a note in her hand, and held it out to me.  She mouthed the words “Todd” as I took the note from her.  I froze as I realized who it was from.  Trina kept looking at me, wanting me to open it up.  She always had a big nose.  I gave her a little glare, which caused her to scowl at me, flipping her hair as she turned back towards the front of the class.

            With shaky hands I opened the note.  Todd was the most popular guy in school, and for him to send me a note was like heaven opening up with angels shooting down.  His tall, lean body was the most perfect creation of God.  His face was slant, with a cunning look in his eyes.  Short, red hair spiked up around his face, giving it a wind-blown look. 

Due to the fact that no one really liked me, I never really talked to people like Todd.  The one exception was when the two of us were put together for a day in English class for a partner test.  We finished the test in about two minutes, and then spent the rest of the class talking about the most random things like food and ranting about bad movies.  He had a great sense of humor, laughing at everything, just like I did.  His smile lit his face constantly, and by the end of class we were flirting back and forth.  When the bell rang, he reached out and took my hand, pressing it gently against his lips.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, ma belle fleur,” he whispered gently in a stunning French accent.  I felt my stomach drop all the way to my knees.  That was the day that the whole female population hated me, with the exception of Christy.  She and I talked about the whole period the next day when Mrs. Loca was giving us a lecture on some math problem.

I had been really surprised that the two of us got together really nicely, but the next day he sat with his friends, and I sat with Christy.  For about a week after, we kept looking at each other when no one else was looking, but we never talked.  He would watch me all through class, but whenever I looked at him, I couldn’t read the expression on his face.  He would almost look… concerned.  But after a second, he would look at Christy, and then back at me.  His eyes lost the concerned look, and he would smile gently at me. 

After the weekend, things were like nothing had ever happened.  He didn’t look at me at all.  I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting the courage to become his friend, and I despised him for not giving me any attention.

            I looked down at the piece of paper, and written in the center of it in perfect handwriting it said, “Bologna.”  I couldn’t help but snort out of my nose, causing Mr. Geo to look at me concerned.  I had no idea why he had written that, but it sure did make me laugh.  That was Todd, using his great sense of humor.

            “Something wrong, Sadie?”

            “Ah, no sir.  Just coughing and all.”  I said all that with a huge smile on my face, making Mr. Geo look very confused.  Instead of trying to understand teenage girls, he went back to his notes on nuclear decay.

            From over in the corner, Todd looked up at me, smiling.  I waved his note up in the air, and then gave him two thumbs up.  He had really made my day.  I folded the note up, and put it in my folder, planning on keeping it for all of eternity. 

            That night when I got home, I cleaned my room.  It was something that I should have done about four months ago, but I just kept putting it off.  On the wall I taped up the note Todd had written to me.  Whenever I looked at it, it made me brighten up from my depression of Christy leaving.  Looking at it, I knew there was something I had to do.

            I sat on my bed for about an hour, looking at the phone.  Finally, with trembling fingers, I picked it up and dialed Christy’s new home number.  It rang three times, and I wasn’t sure if I would be disappointed or pleased if she didn’t pick up.

            “Hello?” Suddenly I froze, unsure of what to say.  “Who is this?”  Just my luck, Christy was the one to pick it up.

            “Um...hey, Christy.”

            “Oh my God! Sadie!”  Man, was she chipper.  How did she ever get all that energy? 

            “So, how are you doing?” I asked, trying to start a conversation.

            “Arg, Spuds stinks! There is like nothing at all to do.”  She sighed on the other end of the phone line, and I felt a pang in my heart.

            “Man, I wish I was there to hug you girl.”

            “Yeah, I miss you so much too.”  She was silent for a minute.  “So how are things at school?  I know that you are just getting picked on.”

            I looked at the “Bologna” picture, and smiled.  “Ah, it’s not as bad as you think.  Todd sent me a note today.  Not sure what it means exactly, but hey, it’s from Todd.”

