Weather Forecast: Heavy Raine-fall Part 1

Monday morning hit different.

I woke up before my alarm, already buzzing. First thing on my mind - Raine was finally back from her stupid overseas softball tournament. After a full week of great fucks, after leveling up my power, after having my fun with Sarah, Ricole, Kaze, and getting Valerie primed…it was time for the main event. The original target. The bitch who’d made my life miserable for years with her rumors, her tattling, and that smug little face that always looked like she was two seconds away from calling her mom. It looked that way - in reality she was zero seconds away the minute there was a slight inconvenience.

I got dressed faster than usual, scarfed down breakfast, and headed out with more energy than I’d had in a while. Sarah was already gone by the time I left - she’d said something about meeting friends early - so I walked alone. The whole way to school, my head was spinning with ideas. How I was going to do it. Where. What commands I was going to install once I finally got her under. The possibilities were filthy and endless. By the time I reached the front gates, I was grinning like an idiot.

And then I saw her.

Raine McClane stood near the entrance like she owned the place, surrounded by her usual clique of wannabes that only joined the softball team to get close to her. Long dark hair in her usual ponytail, that trademark cocky tilt to her chin - she looked exactly the same. Same resting bitch face. Same energy of someone who genuinely believed the world revolved around her. But soon her world was going to revolve around someone else, and his name started with a W and was incredibly cool.

Our eyes met.

The second she recognized me, her expression twisted into that familiar, mean little smirk.

“Well, well,” she called out loud enough for half the courtyard to hear. “Look who crawled out of whatever hole he was hiding in. Miss me, Jackson? Or were you too busy crying about your two-day suspension?”

I kept walking with a newfound confidence I usually didn’t show to her. Didn’t even slow down.

“Morning, Raine,” I said flatly, brushing past her group without stopping.

That threw her off for half a second. She’d clearly expected me to flinch or fire back or at least look pissed, then do nothing like the little bitch she thought I was. But I wasn’t that guy anymore. Instead I just kept moving, completely unbothered. Behind me I heard her scoff.

“What, too scared to talk now? Still mad I got your little cheating cousin suspended too?”

So she was the one who tattled on Sarah during the biology test. That was news. But not particularly important news. Sarah didn’t give a shit and neither did I. I didn’t turn around - just raised a hand and waved once over my shoulder like I was dismissing a fly.

The silence that followed was delicious. I could practically feel her blood pressure rising.

Throughout the morning, she kept trying. In the hallway between first and second period she “accidentally” bumped into me hard enough that my books almost went flying. I just adjusted my grip and kept walking as if nothing happened. During lunch she and her friends parked themselves at the table next to mine and started talking loudly about how some guys at school had “genital health problems” and how rumors had a way of being true. I ate my sandwich, scrolled on my phone, and didn’t react once. Caught her looking a couple of times though. Her expression was priceless.

Every time she failed to get a rise out of me, her expression got darker. Raine thrived on reactions. She needed people to get angry or embarrassed or defensive. My complete indifference was eating her alive.

By fifth period I could feel her staring daggers into the back of my head from across the room. I didn’t even look in her direction. Just took notes like a model student and waited.

The right moment would come. I just had to be patient.

It came after school.

Most students had already cleared out. I was grabbing a book from my locker when a hand suddenly clamped around my wrist and yanked hard. Before I could fully process it, I was being dragged down a side hallway and shoved through a door. The heavy storage room door slammed shut behind us, cutting off the hallway noise.

Raine stood in front of me, breathing hard, eyes blazing. She looked like a ragebaited predator ready to kill. Then I guess she decided to make one last effort to look cool or some shit, because she started smiling and cracking her knuckles.

I raised an eyebrow. “So, what am I doing in here? You decided not to go crying to Mommy?”

Raine’s grin grew wider, into something more demonic. “Nah. Figured I’ll take the time to handle this myself.”