Silent World

by Natalie Warren

  "Poor guy," she commented. "He can't get laid, so he has to try his luck with one of the hottest girls in the school? What a fail!" Raven sighed and knew there was no point telling Elaise she was wrong. The brunette was very pretty, always had perfect hair and looked great no matter what outfit she wore. Although Raven was very self-conscious, Elaise always insisted that the blonde was smoking-hot, even though it was far from the truth.

  "One of the hottest?" Bianca echoed with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

  "Well, of course there's me, too," Elaise raised her chin and the other girls glanced at each other.

  They all dispersed to Role Call and afterwards, Raven met up with Elaise in their first class; Music. The teacher marked the role and everyone left to go play instruments that were in the storeroom. Raven didn't rise from her seat as quickly as she normally would and Elaise had to return to wait for her.

  "Are you okay?" her friend asked.

  "Yeah," Raven nodded, getting to her feet. "Just thinking."

  "About White Grass?" the blonde nodded. "Trust me, Rich, this could be the best thing for you. It's fully protected and nobody can hurt you there."

  Raven nodded again and Elaise led her past the storeroom, grabbing an acoustic guitar on her way. They sat in the next room, across the soundproof rooms that contained the amplifiers and the drums.

  Raven sat in front of the piano and lifted the lid, brushing her fingers across the keys. "What if it isn't safe? What if I'm found there?"

  Elaise started playing a melody on the guitar and closed her eyes for a moment. "If it isn't as safe as we think, we'll escape." She opened her eyes and looked at her friend. "You're my best friend, Rich; my sister. It could be a fresh start for both of us."

  Raven knew that. Elaise had stayed by her side and protected her against just about everything. Elaise was the one who had helped Raven come out of her shell to become the person she was now. The blonde girl frowned as she played the piano, reciting a tune she had written herself. She loved the piano, with each note able to bring back a memory or a feeling.

  What Elaise said was also true. White Grass probably could be the best thing for her right now. If it was constantly protected, then nobody could get to her. Nobody could find her unless they knew she was there. She would be safe.

  But were the students safe to be around? Was the school so protected because the students were rule-breakers? She shook her head and remembered what Leanna had said about the academy a few days prior; it had the most disciplined students there ever could be. So the students wouldn't be easy going, she thought.

  Though, she had to ask herself, if the students were so disciplined, and the school was so safe… Why was it guarded? Why were dogs needed to patrol the school grounds? What could an academy possibly want to be protected from?

  However, the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. It would mean a fresh start. Nobody would know who she was, and nobody would know about her past. She could clean the slate and start over, make new friends and maybe… maybe meet a boy that would treat her right.

  Raven took a deep breath, letting the words flow from her mouth before she could stop herself. "I want to go."

  Elaise stopped strumming on the guitar and looked up. "Pardon?"

  "White Grass," Raven took her hands away from the piano keys and turned in her seat to face her friend. "I want to go."

  Elaise looked pleased and dipped her head. "Are you sure?" Raven nodded and the brunette smiled. "Okay, then all we need now is to be expelled."

  "How do we do that?" Raven blinked and tried to imagine what they could possibly do that would be bad enough for them to be sent to the academy. What hadn't they already done that could get them expelled from Blue Rose High? "It's not like we can walk up to Mister Hawkins and say 'we'd like to be expelled'."

  Elaise's smile only grew. "No, we don't have to do that. I have a plan that I've been wanting to execute for a while, but with the threat of the boarding school, I had almost forgotten about it."

  The blonde watched Elaise's expression carefully and Raven was thoroughly confused. "What are you on about?" There had been a plan that Elaise hadn't informed her about?

  "Considering it's going to be our last stunt," the girls' blue eyes scanned the room for any possible eavesdropper before she leaned towards Raven to whisper, "let's go down with a big bang."

  New Girls

  2. New girls

  "Tell me again, why a school would have gunpowder?!"

  Raven was still having trouble understanding what Elaise had just told her. The brunette said, as confidently as if she had just told her fish couldn't live outside of water, that the Science teachers had gunpowder locked away in the storerooms. What would teachers be doing with that sort of stuff in a school?

  "My teacher once used it for an experiment," Elaise explained as they checked the science labs and made their way to the storeroom. "With tiny amounts, she tried to teach us how olden day guns worked. If we could get the whole bag of it, imagine how big of a flamethrower we could make!"

  "Let's just get it first," Raven smiled and pulled two paperclips from her pocket, bending them quickly as Elaise kept watch. "Do you have the parts for the control?"

  "Yes, I've already snatched the necessary equipment from my Art and IT classes," Elaise told her friend.

  Raven nodded and shoved the ends of the paperclips into the lock to the storeroom, wriggling them around to find the right spot. They had chosen lunch time to put it all together, when the teachers would be in the staff room or out on watch duty and wouldn't find it suspicious to see the two girls wandering around the school.

  Raven grinned as she heard the click and she put the paperclips back into her pocket, opening the door to the room. Elaise dashed in, clearly knowing what she was looking for, and returned with a medium-sized, brown bag full of gunpowder!

  "I wonder how they even got it," Raven blinked but collected their schoolbags. Elaise carried the bag out of the building and Raven dashed ahead to keep an eye out for teachers, ready to alert Elaise so they didn't get caught.

  They had to avoid a fair few teachers before they finally reached a bin that had recently been emptied of trash. Elaise quickly poured the gray powder into the bin and put her lighter in it, attaching a mechanical piece she had put together in her computer class that would attract the signal from the control, sparking the lighter.

