Justin peered out his bedroom window, staring at the heavy cascade of mid winter rain beating down on the thick drenched grasses, and pooling in every divot in his yard. He stood there grinning, daydreaming about the summer past, wishing it had not ended so quickly. He sighed deeply, mindlessly crossing his arms, and turned to his girlfriend who was curled up on her corner of the bed, reading yet another old, weathered book, thumbed through so many times that the pages were creased and yellowing. He cleared his throat, hoping to get her attention but when she did not look up, he slumped onto the bed beside her and snatched the book away. Natalie looked up, mouth agape at his sudden brazenness.
"Lets go for a drive," he said before she could complain. This was nothing unusual. He loved driving through the rain, and chasing thunder and lightning. It was exciting and secretly, she loved it too. In truth, however, she was warm, content, and heavily mesmerized in her book, despite the fact that she had read it a dozen times before. The rain sometimes kept her spellbound, no matter the activity and she was not really in the mood for driving through it.
"It's pouring!," she said exasperated but seeing the pleading look in his eyes, she sighed and quickly agreed, not wanting to disappoint the man. He flashed her a wide smile, obviously failing to hide his elation. He had quite a bit more planned than the usual rainy day drive.
Natalie slipped on her shoes and Justin helped her into her coat. He snatched his keys and strutted down the stairs, turning only once to shoot Natalie a dirty grin. She exchanged a smile, thinking only that he was excited to be going out. Perhaps a bit more excited than usual but it had been a while since it rained like this...
Justin slid his key into the ignition without breaking his gaze on Natalie. She shifted in her seat, thinking that he was staring at an imperfection or clothing malfunction. She smoothed out her coat under the seat belt and ran her fingers through her hair to tame any stragglers. She glanced up at Justin, who was still glaring. "If you take a picture,"she said "it'll last longer!." Justin grinned, shaking his head.