Ch 12 Bro Talk and Awkardness

It took a while for Poppy to convinced Raven to come back; which gave me a few minutes to plan what I wanted for my room. I went straight to black desk and found it already fully supplied with pens, pencils, paper and even notebooks. Then I pulled out a paper and made a quick list of what I wanted to do with the place. It wasn't long until Poppy's pleas were eventually answered and I found the marron-haired beauty outside my door again. Raven had seemed to calm down and was back to her cheerful self. Once she walked in, Poppy and I filled her in on the plans I had made.

I had decided it was best to keep the wooden floor but I knew I wanted to stray away from the whole medieval witch vibe Apple had employed. With a few transformation spells from Raven, gone was the cold black stone walls and replaced a deep, clear blue wall that reminded me of the sea. Then Raven had the canopy magically repainted into a bright white and the heavy curtains disappeared. I closed my eyes and pictured new curtains around the bed and window with the same shade and pattern of the night sky I loved to watch as a child. Raven nodded her head as I described what I wanted and she even did the same thing to the ceiling. I smiled a mile wide when I spotted the Orion pattern above me. Next was the desk which was repainted to match the bed and Raven added a few geometric patterns carved into it. Poppy even added her personal touch by painting the same patterns on one of the walls in a light orange, mint and black paint. She even had Raven conjure up a simple bulletin board with a calendar and some pushpins to hang my photos.

Then before I could even ask, Raven had to explain to me that every room in the dorms had its own fireplace because of how cold it could get in the winter. In other words, I had to keep the witchcraft pit. But Poppy swiftly came up with a great idea. She had Raven replace the dark tile with lighter tones and colors; like white, bits of blue, sea-green, and a soft yellow. Then when I stepped closer, I noticed the stones that made up the zodiac images were replaced with precious gemstones. There was tiger eye's making up Leo, aquamarine for Aquarius and even opal for Gemini. My mouth dropped by how impressed I was.

Seeing how I also hated the creepy chandelier, Poppy also came up with another "bright" idea. She had Raven conjured up a white wooden hoop, wire, mason jars of various shapes and sizes, and lightbulbs. After a few minutes of weaving and tying, she had Raven hang up her new masterpiece with levitation. Once I was sure we were done, I was so happy with our result of my room; I couldn't help myself but hug the two of them tightly in gratitude.

But as I caught a glimpse of the sun setting, I realized how late it was getting and that Henry and Chris will be here at any minute. I politely made an excuse how tired I was and wanted to turn in. The girls nodded their understanding and quickly left with promises to return in the morning. I thanked them for all they had done for me and then closed the door quietly behind them. As soon as I was alone, I smiled at my new room and felt my heart grow warm when I thought how kind Poppy and Raven had treated me.

I had to be honest with myself as I walked around the room; it felt…nice to be around someone other than Chris and Henry. Don't get me wrong, I love the boys with all my heart but…I've never really been liked by girls; especially at my old school back on Gaea. My classmates always seemed to find a reason to make me a target for their cruelty. They were always pointing out my flaws and called me a freak on a daily basis. Actually not a day would go by if I didn't hear those words thrown at me. "Freak. Mistake. Ugly. Do you really think anyone could ever want you?" But they never really bothered me… I mean they weren't exactly flawless human beings themselves so why should I bother what they think of me?... I don't. Really I don't.

"Don't think about it anymore. It's over." I accidently said aloud. "Don't keep doing this to yourself. It happened. Let's move on." To distract myself, I picked up my duffle bag in frustration and began to sort through my personal things until the boys would arrive. As I pulled my clothes out and stuffed them into the dresser, my mind kept wondering the events of my day. But it was kinda nice to be around Poppy and Raven. They were sweet in their own way and actually seemed focus on getting to know me; again a nice change.

Wait….Stop. "Don't forget why you're here, Fable." I said sternly to myself, "Never forget why you're here. You're here to prevent a war and nothing is going to distract you, got it? Raven might be dangerous for all you know and that just be buddy-buddy with you doesn't excuse what she's planning for this place. Remember what you saw." I had to stop my feeling cloud my judgement while I'm here. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to find answers, my family and stop innocent people from getting hurt. I can't let my vision happen. I won't. I went back to unpacking all the while making sure my mind went blank.

