It was the first day of the rainy season.
The school bell rang. Students ran outside, holding their bags above their heads. Some laughed. Some screamed. Some slipped and fell.
But Ben stood near the school gate, waiting for the rain to stop. He was tall but always looked down. He didn’t talk much. He loved books more than people.
Then, someone walked past him – Lily.
She held a bright red umbrella. She was smiling, even in the rain.
“Hi, Ben!” she said.
Ben looked up, surprised.
She was his classmate. She sat near the window and always answered the teacher’s questions. Her voice was full of life. She was everything he was not.
He didn’t reply. Just smiled. A little.
Raindrops tapped on the roof like soft music. The wet ground smelled of fresh earth. The trees near the school gate stood still, their leaves heavy with rain. The green grass was brighter than usual. Everything looked new, like the world had taken a fresh bath.
Lily didn’t wait for a reply. She stood beside him, her red umbrella between them.
“You don’t like rain?” she asked, her voice cheerful.
Ben looked at the sky. It was full of grey clouds, but somehow, it didn’t feel sad.
“I like rain,” he said softly. “I just like to watch it.”
Lily laughed gently. “Me too. But I also like walking in it.”
Ben noticed a drop of rain on her cheek. It shone like a tiny star.
His heart beat faster. Something soft bloomed inside him — like a flower opening for the first time.
They stood together in silence.
But it was not an empty silence.
It was full of small things — the smell of wet leaves, the sound of birds hiding in trees, the touch of cool air on the skin.
For the first time, Ben didn’t feel nervous around someone. His hands were not in his pockets. His eyes did not look at the ground.
They looked at Lily.
And she looked back—not with words, but with warmth.
“Come on,” Lily said after a moment. “Let’s go. I’ll drop you at the gate.”
Ben looked at her umbrella. It was small, but her smile was big.
He stepped under it.
Now, they were close. Their shoulders almost touched. Ben’s heart thumped like a drum.
They walked slowly.
Rain fell around them like a soft curtain. Puddles formed on the path. A dog shook off water near the tea shop. A few yellow flowers floated in a stream by the road.
The world felt quiet, but full of feeling.
Lily hummed a song. Ben didn’t know the words, but the sound stayed in his ears.
He felt something new.
Not fear. Not shyness.
Something gentle. Something happy.
Was this how first love felt?
It didn’t feel like a movie. It didn’t feel like fireworks.
It felt like green trees, a red umbrella, and the peace of walking beside someone who made the rain feel warm.
That evening, Ben walked home without the umbrella.
Lily had taken it with her. “I’ll bring it tomorrow,” she said with a wink.
He didn’t mind.
He didn’t care that his clothes were wet.
He looked at the sky, smiled, and thought, I’m not the same anymore.
Ben noticed the world more now.
The little flowers near the school wall.
The soft breeze in the morning.
The way Lily laughed when the wind blew her hair.
The rain had changed him — or maybe Lily had.
Love did not make him louder.
But it made him braver.
Braver to feel.
Braver to look up.
Braver to smile.
And in that soft rain, under that bright red umbrella, something had started—something simple, quiet, and beautiful.
