Vanilla & Smoke || A.I.

Raven.

Raven
/rey-vuh n/
adjective
lustrous black

~~~

  Her mom made her wake up for school after only five hours of sleep, insisting that she wasn't going to tolerate anymore of this behavior. Thora rolled over and said it was a teacher workday, to which her mom replied that she could stop being a smart ass and to do as she was told.

  The police had given her back her phone and lipstick, but not any of the spray paint. Thora might just have to see if Luke's offer to buy her all new cans was genuine. That seemed a bit too good to be true, however.

  Thora was just finishing applying her lipstick when she heard footsteps in her room.

  "What happened?" Calum asked, his arms crossed with his feet landed directly in front of the door as Thora opened it, swinging it inwards. "Oops. I thought you'd be wearing clothes."

 Rolling her eyes, Thora pushed past Calum and grabbed a blanket off of her bed, wrapping it around her. She wasn't ashamed of the way she looked- in fact, with her hair and makeup already done, and her nice black underwear hugging her form comfortably, she looked pretty good- but she and Calum were just friends. That meant wearing clothes. Or at least a sheet. 

  Her combat boots were in the corner of the room, the laces undone sadly. Thora looked at them instead of Calum. "They took my paints." 

  He waited. "Who did?"

  "The police." Not able to resist it anymore, Thora's eyes met his, then looked away again. "There's going to be a trial. Mom's pretty pissed."

  He nodded silently, walking over and sitting next to her. Someone else might have said 'I'm sorry' or 'that's awful', but Calum wasn't like someone else. He knew his best friend well enough to know that that wouldn't help. 

  "Did you have any weed on you?"

  She shook her head. 

  A  pause. 

  "That's good." Calum scratched his ear, then hot up and started going through Thora's closet quietly, pulling out her uniform and tossing it to her. "Here. Where are your socks?"

  She looked at the clothes on her lap blankly. "In the top drawer. Why? I don't care about school, I just want to stay home today."

  "We have enough time to get to third block," he said, rummaging through her drawer before tossing her a rolled up pair of long socks. "I don't want Mr.Irwin getting mad at you. Plus, we're both failing the class."

  So they did. Calum messed around with his phone while Thora got dressed, figgiting with her skirt and continually itching her thigh. She couldn't help casting the glances at her open closet, almost as if she was waiting for her bag with the paints to magically reappear. But they didn't. 

  In the car, Calum lit a cigerette, breathing it in before passing it over to Thora, the smell of weed already filling the car. But she turned it down.

  "Why? Come on, it'll relax you." 

  That was exactly what Thora needed at that moment, her shoulders tense and her fingers tapping against her thighs, but she shook her head. "I don't want him smelling it on me. Last time it made him angry."

  By him, of course, they were referring to Mr.Irwin, everyone's favorite blind English teacher who insisted they come to class every day, or he'd keep them from graduating. Basically all of the other teachers in the building let them off easy, either because the teachers were attracted to the pair of students, or because they wanted to get them to graduate so they wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. But apparently, Mr.Irwin didn't get the message. 

*****************************************************************

  The next three weeks, Thora's grade in the English teacher's class raised from an F to a C+. She went to every class, sometimes took notes, sometimes did her homework, and only sometimes was asked to stay back after class. 

  Calum kept cracking jokes at Mr.Irwin's expense, but the teacher actually handled them pretty gracefully. Calum would say something like "I like that color on you, Irwin," and Mr.Irwin would say "It's Mr.Irwin, and thank you. I think it matches my eyes, doesn't it?" Everyone either laughed or watched quietly, dreading it like watching a car crash in progress. That time, they laughed uncomfortably. No one knew what Mr.Irwin's eyes looked like- he was never seen without his dark glasses. 

  That day, Thora wasn't asked to stay behind, but she did anyways, plopping herself on the student desks across from his. He was shuffling through some papers, feeling the edges and paper clips gently. "Miss Faye, to what do I owe this visit?"

  Kicking her legs childishly, Thora watched his hands for a moment longer before replying, "Just curious. What color are your eyes?"

  Someone else might have been offended or become stiff, but Mr.Irwin just nodded, carefully pushing the papers together before turning to face her. "I see. It's one of those questions." Shifting in his chair, he leaned back, letting it squeak as he turned to the ceiling casually. "I don't have eyes. They had to remove them from my skull, now it's just two empty holes. Sometimes I keep spare change in them. I wouldn't have to though, if it weren't for the... incident." 

  Thora swallowed dryly. "What incident?"

  He licked his lips, scratching his head lightly. "Tell me Miss Faye, what do you know about exorcism?" 

  "What?!"

  He tried to contain his smile, but at this point it was a futile, and Mr.Irwin burst into laughter. "Oh God, that was good! You believed me too!" 

  Thora had stopped kicking her legs. "What are you talking about?"

  "A joke, it's a joke," he reassured. "My eyes are broken, but they're still in there. No accident, no excorsism. I would've loved to see your face, you probably looked rediculious!" Thora was gobsmacked, still trying to process what he had said as he passed a thick stack of papers her way. "These seem important. What do they say on them?"

  She was still processing, but swallowed and looked at the papers. "Um... they're from the state board. But what color are your eyes?"

  "State board," he considered, ignoring her question. "I'll have to ask my student aid about that. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Miss Faye." 

  She was sent out the door without ever getting an answer to her question.