19 Chapter Nineteen

"Raven?" Jewels questioned beyond the door after receiving silence while she was only trying to show her concern.

This only reminded Raven that she was still there and able to hear him clearly on the other side of the door. So he became cautious of speaking aloud fearing she would hear the female voice. This became his biggest concern until he noticed that her voice sounded a bit upset and drained when she spoke his name.

The energy he had fed from her seemed to be taking more of an effect now that he had fed from her once again. He wondered if this meant she originally only had just enough to come to the school, implying she was just as affected as Carson but didn't show.

As Raven had expected her to attempt, she dared to turn the knob and open the locked door to the boys room only to find it was an impossible task. Raven sighed with relief that he had thought to do this as he was hanging over the sink just wanting her to go away allowing the silence to fall between them.

She looked at the door, her hands made noise as they trailed the gap between the door and the frame as if she were trying to find any way into the room.

"I'm going to go tell the guys you aren't feeling well..." She spoke up lightly as the noise from her hands on the doors stopped. She pulled her hands back from the door and gave in to the defeat. "I'll also be going home, okay?" She adds hesitating to walk away.

He couldn't help but believe that maybe it was because she knew if she walked away now he was going to do anything within his power to avoid her. Even if he could have been happy that she now looked at him he wasn't okay with being a girl so he couldn't even imagine being with her anymore. Besides he still blamed her for the body he had now knowing this was all of her fault and there was just no forgiving her for it.

While he wait for her to walk away he didn't respond looking up at himself in the mirror he was too busy staring at the woman that stared back at him. He wondered if it was normal to have dreamt about his female version like she were another person for so many years.

This whole concept was confusing Raven and he was realizing now more than ever he needed to speak to someone. He knew this meant he had to get back to his room and find Menay before the same thing happened tonight that happened last night. Knowing he would be at any random guy's mercy again recalled what had happened with Carson sending a chill down his spine, he shivered to the thought. He wasn't going to allow himself to be chased and cornered like that again. He knew Menay would have a better solution this time for him to go back to being a male.

Looking to the door after not hearing anything but her footsteps walking away moments ago he decided it was time to try and get to Menay. Taking a deep breath at the door he cracked it open and quietly looked around.

No one seemed to be anywhere near him, of course this was expected still being in a restricted hall. They would also be too busy with the game going on, it was an important night after all. He slowly pulled the door open the rest of the way and stepped out of the wash room. His head nervously looking around for anyone around as he did, beginning to walk down the halls.

Making his way to the main hall he became wary of people who crossed his path. There were few but enough to be a potential threat and Raven didn't want to find out if they would be. Making sure he wasn't going to bump or make eye contact with them he kept his head low making his way through the people who not only didn't seem to mind him but they didn't hardly pay him any attention at all having their focus be on getting back to the game from the snack bar.

Making it all the way to the student hall doors Raven looked back at the people that didn't care and scoffed. Feeling like he were just being a little too paranoid, he was beginning to think he was just overthinking things. Having never seen a flock of people chasing after someone before besides last night he doubted he would ever come across that again and as long as his body wasn't burning he was safe.

Walking down the school halls most of the students not involved in the games were already down in the city or hanging out in other dorm rooms so everything was going easy for Raven at this point. He just had to get to the steps and get to his floor to be home free. Feeling confident without any of the feelings from the time before he almost forgot he was a girl now walking back into the dorms.

As he passed his reflection on a window he recalled his form once again and realized he hadn't thought about what he would do once there. He was confident that Carson wouldn't be there now but there was no guarantee a few hours from then. Usually Carson would be out really late especially if they won hanging out with people and celebrating but he was so drained there was no telling what time he would return.

The thought of feeding on Carson again crossed his mind as he stopped in his tracks thinking this would be an easier solution since he had already done it before. Though even as he thought of this the thoughts of how it affected Jewels right afterwards made him reluctant to want to try. On top of that he didn't need Carson seeing him in this form again in fear that a possible connection between them could be made if he changed in front of him again and Carson didn't pass out this time.

"What am I going to do now..." He worried aloud to himself believing there was no one around to hear him.

He wondered why he hadn't thought of that sooner, if things were to go like the night before he would become hungry soon and like last night the crowd would be too much for him to handle but he had no source of energy to feed from unless it was Carson. He rubbed and pulled on his lips nervously as if it were to release his panic while getting closer to the steps but it didn't help.

The closer to the stairs he got the more nervous he became and for a brief moment he felt a burning pain in his chest. Not giving himself a moment think he panicked and this time he couldn't help it, there was no swallowing this fear. He had to get out of there and find somewhere safe so he began to run.

He ran as fast as he could hitting the steps he looked down at his feet and held onto his clothes so that they didn't fall off his body while he was running up the stairs. This caused him to not focus on anything but going forward and as he made the corner at the steps he felt a force stopping him.

A loud smack followed by the thud of two bodies hitting the floor hard filled the stairwell. Raven reached out in a panic grabbing the railing feeling the edge behind him not wanting to make it this far in life and die by falling down the stairs.

"Ow..." He muttered gritting his teeth as the railing hit his back hard after he swung into it, "ugh" he regretted letting his panic take over him now that he knew the danger it could have caused. With his heart beat still racing from the thought that he was going to fall down the stairs he forgot he had hit someone.

"That hurt" A unfamiliar voice of a girl spoke up in a whining manner filling Raven instantly with regret.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention where I was going and..." Raven's words were taken from him as watched her push her long dark brown hair from her face looking back at him with her bright light brown eyes.

