It was raining again.

No surprises there, I thought to myself amidst the grumbling of those who hadn’t had the foresight to pack an umbrella that morning. How, I wondered, can some of these people have lived here three times longer then I have and not learned by now that it always rains here? Not a day had passed since that first miserable one, when I’d arrived home from school soggy and shivering in my thin California sweater, had I not taken the necessary precautions against the downpour. I dug through my backpack and pulled out my black and white designer umbrella – one of many of my mom’s consolation prizes for coming here. I found the idea of a designer umbrella totally unnecessary, but I wasn’t going to turn down the free merchandise. Besides, it was sort of pretty – it almost looked like something I’d pick out for myself, except that it probably cost upwards of fifty dollars.

The bell sounded overhead, and I made my way towards my locker, numb by now to the never-ending cold that plagued Detroit during wintertime. If either my dad or brother ever came to visit us, not knowing what to expect, they’d probably turn into human icicles overnight. I smirked at the mental image of my sister and I standing over them, their bodies encased in ice, chipping away with a hammer and chisel. As I turned the corner I could already see Jaden’s tiny frame engulfed by her monstrous blue ski jacket, tapping her foot impatiently beneath an umbrella.

“Would you hurry up?” she shouted over several heads to me. “I’m freezing my ass off over here!”

I rolled my eyes and deliberately continued walking at the same pace as before, although to my credit, I didn’t give into my inner meanness and bend over to tie my shoes. When I finally arrived by Jaden’s side, I did feel a small surge of pity for my friend, who appeared to be frozen to the bone, but it evaporated as it usually did once she opened her mouth.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to piss me off. Could you have taken any longer getting here?” I found her griping startlingly easy to ignore as I reached past her to fiddle with the lock, a task that proved to be especially difficult with my almost-numb fingers.

“You know, some people would thank me for generously giving up half of my locker to them when they could just as easily get their stuff stolen by having to stash it under some random tree, Jaden,” I didn’t bother to look over at her as I swung the door open and switched my books, finally stepping back so Jaden could have a turn, not that she deserved it.

“You’re being overdramatic. If I really got that desperate, I’d just bring a backpack to school,” she paused for a moment before mimicking my earlier tone, “Celine.”

“Great idea,” I nodded encouragingly at her. “So why don’t you do it?”

“Uhhh,” I tried not to laugh at her panicked expression as she struggled to come up with an excuse. “Because…because I have an amazing friend that wouldn’t want me to end up with awful back problems when I’m older from carting all of my shit around for four years?”

Despite my best efforts, I grinned at her. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

She laughed faintly as she withdrew her chemistry textbook and clanged the locker door shut. “So, you’ll never guess what my mom told me this morning,” she said eagerly, her bright blue eyes wide with the expression of someone with some really exciting news to share. I, on the other hand, had known Jaden long enough to know better.

“What?”

“She said thaaaat,” she drew out the last sound for as long as she possibly could, probably trying to dig up some hidden enthusiasm in me. Too bad for her, but I wasn’t buying it. “You can come over after school today!”

“Wow,” I feigned a huge grin, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “You say that like I didn’t practically live at your house over summer vacation.”

“Exactly,” she nodded, her expression utterly serious. “And we all got used to having you there, and now life just isn’t the same. Jonathan particularly misses you.”

“He said that?” I asked, unconvinced. Jaden’s older brother, while undeniably attractive, hadn’t ever really shown the slightest inclination to get to know me, despite the ungodly amount of time I spent at their house. He was always friendly and polite, but I always felt like he was scrutinizing me for some sign that I shouldn’t be hanging around his sister. I feel so misunderstood, I sighed inwardly. Between me and Jaden, if anyone’s a bad influence, it’s definitely not me.

She smiled as if it should have been obvious. “Well not in so many words, but he’s been acting even more emo then usually lately. I have a theory about that….”

