"Addie! Run! Get out of here, quick!" a blurry figure shakes me roughly.

"Huh what-"

"Just go!" The urgency in their voice terrifies me and I quickly begin to move.

As I begin to run, I look around only to see a blurry green background. A forest? What is this anyway? What's happening? All I know is that I've gotta get out of here. There's a bad feeling in my stomach... A feeling of intense fear...

I trip and fall, and I still can't see straight. Everything around me is a blurry mess and my head feels fuzzy; I can't seem to focus on anything. I close my eyes tight, hoping for this moment to pass.

My mind spins faster, and I feel as if I'm falling. Falling down somewhere where there is no bottom, no end to the fear. "I'm sorry," I hear from a distant voice. Who was that? I have the strong urge to reach out for that voice and grasp it tightly. Why?

"Addie!" I hear someone yell in my ear; I feel hands on my hip and my shoulder shaking me roughly. "Addie, come on! We'll be late," the voice says harshly. My eyes dart open and I realize that I'm in bed, that must've just been a dream... but... It felt more like... a memory.

"Raven?" I say while yawning. "Why are you here? Isn't it Sunday?" The last I remember it, it is Sunday. I turn my face into my pillow, I should just forget the dream, but it still bothers me. I've had the same one before, this dream, and others like it. They always appear at random times and they make me feel the same way every time. Who knows what this could mean, but it's probably nothing to bother someone else about...

"Tch. No, it's Tuesday," Tuesday? How was I asleep for that long? These dreams are lasting longer and longer now. "You would have known that if you showed up at school yesterday. I'm here to wake you up so that you're not late or absent. Again." She says this angrily, putting her hands on her hips. I sit up and look at her, pouting.

"Why can't I just skip today? I don't feel so good~" I say, fake coughing. "I feel like this could be my deathbed Rae, school would only make things worse," I put a hand to my forehead and fall back, playing dead.

"No. Addie, you're perfectly fine. I can tell when it's a real cough." She crosses her arms and glares at me. I avert my gaze from her and take a deep breath. "Tch. Will you ever be on time more than once a month?"

"Yeah well maybe one day I'll be the one to wake you up Rae!" I say, crossing my arms. A thought suddenly crosses my mind, I don't know where she even lives. Raven has never invited me over and whenever I try to walk her home, she just makes an excuse and runs off. I wonder why she doesn't want me to see where she lives...

"Tch. Pigs are more likely to fly before that happens," she says coldly, bringing me out of my train of thought.

I stand and walk out of my room, slowly dragging my feet across the floor. I yawn again, wiping a tear from my eyes. "Come on, sit down, I made you some breakfast. Get dressed after you finish," Raven quickly brushes past me and sets a plate on the table. She wipes her small hands on the apron she is wearing and sighs. "It's so dirty in here. I'm going to clean while you eat," She walks away into another room, the door slamming behind her.

I live alone, so I never really have a real breakfast besides when Raven makes one for me, but even then... "Burnt eggs again, huh" I poke at them with my fork and sigh. I really want to appreciate what Raven has made, but... it's all just... inedible.

I toss the eggs and grab a box of cereal, taking a handful and shoving it in my mouth. I take the milk from the fridge as I chew and pour a glass of cold milk. I swallow my cereal and replace the cereal box from where I got it, also putting the milk back in the same motion.

I pick up the glass, it's cold and damp from the condensation that has already formed on the outside. In the condensation I draw a smiley face with my finger and smile, drawing a star and a heart next to it as well.

I drink it all in one go, slamming the glass down on the counter and burping loudly. "Ah! That was a good burp!" I say giggling.

I place the glass in the sink and begin to skip down the hall to my room. I close the door of my room behind me and change out of my nightclothes, putting on my school uniform.
I walk to my mirror and straighten my clothes and sigh. I hate the way I look. I have strange naturally fiery red hair and even stranger golden eyes to match. My hair is medium length and always in a light curl, making it hard to style. Most of the features on my face are round with no sharp edges, the opposite of what I think is beautiful. My body is also curvy, way too curvy. I just hate it all.

I'd rather have Raven's stark black, straight hair that reaches below her hips and always looks great. I also like her height, even though she is really short, but I'd rather be short and cute like her than curvy and tall like myself.

