Thanks to a genuinely restful night of sleep—for once—I started the day feeling confident. No nightmares about shadow monsters or sky-blue eyes trying to win a staring contest. I felt refreshed and ready to prove—again—my immunity to Raven. In fact, I was actually looking forward to putting him in his place if he started being a jerk again.
On the bus, Cassy explained that she had wanted to call me the night before, but there’d been a spontaneous staff meeting that ran late. Afterwards, she didn’t want to disturb me, assuming I’d already gone to bed. She wasn’t wrong—I'd fallen asleep early, and my sleep wouldn’t have been nearly as peaceful if I’d been woken up. Being pulled out of a deep sleep is the worst. Kim used to wake me up all the time back when our father disappeared. She had frequent nightmares for a long while. That only made me resent him more. There was truly nothing good about him—at least not when it came to people and relationships.

“By the way, the job worked out! I spoke to the owner, and he was absolutely thrilled,” Cassy said suddenly, practically bouncing in her seat.

“No way!” I exclaimed, genuinely stunned. It sounded too good to be true. She nodded eagerly. Internally, I was jumping for joy. I’d finally be able to help support my mom financially. This day just kept getting better.

“Yeah, he told me it was his lucky day—two new hires!” she added, still glowing.

Now I just needed to know the logistics—when, where, and what documents I’d needed to bring. I asked her right away.

“How about we stop by together the day after tomorrow? Saturday?” she suggested. “I’ve got the whole weekend off. Afterward, if the weather holds, we can get the bus into town and stroll around a bit.”

She pointed out the window. Dark, heavy clouds were already rolling in across the sky. Typical spring—unpredictable and moody. It looked like rain was definitely on the way.
"That would be totally awesome! I don’t even know how to thank you," I admitted, a little embarrassed. Cassy just giggled, threw her arm around my shoulders, and gave me a squeeze. She was really starting to grow on me.

"Just stay my friend," she whispered dreamily.

A small shiver ran down my spine. I felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her. Did she really have so few friends? I found that hard to believe. She was so kind and lovable—how could people not be drawn to her? But then again, one true friend is worth more than a thousand acquaintances. I figured she probably felt the same.

Strangely, Lea wasn’t waiting at the bus stop when I got off. I looked around in surprise, then headed off to school on my own. She probably overslept or missed the bus—knowing her, that wouldn’t be too surprising. With her slightly dazed, naive way of doing things, it wasn’t far-fetched at all.

As I walked, I suddenly heard footsteps behind me.

Please, not him! I picked up my pace.

It didn’t help. The steps closed in. But to my relief—or maybe not—it wasn’t Mr. Supreme Stalker, as I’d feared. Instead, it was the "idiot duo."

Not that they were much better. What did they want from me?

Annoyed, I looked up from the curly-haired little guy to the fair-skinned giant. Both of them were slightly out of breath from running to catch up with me.

“Miri,” Antonio panted beside me.

Oh god.

Had he eaten a garlic-and-onion smoothie for breakfast? My nose wrinkled in self-defense. His breath hit me like a slap to the face—like someone had microwaved a gym sock. Toothpaste had clearly tried and failed to save the day.

I subtly leaned a bit away, trying not to gag.

“Wow, maybe walk a bit slower! We just wanna have a nice little chat!” he chirped, completely oblivious to the toxic fog emanating from his mouth.

Yeah, I could do that—if you stopped breathing on me like a human compost heap. Otherwise, I might lose my breakfast right here on the sidewalk.

So, for the sake of my own nostrils, I slowed down and let them catch up. Might as well hear what these two walking disasters wanted.

“Thanks,” Jacob crooned with exaggerated politeness. At least his breath smelled like mint. Fresh, blessed, non-lethal mint. If one of them had to speak, please let it be him.

“We just wanted to say—we’re huge Miri fans! You’ve got fire. Like, a real blaze in your butt!” he beamed proudly, like that was the highest compliment known to mankind.

“A total power girl! The way you threw those punches. Bam, bam, pow!” Antonio added, nodding enthusiastically and imitating boxing moves—garlic cloud and all. The two of them exchanged a look over my head and gave each other a high five like they’d just won Olympic gold in synchronized stupidity. I ducked out of the way to avoid becoming collateral in their little celebration.

Wait… were they seriously fans of mine?

If there was one thing I hadn't intended with my little sparring match, it was gaining two overgrown puppies as groupies.

“At first, when Rave asked us to accompany him to check on you, we were like, ‘No way.’ But the guy just wouldn’t let it go. Totally unlike him,” the big idiot said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, man. He practically forced us,” said Mr. Garlic Breath with mock disbelief. A moment later, he burst out laughing like he’d just delivered the punchline of the century. “But it's a good thing we came along! Absolute cinema, dude!”

Now both of them were giggling. As always. Like toddlers who’d just come up with their first fart joke. Hilarious—for them, at least.

I closed my eyes briefly and breathed in slow, even breaths to calm myself. Inhale confidence, exhale idiocy.

