Chapter 37: The Rain

Wednesday, September 17

Edie was not looking forward to working on the project for Jasmine. True, she was glad that she got to work with Corrie and Annie, but she couldn't think of any other aspect of the project that she liked. Troy had seemed nice and helpful at first, but had freaked out at them, and she didn't know if things were ever going to relax between him and the rest of the group. She was interested in the mystery of his apparent illusion, but if it never got solved she didn't think she would mind, as long as they were able to get the project done without any fights. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the topic. And it was still a group project. Much as she liked and trusted Corrie and Annie, she was worried that it would turn out just like every group project she'd done in high school and even middle school, in which the others talked and gossiped and she ended up doing all the work.

But she didn't have any choice about doing the project, since she was in the class, and it was too late to change her group or their topic. Besides, if Troy was right and Jasmine liked controversial topics, they didn't have much choice--they needed any advantage they could get if they were going to get a decent grade, since Jasmine was so unpredictable. There weren't many controversial topics that she would feel comfortable researching and discussing. She would just be careful not to ask what everyone else's opinions on the topic was, and keep hers to herself. It wasn't like her opinion on abortions mattered, anyway--she was never going to have one no matter what.

So she didn't grumble as she gathered up a pen and the notebook she used for that class. She swung her backpack onto her shoulder and turned to Corrie. "Ready to go?"

"Sure," Corrie said. "Do you have your clover?"

"Of course." Edie tried to make sure she had her clover with her all the time. Tonight was certainly no exception.

There was a knock on the door. Edie only had to take two steps to reach it, so she opened it. Annie was there. She was wearing a long jacket tied with a belt and carrying an umbrella. "Hi, are you guys ready?"

"Just about," said Edie. "I take it from your attire that it's still raining?"

"Yeah, I can see it in the lights from my window. I guess you can't see any lights from yours."

"No, just darkness." Edie put down her backpack and went to find her rain jacket. "Now that I think about it, we would probably be able to see some stars or something if the sky weren't so cloudy."

"It's so cool how many stars we can see from here," said Corrie. She was also preparing to go out in the rain. "In the city you can't see nearly so many stars."

"That's true," said Annie. "I mean, I live in the suburbs, but the light pollution is the same."

"Really? I haven't noticed a difference... but the town I live in is even smaller than this college, I think." Edie turned to Annie, picking up her backpack again. "Okay, I'm ready to go. Hopefully I won't get soaked."

It was both raining and windy when they got outside, but at least there was one change from the weather that had been plaguing the campus all day--now the wind was coming from the same direction consistently. They could lean into the wind and stay protected by the two umbrellas they had between them. When they reached the library, a welcome bastion of warm light, the only part of Edie that was soaked was the ragged hems of her jeans.

They shook off their jackets and umbrellas in the entranceway, then turned to the left where the reference room was. Troy was already waiting at one of the round tables in the room. His hair was plastered to his head from the rain, but he looked like he was in a better mood than he had been during their class the day before. "Ready to get started?" he asked cheerfully as they hung their coats carefully on the backs of the chairs. "I already found some books." Indeed, there were four books--two scientific and two that appeared to be legal--sitting on the table.

"You're in a good mood," said Corrie as she sat down. "You like the rain?" She pulled one of the scientific books toward her and picked it up, looking at the cover.

Troy's smile faded and he looked at her for a long moment before answering. "I love the rain. I find it invigorating."

"Well, I can't complain," said Edie. "Thanks for finding books. These should be great for getting started, if not plenty for the whole project." She picked up one of the legal books. It was a history of the modern birth control movement. That actually sounded interesting, though she would probably be more interested in something about medieval birth control practices. But there was only so wide their topic could be. She pulled her notebook and pen out, found the first chapter discussing abortion, and started taking notes.