Ramie Viviane E. Lopez, “Ravie” for short.

A well-mannered guy with glasses and pitch-black wavy hair that almost covers most of his face, he has braces, he is 178 cm in height, rather skinny, he is quite shaggy on his arms, has grey eyes that always look serious, and a voice that sounds like it came from a narrator of radio drama, often seen as nerd, can pass as good looking though lacking a lot of charm which makes him invisible to most girls. He is an honor student though never really tried too hard, making him rank only second in school. Though looking at him, he is always bored. Just bored.

He is still amazing even though he is so passive, the way that he does everything in precision making them look easy, yet not giving his all thus giving him the calm ground in every battle. Yet of all the things he is good at, no one ever saw him lose in any game. Whatever game it is as long as winning is at stake, somehow, he always came off triumphant, and that is another thing to admire about him. So, the question remains, what’s always bothering him? What pulls him back to square one? It is still a mystery until you meet his one true love. Marie.

Maria Aernelle V. Marionette, Marianne for her friends, Nelle for her family, and for Ravie, “Marie”. She is Ravie’s best friend and if given the thought, his one true friend since he was born. Maybe because Ravie has a very strong social anxiety, and given the fact that he never really talks to anyone from first grade up to now, she is a pretty amazing girl to catch his attention, let alone his heart.

She is rather small for a European only 153 cm in height, maybe because she is half Asian I think? She has a very long and thick silver hair that is just above her waist, skin so pale it almost seemed like snow, eyes that are dark purple it seems like she sees inside the soul of anyone looking at her while keeping the royalty in her looks, a face that is youthful and innocent, many are fooled of her age thinking she is still on primary school because of her height.

She always has a cheerful aura and always make everyone around her happy. A high-pitched voice that echoes the hall when she’s around and a rather sweet voice when needed. She seemed to have multiple personalities and a very strong spirit, but all of that is different when she is with Ravie. She trusts him so much that he is the only one who knows her problems and sufferings, her tone also changes when he is around, so it is very surprising to know she has a boyfriend given her relationship with her best friend Ravie.

It was around February of our 9th grade when Marie and Valle started dating and no one really heard anything from Ravie. As always, he tried to avoid anyone who tried talking to him, and evaded anything that has to do with them. He also made a clear distance with them and isolated himself to prevent any misunderstandings and quarrels with the both of them. Needless to say, he’s a very dependable person. But until when? Until when would he keep this up?

It was the 12th of June 2049 in Earl Johnson School for the Music and the Arts, all were getting ready for the start of the school year. It was a rather cloudy day, maybe because of the thunder storm advisory earlier that day, but nonetheless it was still a very lively day. The school is situated above a hill so students need to walk from the gates to the Academy, the path is lined with sakura trees (cherry blossoms form japan) and hundreds to thousands of students were walking by groups uphill. The Juniors (*7th to 9th grades) wore a white uniform with blue overlay (boys and girls wear a grey coat with blue overlay) pants and black shoes for boys and skirt with long white socks and black shoes for girls. While the Seniors (10th to 12th grade) wore grey coat with red overlay, a number embroidered on the chest together with the school emblem shows which grade a student is on. The boys now wear a tie and girls wear a ribbon. The uniforms became a bit better for the senior high students this year.

A black car stopped at the nearby drop off point, and a certain familiar figure got off the car. Ravie started walking uphill alone and isolated from other people. He was carrying a book, pushing up his glasses reading it. You can see the glare from his glasses which hides his face well. Some say that it was his way to withdraw from people, but for him, it was the only way to keep himself from interacting too much with people. It’s not because he hates mingling with other people, it’s just because he is too anxious. He was too anxious of what he would do or say, if he would be too rude that it would offend people or he would be too nice and creep them all out. Besides, socializing uses almost all of his energy. Like when they have family gatherings where they were all presented in front of all the elders of the family. It was too hard on his part, even harder than math. It is as if all the talent he has academically sucked out all of his remaining talent points for his social skills, pretty hard but it was the everyday life of Ravie. He continued walking uphill when a very familiar voice called out.

