Chapter Two – Violet Sheets to a White Ceiling

Rayla stormed up the street not even bothering to throw her bag on her back, instead still having the straps swing from her forearms. She blew a wisp of hair from her eyes, like she was trying to literally blow off steam from her skin (of which the boiling weather wasn't helping).

She kicked the front door open to her house, dropping her blazer and school bag as soon as her feet met the oak flooring.

"Hey, Rae." She heard Runaan's voice from the kitchen table. She didn't reply. Instead, she sauntered in and threw open the fridge door pulling out a carton of banana milk and stabbing in the straw a little too aggressively. But it was either the drink or her brother that got the blunt end of it all. Wasn't a hard decision really.

"Rayla?"

She turned on her heel and threw herself into the chair opposite to him, "yeah?"

Runaan squinted his eyes curiously at her, taking in her appearance for a little too long, "…how was your first day?"

She flicked her straw, "fine."

"That's all I'm gonna get then?"

"Wasn't very eventful today, is all." She lied.

Runaan stared at her a bit longer but decided not to push and after some small talk, let her go to her room.

Rayla tried not to, but shut the door a little too hard. She realised then that her school bag was still in the hall so she couldn't get on with English homework straight away. But did she really care at that point? No, was the answer.

She kicked off her shoes (which she really should have done at the door but hey-ho) and sprawled on top of her violet sheets. And just stared at the white of her ceiling.

Moments of the day passed by quickly. From the hot crossed bun she had at breakfast to the nice boy she got seated next to in English. He seemed really smart.

Alex was his name, right?

Maybe they could be friends. Who knows. But there was always the issue that he would already have his friends and they might not like her…

She sighed and squished her face into the dreamcatcher-printed pillow, then those blasted siblings came to mind.

Fuck them. Fuck them all!

She decided to give her mattress a quick kick before groaning and dragging her lead-like limbs back out the door to collect her bag. But something caught her foot.

Oh. The skirt.

She bent down to pick up the surprisingly smooth fabric and traced the thin lines of butter-yellow.

Would I even look that bad?

Then she noticed her mirror giving her a death glare… or just staring.

What… what would I look like?

She looked from the mirror to the skirt, skirt to the mirror again. And stupidly slowly as if she was going to set off a bomb, lowered it in front of her body. It came to just above her knees and, she wouldn't lie, went really well with the tie. The two bright yellow accents complimenting each other. Heck, the blazer would make this look really good.

These natural colours were nothing like her uniform in Xadia. And… she guessed that Katolis High's uniform looked a lot nicer compared to the dull, cotton greys and plain blood-red tie of Primal Academy. That was a pro if she had to think of one.

The colours of her new uniform looked good on a pallet together, but… did they look nice on her?

She had to admit, the white hair dye didn't really do it for her with these shades. But what if…

"Rayla you forgot- oh. Sorry was I interrupting something?" Runaan peered in from behind her door trying to bite back the knowing grin twitching up his cheeks.

"W-what?! No! I-err- was just hanging up this dirty rag." She turned away sharply to face away from his smug smile, and to hide the burning on her cheeks. "Ye' know you should really learn to knock."

"Mmm." Runaan strolled in ignoring her statement, "anyway, you left your stuff in the hall. Thought you'd need it." He stopped as his feet kicked the scattered shoes, "and please, just leave your shoes at the door. I don't want dirt anywhere else."

Rayla rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips closing the wardrobe door, "yeah, whatever, Dad."

"I am technically your dad now. So, you have to listen to me, ye' wee Scott-ling!"

She snorted, "Scott-ling?"

"Yeah… I got nothing." He rubbed his neck guiltily.

Rayla bent over in a fit of laughter, "just get out, ye' great doofus!"

She ran forward shoving his back out the door, just successfully.

"Okay! Okay!"

She slammed her door closed.

"Just get on with your homework, yeah?"

"Yeah, whatever floats your boat." She yelled through her door, the smile plastered to her face not seeming to waver.

She heard the footsteps recede from her room and turned to the wooden desk beside it littered with random junk.

Ugh, better get that out the way then.


The car journey to school the next day wasn't as awkward as the day before. She lied this time about the splint, saying she had it in her bag. She had the cream if it got too bad anyway. It was only six or so hours, she didn't need Runaan worrying.

