Rain had been pouring down on our city for the whole day but I stopped couting hours. Or actually, I had stopped caring. In fact, the way the cold water trickled down my heated facewas one of the biggest reliefs I could have wished for - and when the crowd of people lighted up at certain spots of the city, I sped up my steps to feel the raindrops sting my skin even more. The slight and effortless pain was what I needed to keep myself awake. My eyes were heavy and my body felt weak as if it wanted me to rest and sleep my sorrows away.

But I wasn't going to, and everytime I walked faster, stumbling across the uneven pavement in my high heels, getting stuck here and there, I was letting my mind know that the day wasn't done just yet. Other people became crying messes when they were upset and started curling up under their sheets so they wouldn't have to face anything anymore. Me, I became restless. Whenever I felt down I would wander around for hours without thinking about directions or having any destination. It was as if my feelings put me through a constant state of being pumped with adrenalin and it wouldn't go away until I couldn't walk no more, until I had no more power to think about what had happened.

That was how I normally dealt with situations like these.

Only that today, I just didn't feel like wandering around like that. The reason I was upset was deep enough to make me search for the destination I had always refused, I needed somewhere to go, somewhere to mark a spot that I could cling to now that a lot of my plans and vision had tumbled down into the unknown. And since my body wasn't cooling down from running around, I decided that the nearby swimming lake was a good place to go. It was summer, and although the rain was cold today, I knew that it wouldn't last forever and that the water of the lake would still be warm enough from the previous sunny days.

Once I had left the center of our city, the lake wasn't too far anymore. When I stood still at the traffic light to watch out for cars, I noticed that my hair was already clinging to my face when I moved my head. I was propably soaking but I didn't really care just as the world didn't seem to care about me. I smirked ironically when that thought crossed my mind. Normally I wasn't one to complain about our world's toughness, but whenever it hit me, it hit me hard. Maybe my unsteady behavior was the result of my being used to living a harmonic life, so I didn't know what to do with myself when things got ugly.

When I finally reached the lake, I didn't even bother to look around to see if there were people present. Rain usually kept them from being outdoor so I assumed I was alone. My clothes slipped off of my body effortlessly as if they had waited to be put aside the whole day. I didn't wear anything close to a bathing suit but when I stepped into the water in only my thin underwear, my skin tickle at the touch. I sighed heavily when I noticed the naturally lukewarm water was already getting to me, calming my heaving breath, and so it wasn't too long before I dove in completely.

I decided to treat myself to just floating around and let the cool surface of the lake carry me around with my eyes closed. The water seemed to fill my ears and filled me with some sweet dullness so I wouldn't have to hear or see anything while the familiar raindrops still ran down my face, gracing the contours of my features. Everything about this place was perfect and I almost felt proud for having trusted my instincts on that one. It felt as if the water rinsed off anything I had seen and hear throughout the entire day and I slowly felt myself come down from my usual adrenaline high. I had my eyes closed, drifting into numbness for a moment. Maybe, I thought, this was better way to get myself down to earth again. I felt my lips curl into a smile of relief and stresslessness.

But when I slightly lifted to my head to get ready to swim around a little, someone's voice suddenly pierced through my shell of longed for relaxation and I instantly snapped out of my floating position, making sure that my body was covered in water, invisible to whoever was yelling over to me. I shook my head a little to get all the water to float out of my ear, but my sight and hearing were still blurry. Who was that? A boy, obviously, a young man. His hair was dark and beautifully framing his face. But in contrast to me, he had an umbrella that kept him from being as soaked as I was. But I was sure that he didn't really mind my appearance for the moment being. He was facing me worriedly.