Raining

"Marsha, it's been a long time since you've been out there." was what my dad said to me.
I turned around & saw him frowning upon me sitting on my comfy study chair, messing around with my MacBook.

"Aw... But dad! It's just the last day of exams! I think I should have a little peace & quiet with my Mac." I wined.
"Yes, but when are you going to hae some time with Mother Nature?" he queried.
"What's that got to do with nature?! You're holding a squash raquet - don't think I can't see, dad!"

I don't know why but my dad's been bugging me to play squash since two weeks ago.

"Oh fine."
I changed to one of my big, baggy school shirt, grabbed a pair of trackbottoms & my raquet & I was off to go.





[bop bop]
"Nice score, Marsha!"

I grunted as I tried to reach for the ball, but it was too far away.
I fell on the floor & hit it furiously.

"Why can't I always hit the ball?!" I said, fuming.

Mostly, I can only hit the ball once. Just once.
Then, I'd miss it or it hit my head.
Either one.

"There's always next week." my dad said in that cheer-up! tone.
I grunted & wiped my forehead with the hand-towel I brought down as I glugged from the bottle of water.



As I was walking from the squash court to the lift, I noticed it was raining.
"Marsha, I'm going to buy some stuff. You go on ahead." my dad said & threw me the keys.
I caught it & gave a nod.

A few guys, damp from the rain (& the pool) were running & headed to the guys' toilet.
Except for one.

He was cute - tall, brown eyes shaddowed by his long-ish brown hair. He headed to the lift.
So there I was, standing next to a cute guy in a swimsuit, waiting for the lift at the lobby... In my sweaty clothes.
Hmm... Truly the idealistic time for "true love" to appear, right?


[Ding!]

The guy went in & opened the lift doors for me. I smiled & said, "Thank you"
... A little too loudly, I just realised.
Anyway, he smiled back at me - so cute! & not just the baby-cute. I'm talking about GUY-cute - & looked at me, up & down.
I wasn't watching him doing that - I just saw that at the corner of my eye.

He smiled to himself & I smirked back, "You look nice yourself."
At first, he looked kind of surprise. I don't know why but he did.
Maybe he didn't know I could speak English - asides the Thank You thing.
I don't blame him, really. I do look a little Asian-ish.

& besides, this condo is roaming with foreigners. Some people live here while others are just renting for a vacation.

He didn't even have the sincerity to blush!
'Hmm... Well, at least this guy is modest.' I thought sarcastically.

"So... you new 'round here?" he said.
I tried not to laugh at his casualness. I mean, who was he trying to kid?
I've been staying in this condo since I was just a toddler & I haven't seen him around the area.
So who, exactly, is the new kid here?

"Maybe." I said flirtily.
"Maybe you'd like to have a tour guide around. Just in case you don't get lost. This place is pretty big, you know."
"Maybe I will."
"Maybe you will."

We stared at each other for a while, a smile playing on his lips, & I was just as bad.

"Hey... Why aren't we moving?" I asked.
We both glanced at the touch panel & realised that we didn't press the level button.
We burst laughing as we pressed the level number we were on.

"Hmm... Level 10, eh? Well... I heard people related to 10 are very lucky." he said.
"Lucky me. I happen to be 10... Plus six."
He smiled.
"I get the better luck. I'm 10 plus eight."
"Lucky you."
"Lucky me."

[ding]

"Guess you've reached your house."
"Yep. Bye." I gave him a last smile before I left the lift.















I didn't see him for a while. I mean, it wasn't like I was waiting for him.
Much.

I keep peeking out at my window, hoping to see him swimming around with his friends. The first thought that came to mind as I reached my room after that lift incident was, 'No way is he going to see me in my swimsuit!'

& I shall be sticking to that resolution.

'Aw... What the heck?' I thought as I grabbed the squash racquet, which was standing at the closet door for so long.
"Bye, dad! I'm off to play some squash!" I yelled out, my voice bouncing off the walls, loud enough for my dad to hear.









I threw the rubber ball up into the air & swung the racquet like mad, only making me seem like the crazy one around.
'I hate squash.' I thought miserably. 'I hate squash & forever I will!'

As I thought of that, I threw the ball into the air & hit the ball. I hit it so hard that it bounced off the ceiling so fast, like a meteorite. I ran to a corner to try & hit it again, but I missed.

"Bravo." I heard a deep voice say behind me, with the sounds of clapping.
At first I thought it'd been my dad, trying to tease me with his best immitation of Pierce Brosnan.
But I turned around & realised it wasn't my dad. It was him.

"Hey." I said casually, even though inwardly, I was freaking out!
What guy talks to me?
Not a very sane one, I tell you.

