Bubbles pushed her salad to the side. She couldn't hear everyone, but the stronger thoughts pushed against her mind, demanding attention. Her grip on her fork got increasingly tighter as the voices got louder. Blossom, noticing her visibly uncomfortable friend, kicked Buttercup underneath her table. Buttercup frowned, but wordlessly collected her things. Blossom gently wrapped her hand around the one Bubbles was using to crush the life from her fork.
"Let's go outside for some air?" She meant it to be a statement, but Bubbles was making her nervous. Bubbles nodded, releasing her grip and collecting her things. The girls said their goodbyes to their other friends and threw their trays away before heading for the doors. They made it through without incident, but when they stepped outside they didn't find a quiet haven. Instead, three boys sat at one of the tables in the courtyard. Two were engaged in what seemed to be a serious discussion, while the third seemed to be working on some kind of science project. One of the two turned at the sound of the door opening, cutting himself off mid-sentence. Buttercup, recognizing one of them as the one that flirted with her in class, made the executive decision to find somewhere else.
"Looks like this place is already occupied. Let's find somewhere else." She moved to grab the door handles, but was stopped by the boy with striking honey eyes. He grinned at her, effectively stopping their escape.
"You didn't think we'd let such beauties escape before at least learning their names, did you?" He pulled her outside, ignoring her protests. Blossom and Bubbles followed, the doors closing behind them. The one holding Buttercup hostage sat her between him and the boy with unusual purple eyes. Blossom sat between the purple eyed boy and the one she vaguely recognized as having met before. Bubbles completed the circle begrudgingly, sitting between the cutie with light teal eyes and the one that had focused solely on Buttercup. Bubbles frowned harder, the boys thoughts starting to wash over her like a wave. So consumed was she in trying to concentrate on regaining her mind, she didn't notice what the boy beside her whispered.
"Silentia voces." Bubbles blinked as her mind cleared of the noise. She didn't question it, but now she believed she was definitely going crazy. Blossom, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure what was said, but one of the words had definitely been Latin. Why would he say something in a dead language? No one speaks that nowadays... Buttercup was blushing furiously, not able to handle so many compliments thrown her way. She knew she wasn't ugly by any means, but that didn't mean she was comfortable being smothered in attention either.
"Who're you guys anyway? I know I've seen one of you before, but did the rest of you transfer recently too?" The boys looked at each other, before the one sitting beside Buttercup spoke first.
"We did actually. I'm Riley. That," He pointed to the boy beside Blossom with the purple eyes, "is Reed, and that," pointing at the last unnamed boy, "is Raiden." Buttercup wasn't sure how to feel with Raiden staring at Bubbles like she'd created the universe. Isn't that the one who flirted with me in class? So he goes after anyone? But the way he's looking at her...it's kinda weird actually but then again I don't do lovey dovey so it's all weird to me. Reed turned to Blossom, his eyes sparkling.
"And you are...?" Blossom blushed at the action, though something in the back of her mind rebelled against him touching her. She brushed it off, chalking it up to nerves.
"Blossom..." He kissed her hand, his smile predatory in its sharpness.
"A name befitting such a lovely young woman." He talks just like the lords in my novels! Blossom swooned internally, officially won over. Bubbles relaxed as she and Raiden talked. He was an animal lover, and had plans to start volunteering at the local shelter on the weekends. He played Rugby with his brother Riley, while Reed did Archery. His eyes seemed to pull her in the longer they talked, and he soon won her over. Even Buttercup was having a hard time denying she enjoyed talking to Riley. Once she shut down the compliments, he was much more likable. He liked sports but only played Rugby, video games, and star gazing. Buttercup's eyes lit up immediately when he mentioned star gazing, easily dominating the conversation as she gestured to emphasize her point. Once she realized what she was doing, she blushed, apologizing. Riley gripped her chin, turning her to face him before telling her to never apologize for something she was so passionate about. Buttercup blushed harder, her defenses shattering. And just like that, the girls had been ensnared.
Bubbles giggled as she and Raiden stood by her locker. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about him pulled her in. And whatever it was didn't seem to want to let her go anytime soon. Just as she was closing her locker, Raiden grabbed her wrist.
"It might be fast but, you want to grab a smoothie later?" Bubbles nodded, shifting her art supplies in her other arm.
"Sure! Sounds like fun." Raiden grinned as he let her go. His grin widened when a shadow appeared behind Bubbles.
"Bubbles." Bubbles turned around, grinning at the newcomer.
"Hey Boomer! I was just about to head there." Boomer wordlessly grabbed her supplies from her, turning away. Raiden smirked as Boomer's bloodlust faded as they disappeared around a corner. He turned in the opposite direction. He had no other classes with Bubbles, so this charade was over for today. On the way he ran into Riley.
"Don't provoke him so much. You knew he'd come in time to see you two getting close. We don't need any set backs because you wanna act like a child." Raiden huffed, determined to keep his good mood.
"Relax. They might have their memories, but they're useless without their powers. And this time we're awakening just the girls. Boomer's powers interfered last time, so this time we'll do the ritual without awakening them. Simple." Riley rolled his eyes, shoving him.
"Enough. We shouldn't talk about this here." They exited the school doors, disappearing out into the busy streets. Buttercup peaked around the corner, her mind running a mile a minute. Ritual? Awakening? What the heck? Something stirred at the mention of the ritual, but it faded before she could catch the thought. She went to return to class, but halfway there bumped into a wall. The wall steadied her when she stumbled back, but didn't let go when she regained her balance.
"You can let go now." The stranger released her slowly, trailing her arms before completely releasing her. Buttercup swallowed hard at the tingles dancing up and down her arms. It felt like she'd been shocked.
"Make sure you pay attention when you walk. Wouldn't want you hitting anything else." He moved past her, but she grabbed him before he was out of reach. He turned back to her, raising an eyebrow in question. She was also questioning her actions, not sure why she'd stopped the devilishly handsome stranger. She let him go, crossing her arms instead.
"Who are you? I haven't seen you around before." So first I hear talks about rituals and awakenings like it's some kind of movie, and now I'm grabbing random guys. Maybe I should go back to the nurse's office.
"I'm new. Transferred in today." He didn't say anymore, but Buttercup was curious now.
"Do you have a name, newbie?" He grinned, but she wouldn't admit it was heart stopping.
"Name's Butch, but you can call me yours." He winked and walked away backwards, holding eye contact until he was forced to drop it. Buttercup doubled over, grasping her stomach as laughter rang out in the now empty hallway. So cheesy.
