Status: A work in progress. Updates may be slow due to school.
Tied
Blinding
The skin on my neck burned more with every jostle of the bus.
The white light was still there, slithering through my head and behind my eyes. The migraine was in full force. Quickly checking that I was sufficiently hidden in the corner of the seat, I forced my shaking hands to pop open the bottle of emergency pills kept in my bookbag. Swallowing them dry, I let my forehead hit the grimy window as the bus slid to a stop. Just a few minutes away from school, then.
“Rhea?” Carlos slid into the seat beside me, dark eyes squinting at me in concern. “Hey, you really don’t look so good.”
“Wow, Captain Obvious,” my voice sounded scratchy and wrong. “gracias for that outstanding observation.”
“I’m serious.” He cautiously patted my shoulder. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Pinky swear?”
I grinned through the pain. “Yeah, loser. I pinky swear.”
He playfully punched my arm and jumped up, returning to his friends as the bus driver screamed at him to sit down. He was my half-brother, our dad the source of our shared blood, though my skin was considerably lighter than his. My white mother had left as soon as I was born. Perhaps that was why I was so close to Carlos. He cared when my mother never did.
And if that changed when I came out to our traditional Catholic family, well- I didn’t want to think about it.
The bus grinded to a stop in front of the high school, and I adjusted my scarf one last time. I could see Raven waiting in the courtyard, the wind tossing her short dark hair across her face. I sighed, forcing my heartbeat to remain normal. Friends. She was my best friend. Nothing more. Hell, she probably didn’t even like girls.
“Rhea!” she shoved a strand of hair back, eyes flashing. “Did you talk to Aurore?”
“No, but I thought it was weird that she’s staying home. She always comes to school anyway. What’s wrong?”
“Last night, the words were pretty rough. I don’t know exactly.” She frowned. “We’re meeting the crazy lady tomorrow after school, to see if she can help.”
“The crazy lady?” It was burning up outside, and my neck prickled under the heavy fabric.
“Psychic. Whatever.” Raven made a vague gesture with her hands, batting the air ferociously. “Wanna meet up during lunch again? I have detention tonight, so, you know, I might not get to call you.”
“Sure. I brought food, so we can go somewhere quiet to talk. Maybe we should call Aurore and get her side of things.” The bell rang, shattering the air and sending students scrambling.
“Sounds good. See you then.” She started to turn, then quirked an eyebrow. “Isn’t it a bit hot for a scarf?”
“The words found residence on my neck. I had to hide them somehow.” I muttered, pulling at the blasted thing.
She smiled. “It looks good on you anyway. I like the color.”
I fumbled for a reply, but Raven had already gone.
The words were sending jagged spikes of pain through my veins by lunchtime. We met in the bathroom and found an old janitor’s closet to dive in. No one would bother us here, no teachers, no lovesick idiots looking to express their commitment physically.
“You call Aurore.” Raven was glaring at her phone, mashing the screen angrily. “My stupid phone is dying.”
“Mine too, but I have a charger.” As soon as I plugged it into the wall, sparks exploded from the outlet. “Holy-”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“Hold on, it’s charging now.” I held the thing warily, punching in the numbers as quickly as possible. “I’ll put it on speaker.”
“Hey.” Aurore sounded drained, lacking her usual cheerfulness. “What’s up?”
“Oh, you know,” I tried to sound light and happy. I failed. “the usual. Dead people visiting us in dreams and magical tattoos.”
Raven grinned at me. My heart absurdly skipped a beat.
“Good to know.” I could almost hear her smile. “So, about tomorrow-”
The phone cut off in a sudden burst of static, the lights above us flickering rapidly before pitching us into darkness.
“Aurore? Hello? Rhea, we should get out of here, this is kinda freaky-”
The pain hit us at the same time, crushing out all the oxygen in our lungs, leaving us gasping and crumbled on the ground. I reached for her hand blindly, her fingers grasping mine with frightening intensity. The pain was getting worse, consuming my skin, turning my vision white-
totally white-
blindingly so-
all I could see was white-
and then voices-
“Raven?” I gasped, but-
I couldn’t feel her hand in mine anymore-
“Raven?”-
“Please, God, Raven-”
The white light was still there, slithering through my head and behind my eyes. The migraine was in full force. Quickly checking that I was sufficiently hidden in the corner of the seat, I forced my shaking hands to pop open the bottle of emergency pills kept in my bookbag. Swallowing them dry, I let my forehead hit the grimy window as the bus slid to a stop. Just a few minutes away from school, then.