"Hey." he said right back. I couldn't help noticing that his eyes seem to be the same colour as the pool - clear blue.
"So... You play squash." he said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Yea. But I'm no Nicole Davidson." I said as I tried to do warm-up for my right hand.
"Maybe. But I am." he said.

Man, this guy really has no modesty.

"Oh really?" I teased.
"Yes." he teased back, coming closer towards me & whispered, "Here." in my ear as he hugged me, putting his arms around mine, his right hand on mine, his left in the air, throwing the ball up in the air.
As it was in mid-air, he quickly grabbed both my arms & swung it with force, hitting the ball, making it bounce off the wall.

It came hurtling towards us - towards me!
Just as it got dangerously close, he quickly went in front of me - with grace, I must add - & caught the rubber ball with his bare hand.

You know, if this were those cartoons, that puny little black ball would turn red & steam'd be coming out from the guy's hand.

Oooh. Very romantic.
Uh, not.

As the realisation dawned upon me, I started to jump & squeal, "I did it! I did it!" over & over again with excitement.
Hey, I can't help it.
It's the first time I've manage to hit that stupid ball... Gracefully.

& also my first time having a guy's arms around me.

"Wow." I breathed.
"Yea, I know." he said, looking a little smug.
"So, what? You swim & play squash? What are you, Mr. Fit 07?" I joked.

Was it me or did his face turned redder for 10 seconds?

"Yea, well, I'm multi-talented." he finally said after the mentioned time.
"So what else are you good at?" I smiled.
"I should be asking you." he smiled back.
"Hmm... Well, you can see, I suck in squash. But I pay back for swimming."
"Swimming? We'll see about that." he said & grinned.
"Wha-? No! I mean... Uh..."

But it was too late. The damage was done.

"I'll be down five more mins." I said & ran to the lift.













Whoot-whoooo
Well, okay, it doesn't really sound like that but that's as close as I can put the wolf-like whistle he gave me when he saw me in the swimsuit.
What was to whistle at? The swimsuit was just a one-piece.

But it is a swimsuit.
& I am a girl.

"Let's swim." I said & dived into the pool.












We've been hanging out alot eversince that day. I found out his name - Josh Cartwrite.
I mean, that suits him. He does look like a Josh.
Which is kinda weird because I don't even know how a Josh is supposed to look like.

So for nearly two weeks, we kept meeting up, either to play squash or to swim in the pool.

A week before the Monthly test, I was stuck in my room, studying at the desk near my window.
I couldn't help but look out of the window - it wasn't like I was expecting to see Josh climbing a ladder to my room or something. It was just out of habit - & that was when I saw him.

& her.








"Marshee? Open up, Marsha!" my mom said loudly while banging on the door.
I didn't move to open the door nor did I move a muscle.
I just sat there with my tub of Baskin Robbins in my lap, staring blankly into space.

"C'mon Marshee. It's not healthy, a young girl like you staying in that room." she kept saying.

But the truth is, it's his fault. I mean, what was he doing?
Was he trying to lead me on? Or is he just some sort of freaky playboy of the neighbourhood?

I could hear my parents arguing outside my room, my dad defending for me, saying that this ism y first heartbreak, my mom saying that there are plenty of more fishes in the sea - or something like that.

My mobile phone rang & I pounced on it like a leopard whichw as starving itself to death.
"Oh, Marsh! What're you doing?" I heard a girl's voice say in my ear.
"Making a strike for girls being led on by idiotic playboys, that's what." I said back.
"Do you want me to come over?" the girl said.
The tears began to spring out of my eyes & I nodded my head vigorously.

Then, I realised that she can't see me nodding my head so I said, "Yes." in a small voice.
"Okay. So open up." she said & a knock was heard on my door.

I opened it & there stood my best friend with open arms.












"So you saw the guy giving a girl a piggyback. So what?" Carol said to me.

Carol's an amazing girl who's Ms. Popular. & she's not the show-offy kind either.
She's the kind who cares about her grades & not about her pink heels having mud on it or whatever.
Not only is she great & smart & athletic, she also has a boyfriend.
Steady for 4 months, I think with Garett.

Like that dude from Eragon, Garrett.

But he's a nice guy, no drugs or piercing or tattoos on him.
So he's approved.

"Yea, but it was a pretty girl. & she looked his age." I sniffed, hoping that the mucus doesn't drop in the Choc&Chips flavoured ice-cream tub.
"So? I've read this article about this guy - um, what was his name? Chris Hawt or something like that. Yea, the dude got a scholarship to Oxford in England, this is his 2nd year, I think. His mom? 36 years old." Carol said, hopping on the bed.
"2nd year? That means he's... 20?! The mom got him when she was in high school?" I said, trying really hard not to scream.
"Prom night." Carol said knowingly.
"Believe me, that girl on Josh's back? Not his mother."

