‡† The Unseen †‡

28 † The Unmasking II †

Raven almost wanted to cry. What the fuck was going on? Was he being too perceptive? If that was the case, he'd gladly gauge his eyes and ears out; his nose for good measure.

"They're freaks. Freaks of nature I tell you. It's not natural. They're freaking faggots that need to burn in hell—"

For some reason, Raven didn't even blink. He wasn't actually listening to what he was saying; his ears were tuned in to how he was saying it.

With such conviction and vengeance, you'd think he was a homophobe, but then you'd find betrayal and sadness and..

Oh.. no.

He wasn't going to do this again. Projecting with his hero complex, pushing his need to be needed onto someone else and just imagining what wasn't there. He wasn't doing that again.

And yet, he found himself stepping up again, taking responsibility like he was the one at fault. That irrational need to help, and the feeling of having the world on his shoulders was not a good combo.

"Max," Raven snapped, tired and annoyed at the situation already, "Unnatural? Seriously? What of plastic surgery? Why of artificial insemination? What of AI? What of freaking oxygen tanks? Are they natural? Tell me—"

"It's not the same," Max muttered.

"Oh, the fuck it's not," Raven snapped, before reigning himself in. He'd never snapped at someone like that. He didn't snap, period.

"Max.. truly, if you don't like them, you don't have to even say it. Just keep your opinion to yourself." Raven tried to reason.

Max, despite his hard features, had the nerve to look up at Raven with unsure, yet angry eyes. "But—"

"My god, just shut up," Raven pressed, moving closer to him, weaving through the people who were watching like it was some drama. Raven didn't care about that now.

"What of me, huh?" Raven asked, stalking closer. "what if I was gay? What about that? What would you do, you would hate me, right?"

Max didn't speak.

"Oh for Christ' sake, I swear if you talk like that again in front of me, Max.. are you gay?"

"No," Max responded with such surety, but with such fear that Raven paused. Did he want to be gay? What could be so fearful in being.. straight?

Raven, you're projecting again. Stop forming problems where there aren't any—

Oh my god, you shut up too, brain. God.

Raven sighed, coming up close and whispering so no one could hear, "Hey, if there's anything—"

Max flinched so hard Raven thought he'd actually hit him. Raven's eyes widened slightly, watching Max shake.

Max DOESN'T shake.

"There isn't anything," he spit out, before turning on his heels  and hightailing it out of there.

Raven just stared at Max's receding silhouette.

What. The. Heck.

What is going on?

"Hey, you okay? That face off looked kinda tense."

Raven looked beside him to see Devon standing, staring into the space Max once was like there would be some kind of clue to a hidden treasure.

Raven chuckled. "Oh no. It's all good."

Wow, my lying skills deserve to be recognized in the Guinness world records.

Joann, a member of the track team, stood up, a playful grin on her face as she clapped.

"Alright, enough with the heavy stuff. And fuck Max. Let's just quit sulking and insulting and have a bonfire celebration, yeah?"

Cheers erupted, the mood lifting instantly.

Jordan grumbled. "As long as we're up and ready for departure tomorrow, I don't really care what we do."

Joann kicked him in the shin. Jordan face planted.

As the night wore on, more stories were shared, laughter echoed.. but Raven felt worse.

Oh god, I'm losing my mind.

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Thanks for reading!

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See ya!

Oh, yeah, and please don't hate my boy Max. He's just as emotionally stunted as Raven, with even more fucked up secrets~ {*whispering* I'm not telling you squat.. *running away*}

Anyways, bye!

~Anon.