“Rhea?” Carlos slid into the seat beside me, dark eyes squinting at me in concern. “Hey, you really don’t look so good.”
“Wow, Captain Obvious,” my voice sounded scratchy and wrong. “gracias for that outstanding observation.”
“I’m serious.” He cautiously patted my shoulder. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Pinky swear?”
I grinned through the pain. “Yeah, loser. I pinky swear.”
He playfully punched my arm and jumped up, returning to his friends as the bus driver screamed at him to sit down. He was my half-brother, our dad the source of our shared blood, though my skin was considerably lighter than his. My white mother had left as soon as I was born. Perhaps that was why I was so close to Carlos. He cared when my mother never did.
And if that changed when I came out to our traditional Catholic family, well- I didn’t want to think about it.
The bus grinded to a stop in front of the high school, and I adjusted my scarf one last time. I could see Raven waiting in the courtyard, the wind tossing her short dark hair across her face. I sighed, forcing my heartbeat to remain normal. Friends. She was my best friend. Nothing more. Hell, she probably didn’t even like girls.
“Rhea!” she shoved a strand of hair back, eyes flashing. “Did you talk to Aurore?”
“No, but I thought it was weird that she’s staying home. She always comes to school anyway. What’s wrong?”
“Last night, the words were pretty rough. I don’t know exactly.” She frowned. “We’re meeting the crazy lady tomorrow after school, to see if she can help.”
“The crazy lady?” It was burning up outside, and my neck prickled under the heavy fabric.
“Psychic. Whatever.” Raven made a vague gesture with her hands, batting the air ferociously. “Wanna meet up during lunch again? I have detention tonight, so, you know, I might not get to call you.”
“Sure. I brought food, so we can go somewhere quiet to talk. Maybe we should call Aurore and get her side of things.” The bell rang, shattering the air and sending students scrambling.
“Sounds good. See you then.” She started to turn, then quirked an eyebrow. “Isn’t it a bit hot for a scarf?”
“The words found residence on my neck. I had to hide them somehow.” I muttered, pulling at the blasted thing.
She smiled. “It looks good on you anyway. I like the color.”
I fumbled for a reply, but Raven had already gone.
The words were sending jagged spikes of pain through my veins by lunchtime. We met in the bathroom and found an old janitor’s closet to dive in. No one would bother us here, no teachers, no lovesick idiots looking to express their commitment physically.
“You call Aurore.” Raven was glaring at her phone, mashing the screen angrily. “My stupid phone is dying.”
“Mine too, but I have a charger.” As soon as I plugged it into the wall, sparks exploded from the outlet. “Holy-”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“Hold on, it’s charging now.” I held the thing warily, punching in the numbers as quickly as possible. “I’ll put it on speaker.”
“Hey.” Aurore sounded drained, lacking her usual cheerfulness. “What’s up?”
“Oh, you know,” I tried to sound light and happy. I failed. “the usual. Dead people visiting us in dreams and magical tattoos.”
Raven grinned at me. My heart absurdly skipped a beat.
“Good to know.” I could almost hear her smile. “So, about tomorrow-”
The phone cut off in a sudden burst of static, the lights above us flickering rapidly before pitching us into darkness.
“Aurore? Hello? Rhea, we should get out of here, this is kinda freaky-”
The pain hit us at the same time, crushing out all the oxygen in our lungs, leaving us gasping and crumbled on the ground. I reached for her hand blindly, her fingers grasping mine with frightening intensity. The pain was getting worse, consuming my skin, turning my vision white-
totally white-
blindingly so-
all I could see was white-
and then voices-
“Raven?” I gasped, but-
I couldn’t feel her hand in mine anymore-
“Raven?”-
“Please, God, Raven-”
♠ ♠ ♠
Hello again. It's been a very long time. A very, very long time. It is totally all my fault and I am so incredibly sorry to you guys and my co-author, there's no excuse for it. But we're back and ready to continue writing until our fingers bleed. Thanks lovelies for sticking with us, and feedback is appreciated as always.(Also, if you were wondering how my lovely co-author and I did in AP bio, well, we both got 5s on the exam and I'd say that's pretty freaking awesome.)