Raven sat on the bench, a book in her lap, leaning back against the armrest with her legs up. Her position was closer to lying down than sitting.
The others sat before or near her, forming an oval circle. They had decided earlier that they’d rather sit than stand for the whole lunch break.
Raven didn’t feel pure contentment, but neither did she feel resentment. It was something in between—something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Maybe it was the strain in her muscles that yearned for ease, the sting in her eyes, or the heavy cold air that wrapped around Raven’s body like a blanket, caressing the little burns.
All she knew was that she didn’t dislike the soft chatter of Adelaine and Adrien, punctuated only occasionally by Aiden chiming in when he deemed it necessary.
His voice surprised Raven a little; it was lazy, with an edge of roughness, like talking was a bother yet held a certain necessity.
Adrien’s voice, on the other hand, sounded more alive—rich with boyish antics, underlaid by a hint of husk.
Whereas Adelaine’s mellow tone acted as a buffer, a friend and leader to both, adding the last piece to the melody that surrounded Raven.
For Raven, just being there felt like standing in the rain while thousands of droplets fell on her
—soft, wild punches washing away the tension in her body, replacing it with a fresh breeze,
a strange mix of wetness and relief, like the world was pressing reset without asking first.
As she wrote mindlessly—words, chords—in her book, listening and observing, simply existing, she didn’t feel excluded.
It was confusing, but not in a threatening way. And maybe it wasn’t so ba—
A round of pings went off; their eyes widened, and breath caught in response.
Raven huffed, looking at her phone: a school email from the new principal, a brief summary of the last student assembly.
But most importantly, a reminder of their new assignment, and their dwindling time to complete it. ˋHow I already hate that woman.’
Mrs. Davis seemed to be a stern woman who got what she wanted, whether you liked it or not, while smiling at you.
If Raven’s memory served her right, the stance and words said by Mrs. Davis at the assembly made it loud and clear that she didn’t indulge disobedience while sounding sickeningly sweet.
Raven scrunched up her nose, putting away the phone and staring back at her scribbles.
Her new rule—or assignment—for the whole student body was the mandatory club requirement.
Meaning that basically, everyone had to be in a club by the end of the month—so, in about two weeks—or the school would choose one for them.
Raven closed her book, sighing. The bitter taste of the assignment weighed down on the tip of her tongue.
After another deep inhale, Raven’s eyes wandered, taking in the beautiful scenery.
A lot of greenery, some even adorned by crimson red flowers.
’Weren’t those Ipomea?’ wondered Raven, eyes lingering briefly on the red climbing flowers before they moved on.
The flowers’ veins were wrapped around the tall fence of the school grounds, creating a shield between them and the outside world.
These flowers were truly unrelenting, blooming all season long, thriving in the sun or rain.
“Truly admirable,” muttered Raven to herself, noticing that the others were still on their phones, probably checking other things.
Adrien was the first to search for Raven’s eyes—or rather, grab her attention.
His eyes were full of anticipation, as if checking whether she still remembered their little agreement. She sadly did, and just gave him a look.
ˋJust rip the Band-Aid off—fast and painless.’
It wasn’t like she could backtrack anyway. He just shot her one big grin and looked away.
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“So guys, me and this madamé had an idea—more like me, but she agreed!”
Raven rolled her eyes at the title while the rest sent her a quick, interested glance before focusing back on Adrien.
“Well, what do you guys think if we make our own club instead of joining one? It would be more like a study group. It surely wouldn’t harm us, since we’re seniors.”
Adrien’s voice was accompanied by welcomed silence, enhanced by chirping birds and rustling grass.
The warm heat in her stomach reinforced the fact that his voice—more than his mere presence near her—still rubbed her the wrong way, even if it was slightly less now.
No one in the group seemed inclined to interfere with Adrien’s idea. They just let him speak. Raven and Aiden’s faces shared a similar unreadable expression.
The only difference was that Raven’s usual coldness wasn’t as vivid, and Aiden maybe couldn’t be bothered to show any other face.
In comparison, Adelaine looked like a proud mother, face beaming, eyes following every step.
ˋHow long has she known these guys again?’
For a second, Adrien let his eyes shift over them before resuming, unfazed by the emotionless faces of Aiden and Raven.
“Besides, it would also make Raven’s and my class project way easier,” stated Adrien, ruffling his hair even further.
Not missing a beat, he grinned, “Since it’s about doing something that helps the student body.
And what’s better for students than students helping themselves—resulting in better grades? Simply nothing!”
He exclaimed, his eyes sparkling in the sun, face tilted forward towards their direction, chuckling.
The arms temporarily resting on his sides instead of moving animatedly with every one of his words.
He should’ve looked and felt like a ridiculous kid, yet there was no embarrassment in sight, no flushed cheeks. Instead, Raven spotted cheek dimples, a light dusting of rose on his nose and ears.
ˋFor real, is he a real human?’
Regardless of what Raven thought about it, the show continued without any disruptions.
“The best part is, we can make it come off as a test run for the project while still fulfilling the requirements.
But we don’t have to take in any students—it would just be us. We should be enough people to be officially recognized as a club. How awesome is that?”
“So guys, what do you think—are you in?” he ended, looking into our eyes expectantly, his arms and hands slowly calming down.
ˋDamn, pretty boy knows how to sell something.’
Silence spread again, faces mostly relaxed, only to be broken shortly after by Adelaine.
