OH MY GODS, IT’S RAVEN BLACKWELL!!!

  The classroom exploded into a collective squeal at the sight of the actress entering the room. Nearly everyone jumped out of their chairs, some of them knocking their books and pencils to the floor, while others tugged on their hair or the sleeves of the person beside them in abject shock.

  Mizuki and I stayed in our seats, staring at her in disbelief.

  What is she doing here?!

  “Settle down, settle down!” the teacher demanded. “I know this comes as a massive surprise to everyone, but please be calm and seated so that Ms. Blackwell can introduce herself. Not that she needs any introduction!”

  He did a little happy wiggle as the last sentence left his lips.

  Raven stepped up to the front of the teacher’s desk and thanked him before turning to face the rest of us.

  “Good morning, everyone. My name is Raven Blackwell. Starting today, we’ll be classmates. I’m looking forward to experiencing life as a student of St. Cirelia with you.”

  She looked directly at me when she said the last part.

  The teacher clapped, which spurred the rest of the class on to do the same. “What a great introduction!” he gushed. “We should have a desk for you by tomorrow, but for today, you can pick any seat you want. I’m sure no one would complain about giving up a spot for you of all people!”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Yes!” the rest of the class replied in near unison. Mizuki and I were the only ones still watching in stunned silence.

  “Then…” she trailed off, moving slowly through the aisles of desks. Her gait resembled a cat-like saunter as she drew oddly nearer.

  I thought she was about to pass by, but she stopped when she was standing right over me. She locked eyes with mine and, without looking back, hopped onto Mizuki’s desk and said, “I want this one.”

  “What?” Mizuki gasped.

  “Are you sure you want that one?” the teacher asked. “There are far better spots in here where you can be seated beside more… ideal company.”

  “This is the one I want.”

  “Very well!”

  “But—”

  Mizuki tried to protest, but the teacher held his palm up. “No buts! You can have your desk back tomorrow when we have a proper place for Ms. Blackwell to sit. For now, Ms. Wada, gather your things and grab a folding chair from the back of the room. You will sit with me at my desk for today.”

  Mizuki glared at Raven, but the actress didn’t seem to notice at all. She was staring directly at me—and so was everyone else in the room.

  Why are they all looking at me like that?

  Mizuki collected her bag and books and grabbed a chair from the back. She set herself up at the teacher’s desk as Raven sat in the chair beside me.

  “Excellent. We can now begin class! Please open your textbooks to page one-twenty.”

  Everyone in the class opened their books, except Raven, who searched Mizuki’s desk in vain for one of her own. She raised her hand and explained her situation to the teacher.

  “Oh, of course! I’m sorry, it slipped my mind.” He looked at me and said, “Mr. Watanabe, share your textbook with Ms. Blackwell for today, would you?”

  Raven pushed her desk together with mine. “Hope you don’t mind.”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “I guess not…” I mumbled.

  “Thank you, Shinsuke. Now then, let’s resume our lesson,” the teacher said.

  Class carried on, but it was by no means the usual lecture. Whispers persisted among my classmates despite the teacher’s repeated attempts to hush them. The chatter alternated between gushing over Raven’s presence and cursing me for sitting next to her.

  I tried my best to absorb the reading, but it was impossible to focus on anything other than Raven who was so close I was inhaling her perfume with every breath. Her amethyst eyes continued to bore holes through mine without wavering as she sat cupping her face in her hand.

  I can’t think straight at all right now. Why does she keep staring at me?

  ***

  The second the bell rang, everyone leapt out of their chairs and mobbed Raven. She seemed completely overwhelmed by the sudden rush and tried fruitlessly to gain control of them. Meanwhile, I was barely able to sling my bag over my shoulder before I was hastily ejected from the pile.

  Gods damned animals!

  Mizuki pushed through the crowd and helped me up. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks. Let’s get out of this madhouse.”

  We hurried out of the room and stopped to catch our breath.

