Rain's POV
I didn't mean to stay inside for a week.
At first, it was just one skipped class. One excuse. One lie typed into the university app—"fever."
But then day one turned into two.Two into five.Five into a silence so thick I could hardly hear my own thoughts anymore.
I kept the curtains closed. Not because I liked the dark, but because the light made me feel exposed. Like someone might still be looking at me from the outside.
Like he might still be laughing.
My dress hung from the back of the chair. White, wrinkled now. I didn't have the heart to hang it up. Or fold it. Or touch it.
My hair tangled more by the day.I stopped brushing it after the third morning, when I realized how much it reminded me of what he said. Corpse bride. Ghost. Haunt.
Like I wasn't a girl. Just a spectacle. Something to be whispered about.
Some nights I cried.Some nights I just stared at the ceiling until sleep found me like a thief, taking without asking.
But today, my phone rang.
And it was her.
Mom.
I almost didn't answer. My voice was too cracked. My breath felt too hollow. But something about seeing her name—saved with a tiny pink heart and a sunflower emoji—made me swipe my thumb across the screen.
"Rainie?" Her voice was soft. Warm. Home.
I closed my eyes. "Hi, Mama."
She sighed in relief. "There you are. I've been calling all week. I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me."
"I could never," I whispered.
"Then why do you sound like you're crying from under five blankets in a haunted cave?"
I let out a small, broken laugh.
"I just needed space."
She paused. "Did something happen?"
I bit my lip. The words gathered in my throat like glass.
"I wore a white dress. And I didn't look away fast enough."
Silence.
Then— "Do I need to fly over there and beat someone's son?"
That made me really laugh. It cracked through the quiet like light under a door.
"No. It's not… it's fine. Just some stupid boy. And everyone else."
"I know it feels like the world is ending right now," she said gently, "but you're going to get up, baby. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon."
My voice shook. "What if they're right, Mama? What if I am weird? Too quiet. Too long hair. Too much… me?"
"You're exactly the right amount of Rain. And don't let some insecure, sharp-tongued, emotionally constipated idiot convince you otherwise."
"I think I wanted him to notice me."
"Oh, sweetie." Her voice cracked then, just a little. "He noticed. Trust me. Boys only throw rocks at the windows they wish they had the courage to knock on."
I curled tighter in bed. "I think I hate him."
"That's okay. You're allowed to hate him. You're also allowed to forgive him. Or not. You don't owe him anything."
I whispered, "I just want to disappear."
"Don't," she said instantly. "Don't you dare disappear on me, Rain Lang. The world is already too grey without girls like you walking through it in white dresses and wild hair and soft words. You make the world softer just by existing."
A pause.
"You make my world better just by being mine."
I didn't say anything.I didn't need to.
She stayed on the line with me for a while.Until I fell asleep.Safe.Quiet.Home.