She stared out of the window, her heart full of envious as she watched the other children running around under the heavy downpour. Despite the fact that it was freezing cold outside, she could distinctly hear the laughter of the children voices as they played. For the umpteenth time, she wished she could be out there.

---

Her eyes darted towards the lonely window from the enormous mansion where she caught sight of a figure sitting in front of the window. Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as she watched the girl staring at them. For countless of time, she had caught her staring at them especially when it was raining. She could sense her enviousness through the window. For the umpteenth time, she wished the girl was down here playing with them.

---

"Tiffany!"

The said girl turned her head to the direction of the voice and saw the other children getting ready to go home. By then, the rain had already stopped and the sky was darker than before.

"Tiffany!"

The voice called again. Giving one last look towards the mansion, Tiffany ran off towards her friends, mentally keeping in mind the girl by the window.

---

"Miss Jessica, it's time for dinner."

Reluctantly, Jessica turned her attention towards the door where her maid was standing. Giving a small smile and a nod, Jessica motioned for the girl to leave first. The maid gave a slight bow and left as Jessica turned her gaze towards the window once more. However, everything was pitch black outside. The par of the street that was once filled with children now lay deserted and the air once filled with the laughter of the children was now replaced by the chirping of the crickets.

Sensing that the children had probably went home, Jessica gave a sigh as she tore her eyes away from the window. For the umpteenth time, she wished she was down there.

---

10 years later

Jessica looked out of the window of her classroom. She could see droplets of water settling on the glass as it continued to drizzle outside. Her driver was stuck in a traffic jam and was late in picking her up.

As she looked out of the window towards the field, students ran about in the rain, some kicking a ball and some just cheering on. It brought back memories of how the young girls used to play under the rain beside her house when she was younger. However, that scene had no more played again ever since she heard her neighbors had moved away. Even so, she would stay by her window every time it rained to see if the girls would return. Deep in her heart, she held hope, but deep in her mind she knew hope was lost.

Glancing at her watch, she realized that she had already waited for an hour. Seeing that the rain was not about to relent soon, Jessica wondered if she should return home herself.

After minutes of debate, she sent a text to her driver, slung her back over her shoulders and got ready to leave school. Looking out of the sheltered gate, Jessica stared at the bus stop, which seemed to be a distance away and what was worse was that the bus stop was not sheltered.

Jessica bit down on her lips, as she got ready to make a dash for it. Not that it would make any differences but she knew that if the bus were to arrive, given the distance from her school to her bus-stop, she would not be able to catch the bus. Hence, rendering with no choice, Jessica got ready to brave the rain.

Standing under the rain and shivering from the cold breeze, Jessica wondered if she had done right by not waiting for her driver. Many times she had seen children or even teenagers standing playing under the rain and thought that it would be fun, but her first time was spent waiting for the bus as rain poured mercilessly onto her, drenching her to the max.

Just as she was thinking of running back to the school to take shelter and wait for her driver instead, a shadow loomed over her and in an instant, rain stopped hitting on her head and body. Looking up, Jessica was met with a girl, smiling slightly at her. The girl before her was wearing a uniform, which seemed to be from a restaurant nearby and was carrying a hot pink umbrella. Both of them stood there at the bus stop, each not speaking a word. It was until Jessica boarded her bus that the girl left.

---

Lying on her bed that night, Jessica recalled the scene in the afternoon. Even though she had an earful from her parents, Jessica still kept a small smile on her face. Though Jessica had not known who she was, neither did they talk, but one thing for sure, she wanted to see the girl again. Praying that it would rain tomorrow, Jessica drifted off to sleep.

---

The next day as usual, Jessica waited till one hour after lesson ends that she left school. As she had hoped, it was raining once again. Following the same method, Jessica raced towards the bus stop, drenching herself as she ran.

Once again, waiting by the bus stop, Jessica shivered slightly under the cold breeze. She had thought of bringing a windbreaker to keep her from the cold, but soon refuted the idea for it might give the girl a wrong idea.

Fortunately enough, Jessica suddenly felt a presence near her as a shelter blocked off the rain droplets.

"Forgot your umbrella again?"

Jessica heard the girl chuckled. Knowing that the girl was not expecting a response, Jessica kept silent.

This time the wait for the bus was slightly longer due to the heavy rain, but even so, the girls did not talk much. A comfortable air of silence hung over them as both waited patiently with Jessica sneaking occasional glances at the girl.

As much as Jessica wanted to know the name of the mysterious girl, she was too shy to even open . When she decided that she would take the initiative, the bus had arrived. Once again, the girl left after Jessica boarded the bus, leaving her to look blankly at her back.

---

Ever since the girl first sheltered Jessica from the rain, she always had the urge to see the girl again. Many times she wanted to ask her for her name, but many times she chickened out the last minute. Her parents had been reprimanding her for being in the rain but Jessica could not care less. She did not mind the consequences of getting sick, as long as she was able to see her.

