Riley's Box

Part 54

Reaching for my pen and taking the cap off it, I started writing the first draft of my English assignment. 

It felt slightly strange for me to be studying away, when I knew that the world was in potential danger outside the walls of the school, but Avidicci had told me that this was alright. Additionally, I knew that I would be able to catch up with the Sins later on to find out what they had discovered. 

Aside from that, Ira and Adina were looking over the school grounds, too. So, even if a shadow spirit infiltrated the school, I had my trust in them that they had it covered. 

If a shadow spirit did enter the school grounds, then I had a little uncertainty as to how that would go. 

I really hoped that the principal wouldn't go walking over to the creature, demanding for it to leave, at once. I had a funny feeling that wouldn't go down so well. 

"Riley," April whispered to me, then, turning my attention towards her. Her eyes sparkled with worry. 

"Yeah?" I asked, attempting to form a kind smile on my face, but it was difficult when I could see how worried she was. It made me want to worry, too, but I knew that wasn't the wisest thing that I could do in the moment. 

April exhaled, before she continued to speak. "I was wondering if you had seen the news report yesterday...The whole unidentifiable being hurting that poor woman!" she said. 

"Hey, keep your voice down," I told her. 

In that moment, she tried to relax a little in her seat. 

When April spoke again, her voice became a little quieter. 

"I'm worried, Riley. The world out there is dangerous. It makes me feel scared." 

"Me too," I admitted. It was the first time, in a long while, that I had actually admitted that I was scared. "But you're not alone," I said, squeezing her shoulder. I placed my pen down. 

Something was telling me that I needed to talk to April, before I could continue to do my work. While I was a good multi-tasker ordinarily enough, I had a feeling that in the moment, April needed my undivided attention. 

"What if there was something that I could have done? I could have found the shadow thing before-" 

"Are you seriously going to try to blame yourself for this, April? Finding these shadow spiri- It's not your responsibility," I said. Right. It wasn't her responsibility, because it was mine and the Sins. 

"Okay," she said. "What if they're out to get us, though? What if they're out to get me?" she asked. 

I gave a small shake of my head. I had a feeling it was going to be a long morning. 

"As your friend, April, I can promise you that nothing is going to hurt you," I said. "Just let me know if you see anything weird, alright?" I asked her. 

She gave a small inclination of her head to show her agreement. 

The two of us started to scribble down our drafts for the remaining fifteen minutes of the lesson, and after that I headed out into the hall to bump right into Eric Reos. 

"Erico!" I said. 

He looked so tempted to throw a chocolate bar at my head, but I was glad that he didn't. 

"Hey Riley," he said, with a small smile. Amusement flickered in his gaze, but it didn't last too long, before a sober expression took over his face again. 

"I wanted to thank you for letting me become assistant head girl," I said. 

His eyes danced with some surprise. 

"Well, you're welcome," he said. "I'm still the most powerful person in the school, though." 

"For now, my friend. For now," I said. I pat him on the shoulder and started to walk past him, but he paused me by saying my name. 

"Riley." 

"Yeah?" I turned back to him. 

"Strange things are happening...I don't even know how to begin to explain it, but if you've seen the news recently, then you should know. Shadow creatures? What on Earth is going on there? That's only the start of it. I mean- just look at the sky," he said. 

He was right. 

I looked out of the window at that moment to find that the weather outside was completely turbulent. The wind was moving so quickly that it was picking up rubbish and leaves everywhere and scattering them for miles. The sky was not its usual cheerful blue. It had been replaced by a washed-out grey. The clouds even appeared angry. Was this the doing of the shadow spirits? I wasn't sure on that matter, but I had a feeling. Call it intuition. 

"Anyway," he spoke again, clearing his throat. "I just wanted to say- be careful." 

I nodded, as a serious expression took over my own face. 

"You too," I said. 

After that conversation, I quickly made my way to the cafeteria. I felt the sudden need to stress eat. I grabbed three chocolate croissants. If I didn't eat all of them, then Whit could have one.

 He approached the table to sit down opposite me and his eyes glanced out of the window for a couple of moments, reflecting the storm raging on outside. 

At last, he turned back to me and glanced towards the croissants. 

"You going to eat all of those?" he asked me. 

I gestured to the croissants. 

"By all means, go ahead," I said. 

He smiled. 

"Thanks, haven't eaten all day. I'll admit, I'm a little stressed," he said. 

I waited for him to continue. 

"April's convinced that the end of the world, as we know it, is imminent." 

I raised an eyebrow at him. 

A muscle in Whit's jaw twitched. 

 "What do you think? I'm interested to know, that's all. I mean...the shadow creatures- this storm. It's a recipe for Armageddon, if you ask me. I don't know much about this stuff, though, I don't go to church. Point is, things are dangerous, Riley." 

He didn't need to tell me that twice.