"I was never baptized," Jason sat back on his legs and kept his head down. "My adopted family refused to allow it."
"But you still think of yourself as Christian?"
"I never could be," he shook his head sadly and Raven wondered what was going through his mind. "Just like you could never be a zombie."
Raven grumbled and tried to wipe away the eyeliner that had smudged under her eyes. Jason simply laughed and shook his head at her. He gently pushed her arms away and licked his thumb, using it to wipe her eyeliner off her face.
"There," he smiled. "I can't do much about your hair though. I like your shirt too," he added with a cheeky grin.
Raven's cheeks flushed and she looked down at the stairs. "Well… I… Um…" How could she even begin to explain?
"Don't be embarrassed," he offered. "I can't get over how shy you are."
"Sorry," she ducked her head, biting her lip.
"No need to be sorry," he said. "What made you wear it?"
Raven thought for a moment and once again, she found it hard not to answer him. "It… It smells like you," she tensed up, hoping he wouldn't laugh at her. "I feel safe, just like I did in the pool."
"Why do you feel safe?"
"Because…" she knew her cheeks were close to glowing and she wished Jason wasn't asking her these questions. Was it too late to run out to where Elaise was waiting? "I trust you. I know I'm not going to get hurt while you're around."
"There you go," he smiled. "I'm not going to laugh at you for being honest about how you feel."
She risked a glance up at him but changed the subject quickly. "So, if you're not religious… why are you still in here?"
Jason frowned and looked down at his hands, his shoulders sagging. "I've come here every Sunday since I arrived at the academy," he almost whispered. "I've asked the priest to cleanse me of my sins and I've prayed to God a thousand times to forgive me for the crimes I've committed."
"Crimes?" Raven echoed, her heart fluttering like a trapped bird in a cage. "What kind of crimes?" Had this boy been to jail before?!
"To be honest, I don't know how you feel so safe around me," he sighed. "But I've tried to change. I've forced myself to become a different person. Though, no matter how many times I ask the Lord to forgive me, it never seems to cleanse me of my guilty conscience. I try so hard… yet it seems like it's not enough. It feels like I'll always be that person…"
"Jason?" Raven reached over and placed a hand over his. He took her hand in both of his and she felt worry creeping up on her; worry for him. "What person?" What kind of crimes did he commit? How could someone so sweet and caring be a criminal?
"I'm dangerous, Raven," he whispered, his words sending shivers running up Raven's spine. "I was raised… to be a very dangerous weapon."
Breaking the Rules
9. Breaking the rules
"Ugh! I don't understand shit!"
"It's easy," Der chuckled, trying once again to show Elaise how to figure out the math equations. Elaise simply shook her head and grabbed her pen, scribbling over the entire equation until she couldn't see it anymore. Der sighed deeply but Elaise felt a shiver run up her spine. She glanced at the blond boy and felt unusual waves coming off of him. She wasn't sure what it was, but he was different; and it didn't feel like the good kind of different. He also wasn't the only one. Elaise got bad vibes from several people at the academy, Jason and Eliza among them.
"It's too difficult," she grumbled to Der.
"What were you learning at your old school? Addition?" Der muttered. "This stuff is easy."
"Well, then I must have been in kindergarten!" Elaise complained and rested her forehead on the table. "I give up."
"Try again," he persuaded and he pushed her book out of the way, letting her see his. He tried explaining it again but Elaise felt her head pounding. She tried scribbling over Der' book but he grabbed her wrists gently. She felt little electric shocks shooting up her arms and she pulled free, glaring at Der playfully.
"This is impossible," she concluded. "I will never be able to understand it!"
"It's only been a few weeks," he pointed out. "You're not going to understand it all at once."
"I can try," Elaise crossed her arms but smiled when the bell rang. "I have IT now!"
"And I have History with Raven," Der rose from his seat and Elaise frowned.
It had been a month since Elaise and Raven joined White Grass, and they had slowly but surely been drifting apart. Raven had been hanging out with Stephanie and the other girls, as well as Jason while Elaise hung out with some new friends that she'd made in her Dance, Engineering and Information Technology classes. Raven also had Jake furious with her because she had apparently stabbed him, and Kyle was still trying to convince her to sleep with him. Elaise was glad she didn't have that kind of attention; it would drive her insane.
She had to admit though, she thought and bit her lip. She felt slightly jealous that Raven was getting a lot of attention. She already had three boys that wanted her, and Elaise wasn't bothered by anyone at all. She didn't feel completely jealous of Raven, but she couldn't help the twinges of it every now and then.
She felt bad for not trying to talk to Raven more too, she thought as she slowly grabbed her bag and followed Der out the door. The two girls were as close as sisters, and now it was if they were strangers; they barely spoke to each other anymore. After everything Raven had been through, Elaise had been by her side for ten years. Now it seemed like those years were turning to dust. What was happening to the both of them?
