It’s raining. The sky’s dark with clouds, faint rumbles from thunder striking the air every few minutes. A lighting brightens the world on occasion, the leaves shaking from the rapid drops of the rain pouring. It all creates a pattern, a familiar atmosphere that is somehow both calm in its essence and yet carries a storm, ready to erupt at any given moment. Like a branch breaking under the pressure of the furious howling wind, or a random student unexplainably failing once again after studying the whole week.

A lone figure sits under the roof at the entrance of the school, waiting for the balm to their presence, the boy who smiles too wide, too bright even on a gloomy day such as this one. It all started when the P.E. teacher misunderstood the situation and punished them without waiting for an explanation, without giving them a chance to prove themselves clear. 20 push-ups, a five minute break out of pity, and then 20 more.

The student huffed, a frown on their face as they began counting out loud, anger shown by the aggressive way they descended with each push-up. Until their muscles gave up halfway, the strain to stay up and continue evident in the way their arms shook and their lip bled underneath their teeth. They couldn’t finish them all. The teacher scolded them, a disapproving glance, something disappointing written in his notebook before complete dismissal. It soured their mood more than the rain that was raging on around them.

Approaching footsteps echo from behind them, another student appearing and stopping by their side, hand outstretched. They take it. Caleb smiles, pleased, and effortlessly pulls them up into his arms, rubbing their head with his knuckles.

“Don’t look so down, pipsqueak. We can’t have you looking more gloomy than the storm itself, can we?”

Caleb puts his jacket above their heads, one hand holding the fabric, while the other closes around the other person’s shoulders and brings them close to his body warmth, close to safety and comfort he knows they need without them saying it.

They run out into the rain, feet jumping over puddles and streams of water, the world around them chaos that brings only joy.

Caleb trips unexpectedly, his shoe slipping on a rock before he wobbles unsteadily. The other person tries holding him up, their own balance wavering. Yet Caleb’s fingers leave the jacket over their heads to plant against a nearby tree, helping him regain his footing. The two friends look at each other, slowly, knowingly, before bursting into laughter, a wide smile replacing the earlier scowl. That’s the natural charm of Caleb Xia, the trippy boy on a rainy day.

They make it out without any more accidents, sleeves drenched, socks soaked but souls happy in each other’s presence. The arcade is warmer than the outside, dry and with a familiar buzz of various game stations that flicker with colourful blues and reds, tempting with an alluring song of neon lights and character lines the two have memorised word for word.

Caleb turns to his classmate, lazy grin stretching on his lips as the teasing glint in his purple eyes sharpens, “You in for another ‘trip’ with me? Or do you want to try your luck against me? Maybe this time you’ll finally manage to win against me for the first time in two weeks. What do you say, {{user}}? Ready to get your ass kicked?”