Ravan's POV
I was late. My alarm hadn't gone off.
Groggily sitting up, I turned to my bedside table to look at my phone. It was 9am. Messages flooded my screen from Rowan and Muun.
Rowan was wondering why I wasn't in English. Muun was worried that I had passed away in my sleep. I sent them a quick response before leaping out of bed, accidentally dislodging my cat, Lily, in the process. I whispered a quick apology and she meowed grumpily and hid behind my curtain.
The Rapunzel Lego set was casually sitting on my dressing table, watching as I got changed into my dull navy blazer, white button-up blouse, and brown knee-length skirt uniform.
Making my way out of the house, down the street and onto the train station, I realised that I had missed my train. Not like I had taken this train recently; not since Gael. I still couldn't get over the fact that he couldn't be happy for me in my new stage of relationship.
I placed my wire headphones into my ears, Amy Shark's 'I said Hi' playing full volume. It reminded me of how I felt about Gael, all the times he had prioritised himself over my dreams.
Soon after, I hopped off the train and made the short walk to school. The time was 9.45am. There was no use going to class as recess would be in 20 minutes so I took my sweet time on the stroll to my locker.
I briefly passed my English class, where I caught a glimpse of Rowan staring at me out the door. I wanted to wave back awkwardly, but I could also see the shape of a boy I used to know sitting behind him, also staring at me. Instead, I shook my head and kept walking, shoving my headphones deeper into my ears to drown out my thoughts with more Amy Shark.
At my locker I was greeted with Peeta Mellark bluetacked over two reminders about my Psych homework, his golden locks staring at my mahogany ones. Next to him was a piece of paper I had never seen before.
My own name jumped out at me, black quill ink spelling it out in calligraphic writing. A beautiful pink, blue, and yellow wax seal stamp accompanied RAVAN GOODMAN.
I had no idea who wrote it or why, I only knew one person who was fancy enough to own a quill pen and wax stamp: Rylan, but this simply was not his handwriting. His usual scrawl was hideously messy and not cursive. Each of these letters were perfectly shaped and even, almost like they had been typed. There were simply too many differences for it to have come from Rylan, so I ruled him out. While Rowan did write in cursive, his, too, was never this perfect.
After a few minutes of pondering its origin, curiosity overwhelmed me and I tore open the seal. Inside, a letter read:
'Dear Ravan Goodman,
I was just trying to help keep you safe when I warned you, but you didn't listen. I need you to listen this time. If you don't, you may not live to see the next full moon. Rylan is dangerous, you must not remain closely aligned with him. This is something I simply cannot emphasise enough. Distance yourself from him, and in turn Rowan. It is the simplest and most secure way to stay alive. If you do not listen, yet again, I cannot ensure that you will keep your life. I apologise for the abruptness but it is the truth. If you do not listen, I will have to take stronger methods.
Sincerely,
Grus'
I blinked several times, then reread the letter, hoping that the words would rearrange themselves into something that made even an inkling more sense. This had to be a silly prank.
The words struck a familiar chord in my head, as I recalled the cruel things someone had said to me recently.
Grus sounded similar enough to Gael, even though it was a little stupider.
I couldn't believe he would stoop this low; to place a letter in my locker, and nearly give me a panic attack saying that I was going to be unalived or something. I knew his dramatic flair resembled his handwriting, which was similar enough to that of the letter to make my blood boil with rage. The stormy sea of my emotions churned as waves of anger crashed into a devastated shoreline. I was going to confront him once and for all; show him that I would not be pushed around by idle threats.
GayGay was dead to me, and Gael Gay was all that remained.
The incessant ringing of the bell chimed with my infuriated heartbeats. I lurked in the hallway, leaning against his rainbow-stickered locker with my charcoal black hair hanging over my face, still wild and windswept from my hurried walk to school. Gael seemed surprised to see me.
"Ravan!" He exclaimed, "it's good to see you girl! I-" His face fell as I peeled one of the stickers off his locker and crumpled it between my fingers, the same one I had placed there at the start of the year to mark our friendship.
Gael gasped dramatically. "RayRay- What are you doing?"
"That note," I growled. "What were you thinking? That I wouldn't know it was you?"
"W-What note, babe? I haven't written a note!" His eyes were wide with confusion.
"Yes you have, I know you wrote it, it's almost exactly like your handwriting." I drew it out of my pocket and shoved it in his face. The stamp consisting of my favourite colours glared at him, centimetres from his face.
Marqus stepped into my line of sight, and all I could think about was Muun, her deep, understanding, hazel eyes so similar to the traitorous ones before me.
Marqus looked at me with an unreadable expression, before wrapping his arms around Gael and leaning to whisper something in his ear in a tone too low for me to make out. Gael's posture changed subtly, and he turned away from me to look at his new boyfriend, who it seemed had replaced me so easily.
"Ravan, girl, let's be for real. You and I both know that I don't own a wax seal stamp. I'm not that kind of queer." He pleaded.
"You could have bought one from Kmart! They're only like $15!" I snarled back. Gael shook his head, defeated, and turned to walk away with his sugarpie honeybunch.
I wasn't sure what to do.
I felt like I had let a new side of me out, like the changing phases of the moon.
This side felt wild, and I knew that it wouldn't back down.