X. Frustrated

Raven had never felt more frustrated than she did that week.

Next to her, Hayden's attention was stuck in his history textbook, studying for the last test he had before the break.

Raven had tried to disturb him, poking him in the cheeks and arms persistently. His only response was to pause, turn at her and smile at her in that unintentionally innocent way that made his eyes light up.

Safe to say, his beauty trap was effective, his skills of seduction unmatchable. Raven had stopped bothering him.

She chose to busy herself by watching him, letting herself gaze to her heart's content, and more.

Her gaze flickering from his forehead, creased in concentration, down the long bridge of his nose, his beautiful, brown skin that glistened under the fluorescent light, she eyed his lips, goose flesh erupting when she remembered how he'd whispered in her ears, a feathery touch that had her heart rate skyrocketing.

Hayden was a marvel to her. She didn't understand why or how she became enslaved to his person, shackled willingly to a mind that conversed of him, just that she was.

"What is it, Raven?"

Hayden paused, placing the pen in between the pages he was reading.

Raven smiled at him in mock innocence, "Whatever do you mean? I did nothing".

Hayden stared at her for a while as she smiled before he looked away.

"Stop staring at me". He said, sounding flustered.

Raven smiled at him, inching closer to him so she could whisper teasingly, "You know, this is where you're meant to say 'take a picture, it'll last longer'".

Her eyes turned even more playful, a hint of something that enticed Hayden swimming in those green depths.

"And then, I would say, I don't need to take a picture, because I have the image of you imprinted in my mind, one that is more vivid than any camera can produce, detailed beyond the capabilities of any object, and one that only I can see".

Hayden felt his heart stop, his eyes drawn to those deep greens and his hands shaking.

What was this madness? Why wouldn't his heart stop and what was this....... this feeling?

What was this unfamiliar urge in him? Why were thoughts of things that were unattainable swarming his mind?

Raven was unabashed in her speech, letting every thought out through words.

She didn't know how to control her emotions, it was either she felt nothing or everything.

And Hayden made her feel everything.

But as she watched Hayden, looking beyond flustered at her words, she felt regret wash over her.

What if he ran away thinking she was some kind of obsessed fan girl?.

Luckily, Hayden spoke before she could walk down the path of regret.

"You got it wrong. You're meant to say, " I wasn't staring" at you and then, blush as you try to look away. That's how it works in the books".

Raven looked at Hayden smiling, "Well, this is real life and I'm unique".

Hayden glanced at her shyly as he chuckled, muttering under his breath, "That you are Raven Stone, that you are".

After that, they fell into a comfortable silence, with Hayden glancing over his notes, and Raven glancing at him every few minutes.

Before long, it was time to leave.

They both made quick work of returning the books to the shelves before going out together.

The school was already empty, save a few people having after school rehearsals and a couple of guys that had also just come out of the library.

"What are your plans for the break?" Raven asked, breaking the silence.

Hayden looked down at her, smiling at how curious she looked.

"I'm not too sure. I have a couple of jobs to do. One at a pet store, another at a local library and the last at a café"

Raven looked at him in awe, her eyes wide, "You're a busy bee, aren't you?".

Hayden only chuckled, "What are you going to be doing. You know, apart from being Miss Westhill?"

Raven laughed at that, before her expression turned wistful, and her smile, sad.

"We were meant to go on a trip this year but my parents have a conference in Canada, and my brother has to stay with his pregnant wife, Marie. She's due in a few weeks and can't travel.

Now that those plans have been thwarted, I guess it'll just be me and All American re-runs".

Even though Raven laughed at her words, there was a frown on Hayden's face.

"You could come to the library?" He asked her, worried.

"The school library closes once we go on break, and I've never really felt like going to the local library".

Hayden's brow was creased now. "Are you okay being at home though?"

Raven looked at Hayden in surprise. People always got the feeling that she loved staying at home because she didn't like going out to parties, so they never asked her to hang out.

Truthfully, Raven would most likely turn down their requests to hang out, but not getting those requests in the first place made her feel like she'd been cast out.

Hayden was the first person that had ever second guessed her reasons for staying indoors.

"Not really" She said, dragging her eyes away from his before she would be subjected to his seduction yet again.

Her expression turned contemplative for a minute before she then spoke, "It's not like I wouldn't enjoy reading at home, because, that's actually one of my favorite things to do. It's just that I want to do more this year, gathering experience and all of that", she concluded, before saying within her mind, "And I want to see you"

Hayden smiled a little, "I understand", then glancing at Raven, "Let's see how it plays out".

Raven pursed her lips in confused silence, her head grazing Hayden's shoulders every once in a while.

When they got to the parking lot, Hayden felt dread well up in him.

Since they started hanging out in the library together, they always parted in the parking lot.

With him cycling away on his bicycle and Raven calling to ask her dad's driver to pick her up.

Hayden didn't then know why, at that moment in time, he didn't want to leave.

Whether it was the sadness in Raven's eyes when she spoke about how she'd be alone at home, or the suppressed jealousy in her eyes when he talked about how he'd be working during the break, Hayden just knew that something within Raven had pulled a trigger in him, an impulse even.

He felt a strong need to protect the girl, to shield her from the sadness outside as much as he wanted to from the one within.