My photos were soon pinned and carefully arranged on the board Raven conjured up while Mother's notebook found its place in a small drawer on my new desk. The rest of my personal writing tools and my sketchbook laid flat across my desk. Then I put my jewelry on the nightstand near my bed while making a mental note to either find or make a jewelry box to put them in. Placing everything in my own organized-chaos way was a nice quiet distraction until I heard a loud, banging knock at my door.

It was Henry and he quickly made his way into my dorm room without so much a "how do you do?" I rolled my eyes while closing the door. Henry looked around the room then made himself comfortable by flopping on the couch and kicking off his shoes,

"Nice digs. So are mine. A huge step up for us, huh?" He asked causally as I pushed his feet off the couch and sat down next to him.

"Yup." I agreed, "I guess it beats the Knightfalls' guest room for me and the farmhouse for you." Then I added sarcastically with a slight giggle, "But I'm still going to miss waking up to Chris' clock radio blaring every morning or the sounds of Hiram's Call of Duty game playing at 2 in the morning."

Henry sat up and joked, "If you want, I'll take your room and you can bunk with Mr. Talks and Snores in His Sleep."

I laughed a bit more, "No thanks. But word of advice, invest in some earplugs or learn to sleep with his nighttime sounds."

Henry groaned and slapped his hands to his cheeks. "I'm never going to get my beauty sleep, am I?" he pretended to whine like a child then gestured to his face, "Do you think this happens by accident? It's a process, Fable."

My laugh grew louder and my voice dramatic, "Oh how the females of our species ever get by if the most handsome and desirable, Henry Caden De Beauté Anges would lose such an important aspect of himself." Then I pretended to faint and fan myself, "It would be a tragedy!"

Henry rolled his eyes and threw a pillow to my face,

"If a girl is only with me for my looks and if I lose them then the girl is not worth my heart." His voice turned serious and I sighed. I knew where this was going…The melancholy "true love" speech. The boy was really secretly a hopeless romantic despite his "reputation" as a ladies' man; Chris and I had teased him constantly on this claim. I learned to drown out when he went into this stage. "….And I will find her soon…blah blah…someone who I will feel an immediate connection- in a way where I have never felt before…blah blah….someone I can share my life, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my everything…blah blah. I could care less what she'd look like…Her soul is what I desire most."

"Oh God, Henry!" I moaned. I couldn't take any more of this. "Enough with this torture! I've heard this speech a hundred times and I swear I will hang myself if I have to hear it a hundred more."

But he didn't hear me and went on, "A spark will ignite inside my being and my soul will come alive whenever I am with her!"

I groaned and flipped my body over the couch with my legs in the air. "Enough!" I begged.

"It will be TRUE LOVE, I tell you!" he declared with passion and threw his hands in the air. Then he sighed romantically and came back to earth. I sighed and rolled my eyes again.

I'd always saw Henry as a younger brother so I never really understood what made girls so crazy about him. But if you really wanted to be superficial about it, I would have to guess it was probably his looks.

I remembered when Henry shot up like a beanstalk once we all hit puberty. The guy passed Chris at 6'3 and his hair was a natural honey blond but had it dyed to platinum when we entered junior year. I don't even know how he was able to get away with growing it long passed his shoulders at school. But it was usually kept pulled back in a ponytail and the occasional stylish braid whichever girlfriend he had at the time would weave for him. That's how we always knew he was taken. Then of course there were his eyes. They always reminded me of a big puppy's but I've been told they were more like a "pool of liquid green gold that only the angel, Gabriel, could possess". I always tried and not to gag at that claim. His skin was naturally tanned from the sun and had a decent athletic build due to his work on his family's ranch.

But he was far from a country boy. There was a sort of a "bad boy" vibe around him due to his snarky attitude, occasional sarcasm, the piercing in his left ear, and the white scar he had on his right eyebrow (he got it playing with his dogs but likes to make up stories how he got it). Not to mention the habit he has with drawing tribal tattoos on his arms and the real tribal tattoo he has on his chest of a wolf and eagle. This only added fuel to the fire of him being a total "babe" to the girls at his school, my school, and a few boys at Chris' school.