I shut her down quickly. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Oh come on, I caught him listening to MCR yesterday!” she shuddered, and I wondered if she knew that she’d just named one of my favorite bands. As thankful that I was that Jaden had appeared in my life (and basically glued herself to my side) during my first summer in Detroit, it surprised me sometimes when I thought about how little we actually knew about each other.

“And that’s supposed to worry me?”

“Come on,” she pleaded, batting her long lashes up at me. It almost made me sick to think about how good she’d gotten at manipulating me in only a few short months. “You’re so antisocial!”

“I’m not antisocial,” I insisted, trying to remain aloof, although already I could feel my last defenses tumbling down, “You never let me be antisocial,” I complained.

“So you’ll come then?” she grinned victoriously, and I rolled my eyes as she pumped a fist into the air.

“I’m not making any promises,” I warned, and as the bell sounded overhead, I turned to wave at Jaden, but instead felt her slender arms wrap around my back and pull me close for a split second. I awkwardly patted her shoulders and she laughed a little as she released me.

“Sorry,” she smiled apologetically. “I forget sometimes that you’re weird about touching,” she began walking in the direction of her next class. “See you after school!” she called back, and I began trudging off toward Geometry, oblivious to the world around me. As much as I liked Jaden, there was no denying the relief that I always felt when I was left alone again. It’s not that she was in the least bit annoying, and in fact, I was very grateful that she was in my life, although I didn’t really understand what she saw in me that compelled her to spend every waking moment with me. I didn’t even mind her never-ending stream of chatter, because if anything, it saved me from having to further our conversations. It’s just that I preferred being alone, able to let my mind wander instead of having to focus on somebody else. Being forced to think about something in particular frustrated me – I preferred to let thoughts come and go as they pleased.

The buzz of kids calling and laughing to each other created a white noise barrier, and I was walking to class on autopilot when I noticed myself about to collide with something solid. I stopped myself just in time and stared up into the face of an unfamiliar boy with light, silvery hair and piercing blue eyes glaring almost accusatorily down at me. I stared back for a split second, confused as to what I could have done to offend this complete stranger. As I lowered my gaze, I couldn’t help noticing how hard his chest looked, and it was hard to control my blush. I brushed past him, managing to mutter a quick “Sorry”, and I could feel his questioning stare follow me until I turned the corner of the 300 building and escaped from his view.

Sighing, I took a moment to collect myself before I made my way into room 305, pass the massive chunk of students gathered by the doorway to greet their friends, and towards my seat near the furthermost corner of the room. I sank into my desk gladly and rested my head against the cool wood for a moment until I heard Danny’s stuff hit the floor in front of me. I tried not to move a muscle, feverishly hoping that today would be the one day out of the entire year when Danny would respect my obvious lack of any social etiquette and choose to avoid me, and I groaned when I heard his fingers drumming on the desk beside my ear.

“Good afternoon sunshine,” I could almost hear Danny’s grin as I mumbled something unintelligible. “Really, California, I could almost accept this sort of treatment if we shared a first period class together, but it’s two in the afternoon. Surely you have to be awake by now.”

Danny’s formal way of speaking caught me off guard, as it always did, and I lifted my head a fraction of an inch. “But I don’t wanna talk…”

“Face your fears, darling,” he leaned in closer to me and shot me a radiant smile as I rose to a sitting position. “Much better. Now, you see, if I was one of them,” he gestured to the rest of the class, who weren’t paying us the least bit of attention, “and didn’t know any better, I could actually believe that you were enjoying this conversation.”

“Good thing you know better then,” I raised an eyebrow as he chucked, and I wondered, as I always did, why Danny wasted so much time forcing conversation with me. With his killer charm, good looks, and insane athletic abilities, Danny was destined for success. He already had a football scholarship to UCLA, and now that I knew him well enough to judge, I couldn’t deny that the boy had brains to fall back on – for sure, I wouldn’t ever see that boy bagging my groceries.

