SCHOOL DAY'S AHEAD (Ch. 2)

Raven stands before a full body mirror, His black eyes examining his borderline fat five foot six frame, (i look way shorter than i am),

"Raven! Come get your food",

(I really should lose the weight),

Heading out of his room, a generous description for a section of the house divided with labyrinth like walls, Raven steps out of his room before taking a seat at the weary wooden table, she'd always claimed it to be an heirloom.

His mother ever beautiful stares at him warmly, her judgless black eyes seeming to see the entirety of his being.

"Raven we need to talk, i've spoken with the principal and he's informed me about what happened, i know how you feel Rave", she states

"Know?" Raven interjects "you don't know a thing mom!, your always off working, i understand that.....i do, but!",

"It's ok Raven, i'll send you to the new school, you'll have to live alone though, but i'll be sending your living expenses monthly, oh and never forget son"

Her prompt acceptance stuns him into silence, (she's letting me go?, Wait! Can we even afford that?)

"Forget what?" He replies seconds after going mute, staring Raven deep in the eyes she goes up to him before holding his head in her hands she leaves a kiss on his forehead,

"I love you, i always will, remember that, it seems I've really been inconsiderate of you, i know I've not really had time for you because of work and for that i'm sorry",

the thoughts of self loathing swirl around in a pool in his head, tears threaten to fall loose, his eyelids burn, his mother noticing this lays his head unto her chest before holding him in place,

"shhhh, we'll be fine my precious little boy"… (we have to be).

Watching her son's tears fall the guilt she feels intensifies, (I know it's my fault you have to live like this, this is for the best, living like this makes it difficult for them to find you, your father's family will...) she frowns also recalling another nuisance she had to contend with,

(I can't afford to have that bastard find you, your hard life is a consequence of my foolish decisions, if I'd had made better decisions he wouldn't have to live this way, this is no way for a child to grow up, no matter what i do i'll probably never be able to make it up to you and give you a proper childhood, but we have no choice, between survival and convenience this is by far the best).

The next day comes by quickly, Raven is up early packing everything he'd need to relocate,

"Raven! Are you packed yet?!" comes his mothers call, her face lighting up with usual beaming smile,

(she really is beautiful, makes me look forward to loosing all this), Raven concludes patting his protruding belly,

"I have mom", (to be fair there isn't much to pack), "Alright mom I've got to get to the station to catch the train, you don't have to come in i'm sure your already late for work".

"Nonsense child, don't be silly, let's be on our way", she replies beaming him her usual grin, the two set out catching a taxi, a few minutes later they arrive at the station, barely a quarter of an hour later the train arrives and slowly people make their way in and, turning towards his mom he wraps his arms around her,

"I love you mom.." he says blushing lightly in embarrassment,, "and please be safe" he concludes his mind wandering over to the nonexistent presence of the police in the country, (Xander should be better a lot better, if i ever make enough money i'll get mom to move), looking up he sees his mom moistened eyes as she hugs him back burying her face in his shoulder,

"i love you too darling, stay safe alright?"

"I will mom" he replies before boarding the train, (this is it, a new start!).

The hours blur into the past before the train finally comes to a halt, Raven is jolted awake by the passenger next to him trying desperately to shuffle out of his seat, Raven yawns stretching till he hears a bone pop before pulling himself from his seat then picking his luggage. Upon exiting the station Raven calls one of the cabs waiting near the station entrance, the drive lasts several minutes before the cab arrives at Duren, the most rural part if the city, but with the most affordable homes. Stopping the cab next to an obviously aged looking apartment complex, Raven takes out a fifty credit note before spending the next several minutes of trying to figure out the Complex's complex numbering and lettering system before arriving at his room door, rummaging through his bag he pulls out a dull key before turning the key in. Raven steps into what's to be his new home, the walls looked dull, aged into a marked and stained yellow, the kind that cane with vomit, the roof was white, if white was closest in shade to brown, but it was far from as bad as he'd expected. So far it'd been exactly as described. Though Raven was sure he'd be disproving that soon.

