Thorne Valley, NV

Chapter 2: The Turns Are Table-ing

{Ria}

On our way from the orphanage, Bea and I take turns 'guessing' what Neo is so excited about.

"I would bet a solid twenty bucks that he finally learned how to jack off right."

I swat her arm a little harder than I mean to. "Oh my god, I hate you. Why is that the first thing you think of?"

She smirks and bats her eyelashes. "What, is that not the first thing you think of when you think of him?"

"Stooop, you're actually disgusting. Maybe he just... made it onto a team."

"Okay, that's reasonable. Which one of the zero sports he has ever tried do you think it is?"

I roll my eyes. "Fine, well what's your actually plausible idea?"

"Maybe he got a girlfriend."

"Not funny."

"Who says I was joking?"

I turn to face her, her expression unreadable. Heat creeps up my neck, and I turn away.

In my peripherals, her face becomes amused. "I mean, it's not like anyone actually has a claim on him, right?" Her tone is poking, and I can tell she's looking for a reaction.

"True. Apart from the point that he's completely and utterly hopeless, on the astronomically small chance that he actually has found someone, I would be very happy and supportive for them."

"M-hm."

I open my mouth to retort, but Ravyn and Robyn meet us on the street corner and I decide to leave the matter alone.

Ravyn looks at me for a second, and I notice her golden highlights look lighter in her dark curly hair than normal. I mention something about it and she gives a loose, "Thanks," before continuing to ask jokingly, "Are you so white that you're already sunburnt in the five minutes it's been since you left?"

Bea chuckles, "Nah, she's blushing from our previous conversation," and grins at me.

Ravyn narrows her eyes slightly, and quirks an eyebrow. "What about?"

With a wink, Bea mouths, "You know who," and Ravyn nods in understanding, then also grins at me.

"Am I missing something here?" Robyn butts in.

"Most likely," Ravyn says breezily.

 Not long after, Neo and Kiya join us, and Jax texts that his uncle needed some stuff done around the house, so he'll meet us in about twenty minutes. I consider bringing up the topic of Neo's news, but decide to wait till someone else remembers. We arrive at our spot in ten minutes or so, longer than normal because we're all goofing off the whole way there. Once we get there, though, all fun is sucked from the air. There's something there.

Folding tables and chairs with unfamiliar younger aged adults in them, probably around 20 to 23, with spreadsheets andnametag stickers. And worst of all, the circle of boulders disrupted by a paved road leading off to a different part of the woods, and a school bus parked on it. Our little perfectly untouched clearing had been found and ruined.

"What the hell..?" The combined anger sparked like static electricity. Robyn begins to make his way forward with Neo on his heels, but Ravyn puts a hand on her brother's chest and they halt.

"Diplomacy, boys." She makes her way out of the brush and strolls up to a table, and I follow suit. 

We are greeted with an overly cheery, "How can I help you?" This woman looks like the most textbook cheerleader you'll ever see, with beach blonde hair and a smile that couldn't be more fake. I flash back a less than genuine one myself.