“You have a beautiful name,” he’d said to me on my first day of school, the first time we’d ever spoken. “It suits you well.” I’d ignored him for the rest of the period, believing him to have been making fun of me, because soaking wet as I was, I didn’t feel the least bit beautiful. I felt more like Celine in a drowned rat costume. Since then, however, I’d discovered that strangely enough, I actually enjoyed getting to know Danny (when I was in the mood for conversation, that was), and even stranger, he really did find me attractive. For me, that was something totally new, and I hadn’t really decided yet how I felt about it.

“Hey, you didn’t by any chance happen to do the homework last night, did you?” I asked hopefully, and he laughed playfully in response. I grimaced when I realized that he thought I was kidding.

“C’mon California, isn’t that what I have you for?” I should probably mention now that for someone who’d thought my name was so beautiful, he’d taken up calling me “California” pretty quickly. I didn’t really understand the logic behind it – I would’ve felt silly calling him “Michigan”, even if that hadn’t meant that I’d have to call everyone else “Michigan” too.

“I didn’t have time last night,” I admitted reluctantly, and he shot me a wounded expression. “I’m sorry.”

“You could have just told me that you didn’t want to share your homework anymore,” he frowned, obviously trying to look insulted. “You don’t have to make excuses.”

“You don’t really expect me to sit here and nurse your hurt feelings, do you?” I asked skeptically, though his body language suggested otherwise. “I swear though, I really didn’t have a lot of free time last night. My mom needed my help with a bunch of stuff, and the homework for all of my other classes was piling up - I’m not holding out on you, I promise,” I prodded him from behind. “Come on, talk to me.” Damn him for making me beg like that, especially since I knew he wasn’t serious! Jaden had a pretty powerful hold over me, but even she had something coming to her if she thought she could make me beg for her company.

His smiling brown eyes lit up even more then usual, and I prepared myself for a big heaping helping of sarcasm. “You do have a heart!”

I glowered at his little prank. “Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

“Cross my heart,” he vowed solemnly, and I felt myself relaxing, despite myself. “So, any good California stories for me today?” he rested his elbows on my desk, and his back was completely turned to Mr. Dewey, who was too busy droning on as usual to notice, this time about exponents.

“Have I ever had what you would consider a “good California story” for you?” I made quotation marks in the air. “You’re gonna experience it for yourself soon enough anyway; don’t let me spoil it for you,” I said sourly. I hadn’t made a secret of my initial jealousy over Danny’s having been accepted into a California college. He laughed boyishly at my expense and tickled my chin with his forefinger.

“You know you’re welcome to visit as often as you’d like,” he grinned his trademark Danny-the-all-star grin and winked, and I rolled my eyes at what came next. “I don’t care if you never leave.”

“I’m sorry – did you just wink at me?” I asked, pretending to be revolted, and he laughed.

“Only if you saw it,” he smiled, and I wanted to shake my head at the unfairness of it. When he smiled, I was reminded of a minute-long ad for toothpaste that seemed to come on T.V every ten minutes. It really wasn’t fair – where had I been when God was handing out the perfect teeth?

“But seriously, I’m not as gung-ho California as I was last time we talked about this,” I changed the subject before the conversation had a chance to turn into a big come-on. “You’ll be disappointed to know that it really doesn’t live up to its expectations.”

“I can’t keep up with you sometimes Celine,” he shook his head, and I couldn’t help but notice that his sandy brown bangs fell back especially nicely. “So this means you like it here now?”

“More or less,” I stayed evasive. Detroit had really been growing on me lately, and for awhile I hadn’t been able to pinpoint the reason why. At first, I thought it could’ve been the growing friendship I was forging with Jaden, or the peace the divorce had brought at home, or even, though I would never admit this to anyone, the realization that having a (very) cute boy interested in me wasn’t as painful as I made it out to be. I would love for that to have been it – I’d love to have been born the kind of girl that embraces every second of life and tries to live it to the fullest.

