Silver Lining

Written by: Kimono3kitty

Word Count: 1,541

Summary: A boy named Charles learns how to turn a bad day into a good one. Beware of major fluff.

My dog, who was my best friend, died yesterday.

I wanted to stay at home today and just sit underneath the big old oak tree where we buried him.

My mother had other ideas.

“Look Charles, I know how much you loved Zack, but you need to go to school.” Her gaze softened for a moment when she saw the fresh mound of dirt through the kitchen window.

I dared to hope she had changed her mind.

Then, she squared her shoulders and continued. “You only have a week until you finals and you need to study!”

“But Mom!” I tried. She loved Zack almost as much as I did, even though they did get off to a rocky start. Besides, I was pretty smart and my teachers’ idea of a review was a ‘good luck’ on the board, with a smiley face next to it if they were feeling generous.

“No nuts mister! Get out!” To emphasize her point, she folded her arms and gave me The Look. I swear, that Look could burn through lead, not that I’ve ever seen it done or anything. But I bet it could.

The Look also meant I’d lost the argument. Any resistance was now futile.

I opened the door and saw that the sky was overcast. I grabbed by bag and ran to the bus stop, and since I’m the fastest runner on the track team, that’s saying something.

I caught the bus just in time and I was only mildly soaked.

Then, I noticed that I didn’t have my money. I’d left it at the table. It was just my luck.

Yeah, so then I got to school (and by the way, it was a Monday) and my morning classes were pretty normal. And by normal I mean boring, you know how that goes.

Until I got to chemistry. I got back a quiz, which wasn’t mine, with a gigantic, blaring fire-engine red ‘F’ on it.

I do not get F’s in chemistry. Ever.

So, I tried telling that to the teacher.

“Mrs. Isaac, this isn’t my paper. It has no name and it was done in pink. I always check to make sure my name is on my paper and I don’t own ant pink pens. And I know this material, you know that.”

“I don’t have time for this Charles. Why don’t you go to your next class?”

And as if my life didn’t suck enough, I had to sit through lunch, alone and hungry.

Yeah, alone. See, I don’t have any friends, even though I’ve been here for two months. It’s because of two things 1) I’m a good runner, 2) I’m smart.

See, this school has a super-strict status-quo. Basically, you’re either a jock or a nerd. You can’t be both. And if you are- both I mean-, you’re ostracized until you decide.

So I’m one of the few outcasts, part of the group that has been ostracized from the high school social ladder.

So, after that, nothing good or bad happened for the rest of the school day. It was one of those afternoons where everyone, including the teacher, is looking at the clock every 10 seconds.

Then, I went to track practice.

I mentioned earlier that I’m a really fast runner.

But I don’t like running.

I love it.

I love everything about it: the ruffle of wind through my hair, the sound of my feet hitting the track, the rush of adrenaline during a race, the thrill of victory. Heck, I love running so much, I don’t mind losing.

All of the day’s bad memories and feelings the day had caused vanished the second I stepped onto the track.

It started to rain.

Then, Coach cancelled practice and sent us home.

I didn’t feel like going home, partially because there was noting to do there but mostly because of Zack.

So, I decided to go to the park, yeah, it was a stupid idea because of the rain and all, but come on, what else could possibly go wrong?

At the Park

I wandered over to the gate and leaned on it, ignoring the rain. I looked at the brightly colored, plastic jungle gym, slides, and monkey bars. I turned my heard to glance at my personal favorite thing about the park: the swing set. I squinted through the water, astonished.

There was someone on one of the swings. They weren’t moving; they were just sitting there.

I was curious, and slightly intrigued, so I decided to take a look.

My sneakers crunched against the ground as I approached the swing set. I could see the person more clearly now.

It was a girl about my age with long, wet, blond hair. It was the type of blond that was so lightly colored, it looked white. She turned, hearing my sneakers, I suppose, and looked me right in the eye.

With a jolt, I recognized her. Her name was Miriam. She was in my chemistry class. She was considered an outcast like me because she was smart and really pretty. She was kind of distant and quiet at school, though we had had a few conversations before, so I knew she was a lot deeper than she looked. For a few weeks now I’ve wanted to ask her out, but I wasn’t sure how she would react. So, I kept my mouth shut.

Miriam cocked her head to one side, her wet hair falling over one rain soaked shoulder. “Hello Charles.” She greeted me.

“Hi Miriam.” I answered, shoving my hands into my pockets, wishing I had a backbone.

She nodded politely, acknowledging my greeting.

“So what are you doing out here?” I asked, she was wet enough to have been sitting out here since school had ended, a good half-hour ago. Besides it was kind of the reason I had walked over here in the first place.

“Seeing, thinking, pondering, and wondering.” Miriam gestured to the empty swing next to hers. “Would you like to join me?”

I considered her offer. Now was a good a time as any to try and grow that backbone. I sat down.

We sat in silence for awhile as the rain continued to fall. Miriam gazed off at the dreary sky, looking like she was lost in her own world.

My thoughts turned to Zack. I didn’t want to think about him, so I tried distracting myself, by counting the trees.

Miriam broke the silence. “Is there something bothering you?” she asked gently.

I opened my mouth to say ‘nothing’s wrong’ when I realized something. Miriam was probably the closest thing I had to a friend. She knew something was wrong with me, probably from all of those previous conversations. And she had waited before asking, letting me think for awhile. That showed me she wasn’t trying to pry the information out of me. She was doing this simply because she wanted to make me feel better.

I ended up telling her everything. She just sat there, watching me with her big blue eyes, listening, really listening.

When I finished my story, she told me softly, “Why don’t you try looking for the silver lining?”

I didn’t have the slightest clue what she was talking about.

Miriam must have realized this; she continued by saying, “You know, try looking on the bright side. What good came out of today?”

I thought about it. “Well I think I raised Melissa Fanriv’s Chemistry grade by quite a bit.”

Miriam smiled. “How do you know that?” she asked.

Man, she was cute when she smiled like that.

“She’s the only one who writes in pink.” I told her. “Haven’t you heard Mrs. Isaac going off on her about it during class?”

“No,” she answered, without a moment’s hesitation. “I make it a point not to listen to her when she isn’t teaching.

I laughed at that. She had clearly relaxed; she didn’t joke around at all at school. Now was as a good a time as ever to get that backbone…Now how would I ask her…

“Another good thing about today was getting to come to the park.” Well that didn’t work out as planned, way too straight forward. Now she probably thinks I’m one of those playboys.

Miriam looked me straight in the eyes. “Hey Charles?”

“Yes?” Maybe she didn’t hear what I just said…I really hope she didn’t.

“Would you like to the movies with me?”

What?! “You mean like, like a date?” My voice rose an octave on the last word.

“Yes, like a date.” Miriam grinned at me.

“But isn’t the guy supposed to ask the girl out?” I blurted.

“Well, yes,” she admitted, “but you never asked and I got tired of waiting.” She blushed slightly, and then continued, “so is it a yes or no?’

“It’s a yes.” I finally noticed that it had stopped raining. Judging by the dry patched on my clothes, I’d guess that it had stopped a good ten minutes ago.

The sun sank behind the clouds, turning the edges silver.

Miriam, her hair the same color as the clouds, turned to me once more and said, “Doesn’t it take your breath away?”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.