"Have you ever wondered how chance can change the course of your entire life?"

Lily sat across the table, her eyes misty and voice quivering as she recounted the rainy day that changed her life forever. It was a day she would never forget, a day that had brought both joy and sorrow, a day that would forever haunt her.

As she spoke, her words painted a vivid picture of the scene. The rain had come down in sheets, drumming against the pavement and filling the air with the sweet scent of wet earth and fresh rain.

"It was a rainy day," she started, her voice soft and gentle. "I remember the smell of the wet pavement and the sound of raindrops hitting the ground. I was walking home from the store when I saw him. He was on a swing, drenched from the rain, like sadness etched into his features."

Lily paused for a moment, closing her eyes as she relived the moment. The sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella, the warmth of his body next to hers, and the smell of his cologne were all engraved in her memory.

 —

"It's cold here," she said. It was the first time she had seen him there. Lily felt a pang of sympathy for him, and before she knew it, she was offering him her umbrella. The boy looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed, and shook his head.

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"No, it's okay," he said, his voice barely audible over the sound of the rain.

"But you'll catch a cold," Lily insisted, holding out the umbrella towards him.

The boy shrugged, and looked away. "I don't care," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lily didn't know what it was about this boy, but she couldn't just leave him standing there in the rain. Without a second thought, she held the umbrella over his head, shielding him from the rain. 

For a few moments, they stood there in silence, the only sound being the gentle pattering of raindrops on the umbrella. 

The boy looked up at Lily, his eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and sadness. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice shaking. 

Lily didn't have an answer for him. 

She didn't know why she felt so strongly about helping him, why she felt such a connection to this boy she had never met before. All she knew was that he needed help, and she wanted to give it to him.

"It's nothing," she said, her voice soft. "I just... want to help."

—

As she told the story, tears streamed down Lily's face, her emotions overflowing. She couldn't help but wonder what might have been if he had lived. Would they have fallen in love, grown old together? The questions tormented her, as she knew she would never know the answer.

The rain had stopped outside, and the sun had started to peek through the clouds. But for Lily, the world remained gray and bleak, as if the rain had never stopped falling.

She took a deep breath, wiped her tears, and looked up at her friend Charlotte, who had been listening silently.

"That's how we met," she said, her voice quavering. "And that's how it ended."