But in the end, I couldn’t lie to myself – I’d had a pack of close friends back in California, been an active member of the dance team, and gotten along with my entire family (although they’d never really gotten along with each other). Sometimes, though, I’d felt as if I was mentally on a different planet then the rest of them, even though from the outside, I fit in just fine. Like a social chameleon, I could adapt to any given situation, but I didn’t crave their company the way they craved one another’s –a lot of the time, I would have been happier entertaining myself. There were so many times when I realized that I was only going through the motions of life, but not really living any of it.

In Detroit, it was easier for me to be invisible.

“Wouldn’t be because of a certain handsome man in your Geometry class, would it?” he raised both eyebrows suggestively. “Because you know I won’t tell anyone…”

I blinked innocently, feigning genuine confusion. “Mr. Dewey?”

“Not quite what I was after, but that’s definitely news,” he noted, and I remembered that he was just as capable of doling out the sarcasm as I was; he just usually kept a lid on it out of politeness.

“Well you did say man,” I reminded him sweetly, but we were interrupted my Mr. Dewey, who called Danny up to the board to fix a problem that another student had solved incorrectly. He grimaced and rose to his feet slowly, standing with a confidence that any actor would sell their soul for.

“Duty calls,” he looked straight at me. “This one’s for you, California.” I turned beet red as he slowly made his way up to the board, and I could see him scanning everyone’s notes, searching for the faintest trace of a right answer. He approached the board with a fat red marker and talked around the problem for awhile (not actually solving it), but he pulled the whole thing off with such charm that it was impossible for Mr. Dewey to find anything to say against him. He was dismissed back to his seat, and though I whispered “Con-artist” to him as he sat down again, I wasn’t whether or not he heard me, because he didn’t turn back around.

My eyes wandered around the room, and I noted that the majority of my classmates weren’t doing anything more productive then I was. At least half of them had earphones in, a few more were reading or working on something for another class, and one guy in the opposite corner of the room was trying to balance a pencil on his nose. Mike Something and Rachel Something Else were heatedly discussing something just out of Mr. Dewey’s hearing range, and I could see Rachel quietly boiling up with rage. I’d heard rumors that the two had been dating for over a year, but I wasn’t sure if this was typical behavior for them. Good luck Mike, I thought sympathetically, then decided it wasn’t fair to take sides without knowing what the offense was. The board was filled with a disarray of numbers that might’ve made sense to me had I been paying attention, and I sincerely hoped that Jaden had taken notes earlier in the day.

I turned to stare out the window, one of my favorite pastimes in Dewey’s class, and gasped as a pair of blue eyes mirrored my own. I recognized the face almost immediately – it belonged to the boy I’d run into before class, and he was staring at me in the same harsh manner as before, his nose almost pressed against the glass. I stared at him, frozen, and in just the blink of an eye, he vanished so quickly that I wondered whether or not I’d just imagined the whole thing. Thoroughly shaken, I went to tap Danny on the shoulder to ask him if he’d seen the apparition, but he’d been fast asleep against his desk for ten minutes – the only thing he saw was the inside of his eyelids.

“Danny,” I whispered urgently, but to no avail, he stayed asleep. I decided to put the incident out of my mind, convinced I’d imagined the boy, and instead concentrated on the finishing the class work we’d been assigned, though I was positive that 75 of my answers were wrong regardless. Eventually Danny awoke, and we got to talking, and though I hadn’t managed to forget my strange experience, I didn’t mention it to him– what seems paranormal at the time sounds kind of dumb when you think about it 20 minutes later.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel anxious, and then disappointed, when the bell rang, and the mysterious boy was nowhere to be seen. Danny gave me his usual friendly hug, and then I was off as usual to meet Jaden, thoughts of the stranger still lurking in the back of my mind. I pondered what it all could mean. Even if seeing the boy meant I was insane, I really didn’t mind all that much. In the world of the mentally unstable, at least, I would be utterly normal.