I turn my head in disbelief and excitement toward Raven, who is already looking at me, her eyes smiling. She looks back down at the glowing screen in her lap and then picks herself off the ground, probably about to make her way over to me. I follow her movements and stand up, but am startled when I hear my name being called by someone coming toward me. I break my gaze away from Raven and focus on the sound which is coming from the blonde haired boy jogging toward me.

"Luna- sorry I just- oh my gosh- I just wanted to tell you" Ethan is panting so heavily from the sudden burst of exercise that I can't even understand him.

"Slow down. Just take deep breaths," I advice, showing him by inhaling the humid air through my mouth and exhaling it slowly.

"O-ok" Ethan puts his hand on his chest and follows my example by taking deep, slow breaths.

"Better?" I smile calmly at him.

"Yeah."

"So, what were you trying to tell me?"

"I was gonna tell you that I'm sorry about how Ashley was acting today-" I sigh heavily, cutting him off.

"Shouldn't she be the one apologizing? You didn't do anything!" I huff, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to explain that she really doesn't mean to be- well, mean. She just-" I feel my insides boil with anger. Why is Ethan defending her? She doesn't have to right to talk horribly about others!

"Of course she means to be mean. If she didn't mean it, she wouldn't say it!" I can feel a couple gazes from our peers lay on us, but I don't even care. I can practically feel the fumes of rage radiating off of me and all I want to do is punch the wall until my knuckles bleed.

"Do you want to go somewhere more private? We can go to a coffee shop in town and just talk, if you want." I can see a hint of fear in Ethan's eyes and I instantly regret being so rude toward him. The last thing I want to do is be like that flibbertigibbet, Ashley.

"I'm sorry Ethan, I just got really mad and I couldn't control myself and-"

"It's okay." That is exactly what Raven said to me earlier. It's okay. Is it okay? Am I okay?

Before my thoughts can wander further, Ethan pulls me into a tight hug. It feels nice to be embraced, comforted.

"Thanks Ethan," I say softly as we pull apart.

"So, do you want to go into town or...?" He stares at me, waiting for my answer.

"Um, sorry, but I already made plans. I have to work on the English project with Raven." He looks around me to lay his eyes upon Raven who is watching us confusedly, leaning against the reddish brick.

"Oh. Well, have fun!" He starts to walk off, but I grab his wrist, pulling him back.

"Don't tell Ashley," I warn, searching his eyes for any sign of defiance.

"Don't worry, I won't," He responds convincingly, pulling his wrist from my grasp and walking back across the grass to the corner of the road.

I turn back around to meet Raven's gaze, confusion and maybe a hint of jealousy glossing over her eyes. I pick my bag off the side of the building and drag it over to Raven. Is she going to talk to me? Is she going to change her mind about coming to my house?

"Hey," I say quietly as I reach her. I look at my shoes awkwardly and wait for her to say something.

"Hey." When I hear her soft voice, I can't help but to look up at her. She is already gazing at me fondly and I decide to use this moment to admire her distinguished features. I admire the smooth texture of her skin, the palest skin I've ever seen, except now there is hint of color tinting her cheeks. Her face is so slim and her cheekbones are so prominent. Her lashes are long, curled over her beautiful eyes. I could float in the universe that is her eyes forever. Every time I look into them, I find a new star or galaxy that makes me want to never look away.

A few seconds later, she looks away suddenly in embarrassment. I feel my skin flush and look back down at my shoes. She reaches a hand behind her head and pulls her hood over head.

"So, do you want to go now?" I ask, breaking the silence.

She keeps her head down and nods slowly, never looking up.

"Okay, well my house is this way." I point to the left, down the street. She nods again and I start to walk in the direction I pointed to, looking back occasionally to make sure she is following me.

The entire walk is like that. I am slowly making my way to my house and looking back every minute or so to make sure Raven is following. Raven is meandering at a slow pace behind me, not bothering to catch up or look up from the ground. Why the sudden change of mood?

When we reach the familiar wooden porch of my home, I turn around to wait for Raven. She stops a few feet in front of me and looks up. She examines the house, her face holding no expression.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, my voice a little more annoyed than I meant it to be. She looks down and nods, shoving her hands into her pockets.

