The Raven Cycle Short Stories

Break Time

He sat at his desk, finishing up some homework, and blasting music through his headphones. The fingers of his left hand tapped along to the beat, a fast 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3, then repeating over again.

Grimacing at the math problems, he leans back in his chair. Whelk, his roommate, was enjoying an after-school bite at the local Pizzaria with some classmates. He had invited Noah, but the blonde boy had refused, stating that he had work to finish before the swim club meeting later that afternoon.

His mind starts wandering as he shifts his gaze to the window. The little town of Henrietta was an odd place. The energy here was different from any place Noah had been before. Not only an atmospheric energy, but an all around type. Something giving off the feeling of connection. Multiple people being connected in the same moment.

A bird landing on a nearby tree takes him out of his slight stupor. Deciding to take a break from his school work, he shuts his book, leaving his pencil on the page he was working on. His alarm clock reads 3:24 pm, roughly an hour until practice starts.

Twirling in his chair a few times, he groans, throwing his head back in exhaustion. No good could come from putting off his work, but he was not in the mood at the moment.

Ripping the cord of his headphones out of the jack, he hooks his mp3 player up to his computer, letting the music play out a little too loudly.

He smiles slightly, jumping up from the chair and bopping his head around, he jumps around the room. Whelk would kill him if he were here. Not one to like loud interruptions from his brooding.

The music picked up, making it hard for him to continue hopping around to. Out of breath, he flopped onto his bed, starting an air drum solo. That's how Whelk found him, 30 minutes later, still drumming an invisible drum kit in the air.

"Turn it down, will ya Czerny?" He says, walking in. "You're gonna shake this place to the ground with how loud that is."

Reaching over, Noah tries to grasp his laptop from where he's laid, before sighing and getting up, finally turning it down.

"Yeah, yeah, buzzkill. Wouldn't kill you to loosen up a little." The blonde mumbled the last part. Not paying mind to the small glare sent his way, he starts rifling through his drawers, looking for his Aglionby swim team uniform. Pulling it out, he shoves it into his bag with the rest of his gear.

..........

Whelk pulls his gaze away from his roommate, shaking his head. Why they got paired together, he may never know. He didn't mind the boy, but they were rather different from each other. One being more subdued, the other, outgoing and loud. But they had their similarities as well. Perhaps that was why...

Whelk gets pulled out of his thoughts by a small thud. Turning, he notices that Noah had picked up a small snowglobe, only to drop it slightly, creating the sound he had heard. Luckily, it wasn't that far of a drop, so it didn't break all over their carpet.

"Sorry..." Noah's voice came out softer. "Had to move it for a second." He looks up at Whelk, smiling, slightly embarrassed.

"It's fine." Whelk replied.

..........

Noah finished grabbing his stuff, making sure it was all there before giving a short goodbye to Whelk.

Closing the door behind him, he heads out of the dorms, taking a path to the Athletics building.

He breathes in the warm air, spreading his arms wide, continuing his walk in silence.

The energy was palpable. He could feel it, taste it, smell it. He couldn't help but feel like this was just the start of his journey.

A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! Sorry it's not that great. Major writing block recently. Also, I know my tenses switch sometimes, it's my worst trait in my writing 😬.

Love y'all