He wished her a good day at school which she scoffed off with, "you have a good day at work then."

"Don't joke." He mock-scolded and drove away from the car park.

Rayla looked at her phone for the time. She had five minutes before tutor.

Maybe Mr. Ahling would let her in early?

It was worth a shot anyway. She proceeded past all the same groups she'd spotted the day before, this time though, most of them sneered and scowled.

Probably saw my scene yesterday with that Claudia-girl. And the Chloe-girl. And that blonde one.

She felt a bristle of pride ruffle her feathers and picked up her head to walk faster. She was just about to round the corner when something collided with her. She wasn't on the floor- but he was.

"I'm so sorry!" She offered down her hand to the boy.

Hey, he looks kinda familiar…

"No, it's alright." He laughed as he stood up, brushing his shaggy brown hair out of his face with his fingers-

Wait.

But he spoke it first, "you're that girl who had my timetable yesterday, right? Riley?"

Rayla laughed, "no, not Riley: Rayla."

He looked confused.

"Ye' gave me the wrong timetable yesterday. Riley Moore, isn't even in our year."

"O-oh! Well, sorry about that." He rubbed his neck guiltily.

"Don't worry. It's not like I'm gonna feed you to the Scottish God's."

They both laughed that time. Rayla could get used to this. If luck really was on her side, this kid might be friends with Alex from English and she'd have definitely scored a friend group! But, of course, it wasn't on her side. As she heard a familiar voice call from the crowd, "Callum!"

The same monster green eyes and black lead hair flowed to the side of the boy- Callum. Obviously.

For a moment, Rayla thought she could just slip away as the witch didn't seem to notice her presence. But as soon as she spun away, the venom spilled.

"Oh. You again." Claudia scowled. Rayla happily turned around to return the favour.

"Oh, Claudia! You've met Rayla?"

"Rayla? Yes. We've met." She snapped into a sick-sweet smile towards Callum, quickly returning that same look of amusement to Rayla, "how was your night then, Rayla? How's your brother-"

"-we both know ye' don't actually care. So just cut to it." Rayla snarled. She wasn't going to pretend to be nice. That wasn't her way of dealing with these things.

Callum at that point looked extremely confused and defensive. Well, to be fair, in his eyes, Rayla was the one to make an unneeded snarl at, who is obviously, someone he knows and could be potentially close to-

Heh. She's probably that bitchy girlfriend Rayla thought he had as soon as she had met him. At that point in a conversation, she would usually try and play the 'make a conversation uncomfortable for the enemy' card but, making any remark about Claudia being with a guy would just give her leverage over the conversation with an 'incest' blow.

So, after what happened last time Rayla tried to assume the other girl's love-life, she wasn't going to risk the backfire that would come with the insult.

"What's going on?" Callum interjected, looking between the girls for some kind of sign.

"She's just being a wee creep." Claudia crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

"Whoa! Claudia-"

"What? She's the one that started this." She pointed at Rayla accusingly and looked back to Callum almost daring him to say something else. But he didn't.

Right. Of course he didn't. He had one chance to redeem things. Of course he's just like the rest.

But Claudia didn't stop there, as if she was trying to justify herself even further, "gets off on watching sibling-sex, don't you?"

Rayla clenched her fists tighter, "ye' better watch yourself." She looked towards Callum too, "you too, Mr. Sorry-Ass."

Callum frowned at her. She frowned back. She didn't have time to deal the bitches and their bachelors- nor the bastards and they're bachelorettes.

Claudia still watched on in amusement between the twos staring contest until she stepped forward between them and reached out to the small, white braid hanging solo in her hair. Rayla was too stunned to do anything at first, Claudia was just playing with it: admiring it like it was vintage pottery.

"Nice hair. I've never seen this colour naturally anywhere."

Rayla snatched back the dainty plait, "yeah? Well, now you have."

Claudia hummed, still smiling soundly and looked back to Callum, "we better go find Soren. Come on." She rested her hand on his shoulder and they turned together. But Callum… his eyes remained on the Scottish girl for a little longer. He almost looked hurt- but he wasn't. Rayla knew that. He was probably just hateful. Like everyone else in that goddammed school was.

