Immortali

Chapter 16-Unbalanced

"Raina. Raina. RAINA!"

"Huh?" Raina tore her gaze away from her book. She'd been looking at what was supposed to be a Latin phrase and the English translation, but all Raina had seen were two English phrases with a slightly different wording. But, how could she possibly have read Latin? She'd never even learned Latin...

"Raina!"

"What?" she asked, looking at Layla, who crossed her arms and glared at her.

"I said, are you all good for my place this Friday?"

Raina felt as though a stone had just been dropped. She'd completely forgotten about Layla's sleepover that Friday night, in fact, she hadn't even asked her mother yet. And she wouldn't either. After the demon incident last Thursday night, Arriana had asked Raina if she'd like Alrick to teach her more about using her katana swords.

"It's always useful to learn how to use weapons. That way, if you're ever in a tight situation where using magic isn't exactly the greatest idea, you can use plan B," her mentor had said.

So, naturally, she'd jumped at the chance to learn more about fighting. And now she'd forgotten a sleepover with her best friend. Couldn't she reschedule? Ask Alrick for a different time maybe? She'd have to ask Arriana.

"Um... I still have to ask my Mum. Sorry, I completely forgot," she admitted, only telling part of the truth. Layla raised an eyebrow at that. Perhaps Raina wasn't as good at lying as she'd thought she was.

"Sure... you know, if you don't want to come over, all you have to do is tell me."

Raina flinched. "I never said I didn't, Lay. I just forgot. I've been really busy lately, you know?"

Layla sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know," she said exasperatedly. "You seem to be busy all the time now. Too busy for anything, in fact. Too busy for me."

A stinging feeling singed Raina's gut, as though her insides had been stung by a scorpion. Had she really been neglecting Layla all this time?

No, surely not, she thought. I mean, there was the time she wanted me to come to her place and study after school... that I didn't go to, because I was having a lesson with Arriana.

The more Raina thought, the more she realised that she'd that she'd been ignoring Layla. She'd let her Immortali life invade her human life. And that was when she realised that she needed to go to this sleepover. She needed to fix her relationship with her friend, before it was too late.

"I know, Lay, and I'm really sorry about that. I'm sure my Mum will say yes. You know her, and she loves you like family," Raina assured her, making a mental note to reschedule with Alrick, and... to spend more time with Layla.

Her friend grinned at her, some of the old sparkle coming back into her eyes. "Yeah, she would too. I think she'd rather have me than you though."

Raina playfully slapped her friend on the shoulder. Layla giggled and turned her back, trying to protect herself from her friend's blows.

"Oh, really? And why's that?" Raina demanded

"Because, I don't stare off into space."

The two laughed even louder, before they were quickly silenced by a withering look from their teacher.

***

"Ari?" Raina asked. Arriana turned around and raised an eyebrow, a piece of chalk in her hand that had been used for drawing runes on a chalkboard. A chalkboard that had appeared out of nowhere.