What's going on?

**l**l**l

Rowan

**l**l**l

I smiled as I received an alert from my Granny after finishing a video call with my grandparents.

Heaven knows how thrilled I am right now. I can finally begin my search for my sister.

My mother promised to take me to see her, but my patience has thinned out.

It's evident she's not going to return anytime soon, and it'd be a poor idea to ask her about my sister's whereabouts when she's already told me to wait for her......She'd obviously ask me to wait for her again and start keeping tabs on me.

Aside from the fact that I'm in the same state as she is, I have no further knowledge, but it's a good start.

Finding her has always been top of my priority list, but money has always been an issue.

Not that I'm broke or something. Just that my grandparents have deposited the majority of the money I have in a fixed account, so I won't be able to access it until I am nineteen years old.

Previously, I depend on private missions for gathering the money but after relocating I've been working part-time shifts at a bar and saving a portion of my allowances, but it still wasn't enough for the time limit I'm plan to give the tracker.

Well, not until Granny sent me reward money on this account for the first time, usually it's just allowances, so this is a first.

Now I have the option of hiring a tracker to locate my sister.

It's more than missing her now, I long for our reunion. I want to see how much she's grown, listen to all her complaints, spoil her with gifts, do what siblings do for her and most importantly, I want to be always there for her.

"Finally," I grumbled as I came to a business card I'd been looking for.

"Don't worry, little sis, I'll find you," I vowed as I left a message for the contact.

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

Raven

**ll**ll**ll**

I've been zoning out a lot today.

Thankfully, none of the teachers have noticed.

I'm not sure what to call what I'm feeling right now. I'm excited, afraid, nervous, and paranoid all at the same moment.

According to Tia and Grace, we'll slip out tomorrow night and return before six am the next morning.

I'm really looking forward to attending a night party. Ashley, Yvonne, and Jake used to tell me how much fun night parties are. I'll finally get to experience it.

What if we get caught? I don't want to get into any problems. I mean, it won't be a nice thing to get suspended right?

But then, I can't just chicken out just because I'm afraid of being caught; what if we don't get caught?

It's now or never, since who knows when another opportunity like this may present itself. It might not come again. I just have to go this one time.

I can't wait to see what Tia and Grace...

"Lord." I muttered as I was nearly startled out of my seat when I felt a cold hand on my mine.

"Take a chill pill, I don't bite," Adrian said, chuckling.

"He just chuckled," I thought, bewildered by the lovely sound that came from his lips.

I haven't been able to talk to him since, as usual, he has been sleeping with his head down since the morning. Not that apart from saying hello, I have anything to say.

"You're doing it again, why are you spacing out?" He voiced pulling me out of my reverie.

"I am ?" I inquired, flicking through a page of my book.

"You've been getting carried away easily since the break, are you okay?" He asked gently.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, totally fine. Thanks for asking." I smiled, facing my novel.

Although getting lost in thought was not on purpose, trying to ignore him today was.

I'm no longer outraged over what he did on Monday; after all, the innocent guy might not have realized what I thought was going on. I was probably the one who overthought things but that doesn't imply nothing happened. I don't want to foster any one-sided feelings for anyone, yeah feelings. After thinking things through these past few days, I realized I like Adrian, I mean I like-like him. Stupid, right?

So, I've resolved to be more open-minded and try not to overthink things.

"Look at me." Adrian suddenly said, taking my novel away from me.

"Huh?" I muttered, puzzled by what just happened.

"Now I have your attention," He smirked. "Your seat partner was absent from school for two days and you won't ask why? That's not cool, you know." He continued.

"Okay, seriously what's going on?" I thought.

"You told me you'd be absent for a few days on Monday, so it was expected," I replied carefully, disregarding the chaos going on at the back of my mind.

"Oh, you mean I did?" With a faint scowl, he opened and traced a bookmarked page of my novel.

"Yes, you did," I replied, my gaze drifting to the book in his hands.

"What did you say?" I asked, not catching what he muttered in response.

"OK, enough about me. I'm not sure what's making you space out today, but I'm always there if you need someone to talk to about anything." He turned to face me and dropped the book on my side of the table.

"Yeah, sure, sure, but it's really nothing." I managed to respond, as I tried to calm my whirling brain cells.

"Brnnnnnnnng," the alarm went off and saved my life when I least expected it.

"Dear school alarm, I'll forever be grateful for this." I thought.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He grinned as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Yes, bye," I replied, returning his smile.

"Okay, what the hell just happened right now? Oh no, my dumb heart is at it again." I thought at the sound of my furiously racing heart.

"You stupid brain cells, now isn't the time for back-flipping, is it?" I reprimanded myself as I rubbed my glabella helplessly.

