Free LIKE RAIN by Leen Elle Page A

every day."
    "But now I'm working at the Pizza Palace from 5 to 10. By the time I get home you'll be almost going to sleep," he said.
    I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm not going anywhere."
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Nineteen
     
     
     
    My homeroom and first period class was Physics, and of all people, I got stuck sitting next to Cael. We sat in silence for a while just waiting for class to start.
    "Nevaeh, I hate this," Cael said finally.
    "Hate what?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know what he was talking about.
    "What's going on with us," he said. "We're supposed to be best friends."
    "Look, I have a boyfriend and you have a girlfriend. That gets in the way of a co-ed friendship," I replied.
    "Why?"
    I hesitated. The real reason it mattered was because it hurt me too much to know that Cael and I weren't together. I knew that we'd never actually been together before, but somewhere in the bottom of my heart I believed that someday we would be. I couldn't ignore everything Maddy had said about Cael and I being perfect for each other. But now that I had to see him with Kyla all the time I had lost hope, and it was hard to even be his friend.
    "Because it just does," was all I managed to say.
    The rest of the day went by pretty much uneventfully. Halley was in most of my classes and I showed her around whenever I could. I got some looks from people and some random people gave me hugs throughout the day. I guess I had forgotten that people weren't able to show their pity for me when Maddy first died because it had been on the last day of school. Apparently they held in their sympathy for me all summer.
    Nathan picked me up after school and brought me to his apartment for half an hour before I would have to go to work. We had only been in the apartment a few minutes before Nathan had his hands on me. He led me into his bedroom, and before I knew it he was on top of me pulling at my clothes.
    "Wait. Stop," I said, pushing his hands off of me.
    "Come on," he said, still kissing my lips and neck. "Don't you love me?" The line went off like a bomb in my head, echoing through my mind.
    I bolted upright. "What did you say?" I asked with wide eyes. I was never going to fall for that trick.
    "I said, don't you love me?"
    "I think the real question is, do you love me?" I said.
    "Of course I love you," he said, starting to tug at my jeans. I pushed his hands off me.
    "If you really loved me you wouldn't be trying to get me to do something I don't want to do." I stood up and walked towards the door. "I'm going to work." I slipped on my shoes and walked out the door before he could stop me.
    I wasn't sure what to do once my shift ended. I was almost afraid to go back to Nathan's, but I knew I couldn't go home. I decided to risk going to Nathan's apartment. When I got there his car wasn't, and then I remembered that he had work until 10 o'clock. A surge of relief swept over me.
    I went to the guest room where I was staying and sat down on the bed. I noticed a plastic bag sticking out of the corner of my suitcase. I picked it up and realized it was the bad of stuff I had taken from Maddy's room before her parents moved away.
    I picked up the bottle of perfume and brought it to my nose. The scent seemed to fill my whole body, and it almost seemed like she was sitting right next to me. Her charm bracelet jingled and the sound of her foot steps went off in my head. I looked at the picture and saw her beautiful, smiling face. My eyes burned with tears, but I brushed them away.
    "How could you do this to me Maddy?" I said aloud. "How could you leave me? My whole world is falling apart. I'm lost without you." I couldn't hold my tears any longer and I collapsed onto my bed in a fit of sobs.
    I heard a noise near the door and looked up. Nathan was standing in my doorway. "What are you doing here?" I asked through my tears.
    "They let me leave