Still I never saw what other girls saw in him. Maybe because he was like a little brother to me and I've saw him BP (before puberty). Go figure.

"You done?" I asked causally and he nodded with a smile.

"Excuse me, Fabes" Henry said with a bit of snark, "But some of us haven't met our true love yet. We don't live across the hall from them."

I sat up instantly, "What the hell are you talking about?"

He smiled again and gave me a wink, "Come one, Fabes, you think I'm blind? That I haven't noticed the little smiles you two give each other? The prolonged hugs? The little blushing you get in your cheeks whenever he's near ya?"

I kept silent but could feel my heart picking up speed.

Henry went on, "That cute little kiss he gave your lips before we left home."

"It was on the cheek!" I blurted out but then put my hand to my mouth as if to shut myself up. Too late; Henry grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "How did he see us?" I thought in embarrassment and my entire face felt hot. "Deny it, Fable. Deny everything!"

"Ha! I knew it!" Henry laughed and wrapped his arm around my head to put me in a playful headlock. "You shouldn't be holding things like this from me." He ruffled my hair and laughed louder, "He may be my best friend but he still has to go through my integration if he wants to date my honorary baby sister. But I got to ask is, Fabes…when?"

I choked out, "What!?"

"When did you two get together?" he asked as he loosened his grip around my neck. I shoved him away and shook my head in frustration.

"We were never together! We will never be together! He doesn't even see me like that!" I shouted angrily.

That got Henry to shut up and stare at me with a blank expression. We were in silence for a while until he spoke up again,

"Fabes, I -"

But we were interrupted by another knock at my door. It could only be Chris and I hissed at Henry, "You mention none of this! You hear me!?" Henry nodded his understanding. I leaped over to the door to let Chris in.

"Sorry I'm a bit late but I couldn't lose Prince Nerd." Chris apologized as he walked into my room. "He kept trying to recruit me for the AV club."

"Don't worry about it." I responded causally while expertly giving Henry a warning death stare. "Just as long as you have a plan on making this first evening fun."

Chris gave a mischievous grin, "Don't I always deliver?" Then he pulled out a small scroll from his pocket and flashed it in my face. "Will this capture your interest, my lady? I may or may not have swiped it from your aunt's desk when she wasn't looking." He admitted sheepishly and I gave him a wink. But when I saw Henry giving me a smirk, my cheeks turned red-hot. He responded with making a heart with his hands. I made a mental note to reintroduce Henry to my left hook later.

I snatched the scroll from Chris' hand and found it to be a map of the campus and the surrounding area. I smirked as I studied the numerous wings that connected the school together. I started to wonder how I would ever find my classes when something interesting caught my eye. Not far off where my own dorm was…I couldn't believe it…there was a drawing of a long building with the words, "Dragon stables" written under in neat, cursive writing. I calculated it would be at least a mile away but we could be there before the curfew bell had to ring. "Then again…" I thought with my hand tapping against my chin, "Aunt Baba didn't say we had to be in by curfew. And if we're caught, we'll just say we were exploring the campus on our own and got lost on our way back."I looked at the boys in fake innocence then giggled softly.

Chris' eyebrows rose as if he could guess what I was thinking, "I know that look. You found something." He looked over my shoulder and I pointed to the drawing. He whispered the writing and looked at me with a smile, "What's cooking in that head of yours, Fable?"

I tossed the map to Henry, "Boy, how does a midnight ride sound to you?"

Henry looked curious at the map. "They got horses here?" he asked; the hidden country boy in him always came out to play when horseback riding was the topic.

I shook my head playfully. "Probably. But these ain't the kind you'll find in any rodeo back on Gaea." I answered, becoming adapted to using the Ever After word for "Earth". Henry looked again at the map and then looked up at us in surprise as a grin exploded on his face.

"Seriously?" he asked excitedly. When Chris and I nodded, he let out a whoop and headed towards the door. "Just point me in the right direction, Fabes baby!"