"But, on the other hand, it's not entirely my fault, is it?"

He's the one acting as if nothing happened......

Okay, no more delusions; he was just being caring, as he always has been." I kept thinking as I strolled through the corridors.

***ll***ll***ll

Later that evening,

In Raven's dorm.

***ll***ll***ll

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah," Tia and I screamed.

"Oh goodness, it looks so perfect on you." I complimented Grace honestly as she twirled in her outfit.

Everything looked just right on her, from the crop top to the leather mini skirt down to the boot.

All you need now is a little touch of makeup and voila "C'est parfait."

"Makeup too?" I asked in surprise.

"Yep, leave all the fashion things to Tia, that's her forte," Grace said excitedly.

Tia opted for a black long sleeve backless crop top and a tassel mini skirt. I've never seen any high schooler wear it better.

"Try yours on," Tia said, handing me the outfit she had specially chosen for me.

A white crop top, a plaid mini skirt, and matching sneakers. I simply love this outfit.

After a few minutes….

"Oh my gosh, you look stunning," Tia exclaimed in surprise.

"You're so gonna turn heads when you walk into the party." Grace squealed in excitement.

"Really?" I touched my nose awkwardly with uncertainty.

"What do you mean? The color combination is perfect, it brings out the sparkles in your eyes." Grace said with a genuine smile.

"Yeah, the fit is definitely flattering your long legs and it's showing off your curves in all the right places," Tia said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Thank you, you both look gorgeous too," I said, feeling my face heat up.

"Oh look who's blushing." Grace teased in laughter.

"Oh my gosh, stop it! I don't want to go for dinner with a red face." I said, covering my heated-up face in embarrassment.

****************

A few hours later

*****************

"Aaah, I might have overfed myself." Grace suddenly said as she excused herself.

"Earlier this year, there was a welcome party, and it was seriously so much fun!" Tia said, continuing the discussion we were having in the cafeteria.

"Tell me everything, in full detail," I said, imitating Grace, earning a laugh from her.

"Okay, the atmosphere of the venue was just so electric. There were so many new faces, and of course, I made new friends," she continued.

"Aww, I like the idea of making new friends too," I said in anticipation.

"Well, trust me, it's fun. I also got to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in ages. Grace, some of our friends, and I played games with some guys. Of course, the guys won. I still have an inkling they cheated, though," she said with a frown, making me laugh.

"Later, we left the guys and played girls' circle," Tia continued with a reminiscing smile.

"What's this girls' circle thing? I have never heard of it," I inquired, really interested.

"It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a game in which girls sit in a circle. Each girl chooses a card and puts two questions on it. The cards will then be shuffled and each girl will take turns picking and answering the questions on the card they pick; Any girl who fails to answer a question will have to drink a cup of wine, and whoever has the most cups will treat us when we have a break," she explained.

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun," I said as I imagined what sort of questions were on the cards.

"Believe me, it was. We wrapped up the night with a dance. "It was such a blast, and honestly, I can hardly contain my excitement for tomorrow," Tia exclaimed, hugging her pillow as I listened with rapt attention.

"Wow, that sounds incredible. It's a shame I missed that party. I can't wait for tomorrow to be here." I squealed in delight.

"What did I miss?" Grace asked as she crashed into a bean bag.

"Just told her how our welcome party was," Tia replied.

"Can you tell me how you found out about this party?" I asked a question that has bothered me ever since.

"Of course, it's Andy's blog." Rav, you should start going to the school cafe more." Tia replied briefly.

"Ohh, and that party you were talking about, if it's a welcome party, does that mean the entire school went?" I asked.

"No, it was a welcome party just for our grade, both branches had it planned but there were security guards everywhere," Grace responded to my question.

"Aaahah, let me share with you some juicy gossip from that party. First, do you know Damien?" She asked.

"Which Damien?" I asked

The Damie….

"Brnnnnnnnnnnnnnng." The alarm went off, cutting her short.

*Nooooooo, not again, you stinking alarm, what have I done to you." Grace whimpered.

"No worries, you can tell me tomorrow," I said, patting her as I chuckled lowly.

"Haaaaaahhaaaahaha." Tia burst into a laughing fit.

"Sorry, I couldn't hold it any longer." She managed to say amidst her laughter earning herself a glare from Grace.

"Raven, do you want to go to Enchante Bonbon with me tomorrow? Just the both of us, huh?" Grace said scowling at Tia.

"Sure, sure, good night everyone." I quickly said as I got in bed.

"The inspector will soon be here, let's continue this tomorrow at Enchante Bonbon, Good night lovelies." Tia winked and adjusted the brightness of her lamp stand.

"Good night ladies," Grace whispered as the inspector's footsteps grew closer.