Call it the man in him, or a primitive instinct to protect, but all Hayden knew was that he couldn't let this girl get hurt while he watched on.

He wouldn't.

"What's your favorite thing to do when you're not indoors?" Hayden asked, gazing at Raven intently.

He had stopped walking, mKing Raven stop too.

"I don't have a lot of things I like to do. Reading is pretty much it".

Hayden chuckled, "Not even one thing?".

Raven thought for a while, feeling quite unnerved by Hayden's persistent gaze.

"Well, I used to love strolling in the park every evening with my brother before we moved here. But I don't think I've ever been to the park in this town".

One of Hayden's eyebrows inched upwards a little in surprise, "Why?".

Raven shrugged, "I've just never seen the appeal, I guess".

Her gaze turned curious as she looked at him, "Have you been to the park?".

Hayden's response was a smile, one borne from a recollection of a faraway memory.

"Yeah. I used to walk my neighbour's dog with my sister there every thursday evening. It was nice, the fresh air, the trees, and just the place in itself".

Raven watched the boy talk, listening attentively.

"Wow", Raven said once Hayden was done. "It sounds really nice".

"It is" Hayden said, simply.

They walked for a while, with Raven leading Hayden by a few steps.

"Raven" She heard from behind her, glancing over her shoulders to see Hayden looking at her.

"Would you like to go there, to the park I mean" He asked, a vulnerability in his eyes that seized Raven's breath.

"It's okay if you don't want to. Don't feel pressured" He said softly, wiping his hands subtly against his trousers.

Raven's startled expression slowly morphed into a smile as she covered the foot long distance between them.

"I'd love to".

Hayden lost all composure at the sudden closeness between them, he could feel his ears heat up at the proximity, feel his suppressed wildness start to rouse it's head.

She was just there, right there.

So close that with a simple inclination of his head, his forehead would graze hers, his eyes would stare directly into those bewitching emerald eyes, defenses dropped.

So close that her inhale would be his exhale, and his, hers.

And as germ filled as that sounded, right there, right then, there wasn't a thing Hayden wanted more.

"So, uhh" He said, forcing himself to take a step back. He thought he saw a mischievous smile flicker across Raven's face, but it could've been his imagination because the next he looked at her, it was gone.

"Raven" He said, his lips and tongue rolling off each letter like it was a divine prophesy.

Raven looked at him.

"You want to check out how the park looks?", Raven was a little stunned, so she kept on looking at him for a good half minute, causing great havoc to Hayden's nerves before she finally smiled.

"Sure".

A smile lit up Hayden's face, the orange of the sun that was setting behind them casting a warm glow on him.

Raven's breath hitched as her lips parted ever so slightly.

"Uhh", she stuttered, "let's get going before it gets dark?"

Hayden was a bit confused as he watched the girl's expression turn flustered, but nodded nevertheless.

"Sure".

Getting out of the school gate, Hayden only then noticed how chilly the weather was becoming.

He glanced at Raven, smiling when he saw the thick sweater she had on.

At least, she wouldn't be cold.

Raven wasn't oblivious to Hayden's stare, the second his eyes left her, hers turned to him.

There was a silence between them now that they were away from the cocoon of books and library shelves, there were in unfamiliar territory.

And while they could keep talking about books even out here, Raven felt like it would be a waste.

Not that she wouldn't love to talk about how Ron wasn't as compassionate as Harry, or that Snape was the purest soul or contradict Hayden's thought just to get a rise out of him, but faced with the cool air, the greenery on each side of the road to the park, the magnificent sun that was setting, Raven felt a need to ask things she had never.

"You mentioned you had a sister earlier" She said, drawing Hayden's attention.

His response was a smile first and then a light chuckle, "Yeah,...... I do".

Raven was curious now, staring with wide, curious eyes at Hayden who smiled at her indulgently.

'He liked that side of her too' Hayden thought, 'the curious, childish part of her'.

"Uhh", Hayden mused aloud, thinking.

"Well, her name is Hadia and she's the snarkiest girl you'll ever meet"

Raven smiled as she saw Hayden's smile surface.

He talked about her for a while, telling Raven about the stupid adventures they went on in their little apartment, how she would cry for him to read Harry Potter to her when she was little.

How he'd tell her Harry Potter wasn't a bedtime story.

Raven laughed in between his explanations, feeling heat rise to the apple of her cheeks at the thought of a Hayden that read bedtime stories.

There was just some gentle, something especially homely about the thought. And for the millionth time since she met him, Raven had to fight herself from just stopping to stare at him.

She wanted to say so badly, "Hayden, just stop".

In her mind's eye, she could see the cute puzzlement that'd be on his face as he stared down at her.

Eyebrows furrowed the longer she continued to stare at him without saying anything.

How flushed he'd be when he finally realized what she was doing, averting his gaze from her as he tried to look at anyplace that wasn't her face.

It was magic, his magic, Hayden's magic.

She could finally see his magic up close, in his eyes as he chatted animately, in his speech as he laughed a sweet, melodious laughter, in her heart that desperately wanted to merge with his.

She liked Hayden.

She really liked Hayden.

And that thought brought a smile to her face, a light, airy smile that lit up everything in Hayden as he looked down at the green-eyed female.

And there, then, in that place, the two of them felt something beautiful take flight inside of them.

******'