What do you guys like better, Third person or first person?

Please excuse mistakes. I did not proofread.

Rain, Third Person 

"Can I ask you a question?"  Rain asked, spooning a mouth full of Ramen noodles, Chris made her. The two have been getting well acquainted in his apartment with Raiden who was currently glued to Chris's old laptop computer, watching a movie.

Ever since Chris invited Rain to his apartment that couple of weeks ago, they've been inseparable. Rain would make excuses visit him without Uncle Tom suspecting anything. The school district closed schools to students for maintenance and Teachers conferences, so instead of telling Uncle Tom school was closed, she and Raiden got ready for school and waited for Chris at the bus stop.

" Yeah ask me anything." Chris was already done eating his Ramen, so he was eating M&Ms from his grandfather's store.

" What's a record? You said you had one." Rain has always been curious on what he meant by it. It had to be something bad. She noticed that his grandparents always checked on him to make sure he was where he said he was. 

" I got in trouble with the law back home with my moms back in New Jersey." He said truthfully, finishing a hand full of M&Ms before giving the rest to Raiden, who happily took them.

" What you do?" 

" Got caught with weed while I was spray painting this building. I spent some months in juvie since it wasn't my first offense then I was sent here to live with my grandparents. Good thing I didn't have my gun on me. I would still be in Jail if I did." Chris looked down at her to see what her reaction would be. Everyone else around him would preach to him about how the life he lived was dangerous and stupid. The truth was, he knows that but that's the life he was dealt with.  Honestly it didn't make sense why his mother who lived in the projects  would send him here to another bad neighborhood, surrounded by crime.  He still carried his gun for protection. The only difference was that he didn't have to sell weed for fast cash anymore.

Rain wasn't fazed by this information as she finished her noodles. " Did you get enough? How about you Raiden?"

" Yes, thank you." Rain said, satisfied with the small bowl she was given.

" Can I have some more?" Raiden asked, as he pointed to the box that Chris had in his small kitchen.

" Oh no Raiden..." Rain was going to intervene. She didn't want to take advantage of Chris's kindness.

" Of course you can." Chris spoke. 

Seeing Rain's uneasiness, Raiden tried to refuse after already asking for more. 

" You can eat all the food you want as long as Rain is my best friend"

Best Friend

Best of Friends

Rain tugged on her sleeves nervously as she watched Chris get up to make Raiden noodles. She thought about what that could possibly mean. She only heard one of Uncle Tom's friends say that they were going to be the best of Friends before they had there way with her. Uncle Tom was too drunk to notice but when he found out the next day he was livid, not only at his friend but her for letting it happen.

" He's going to ask for something in return" She thinks to herself.

" Umm, we have to go" she blurts out from where she sat. Her voice halts Chris from moving any further. 

He looked at her confused but didn't protest. As Rain and her brother got there things together, Chris sat back and watched, trying to figure out what went wrong. The pair were always awfully quiet and when they did speak it was barely above a whisper. 

" Is everything okay?" He asked, with his hands stuffed into his sweatpants. Rain didn't say anything as she helped Raiden put on his coat. 

" Did I do something wrong?"He asked again this time, taking his hand out his pocket to reach out to her. 

Rain unintentionally jumped at the sudden contact. Her chest heaved, nervously as she took a step back with Raiden behind her. Chris's piercing brown eyes held worry as he lifted his hands in a surrender stance, dumbfounded by her reaction. 

Rain was quick on her feet as she guided Raiden out the door. "Umm, we just have to go." She explained, hearing Chris's heavy footsteps behind her. 

" I'll walk you to school tomorrow?" 

She was gone leaving a very confused Chris.

_______

Rain and Raiden wandered around the neighborhood for a while before she mustered up the courage to go home to face Uncle Tom. When she unlocked the door, the house was dark and quiet. They quickly went side putting their coats away. 

" Remember what I said, baby boy?" Rain whispered to Raiden, brushing his hair with her hands. 

Raiden nodded peering up at Rain. " Keep quiet and don't talk about Chris." He whispered back before making his way to his thrifted toys in the living room. 

Rain sighed deciding to focus on her daily chores. If and when Uncle Tom comes home, she wanted him to come home to a clean house. It would be one less thing for him to complain about out of the million things he could be irritated with. As she began scrubbing the floors, in her own head about Chris, she didn't hear Uncle Tom creeping up behind her. With swiftness, he yank her up by her arm causing her to scream in fright.

" Why you not in school?" He held onto her arm, standing her on her feet. The Damp floor made her slip and slide as she was practically jelly in his hands. He held her firmly seizing her movements altogether.

" school let out early." She said to quickly as she grimaced at the pain she was feeling in his arm. 

"Y'all been getting out of school a lot. Your stupid ass better not be lying to me." He loosened his grip before raising his hand, pretending like he was going to hit her. She whimpered expecting a blow. 

He laughed before letting her go completely. Rain blinked back the tears as she stood frozen shaking. Her fists were clenched firmly together at her sides. 

" Look at you? You look just like your momma did at her age," He kissed the side of her face. 

He always told her how much she looked like her mother. Rarely did he ever talk about his deceased half brother Matthew. Rain wondered why? Why talk about your brother's wife but not your own flesh and blood? She could never bring herself to ask, but she would listen to any information that he would give her on what her mother was like. With her life full with sorrow she was beginning to lose the memory of her joyous mother.