            “EEEEEEEEEE!!!” Insanely high-pitched screaming hit my eardrums.  I pulled the phone away from my ears, waiting for Christy to calm down.  “YOU ARE GOING TO TELL ME EVERYTHING!” she demanded.

We talked until one in the morning.  I hated talking on the phone, but, for some strange reason, I didn’t want to put the phone down.  Finally we both hung up, crying and promising that we would see each other again soon.  That night, I slept soundly. 

            The next day was storming.  I looked outside my window, and all the joy I had gotten from last night fell.  “Arrrggg...” I moaned out loud, not looking forward to this day at all.

            I managed to get through my art class by listening to my music so loud everyone was yelling at me to turn it down.  Somehow, that brought my spirits up.  Calculus, on the other hand, destroyed them.  “POP QUIZ!” Mrs. Loca shouted in her nasally voice.  I groaned, knowing that I was going to fail this one.  I hadn’t studied all last night because of Christy.  She had better be failing a quiz today too. 

            I looked out of the window, and saw that the sky was clearing up a little.  I had an umbrella in my locker, so...

            “Mrs. Loca, I don’t feel well,” I said, standing up.

            “From what?” She questioned.  The look in her eyes clearly said she didn’t believe me at all.  Getting a little mad, I decided to make her mad too.

            “From lack of interest!” I shouted.  The whole class broke up in small giggling, and one the guys air high-fived me.

            “Get Out!” Mrs. Loca shouted, pointing towards the door.  I ran all the way to my locker, grabbing out my umbrella.  Without even bothering signing out in the office, I bolted out one of the side doors.  Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, and I threw my head back, laughing as the rain hit my face.

            I ran all the way to the park.  Taking a used trail, I walked all the way down to the river.  Walking on the edge of the water, I kicked pebbles into it, making funny plopping sounds.  The small drip sound of the rain hitting my umbrella calmed me, and I smiled. 

            A flash from my side caught my eyes, and I looked over to a clearing in a meadow.  There, in the center, stood a fox.  He was completely still, watching me with curious eyes.  I was completely entranced, and stopped walking to look at him.  A deja vu feeling came over me, but I had no idea what it was from.  I stared straight into its huge chocolate eyes, knowing that I had seen them somewhere before.  Suddenly he yipped, and darted into the tall grass next to him.  He darted in and out of my view until he was completely gone.  A strange feeling came over me, like this was the most special thing that had ever happened in the world, and only I had seen it.

            With a smile, I went and sat down on a stump in the meadow, facing the water.  I’m not sure how long I sat there looking out onto the water, but it seemed a rather long time.

            The fox had been so cute and curious.  I sighed, wishing that I could just turn into a fox and run all the way down to Florida.  I missed Christy so much.

            I kind of faded out, my mind drifting over the sadness that I was feeling, and I went back to thinking about Todd.  As I looked out, I became aware of the growing light.  I looked out from under my umbrella, and saw the sun shining down with the rain.  My breath disappeared, and for the second time that day I felt like I was specially blessed.  The rays hit the rain still falling, creating a misty glow all around me.

            “Yeah, it just takes your breath away, doesn’t it?”  I jumped up, and looked behind me.  There was Todd, coming out of the tall grass.  “Took me a little bit to find you,” he said, smiling a joking smile at me.  It was then that I saw just how much he looked like a fox.  He also seemed to glow in the light, and I felt my life being taken away again.  His shirt was unbuttoned down the front, and his body underneath was wet from the rain.  He seemed to notice my staring, and the edges of his lips curved up in a grin.

            “What are you doing here?” I gasped out, still out of breath from the spectacular show nature had just put on for me.  He walked slowly towards me, swaying in a pompous manner.

            “Like I said before.  I was looking for you.”  He sat down on the ground next to my stump, looking up at me with his dark brown eyes.  They seemed to dance in the glow around us.

            “Um...yeah...that’s not creepy at all,” I giggled a little.  “Do you happen to know what time it is?”

            “Around 12 or so.  I skipped out of school once I heard of your little fight with Mrs. Loca.  That was great though; the whole school is talking about it.”

