Never Alone, Always Running

Mortale Auguri

"Lass, it's about time you got up, aye?"

Allistor's voice cut sharply through my dream, causing my eyes to snap open. I sighed and rolled over to face the fiery haired male, immediately regretting my decision.

"Allistor! Put a shirt on! Aye yi yi..." I ordered, covering my eyes as he laughed. I heard the fabric of his shirt brush over his shoulders as he pulled it on, along with the swipe of his cigarette being lit. I hesitantly looked back to him, groggily rubbing my eyes as I flopped out of bed. I rubbed the scar on my arm as I trudged tiredly to the closet, fingers brushing along the outfit I'd set out for today. Allistor waved a quick goodbye and stepped out of the room, leaving home to get changed as I heard his footsteps get farther and farther away.

I pulled on my neatly ironed grey skirt, along with a black dress shirt. I then slid on the creamy white vest I had, securing a tie over it as I fixed the buttons. I undid my soft brown hair and let it flow freely down my back, pinning a small grey flower near my left ear. I smiled at the mirror as I packed up my art supplies, grabbing the painting of Allistor off of the easel before heading toward the door. I looked out the windows lining the hall as I walked, seeing that the sky was a greenish orange color. It was likely due to the high frequency of bombs being dropped, but I'd never seen the color so dense before. I didn't think anything of it, however, stepping into the elevator with a yawn. There were two other individuals in the elevator along with myself, a blonde female I recognized as Gabriella although I didn't know her too well, and Lorenza's brother, Lorenzo.

"If it isn't Raven herself! Long time, no see." He grinned, reaching out to shake my hand. I took his hand with a laugh, offering a small smile to Gabriella as well. Lorenzo was a nice guy, but he and his sister fought a lot. She didn't really like me being around him, as he and I did share a dalliance not too long ago, though it wasn't serious. So, in turn, we only hung out when she was on trips. They resembled each other fairly well, both with the same lively hazel eyes. His hair was dark, and he always had it swept messily to the side, but Lorenza's hair was a tad lighter.

"Well, you know Lorenza. She'd kill me if she knew I was ever this close to you."

"You're not lying." He grinned, flashing the same charismatic smile he always wore. The elevator came to a slow stop and we all stepped out, Gabriella nodding a farewell as she waded off into the large crowd to her first class of the day.

I wouldn't see Allistor until my third class of the day, so I figured I'd just hang out with Lorenzo until then. We both had advanced arts first, which I was still nervous about. I really hoped Jessê didn't screw up my other work. Even if I was confident in 'Smeraldo Occhi e un Cielo D'autunno,' the painting I did of Allistor, I still put a tremendous amount of planning and effort into my other work.

"Raven?" Lorenzo inquired, snapping me out of my trance. "Is anyone in that head of yours?"

I couldn't help but to laugh, but found myself quickly overcome with the same gloomy feeling I had only moments ago. Lorenzo's lips curved in a small, concerned frown, slinging his briefcase over his shoulder as we walked. I couldn't lie to him and say I was okay, so I only sighed. He nodded as if he understood, not even asking why I was so down. That was another thing I liked about Lorenzo. He knew when to ask questions and when to keep his mouth shut.

He held the door open for me as we entered the main area of the campus, quickly engulfed in the swarm of students rushing to get to their first classes. The room was alive with various accents and languages, although English and Italian were the most predominant. As I said before, Italy wasn't involved in the war, so allot of people came here from other countries in hopes of starting a new life.

It was honestly surprising how gracious our officials were when granting foreigners into our homeland, but I didn't have a problem with it. As long as the immigrant wasn't F.B.D positive and entered the country legally, no one protested it, to be honest.