“Raaaavvviiiieeee!!!” shouted the familiar voice

he immediately turned around from the sound of her voice “Oh Marie its yo–” he was suddenly stopped by the sudden hug of Marie, being relatively small she jumped up Ravie and he just stood there motionless for a few seconds.

“You smell so good Ravie! You have a date? Maybe you finally have a crush on someone huh?! My baby boy is turning into a man!” She said in a smug face

“Valle would be mad if he sees us like this Marie.” He replied with a smile, she pouted and snubbed him while she climbed down

“Don’t speak of that old guy in front of me, he is too insensitive!” she muttered out. They continued walking uphill as they speak

“So, you got into a fight with him again?” he asked, she gave him an eye roll “Yeah! Ahhhhhh!!! Jeezzzz! Let him be. Let’s talk about you!” she smiled and looked him in the eyes, he is really good in hiding his feelings given the fact that he should be blushing right now and yet he kept a straight face and replied

“My life is pretty much boring so why bother?” she looked at me confused and finally let off a sigh

“Myyyy! Why are men so clueless?!” she started walking faster,

“Uhm Marie? Marie! Wait! Did I say something?” he ran to catch up to her,

“Nah! Talk to the hand!” She replied while walking towards the entrance, though at a distance you can see her smile. That scene is something you would often see in the morning when classes start, and today, he starts something new.

Ravie is a pianist and the conductor of the school’s orchestra. He has a special ability called “perfect pitch”, where he can play any piece just by hearing it for the first time, and can arrange any music on his mind, which then he writes for the orchestra for the musicals that they present for school festivals and especially when Christmas comes around. No one really notice him do this, because they are all busy with something else, or maybe because he doesn’t want anyone to notice. He is rather quiet about his ability that he often places sheet music on the piano without even looking at it while he plays or conduct, to be clear though he practices every day on breaktime and gets ready months before any performance, but knowing he almost doesn’t need to look at a sheet music, it is still very commendable. He just knows when and where to go with it, maybe that is another admirable quality in him that nobody else can see.

It was 7:30 am and he was wiping off dust on the school piano inside the music practice room when someone tapped his shoulder

“Hey Mr. Music Genius, its time for my class. Or maybe I shouldn’t really care if you come or not, besides you are the best student of the school.” An old man with grey hair and glasses, very tall and timid yet dignified image came up to him

“That is not really true Mr. Waters, I only rank 2 in the over all rankings, everybody knows that.” He replied continuing to wipe the piano

“You know Lopez, it isn’t always true that being written in number 2 means that you are not better that others. It only means that you lack effort. You are better than her Lopez.” He replied turning to his back

“You better show me that you deserve better. Not just in your academics but with Marionette as well. C’mon its time for class.” He started walking out the room

“I… I can’t...” you can see the glare of his glasses as he wore his coat and went with Mr. Waters to class.

Inside the classroom of G10-SA on the fourth floor of the building, where all the honor students of the 10th grade are in, you would see him sit by the window where he would not be seen by everyone, and where he can look outside and daydream if he was bored. It was a perfect place for him, far from unwanted conversations and attention, just the usual reasons and yet, something is different. Maybe it is the way he looks now, better than before but the nerd in him remains.

Mr. Waters stood in front and started the class

“Good morning ladies and gents! Today is the first day of class. I am Dr. Eigen Waters, your homeroom adviser and your history teacher. As you know, this year is a great achievement for your batch of Special A students. Because the top 2 students of this campus are your classmates, Aziel M. Parrinae and Ramie Viviane E. Lopez, both won the country’s most outstanding student award last year. So, I expect a good standing for this class. But above all that I would like us to enjoy this school year. And before we start I would like you all to welcome our transfer student from Boston, Mr. John Jamie Inuzka Carter.”

He introduced him, and Ravie had his eyes fixed on this transfer student. “Good Day! I am John, you can call me “JJ”. I am a Japanese-American and I hope we get along.” He smiled and bowed his head

“Jamie?” Ravie was shocked

“Wait is that you Ramie-boy?! And Nellie?!”

