CHAPTER TWO — RIVEN

I swing open the History's classroom door, barely able to hold my laughter in when our teacher turns to look at me, sighing loudly, almost defeatedly even.

"Really, Riven?" Mr. C breathes out, stopping his teaching to take a long look at the clock above the door. "Do you really think now is an appropriate time for you to join this class?"

I shut the door behind me as I shrug my shoulders.

"Nah, not really."

Snickers are heard from the students sitting at their tables.

Mr. C grumbles under his breath, already turning away from me to continue with his lesson, as I make my way towards my seat at the back of the classroom.

I grin at my boys, stretching my arm out to spud their fists before I take a seat between them.

Sky is sitting on my right, and Nabu is sitting on my left.

I yawn loudly, already exhausted from only just this morning.

"You should've just gone home, man."

Sky whispers out as he shows me the work he's done in his book so far.

"He's right. This class is a waste of time, and there's a quiz happening right at the end."

I groan as Nabu says that, and Sky laughs beside me.

His laughter catches the eyes of the girls sitting on the table in front of us, considering the way they turn around to openly drool at us, but the three of us visibly shudder, deliberately hurting their egos as we make it obvious that we're not interested.

With a glare, they turn back around, facing the front of the classroom.

They have nothing on our girls.

Under the table, Nabu nudges my shoe with his.

"I thought the plan was for you to go home during break?"

I lean back into my chair, trying to settle into it as comfortably as I can, before sighing heavily.

Dropping my voice a level, I speak quietly, looking around to see whether there's any eyes on us.

"Stella wasn't feeling too great," I begin saying, noticing the way they both tense up on either side of me. "She almost had a full-blown panic attack in the corridor when she was making her way to her next lesson."

Nabu shakes his head, his fingers tightening around his pen.

"Shit, is she okay?"

Still scanning the room, I nod my head at Sky.

We all grew up together—Stella and myself, Musa, Sky, Nabu, along with a few others—so they all know my little sister's history.

She was never like this, not until…

I shake that memory out of my head.

Stella has all the support she needs around her, and she knows that we're all here for her.

Hell, we're all here for each other.

We were bonded by trauma.

Nobody else knew us—knew the things we went through—except for ourselves.

And that's the only reason why even after all these years, we've all stayed close, desperate to hold onto each other to keep everybody safe.

After clearing my throat, I answer him.

"Musa was with her, and they've both got the same class now. I spoke with Stella for a bit before I took them both to class, and since they had a supply teacher, I stayed with them for a little while. She seemed okay when I left, but Musa knows to text if anything else happens."

It's silent for a bit, but Nabu eventually speaks up.

"Should we all hang out at my place after school? My parents are out, so you guys can crash over too."

I nod my head, turning to look at Sky who's agreeing with Nabu too.

"Yeah, man, that sounds like a plan."

And without anything else being said, he pulls out his phone, types a message before he hits send.

Not even a second later, my own phone vibrates in my pocket, Sky's text message having come through.

I fish my phone out, hold it discreetly between my fingers, and unlock it.

And there it is, his message on my uscreen.

But it isn't Sky's message that I'm looking over—it's Stella's.

With a smile on my face, I read over my little sister's message, and even though I'll never really admit it, reading over her words does make my heart feel that little bit more loved.

STELLA: Thank you for earlier. I appreciate you for helping me calm down and for staying in class with me even though you didn't need to. Best big brother ever, Riv. I love you :)