The After School Secret {ON HIATUS}

12

Gabriel, who had been talking to a busty blonde, stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw me. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack; he was obviously just as surprised as I was.

"Kristen? What the hell are you doing here?" He questioned, walking up to me and studying my face, as if he didn't believe it was me. "Raven, you brought her?"

"We ran into some trouble, Gabriel. I had to." Raven's voice was solemn, but final. He wasn't saying anything more on the matter-- at least not yet. "Is there someplace private we can talk?"

Gabriel nodded and led us to a door at the back of the bar. It opened to a completely desolate room-- not even furniture in sight. Gabriel leaned against a wall and looked at Raven expectedly as he closed the door.

"So? What trouble did you get in?" Gabriel questioned. Raven relayed the story to him. His reaction surprised me- he didn't even look startled. He just nodded along.

"Sounds like something Geer would do." Gabriel finally spoke, leading Raven to nod.

"That's what I was thinking, too." Raven replied, crossing and uncrossing his arms causing his muscles to bulge. I tried not to stare.

Finally, I came out of my stupor.

"Wait, can someone explain what the hell is going on?" I shouted, raising my hand into the air in complaint. "How do you guys even know each other? And who is Geer?"

Raven chuckled.

"We think the attack was planned. Didn't you find it odd that we packed up and left just because of Faun? It wasn't just her. I needed an excuse to get you to come," When I glared at him, Raven shot me a sly grin. "Geer is a very dangerous man who you do not want to get involved with and should not ask questions about."

Although he only answered one of my questions, I was satisfied for the time being. Seeing this, Raven turned back to Gabriel.

"Where are you staying?" Gabriel questioned, looking between Raven and me.

"Some crappy motel a few miles down. It's not that great, but it's cheap." Raven replied. "Why? You need a place?"

Gabriel chuckled.

"The opposite, actually. Do you wanna stay at mine and the guys'? There's plenty of room." He offered. Raven's face lit up.

"The guys?" I piped in, tired of being left out of the conversation. However, Raven and Gabriel ignored me.

"Yeah, dude. If it's not a problem, that is." Raven grinned as he accepted Gabriel's offer. I sighed.

~*~

We had been driving for an hour, following Gabriel's beat-up pickup to the house he apparently shared with four other guys. Raven swore it was fraternal, but it sounded a little romantic to me. Five guys living together in one house in the middle of nowhere? Not suspicious at all.

However, it seemed I didn't really have a choice in the matter. Unless, of course, I wanted to stay at the bar and camp out there and hope I wasn't kidnapped. After I asked Raven about the house we were on our way to, he was silent. It was an extremely insufferable and intolerable silence for me, but Raven drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and hummed. I hadn't seen him so at rest.

I sighed audibly, turning to stare out the window. After a half an hour of driving, the city was completely out of site. We had passed a few houses towards the beginning, but now they were few and far in between. The last one had been ten minutes ago.

Instead, fields and forests surrounded the road, creating eerie shadows over the street. It was amazing how desolate and creepy it could be just forty miles away from Las Vegas.

Shivers trailed up my spine as the sun creeped down, and I turned to watch Raven instead. He seemed to be in his element, not even noticing me staring. He looked so relaxed, so calm. From the side, his definite cheekbones and jawline seemed sharp enough to cut through bone and light stubble had began to grow across his cheeks, creating a dark shadow. Long lashes beat down as he blinked, as soft as butterfly wings.

"A picture would last longer." A voice startled me out of my reverie. I blushed, turning to the side.

"I wasn't staring." I said quickly, refusing to even glance towards him in case he was trying to make eye contact.

He chuckled.

"It's okay."

Finally, I turned to look at him. He wasn't watching me, but he had a small smile on his face. A genuine smile. This Raven seemed so different from the teasing one I knew and love-hated. I couldn't decide which one I liked more.

"Are we almost there?" I questioned, attempting to change the subject but keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, it'll probably be about ten minutes."

I nodded my head, although he wasn't looking at me, and turned back to stare out the window.

There was complete silence for a few minutes until he spoke up.

"Kristen, I know this is so crazy and everything is moving so fast. Honestly, I thought you would've gone insane by now, but maybe it just hasn't hit yet," Raven chuckled, "You'll like the guys. They're all really cool, and good guys, too."

For a minute, I wondered if he took my silence as anxiety for meeting the guys.

In reality, I didn't know why I hadn't started freaking out yet. I got thrown from my life in a matter of days, with a guy I barely know and another that I thought lived hundreds of miles away, and being threatened by a stranger who may not be a stranger after all--- even trying to sort out the events was confusing. Maybe Raven was right and the shock just hadn't hit yet.

Before I had time to ponder further, Raven spoke up.

"We're here."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I WROTE THIS ALL IN ONE SITTING ON MOBILE BC I FELT SO BAD FOR NOT UPDATING AND HONEST TO GOD I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS BOOK IS GOING IM GONNA MAKE THIS SO CLICHE AND HAVE A BUMCH OF PLOTTWISTS AND WHAT EVEN IS MY ACTUAL PLOT SIGH

anyway rambling aside:

SORRY FOR THE WAIT

THANK YOU FOR THE ATTENTION

THANK YOU FOR WAITING

THANK YOU IN GENERAL

I can't guarantee that I'll be updating more often, just bc im so busy, but I'll try my best to not make you wait too long.

-krista