If you don't have enemies, you don't have character ~ Paul Newman
The week passes slowly, but surely and then the weekend comes and passes in the blink of an eye. How ironic! Now it's Friday and I'm sitting in English class bored out of my mind. Mr Harrington's back faces us and I begin to doodle in my book.
"Hey Raven," Flash leans over to my desk and whispers, "when are you going to get together with Penis Parker? Raven Parker has a nice ring to it. Well, actually I like Peter Garcia bett--"
I rip out a piece of paper from my notebook and scrunch it into a ball. As he speaks, I find an opening and shove the paper ball into his mouth, cutting him off. He spits it out straight away and starts to cough.
Mr Harrington turns around and crosses his arms annoyed, "what's all the commotion now, Flash?"
The whole class faces Flash as he stops grabbing his tongue with his hands. His cheeks flush. "She shoved paper in my mouth!" he points an accusing finger at me.
"Raven," Mr Harrington raises his eyebrow, "did you, or did you not shove paper in Flash's mouth?"
I put my hands up in defeat, "I'm guilty of nothing but silencing someone who was speaking as the teacher was speaking."
He chuckles in response and I see Flash shoot bullets at me from the corner of my eye. Out of all of my teachers, Mr Harrington seems to be one of the few teachers who is actually giving me a chance and not judging me for my past. That easily makes him my favorite despite the fact that he is always discussing his failed romantic relationships.
The bell rings, cutting him off from his lecture about Shakespeare. "Where did the time go? Anywho, have a wonderful day and I'll see you all on Friday," he announces, "Raven, can I please speak to you?"
Flash plants his hands on my desk and towers over me, a menacing smile on his face, "have fun with your snarky remarks in detention, Garcia."
He storms out and I shake my head as I watch him. Flash is a lost case in my opinion. My backpack hangs from one shoulder and I approach Mr Harrington's desk. "I'm sorry for shoving paper into Flash's mouth," I begin, "he was just being the asshole he is and--"
"--I didn't call you up here to discuss that," he interrupts, not minding my language.
"Oh. So what is it then?" I ask.
He sits down in his desk chair and begins to clean up some of his belongings, "Raven, you should be aware now by the countless declarations I've made that I run the academic decathlon team." I sigh and am about to speak when he puts up a hand, silencing me. "I know that this isn't your kind of thing," he adds, "but one of our students had transferred to a different school at the end of last year and the empty spot that they have has really been pressuring some of the members to fill that gap. Liz was a really great asset to the team, but now she left. And I believe that this would be a great opportunity for you and for us. It would help a lot of people forget about your past."
This seems to be a lot to process but it's really simple. He thinks it would benefit a lot of people, including myself, if I were to join the academic decathlon team. He's right with that. But he's also right when he said that it isn't my thing because I would rather stay at home and spend my leisure time in my room than to be studying and practicing for something like this. But then again, I would be saving myself from spending time with mom.
"You don't have to give me an answer now," he smiles reassuringly, "but just... think about it."
"Okay," I return the smile, "thank you."
As I walk out the door, he calls out after me, "have a good day!"
I shove through the large crowds of students in the hallway to get to the cafeteria and through the dozens of them, one person stands out. Peter.
Being short can have its advantages. One of them being the ability to dart through people. Peter's at his locker, presumably preparing for his next class. I wait behind him, anticipating he moment when he notices me. He grabs some... jar of some sort and shoves it into his bag.
I stand on my tip-toes and peer over his shoulder, "whatcha doing?"
He jumps and nearly drops his bag on the floor. "Raven!" he chuckles incredulously, "you scared me!"
I roll my eyes, "no shit."
"What took you so long? I've been at my locker waiting for you to finish for a while," he says then shuts his locker.
I shrug, "Mr Harrington wanted to talk to me."
"What about?" he asks, walking alongside me.
"He says I should join the academic decathlon team," my nose scrunches up in disgust, "not my thing. Not my thing at all."
His entire face lights up, "you should totally join! I reckon you'd have some fun."
My brows furrow, "you're in the team?"
He nods enthusiastically, "yeah. So are Ned and MJ."
"Huh," this gives me even more of a reason to join, "I'll think about it."
"MJ is the captain," he smiles to himself, "she's super smart."
He seems to speak of her really highly. I gulp, "I mean, isn't everyone here?"
"Yeah, of course. But she's super smart. Like super, super smart," he responds, looking at the floor.
His cheeks turn a faint shade of pink as he talks. Is it possible that Peter could... like MJ? Even Ned was suggesting it the day I'd met him. We take our seats at the table, Ned and Michelle already engrossed in a conversation. I slide in next to MJ and watch Peter.
He doesn't keep his eyes off of her.
