It was not a daily soap going on but my life in 19 hours had changed so much more than it had changed in the past 19 years. I had no clue about the real world because all I could see right now was the white light calling out for me. I could see segments of my memory scattered everywhere in forms of little leaves. There was one that had the birth of little Riri, one that had a few moments I spent with Granny. There were some moments that I had spent with Noah when I was 8 and then most of the memories were of the valleys and mountains I have been to. It all seemed so real, so magical.

Whenever I would touch a leaf, it would give me shivers and the emotions of that memory would come rushing back to my heart and then to my eyes. I was scared of losing my balance when I touched the leaf of Jujua Mountain where I had almost died because of the landslide.

The next leaf I touched belonged to the tome when I ran away from the house for the first time, nobody would believe who helped me.
I was in my courtyard along with my backpack ready to get on the tour to explore the world when suddenly I realized I had left my wallet in my room. I thought I would be doomed but someone threw it to me out of nowhere from the window along with a little note, whatever you do, you must always hold your heart tight and pocket tighter.

It was for Dad. My first escape was supported by my father and since then I began to explore everything I could, I grew so much more confident only because I knew, Mr. Renaldi had my back.

The last leaf I touched was the memory of my last visit to Linkton High, where I had heard girls talk about Noah and his then-girlfriend who was equally popular with the Renaldi girls. That is when the truth hit me, my heartbeat was back on the racing out zone again.

I was confused about if I shall reconsider marrying Noah but now I had realized, it was never my decision. Everything was zoning out little by little. All the leaves were drying out and slowly my memories began to fade away as the white light kept on getting brighter. But there still remained one rebellious leaf that denied leaving. That was the leaf from Mount Fuji, the time when it rained and it filled my soul with love and passion. If I was to fall in love with someone, now would have been the most brilliant time for them to show up.

I breathed heavily lying almost lifeless on the hospital bed expecting it to be my last breath when something unusual and beautiful enriched my soul. I haven't been so mesmerized with anything before. I heard footsteps approaching my room as the person opened the door. He had the scent of rain that was driving me crazy and it was forcing me to open my eyes.

"What happened to her?" He asked in his husky voice.

"Hit and run case. She is just in a state of shock but we suspect it could be serious if her mental condition is not at rest." The doctor explained more like read a murder case study.

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't see anything clearly. It was all a blur. My heart was yearning to just get one glance of this person who smelled like as if he was meant to be mine. I wasn't sure why did he appear now of all times after I agreed to get married to someone else already. He placed his hand on my forehead. I forced my eyelashes to widen up so that I could just look at him once but I couldn't. Even with my eyes wide open, my head had a concussion and my vision was fogged up.

"Give her an ivy to sleep. She really needs rest." The devil doctor said to the nurse who without even thinking twice injected me. How can they just make me sleep while I clearly want to know who this person was? And how can he simply leave while I gradually die trying to look for him?

------

The next morning I woke up wrapped in a hospital blanket. I had no memory of what happened after they injected me. I wasn't sure if it was all just a dream or reality but the scent was still trapped in all the corners of my soul.

"How do you feel now?" A nurse asked entering my room.
I rolled my eyes in disappointment,
"My head hurts," I told her as she placed the thermometer under my tongue.

"You still have a temperature." She said after looking at it. She did some proper examination before giving me a few more injections of vitamins.

"When can I leave? My family must be worried about me." I sighed picking up my cell phone.

"You have a slight fever and most probably a lot of mental stress. Physically you're fit to walk freely on the streets but I'm not sure about your mental condition." She said giving me some iron capsules.

"In that case, I'll take care of my mental health myself. Please help me apply for a discharge." I asked politely.

She seemed really cheerful and she agreed to help me happily as well. She went out of the room and then barged in again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The guy who came to visit you yesterday forgot his jacket when he left this morning." She said pointing towards a grey jacket kept on the couch.

"I had a visitor?" I asked in confusion and excitement at the same time.
"Yeah, he seemed to be really worried." She said before locking the door. I stood up from my bed and went to pick up the jacket from the couch. I grabbed it up softly, it felt like a bed of feathers. It had the smell of rain too. That is when I knew, I was meant to reconsider my decision to marry Noah.

Finally, I had found a reason to wait. To hold on. To think again properly. Who was this guy? Did it even matter? I fit had some hope in my love life, why would I bother even trying to shatter my precious moment already?

I dialed Uncle Martin's number and he quickly answered after a single ring, "Hello?"

