AUTHOR'S POV

You and Jessica are classmates and neighbours.  She lives just beside your house and your bedroom balcony's are only an arm length away.  You two are close and both are harboring feelings for each other but neither wants to make the first move.  Which brings us to this story.

You went home earlier than usual because school was cancelled due to a storm.  Since you can't go out, you decided to watch television and sleep afterwards.

The weather was getting worse by the hour but it was cold in your room making you feel sleepy.  Hm.  Might as well turn in early.

You took a quick shower and put on some clothes.  You plopped on your bed face first.  You were about to drift to dreamland when you heard loud lightning sounds.  You used another pillow to cover your ears because the sound was rather bothering and annoying at the same time.  ...these thunderstorms are so loud.

Jessica on the other hand was pacing back and forth in her room.  She too was about to drift to sleep but the thunderstorms kept her awake.   She flinched when she heard the thunderstorm the first time and she screamed on the next.

"What should I do~" she asks no one in particular and her eyes gazed on her speaker and phone.  An idea came to her mind.

She hurriedly opened her bluetooth and started playing songs on a loop.  She made sure it was loud enough to not hear the storm.

"That should do it." she mumbled to herself as she let the sounds overtake her hearing senses.  At least she can mask the sounds of the thunderstorms.

"!" you shouted as you gave up on the thought of sleeping.  Besides the storm and rain drop sounds, there came an ear-deafening music on your neighbour's house.

You stood up from the bed and took an umbrella before going out the balcony.  You took a stick and jabbed it on the glass slide. 

Not long after, you saw Jessica come out of the room with an umbrella at hand.

"Uh, Sica.  Could you lower down the sounds?" you tried to sound as politely as possible.  Jessica eyed her surroundings warily before looking at you.

"Uh- KYAAAA!" she screamed when another thunderstorm was heard, making you jolt from your position.

"Sica, are you ok?" you asked concerningly.

"I-I'm fine..." she said rather unsurely.

"Jessica, we may not know each other very well but I know you are bothered by something!  Can you please tell me?!" you shouted because the rain started getting heavier.

"I-I'm afraid of....thunderstorms." she jumped when another one was heard.  You can't help but feel sad for your friend so you decided to help her out.

"Hey, can I come over?" 

"H-Huh? What for?" 

"I bet you need some company right now." you tried your luck.  Okay, confession time.  You like Jessica but you can't even tell her because you figured she won't feel the same because one, you two don't know each other quite well two, she is way out of your league and three, she is most probably straight and does not swing that way.

"S-Sure, ______-ah but how?" you thought about it and an idea came to mind.

"Sica.  Wait here." you sprinted back to your room and went to your minifridge and took out some snacks and beverages for you to eat later with her and placed it on a bag.  You took out a pair of joggers, a towel and a sleeveless shirt with you and hurried back to the balcony.  When you came back you could hear the music from earlier tone down a little.

"Sica.  Can you carry this for me?" you held out your hand filled with bags of clothes and food.  She looked at you weirdly but nonetheless took it.

You lowered down your umbrella and pushed yourself up the porcelain fence.  You stood there and looked at the distance for a bit.  I could probably jump this...it is just an arm length _____.

"Be careful." Jessica warned and you nodded, feeling warm and fuzzy in the inside despite being soaking wet by the rain.  At least she cares...

You jumped over to her balcony and landed with your hands on the wet marbled floor.  You regained your composure and you flipped your wet hair to the back and took towel.  You started drying yourself a bit with Jessica holding both umbrellas above you and her respectively. 

When you were sure that you were at least a little bit dried, Jessica lead you in her room.  You looked around it and saw countless photo frames hanging on the wall.  The ro