I sigh and walk back out to the kitchen, where Raven is cleaning. "Now, brush your teeth," she commands me.

"But why? We're already running late, I can just chew some gum," I cross my arms. It's not like I haven't done this before anyway.

"Tch. Because you need to keep your teeth healthy you idiot."

I squint my eyes at her then sigh, "fine~" and with that, I drag myself to the bathroom.
As I mindlessly brush, I stare into the mirror, locking eyes with myself, almost as if I'm trying to see into my own soul. I break the stare and turn away from the mirror, leaning against the counter as I continue to brush.

I wonder why Raven is always so worried about me... Ever since I can remember she's always been like that. Ever since I can remember, huh, I wonder when that is...

A sharp pain comes across my head and I drop my toothbrush, but as soon as I hear it hit the ground, the pain is gone.

What was that?

I quickly pick up my toothbrush and finish up, brushing off what had just happened.

"Ok, I'm done. I think we should go now," I walk back to the kitchen, where I see Raven is scrubbing the sink brazenly. "Geez Rae, why do you love to clean so much? I see it as kind of a waste because it'll just get dirty again."

"Yes, but it'll get dirtier and dirtier until it's an unlivable environment!" Raven yells angrily. She scrubs around the sink one last time before squeezing out the sponge and putting it back on the rack by the faucet.

"Umm... ok...? Well... uh... let's just... go," I say awkwardly as I slowly walk to the front door. Raven is a land mine when she's angry; one wrong step and you're dead.

"Wait! Where's your school bag?" She asks, looking me up and down. "You can't make the excuse that you forgot it again just so that you can share the textbook with the guy next to you. Besides, we switched seats yesterday and he doesn't sit beside you anymore." She violently pokes my chest "You would have known that if you cared to show up yesterday!"

I quickly grab my school bag, which I keep by the front door, making sure I have all my materials. "Don't worry, it's right here."

"Ok, let's go," she says, opening the door. For some reason Raven never lets others hold the door open for her and she is adamant about this. Once at a bookstore, she and another boy stood there for ten minutes waiting for the other to go through the door. In the end, the boy gave up, leaving Raven victorious. The boy also tried to give Raven his number but she coldly refused him. I felt kinda bad for the guy, he looked disappointed to be turned down so quickly and coldly.

I walk through the front door and wait while she closes and locks the door behind her. We walk down the metal stairs, our footsteps each announced with a hollow metal clack. When we reach the end of the stairs our shoes click onto the concrete, these sounds all familiar with every morning.

We walk in silence down the street, and to be honest, I don't mind the silence, I just like having someone to walk with me. It wasn't that silent, though, there were many cars on the road, as all the people who need to get to work drive to their jobs.

After ten minutes of walking in silence, we arrive at school. I sigh as a heavy pressure forms in my chest. I hate school because nothing good ever happens and all you do is work. I grip my bag tight and hold my breath. All I had to do was make it through today and then I can go home and do as I please. Please let it pass by quickly...

We walk up to our classroom, which is on the second floor of the school, silently. I sit down and stare down at my desk, it pointed out to me by Raven, not sure of what to do or say. I bend down and take out my pencil bag and a folder. I sit back up straight and turn to look next to me to find Raven sitting in the desk Left of me. "Huh? You sit there?!" I say, surprised.

"Tch," she responds, immediately looking away. She now has an old tattered notebook and her only pencil on her desk. She has never had good supplies and always uses things until it absolutely can't be used anymore.

Once I bought her some nice school stuff as a 'thank you' gift for helping me with studying, but she refused it. Even when I found a way to sneak it into her backpack or with her other stuff, she'd always find it and return it. I wonder why she didn't want it, not like I'd use it much, I already have my own supplies. I wonder what made her this way... A sharp pain again fires through my head again. 

I shake off the pain and turn to Rae to get my mind off the weird pains I've been having. "Hey Rae did you do the math homework? I didn't understand it at all~" I groan, poking her in the cheek.

She pushes my hand away, "of course I did."

"Well then, can you help me with it~" I nudge her arm.

"We have math after lunch, so I'll help you during lunch."

"Ok. I can't wait!" I show her a thumbs up and smile at her, giggling.

