Umbrella on a rainy day
Friday's weather had been gloomy since morning, with dark clouds hanging low and the air filled with the smell of damp earth. Before going out, Lin Weixi took a look at the weather forecast, which showed rain in the afternoon, so she stuffed a folding umbrella into the side pocket of her schoolbag.
Sure enough, during the last class in the afternoon, it began to rain outside the window. The raindrops hit the glass window, making a crisp sound. Lin Weixi looked at the increasingly dense rain outside the window, and a secret expectation rose in her heart.
When the bell rang, students rushed to the windows to check the rain. "Oh no! I didn't bring an umbrella!" and "It looks like this rain won't stop anytime soon!" The classroom was buzzing with chatter.
Lin Weixi was packing her schoolbag slowly and unhurriedly. She caught a glimpse of Chen Wang standing at the classroom door, looking at the rain outside with a slightly frown. He was wearing a light grey hoodie and carrying a black backpack. He didn't seem to have an umbrella with him.
"Do you want to go together?" When these words came out of her mouth, Lin Weixi was shocked. She saw Chen Wang turned around with a little surprise on his face.
"Do you have an umbrella?" he asked, his eyes falling on the sky blue folding umbrella in her hand.
Lin Weixi nodded, her heart beating wildly. She opened the umbrella, a standard single umbrella, which was just enough to cover the two of them if they squeezed together.
They walked side by side in the corridor of the teaching building, the sound of rain echoing in the empty space. Lin Weixi could clearly feel the presence of Chen Wang beside her. The faint scent of laundry detergent on his body mixed with the moist breath of rainy days lingered at the tip of her nose.
Walking out of the teaching building, the rain seemed to be getting heavier. Lin Weixi opened the umbrella, and Chen Wang took the umbrella handle naturally: "Let me hold it, I'm taller."
His fingers accidentally brushed against hers, and Lin Weixi retracted her hand as if she had received an electric shock. The space under the umbrella was smaller than expected, and in order to avoid being rained on, they had to get very close. Lin Weixi could feel his arm occasionally touching her shoulder, and every slight contact made her heart beat faster.
"The rain came so suddenly." Chen Wang said, his voice was particularly clear amid the sound of rain.
"Yeah," Lin Weixi tried to make her voice sound natural, "The weather was fine this morning."
They walked slowly along the path on campus, the raindrops hitting the umbrella making a crackling sound. Lin Weixi deliberately slowed down her pace, hoping that this section of the road could be longer. She noticed that Chen Wang kept tilting the umbrella towards her, and her right shoulder was already wet with rain.
"Your shoulders are wet," she whispered.
"It's okay," Chen Wang smiled nonchalantly, "It's okay for boys to get a little wet."
As they passed the basketball court, Chen Wang suddenly said, "Actually, I quite like rainy days."
"Why?" Lin Weixi asked curiously.
"On rainy days, the court is empty, so I can practice alone," he explained. "Plus, the sound of rain is so quiet and calming."
Lin Weixi had never heard of this side of him. In her impression, Chen Wang was always the basketball boy who sweated in the sun, and she never thought that he also liked to be alone.
As they reached the school gate, the rain began to ease. Chen Wang's phone suddenly buzzed. He glanced at the screen. "I have to go to the gym. My coach asked me to pick something up."
Lin Weixi nodded, feeling a little disappointed. This journey of sharing an umbrella was much shorter than she had imagined.
"You hold the umbrella," Chen Wang handed it to her. "I'll just run over. I'm already wet anyway."
Before Lin Weixi could respond, he had already rushed into the drizzle and ran towards the gymnasium. Lin Weixi stood there, looking at his receding figure, the warmth of his palm still lingering on the umbrella handle.
On the way home, Lin Weixi was holding an umbrella alone, and her mind kept replaying every detail of what had just happened: his fingers when he took the umbrella handle, the angle at which the umbrella tilted towards her, him saying he liked her profile on rainy days, and his back as he rushed into the rain.
Raindrops dripped from the edge of the umbrella, splashing tiny drops of water on the ground. Lin Weixi stretched out her left hand and caught a few drops of rain, feeling the coolness from her palm. This rainy afternoon became extra special because of this time spent together under the same umbrella.
She took a detour to the milk tea shop she often visited and ordered a cup of hot milk tea. Sitting by the window, she took out her diary and began to record everything that happened today:
"It rained today, and we walked for 12 minutes under one umbrella. The umbrella was small, and we were very close. He said he liked rainy days because the sound of rain was so peaceful. This was the first time I knew about his preference."
She paused, looking out the window at the gradually easing rain. Tiny drops of water condensed on the windowpane, blurring the outside world. She thought of his soaked right shoulder, and a sweet pang of guilt welled up in her.
After finishing the milk tea, the rain had completely stopped. The setting sun shone through the gaps in the clouds, drawing a rainbow on the horizon. Lin Weixi folded up her umbrella and found that Chen Wang's fingerprints were still on the handle. She held that place carefully, as if this could preserve the touch just now.
When I got home, my mother was preparing dinner. "Are you wet?" she asked with concern.
"No," Lin Weixi shook her head, the corners of her mouth unconsciously raised, "The umbrella is very big."
She returned to her room and carefully hung her umbrella on the balcony. The evening breeze blew by, bringing with it the fresh air after the rain. Lin Weixi stood in front of the window, looking at the rainbow gradually fading in the sky. She felt that this ordinary Friday had become particularly memorable because of the rain and an umbrella.
That night, she added another entry to her diary:
"Sometimes I wish the rain could last longer, the road could be longer. But even just 12 minutes is enough for me to savor it for a long, long time."
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