A New Acquaintance

Grey High School,

California,

Wednesday.

Raven

I returned to my seat after submitting my assignment to the class representative.

Adrian is absent from school for the second day in a row. I must admit that it's a little boring without him around.

I currently have no class as it's a free period and also the last for the day so I pulled out my favorite novel from my backpack and prepared to be drowned in a fantastical world.

"Hello, Raven." A voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hello." I replied looking up to see a familiar brunette.

"Hi, my name is Kylie." She said adjusting her glasses.

Oh, I recognize her. She's the quiet girl who sits alone in the far back corner of the class. If she isn't outspoken, I'd describe her as a typical nerd.

Oh well, In a school like this, one has no choice but to be outspoken.

"Yeah, I recall that. Remember when you showed me to the infirmary?"

"Oh, you recall." She smiled as she looked me in the eyes.

"You bet I do," I said, giving her a grateful smile.

May I have a look at the book you're reading? She inquired with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sure, you read novels?" I asked in anticipation as I gave her the book.

"Yeah, Holy heavenly grail!!! I had no idea the fourth volume of "Sinking Heart" was available, I couldn't even get the third volume." She whisper_screamed clutching the book as if it were a treasure.

Are you reading it as well? I asked, holding her hands in joy.

What a wonderful thing it is to find someone that can relate to your hobby.

"Heck yeah," she replied, her attention undivided.

The third volume was released one month ago, so it makes sense it hasn't been made available in this region. I said thoughtfully. But I have a copy, which you are welcome to borrow.

"Thank you, I'd like to borrow it." She said beaming happily.

I reached into my bag and fished out the book.

"Here you go, let's have a real long talk when you're done," I said with a knowing smile as I handed it to her.

"Sure, sure," she exclaimed, "thanks a million times." ."Wait, if the third edition was released last month, how come you have the fourth Edition? She inquired, her eyes wide open.

"Uhm, it's a gift from my Godmother so I'm not exactly sure how she got it." I said in response.

"Awwwn, let's share your Godmother if she's going to be gifting me new editions of books like this," she said jokingly making a cute face.

"I do mind, forgive me for being selfish," I said as we both laughed.

"We'd better get reading if we are going to have that long talk" I joked.

"Yeah, I was about to say the same thing." she laughed as she hugged the book and skipped happily to her seat.

"Kylie, huh, nice." I thought, smiling at the prospect of a new acquaintance.

***l ***l ***l ***l

"Brnnnnnnnnng" the alarm sounded.

Pheww, it's been a long but not entirely boring day.

I left the class and went to the hallway to drop some items off, where I ran into Damien.

"Damien, Hello." I said with a smile.

"Hola princesa" he responded comically, earning a chuckle from me.

"You're good?" I asked as I arranged my locker.

"Of course, in fact, I'm in a good mood," He said as he leaned against the locker beside me.

"May I inquire as to why, sire?" I asked, throwing him a glance.

"Come closer," he said, looking around cautiously.

I shut my locker and moved closer to him to satisfy my curiosity.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone first," he said, bending his head to my height.

"No, I wouldn't." I said, firmly extending my pinky finger to seal the deal.

After sealing the promise, he bent closer to my ear and whispered, "it's a secret," before quickly backing away.

What? I asked, not quite understanding what he meant the next second.

Wait what? I said astounded, realizing I just got fooled. "Don't you dare runnn" I gritted with my teeth closed as I chased after him.

"You'll need to do more than that to catch me." He chuckled, riling me up even more by sticking his tongue out.

You'd better not let me catch you, you lying rabbit. I puffed as I tried to catch up to him.

I followed him around the corner but lost sight of him.

"Damien." I called out, wondering where he was.

After a while of no response, I got a little worried.

"Damien, you can come out now. Let's forget about the prank, okay?" I spoke up a little louder.

A sudden pang of headache hit me as the image of a similar scene flashed in my head.

I sat down gently clutching my head as the pain faded away.

"What was that about ?" I muttered, perplexed.

"Hey, are you all right?" Damien pulled up from behind me.

"No." I snapped, smacking his head.

"Are you okay?" He asked again with concern.

"Well, I am now that I got you." I grinned as I held his hand tightly. "Heyyyy, you said you'd forget about the prank." He whined.

"Tch, you're no fun." I said, eliciting a chuckle from him.

"Where exactly in this place anyways?" I asked, realizing I hadn't explored this part of the school.

"This is a place for creative minds…that's the Arts building right there. It's primarily for the art students, but you can sign up for their extracurricular class if you want." He said in response to my question.

"Oh okay," I muttered looking at the magnificent building.

"Do you want to go in?" He asked.

"Can we? Are we allowed to?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah of course. We are permitted in every building without prohibition signs in the school till 6:30 pm." He responded gently.

"Let's go in." he continued, pulling me up gently.

***l ***l ***l ***l ***l ***l

Raven

We finally got to be the largest part of the building after a while of wandering around with Damien and the coordinator.

"And this is the painting studio," said the coordinator. Use the hotline if you need me; I'm only a phone call away. I mentioned leaving us.

Have you ever tried your hand at painting? Damien inquired as he picked up a brush.

"I know the basics but it isn't a hobby." I replied honestly, also picking a brush.

"I know the fundamentals, but I don't recall ever trying." I replied honestly, picking up a brush as well.

"Let's have a little friendly competition," Damien said, piquing my interest after an awkward pause he initiated.

Whoever has the most beautiful teardrop painting owes the other a favor. He continued.

"Sure," I responded with a smirk, unsure where the confidence came from.

**l **l **l **l **l

30 minutes later.

I stared at the teardrop I'd painted, feeling something I couldn't quite place my finger on.

I remember taking painting lessons as a kid, but I had no idea I was this talented.

I mean, it's been a long time since I've painted, but this is... Awesome?

"I'm finished." Damien smirked, eliciting an eye roll.

"Me, too." I responded.

"All right, let's turn it and compare." He expressed his concern.

What? As I exclaimed as I compared both paintings, I was surprised to see that they were both painted in the same style. His was simply more grounded and realistic.

"Shish, no doubt he's won." I thought.

"You'd always win when it comes to your design, Jennie, but never with a teardrop," he laughed.

"Jennie?" I repeated with an eyebrow raised as the pang of headache from earlier hit me again.

I held my head in pain, trying to remain calm, but the pain intensified until I couldn't take it any longer.

"Are you all right?" That was the last thing I heard before losing consciousness.