- Brandon's POV -
I yawned and stretched. Another day. Another 24 hours, I thought, and hopped out of bed. I checked the time. “Hmm, only 6:57 am?” I said to myself. “I woke up before my alarm went off. Awesome.”
Stretching again, I walked to the bathroom and doused my face in cold water. I gasped, the icy liquid shocking me awake. I made faces at myself in the mirror and then put in my contacts. I’d been wearing them for quite a while, so they easily went onto my dark brown eyes. Quickly running my wet fingers through my messy dirty blond hair, I winked at myself. “Lookin’ good, Brandon,” I said, making finger guns in the mirror. “You should probably get dressed, though.”
I made myself some peanut butter toast, reading one of my favorite novels while I ate. It was the third book in a series, one of my favorite murder mysteries so far. I couldn’t put it down. Well, almost, I thought reluctantly, looking at the time. I’d better get to work. But first, coffee.
I locked up my small apartment and hopped in my beat up four-door car. Surprisingly, my parents let me live alone, something I wasn’t sure they’d let me do even though I was 20. They did live down the street, though, so I hadn’t escaped them fully. They were super protective when I was a kid and had only recently let me grow up.
I hit Starbucks on the way to work. My barista was a cute girl with hair as dark as the night. I made a mental picture of her, trying to memorize her hair in particular so that I could use it as a model for a piece of art later on. Her name tag read “Taylor.” I smiled at her as she handed me my caramel frappe, and she gave me an uncertain smile back.
“Have a nice day!” I told her.
“You too!” she replied.
I shivered as I sipped my frigid frappe. Hmm, I thought. Wonder what the boss has for me to do today? Whatever it was, I couldn’t wait. I loved my job. I worked at a graphic design company, mostly designing and drawing book covers. My art style was often described as realistic with a soft quality to it. I always enjoyed it, and I could let my mind wander as I worked.
As I walked into work, Layla the receptionist winked at me. “Morning, Brandon,” she said sweetly, batting her long dark eyelashes.
I shrugged uncomfortably. “Morning, Layla,” I said, awkwardly rubbing my ear. Layla giggled and tugged at her curly hair.
“Got any plans tonight?” Her eyes twinkled and I swallowed.
“Actually, uh…yes. I…uh, I’m having dinner with my folks,” I finished weakly. It was a lie, but I had to come up with something.
She looked suspicious, but at least she accepted the excuse on the outside. “Aw, okay. Hey, the boss brought in a new assignment for you.” She handed me a folder, with the details of the project inside. I was careful not to make physical contact when I grabbed the folder, just in case.
“Thanks, Layla.”
“Have a great day!” she called at me as I turned to walk away.
“You too,” I replied.
Hurrying off, I thanked the heavens for the diversion of work. Layla had been acting like…that…quite frequently lately, and I never seemed to know what to say around her. It doesn’t help that I’m not interested in her like that, I thought. I just…I could never see us together. She’s too flighty.
I sat down at my desk and opened the folder. It was my favorite kind of assignment--another book cover, this one for a mystery novel. Perfect! What a score!
Plugging in my headphones, I turned on some suspenseful soundtracks to get in the mood and started to get to work on the cover, chewing my lip while I concentrated.
Time passed quickly and when I looked up at the clock it was already time for lunch. “Wow! The hours really fly when you’re doing what you love,” I exclaimed to absolutely no one. I grabbed my lunch bag and then paused. It was a beautiful spring day outside. Should I really go to the lunchroom while the weather is so amazing? I thought rhetorically. Nah. Definitely not today.
I strolled out the front door and sat down on one of the landscaping rock walls. The sun was shining. I had gotten some work done. I felt good. I bit into my sandwich with gusteau.
The fountain in front of the building caught the sun rays just right to make a rainbow in its spray. I smiled. “I should draw that,” I said to my water bottle. Normally no one was around to hear me talk to inanimate objects. Except this time.
“Look who it is!” Aiden grinned a big toothy grin at me as he sauntered up, tossing a football from hand to hand.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh dear, here comes lover boy.”
“Shut up, bro!” My best friend punched my shoulder. I winced. “Are you jealous I’ve been spending so much time with Jamie lately?”
“Pfft. Me, jealous?” I asked sarcastically. “Impossible.”
“Alright, I’m sorry.” He plopped down beside me and held up his hands defensively. “I didn’t mean to schedule a date with Jamie on the night you invited me over.” Aiden blinked his green eyes apologetically at me, sticking out his bottom lip in a mock pout.
I huffed. “Fine. But that means you buy me dinner sometime soon.”
“Deal.” Back to his smile again, Aiden tousled his blond hair. “Do you think I should cut my hair?”
