I Am Fallen.

Erica was waiting for me after school sitting on a bench with her legs crossed, doodling idly as she sang to a song. I could see her foot tapping lightly against the wood.

'I still believe, it's you and me till the end of time.' she sang, her body swaying slightly.

I could have stood and watched her all day but I knew she would look up eventually, wanting to know where I am and realising I'm only a few steps away. She'd be furious that I'd been watching her.

I sat next to her, she still didn't notice me. I poked her side and she jumped up, pulling some things from her ear. They were attached to some sort of wire, similar to what Lou had been wearing earlier.

'What are they?' I asked before she could punch me in the arm for startling her.

'Huh? Oh, these are earphones. They're attached to this-' she held up a small object. '-and it plays music in your ears. Oh gosh, you didn't hear me singing, did you?'

'erm...nope.' I lied. She saw through it though.

'Oh man, sorry. I'm surprised you didn't pass out from the terrible screeching that came from my mouth just.' she said casually but I could see her face turning red.

I laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

'Don't worry, you weren't bad...more like awful.' I snickered, receiving a slap on my chest for the comment.

'Jeez, thanks.' she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at me. 'Come on, we should get going. It looks like it's gonna rain.'

'Rain?' I said. Is rain a bad thing?

'Oh my gosh! You've never felt rain?' Erica gasped, tugging my sleeve to drag me along with her. I noticed we weren't going in the direction of her house.

'No, I haven't. Where are we going?' I asked nervously.

I didn't like taking the chance of having her out and about, I still didn't know how she was going to...going to die. I had to stop it and I was completely unprepared. I was unsure of what I was going to do.

'The park.' she threw a smile at me. 'We first met there, yadda yadda yadda. Also, it looks like rain and you've never felt it so I'm going to give you a human experience. At least, an experience that most people go through in Britain.'

'Well, alright.' I mumbled, keeping my eyes on everything that moved. I couldn't risk this.

'What's up? You seem a bit...edgy.' Erica said, looking to me with concern.

'Oh, just a rough day.' I replied, sounding gloomy. I tried to cheer up. 'To the park then?'

She giggled and nodded just as we walked through the gates to the park. It looked pretty much the same as when I had first arrived, just that it was daytime now.

I felt something drop on my face and I looked up, worried. Suddenly, a whole load of drops came crashing down, splashing onto the path and dripping down my face. My hand reached up to touch it and I saw that it was water.

Should the sky be doing that? It was...leaking?

'Erica...' I said, looking over to her to ask what was happening. Then I saw her putting up something, it spread over her head and protected her from the water.

'It's the rain, Zach. Totally normal, nothing that will kill you.' she shouted over the rain.

'Yeah? Then how come you have that thing to protect you then?' I called, pointing at the...whatever it was.

Even in the downpour, I could hear Erica laughing. My eyes narrowed into slits mockingly.

'Fine, I'll just go then if you're going to laugh at me.' I huffed. Of course, I was faking being angry...and Erica could see that. She just laughed harder.

'No, it's alright. Come here. This is an umbrella, Zach. It stops you getting wet. I suppose you can stand under my umbrella.' she told me, twirling it around above her head. Water flew off the edge of it and sprayed at me.

'Well, it's a bit late to keep me dry.' I muttered, stepping under anyway.

The umbrella was only small, me and Erica could barely fit under it. I felt her breath on my cheek, warm.

'Do you want to go home now so you can get dry?' she said, already starting to walk away as if she knew my answer. Of course, she guessed correctly. I was only too happy to get out of the rain...and to get Erica out of danger.

She took my hand and gave it a squeeze, I felt my heart jump in my chest.

Despite everything, I still was amazed that she could still make me feel that way.