Raven

Chapter 1

'It's nine o'clock on a Saturday The regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sitting next to me Makin' love to his tonic and gin'

My headphones blared as I walked down the street,trying the looks people were giving me. At least,that's what I had felt like. The constant judging from the people around me.

I understand that nobody thought twice about me.I had been this all my life.Nobody cares,you're fine,people aren't actually like that.

Yeah,like telling me that would actually help.If I could just stop this feeling that easily,I would of a long time ago.It's not like this is fun for me.

I finally reached the little coffee shop where,like always,there were very few people.I ordered my usual and slipped into my seat,facing the wall.I didn't like to face the few other people that were here.The coffee here was exceedingly great or anything,but I did very much appreciate the lack of people that usually swarmed other cafes this time in the morning.

I waited for my coffee to be done before pulling out my laptop,knowing that I would have to get up and get it.

"Nicholas"a voice,the same barista as yesterday and the day before,called out.I awkwardly stood up,my face heating up a bit as all four sets of eyes in the small cafe were on me.

"Yeah,yeah,that's,uh,um,that's me,"I stumbled over my words as I tried to configure a audible sentence.I tend to ramble when I'm nervous,which,to be fair,is always."Thank you Casey,"I started back to my seat when Casey spoke up rather quickly,"You know Lyons,you don't have to say when It's you at this point,you come in here every day."

I sighed,he would never understand.He was a very social and outgoing person,how was he supposed to understand?It was just habit.Like a defense against an imaginary barrage.

"I,I know,just habit I guess,"I spoke quietly.By now,everyone had gone back to their previous activities,newspapers,laptops,whatever.They weren't looking at me,but I knew they could still hear me.This was enough to worry me.

I settled in and pulled out my laptop,starting on the song I had been previously working on.When I was growing up,I early on found a passion for music,and it never left.Now,there were a few key problems with this.To name a few,First,was that I cannot sing whatsoever.Two,was that I could not talk to people,as you can already tell.

How was I ever supposed sing in front of people,even if I had the voice for it?

So,I settled for songwriting.I had never actually done anything with these,but I was also never satisfied with them.I mean,they were all terrible.Also,I had never showed them to another person.How could I face them after they read them?What if they made fun of them?It was all just too much to even bother.Having people beat down the one thing I liked doing would just crush me.

It was more of a pastime as I waited for something to actually come along and for me to get through college.As much as I would love to do this for a living,I knew I would never be that fortunate.People like me don't make it in show-biz.

I wasn't exceedingly attractive by any means.Barely even average.My choppy black hair in a hundred different ways on top of my head and my eyes were a swamp green.My clothes consisted of band t-shirts,hoodies,and patched up jeans.I looked like a walking Hot Topic ad.

Everyday was the same thing.A max of four people in the small coffee shop in the back alleys of New York.I came in and got my coffee and worked on my songwriting.And no one bothered me.They didn't usually try to make conversation.Well,except Casey of course.But that was just who he was.

Today was different.A face I had never seen in the shop walked in,causing everyone to glance up from what they were doing.We were all curious as to who this new comer was and why he was here.Now,that did not mean that we would try to talk to him.We didn't care that much.

I tried to ignore him and go back to my writing,telling myself it didn't matter,it's not like he wasn't allowed in here,it was just odd.

I had finally gotten back to work when I heard an exchange,"And,what will the name for the order be?"Casey said,confidence lining his voice as always.It's as if he had no trouble talking to people.Which he didn't.I almost admired that.

"Uh,Beck will suffice,"the strange man,Beck,muttered,almost sounding unsure of himself.

'Beck,I wonder what that's short for?' I thought.No,it didn't matter,I needed to get back to work.

I soon found out his presence was just offsetting.He stood at the counter,waiting for his cappuccino.As if it wasn't bad enough that he was just in there,what came next really threw me and everybody off.

Nonchalantly,he picked up his coffee and slid into the booth in front of me,facing towards me.Between him looking at me and all eyes in the cafe on him,but also just in my general direction,I felt the heat quickly start to creep up my neck.

He was clearly new.The others here,they didn't know me,but they knew enough about me to know that no one sat there.Soon, everybody went back to what they were doing,but my face continued to heat up even more.

I tried to write again,but I could not focus the tiniest bit.I could feel the man's eyes burning into me.I kept trying to glance up at him,trying to catch some of his features.His brown-copper hair fell perfectly on his head and dark freckles scattered his pale skin like midnight stars.His force-grey eyes shone,even from where I was sat.

He noticed me staring and raised on perfect eyebrow.I averted my eyes down to my half-finished song,flushing an even darker red than I thought I was capable of of.Out of the corner of my eye I saw him smirk to himself and take a sip of coffee.

Great,I muttered,now what's wrong,I wonder if I have something on my face? At this thought I instinctively reached up and rubbed my face,which was hot to the touch.I turned my music up louder to try to distract myself.

Say what you mean,Tell me I'm right,And let the sun rain down on me,Give me a sign,I want to believe.

I have the weirdest playlist.Like,it goes from early 70's rock to Broadway shows to punk rock.The only things it's missing is that new "pop" shit that's on the radio all the time and country.I don't see how people can listen to that stuff.Then again,a lot of people say that about my music too,though.

He pulled out a laptop and seemed distracted for a minute.I took this as my chance to get a even better look at him.I was profiling him.Yeah,that's it,I definitely was not checking him out,just getting a sense of who he was.

He wore a white button up shirt that fit tightly across his chest,the white of his shirt colliding with the utter paleness of his skin.Although I didn't know him,I found the way that he stared so intently at his screen adorable.It was as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever read.His face expressed every emotion he had while reading,as if he was having a vivid conversation in real life.

I was still checking,no,profiling him when he looked up again.Our eyes locked and I froze.It wasn't until he smiled,very seductively,might I add,at me.I looked down into my coffee right as I started to blush.

I was so focused on listening to my music to try to calm myself down,I didn't even hear him collect his stuff and get up.It wasn't until he was sitting across from me that I had noticed that he moved.