“Glad I could impress you so much. I’ll try my best to keep ‘delighting’ you,” I deadpanned, staring straight ahead with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. Their giggling faltered, like someone had unplugged the fun machine.

“Nope, we’ve got one more thing,” Antonio said ominously. Oh great, I’ve unlocked the bonus level.

“Since you’re in the parkour class,” Jacob slid in like he was passing the mic, “and since we’ve got confirmed outdoor training tomorrow, we thought we’d offer to bring you along. We don’t bite. Promise!”

I glanced sideways just enough to catch Jacob giving me a wink that was probably meant to be charming but landed somewhere between cheesy soap opera and suspicious eye twitch.

What a dream couple. They bounced off each other like a ping-pong match between ADHD and chaos. Still… they weren’t wrong. I had no clue where the training was, and compared to asking Lord Swoonypants Raven, these two were at least... semi-manageable.

“Fine. Deal,” I muttered, lacing it with enough sarcasm to pickle a cucumber. Naturally, it went right over their heads.

“Sweet!” Antonio beamed, like he’d just won a date on a game show. “Let’s just meet at the school entrance tomorrow after class.”

I gave a firm nod. My fate was now in the hands of these two animated disaster muffins.

“Then it’s settled. So—see you later, alligator!” he chirped, skipping off like we were in a children’s cartoon.

His "better" half wasn’t about to miss his cue. “After a while, crocodile!” Jacob crowed as he followed, high-fiving the air like he’d just nailed a touchdown.

I stared after them with the solemnity of someone watching clowns drive a tiny car into a wall. Then I shook my head in resignation.

Strange birds? Absolutely. But at least they weren’t stalking, emotionally confusing, sandalwood-scented heartbreak bombs.

Yeah. I’d take goofy over dangerous any day.

Still a little annoyed, but also relieved I hadn’t crossed paths with Raven yet, I headed to class. And—just as I suspected—Lea showed up a full half hour late. She burst in apologising profusely, her words tripping over one another in a frantic mess.

When she finally sat down next to me, her light brown hair looked like it had been through a tornado. She hadn’t even had time to brush it. Poor thing.

She leaned in and whispered every detail of her chaotic morning. Her alarm clock apparently hadn’t rung, and since her parents left earlier than she did, there was no one around to wake her. She’d jolted awake on her own, panicked, and bolted out the door without a second thought for her appearance.

And now—voilà—here she was.

I also noticed, with mild amusement, that in her rush she’d put her T-shirt on backwards. She was so mortified she kept her arms crossed over her chest until break, and if anyone looked her way, she immediately turned around or ducked into the nearest safe corner.

Finally, during break, we went to the bathroom so she could fix herself up a bit.

It was pouring rain outside, so we sat down in the cafeteria again. Mollie and Kyle joined us, too. We chatted lightheartedly, and I was relieved to realise I hadn’t seen Raven even once today.

But of course—I’d celebrated too soon.
Among the sea of students gathered in the luncharea, I spotted his messy, pale head of hair. He kept glancing my way. Right into my eyes. Why was I even looking at him?! I glared, annoyed at my own traitorous thoughts. And just as expected, he grinned at me. That same smug, seductive grin. My cheeks flared with heat, and I quickly looked away.

Before I did, though, my gaze—completely against my will, I swear—flicked down over him. Yellow shirt, dark designer jeans, and, of course, matching yellow Chucks. Because Raven Payne wouldn’t dare clash colors. And just my luck, the shirt clung to him in a way that suggested he either did push-ups every morning or had a pact with the gym gods.
His muscles weren’t even showing off—they were just there, being all subtle and infuriating and...ugh.
I blinked hard, like that might erase the mental screenshot. No luck.
Oh God. Was I actually ogling him? I felt a little dead inside. I, Mirona "Super-Miri" Whatever, was eyeing Raven “President of the Stalker Club” Payne like he was a midday snack. What was next? Swooning? Fainting? Writing Mrs. Raven Payne in glitter pen on my notebook?
Disgusted with myself, I yanked my eyes away and mentally washed them with hand sanitizer. Pull it together, Miri. You’re better than this. You’re immune, remember? Hormones are a scam.
I tried to force myself back into the conversation—something about an Angelina Jolie movie—and the three of us kept chatting like nothing was wrong.

Still, throughout the day, I caught myself instinctively searching for Raven’s gaze whenever I had a free second. And sure enough, every time our eyes met, I realized he’d already been watching me. Then he'd flash that maddening, irresistible smile, and—bam—my face would light up like a tomato, and I’d instantly look away.
This guy was messing with my head!
Immunity. Immunity. Immunity.
My little mantra helped... a little. So much for being a power woman.
And yet, Raven never approached me—not once. He just... watched. Which, in a way, made me even more nervous than if he had. I couldn’t explain it. He was just weird. And different every day. One moment infuriating, the next unreadable. I still couldn’t figure him out. And he thought I was the wildcard. Unbelievable.