Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 15~

~Raelyn~

~Monday, September 15th~

I made it back to my house, thanks to the courtesy of Colby. Paint was still caked in my hair and splattered across my face.

What a day.

As I walked through the door, I felt a sense of relief wash over me - I was home, in my safe space.

I pulled out my phone and snapped a selfie, my face still a colorful mess. "Picasso would be proud," I captioned it before posting to my story. A little humor to cover up the complicated emotions swirling inside me.

I headed straight for the bathroom, stripping off my paint-stained clothes as the shower heated up. Stepping under the stream of hot water, I let it pour over me, watching streaks of red, blue, and yellow circle the drain.

My mind drifted to the car ride home with Colby. Despite our rocky past, he had been...nice? Caring, even? Getting me those wipes to try removing the paint. I shouldn't read too much into it, but I couldn't help wondering if he was finally coming around.

Did he really hate me just for being a vampire? We were supposed to be sworn enemies, our kinds locked in an ancient feud. But the more time I spent with Colby, the more I saw past the werewolf surface to the person underneath.

~

I sighed as I stared at the calculus problems on my laptop screen. My head was pounding from all the numbers and equations. After the crazy incident at school today, I was glad to be home in my comfy sweats, working in the peace and quiet of my office.

I powered through calculus, then moved on to my AP English literature analysis. Thank goodness I could do this work online after having to leave campus early. Biology and physics homework still loomed, but I tried not to think about that yet

As I typed away, my mind couldn't help but drift to Colby. I remembered what a jerk he used to be, always mocking me. But today he was so sweet and goofy.

Maybe he's finally warming up to me?

I shook my head, brushing off the thought.

~

A few hours later, I had finally finished all my assignments. My brain felt fried. I went to the kitchen and dunked my throbbing head into a bucket of ice water, letting the cold shock revive me. I sighed as I patted my face off. "that's so much better."

I went back to the office and decided to watch some YouTube videos to clear my head but that still wasn't helping.

I know who I need.

As I clicked the FaceTime icon, the familiar jingle barely had time to finish before Tara's face popped up, her expression a mix of concern and curiosity. "Raelyn, why'd you bail on us today? We saw the paint fiasco on Snap," she asked, leaning into the camera. Katrina and Devyn were there as well, they looked like they were all getting ready to go out.

"Katelyn thought it would be a good idea to turn me into a Picasso painting in English today."

Katrina's face squished in next to Tara's, her eyes wide with disbelief. "That immature little bitch! Paint? Really?" she exclaimed, her voice hitting a pitch that could probably shatter glass.

I couldn't help but chuckle, despite the day's drama. "Yeah, I got splattered like a Jackson Pollock canvas. But it's cool, I handled it," I replied, brushing off the chaos like lint on a blazer.

That's when I noticed the smirks on their faces, the kind you see when friends are about to pounce on gossip. Devyn's voice cut through from off-screen, "Raelyn, spill it. You're grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. What's up?"