If They Only Knew...

Chapter 25- Raven

"What's taking Or so long?" I nervously ask Ayotunde. They shake their head & shrug, forehead creased with worry.

"I... don't know... Should we go check on him? What if Oriel's brother is trouble too?" They draw their arms around themself, the anxious energy building.

"I... hope not... Though I guess, maybe coming from that family, it wouldn't be that uncommon..." I frown.

Ayo nods. "Yeah... We should go check on him... To make sure he's safe... Around them..."

"Yeah..." I grimace. It was my fault he had to even get into this mess. If something happened to him... I don't know what I'd do...

We walk toward the other side of the quad, & I don't know what I was expecting. But certainly not Or & Oriel's brother to be sitting & calmly chatting with each other. I mean... Besides the blushing & obvious romantic tension between them. Wow...

We waited at a respectful distance, because both Ayo & I could tell that... something was going on there... But soon enough, Or caught on to us awkwardly standing there.

I watched them finish up their conversation, blushing a few times, then Or wave us over.

"Colden, these are my two bestest, most amazing, most supporting friends, Ayotunde & Raven." He beamed & gestured in our directions.

"Rave', Ayo, this is... Colden. From my English class last year..." He smiles awkwardly & blushes, & Ayo & I wave in Colden's direction.

"Nice to meet you. Seems Or knows you? He's never mentioned that before..." I clear my throat & look away for a second, feeling awkward, but needing to ask these questions.

Or clears his throat nervously, looking at the ground for a second. "Um... Well... Remember how I didn't have any friends in that class at the beginning of the year? Because you guys were in the advanced English & I was just in the regular?" We nod & he continues. "Well... I guess I sorta did make a friend... Colden. We talked to each other sometimes..."

Ayo raises an eyebrow. "So... why didn't you ever mention it before?"
He looks off into the distance & shrugs. "I dunno... I... didn't know if it meant anything, ya know? I mean... it meant something to me, but I didn't know if it was important to you guys or not... Especially since we mostly just did small talk..." He scratches his neck self-consciously & I find myself bringing it in for a hug.

"No worries. Just... You can talk to us, 'k? About anything, ya know?" He nods, smiling softly. "You don't have to be crazy happy all the time if you don't feel it... Unless you are, then that's ok too."

He laughs. "Yeah, I know... I really am happy a lot of the time... Especially with you guys..." He looks around at all of us. "Maybe not all of the time, but a good portion of the time..."

I smile warmly. "Just as long as you know you don't have to fake it with us, 'k?"

His smile edges up, eyes softening. "I know... Thanks."

Awww, such sweet friends, am I right? It's nice to see people caring for each other :3. Or has a supportive friend group, Valeria has 1... Such positivity :3 <3

Welp, that's all I'm gonna say for now, folks. Hasta luego B)