Der went one way to go to History, and Elaise made her way to her computer class, no longer needing a mumbo-jumbo map to find her way around. She had become quite accustomed to the school and she smiled as two of her friends approached her before they walked into class.
They sat down at three computers and Elaise went straight to work. She knew they were continuing work from the day before, so she quickly started up her computer and waited for it to load up. She watched the other students doing the same and the teacher walked in with a smile on her face. Mrs. Harper was usually a grumpy teacher and no one really liked her. But today, she looked like she was ready to give out chocolates to the class.
"Good morning, students," she smiled. "How are we all today?" Everyone quietly mumbled in return, looking up at her with blank expressions. "If you all get your work done early today, you'll all be allowed to play games!"
Elaise blinked at her two friends who shrugged. "She's being so nice!" Mandy whispered.
"She's up to something," Katie agreed.
"That, or she got laid last night," Elaise pointed out and her two friends cackled with laughter.
Elaise quickly did a little bit more work on her computer, knowing what she had to do. She waited until the teacher had walked past in her daily rounds and the brunette jumped onto the internet, working the system as fast as she could. Her two friends watched her typing away incredibly fast and Elaise grinned when she was in the system. She checked her emails quickly and signed onto her account, seeing Bianca online.
The chat popped up with Bianca saying hello and Elaise checked the whereabouts of the teacher before chatting with her.
"Hey, Bianca! How's things?" she typed.
"Great. We're all missing you though. Why can't you come back.?" Bianca replied.
"We're here for five years, I'm afraid. There's not much we can do; this was for Rich."
"Why for Raven.? How is she.?"
"Complicated story," Elaise frowned and sighed before typing again. "And I don't know how she is… We haven't really been talking very much lately."
She had to minimize the page as Mrs. Harper did another round and Elaise did a bit more of her schoolwork. Mandy and Katie asked her to get them into contact with the outside world and she rolled her eyes, accepting and getting them in. She turned back to her conversation with Bianca as soon as the teacher was gone.
"You guys aren't talking.?! OMG I never expected that.! Sinc
e when.?"
"A couple of weeks," the brunette typed in return. "But she has other friends now… And she has a ton of guys trying to get in her pants, so she won't be lonely without me around."
Elaise minimized the conversation again as Mrs. Harper came to look over her shoulder. She bit her lip and worked on her allocated task. She tried to bide her time as she got stuck and didn't know what to do. Her friends were sitting in front of half a page of work, both unsure what to do with the teacher hovering over them.
"Very good, Elaise," the teacher complimented. "But let me show you how you could improve-"
Suddenly, a boy burst into the classroom with a grin on his face. "Fight!" he cheered. A bunch of students lunged from their seats and ran out the door with him to go see it and Mrs. Harper rushed out to try and stop it. Elaise breathed with relief and pulled up her chat box.
"Still…" Bianca had replied. "I can't believe you two aren't talking… You's were like sistahs. That school has set you 2 apart.!"
Elaise grumbled. "No, it's not the school… We're just too different… We can see that now. All Rich wants is attention, and now that she has it she's happy. I have to go tho, my teacher nearly caught me. I'll ttyl xoxo byeee."
Elaise sighed offline and escaped from the internet. She focused on her work and was almost finished by the time the teacher ushered her students back into the room. The students were laughing about the two freshman girls having a catfight. Elaise had seen the two new girls and couldn't believe how bitchy they were! They really needed to get over themselves.
Elaise reflected. Her first week at White Grass, everyone had been talking about a girl named Courtney. She had been stuck-up and thought she was so much better than all the other girls at the academy. It wasn't very long before she transferred to another school.
Last week, a girl that had been friends with the bitchy pair having the fight had left White Grass to return home. If memory served Elaise correctly, the girls' name had been Jocelyn, and word had gone around that she just wasn't cut out for the school.
After IT and English, Elaise walked out into the courtyard that overlooked the basketball courts and the oval. Mandy and Katie walked with her and they sat at one of the wooden picnic tables. Elaise couldn't help but glance over at the forest and she remembered hearing about all the students that had tried to sneak in and gotten caught. For some unknown reason, the forest was off-limits, and Elaise was curious to know why.
"Hey, the boys are playing basketball!" Katie pointed out and Elaise looked over to the courts, seeing a group of boys starting their usual game. The brunette spotted Raven with Sally and the other girls. They were sitting on the sidelines to watch and Elaise knew Jason was in the group heartbeats before she spotted him. Sally's boyfriend, Anthony, was among them, though he definitely wasn't as well-built as the other boys.
"Jason is so cute!" Mandy breathed, her cheeks flushing as she watched the green-eyed boy. "And so strong. Imagine how much fun he would be in the bedroom…"
Elaise watched the boys split into teams and start their game. Jason snatched the ball from the opposing team and dribbled it to the end of the court. He jumped up and dunked the ball through the hoop, his biceps flexing in such a way that Mandy and Katie squealed, screaming out cheers and clapping wildly. Jason didn't seem to hear them as he jogged over to where Raven was sitting and crouched down beside her. Elaise couldn't stop the smirk when she saw Jason kiss Raven on the cheek and the blonde's nose scrunched up; one of her flaws thanks to her uncontrollable nose twitch.