            “Yeah, great.  First they hate me, and now I’m a celebrity.”  We both went silent, looking up at the sun and rain.  It was so beautiful that I sighed out loud.  “So you skipped school?  That’s a first for you, isn’t it?”

            “Yeah, well, that’s a first for you too,” he laughed back.  I smiled at him nodding my head.  Again, silence stretched before he began to speak.  “So, umm…how are you doing without Christy? I know she was your best friend and all.”

            “I’m doing alright, I think.  A lot of girls are being pretty nasty about it and all, but I can live with it,” I gave him a small smile.  He stood up, and sat down next to me, wrapping his arms around me in a hug bear hug.

            “I’ll look out for you now.  Those people just don’t understand you, but I know you are just being yourself.  I like that.”  I blushed, and turned away as he let go of me.  “You know, there’s a story that goes with these sun showers,” Todd said gently, looking out over the water.  “When ever it rains, and the sun shines, that’s called a sun shower.  In Japan, whenever a sun shower happens, supposedly a kitsune would come from the spirit world and take a wife or husband back with him or her.  It is a rather romantic story, if you think about it.”

            “A kitsune?” I had heard that somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where.

            “A fox spirit.”  Suddenly I thought back to the fox I had seen before.  Had he been a kitsune?  No, there wasn’t a sun shower then.  But...Todd had shown up the moment it began...

            “Foxes are strange creatures, aren’t they?” I said, looking at him from the corner of my eye.  He didn’t look at me, but I saw him smile slightly, like there was a joke only he knew.

            “Oh, yes they are,” he continued to only look at the water.  “You know, they are horrible at keeping a transformation.”

            I looked over at him.  He was smiling up at me, glowing in the rain.  I wasn’t sure if it was from the sun, or if he was a spirit.

            Oh, was I really going to believe that?  What kind of person would instantly think that just because he showed up at the right moment meant he was a fox spirit?  Besides, he wasn’t looking for a wife.

            Suddenly, he was right next to me, his face close enough that I got a better view of his eyes.  They were the same ones from the fox before.  My mind started to go fuzzy, and I could feel myself blushing.  I remembered what he said before, about foxes not being able to keep their human form…If he had been the fox…then of course he would have known where I was…I couldn’t think straight; he was too close to me.  I could smell his breath on my face, the sent of peppermint overwhelming me.

            “You look so beautiful in this light, my Sadie.”  He leaned in closer, gently brushing his lips against mine.  With a gasp, I sat back, my heart beating so loudly that I was sure that he could hear it too.

            “We barely know each other,” I stuttered out, trying to find anything to say.

            “Ah, we will get to know each other better, ma belle fleur.”  His fingers brushed my long brown hair away from my face, and then rested on my cheek.  My stomach did a flip-flop.  “Will you come with me?” he whispered gently.  I had no power at all to resist him, and stood up when he pulled my hand.  I was going to follow him to wherever he took me. 

Later that night I was back in my room, calling up Christy to talk about my wonderful day.  My stomach was still in flutters from the kiss Todd had given me.

“Oh my God, guess what happened today?” I said to Christy, who was still in Spuds, Florida.  “I kissed Todd, and then we went to his house and had pizza!”

            “Oh, I see, you had ‘pizza’?” She said back, laughing.

            “NO! Nothing like that happened!” I sat there, blushing as Christy laughed loudly into the phone.  “But, he really is a sweet guy...” I sighed.

            “Well, I’m glad you finally found someone who will take care of you when I’m not around.”

            I thought back to the whole sun shower thing, and wasn’t even sure if he really was a ‘someone’.  Maybe more of a: ‘God-like being not from earth’.  But, I wasn’t even sure if he even was.  The whole thing had gone by too fast, and I wasn’t even sure if I believed the whole thing had even really happened.  The more I thought about it, the more I was certain that Todd being a fox spirit was way too far fetched.  I touch my lips, suddenly feeling his lips on mine again, and smiled.

            “Yeah, I’m glad I found someone too.”