She rolled her eyes just as the bell rang, pulled her bag up higher and carried on to Mr. Ahling's room.


Once she got to tutor, registration wasn't the same as the day before. Mainly because once it got to Rayla's name, Mr. Ahling read out a message for her.

"Rayla. Can you go to Pupil Services, please? You should probably take your bag just in case."

She nodded and headed to the door leaving the quiet hum of, 'oooo… Scotland's in troubleee~'s, behind her.

If she was right, Pupil Services was that place where they dealt with kids so the principle didn't have to. Of course.

The lazy dickhead.

After wondering around for a bit trying to follow the seriously unhelpful map, she found herself in front of blazer-coloured doors and walked in.

"Excuse me, miss? You should really knock before coming in." She looked like a prune. The woman behind the desk, she meant. She was thin, but had oceans of wrinkles tiding on her face with cakey makeup and thick, dyed blonde hair. It was like she'd been soaked in a bath for a lifetime.

Prune.

"So?" The talking prune looked at her like she was meant to do something obvious.

"Sorry?"

"Walk out and knock!"

Rayla didn't answer and just turned on her heel and walked back out. Then she knocked. Again. And walked in.

"No!" She yelled," you go out and wait for the green light to turn on!"

Rayla, once more, turned on her heel with a sigh opening the dammed door and watching it slowly fall back despite her intended force of closing it. Then she knocked. Again. Hard. The green light lit up and she stomped back inside the room.

"You should watch your attitude young lady." Cake-face stated with an upturned nose.

Rayla crossed her arms, "do you' want me to go out again?"

The woman peered over her glasses in warning but didn't say anything of matter, "I'm guessing you're Rayla?"

"The one and only." She deadpanned.

"Hmmf."

"I got sent down by me' tutor. He said ye' wanted to speak with me."

"Yes. It has been brought to our attention that you have broken the uniform policy. Already."

Rayla bit her lip. She kind of hoped to get away with her hair, she even lied to Runaan that the school allowed unnatural dye. Most people just thought it was bleach blonde anyway. But it had been coming out recently and she forgot to top it up before school started again. But she decided to play it off, anyway.

"I apologise, but I don't have a clue 'bout what yer' sayin'."

Prune looked unamused. "You're hair."

"What about it?"

She massaged her temples. Rayla shivered. "You've dyed it."

"nO…", god, she was a terrible liar, "i-it's just bleach blonde!"

Prune wasn't buying it with an eye brow raised (though you could barely see it through the wrinkles it hid und-).

"…just… really… really blonde…"

Dammit, Rayla.

Prune rose from her seat and stalked over to Rayla. She used her skeletal fingers to lift up a section of Rayla's hair, jamming one of her false nails to the roots. To her true coloured hair.

Rayla winced.

She took a step backwards away from the teen and crossed her arms tapping the plastic extensions on her flabby skin.

"…natural ombre?" Rayla smiled guiltily.

"Stop lying, Rayla. It won't get you anywhere." She retook her seat behind her desk, "you have until tomorrow to get it out."

Rayla snapped from her smile to a frown, "tomorrow? I won't have time to get an appointment!"

"Buy a remover from the shops. Look, I'm busy. I'll make it Monday but if it's not done by then, you'll have a detention in here afterschool."

Her eye twitched, but she took in a deep breath and let it go, "fine."

Rayla left the office in a strop, attempting to slam the door closed but it didn't work. Again.

"Screw your green button, flabby arms!" She yelled at the door and instantly regretted it, running down the hall as fast as she could.

"Rayla, why did you lie to me? You know I don't mind your attitude, but lies? You know I don't like dishonesty!"


Rayla followed the wood swirls in the oak table with her finger, not daring to make eye contact with her brother towering above her, stern, hands firmly on his hips.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

Rayla slumped further down in her chair, "I knew yer'd make me change it…"

"And, what? You didn't think the school would?!"

Runaan massaged his temples in frustration.

"Please don't do that. Ye' look like Dad." Rayla murmured, bringing her eyes back down to the table.

