A Child's Reality (BBRae AU)

Prologue

Prologue
A Child's Reality
~~~

"Raven, I'm not going anywhere. You're the main reason I came back. Do you think I came back because I wanted to live in the same place where my parents were killed? On the same street? I chose the house. I chose the street. I chose everything involving this move. I wasn't having good days in Washington anymore. I wasn't happy. Trust me." He grabs her shoulders. "I am not going anywhere."

Raven stares at him then shakes her head. The pain stricken look in her eyes allowed her to be read with ease. The words that previously made her smile now brought her to the brink of tears.

"You...you're a liar..." she states. "A LIAR!" She screams. "You left me! How could you?! You said you'd never leave!"

"Raven..."

"What?"

"Raven."

"Raven!"

"Raven!!" The teacher called out to her. She was daydreaming again. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I– uh..."

"No, she didn't, Mrs. Lowe. I bet she wasn't even paying attention." Michael, a former member of Adam's entourage, jeered. In response, Raven promptly kicked him in the shins under their desks. The kids next to them stifled their laughs until their faces flushed.

"Raven, this is the fourth time this week you've done that. Have you been retaining any of the material?"

Raven stares at her blankly and shrugs.

Mrs. Lowe groans, "Raven, come into the hallway with me please."

Eyes bore into her as people watch her walk out. Her steps are lead heavy and everything seems to echo now. The whispering voices echo too. Mark, James, and Michael especially. She shoots them a sharp glare and they immediately stop.

"Raven. You have to pay attention in my class. It's the first few months of school and you've still got a C. Why can't you focus? Is there anything I can do to help?"

She shrugs and downcasts her eyes.

"I don't know what you mean by shrugs, Raven. Speak to me. Use your voice."

Her eyes still unfocused on her teacher, she timidly shakes her head.

Mrs. Lowe, now thoroughly frustrated with Raven, she says: "Raven, I understand your summer was poor, but you can't let that affect your grades in school. Pushing through this makes you stronger. But yielding to it won't help you at all."

Raven's eyes snap upward to her: "You...have no idea what I went through." She spoke diffidently. Is speaking physically taxing for her now? It isn't clear. Especially after she went back into the classroom and grabbed her things with a pained expression on her face.

She leaves. Luckily the bell rang shortly after, and it's time to go home.

For everyone else that is.

Raven, on the other hand, has somewhere to be. She rushes through people, weaving in and out like a chaotic game of Frogger, only to be stopped by that giant log that doesn't seem to end: Michael, James, and Mark.

She grits her teeth and tries to push past them, not paying them any mind.

They're too big though. She's not strong enough to.

"What do you want?" She questions, hushful.

"Oh shit! Guys, she does speak!" Michael exclaims. Raven folds into herself feeling smaller than she already is compared to them. The halls start to empty out rapidly. Going from multiple footsteps on linoleum floors almost in time with one another to pretty much no sound at all. The metronome of those footstep fade as the doors shut and the majority of students are now waiting outside for friends or parents or driving home themselves.