Rewrite (Raven x Apple)

~Chapter Thirty-Six~

That very night, every student was contently asleep in their dorms, grateful to finally sleep in their own beds again. That is, all but one.

Raven sit at her desk, wide awake. She had every Ever After High yearbook from the past four years scattered around her. She tightly grasped the list of students in her left hand, the lined paper crinkly slightly at her grip. She was biting on that pen. Again. There were teeth marks all over the end of it. It had become a bit of a habit of hers to bite on the pen whenever she got anxious, which was fairly often.

Her eyes shifted around everything around her. Every yearbook, every photo with another student, and every blackmailing letter. Raven quickly glanced behind her, checking to see if Apple was still asleep. In the brief second her eyes caught sight of the bed, she saw Apple was still sound asleep, curled up into a fetal position on Raven's bed.

She let out a sigh of relief, sitting back in her chair and staring at the papers around her. Her mind raced with thoughts. She flipped through her notepad and passed the list of students. She landed a couple of pages behind it and began writing what she knew. Facts. Clues.

-There are two blackmailers
-One (at least) can camouflage/disappear/run away
-One (at least) owns a mirrorphone

That's all she knew. That's all she could figure out so far.

That's it?! She thought. That couldn't be it. Right?

Raven cursed under her breath. These blackmailers were doing a pretty good job at keeping their secret, that's for sure.

But how could she know if there were two? Maybe they were talking to themself? No, no, because the first voice was a female one and the silhouette had a more masculine figure. What if the silhouette had nothing to do with the blackmailer and just got confused? That might be it. But it could just-

"Raven?"

Raven's heart dropped and her eyes widened. Her head shot back, and just as she had predicted, Apple was awake. She sat up in Raven's bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Raven flashed her best nervous smile at Apple, quickly throwing everything on her desk in a pile and throwing it under the desk, covering it with the jacket hanging at the back of her chair.

"Hey, Apple...why are you awake?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Apple sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the clearly exhausted Raven.

"I was...uhm...just...doing some homework."

Apple raised an eyebrow, seeing right through Raven's act.

"We've been on a field trip for the past week. Why would you possibly have homework now?"

Raven bit her lip and looked away, knowing that she couldn't lie to Apple anymore.

Apple sighed and stood up from the bed, walking over to Raven. She gently placed her hands on Raven's shoulder and knelt down, so they were at about the same level.

"It's our first day back. You should get a good night's sleep. I know you need it."

Apple spoke quietly and calmly, trying to relax Raven in any way she could.

"I don't know where all his stress is coming from but I do know it isn't healthy for you."

Raven sighed and leaned back on her chair. She obviously could tell Apple what was going on, but she knew she needed to continue with her investigation.

"I just...can't sleep. That's all."

"Why not? Did Something happen?"

"No, I'm just working on something. I promise I'll get some sleep soon."

Raven looked back and tried her best to put on a convincing smile. Fear strung itself through her body. She prayed that Apple wouldn't ask what this "project" was.

"Project? Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I saw our junior year yearbook-"

"YES. I was just looking through it earlier and I forgot to put it away."

Raven held a large, fake smile as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Apple raised an eyebrow at Raven's sudden desperation to defend herself for simply having a yearbook out.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I was just wondering. You've seemed a lot more stressed lately."

"What? No, I haven't."

"Mhm. And that chewed-up pen is sure proving your point." Apple said, pointing to the pen, which was left sitting on the desk.

"Well, maybe I'm a little more anxious than usual, but that's normal. Especially since spring fairest is coming up, and I have a handful of tests the next few weeks and-"

"Raven. Slow down. Take your foot off the gas." Apple calmly said, bringing herself fully to her feet. She gently collected Raven's hair in her hands and began to braid it.

"You need some rest. I can tell."

Raven sighed and let herself lean back ever so slightly in her hair. She knew it was pointless to argue with Apple on this one.

"Just...give me thirty more minutes, tops. I'll be in bed right after that."

"No. You're going to sleep and you're going to sleep now."

Apple spoke firmly as her hands weaved the black and purple strands of Raven's hair into a braid.

Raven sighed and bit her fingernail, her eyes shifting down to the pile beneath her desk that was covered in a jacket. She needed to sleep. But she also needed to get through this investigation.

"Ten more minutes. Please." Raven calmly asked, trying to make her tone soft and convincing.

Apple grumbled and finished the braid, tying it with a small, plastic hair tie.

"Seriously? What is this project anyways?"

"It's...not important."

"Then go to sleep!"

"But I need to finish it!"

"You just said it wasn't important!"

"Well, not for you. It's important for me"

That was technically the truth. Right?

"Raven. Please. Sleep." Apple begged her, her arms slithering through the holes in the chair and wrapping around Raven's waist. Apple bent down and buried her head into Raven's shoulder, her voice becoming slightly muffled.

"Please?"

"Ten more minutes."

"Raven." Apple groaned.

"I promise, ten minutes. That's it."

"Fine."

Apple backed away reluctantly, sitting back down on Raven's bed.

"I guess I'll just sit here."

She sat, wrapping the blankets around her and curling up into her previous position.

"Alone."

"And cold."

"And sad."

"And lonely."

"Having nightmares."

"Because I'm all alone."

"With nobody else here."

"And it's so sad."

"Because I'm-"

"OKAY! OKAY! I'm coming!"

Raven finally caved in to Apple's manipulation. She stood from her desk and swiftly sat down on the bed.

"Well, I guess...if you insist," Apple said with a sly smirk.

"You owe me for this," Raven grumbled, trying to hide the smile on her face as she wrapped her arms tightly around Apple

"I know"

Word count: 1144