I mean, okay. A girl who had her son when she was 16. Sure, whatever.
But the girl I saw on his back? So not a motherly look.
She was our age & wearing a bikini strap.
& she looks like a model.

The really, really naturally pretty kind, which everyone hates.

Well, okay. Maybe not everyone. Maybe just me.

As I explained it to Carol, she just shook her head & held my hand & said, "Don't worry. Sooner or later, it's gonna work out. I mean, from the way you told me about how you guys met, it must be, like, fate or something. True love based on fate does not just muss up & never get fixed again."
I smiled at her & squeezed her hand.

So what if I don't have him? I've got Carol.

"Hey. They say that squash takes out the anger. Why don't you play a game, huh?" she said.
















Every hit I took, I kept thinking of those images of Josh with that girl on his back in the pool.

Bop!
He was laughing with her.

I ran to the left to hit the ball.
Bop!
He kept swinging her on his back.

For a few minutes, I was in that room alone, running to this corner & that, hitting the ball with all my force of my right arm.
I could've kept on going for maybe a couple more minutes until suddenly, the lights went off just as I heard the thunder crack outside the condo.

I collapse on the floor & sink my head into my knees, sobbing, the tears finally coming out.
There were three things which I heard at the exact same time.

My sobbing.
The ball bobbing up & down gently on the wooden floor.
Footsteps.

I didn't bother looking up - hell, I didn't have enough energy to look up.
I kept sobbing & I felt someone sitting down next to me.

Finally, I looked up & saw the last person I wanted to see - or maybe the first?
I couldn't think too much. My head was hurting - & as corny as this sounds, so does my heart.

Josh was sitting next to me, just looking at me with confusion & yet, understanding.

"What're you doing here?" I said bitterly, looking at my feet in the dark.
"Hey to you too." he said with a grin.
Even though it was dark, I still could see him smile.

Damn him.

He got the hint & said, "Hey, what's the matter? You've been ignoring me for two weeks now. That's a long time, ya know."
"Well, I thought you needed space with your girlfriend." I snapped.
"What? Girlfriend? I don't have one."
"Oh yea? Well, who was that on your back two weeks ago?" I challenged, biting back the urge to ask whether it was his mom to prove Carol that she's wrong.
He looked flustered & stared at the ground.

The silence between us was tormenting. I felt like screaming at him but I didn't have the energy, like I said.

"She's... She's my cousin."
I snorted. "Yea. Cousin."
"Yes, she's my cousin." he said, a little more firmly.
I looked up into his eyes, my vision being a little blurred what with all the tears.

Finally, I just decided to trust him on this one because he was looking at me with... Something that makes me want to trust him forever.

"Why didn't you just tell me your cousin was a model lookalike?" I said.
He laughed & I cried at the same moment - how could I've been so stupid? Josh wasn't that kind of playboy freak.
He's a nice guy with a healthy amount of male ego in himself, is all.
How could've I just doubt that?

"Hey." he said softly, softer than the first time.
He came towards me & hugged me.

I stayed there in the dark, under his arms. Feeling protected from the real world.
As if he wouldn't let me in harm's way.

I looked up at him & he returned the look.
He brushed away a stray teardrop flowing to my chin & for a reason I couldn't think of, our faces were going closer & closer until we crashed into each other's lips.











My friends & I always played Truth & Dare. That time with Josh?
We were playing Truth&Kiss.

Each truth, reward with a kiss.

He admitted to me that he saw me coming out of the squash room & my dad walking away.
So he ran towards the elevator behind me, just to get to know me a little bit more.

He got a big kiss from me.

I told him how jealous I was when I saw his cousin - her name's Jamelia, by the way - & actually thought he was a playboy freak.

Big kiss from him.

But the nicest one was the last. The one where he said that he never felt this way for anyone before.

A really big one from me. & a long one too.

"Why isn't the lights on?" I asked as I came up for some air.
Because the rain's stopped so the electricity must be back on.
He gave me a smile & said, "Truth? I switched it off."

Another big one from me.








So here I am, watching Josh, Jamelia & this other guy from the neighbourhood splashing each other with water. Jamelia's being bullied by the two so I think I better rescue her from her fate.

But before I leave, I've just to tell you one last thing:
I'm Josh's official girlfriend - 2 months steady & already double-dated with Carol & Garrett.
& now, we sometimes hang out with Jamelia but most of the times? I play squash with Josh & sometimes switch the lights off.

Really, I love squash.
Especially in the dark.