"I think someone's beaten you to him," Elaise commented.
"I don't believe it!" Katie grumbled. "Jason wants her?"
"He just wants to fuck her," Mandy snorted. "As soon as he gets what he wants, he'll forget all about her."
"Oh, you'd be surprised," Elaise muttered, forcing back the twinge of annoyance. "See her bracelet?"
Mandy and Katie strained their eyes to see the charm bracelet on Raven's wrist. "Yeah," Mandy nodded. "What of it?"
"Jason bought it for her," the brunette didn't miss the look of fury on her friends' faces. "They're close."
"As if!" Katie shook her head roughly. "I bet if a girl threw herself onto Jason, he'd jump at the chance."
"Go try it then," Elaise dared her with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay," Katie said, rising to her feet with a smile. "I'll be back with Jason hanging off of me."
"Good luck," Elaise called as Katie skipped off to the basketball courts. "She's going to come back empty handed."
"Maybe," Mandy frowned. "But why Raven? A couple of guys are begging for her attention. What's she got that we don't?"
"I honestly don't know," Elaise admitted and the two girls watched Katie stand on the sidelines of the courts, calling for Jason. The green-eyed boy stopped playing and noticed her, jogging over to see what she wanted. Elaise almost laughed as Katie stood close to him and raised a hand to trace it over his chest, saying something that the brunette couldn't hear. Elaise noticed Raven watching the scene closely, but didn't look bothered as she continued her conversation with Stephanie and the others.
Jason gently took Katie's hand and pushed it back, shaking his head at her. But the girl refused to give up. She said something else, but her voice was drowned out as a boy called a 'heads up' to Jason.
He spun around with incredible speed and jumped up just in time to grab the ball and he ditched Katie, running forward to throw the ball in the hoop and score for his team. His friends cheered and patted him on the back, but Jason dashed over to Raven. Elaise was confused as Jason crouched behind the blonde, but he wrapped his arms around her stomach and picked her up off the ground. Raven yelped as Jason hugged her like a teddy and she kicked around childishly, trying to wriggle free.
Katie didn't seem to like that. She stormed over to them.
"Not good," Elaise mumbled and she shot from her seat with Mandy beside her. They rushed over just in time to see Jason put Raven back on her feet, but he didn't let her go.
"How can you go for that and not this?!" Katie almost screeched, pointing to herself.
"Katie, stop," Elaise told her, seeing Raven's friends stand up, ready to defend the blonde.
"Well, he doesn't have any money, so it's not like he can really pay you for doing your job," Raven retorted and Jason tried to hide his laughter by brushing kisses up her neck, which made her nose scrunch up again. The boys stopped their game and crowded around to see what was going on.
"Why don't you just back the fuck off?" Gwen told Katie. "Leave Raven and Jason alone."
"All he wants is to get between her legs!" Katie hissed. "She's clearly not letting him, which is why he's hanging around her!"
"Katie!" Elaise snapped. "That's enough." To her annoyance, she was ignored.
"Elaise, please keep your slutty friend under control," Raven snarled and Elaise's eyes widened in shock, a string inside of her snapping. Raven did not just speak to the brunette that way!
"Excuse me?!" Elaise turned on the blonde. "You're calling my friend a slut? If I do recall, you were the one who used to bed every guy who asked at our old school! So, don't you dare call Katie such a disgusting name again and expect to get away with it!"
Raven's face paled, looking taken aback. "What the fuck? She's the one who had the nerve to come up here and start shit! Maybe she should accept that Jason isn't interested in her and leave him alone."
"You and Jason aren't even dating," Mandy spoke up. "If he really wanted to be with you, he would have asked you out by now." Jason didn't seem to be paying attention, resting his forehead on Raven's shoulder and not uttering a word. Elaise noticed Raven was reaching her hands back to trace across his stomach. Was that keeping him calm?
"If you really wanted to keep your tongue, you would have shut the fuck up by now!" Sally snapped and moved to hit Mandy, but Allison and Stephanie pulled her back. Mandy took a step forward but Elaise put an arm out to stop her.
"You've turned into a real bitch, Ra
ven," Elaise spat at her friend. "After everything I've done for you, this is how you're going to be?"
"You stopped talking to me," Raven scoffed, her hazel eyes narrowed. "Don't try and act like the victim!"
"I'm sorry that I had assignments and classes to focus on," Elaise scowled, unable to believe the backbone Raven was showing. "Our parents sent us here so we could straighten ourselves out. But all you want is to mess around and chase after the boys."
"You hated the idea of being sent here!" Raven looked even more upset, but only Elaise was able to see that through the fury written on her face. "You came here for me because it was safe!" Jason finally lifted his head and turned his gaze on the blonde, curiosity in his eyes.
Silent World Page 12