Chris and I rolled our eyes together but laughed at our Henry's excitement. Then I grabbed my jacket and followed him with Chris at my heels. We were carefully to remain quiet until we were outside to avoid being caught by any teachers or curious students. Even though it was still an hour until the curfew, we still didn't want anyone suspicious of us. After all, we still have to keep a low profile.

"Now?" Henry pleaded when I had closed the door to the entrance of my door. I shook my head.

"Not yet." I replied, "Not until we're sure we're out of earshot." I took out the map and figured out where we were. Then I pointed in the direction where I suspected the field hosted the stables and motioned for the boys to follow me.

With the hall to my back, I shouted to Henry, "Now!" He let out another a whoop and the three of us broke into a run.

My legs had been aching for a good run since we arrived and the forest behind the school was just absolutely perfect! I howled like a wolf as I felt the wind catch my hair and twirled around me. I picked up speed as this strange feeling of freedom took hold me and my friends. Chris had kicked off his shoes as we entered the grass while shouting his own whoops of glee. The ground was so soft and green with earthy life. The trees were plentiful and wide spread so we could make our own paths as we dashed right through. Our laughter created quite an impression in the peaceful little neck of the woods but we didn't care. We were together and we were doing what we loved; being free.

But I was so drunk was that freedom, I didn't even see the huge dip that would lead into a little meadow. I fell head first and was soon rolling fast down that hill. But that didn't stop me from laughing. My laughter turned to shrieks then to giggles and then to cackles. Leaves were getting caught in my mane of hair and twigs were scraping my arms. I still didn't stop.

"Fable!" I heard Chris call after me. I guessed he must have fallen too because my name was followed by a series of grunts and "ughf!"s.

Pretty soon our bodies collided and intertwined. He laughs too as he tried to grab ahold of a piece of grass, stone, or something to get us to stop falling. But nothing works and we soon land in the meadow. He was right on top of me and my hands were on his chest as if trying to separate us. We laughed again. Crisp grass had gotten tangled in my hair and in Chris' as well. I giggled softly as I tried to get them out but my eyes soon caught his gaze and I froze. My legs suddenly felt numb and my fingers reached for a lock of Chris' hair. My heart picked up that fast and hard beat again. There was something that made me take notice of everything around me. I stared at the specks of gold hidden in his eyes and he… he was just kept staring at me; like he was in shock. I could feel his breath on my face... I could smell the cologne on his clothes…Sage and a mint of musk; like a forest. His hands were just above my head, clutching the ground underneath me. Our faces…were just an inch apart. My eyes gazed down to his lips but I could feel something pulling me towards him. If I could…just…lean in…Wait! What was I doing? This is Chris… I can't do this. I shouldn't. I took a deep breath and pulled back before he could realize what almost happened.

"Umm any chance you're getting up?" I nervously asked through an even more nervous giggle. Chris sighed and shook his head,

"Aww I was just enjoying a little rest." I blush bright red and pushed him off me. "You look terrible." He added.

I scoffed and pushed him. "You try crashing down a hill and not coming off without a scratch, golden boy." I said sarcastically while trying to pat down my hair. But I winced in pain as I pulled a very sharp twig from the back of my head. He smirked and scooted closer to me to brush a bit of dirt from under my chin with his thumb. My heart fluttered. I returned the favor by thumping him on the back of his head and pulled a piece of sunflower petals out of his hair.

The two of us sat there among the tall grass and wilting sunflowers while tried to get the debris of the forest out of each other's hair and clothes. It was starting feel normal between us again until…Henry made it awkward by shouting,

"You two want some alone time?" The show-off had avoided the hill treatment by expertly sliding down and landing on a soft patch of grass. I growled with annoyance when he added, "Cause this just looks wrong."

"Shut up!" the two of us shouted. I blushed even more but quickly got up and pointed in the direction of the dragon stables. I walked ahead to get away from the…um…awkwardness that was brewing. What I wouldn't give for an iPod to let me escape this.

Anybody know what Fable would have on her playlist? Feel free to comment and say why! Also please review!

-your author, mystic