"Tch," she replies, rolling her eyes. She's an amazing friend when you think about it; she's always helping and doing stuff for me. I don't understand why everyone else doesn't like her. Maybe it's her emotionless and rude tone, or her scary glares, or her controlling nature. But, I love that she stays who she is despite how unliked she is.

The bell then rings, signaling the beginning of class. The teacher comes into the classroom and begins to take roll. After he gets to my name and I say "here," I rest my face against my hand, my elbow propped up on my desk.

I tilt my head down, so it looks like I am looking at a paper on my desk. I try not to look up at the teacher and avoid eye contact; it's better this way, especially since this teacher hates me.

I quietly take notes, keeping my head down except to glance at the clock, which seemed to move ever so slowly. After I glance at the clock again and back at the board, I see that he's erasing the notes I haven't copied yet. I try to quickly copy them down, but I don't get them down in time. I turn to Raven and lean next to her ear, "Hey I didn't copy everything down that he just erased, can I copy off you?"

"Adeline!" I hear the teacher yell from the front, "what are you doing talking in class?" He stares at me furiously and everyone turns their gazes to me. I hate this the most, this teacher always calls me out on doing things while others in the class are obviously doing them too. I hate this, why does he do this to me, and only me?

"Well... uh... I was just getting the rest of the notes that I didn't get to copy from Rae—"

"Enough with your excuses! Don't be lazy and copy all of the notes faster! And if you do miss some, get them after class instead of interrupting my class!"

"Uh... well... sorry," I say quietly, as I look back down at my desk. The bell rings after that and everyone turns away from me now to pack up their things.

"Alright for next period you have a study hall, use it well. And on Tuesday next week..." the teacher begins to tell the class.

"Here. I wrote the rest of the notes that you missed," she passes me my notebook; I hadn't even realized she had taken it. "Since we have study hall, we'll do your math now."

"Alright," I close my notebook and stuff it back in my bag, taking out my math things.

"Ok, let me just go get my textbook from my locker first," she stands and walks out of the classroom. I watch her as she leaves, noting on how stiff she walks, keeping her back straight and head up the whole time. I turn back to my desk and look at my math things, putting my textbook on top of the pile.

As I open my book, some of the other girls from class walk next to my desk, smiling down on me. "Yes?" I say with a smile.

"Hey Addie, wanna hang out with us right now? I bet being near Raven too long will make you all depressed" one of the girls, Tiffany, says. One of the other girls laughs, but the third one just glares at the two of them, but stays silent. I can tell they didn't actually mean it, they just wanted to be popular with everyone else by helping put Raven down.

"Pay her no mind, we would just really like to hang out with you," the third girl says with a picturesque smile and twinkling eyes. Her name is Courtney and I don't know much about her besides that she's rich, smart, and good at everything she does.

"Oh, it's ok! I'm going to study math with Rae," I say with a smile, tapping my math book. "It's a study hall after all," I open the book and flip to the section we were on. "Umm... maybe next time, though!"

"Tch. It's your loss" Tiffany says, walking away, the other two, Courtney and Jessica, following closely behind.

"If we hang out with her too long, we may get Raven's depression on us too," Tiffany loudly whispers to Jessica, who giggles after hearing it. Tiffany and Jessica look back to me and we lock gazes for a moment before I look away. I'm pretty sure they knew I heard, more of they said it so that I could hear.

I sigh and look down, messing with the corner of a page in the book. "What's wrong?" I hear Raven harshly say. "Tell me. Now."

I look up at her, not expecting her to be back so quickly. "Uh..." I respond, not knowing what to say.

Raven crosses her arms and glares at me. She'll probably question me until I tell her what happened between me, Tiffany and the other girls. I can't tell her... more of I don't want to tell her. I just want to forget that ever happened.

"Oh! It's nothing! I... uh..." I look down at the page, trying to find an excuse" I just don't understand this page," I say, scratching the back of my head and pointing to the page.

"What's to misunderstand? It's just the chapter introduction page. There's literally nothing to misunderstand," she says harshly, pointing at the page.

"Uh... well anyway, let's start," I say, trying to change the topic.

"All right, then open your textbook up to the homework page," she says as she sits back down in her seat.

I do the first five problems on my own, understanding it in a way, but the sixth problem I don't understand at all. "All you need to do is multiply the left side of the equation by tangent x, or sine x over cosine x on both sides of the equation then..." Raven begins to explain, but my brain begins to hurt and her words become muddled. This was all so confusing and strange to me. I don't understand at all! "Understand?"

