Raven (Nolan Rayburn fanfic)

Two.

Nolan looked up as his teacher made his way to the door. He opened it and a man walked in. The man whispered something to Mr. Hemingway and the two men left the room. Nolan looked back down at his lab sheet. He had no clue what to do, the instructions confusing him. Nolan didn't care enough to ask for help, so he took back out his earbuds and listened to music. Fuck I want this day to be fucking over.

After a couple minutes, the classroom door opened again. Mr Hemingway walked back in, and behind him stood a girl. Nolan watched, expecting only his teacher to walk back in, but instantly turned his attention to the girl at the front of the room.
He took in her features, her hair was long and dark brown, her skin fair. Her bone structure was perfect, her lips pink. He looked at her eyes, they were a beautiful ocean blue. She looked around 5'6", Nolan himself was 6'. She had a thin waist but still managed to have perfect curves. She had a nose ring in and she was wearing ripped jeans and a cropped white shirt with a red worn jacket over that.  She was absolutely beautiful. Nolan knew right away that this was the girl Josh had been talking about earlier. Woah.

The whole class fell silent, all eyes on the girl at the front of the room. Nolan noticed she looked tired, a little overwhelmed maybe. She stared at the ground, refusing to look at the kids in the room. He felt the need to comfort her. He shook the feeling away, knowing that he was being stupid. He didn't even know her.

Mr. Hemingway spoke up, gaining the classes attention.

"Alright class we have a new student who will be joining us for the rest of the semester. Would you like to introduce yourself?" He asked, looking at the clearly nervous girl.

She reluctantly nodded and turned towards the class, clearing her throat. "Uh, Hey, my name is Raven and I moved here from Colorado. Yeah uh, I guess that's it." She let out a nervous laugh and so did the class, everyone already seeming to like her.

Nolan smirked at her awkward yet undeniably cute introduction. He repeated her name in his head. Raven. A stunning name for a stunning girl. Ravens eyes shifted to Mr. Hemingway, waiting for instruction on what to do. The teacher looked around the room, locking eyes with Nolan. Nolan's heart stopped as he looked at the empty chair beside him. He couldn't deny the fact that he was nervous just looking at the girl and he hated talking to people he was nervous around.

"Raven why don't you take that empty seat next to Nolan for the day until we figure out where we should put you." He said, pointing in Nolan's direction.

Ravens eyes shifted to Nolan. She quickly scanned his features, he was very attractive, she couldn't deny this, and he looked like the skater type. He had a nice build, not too ripped but not skinny either. She herself usually gravitated to people with that vibe. She like his choice in clothing and he had snake bite piercings in. He looked like a rebel and she felt at ease with that. She softened her stare, smiling slightly, a look of relief in her eyes.
Nolan returned a smile and felt calmer after this simple interaction. Mr Hemingway gave her some papers and the Raven made her way over to Nolan's lab table.

"Hey, I'm Raven, um, well never mind I literally just said my name like 10 seconds ago." She laughed nervously, tucking some hair behind her ear and sitting next to him.

Nolan smirked, "I'm Nolan, well never mind Mr Hemingway literally just told you my name." He said, playfully mocking the girl, trying to lighten her mood.

She laughed, looking at Nolan. "Did you really just mock me? On my first day here?" She smirked with a fake surprised tone. The both of them chuckled, looking at each other. God she's beautiful AND funny, and her eyes...
"So, uh, what are we working on here?" She asked, snapping Nolan back to reality.

"Oh, um, well to be completely honest I have no clue, I'm kinda bad at chem." Nolan responded, honestly.

Raven smirked, making Nolan's heart beat faster, Nolan didn't like how he was feeling, he didn't like that he already liked this girl that he barely knew. He was used to pushing his emotions away.

"Well lucky for you I'm not half bad at chemistry. I'll take a look at the instructions quick." She said glancing at Nolan with a smile and then focusing her gaze on the lab sheet.

Nolan couldn't keep himself from looking at her. Then it hit him. He remembered what Josh had told him earlier. He thought about the amount of pain she was probably feeling, and how she was probably putting on a happy front with everyone. She had a look of despair in her eyes, even when smiling. Though he was sure nobody else could notice. Nolan could though, he was the master at concealing his pain.
"Any luck?" He asked, trying to make his sad thoughts go away for the time being.

Raven nodded, "Yeah, I've done this before at my old school.." she trailed off, her eyes going blank for a split second, she cleared her throat, returning a smile back on her face. "It's easy, I'll teach you."

Nolan nodded, catching the sudden change in tone, but he let it go.

***

"And boom! We've got the known factor of potassium chlorides effect on water temperature." Raven exclaimed, a look of pride on her face as she glanced at Nolan.

He smirked at her excitement and was completely dumbfounded at how smart the girl was. "Wow, I am absolutely impressed. Five stars to Miss Raven." He joked sarcastically.

Raven smiled, giving the boy beside her a playful glare, which he returned.
Raven looked at Nolan, he was working on the lab worksheet. She looked at his hair, black and a little shaggy. Just how she liked it, and she found her eyes on his sharp and prominent jawline. Nolan glanced up at Raven and she quickly looked away, realizing she was staring. She felt her cheeks flush red and she looked away so Nolan couldn't see her blushing. Nolan frowned. Was she just looking at me? No probably not, Jesus fuck this isn't a high school romance movie. Get your shit together and stop catching feelings when you've only known her for an hour.
Nolan returned his focus to the lab. Raven reached to turn the Bunsen burner off, but accidentally touched a piece of hot metal and pulled her hand back. "Fuck." She mumbled. Nolan looked at her, part of him glad she wasn't one of those girls who hated swearing.

"You okay?" Nolan asked, reaching out to finish turning the burner off.

Her cheeks turned a light pink color and Nolan swallowed, staring. God she's cute when she's embarrassed.
"Uh yeah I'm just stupid and touched the metal on accident." She answered quietly, giving Nolan a quick glance.

"You're not stupid." Nolan said under his breath.

A kid named Bryce in front of us faced our direction, "Hey Raven, my name is Bryce." He said, grinning.

Raven nodded, "Hey." She said, forcing a smile.

Bryce continued, "Hey so I know you are new here so I was wondering if you needed help finding your next class?" He asked, sounding somewhat pushy and desperate.

Nolan felt a feeling of jealousy in his chest but pushed it away. Ravens posture stiffened, "oh, um, yeah uh that would be great." She said through clenched teeth.

Bryce nodded and turned back around. Nolan looked at Raven, catching her attention. She could tell he caught on to her reluctance so she decided to explain herself.
"I mean that was a nice offer but I was kind of hoping to skip next period and get some air, I'm a little overwhelmed I guess." Raven whispered.

Nolan looked at her, giving her a look of comfort and understanding, "I understand needing to get away from all these assholes." He was going to offer to skip with her but stopped himself, he didn't want to catch even more feelings for her than her already had, feelings were considered weak in Nolan's book. She laughed and nodded in agreement, wishing he had offered to leave school with her for a little while. The both of them glanced at each other, exchanging smiles, and the end of class bell rang.