Caught off guard by the subject change, I blinked at him. “Uh…”
“Jamie thinks I should cut it.” He shrugged. “Maybe it would look better in less of a surfer dude style.”
I laughed. “It’s your hair. You can do what you want with it!”
“I guess.” Aiden shrugged again. “But I wanna look good for Jamie, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically.
My best friend laughed. “Dude, you gotta get out of this single state. You need a girl to look after you!”
“I don’t need anyone,” I protested. “I’m fine as I am!” I took a bite out of my sandwich and mockingly glared at him.
“Mhm,” he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. You need a girlfriend.”
“Whatever.” I shoved him and he laughed. Aiden was always laughing. A group of girls walked by and giggled at us. One waved at Aiden and he looked at me pointedly as they strolled off.
“Brandon, she was waving at you,” he whispered furiously.
“Heck no,” I whispered back. “She was totally waving at you!”
“I’m telling you, she was waving at you.” Aiden shook his head. “You gotta remember you don’t exactly…well, you’re not, like…bad looking,” he finished lamely. “But like not in that way, you know.”
“I get you.” I colored slightly anyway. “Plus, you’ve got Jamie. I’ve got me. Life is good, man.”
“Yeah, life is good,” he agreed. “Hey man, I gotta get to class. I’ll catch ya later.” Aiden grinned yet again and I slapped his back.
“Don’t forget about dinner!” I yelled after him as he walked off. He raised a thumbs up in response.
Left to my own thoughts, I finished my sandwich and then checked my watch. My lunch break was almost over. “Hmm,” I muttered. “What’s on the schedule for today?” Scrolling through my phone, I looked up the date. Work ended at 4, and I had a city teens meeting to oversee later that evening and volleyball till 9 pm after that. It promised to be a busy day. But I liked busy.
I gathered my trash and then got back to work. Thankfully Layla hadn’t returned from her break when I stepped inside, so she couldn’t try and flirt with me. I blushed slightly as I thought about her forwardness.
For the rest of the day I made more headway on my mystery novel cover. I established a good base for the background of the artwork and began to apply layers of color where needed.
When I looked up at the clock I realized it was almost time for me to go. Wow, I thought, time really flew again! I finished up my progress and gathered up my things to head out. When I stepped outside I looked up at the sky and was slightly disappointed to see rain clouds. “Grr,” I grumbled. “I hope it doesn’t hinder volleyball. I love volleyball nights.”
Athletics wasn’t really even my thing, but volleyball was easy enough for me to like it. Aiden often teased me that it was girly, but I always ignored him. For a big football player like him, anything other than violence was girly.
***************
I spiked the ball as hard as I could and succeeded in scoring a point for my team. My friends high fived me and patted my back as I grinned. We were winning 12 - 5, and the rest of the evening promised a win in our favor. If our luck was as high as we started, we’d cream the other team.
My friend Felicity stuck her tongue at me from the other side of the court. “Nyah, you’ll never win against us!”
“Brave words for the losing side!” I laughed. The game began again.
Thankfully, the rain had held off, though it was a cloudy night. It looked and smelled as if it might start up any moment. I hoped it wouldn’t—I was having too much fun.
After four more rounds with my team in the lead, the first drops splattered on my head. I looked up to a dark purple and black sky as more drops rained down. It was welcome to the sweaty players, but there were good natured grumbles as more water fell. We all gathered under the community shelter and laughed about the game, friends picking on each other and laughing together.
“Hey, nice going out there, Brandon!” Oliver high fived me as I walked by.
“Thanks bro!" I grabbed a gatorade from the cooler and shook the ice cold drops off it. Looking back at all my friends, I watched them having a great time like friends should. I felt slightly exhausted by the day--work, the meeting, and now volleyball--and I decided to watch the rain instead of socializing. A part of my brain scolded me for being antisocial. I ignored it. I’m always a social butterfly. I deserve a break now and again.
The rain continued to come down in torrents. I leaned against one of the shelter posts and sipped my gatorade, watching. It was beautiful, in a wild and unpredictable way. I should draw a thunderstorm sometime, I thought. Wonder how I could make it work? I leaned forward, trying to peer out into the curtain of water. Can I see any of the individual drops…?
I never finished the thought.
As soon as I leaned out of the shelter, there was a blinding flash of light and a thunderous crack--searing pain shot through my eyes; I felt every nerve in my body strain to the point of explosion. I would have screamed, but the pain in the roots of my teeth made my jaw lock up. My fingers stretched out and curled of their own accord, and I felt my hair stand on end; every part of me felt on fire.
It was over as soon as it had begun. My world faded to black as spots danced across what was left of my vision. I slipped out of consciousness.
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