"You have been forgetting your umbrella quite lately."

The familiar voice stated as a familiar object hovered over her once again. Hearing the girl's voice, Jessica gave a small smile. Of course she would not tell her the reason behind forgetting an umbrella. Her parents had shoved many umbrellas to her, all of which she just conveniently left out of her bag.

"Besides, why are you going home so late? School ends almost an hour ago."

Jessica stood there listening. She could listen to that low, husky voice all day and not get tired of it.

"I've been sheltering you almost everyday, but yet I don't know your name."

"Jessica."

Jessica replied softly as she turned her face shyly to face the other girl.

"Mine's Tiffany."

Jessica gave a shy smile as she watched Tiffany's eyes disappearing as it turned into crescents.

From then on, the two girls managed to converse, slowly getting to know each other as they waited each day under the rain.

"Why do you shelter me?"

Jessica finally braved up the courage to ask. She had wondered many times about the intention of the girl, as from what she had heard from her parents, normal people do not simply shelter people from the rain. Instead, if rain pours, they would ensure that you get drench fully and sick before pushing you even deeper so that you would be unable to recover as fast.

"It's simple, because I had an umbrella and you don't."

Since then, these words were stuck in Jessica's mind as she was reminded of how simple some people's thoughts were. It gave her confidence and hope that there were still people around who were as simple-minded as Tiffany instead of having motives behind every action.

---

This day, Jessica was waiting once again under the rain, drenching her from head to toes as she waited patiently for her 'shelter'. Soon, she no longer felt the cold anymore as a warm presence crept up to her. Unfortunately, instead of a sheltered umbrella, she was greeted by another seemingly drenched person.

"You forgot your umbrella again?" Tiffany frowned as she looked at the similarly wet person. "I was hoping that you did bring yours so that I could share."

The frown left the girl's face and began to pout. Jessica felt her heart beginning to melt at the sight of the pout. Seeing Tiffany shivering from the cold as they stood by the bus stop, Jessica's hand mindlessly dug into her backpack as she pulled open an umbrella sheltering the girl.

"So you did bring an umbrella."

Tiffany gave a smile as she straightened herself, only to be greeted by a gush of cold wind. Huddling herself once more, Tiffany turned to face Jessica, looking at her curiously.

"Since you did bring an umbrella, why are you here drenching yourself?"

Jessica gave a sheepish smile as she thought up of a reply.

"I forgot."

Tiffany raised her eyebrows at her answer, obviously not taking her word for it. However, when Jessica did not say more, she had no choice but to let it go. It was not her position to ask anyway.

---

Weeks later, the two girls had slowly moved on from meeting at the bus stop under the rain to meeting up at a nearby cafe. Through that period of time, they had known each other more and slowly opening up. Jessica had grew to learn that Tiffany was an independent child, same age as her but unable to continue full time studies due to household income, while Tiffany had slowly knew how Jessica might seem to be shy but was actually friendly and missing out of all the fun due to her strict parents. Not that Tiffany could do anything but she had many times caught her staring longingly at the children who were playing outside the cafe they usually sit at, especially under the rain.

"Have you tried playing under the rain?"

Tiffany asked, jolting Jessica out of her stares. Jessica seemed to be considering her question for a second before shaking her head. Her eyes continued to trail the young children outside as they jumped and run about playfully.

"Then let's try."

"What?"

Before Jessica could answer or even make a response, she was already pulled out of the door and under the rain. Still holding her hand, Tiffany pulled her towards the children who seemed to welcome anyone that would like to join them.

By the time Jessica had registered the incident, she was already drenched fully and it did not help by the fact that she was wearing a translucent white t-shirt. Still conscious of her appearance at first, Jessica slowly learnt to let go iff herself as she indulged in her first game under the rain.

Soon, the two girls were gasping for breath as they walked slowly back into shelter. The kids by then were already preparing to go home for the rain had stopped. Looking at each other, the two girls burst out laughing much to the curiosity of the passer-bys.

"Let's go."

Tiffany pulled Jessica's hand for the second time as she led her out onto the street. The moment Jessica felt Tiffany's hand; she could feel the warmth coming from the latter, which was slowly creeping up, onto her face. It was until Tiffany's palm left her hand that she realized she was in an unfamiliar place.

"Here. Change out of them unless you want the whole world to see what you are wearing inside."

Jessica looked down at her shirt only to find it sticking onto her body, showing her curves and her undergarment underneath the shirt. Blushing, Jessica grabbed the clothes from the outstretched hand before rushing away. It was then that she realized she did not know her way around the house that she glanced back at the girl who just pointed to a certain door. Without saying thank you, Jessica rushed to the bathroom leaving a chuckling girl behind.

It was only when Jessica was alone that she recalled the expression Tiffany gave her. It had seemed to one point just an innocent look, but on another point, she had seemed to be looking at her suggestively. Embarrassed by herself, Jessica took her time changing into the clothes she was given.

