Her Umbrella:

Skip never knew what to say to Kylie. He always carried a torch for her from a distance. Every guy dreamed of her every night. It was as if God sent one of his best angels down from Heaven for the world to see. She never seemed to knew that anyone else existed.

All throughout high school, many tried to woo her, but failed. Kylie couldn’t remember a day when she didn’t get gifts of some kind. During her high school years, her locker overflowed with love letters and cute little teddy bears.

Mind you, Kylie wasn’t a snob. She could almost be mistaken for a saint. She always volunteered to help small children. The girl did tutoring on Mondays and Fridays. She even worked at the local nursing home on the weekends. Nobody ever had anything to say about her. Even the teachers adored her.

Skip admired her from afar during their high school years. He never had the courage to go up and talk to her. Nobody really noticed him to begin with. In grade school, the kids would accidentally sit on him from time to time. Skip grew up an only child and didn’t seem to know how to make friends. He always spent his summers at his grandmother’s house. When his parents died, he came to live with her. Despite her efforts to make him more sociable, the guy still couldn’t get out of his own shadow. So, he kept to himself.

Middle and high didn’t really change much of anything either. Nobody still noticed him. He ate alone at lunch. The girls never talked to him. Skip did have one friend in the summer of his freshman year, but he moved away before school began. After that, the geek boy hadn’t expected much to come to his life.

That’s when he first saw her.

Kylie, just like everyone else, never noticed him. They almost met a couple of times, but they never spoke to each other. They came from two different circles in life. Kylie was a charmed princess and Skip was just the nice boy next door that no one saw. As anyone guessed, the two lived separate lives and graduated from high school. College should have kept them far apart.

Then, the story took a different turn.

Skip waited for the bus to pick him up for spring classes. Life had gotten a little better for him. He did talk to people more than he used to in college. He still didn’t know what he wanted in life. Plus, the man still hadn’t found a mate to call his own. His grandmother became anxious about that little hiccup in his life.

“When will I get to meet the future Mrs. Yoke?” she asked him time and again. Skip would only give her a little shrug.

“Soon, grandmother,” he would answer. “Soon.”

The old lady blinked at him. “Don’t tell me you’re…”

He gave her a puzzled look. “No!”

“Whew!” his grandmother said. Skip blinked at her. Why can’t she just accept homosexuality in this society?, he thought. Being homophobic is just so…

Skip shook his head as he looked up at the sky. Where is my life?, he thought. Drip. The nerdy guy paused.

“Huh?” he asked. A downpour fell on his face.

“Oh no!” he wailed. “I knew I should’ve brought an umbrella out with me today. Now what am I going to do?” He was about to duck under the shelter when his head felt drier. His eyes turned upwards to see a deep crimson umbrella wide open above his eyes.

“What the heck?” the man mumbled. He looked and smelt soft, flirty perfume. His eyes widened at the blonde curls next to him. The man tried to blink many times.

No way!, he thought. “Kylie Kirkland?” he asked. The woman turned around to him. She blinked her bright blue eyes at him, confused.

“Do I know you?” she asked. Skip shook his head.

“Probably not,” he said. Kylie squinted a bit. Skip kept his eyes on her. She can’t probably remember me, can she?, he thought. Kylie still tried to work it out in her brain.

“Hm,” she said. “Help me out here. Were you in the drama club?”

“No,” he said.

“Art club?”

“No.”

“Have we had any classes together?”

“I can’t really remember.”

“Did you volunteer for any community work?”

“I don’t think so.”

Kylie still tried to figure him out. “What is your name?”

Skip swallowed a bit. “S-Skip. Skip Yorke!”

She gave him a kind smile. “Nice to meet you, again.” They shook hands under her dark red umbrella. Skip smiled a bit at her.

“So, what have you been up to, Kylie?” he asked. She looked for the bus out in the street.

“Not much,” the woman replied. Her former classmate looked at her with eyes of shock.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Kylie gave him a little shrug.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just don’t know what to do with my life at the moment.”

“But… you seemed to have it so much together in high school!” Skip gasped. “What happened?” Kylie moved her head around a bit.

“Life and reality took over,” she said. “Now, I’m just going back and taking slower steps. What about you?”

Skip looked away some. “Well… I don’t know what to do with my life. I go to Oakland County College.”

Kylie’s graceful mouth fell open. “You do? So do I!”

“Whoa!” the young man said. “When? I haven’t seen you around campus.”

“I just started this week,” she explained. “I usually go in the morning, but I overslept.”

“So here you are?” Skip asked.

“Yeah,” Kylie said with a nod. Then, an idea flooded her head. “Hey, are you doing anything for the rest of the day?”

Skip quickly shook his head. “N-No. Why?”

Kylie gave him her famous cute little smile. “Thought that we could catch up or something.”

“Why?” the man asked. “I mean you barely even remember me.” She tightly took him by the hand. Skip almost jumped at the feeling. Kylie still smiled at him.

“Well, I want to get to know you better,” she said.

“For real?” he asked.

“Why not?” Kylie offered. Skip smiled back at her.

“Sure,” he said. “I would like that.” Suddenly, the bus pulled to their stop. The woman turned to her old-new acquaintance.

“Shall we go?” she asked.

“One more thing,” Skip said.

“What is it?” his renewed crush asked.

“Why did you share your umbrella with me?” the young man asked. Kylie smiled at him kindly.

“Just felt like,” she said. “You looked like you could use some help there.” Skip smiled back at her.

“I see,” he replied. The potential boarded the bus to their classes for the afternoon.