Chapter 7:
The Rain-Soaked Rescue
The unseasonable downpour started an hour before the final bell, a relentless, gray curtain that turned the school parking lot into a shallow lake. Ben, watching from his window, felt a familiar sense of satisfaction. He always kept a sturdy umbrella and a spare pair of dry socks in his bottom desk drawer. Preparedness was a virtue.
His gaze drifted across the hall. Maya’s students were leaving, laughing as they dashed through the deluge. Maya herself stood in her doorway, staring out at the pouring rain with a look of profound resignation. She was holding a large, flat portfolio—likely containing student work she was taking home to grade—and wore a thin, stylish jacket that was about as useful as tissue paper in a hurricane.
Ben didn’t think. He simply acted.
He grabbed his large, serviceable umbrella from his drawer and walked across the hall.
“Going my way?” he asked, popping the umbrella open just outside her door.
She turned, surprise wiping the frustration from her face.“Ben. I… was just contemplating a swift, hypothermic death.” She gestured to her useless jacket.“I checked the weather app this morning. It said‘sunny.’I feel deeply betrayed.”
“The weather app is an optimist,” he said, a smile in his voice.“Come on. I’ll walk you to your car.”
He held the umbrella high, and she ducked under it, the portfolio held protectively to her chest. The space beneath the canopy was suddenly, intimately small. He could feel the damp warmth of her arm brushing against his, smell the faint, familiar scent of her shampoo mixed with the petrichor of the rain.
They picked their way through the puddles, his measured steps a contrast to her quicker, more energetic ones.
“You know,” she said, her voice slightly muffled by the drumming on the nylon,“for a guy who lives in the past, you’re surprisingly good in the present moment.”
“Is that your way of saying thank you?” he teased, guiding her around a particularly deep puddle.
“It’s my way of saying you’re full of contradictions, Ben Carter.” She looked up at him, her amber eyes luminous in the gray light.“You love order, but you helped me create beautiful chaos in my classroom. You quote treaties, but you defended me with the passion of a revolutionary. It’s… confusing.”
They reached her car, an old, slightly battered compact that was covered in quirky bumper stickers. She fumbled for her keys, her wet fingers slipping.
“Here,” he said, taking the keys from her. His hand covered hers for a brief, electric moment before he unlocked the driver’s side door.
“Thank you,” she said softly, her gaze locked on his. Raindrops clung to her curls like tiny diamonds.“For the umbrella. And… for everything else.”
He was hyper-aware of everything: the sound of the rain, the warmth of her so close, the way her lips were slightly parted.The professional distance he’d so carefully maintained had been utterly washed away by the storm.
“Maya,” he began, his voice low.
A car horn blared as a parent sped through a puddle, sending a wave of water toward them. Ben instinctively moved, shielding her with his body and taking the brunt of the splash against his back.
She gasped, then laughed, a bright, joyful sound that cut through the dreary afternoon.“My hero!”
He was still holding the umbrella over her, his body caging her gently against the car. Water dripped from his hair onto his glasses. He was a mess. He had never felt better.
Her laughter faded, but her smile remained, soft and wondering. Her eyes dropped to his lips, then back to his eyes.
The moment stretched, thick with possibility. The rain was a curtain, the parking lot a private stage.
Then, a voice called from the school entrance.“Mr. Carter! Do you have a copy of the chapter seven review sheet?”
It was a student, huddled under the awning.
Reality, in the form of academic responsibility, came crashing back.
Ben took a small, stumbling step back. The spell was broken.
“I… I should go,” he said, his voice rough. He handed her the keys.
“Right. The review sheet,” Maya said, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes before she masked it with a smile.“Thanks again, Ben.”