When she opened the door, she was met with an aroma of hot chocolate. Tiffany had already bathed and changed out of her dripping clothes before Jessica was done.

"Here."

Jessica grabbed the cup from the outstretched hand as she walked towards the rows of pictures sitting on the shelves of Tiffany's living room. There were pictures of young Tiffany posing cutely in a hanbok dress as well as a few of her when she was growing up. There were also some pictures of young Tiffany with her parents, smiling from ear-to-ear.

"Cute."

Jessica unknowingly said as she picked up a picture and stared at it up close. Looking at Jessica admiring her pictures, Tiffany did not know where she felt so self-conscious of herself. It was not that she was not cute or pretty when she was young, she was just afraid that Jessica might think of her as just an ordinary plain-looking girl. It was only until Jessica muttered the word 'cute' that she let out a satisfied smile.

"So, are you done looking at my cute pictures?"

Tiffany did not know where she got the courage to say something like that. For all her life, probably because of her family background, she had never praise herself before, not even when many others had complimented her over her beauty and eye-smile. However, in front of Jessica, she had the confident to do just that.

"So someone is getting cocky right now."

Jessica raised an eyebrow to the girl who smiled sheepishly.

"Well, that's what you said just now."

"Yeah... That's what I said just now."

Taking glances to and from the photo frames to Tiffany, Jessica put on a thoughtful expression and frowned while Tiffany looked on curiously.

"Hmm... That's weird... Where is that cute girl in the photo? Are you sure they are the same person?"

Jessica frowned even deeper as though she was genuinely curious.

"Yah!"

That was all Jessica heard before receiving a smack on her arm. On reflex, Jessica held her arm and pretended to kneel down in pain, causing Tiffany to become worried.

"Jessica, are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Really! Are you hurt anywhere? Are you..."

Before Tiffany could continue rambling, Jessica placed a finger over the girl's lips before looking towards her and flashing her a wide grin. Realizing she had been duped, Tiffany once again raised her hand to smack the girl's arm. Even though Jessica was rubbing her painful arm, never once did the smile left her face. Instead, the smile grew bigger and wider.

"Well, even though I may not know where the girl in the photo may be, but would this beautiful girl before me accept my invitation to go out tomorrow?"

For a moment, Tiffany did not know what to answer as she allowed the words to register in her brain. Was Jessica asking her out on a date? However, no matter what the question may be, Tiffany knew that the only answer she could give was a 'yes', which was just what she did.

---

The next day, time was ticking by as usual for other people around the world, but for two girls, it seemed to be going by so slowly that they thought that all clocks in the world had stopped. It was only till the bells rang, signaling the end of school for Jessica and the calling out of her manager to shoo her away, signaling the end of shift for Tiffany that they felt time was finally moving at the right pace.

"So, how's today? I'm sorry if it was not what you expect because that was all I had."

The two girls were strolling around the park side by side after a delicious dinner by the crowded roadside. It may not be the best place for a dinner, but the girls still enjoyed themselves, mingling along with the other people and enjoying the gossips around.

"Nope! It's the best."

Hearing that, the small smile that was on Jessica's face since meeting the girl at their usual bus stop grew bigger. From there on, the two continued their conversations about the most random things on earth, jumping from a topic to another.

It was not long before they felt a few droplets of water dripping on them. Looking up in the sky, they could see the sky way darker than usual as lightning flashed and thunder rolled across. The rain soon started off with a slight drizzle in which the girls did not mind at all. However, it soon became bigger that they thought it would be better for them to seek shelter.

Before Tiffany could grab Jessica’s hand and run to the nearest shelter, Jessica had already taken something out of the backpack and opened it, sheltering them. Tiffany looked at the girl beside her, surprise and amazed.

"I'm surprised you would bring an umbrella. I was expecting you not to have one since you are always forgetting.

Jessica gave a small smile as she lifted the umbrella to cover Tiffany's body slowly and carefully.

"Well, I had always brought mine."

"Really? Why didn't you say? All along I thought you just forgot to bring one.

Jessica replied with a simple shrug.

"How could I not? I don’t want my favourite girl to get sick. From the day since I met you, I had been bringing umbrella everyday. It just happens that you always brought one. So why use mine we can share."

Tiffany had a blush on her face and seemed to considered some possibilities and truth about the girl's words that she pondered deeper into them earning a chuckle from them.

"Don't worry, I will always remember to bring an umbrella and sheltered you even if it was only a drop of rain."

With that, the two girls showed their content smile before continuing their stroll.

Rain or not, they knew either one of them would always remember an umbrella to shelter the other. However, if it so happened that they forgot an umbrella, there was always another way, which is to get drenched and walk under it. Rain was after the entire pathway to them meeting, without rain, both of them would have never met.

-END-