?? The Unseen ??

The biology classroom buzzed with the usual morning chatter. Raven sat at his desk, flipping through his notes. He was supposed to be revising, getting ready for the day's biological class, but something else was on his mind.

Something that involved dark hair and troubled eyes.

It's not that he was falling in love or anything — to be candid, he didn't think his life story involved the word love, and he wasn't even gay — but he couldn't help being worried, the events of the previous day lingering in his mind. The image of the guy in the rain, silent and broken, was hard to shake.

He still felt like he recognized the guy from somewhere. Somewhere, somehow, he'd seen the guy before. And he hated the fact that he had absolutely no idea when he'd see him again. Perhaps the next time Raven sees him, he'd be black out drunk in a dumpster, or bloody and unconscious in a dark alley after a fist fight, or even–

–dead.

Don't blame me. I have something called Overdramatic Worrying Syndrome.

Mrs. Langley, the biology teacher, clapped her hands to gain attention. Raven grudgingly raised his head.

"Alright, class. Today, we'll be starting our semester-long lab projects. I've paired you up, and you'll be working together for the next few months. The list here is going to determine who you'd be paired with. No objections."

Objections still floated around the class as the seated lazy, teenage high schoolers groaned and scoffed and grumbled.

"Mia Handley and Ashton Erwin.. you two are together—hey, I said no objections. Jude Bay and..."

As she continued reading out the pairs, the door creaked open. All heads turned to see a figure standing in the doorway, literally dripping wet despite the clear skies outside. It was him—the boy from the field. His dark hair clung to his face, and his clothes were damp, as if he'd walked through a storm no one else had experienced.

Mrs. Langley raised an eyebrow, scanned his wet clothes, scrunched up her nose, then spoke, sarcasm dripping from her every word, "Devon, nice of you to join us. Take a seat, please."

Devon scanned the room, his gaze briefly meeting Raven's before settling on the only empty seat — the one beside him. He glanced  towards the back of the class as if to be sure. Then without a word, he walked over and sat down.

Raven's heart pounded, his eyes widening.

He's in this class...? How did I not notice that? What the heck?

He hadn't expected to see him again, let alone realize he's one of his class mates. It was moments like this that Raven really, really, hated his old self. He wished he could go back in time and bash his old self's head in for not notice anything around him.

The other students were still throwing Devon glances, so Raven could put two and two together and say that he'd just resumed here a few months ago or so. Still some of the students stared between he and Devon, as if trying to see what the 'Almighty Raven Eli' would do, as if Devon sitting there was actually affecting the air he breathed in.

Perks of having shallow, self-centered jocks as friends. They begin to think you're all the same.

Raven glanced at Devon, studying his outfit to see what people would notice at first glance. Black joggers, he noticed, and worn sandals that didn't cover the bandages that wrapped around his feet. His body was still damp, and Raven could literally see the bandages on his arms that were already loosing underneath his dark, plaid long sleeved shirt. He was wearing a collar, Raven noticed, but he also noticed that from underneath the collar peaked an ugly, purple bruise. As if that wasn't enough, Raven could see the newly made tiny tattoo of a skull just underneath his earlobe.