Out Of Place

Before I knew it, I was running out of the house and slamming the door behind me. I’d never been so mad. Dan had no right to speak to me like that. I ended up at the park a dozen blocks away from the high school. It was completely empty and I suddenly realised why. It was fucking freezing outside. My leggings and thin hoodie were no match for the bitter Baltimore air. I forgot that October meant it was cold here. The sky looked almost black, even though it was barely 5pm. I made my way over to the swings, with my back to the road. I sat there for what seemed like hours crying out of anger.

The sky finally opened up and it started raining. Not too heavily but enough for my hoodie to start feeling damp in 10 minutes. To be perfectly honest, I loved the rain. I loved the smell of it and the sound of it on the roof at night. But most of all, I loved being in it. Back home, the second it started raining, I was out the door and standing in it, dancing around like a freak and laughing at myself. Everyone thought I was insane. No one understood the obsession I had with the rain, I didn’t quite get it either. It seemed like the weather gods here in Baltimore decided to try and cheer me up with a bit of rain. I got off the swing and stood with my face turned to the heavens, letting the hood fall off my head and the rain wash through my hair. It was the best feeling. I was so zoned out I didn’t hear someone calling my name until they were two feet away.

“Megan, what the fuck man? You’re gonna get sick,” the familiar male voice floated to my ears, bringing me back to earth.
“I like the rain,” was what I managed as a whispered reply.
“You’re fucking crazy,” Alex muttered and I laughed.
“Only just worked that out Gaskarth?”
“I think I’ve known for a while,” he said with a smirk and a laugh. “Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me back towards the road. My hand was tingling from his touch. I stopped walking, pulling my hand from his grasp and Alex glanced over his shoulder at me. “Megs, what are you doing?”
“Live a little Gaskarth,” I replied simply and started dancing around in the rain to an imaginary beat. Alex just laughed at how stupid I looked, but he shot me a smile and started dancing with me. He took one of my hands and twirled me under his arm. If anyone had walked past, they probably would have had us committed.

I was in a fit of giggles from dancing. Alex grabbed my hand again and towed me towards his car, pushing me into the passenger’s seat. I peeled off my saturated hoodie and was left in my tank top, which was damp despite the fact it hadn’t actually seen any of the rain. Alex got into the driver’s seat and turned the car on before looking over at me. I saw his eyes wander for a second but then his glance came back to my face.
“So are you gonna tell me why you were standing in the rain or…?” Alex had started driving in a random direction.
“Well it wasn’t raining when I got there,” I mumbled avoiding the question and Alex laughed.
“Yeah, well a normal person would have taken the rain as a sign to go home.”
“Well then, I’m not exactly a normal person.” Alex laughed and nodded in agreement. His laugh made my heart melt slightly. “Where are we going?”
“Well, considering you were sitting in the rain and not at home, I figure you don’t wanna be there,” Alex said as he glanced over at me before returning his eyes to the road. “You don’t have to explain. My mom’s making pasta for dinner.” He left it at that, not pressing for answers to questions I knew he wanted to ask. I was grateful he didn’t.

We pulled up to a house in a street I recognised as the same one Jack lived in. I could make out his house on the opposite side of the road, half a dozen blocks away. Alex pulled into the driveway and we got out of the car. He led the way up to the front door and pushed it open, dragging me in behind him.
“Mom, I’m back,” Alex called into the house, kicking off his shoes and shedding his jacket. “I brought a friend for dinner, is that alright?”
“Of course, dear,” a slightly accented female voice called back.
Alex looked back at me over his shoulder and grinned, then pulled me further into the house and through to the kitchen. Alex’s mum was standing over the stove, spatula in hand. She turned when she heard Alex start to speak.
“Mom, this is Megan Attard. She’s moved here from Australia. You know Deb Robinson right? Megan is her niece.”
“It’s so nice to meet you dear,” Mrs Gaskarth said with a smile. I placed her accent as English. “Oh my, what happened to you two? Why are you all wet?” she asked in a concerned voice.
“We got caught out in the rain,” Alex replied simply. I just nodded.
“Alex, go and get her something to change into. I’ll put your clothes through the wash dear.”