After school, I run into someone. I begin to apologize profusely and so do they. When I realize who it is, I speak straight away, "Cassie, hey."
"Hi, Raven," she replies, a forced smile on her face.
"How are you?" I offer an opening to a conversation.
"I'm good," she says.
And then the conversation dies again, the awkward silence returning. I don't want a repeat of this. "I have to go," I shrug.
"Tomorrow is Saturday night," she quickly adds, "do you have any plans?"
I shake my head, "nope. Why?"
"My parents are out of town and I'm throwing a party. Do you... want to come?" she asks softly.
Of course she's throwing a party. She's a cheerleader now, she's popular now. Of course they throw parties. I still feel honored that she is willing to remember me and that she is aware of our past.
"Can I bring a couple of friends?"
I decide to walk home again, feeling the dire need to clear my head. Call dad needs to be added to my to-do list because it's been a while. Also needing to be added to the list? Pinell's ridiculous idea and Harrington's offer.
What would dad want me to do?
Well he would definitely say no to Pinell's offer and accept Harrington's.
After I rejected him last week, Pinell has had it out for me even more than last time. This whole week, he has been making me answer the most impossible equations that not even he could answer and then telling the class that this is what happens when you spend too much time in "la la land" and dumb-shaming me.
I pull out my phone and text Peter.
I'm invited to a party tomorrow night. Can you come? Ask Ned and MJ if they want to as well.
I slip back into my pocket and it's only a few seconds until the chime rings.
I'll pick you up at 8 :)
My first Junior year high school party. This will be fun.
I shove my phone into my backpack and continue to walk the rest of my way home. A large thud and the screams of people brings my attention to the main street to my right. My heart beat accelerates and I speed walk over, hiding from whatever is causing the distress in the street behind a large tree.
A woman passes me, screaming for her life. I drag her towards me and look into her eyes, "what's happening?
"Th-th-th..." she struggles to speak and tries to escape my grasp.
"It's okay, you're safe," I reassure her, "what's going on?"
"Th-there's a-a..."
"A what?" I ask, beginning to get frustrated.
She spits, "a monster! It's just killing people!"
She's strong this time and shrugs my hand off her shoulder, continuing to run into the direction she was heading in. People run towards the right, therefore meaning the havoc is coming from the left. I press my watch up to my lips, "suit up."
The familiar, comfortable suit spreads onto my body and I whisper to my watch again, "fly away."
My wings sprout out and I waste no time, picking up my backpack and holding it in front of me. I throw myself off of the floor and into the air, flying through the street and towards the chaos. I hover on top of the road to see a figure in a blood red suit.
Angelic wings spread from their back, but they weren't the typical white wings, oh no... they were stained a dark, dark red that makes you feel sick to the stomach. I would try and observe the rest of the outfit they wear, but what this thing does next makes me want to cry. A red substance slithers from the pair of wings in the shape of a snake. It almost looks like an extra long arm. It advances towards a man running quickly. The thing wraps around the man's neck, hoisting him off the ground and into the air.
"Don't you see that you puny people cannot take me on?" the figure calls out. The voice sounds female and judging from the blonde hair whipping behind the mask they wear, this is a woman. "Look at how it easy it is for me to kill you," she adds.
With a sickening crunch, the man's eyes bulge out of his head and she drops him. He falls to the floor, not moving whatsoever. I begin to tremble and feel the need to sit down. I land on top of the house much too loudly. The figure notices me and a nasty smirk grows on her face, "a new ally?"
I stand up, realizing she's talking to me. "I would never help you do this," I call out.
"Ah," she nods, "an enemy then."
"I was just leaving," I respond, hovering above the roof again.
In a menacing tone, she yells out again, "if you're not with me, you're against me. And I can't afford to have someone with the capability to destroy me and who are against me, alive."
Another arm sprouts out from the pair of wings and the two of them charge towards me. I turn my back, my breathing shaky, and turn to fly towards home. I'm free for a good two seconds and then everything slows down. The arms wrap around my ankles, forcing me back down to the woman no matter how hard I try to pull away. I whip around to see more turning towards me.
"If you want an enemy, you're going to get an enemy," I mutter, whipping my dagger out. I slice the arms that have my ankles and they release me. I swoop down towards the woman, cutting away at her other arms that reach for me. She curls her finger, inviting me downwards.
I reach inside her mind and it's dark, oh so dark, in here. Smoke appears out of nowhere, blocking me from her view. A confused expression falls across her face and the rest of her arms fall. I fly feet first into her face, sending us both into the floor. I tumble and she recovers quickly.
"Bloody Mary will be back for you moth," she snarls.
I charge towards her, ready to strike again. But she snaps her fingers and disappears, leaving my fist punching at air.
Bloody Mary.
This is dangerous.