Into The Vale of Shadows // Max Mayfield

II; vi. a great heart and an open mind

chapter six
a great heart and an open mind

     RAVEN SAT INSIDE Mike Wheeler's house — more specifically his smelly basement. Watching him wallow in self pity, disgustingly munching on his chips, whining out the same words again and again, only having them in different order. "What did I do wrong?"

     "Everything," she said, coming unheard by the boy himself, but being noticed by Sid who sat just behind her, letting Will teach him how to play dungeons and dragons, showing such interest that Will feasted on. Raven crossed both her legs and arms, face unreadable as Mike went on and on.

     "True to that," Sid agreed, writing on his character sheet after just listening to Will ramble about game's rules and regulations. Sid doing nothing but admire the way he talked with such passion, his eyes filled with awe and something Raven can not read, all in all, he looked to be enjoying himself.

     "What could have I done wrong?" Mike took another bite of his chip, making such loud noise that it placed annoyance in Raven's senses, getting the sudden urge to punch the boy for his disgusting manner.

     "Do I have to go through this again?" Even Lucas sounded sick of his friend's whines, looking at Mike with such seriousness, like he was just about to talk sense to his friend. "Nothing!" Raven's mouth was left agape, the thought of Lucas being Mike's eye opener faltering, looks like he's going to fuel the fire in the young Wheeler. "Nothing! That's my whole point. You are the victim here."

     "Oh, my god!" Raven exclaimed in annoyance, standing from where she was sat, hands to her face as her patience were slowly munched away by the boys thick mind.

     "What did I do wrong?!"

     "The answer is right in your face the whole time!" Raven wiping her hands to her face, hoping that it'll wipe the annoyance away too.

     "Then you answer. What did I do? Why is she treating me this way, I don't know." Raven huffed, shifting her weight from one foot to another, placing her hands to her hips, looking like some kind of tired and out of patience mother.

     "You lied," she started, "You could've told her the truth, but you didn't! She would've understand!"

     "No, you don't understand!" Mike looked to her, munching on the chip and having it crunch loudly, sending the girl on the edge.

     "What exactly do you think it is that I 'don't understand'?" Raven gestured air quotes, letting her hands drop to her hips once more, waiting for the boy's elaborate explanation.

     "He threatened to kill me, okay?" He took another chip into his mouth.

     "It's not like he's really going to do it," Sidian suggested, blowing on his paper, brushing away the dust created by his erasure.

     "You don't know him, Sid," Mike sighed. Sid was able to make casual conversation with them, give his opinion like this for he has already got along with her friends so fast that he started considering her friends as his, he was basically part of the group now. "He'd do anything just to keep me away from El."

     "Maybe you did something wrong that pushed him to his limits." Sid looked up from his paper, eyes meeting with Will as he asked what he was supposed to do next. "The man looks so done with you."