Alex did as his mother said and disappeared upstairs, leaving me in the kitchen with her.
“How is your Aunt doing, Megan? She was in at the hospital last week but I didn’t get the chance to speak with her.” I looked over at Mrs Gaskarth who had a kind smile on her friendly features.
“Yeah, she’s ok. She was just there for a check up.” I told the standard lie easily. Truthfully, Aunt Deb wasn’t getting better, but she wasn’t getting worse.

Alex reappeared, having gotten changed himself, with a pair of black basketball shorts and an obnoxiously bright orange t-shirt.
“I know it’s a horrible colour, but it’s the only thing I have that’s small enough to fit you,” Alex said as he handed me the clothes he’d pulled out for me. “You can jump in the shower if you want, you must be freezing.”
“I think I might, if that’s ok,” I replied quietly.
Alex nodded and pulled me upstairs and into the bathroom.
“I’ll grab you a towel.” Alex walked out of the room and was back in seconds, handing me a towel. “Call out if you need anything, yeah?” he said as he retreated back down stairs.

I took my time in the shower, letting the water soak over me to help wash away the slight annoyance I was still feeling about Daniel and the fight I’d gotten in with him. When the skin on my hands started to wrinkle from being in the water for too long, I got out. I quickly dried myself, slipping Alex’s clothes on and gathering my own, wet ones, up in the towel I’d just used. I left my hair out to dry. I went back down stairs, back to the kitchen, but I stopped at the door when I heard Alex talking about me.

“…I just don’t think she wants to go home, Mom. You should have seen her. She was crying and everything.”
“Alex, her family is probably worried about her. She needs to at least call them, so they know where she is. She is more than welcome to stay as long as you’re going to behave.”
Alex groaned slightly at his mother’s comment. “Mom, it’s not like that with Megan and me. We’re friends, that’s all.”
“Right Alex, and I’m really Wonder Woman. I’m not blind; I see the way you look at her,” Mrs Gaskarth replied with a small laugh. “Now make yourself useful and pull out some plates.”
I smiled to myself slightly and counted to 10 before deciding to enter the room. Alex had his head in a cupboard and Mrs Gaskarth was stirring a pot.

“Smells amazing, Mrs Gaskarth,” I said lightly. She turned to smile at me before focusing her attention back on the stove. Alex had grabbed a stack of plates, cutlery and a table cloth and was setting the table for dinner. He looked over at me and let out a small laugh. “What?”
Alex gave me a slightly amused look before commenting. “You look like a retard,” he said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I'm not the one who picked them out,” I shot back and laughed. I grabbed the stack of plates and helped set the table.
“Pass your laundry dear, I’ll put it through the wash,” Mrs Gaskarth said. I thanked her and passed her the towel with my clothes in it. As soon as she left the room, Alex started talking again.

“So, what happened?” he asked cautiously.
I let out a small sigh before I answered. “I got into a fight with my mum. A full blown fight because of lies Dan’s been feeding her. I started yelling at him and he called me a skank. So I hit him and ran off.”
“Your cousin’s a dick.”
“Alex, language,” Mrs Gaskarth called as she came back into the kitchen.
“Sorry Mom,” Alex replied with a slight grin. “Anyway, I can take you home later, if you want, but Mom said it’d be ok if you wanted to stay. I’ll sleep on the couch or whatever and you can take my room.”
“No, I don’t want to cause any hassle. I can just walk home, it’s not that far,” I said quickly.
“It’s no trouble, dear,” Mrs Gaskarth said as she sat down the bowl of pasta onto the dining table.

Mrs Gaskarth’s cooking was amazing. We ate in silence, but it wasn’t an awkward one. Alex and I were just too busy stuffing our faces. As Alex helped himself to thirds, the phone rang and Mrs Gaskarth excused herself to go and answer it.

I watched, bemused, as Alex shovelled more food into his mouth. “How can you eat all that?”
“I’m a growing boy Megan, I need as much carbs as I can get,” he replied with his mouthful. I laughed at him and shook my head.

Once Alex had finished eating, we started clearing the table. Mrs Gaskarth told me several times to go at sit down but I told her it was fine.
“If only all of Alex’s friends were as eager to help out,” she said with a laugh. I sat on the countertop next to the sink as Alex washed the dishes. He would look over at me every now and then and smile, but he never said anything.