  “I don’t understand, Shinsuke,” Mizuki started. “Why the hell is she here? She’s rich and famous, why did she transfer into St. Cirelia?”

  “I have no idea. I can’t make sense of it either.”

  We shook our heads and rushed off to our next classes before we could be swept away in the flood again.

  For the sake of my sanity, I hoped that would be the only class I’d have with Raven, but as the day went on, it turned out she not only shared every single one of my scheduled classes, but she also chose to sit next to me in each one. Even Mizuki shared only one other class with me, so I was mystified about how our schedules could end up completely synched.

  Other than my usual brand of bad luck, of course.

  The final class of the day was the second one I shared with Mizuki. Like earlier in the day, the moment the bell rang, Raven was mobbed by the rest of our classmates, and I was thrown to the side. Mizuki and I retreated into the hallway but barely had a chance to get our bearings before the sound of rapid footsteps stole our attention. It originated from beyond a corner of lockers, and within seconds, the source was revealed: Eva, the pink haired prodigy, barreling down the hall towards us. Her eyes were huge, and her lips clasped tight.

  She looked insane.

  “Is it true, is it true, is it true?!” she sputtered. “Is it true that Raven Blackwell is here at St. Cirelia?!”

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “It’s true. She’s right in there.”

  “Ahhhh!” she squealed. “So, I was right! She must be in Valport to promote her next movie! No, wait. Maybe she’s actually here on location filming it! I have to get in there and take a picture with her!”

  She tried to speed past us, but I snatched her in my arms to prevent her from dashing into the classroom dogpile.

  “Get a grip, Eva. It’s a mess in there, you don’t want to get tangled up in it.”

  She squirmed in my grasp and whined. “But I want a selfie with her!”

  She struggled in my arms until it seemed like a light bulb went off in our brains and we both froze.

  My arms were wrapped around her waist and hers were around my neck. Our noses were touching ever so slightly.

  Eva scrambled away from me, laughing nervously. “Whoops! I got pretty carried away, didn’t I? Sorry about that!”

  I scratched my cheek and said, “it’s fine…”

  I was immediately reminded of that incident between me and Eva. The one in the infirmary after my victory over Emil LeClair.

  We still hadn’t talked about what happened in that room. Not a single peep had been exchanged about the way she crawled on top of me and told me to close my eyes. She’d claimed it was to feed me candy, but I knew I felt her nose touch mine, just as it had seconds prior. But my eyes were shut, so even if I had felt her breath on my lips, there was no proof that it wasn’t simply my senses deceiving me.

  Get that situation out of your head, Shinsuke. Nothing happened that day. Stop being stupid.

  Mizuki eyeballed the two of us and narrowed her eyes when something caught her attention. Me and Eva followed her line of sight and saw that the horde of students was finally being led out of the classroom by the teacher. He looked as if he’d been turned inside out by the bum-rush of our starstruck peers.

  “Single file, everyone,” he ordered. “Let the poor girl breathe.”

  The students listened, but stood around outside the door, waiting for Raven to exit the class. After everyone else had stepped out, Raven followed at last. She immediately spotted me and walked up to me.

  Eva began to hyperventilate as the celebrity entered our orbit. “Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods! It’s really you!”

  “Shinsuke Watanabe,” Raven started. She didn’t acknowledge Eva at all. “Thank goodness you’re still here. I’ve had something to say to you all day.”

  My heart skipped a beat.

  I’d say her voice was silky as it was, but the tone she was speaking to me with in the moment immediately stood out. Something about it was different compared to how she spoke to others. I lacked the word to classify it, however.

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand. First the scene last night, now this. What could you possibly want with me?”

  Just like in class, her eyes were glued to mine. She began to move closer to me even though we were already no further than an arm’s length apart.

  I moved backwards, deathly confused until my back hit a locker. She closed the distance between the two of us and pressed her body against mine, slipping her hand into my own and lacing our fingers together.

  “I want you to be my boyfriend.”