He stopped, but he didn't apologise like he usually did, "you know? If you were that insecure about your hair colour, I would have just let you change it to a natural shade. Heck, even real bleach blonde if you wanted! Just like I don't make you wear a skirt even when I bought you one, I won't force you to go to school with you real hair."

Things went silent. But Runaan wasn't finished.

"I'm your brother. I'm your twenty-three-year-old brother taking care of you as a guardian. I'm meant to do the job of a dad at twenty-three! And you know I don't mind you living with me, I was the one to encourage it. But that doesn't mean that it's not as stressful enough as it is. And now the school think you're breaking school rules under my authority. It doesn't just look bad on you, Rayla- but me too. In fact, more so."

Rayla could feel something wet prick at her eyes but blinked it away, "I… I'm sorry, Runaan. I'm so sorry."

Silence.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me that you've lied about?"

Rayla let her eyes look up and back down again repetitively.

"…I didn't actually take me' splint to school today."

"I know. You left it on your desk."

She winced.

"…but I'm glad you came out with that one by yourself. Thank yo-"

"No!" She stood up with so much force that her chair almost fell over, "don't you dare thank me! Yer' right. About everythin'. I didn't mean to make this so hard for ye', I swear!" She placed a hand to her chest and looked back down again, "I'm not sure how, but I want to make it up to you. I'll do anythin'."

Runaan crossed his arms. He wasn't smiling or happy with her by any means, but glad that she was trying to make an effort. "You could do a few things actually. If you really wanted to help."

Rayla's head pricked up on this, "anythin' means anythin'."

"Well, you can start by coming with me to the shop and buying something to sort your hair out."

"Done."

"And helping me by tidying up after yourself. Shoes at the door, dirty washing in the basket and bed made each morning. Take a little pride in yourself and the things you have, Rayla."

She nodded.

"Most of all, trusting me and not lying. You have to tell me the full truth when I want to know the truth. Not one of those half-truths you come up with all the time. And that doesn't just mean things like this, but also to do with your arthritis and things that you're worried about. It'd would make me less stressed if I knew you were okay or if you weren't so I could do something about it."

"Yeah, okay." She smiled.

Runaan analysed her for a bit but seemed to reluctantly accept her word for it.

If he expected Rayla to trust him, he was going to have to learn to trust her too.


They drove to the local Boots after that. The ride was quiet but calm, and each sibling kept to themselves. It wasn't a very long ride and Rayla was stood in front of the dye shelves before she knew it. There were too many options. She didn't know which one to go for.

Runaan was probably right: that going bleach blonde was the best step down from white. But… there was some part of her that wanted a change.

'New year, new me', that was the phrase, right?

She didn't know. She didn't really care about any of those empowering quotes that everyone pretended to go by.

She sighed and snatched a box of 'L'OREAL Extra Bleach Blonde' and made her way to the cashier. But a hand landed on her back just as she waited in the line behind a woman pushing a pram. Of course, it was Runaan.

"You know, it's not a crime to care about how you look."

In front of her, he held out a box of dye remover.

"Yeah, but that's the problem. I care too much about how it looks normally."

"No, you care too much about how other people think it looks normally."

She looked him in the eye, as if trying to search an ounce of joking. It wasn't there. He was dead serious.

…and he was dead right.

"Next please!"

Rayla looked from the woman waiting at the desk, to Runaan, to the dye and back again.

"Change isn't a crime either." He spoke quickly ushering her up the line.

"Miss?"

Rayla did a quick scan again and, for some strange reason, obeying the command of some strange force, replaced the box in her hand with the one in Runaan's. She ran up to the till confused and flustered.

The cashier scanned the box of remover pulling up the price on the till, "will that be all?"

Rayla stared long and hard at the box on the desk glancing back to her brother lurking in the background, "yeah. That's all."


Author's Note: What do you think her natural hair colour is? xD

This is the head canon I was talking about last time, this is the introduction to it. And, I know I mentioned that we wouldn't get Rayllum interactions this chapter but… I'm weak? Okay? And I thought it would be easier to do it this way too.

Again, lay your thoughts on me! They made me so happy last time to see the attention this got! I don't think I've got this much credit from a first chapter- ever! You have to be a writer to understand the immense feeling that causes :)

Thank you! Thank you all so much!

-L.E-Rae _x_