"Torin, please please please take me out," Ravyn whined as she sat next to her best friend and pseudo brother at lunch. He didn't look up, busy pretending to be interested in actually eating food. Ever since Cal's recent meltdown, he hadn't been taking care of himself at all. The worst Ravyn had seen yet.
"Only if you take me out first, Ray," he countered, sounding somewhat sincere. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort him. She didn't exactly know how to do the "make people feel better" thing. Usually, she just applied alcohol to the internal wound and hoped for the best. Or yelled at the person until they got their act together. She had a feeling this wouldn't work as well with Torin this time.
"Okay. How can I help? Something is worse than usual. What went wrong this time?" Ravyn asked sincerely. He tensed before answering.
"Excalibur and Ksenia are social media official, and he's publicly announced he's 'elated to take her home for Christmas.'" His deep, raspy voice revealed his emotions further. Torin was struggling to keep it together, and as Ravyn wrapped her arms around him, she could practically feel his heartbreak.
"Well, Cal is an even bigger idiot than I thought. But I'm almost confident he's doing this to hurt you. Not that that helps at all." Nope, Ravyn did not know how to comfort people. As the one who was usually being comforted, she thought she would know how. But nope.
"I wish I knew how to help, Tori. I could punch Cal for you, but since I'm family he'd definitely punch back. And I'd destroy Ksenia socially, but I think she's already done that since she's dating Cal when the entire school sans Meg ships the two of you." When he shook, it wasn't with a sob, but with a chuckle.
"Please never take your cousin on, Ray. You're a killer fighter, but Cal is the best in our age group for a reason." There was a somber edge to Torin's tone, so she hugged him tighter.
"I know he sucks, Tori. Believe me, I know. But we're gonna get through his stupidity together, okay?" He sniffled and nodded before resting his head atop Ravyn's.
"Okay."
YOU ARE READING
A Coalition Story
Teen Fiction"Ravyn, I don't even know if I'm into guys," Cal whispered harshly. "Torin isn't a guy, he's a man, and you're into him," the willowy girl insisted, pushing her cousin forward roughly. He groaned, which caught Torin's attention, distracting him from...
