Chapter-7, left behind...

The rain had already begun before the final Bell rang. At first, it was only a soft tapping against the classroom windows, gentle enough to be ignored. Student laughed and packed their bags, rushing out into the corridors like any other day. But by the time Elara stepped outside, the sky turned dark and unforgiving. The air felt thick, as if the storm was just waiting for her. 

By the time she reached the school entrance, the rain had turned violent and the entire courtyard dissolved into chaos. Students ran in every direction as they try to escape the downpour. Cars lined up at the gates, umbrellas opened in a rush, and voices calling names that belonged to someone. 

Elara stood silent. 

Her fingers tightening around the books in her arms as she scanned the surrounding. Her eyes searched instinctively. 

Lily wasn't there. 

A small confusion settled in her chest as Lily was never hard to find. She always surrounds with people, but now there was no one. 

Elara took a few steps forward, her gaze moving across the blur of faces and rain. Maybe she was waiting somewhere else or maybe she had already gone to the car. 

"Elara?" 

She turned at the sound of her name. 

One of Lily's friends, Gabriella, stood nearby under an umbrella, clearly in a hurry to leave. 

".....Have you seen Lily?" Elara asked softly. 

The girl looked at her for a moment, surprise. "Lily? She left." 

Elara blinked. "Left?" 

"Yeah," the girl said casually, adjusting her umbrella. "Charlie came. They went together. Like.... a while ago." 

There was a brief pause before she added, almost clueless. "You didn't know?" 

Elara didn't answer. 

The girl gave a small shrug and went away, disappearing into the rain as if the conversation had never mattered. 

Because it didn't. 

Elara remained standing there. 

Still and silent.

The noises around her faded, becoming distant and hollow, as if she had been pulled out of the world everyone else still belonged to. 

He had come and taken Lily. 

And they both left. 

Together. 

Without even looking for her. 

Yeah why would they search for her? She was just a third wheel for them. 

Minutes passed. The courtyard slowly emptied. Cars drove away, voices faded and footsteps disappeared. Even the guards retreated indoors, leaving the gates open to the storm. 

And the rain only grew heavier. 

Colder. 

Louder. 

Elara looked around again, but there was no one left. 

No shelter, no ride, no one waiting. 

No one coming back. 

She was just alone. 

Completely. 

Her fingers trembled slightly as she adjusted her holds on to her books. She had no umbrellas. No way home except the long road ahead. Her parents never really care to fetch her, and there was no transportation left. 

So, she stepped forward. 

The rain hit her instantly. 

Coldly and sharply, soaking her uniform within seconds, clinging to her skin, weighing her down. Her hair fell against her face, strands sticking to her cheeks and neck. Water seeped into her shoes with every step, making it heavy and uncomfortable. 

But she kept walking. 

Slowly, and steady. 

The road outside the school was nearly empty. The storm drived everything away. Water rushed along the edges of pavement, spilling over into uneven streams. The wind pushed against her, making each steps harder, but she didn't stop. 

She didn't even try to shield herself. 

There was nothing left to shield. 

Her thoughts moved slowly, as if even they were weighed down by the rain. 

He had come. 

He had taken Lily. 

He had left..

And she had not crossed his mind. 

Not even for a second. 

Something inside her sank quietly under the realization. It wasn't sharp enough to break her, not loud enough to make her cry. But it was just heavy. Settling down, where it would stay. 

Thunder cracked again, closer this time. 

Elara flinched slightly, her foot slipped against the wet ground. She tried to steady herself, but the road beneath her had turned treacherous and, hidden under rushing water. 

Her next step landed wrong. 

The ground gave way beneath her foot- into a shallow roadside pit concealed by the storm. 

Her ankle twisted sharply. 

And before she could react, her balance broke completely. 

She fell. 

The impact knocked the air from her lungs. Cold water splashed around her as she hit the ground, her books slipping from her grasp, pages scattering instantly into the rain. Pain shot through her ankle sharply, but no sound escaped from her mouth. 

For a moment, she didn't move. 

Rain poured over her, soaking her completely. It pressured her down, but she tried to push herself up. 

Her hand slipped. 

Her body trembled from the cold, and the pain. The pain way deeper from the realization than the fall. 

Her vision blurred. 

This time, it wasn't just the rain. 

But a light. 

Headlights cut sharply through the storm, stopping just inches from where she had fallen. 

A car standing way too close from her. Her eyes shut with the light to avoid irritation.

The engine idled, steady and low against the sound of the rain. 

Elara froze. 

Her breath caught somewhere between pain and disbelief as she slowly lifted her head. Water dripped from her lashes, distorting the light in front of her. 

The figure inside the car was unclear. 

Just a shadow behind glass and rain..

For a moment, everything seemed to stop. 

The storm. 

The world. 

Even her heartbeat. 

Then the car door opened. 

And the sound of it echoed louder than the thunder.