Adelaine spoke up, thoughtful yet excited.
“So it’s like a big friend group project—just for school but way more fun. This is going to be awesome. I’m in!”
Aiden’s response followed almost immediately.
“Good enough for me.”
Raven was sure he only said yes because he didn’t want to search for a club or be stuck with an annoying one—and honestly, who could blame him?
This offer—she had to admit—was really good. Maximum results with minimum effort. The only downside was she’d have to spend more time with them than she wanted.
ˋOne can’t have everything.’
Raven closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before opening them again.
Just as she was about to say “me too,” she realized they were all staring at her, waiting for her response.
‘Oh, I drifted off again.’
It stopped her for a second before she exhaled gently and sealed her fate, saying,
“I’m in.”
They all looked surprised for a moment, as if they expected Raven to say no—or to say nothing at all.
She rolled her eyes, ˋDidn’t they hear what Adrien said before? They didn’t have to be so dramatic.’
Raven simply ignored them, reopened her book, and started writing random words in it again, deciding this wasn’t worth her attention.
After a while, they all moved on as if nothing had happened—but Adelaine shot her one last look, as if asking, What the hell?! What did I miss?
“Great, so we have that settled. Let’s get to the boring part—what planning do we have to do to start a new club?
Even if I don’t know the exact rules here, I am sure we at least have to get some form of registration, right?” asked Adrien.
Just as Adelaine was about to reply, the bell went off, signaling the end of break. She glanced quickly at her phone before saying,
“I think we have to settle this later. Let’s go to class first.”
They all agreed, in some recognizable form, as they packed their things and headed off to their different classes in different directions.
Even though their goodbye was rushed as time ran out, they still paused when Raven said “bye.”
It wasn’t anything grand—just a simple bye, nothing more.
ˋThey were definitely weirdos,’ noted Raven as she sat down in class.
________________________
Later, at home, Raven received messages from one unknown number—and a new group.
Study Foxes:
Ade: Hi guys, I thought it could help if we had a group for the club. ;)
Unknown 1: Yes, that’s great. :)
Unknown 1: Now we can discuss and plan everything we can’t at school here.
Unknown 2: OK.
Raven shook her head and didn’t reply, one of her hands still on her scalp trying to soothe it, as the ponytail had been too tight today, making her braids pull too much on her head.
She hissed lowly as she put it into a lazy bun, wrapping a bonnet over them after putting her phone into her joggers pocket, passing her piano on the way to her bed.
After setting up her bed—ruffling the sheets and pillows—she drank some water and sat in it, planning to wait around half an hour for it to settle into her system.
She wouldn’t risk any heartburn, the pain of one of the patients in the hospital still very graphic in her mind.
She took out her phone again, gazing at it furtively, ‘I have disinfected it, right?’—a question which was hushed by a quick memory flash of the wipe down.
Opening her phone, her mind drifted back to the messages.
She wouldn’t even want to ask how or when Adelaine got the number—knowing her, it could’ve been anytime between the first meeting and today.
Eyeing the other unseen messages and chats, Raven exhaled faintly, ˋThis can wait till tomorrow.’
But before leaving the app to watch one episode of a children’s series to sleep, she saw an unopened message from an unknown chat again.
As Raven opened the unknown chat, she yawned, massaging the side of her neck.
“this feels like a literal brick,” muttered Raven mindlessly, reading the first message, stopping for a second at the first sentence.
?Who would have guessed? Of course it’s him.“
Unknown: Heyy, it’s me, Adrien. I don’t wanna be a bother. I know ladies need their sleep.
Unknown: But we kinda only have till Friday. Till we have to present our idea to Mr. Metthews. And I’d rather not get on his bad side. ;)
Unknown: Sticker
Just before answering, she glanced again at the sticker. It was kind of cute. It fit. A shy teddy bear.
ˋNo, it didn’t—what the hell,’ realized Raven, pinching her brows together. She must be way more tired than she realized.
Huffing out the vanilla scent of the candle, she tipped.
Raven: Yeah, I can do the plan. You can check tomorrow.
Not even a minute later, he replied.
ˋHe must’ve already been on his phone. There was no way he’d waited for me. It’s literally almost eleven pm.’
Annoying Blond: Sure thing, sweetling. I’ll do the first report, and we’ll check tomorrow. We got this. Good night, Rave ;)
Annoying Blond: Y’know this man needs his full 8 h sleep too. All this greatness doesn’t just grow on trees after all.
Annoying Blond: Okay, now a real final goodbye. Good dreams, darling ;)
Annoying Blond: Sticker
‘What the hell is a sweetling? And who is his darling? These nicknames need to stop. This is ridiculous.’
Even though Raven thought that, she didn’t text him that.
ˋWasn’t worth it,’ she pointed out.
This time, the sticker was a sleeping bear.
Raven released a heavy breath, like she’d been holding it in for a long time, before finally letting her head fall on the pillow.
Unbeknownst to her, as her body relaxed and prepared for sleep, her lips softly—yet dangerously close—formed something close to a smile.
And for the first time in a while, she dreamt.
Maybe—maybe this wasn’t so bad.
the new chapters will now be released every Sunday or Monday. This will give me a bit more time to edit and make sure each chapter is the best it can be.
See you next Sunday or Monday ! —(N.N)
Little Teaser:
“She got hurt too. She was just a girl. She lost people too. She bled too. But it didn’t matter. They would rather mourn ghosts than the living.”