"Hey, Uncle Martin, this is Mieal.., I'll visit you today at school. I'm really sorry but I can't marry Noah. It's too impractical to just marry him for the sake of my family. It's unfair to him." I blurted before hanging up. I filled the discharge papers and cleared the bill before leaving the hospital. I had hated hospitals the most because they always took my favorite people away from me but today this hospital had given me a new reason to smile again, to live again. I wanted to find out who this guy was. I had no idea about him but I was sure, eventually, I'd find him.

I nervously entered the main building of Linkton High, it was around the recess time so I rushed towards the Cafeteria to look for Mimi. Every single step I took attracted 2-4 eyes. I felt like a fool walking from a crowd of all sane people who kept on gossiping and clicking my pictures. This was not the first time. Apparently, Renaldi twins had been the center of attention for almost all our life and obviously, when it's the eldest one, how can people just let their chance slid off?

"Mimi!" I called out entering the cafeteria.

"Miael?" Mimi asked rushing towards me. She came closer and hugged me tightly. I pushed her away instantly removing the jacket from her touch. I didn't want the jacket to lose his scent.

Yeah, I was practically going crazy, after all, it was my first crush.

"What the...? Forget it! Where were you?" She questioned folding her hands.

"I got in a car accident. I'm fine now." I told her.

Her jaw dropped as her eyes bulged out, "a car what?"

"I'm fine. It didn't even hit me properly." I smiled reassuring her that I wasn't lying.

"You've got to be kidding me Mieal!" She rolled her eyes, "why didn't you call me?"

"If I had the chance, who do you think I would have called?" I smiled holding her hand.

"You just like to fool around, don't you?
She helped me sit at a corner table away from all the students who behaved like hungry werewolves.

"You should have called me." She scolded helping me drink water.

"I had to come here anyway. I needed to see Uncle Martin." I sighed keeping the jacket on a chair beside me.

"Uncle Martin? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about your marriage now?" She asked taking a step away from me.

I simply let down my head and nodded softly denying to match her gaze. I was happy to have found a new goal in life but I was not sure how was I supposed to face reality. "Noah is not the type of person who could be trusted or who should be trusted." I finally let out my biggest fear. The Noah Martin I knew hated people. He was too lazy to talk to anyone, let alone do anything special for anyone.

"But he did volunteer to help us, didn't he?" Mimin reasoned.

I lifted up my eyelids, "on what condition though? He used our situation the same way The Bennettes did, didn't he?"

"It's not exactly similar." Mimin sat beside me, "Noah decided to be real for once. If he doesn't marry you, how will we show a family relationship between our two different clusters and how will we prove it to the world that Dad can still pay off the load. Despite, only The Martins are capable of saving us, getting us out of this ridiculous situation."

"Yes, only they are capable of saving us from one ridiculous situation and pushing us into the next one. It's such a creative mess." I ranted letting my head down again.

Mimin didn't reply this time, maybe she was bewildered by my stupid rant too, but I had my reasons.
I was occupied with the continuous debate going on in my mind about Noah when all of a sudden the cafeteria's door crooked open. I had not seen such a handsome man in my whole life. His hazel eyes were too pretty to be real while his caramel-colored light brown hair was already tossing and teasing the heart of every girl in the room. He walked inside ignoring everyone as he adjusted his white headphones. His sling back hung to his left shoulder while his right hand brushed his hair continuously.

"Who is he?" I asked Mimi, after taking an eyeful of the heavenly gorgeous man.

"The guy your heart has been debating about for hours," Mimi said as my eyes widened on realizing I had just dumped the most beautiful man I had ever met without even knowing him. By now I was sure destiny was busy playing with me.

What the hell? He was Noah? The one who became almost My Noah?

"He is Noah!" I gasped covering my mouth yet pretty loudly to gain everyone's attention.

And as if it wasn't bad enough, Noah paused too. He turned around and removing his headphones glared at us. He took slow steps toward us, Dab-dub-dab-dub-dab, I counted, not his footsteps, but my heartbeat. My eyelashes fluttered in nervousness as he leaned closer to my face and fear grew more intense. I was so scared I stopped inhaling for a moment.

"Does it still hurt?" He questioned looking at my arm that had a bandage tied around the wrist.

"Huh?" I questioned back slowly coming to reality. I took a deep breath and it knocked me back to my dreamland. Why God? Why? I questioned my existence upon realizing he had the scent of rain which meant my search had ended even before starting.

Oh no, no, no! Does this mean Noah Martin has the scent of rain? How the hell did this happen?

❤