Little Dahlia

Ch. 1 - Last Day Pt. 1

They're opposites in multiple ways.

Naomi is very calm and optimistic. Rayna overthinks and is more pessimistic though calls herself realistic. Naomi is confident, having a strong love for theater and drama, while Rayna feels nauseous whenever she gets called on in class.

"Oh, I can't believe that I've completely forgotten to tell you!" Rayna exclaims.

"What?" Naomi asks.

"The Alpha King is going around looking for his mate again. He'll be at my pack next week. On my birthday, I think," Rayna explains.

"Oooh, tea. Maybe you're his mate?"

Rayna chokes on her own saliva.

"Hell no!"

"Oh, come on, Rainy. Nothing's impossible," Naomi says, stretching out the last vowel in "Rainy," her nickname for her.

"Like I could be Luna Queen, Mimi," Rayna responds, rolling her eyes, counter-attacking with her nickname for Naomi. Mimi scoffs at Rainy's oblivion to her own strengths, smarts, and personality.

She's eighteen, turning nineteen the following week. Naomi turned eighteen a few months ago.

The two talk some more as they head to a coffee place for some breakfast. Rayna feels relieved, not having to cook for once.

"What do you want?" Naomi asks, pulling out her wallet as they step up to the counter.

"Uhm . . . Can you get me a coffee and a muffin?" Rayna asks.

"Yeah. Go save us a booth."

Rayna nods and takes a seat in a booth, losing herself in her thoughts as she looks out the window. The clouds are grey, the blue sky slowly peaking through as the sun rises. She checks the clock on the wall to see that it's now 5:42 A.M. She rejects her nerves, reminding herself that there's still nearly two hours until school starts.

Naomi sits down across from her holding a tray. She slides her her drink and muffin, sipping from her own drink and munching on her bagel.

"Sorry that you had to wake up so early," Rayna apologizes, taking a sip. She sighs, thanking that this coffee will get her through the morning.

"It's no problem. It is a big day after all. How much sleep did you get?" Naomi asks.

"Two hours," Rayna whispers. She doesn't want to lie.

"Rayna!" Naomi scolds. "You know you need to get more sleep."

"I know, and I'll get more next week. I was working on those cards," Rayna tells her. Naomi sighs and leans back, accepting that answer.

"Okay. You know that I'm like this because I care about you, right?"

Rayna nods. "I know."

"Okay. Good."

They talk, drink, and eat for a good 40 minutes until 6:27 A.M., at when they've finished and paid. They then throw away any trash they had, walk back to Naomi's car, and blast some music on the ride to school, wide awake thanks to the caffeine.

Naomi's car is one of the few in the school parking lot.

"Fuck yeah, I get a close spot," she exclaims. Rayna giggles.

"Fuck yeah," she copies, throwing one of her hands up. Naomi giggles, too.

They get out and head inside, the doors unlocked. Naomi chills outside the locker room, playing games on her phone, while Rayna goes in to use the shower. She doesn't like to while others are there. She's been publicly humiliated so many times. Other things have happened to her while taking a shower, too, and she just feels so vulnerable while taking one in general.

Once clean, she gets dressed again and uses the public hairdryers and towels to dry off. She grabs her own hairbrush to calm her "mane", as she likes to call it. Once finished, she heads back out into the hallway with Naomi. The clock reads 6:46.

"What's next?" Naomi asks, putting her phone away.

"Gotta hand out these cards," Rayna tells her, leaving her backpack unzipped and hanging off one shoulder in order to grab the cards.

They head towards the freshman wing first.

There were plenty of different reactions. Tears, smiles, laughs, hugs, high fives, handshakes. They say it reminds them why they're teachers, yet have no idea how much that means to Rayna, with the lack of love and appreciation she gets from those she should get it from.

They've gone to every teacher that's ever taught Rayna by 7:17 A.M., with still nearly fifteen minutes to spare before class. They pack up their lockers early and put all of their stuff in Naomi's car.

Then, the bell rings.