Ignorance Is Bliss

5 . Marion

"Maybe I overdid it last night," I muttered as I pulled at the threads of my sweater cuff.

"I didn't think you could endure that much," Raven mused.

"Much what?"

"Alcohol, of course."

I grimaced.

"I didn't drink that much," I said offended. "Besides you weren't even there."

Raven gave me a funny look but didn't say anything else.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked.

"No, of course not. You just look a bit... tired."

I knew that she was hinting at the bags of despair under my eyes. I really should've slept more. Normally I put on concealer on the bad days, but I forgot to look in the mirror this morning. Yeah, forgot. And I'm a person, that has the urge to look at myself every few minutes.

"Whatever," I said whilst inspecting her face, silently judging her for looking this good in the morning.

The bus turned at a curve, making me stumble a bit. I leaned against the side, watching the raindrops race each other down the window. Ever since last night it hadn't stopped raining. I didn't mind the rain, but something about it always made me feel gloomy. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Bags wasn't at school today. Unless he was avoiding me.

Raven snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"What's with you today?" she asked. "Did you meet someone or something?"

Great. Was it that obvious or was it one of her self-centred comments again, which she always managed to make about herself?

"Was it that guy from lunch?"

I was surprised she noticed that yesterday. Before I could answer, she had already spoken.

"Speaking of which," she started. "I met someone."

Yep. And there it was.

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh really?"

A smile tugged at her lips. "Yep. At the party."

Of course — the one I didn't go to.

"So, you're a thing now?" I asked relentlessly.

She nodded, ignoring my tone.

"We might be."

When she spoke about it, I noticed how her face lit up with an emotion I couldn't describe. Although I wasn't feeling like myself today, I couldn't help but feel happy for her.

My gaze cautiously swept over the rows of people in the bus, trying to see if anyone was watching me. Ever since we got on the bus I couldn't shake the feeling that someone had their eyes on me. I didn't see anyone I knew, apart from some familiar faces from our school. Still, my body felt tense like I was ready to jump up and leave. I know it's silly, but you wouldn't want to know how many murder cases there were in this town.

Thank God the bus came to a stop and, followed by a bunch of people, we piled out of there. We stopped at our usual spot at the corner of a street, where we always went our separate ways. Sadly we didn't live right next door to each other. In fact, it took me about half an hour to get to her place.

Raven's arm snaked around my waist when she hugged me from the side.

"See you tomorrow, Mar."

It had been ages since she used that nickname. She knew I hated it. That's why she also made sure to use it all the time.