He looked at them with excitement “Well, it looks like you won’t have a hard time looking for friends, you may sit next to Lopez.” Mr. Waters said

He then walked up and sat beside Ravie, “Long time no see, Ramie-boy!” He tapped his shoulders and smiled. Marie, sitting in front of Ravie leaned over to talk with them

“Hey Blondie, what brings you here?” She asked him, “I see you never grew even after 8 years.” He returned with a sarcastic face, “Really now!” They looked at each other in satirical manner

“Guys please calm down, class is about to start.” Rave said sternly, he looked at them with dead eyes which scared the sh*t out of them, with haunted looking eyes they slowly looked away

“Sorry O.O” and with that, class started.

It seems like they knew each other for a really long time that everything about them seems really comfortable.

JJ Carter is half Japanese and American, though most of his features resembles those of a Caucasian, though his eyes resemble a little of an Asian. He is a bit taller than Ravie, standing at 180 cm, has a very athletic body and blonde hair. He has bright hazel eyes and great voice, he was once a busker in the U.S. and quite popular among girls maybe because of his good looks, charm and good singing voice. Over-all you may see him as another school heartthrob. Which makes them a great trio, given their differences and how they set that apart for their friendship. The addition of JJ to them made it easier for him to adapt in his environment, that is when the unexpected happens.

He was walking through the corridor at lunch time, towards the music room to do his lunchtime tradition of playing the piano for thirty mitues when he heard a scream,

“AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Take this rat away from me!!!”

He saw a girl run out of the photography room through the hallway away from him, she have long purple hair and ran in a hurry leaving him puzzled.

“What is that?” he thought to himself.

He was curious and bothered at the same time, and with his mind that like to see things in order, he was troubled by the open door and went up to close it when he saw something strange inside the dark Photography Club room.

As he approach the room chills went about his body, he saw dark images that are posted all over the room like a crazy detective’s evidences waiting to be discovered. Then out of his curiosity he reached out for the lights and turned them on, pushing 9 switches to open all the lights.

Then to his surprise, he saw his picture, and another one, and another one. That’s when it hit him, it was a room filled with hundreds of his pictures posted on every corner of the room. He was petrified for a minute and sat down of astonishment after a few seconds of pondering the situation he finally let out a scream out of confusion and anxiety “What the hellllll!!!!”.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Marie were walking down the corridor when they heard him scream, alarmed, the ran to the room to see what happened

“What’s wrong Ramie!?” Jamie asked as he approach the door

“Hey Rav?” Marie slowly went in the room and was horrified of what she saw

“What the hell man??” Jamie uttered in amazement, he walked up to Ravie and helped him stand.

“It seems like you have a die-hard stalker.” He added as they look around the room.

“Someone’s coming! C’mon let’s get out of here before somebody sees us!” Marie warned them as they turned off the lights and ran out of the room, Marie held his cold hand as they ran back to their room. He can’t speak in shock as well as Marie. They pant in exhaustion as they were seated,

“So what do we do about it?” Jamie asked, with a snub she replied “What about it? Someone has a crush on Ravie, and that’s good right? Let it be.” She faced the other way and looked outside the window.

“Whoah, she is in a really bad mood Ravie.” He said patting his shoulder, he was still quiet contemplating everything but it dawned to him that his quiet high school days are slowly coming to an end.

They were walking to down the hill to the train station Ravie finally spoke up, “What should I do? I never experienced this, and rather than happy, I am scared. I don’t like people watching me all the time. It scares me.” With a low voice he asks for help, Marie then turned around with an irritated and determined face, “We need to find that stalker! Does she know the limits of liking someone?! This is purely outrageous!!! We would find her and get her to stop stalking you! That menacing cat!” she busted out in anger,

“We can’t even say if it’s a she.” Jamie said in deep thoughts,

“That’s creepy.” Ravie replied in horror, he looked down horrified.

“Now look what you’ve done you blonde monkey!” She said in disgust,

“What did you say? You ugly-midget?!” he replied. The continued their child’s conflict while Ravie still looked horrified.

“What should I do now T.T” he thought to himself.