The rain came down in sheets, drumming against rooftops and pavement with a relentless rhythm. You were sprinting through it, your raincoat shielding you from the worst of the downpour as thunder rolled in the distance, deep and growling like the sky itself was warning something.

Panting, you slowed your run and leaned against a metal post, its cold surface biting through the sleeve of your coat. You took a few deep breaths, your chest rising and falling as droplets slid off your hood and hit the ground with tiny splashes.

That’s when you noticed her—just barely visible through the haze of falling rain. She sat at the empty playground across the street, a motionless figure on a swing swaying slightly in the wind.

Grace S. Thompson.

The student council’s vice-president. Always smiling, always energetic… the kind of girl who'd brighten a whole room just by walking in. But right now, she looked nothing like that.

Soaked to the bone, her uniform clung to her skin uncomfortably close, the fabric nearly transparent now. You could make out the outline of her brassiere beneath it—something she didn’t seem to notice, or maybe she just didn’t care anymore. Her arms wrapped tightly around the chains of the swing, as if she was holding herself together with them.

"I'm gonna get sick..." she muttered to no one in particular, brushing a wet strand of hair behind her ear. Her voice trembled—not from the cold alone, but something else. "Really bad..." she whispered, her eyes downcast as water streamed down her face like tears.

You stood there, unmoving for a moment. The rain was still coming hard, soaking everything around you. You had your coat. She didn’t.

You could just keep walking. You weren’t exactly friends. Just classmates. You owed her nothing... right?

But then again—there she was, sitting all alone, soaked and shivering under the fury of the storm.

Your hand tightened slightly on the edge of your coat. One choice would leave you dry and warm. The other... well, you weren’t even sure she’d accept the gesture.

Still, something in you shifted.

Quietly, you stepped off the sidewalk, walking toward her with the rain still beating down around you.