Unlikely

Chapter Thirteen

Karen kept texting versions of plans, but Olivia didn’t feel like any of them were right. In all actuality, she didn’t want to plan. She wanted to act, and settle the matter forever. Classes ticked by, getting in the way of that plan, and Olivia read Karen’s messages to take her mind off of her boring assignments.

Start a rumor?

Cut her hair off?

Do something to her car?

Get Darin to reveal all her secrets?

As soon as Karen brought up Darin’s name, Olivia tucked her phone back into her pocket. The teacher hadn’t noticed a thing, so wrapped up in teaching about the finals.

Raw energy fueled Olivia’s steps through the hallway, and it was only unlucky that Olivia saw Raven before she saw Karen. Turning to follow the dark-haired girl, she barely heard Karen protest, “We don’t have a plan!”

Surprisingly, Raven motioned for the bathroom. “Come talk with me,” she said, eyes still wide with fear. Glancing to Karen, she added, “Alone.”

“Fine,” Olivia agreed, much to Karen’s dismay. The door swung shut behind them, closing them both into the small space. Raven took a step back toward the sinks, but nothing further, folding her arms over her chest.

“You’ve got to stop,” Raven pleaded.

Wanting to roll her eyes, Olivia asked, “Why, because you’re afraid of not having things go the way you want them to?” Olivia had been there, done that.

“Whatever you’re doing, you’re stirring up a lot of bad things,” Raven said, moving her hand in a circular motion like that would explain everything. At least the fear made her seem a little more real, if strange. Olivia could definitely see her keeping herbs around. “You’ve got to stop your emotions before something bad happens.”

Stop her emotions? “I can feel what I want,” she snapped. “Whatever the consequences are, you brought them on yourself. You were the one that cursed me.”

Expecting denial, Olivia felt surprised when Raven sighed tiredly. “You weren’t supposed to have powers,” she grumbled. “I was doing it for the balance of the world and to set things right. You knew you couldn’t keep them.”

Glowering, Olivia asked, “Why did you just tell me that instead of haunting me?”

“Look, I’m not a bad person,” Raven said. “I could’ve gone about it a lot of different ways, and I let you have them for a long time. But college is coming up, and I knew once we went different ways I’d never have a chance to set things right. I wanted you to come to terms with losing your power on your own.”

She wrung her hands nervously. Her words sounded sincere, and like she expected Olivia to thank her.

Olivia faltered in her angry response, wondering if Raven wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. In this environment she looked more natural than normal, the fluorescents giving her the same dullness as everyone else, and without a posse, she seemed more approachable. Her eyes and downturned head said she cared for Olivia’s wellbeing.

Why all the dark looks, then?

“How should I trust you?” Olivia asked, backing toward the door when the warning bell rang. “You’ve been out to get me since you figured out I bested you.”

“You didn’t exactly make it easy on me,” Raven snarled, back to her old self. “Everything in life I wanted, you took, simply because you—literally—had the power to do so. Nothing was my own, because you made sure to get to it first.”