Hidden Truths // Riven

07

CHAPTER VII:

❄︎ NEW FRIENDS ❄︎

"my relationships were destroyed"

__________

•

Riven

Riven was skipping training, not that Silva or any of the other Specialists were surprised. He had invited Demi and Beatrix to hang out in his dorm for a bit. She didn't mind skipping a couple of her boring classes. She hated runes.

They didn't speak much, but the company was nice. Demi did make them laugh from time to time, commenting on the book she was reading. Beatrix was reading a book, too. Riven couldn't believe they wasted their time on that stuff.

In the silence, a phone rang. They all glanced at their phones, thinking someone had texted them. Beatrix set her phone back down. Riven looked at his, thinking Dane texted back, however, it wasn't his phone that rang. It was Demi's. She stared down at it and said, "I'm going to use the bathroom."

Riven furrowed his eyebrows, watching as she closed the door behind her. He knew there was something off about her by the way she spoke. Then, a phone buzzed and Riven drew his attention to his phone again. He snickered and showed it to Beatrix.

"Homophobic gay-bashing by GIF. Truly, you've reached your peak clever," Beatrix replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Look, one: I don't think he's full-gay," Riven said. "Probably mostly, but, two: I don't care. Just 'cause he's gay, it doesn't mean he has to be lame."

"So you're gonna help him by making him feel bad about himself?" Beatrix concluded questionably. "A well-intentioned bully."

"That's the plan," Riven replied. "Why?
Is that a confusing archetype for you?"

Riven chuckled, looking back at his phone. It wasn't until Beatrix called for Demi that he looked away.

"You okay in there?" Beatrix asked, standing up.

"It's only been a minute or so," Riven told her. "Don't freak out."

"I'm not freaking out if she fell into the toilet or something," Beatrix said. "It's that."

Below the door, they could see frost covering the bottom. The last time something like that had happened was at the party when she had gotten upset.

Beatrix knocked on the door, but she didn't reply. Curious, Riven stood up and grabbed the door knob.

"Are you kidding?" said Beatrix, stopping him. "You're going to storm in there when she's on the toilet?"

"Do you hear her taking a piss?" asked Riven. "You were the one worrying about her."

"And now look at the who's the one worrying," Beatrix smirked, and she walked back to where she was sitting.

Riven rolled his eyes, genuinely worried about what was making her freeze up his bathroom. He knocked again, then opened the door with his eyes closed.

"Shit! Riven, get the hell out!" Demi demanded, and he felt her hands on his shoulders, telling him it was safe to open his eyes.

"What are you doing exactly?" Riven asked.

"Nothing, I just— "

Riven saw a glimpse of an image on her phone. Swiftly, he snatched it from her hand, holding it up high so she couldn't reach it, and swiped through the photos. Demi stopped fighting, and Riven began looking through their texts.