I turn back around and walk up the porch steps, taking my key from my pocket and placing it into the lock. The lock clicks and the door swings open, allowing the cool rush of air from inside the house to blow past my skin. I walk in and pull off my shoes, placing them by the stairs. I turn around in my socks to see Raven step inside the door frame and look down at my feet. She looks up at me again, slanting her eyebrows, as if asking something.

"You can take off your shoes if you want, but you don't have to," I say, guessing the answer to her invisible question. She just nods, but doesn't make any move to take her shoes off, so I assume she doesn't want to and start to walk upstairs. She follows not so far behind as I reach the top of the stairs and push my bedroom door open. I swing my backpack off my shoulder and lay it next to the bed, sitting down on the blue patterned bed-sheets.

She comes into the room, her hands still stuffed inside her hoodie as she gazes around my room. The walls are covered with posters of different video games, movies, and TV series I like. I have one bookshelf by my bed which is packed with all my favorite books and the top is lined with action figures of superheros, film characters, and book characters. I suddenly become aware of how geeky I am and grasp my toes around the dark blue soft material of my fuzzy carpet. I examine her face, searching for any sign of disgust or a negative reaction. Her face is slightly curious, but mostly expressionless as she stares in one spot. I can almost swear that I see one of my figures move on the bookshelf, but it only lasts half a second before it is back in the same position.

Her eyes suddenly swoop around the room and then land back on me, waiting for me to do something.

"You can just put your backpack here." I point to the spot next to my bag.  She places her bag carefully next to mine and looks back at me. 

"And sit here." I pat the spot across the bed from me and lean against the headboard as she crawls onto my bed and sits cross legged. I watch as she pulls out her phone and starts texting. Is she ignoring me? Why won't she talk? Why is she so odd? My phone randomly dings and I take it out, noticing a new text. Curious, I open the message.

Raven: should we work on the project?

I stare confusedly at the text. Why doesn't she just ask me in person? I decide not to be rude by asking and just reply to her question.

Luna: Sure

I hop off the bed and lean over to unzip my bag, getting out my sheet. I think about getting Raven's from her bag as well, but don't want to invade her privacy, so I climb back onto the bed and watch as she retrieves her own paper. I look down at the scattered questions written in a dull pencil on the page and look over at Raven who is examining her page as well. I take out my phone again and type her a message.

Luna: So do u just want to ask questions through texting?

She obviously won't talk to me, so I decide this would be the easiest way.

Raven: yeah, thx

Luna: Np. So my first question is, who do you look up to?

Raven: um......probably my brother...

I quickly jot down the answer onto my paper and continue texting.

Raven: my first question is, what is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you?

Luna: Hmm...Maybe the time when a squirrel peed on my shoe

I hear Raven let out a snort of laughter and it is actually the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Raven: omg lol

Luna: What is your favorite way to escape from the real world?

Raven: wow deep. um probably through music maybe. wby?

Luna: Hey! You can't copy my question!

Raven: its not not a written rule so...

Luna: Fine. Probs through the internet then. Or maybe video games.

Raven: cool. whats ur favorite game to play?

Luna: Super Smash Bros obviously.

Raven: lol geek.

Luna: Hey! Your just jealous cause i would beat u in a heartbeat

Raven: hmm sure...wanna bet?

Luna: You mean u will play against me?

Raven: yeah...u scared?

Luna: No. Ur on.

I look up from my phone to see that Raven is already smiling devilishly at me. I get up and pull out the game from the pile of CD cases next to my bookshelf and start toward Raven.

"Common! The game station is downstairs." I grab her arm and lead her down the stairs, letting go only when we reach the living room. I insert the disc into the console and wait as it reads the disc. I grab the controllers and sit myself down into the corner of the couch. I hand one of the controllers to Raven and motion her to sit down next to me. She does, only on the opposite side of the couch rather than next to me. 

The TV screen loads and I use my controller to select the game. The usual theme music plays from the speakers on either side of the TV and I select the usual options before we are able to pick our characters. I scan the pictures of characters, trying to determine which one is the most skilled and will beat Raven the easiest. I finally decide on Samus and select my name to be the usual, "Luna". Raven first types her name into the bottom of the screen and then picks Zelda as her character. I select our location and the match begins. 

