Opposites Attract ↑↓ NorRay (TEMPORARY HIATUS)

A Bad Start

"Bye, Danni. I'll come see you guys over spring break in April." I paused to ruffle Danni's hair. "Be good to those two, goofball." She laughed and looked up at me, smiling before she turned around and ran to my aunt and uncle.

"Bye, Ray!" The three of them said in unison. I gave a small wave and looked at Norman, who stood beside me. He smiled at me and we left my uncle's house and made our way to Norman's house where his dad was waiting for us.

As we walked, we didn't speak to each other. Most a the walk was quiet, but not uncomfortably quiet. There were the sounds of crunching snow and laughing children in the distance, and of course cars passing by every now and then. Finally, Norman said something.

"You seem to get along with your sister really well, despite the age difference of... what, twelve years?" he asked. I looked at him with a smile on my face. He looked right back at me with the same warm smile he always wore.

I chuckled before speaking. "Yeah, that's right. Twelve years age difference. I think it's weird how well we get along, too, but I can't help it much. I'm sure when she gets older she'll be a handful, though. That'll probably stop us being so nice to each other for a while," I said, then looked up at the white, cloudy sky. Norman looked up as well.

"I think it's gonna snow later, don't you?" he said, then looked at me. I shrugged and looked at him. I couldn't help but smile when I looked into his blue eyes.

"That's not a bad thing. You like snow, do you not?" I paused, but not for a long enough time for him to answer. "You know, your eyes are... really pretty, Norman." I said, still looking him in the eyes. He smiled at my comment, a small blush appearing on his face.

"Thank you, Ray. Your eyes are also very pretty. They're dark green and beautiful, kind of like... like a bloodstone," he said. I gave a soft smile. "Also, yes. I love snow."

"Thanks..." I said awkwardly, not knowing how to take the compliment. That was fine, though, because we finally reached his house.

"Finally," Norman said as he scurried up the small steps that led to the front door. I followed closely behind him. He opened the door and we walked in. "Dad, we're here!"

Norman's dad came down the stairs wearing a business suit. "Hello Norman, Ray." His voice was the same as it was the night I met him. Something felt a little awkward for me when I was looking at the man, not gonna lie.

He doesn't know about Norman and I, but it was still a little awkward for me. I cleared my throat. "Hello," I said quietly with a small wave. Norman's father gave no reaction, which I was kind of happy about.

"Let's go, you two." He started walking toward the door. Norman and I followed behind him silently and shut the door behind us. The three of us walked to the car that was in the driveway. Norman's dad got into the driver's seat and Norman and I got into the back seats. Once the doors were shut and everyone was secured, Norman's father started driving.

The drive was completely silent except for the sound of the car's engine and other cars passing by. It was about ten minutes before we stopped at a mansion looking home. There were several other cars there.

"Woah," I said quietly to myself. Norman must have heard me because he looked at me and smiled warmly. I smiled a small smile back.

"Alright, just stay in the party room and keep people busy while my coworkers and I are speaking," his father said. Norman and I nodded, and his father's eyes narrowed before he quickly got out of the car and shut the door, then started walking toward the building. Norman and I did the same.

Norman turned to me once we were in front of the door. "Hey, Ray? I just wanted to tell you to try and keep your cool in there. There's gonna be... a lot of people in there and I have no doubt most of them are going to be arrogant snobs. So... just try. If you really want to, you can stay by my side the whole time."

I stood there for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod. "...uh. Okay. I— I can try," I said. He smiled and kissed my cheek before opening the door and walking in. I followed behind him, a slight blush on my face that quickly disappeared.

There were tons of people there, despite there only being a few cars. My guess was that a lot of these kids were just invited by the host's daughters and their parents dropped them off.

Norman and I walked over to a spot where there were less people and started a conversation. A few minutes after we did that, a familiar face approached us.

"Oh hell no," I whispered to myself. It was Emma.

She smirked sarcastically at me and snickered. "Nice to see you still looking girly," she said mockingly. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Norman sighed, disappointed that this whole thing had to escalate so quickly to something that's probably going to get violent at any moment.

"Nice to see you still looking like a gothic whore," I replied, tilting my head slightly as I returned her sarcastic smile.

Emma rolled her eyes. "It's not goth, it's—"

"EMMA!" a voice yelled. Norman, Emma, and I all turned our attention to the direction of the voice. The yelling came from Gilda, a girl with short, olive green hair and brown eyes, along with a pair of glasses. We go to the same school, and she's in student council with Norman and Emma.

I chuckled quietly to myself as Gilda made her way over to us. "Emma, come on. Stop bothering Norman and..." she started, but her voice trailed off as she looked at me. "Ray, right?" she asked. I nodded, and she turned her attention back toward Emma.

"Stop bothering Norman and Ray. You know what happened last time you and Ray interacted," she continues, earning an eyeroll from Emma.

Norman and I looked at each other, remembering what happened in the bathroom after he stopped mine and Emma's fight. Which I definitely won, by the way.

We looked away from each other, both of us with a slight blush on our faces. I tucked my fringe behind my ear, chuckling quietly to myself nervously.

Gilda whispered something to Emma and the two of them walked away, leaving me and Norman to keep doing our thing.