Raven stumbled over any trail of thought he had, she was too pretty to be at his school he thought maybe he had hit his head or maybe fallen all the way down the stairs and didn't know it. Looking at her slender tanned body he believed she was pretty enough to be a model, and it wouldn't surprise him if she were. Being captivated by her appearance so much that he even forgot his manners just staring at her in a daze.

She began to laugh after looking Raven's appearance over, "What are you wearing? no wonder you couldn't pay attention" she chuckled lightly.

Raven narrowed his brow to her words confused bringing himself back looking down at what he was wearing. "Huh?"

He couldn't tell if she was really making fun of him for his clothes at that moment even though he knew she was it was hard to tell with that angelic face and sweet laugh. He could hardly imagine that she would be mean but there was no doubt with how she said it that was meant to be taken as an insult.

While Raven was trying to think about what she meant she stood up and held out a hand to him, still brushing out her clothes. He stared at the fingers before him with an even more confused look on his face not sure if she was making fun of him or helping him out. She seemed friendly but now there was conflict in his mind and something about her just made him hesitate to take her hand.

Not knowing what it was he wondered if she was going to attack him like the others had and that's what he felt. Though when he looked her over once again she showed no signs of lust for him which made him assume that it was because he was girl. Thinking maybe it had the opposite effect on the genders.

Though he shook his head of the thought remembering he had that woman last night also mess with him while he was in this form so she would be the same if it was like that again. She didn't seem to be intending anything with her helping out by giving him a hand, so this puzzled him on what it was making him wary of her.

"I don't bite, someone's going to step on you if you stay on the ground like that" She spoke up to catch Raven's attention with a bright smile offering her hand closer to his face to encourage him to take it.

"Oh... yeah" He mutters looking up taking her hand standing with her pull. Standing before her he decided to shake this feeling he got from her because of where they were he really had no other reason to be so suspicious of anyone.

"Thank you, I'm sorry again" he apologized once more not wanting to seem rude.

While they were standing in front of each other he noticed she was much taller than him and since his clothes wasn't that much bigger on him now this just meant this woman was bigger than him when he was a guy as well. For some reason that kind of bothered him a bit, she was just as tall as Carson.

A silence fell between them without having anything more than apology to say to a stranger like her. Raven wanted to just pass her by now but after running into her like he did he felt obligated to stick around a bit longer.

It was awkward and he felt as if he should say something, though what he wasn't quite sure of yet. Glancing at her for a moment she looked maybe if not his age but older making him wonder why she was there in the student dorms, "ugh, are you from the other school?" He asked then thinking this would be an odd question since there was only one other school around but he wanted to know why she was there.

She smiled lightly to his question not finding it odd at all or at least not showing she did but he couldn't help but notice her smile felt a bit forced as she spoke, "No, I am just new around here, do you know someone from this school for you to be their manager at an all boys school?" She asked while flipping it to Raven poking at his shirt.

Raven looked down as he noticed she pressed on where his title was written as to show where she got the question from. Rave pulled out the shirt a bit to look at it, he had completely forgotten about the shirt being apart of the uniform for the school even though he wasn't a player it was obvious and now he knew why she had teased him about his attire.

It was suspicious and he knew if anyone from the team had seen him, what they would think would cause him problems. Even worse if Carson seen him in his manager clothes in a woman's form it would only make things more complicated.

"Is it a boyfriend?" she questioned bringing Raven back to have his attention on her.

Raven jumped to this and he thought of what Carson had said last night while assuming he was someone's girl causing him to snarl, "Like hell that would happen!" He snapped.

Pulling back he stumbled on his words, "Ugh I mean" he knew he overreacted to her simple question and he was just embarrassing himself now.

His face was getting red from the mistake wanting to move past her now more than before. He knew he was never good with women and needed to get to Menay now but as he went to try and leave she laughed again almost stepping to block his path.

"You're really interesting, I am heading to the game now would like to sit together?" She paused waiting for his response as she offered they go watch the game together and yet again he was dumbfounded by what was going on.

He didn't know if this was normal behavior for girls who were complete strangers or if his body was just affecting her like the others before but he didn't want to find out.

"I'm sorry, no..." He shook his head no to her offer not interested in going back into the crowd, "I am not feeling well I was just leaving, and I'm not the manager I'm just borrowing these clothes" He adds trying to make sure she didn't get the wrong idea.

The rejection seemed to make her unhappy and she gave the first agitated expression in his presence even after being ran into she didn't give that kind of look. Raven almost stepped back finding this a bit alarming but then her expression quickly changed as she gave him another smile.

"It's okay, my name is Ash..." She finally introduced herself holding out her hand to him once more for him to shake and this time Raven took it without hesitation. He almost spoke his name till she spoke up once again cutting him off, "Well I don't have any friends here yet but I work at that little cafe, CFM... stands for Coffee, Food, and Music it's down on main street so." She shrugs lightly letting Raven's hand go.

"If you're ever out that way I work evenings" she offers another smile inviting him to spend time with her at her work place before she begins to go down the steps leaving Raven behind giving him no chance to deny going to visit her work place.

Raven looked over the railing as he watched her leave rendered speechless. He wasn't sure if she had just advertised her work to him or invited him to be friends. She stopped and looked up to him offering a wave before she finally left. Raven slowly waved his hand over the railing and watched her leave through the staircase entrance still just as confused as before.

"What a strange woman" He spoke to himself blowing it off for now as just a unusual encounter, he just didn't have the time to think about stuff like random strange women at the moment.

Next chapter