Forbidden magic

chapter two

Be strong enough
To stand alone,
Smart enough to know
When you need help,
And brave enough to ask for it.

-Mark Amend

______________________________

"What the. . .," Raven groaned as she cracked her eyelids open, her pupils weakened for a brief moment at the fluorescence of the room. She was lying on a white bed, the furniture matched everything in the room with its bright shade.

Everything except the extremely good looking boy that sat subtly next to the bedside, shamelessly staring at her with a boyish smirk. His flaxen blonde hair was gelled to perfection while his blue eyes sparked coquettishly at her.

"You're up," he noted, tearing his gaze away from her briefly to look down at his hands. Raven recognized him from her English class, he was Phoenix Layard the school's golden boy. The epitome of a Greek god, yet Raven couldn't demur any less.

Portraying killer looks and a perfect persona, Phoenix was loved by all save for Raven herself. She had never truly fathomed why people were bedazzled by him, after all he was just a human being. Just another additional one to the race.

"Uh. . . what happened?" She sat up, her spine erected in a blink of the eye.

"You don't remember anything?" His eyes travelled back to hers and seemed to sparkle like the stars. Raven blinked twice, her expression exhibited pure confusion and flagrance.

"Not really," Raven clarified, ferreting through her hazy memory. Things felt like a blurry image, it was hard to describe the translucency of her situation.

"You collapsed in the classroom and I just happened to be passing by, Baldwin told me that I could have a class free day if I escorted you here," the empathy in his voice was unmistakably emphasized by his pearly smile. "The name's Phoenix, by the way."

"Raven," she mumbled, utterly grateful for the fact that he wasn't laughing at her nor was he looking at her with the tiniest bit of contempt. The frisk way Phoenix beamed was as if they had known each other since diapers.

"Thank you," that was all she could manage to slip out of her reluctant lips. Raven earnestly looked at him, her eyes slowly bore into his as she offered a gentle smile. "Really."

"No problem," he winked and for some reason, Raven felt her cheeks heating. She shifted her fraught legs to the side, leaving them dangling for a brief moment. With a filliped huff, the redhead stood up as soon as her feet touched the ground.

It all seemed to happen in a flash, her weak legs turned jelly as she lost balance. Two masculine arms encircled her torso and stabled her petite frame in their hold. The moment Raven craned her neck to look up she froze, she was an inch away from Phoenix's angelic face.

His hot breath teased her as it warmed her confounded lips, the fervency in the atmosphere was witnessed by a newcomer who had a devious smile plastered onto her face.

"I leave you for two solid minutes with a pretty girl and look what happens," Sharon, the school nurse chuckled jokingly. The felicity of her words gave Raven the sense to break free from Phoenix.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she tugged on the hem of her sweater. Raven purposely cleared her throat as she glanced up at Sharon, she held the woman's benevolent eyes in her gaze.