Samus runs towards Zelda and I mash the buttons, letting loose blasts of energy. Surprisingly, Zelda blocks all attacks and lets loose her own fighting response, knocking my character from the platform.

"Hey, that's no fair!" I whine as my character appears again at the top of the screen. I peer over at Raven and she has a proud smile on her face, ready to destroy me once again. We continue playing the game for what feels like hours, Raven already has beaten me twelve times.

"Ugh! I give up!" I throw my hands into the air in defeat. Somehow, when playing the game, we both had managed to move across the couch and are sitting very close, our legs pressed against eachother and our shoulders brushing.

"Ha! And you thought you were gonna be so good at this game against me!" Raven mocks, laughing. Throughout the game, Raven had become more comfortable with speaking to me, letting out victorious remarks and proud laughs of joy. I like this more open Raven better than the closed off, shy one. I laugh and look at Raven fondly before I hear the front door swing open and my brother walks in through it.

"Hey Aidan!" I shout, already hipper from laughing so much.

"Hi Luna, who's your friend?" He asks as he sets his school bag down, his eyes looking tiredly at me.

"This is Raven, a girl from my class."

"Oh, cool. I'm Aidan. Nice to meet you Raven." He holds out his hand for Raven to shake and she takes it lightly, shaking it politely.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit...tired," I remark, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I just need some sleep."

"Okay. There is leftover Mac and Cheese in the fridge for dinner if you want any."

Aidan looks at me, confused, but smiles and hurries into the kitchen. I take out my phone and look at the time. 4:29. How did only 20 minutes pass since we started playing? It felt like at least two hours!

Raven studies my confused expression before asking, "So, should we continue playing or...?"

"No, I think I've had enough game play for today. Wanna just go up to my room and work on the project?" Raven looks disappointed at my answer, but nods her head in agreement and gets up from our close position on the couch. We head into my room upstairs and close the door behind us. Both of us resume our positions on the bed, looking over our project papers.

"So do you want to continue texting or actually ask the questions out loud?" I ask, peering up at Raven.

"Mmm, let's just ask them out loud."

We start asking and answering questions, sometimes pausing from our questions to talk about something random and laughing until our stomachs hurt. I enjoy finding out more about Raven. Everything she says and does is a new mystery to unfold. She seems to enjoy talking with me too, but clearly not as much as I do. The time goes by quickly, to my disappointment and the next time I check the time, it is 9: 37. The time is acting really weird today. I'm sure it's just my imagination, but it kind of freaks me out.

"It's already 9:30. We have way more than we need for the project and I bet your parents are probably worried," I say with a sigh. I really don't want her to leave. 

"Actually, I'm sure it's okay with my...parents- if i sleep over tonight," She responds and I don't really believe that her parents would allow her to, or mine either, but I don't argue. 

"Okay. What do you want to do then?" I ask excitedly. I haven't had a sleepover in a long time. The last one was about three months ago and it was with Ashley. Because of all the fun Raven and I had been having, I entirely forgot about Ashley. I shake away any feeling I have associating with her and wait for Raven's answer. She rests her chin on her hand, pondering my question and if I could, I would take a picture of her right now, treasuring it forever. Wait what? That's creepy. Why did I think that?

"Do you have any movies?" I smile and walk across the shaggy carpet to my large selection of movies and sit down next to them. Raven joins me and we spend about ten minutes deciding on a good movie and decide on "Coraline", one of my favorites. I set up the DVD onto my laptop and place it on my lap, sitting back on my bed, against the wall. Raven sits down, scooting over so our bodies are pressed against to eachother. I move the mouse on my computer and click PLAY. 

After about 37 minutes through the movie, we both fall asleep. Raven's head resting on my shoulder and my hand laying on top of hers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: you guys have been asking for it so here is another update! hope you all like the story so far! 

any questions? suggestions? comment right here and i will answer!

omg i'm almost at 200 reads and i can't thank you all enough! special thanks to the few people who are constantly commenting and being so nice and supportive! 

remember to follow! if you follow, i always follow back and read your stories, maybe even giving a vote or two.

bye!

-MoonSpirit :)