"No. Not at all! This is so confusing!" I say, frustrated, ruffling my hair. 

"Tch. You're usually good at math," she says with a sigh, crossing her arms. "I'll go through it with you step by step."

"Yay! Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she says as she shrugs me off. "Ok so first copy the problem..."

An hour later, the bell rings, signaling lunch break. "Hey, Rae! Can you help me with science during lunch? I need help memorizing the anatomy," I say as I stand and grab the lunch Rae packed from my backpack.

"Fine," she says as she stands as well.

"Ooh let's go to the roof!" I say excitedly while grabbing my notebook, "it's what all the protagonists in school anime do!"

"Tch. No, of course not. The roof is off-limits to students," she says as if that was obvious.

"But if we're not caught, it's fine, right?" I say, nudging her with my elbow.

"That's a bad mindset to have. We're going to the courtyard." She says this and starts to walk to the door. "You coming?" She turns and glares at me.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah," I run to catch up to her and we exit the classroom. "The new one, or the old?" I ask as we turn the corner and head down the stairs. There are two different courtyards, the newer one at the side of the school, and the older one in the back. Barely anyone ever uses the old one and most of the time it's empty.

"Old," she says quickly as we turn and go down the second flight of stairs. We walk silently through the school to the back of the building and go through the double doors leading to the courtyard. I love this courtyard because it is cut off from everywhere else with no windows into the school, and bushes plus a wall blocking the other sides of the courtyard.

Vines also grow up the wall of the school, making it look vintage and pretty. The metal benches and tables are rusted, but I don't care, I think it makes the courtyard look that much cooler.

I take a deep breath in, "ahhh I love the fresh air after being stuck in that stuffy classroom all day!" I raise my hands in the air and stretch, my back popping. "Ok let's get started," I say, sitting down at a table.

Raven sits across from me and I pass her my notebook. "Tch. I don't need that. I have them all memorized already," she says, pushing it back.

"Fine then. How can you memorize this all so fast and be so good at math! The only subject I'm better than you in is home ec! Gah it's so frustrating to be dumb," I exclaim, ruffling my hair.

"All of it is easy if you think about it clearly and pay attention. But, to be fair you do better than most of the idiots in that classroom," she says, crossing her arms.

"Thanks, but it's hard to me," I complain, crossing my arms as well.

"Ok, I'll start with an easy one, where's the tibia?"

"Uhh... the arm?" I guess.

"Tch. No, it's in the leg dummy. That should have been a giveaway question," her glare becomes darker. "Ok how about the carpals?"

"Uh... the foot?" I guess again.

"No, what you're thinking of are the tarsals, which are in the foot. The carpals are in the hand," she says, very annoyed. "These are so basic and easy, I don't even know how you are getting them wrong. Do you know where any of the bones are?" 

"Uhh... yeah."

"Fine then. Name it," she narrows her eyes and glares at me.

"Uhh... the radius?"

"Well, where is it located?"

"The arm?"

"Where in the arm?" She questions me. She must be suspicious, but this question means I was right, and it is in the arm.

"Here," I say, pointing to the lower half of my arm.

"Tch. That's just one, do you know any more?"

"Well, not really..." I say, nervous that she'll scold me.

"I'm coming to your house today after school, and we're going to study these," she says before standing and walking to the door. 

"Wait, what about lunch?"

"I don't need that." She says harshly, walking towards the door. I grab her arm, stopping her.
"If you forgot it at home or forgot your money, you can have some of my food. Besides you made it," I give a small laugh.

"No. I don't need any food. I'm fine," she says, ripping her arm from my grip.

"You need to eat, it's important to be healthy and grow strong. Don't you want to get any taller," I say jokingly, patting her on the head.

"Tch. Eating won't make me taller. Eat the food yourself, you're always complaining that you're hungry anyway," and with that she leaves the courtyard, the door closing with a loud thud.

A/N:
Hello! Hope you like that opening chapter!

How do you like Rae and Addie so far? I hope you like them even with their flaws.

Anyway, don't stop reading here! There's a big plot twist in the upcoming chapters, so keep reading to find out!

Anyway, please comment, vote, and keep reading! ❤️