" Rain?!" his booming voice interrupted her thoughts. He was no longer in front of her but in his bedroom.

" Yes sir" Her feet moved but her mind was elsewhere. The first thing she saw was him, lying comfortably in the bed with his back up against the headboard. His dirty boots laid carelessly on the floor and that was what she decided to focus on while she waited for further instruction. 

The lighting of his lighter caught her attention as she looked up at him and she instantly wished she hadn't. His deep blue eyes glazed over as he took a drag out of a blunt. His private parts was exposed.

Rain silently pleaded with him with her eyes as tears welled in her colored orbs. When he said nothing, she closed the door to shield Raiden from what was to come. 

For a night, her name was Iris.

________

Katy ( First Person)

" Has anyone seen Rain?" I asked the class as I hovered over Rain's desk. I could have sworn I'd seen her come to class this morning. My students had their turn at the gym this morning with Coach Slaughter then soon after that they had a health class, so there had been some time since I'd seen her last. With the lack of teachers, the school had a schedule on when certain classes would have extracurricular activities. By law the school has to provide gym and health courses, so we had that once a week. 

" She was called to the front office. I'm guessing she was going home." Chris spoke up, who sat near Rain everyday. They seemed to be getting close, but today they were both pretty quiet and distant.

" Hmm" I looked at her desk once more before noticing she left her backpack. To be safe I wanted to check to make sure she was in the office. " Everyone stay seated, Kiesha you're in charge."

I left out of the room and into the graffitied halls and made my way to the office. The secretary who was the only one there, rolled her eyes at the sight of me. Probably because she knew I was going to put her lazy ass to work. 

" What do you want now, Katy?" She sighed. 

" Hello Ms, Ella. " I smiled even though I knew I was going to get a stank attitude in return. " I'm looking for my student, Rain King. I was told she was called to the office."

"She left with a little boy some time ago. "She answered then casually went back to her magazine.

" Left as in Left the building?" I looked at her puzzled at her lack of information. We are supposed to keep track of every student in this school.

" Umm yeah"  

" Well she couldn't have left without a guardian. Plus she didn't leave with her things." 

" She had a guardian, He was out in his truck. I could see from the window. " She pointed to the big window to her right that gave a view to the schools front entrance. She could probably see the truck for sure but not enough to identify who would be in the car. " He sent the little boy in to get her."

Disgusted by her lack of awareness, I stormed out of the front office and treaded down the hall back to my classroom. As I walked in I could hear them scrambling to get everyone to quiet down. I looked around the room to see their pretend innocent faces as they tried to busy themselves with the assignment I had given them to work on. 

" What's going on? Enlighten me." As I slowly walked further into the classroom to the middle of the room. With my hands behind my back I continue to scan their faces to see if anyone would crack. " Keisha, I put you in charge. Tell me what happened while I was gone."

" Nothing happened. We were all doing our work." Kiesha lied.

" Hmm," My eyes finally landed on Chris, who sported a deep scowl on his face. His ears turned red as his jaw clenched tightly.

" Are you alright?" I genuinely asked him, just above a whisper.

He barely glanced my way before he gave me a lousy "I'm straight."

Scanning the room once more, I asked him to step outside the classroom so I could talk to him alone. With the way his behavior has changed since I felt, I can bet that someone said something to him. I've read Chris's file before his first day in my class. I felt pressured to since the principle felt the need to warn me about him as if he was the most dangerous kid in this school. Grant it, the principle thought less of practically every student in this school. In reading his file, I learned that Chris would often get in fights in school so to keep things from potentially escaculating I wanted to give him a chance to talk about it.

Once Chris reluctantly left the room, I followed behind him, closing the door in the process.

" What's wrong?" I asked him, crossing my arms in front of me. 

" Nothing, I said I was straight." Chris said, but I didn't believe him not one bit. 

I just stared at him waiting for him to tell me the truth. Aside from the look on his face, his defensive stance told it all. 

Chris sighed, " They started talking about Rain after you left. Like the way she dresses and about how she acts. I ignored them at first but they started trying to put me in the conversation. I told them to leave me alone and defended Rain. They said some more slick shit and I Just..." 

The more Chris talked the more he got angry. " There  are just words, Chris..." I started to give him a lesson on not allowing negativity have power when he interrupted.

" Words hurt, Katy. She may not have been here this time, but I've heard them say this shit to her face before. They call her weird and disgusting to her face, everyday. They don't know anything about her, but they pick on her because they can. I try to defend her but everytime I do, I want to fuck somebody up." Chris hits the locker next to him as he tries to calm himself down.

" Who was it?" I asked, not fazed by his behavior. At least he was letting it out. " I don't tolerate bullying, so tell me who is bullying Rain."

Chris laughed as if it was a joke. " I'm not snitching. It doesn't matter anyways, It ain't nothing you can do about it. "

I was familiar with the ask don't tell and snitches get stitches mentality. There wasn't much I could do or say to convince him to tell me anything more. My only way of remotely solving this issue is to address the entire class and make sure to talk to Rain about it the next time I see her. One thing is for sure, I am going to handle it.

___________

I'm adding so much new information to Rain's story that I hope it all comes together in the end. Tell me what you need more of or clarification. I appreciate each and everyone of you.