"Not much different from our place" Raven sighs before turning to the side, "a toilet, I've got my sleeping mat, so at least i wouldn't have to worry about a bed" he murmurs before taking a glance at the dirty flour,

"for now", turning again his eyes land on a small wooden center table,

"whoever lived here certainly didn't care to take their stuff along with them.

After unpacking Raven quickly gets to cleaning before taking quick nap. Pondering silently as he allows fatigue take it's hold.

Waking with a loud groan Raven slugs to his feet stretching away the discomfort of basically sleeping on the floor, (I feel lighter, was it because i didn't eat before bed?), walking into the bathroom he notices the roof in the bathroom seemed lower than the rest of the house, (The main roof is already pretty low why make this one lower?, And why's the floor so far down?), looking up towards his bathroom mirror Raven screams tripping himself from the pure shock, tumbling downward his body seems to move instinctively showing shocking reflex as he sets a hand to stabilize himself. The shock re-emerges from the sight of the man in the mirror, Staring intently, he examines the sight before him, a tall teen with a chiseled jaw and lean muscular body greets him, Raven quickly estimates his height to be six feet two, the most uncanny thing about the situation being the ungodly resemblance this face and his, same black eyes, pitch black hair and stern sharp eyes, utterly speechless Raven rushes back out of the toilet before pausing abruptly, staring conflictingly at the sight of himself lying on the mat unconscious.

Looking back to the toilet mirror, Raven takes a seat beside his still unconscious body before proceeding to try various methods to wake it up, after several minutes of trying he gives up deciding to take a look on the internet for any advice much to no avail, getting desperately he uses force smacking his chubby face aside,

"Ahhh!" With a gasp of pain Raven grabs his cheeks while trying desperately to soothe his throbbing jaw, turning he shouts anew, at the sight of an unconscious attractive tall teen, the other body, Raven mules over the series of events leading to his current predicament, (where'd this body come from?, No i can solve that mystery latter, for now this is an advantage, i just have to control it, do i switch bodies only when i fall unconscious?, I don't want to have to hurt myself to switch back, surely it has to work with sleep, there's certainly more rules to this.) Raven decides to try going back to sleep. Almost instantly he wakes up in the tall toned body yet he chooses to force himself to bed again returning to his real body, Raven struggles to his feet only to find himself devoid of strength, he stumbles down but finds himself unable to repeat his previous feat of reflexive reaction, examining the body closely he is certain of his previous realisation,

(It looks exactly like me, the black eyes and hair, the stern eyes same lips basically all the same, except the few injury scary on this body it's identical to me. I could swear I'd look this way if i just lose some weight)

Raven proceeds to wear a pair of joggers and a t shirt before heading over to the nearest grocery stall, getting a few boxes of the cheapest store made cuisine. he heads back home to eat, a few minutes later he's done when a full stomach and tired mind forces him to bed, upon waking midnight the next day Raven stretches his long lean muscled limbs when a growling stomach assault's him, (That's bullshit!), having eaten before bed Raven contemplates the reason why this body could be hungry before smacking his face in realisation,

"Two bodies two meals", (looks like i'll have to get a part-time)

Taking to his mat again he finds himself unable to fall asleep. After several minutes of failed attempts he hops to his feet ignoring his body's protests of hunger, walking up to his bag, he fishes out a sleeping pill before popping it into his mouth,

(this isn't drug abuse right?),

Several minutes after drug it takes hold returning him to his body

Days fly buy and Raven quickly adjusts to the situation, after repeated trials he'd learned quite a bit on how the consciousness transference worked,

(when i sleep i wake up in the body left unused and said body retains a restive state, but if I'm forced awake or fall asleep i wake up in the other, Three, the resting body feels hunger, pain and any other physical stimulus independently while resting though any prolonged feeling is transferred unto me at the point of assimilation, feeling the hunger or pain of the resting body after transference, forcing one body to stay awake seems to somehow draw energy from the other, as long as I'm determined to stay awake i could probably beat the world record for longest time without sleeping though it burns the energy fast and leaves the other body under strain, lastly despite the constant alertness or sluggishness from fatigue of my consciousness once the body i'm in is switched, my mind feels refresh like I'd just woke up).