  Raven led her friend over to a grassy spot, a fair distance away from the bin, and Elaise pulled a plastic bag from her schoolbag that contained the pieces she needed for the control.

  They turned their backs to the bin so it didn't seem suspicious and Elaise pulled everything out of the plastic bag, piecing it together like it was a simple jigsaw puzzle. Raven couldn't make heads or tails of what her friend was doing, so she sat in silence and waited patiently as Elaise connected the wires. The superstitious brunette was also a freak for technology, as well as a strong believer in God. Raven kind of hoped that Elaise wasn't actually planning on one day building a giant death ray because 'God asked her to' and wipe out all of humanity, as well as all of the demons she was convinced that lived on the Earth.

  "Okay, it's ready," Elaise smiled, holding up her newly built remote control. Raven inspected it and took the time to admire it. They both turned around to sit facing the bin and Elaise wore the most sadistic grin on her face, which made Raven just a tad bit nervous.

  "Time to blow it up?" Raven asked, unable to keep away a small smile. She frowned however, when she spotted Sam and Erik sitting a safe distance away from the bin, trying to hide their chuckles of laughter. Beside them, Raven noticed small buckets. "Hang on-"

  "Let's do it!" Elaise slammed her finger down on the big button and Raven quickly covered her ears as the gunpowder lit up and exploded with a crackling sound like thunder. The explosion was minor, and Raven was disappointed. Where were the flames? Where was the giant plume of smoke?

  Instead, she heard the students screaming and she r
ealized what had happened as green paint rained down on the kids on the oval, smothering them. Girls squeaked as the paint spread through their hair and one boy cried out as a drop almost hit him in the eye.

  "What?" Elaise blinked. "What's with the paint? Where's the fire?!"

  Raven glared over at Sam and Erik and the brunette finally spotted them. "The boys sabotaged it!" Raven hissed. They must have covered just enough of the gunpowder, leaving the small bit beside the lighter, to achieve the paint bomb.

  "They're dead!" Elaise growled and the two girls threw their bags over their shoulders, jumping up and racing after the quickly fleeing boys.

  The girls chased them around the corner but Raven nearly barreled into Sam as the two boys skidded to a stop. Raven and Elaise blinked and looked around them, seeing Mr. Hawkins and Mrs. Robinson, the principal and deputy principal. Their eyes lit up with rage when they saw the paint on the boys' hands, and the control still clutched in Elaise's hand.

  Elaise lightly tapped Raven's arm and they spun to try and get away, but Mr. Hawkins grabbed them both by the backs of their shirts.

  "What in God's name did you think you were doing?!" he snarled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

  "The boy's ruined it!" Elaise crossed her arms stubbornly. "If they had of left it alone, it would have just been a small explosion. A paint bomb is child's play!"

  "Are you trying to say something?" Erik glared at her.

  "You're a child," she sneered and Raven shook her head, trying her best to hide a smile of satisfaction.

  "You will all be severely punished for this," Mrs. Robinson put her hands on her hips.

  "Awesome," Raven mumbled but shut her mouth when the deputy narrowed her eyes at her.

  Mr. Hawkins led the four teenagers through the school and into his office, telling them to remain standing as he sat at his desk and made phone calls. Mrs. Robinson sat beside the desk and Raven flashed a grin at Elaise. This would definitely get them sent to White Grass!

  Sam's and Erik's parents came to collect them first, but Raven almost hid behind Elaise when their parents appeared and wore expressions that screamed with fury. The blonde knew she was going to have a headache by the time she got home.

  Lorna almost dragged her out of the office by her ear when Mr. Hawkins told the parents their kids were expelled from the school. The two girls walked side by side into the parking lot with their parents talking to one another.

  "We can take Elaise with us tomorrow if you'd like," Jon was saying. So, they were going to be sent tomorrow? That was great!

  "That sounds quite reasonable," Elaise's mother, Elizabeth, nodded her head. Raven remembered her brunette friend telling her that her mother thought of herself as Queen Elizabeth herself! "It would be most appreciated."

  "We'll drop her off once she has packed her things," Elaise's father, Adrian, sighed. "I honestly expected more from the both of them."

  Raven didn't have time to say goodbye to Elaise as her friend was dragged away to her car and driven home. The blonde took a deep breath before getting into the car with her parents and put her seatbelt on, waiting for them to speak.

  "Do you realize what you've just done, young lady?" Lorna hissed. There it was.

  "Yes," Raven nodded calmly, failing to hide her smile.

  "Do you think this is funny?" Jon spat. "You were just expelled! Do you want to go to White Grass?"

  "Yes," the blonde repeated with another nod.

  "This morning you were complaining that you didn't want to go," Lorna scoffed. "I know you don't want to; you just want to try and prove you can get away with whatever you like!"

  "You clearly don't know me very well," Raven sneered. "I've changed my mind. If it means I don't have to come home to you guys every day, I'll gladly go to White Grass!"

  "Glad you think of it that way," Lorna growled. "We'll be calling the academy as soon as we get home and you'll be going first thing in the morning!"

  "Yay!" Raven cheered like a child. This was perfect. She could go to White Grass and get the fresh start she needed.

  When they got home, Raven dashed straight upstairs and pulled out three large bags from her cupboard, throwing them to the floor. She went to her computer and turned it on, signing onto the internet. Elaise was already online, easily spotted by her profile name: Werewolves_Vampires_&&_Pixies_Exist!. Raven had no idea why Elaise was such a supernatural freak, but it was a bit nerving when the brunette took it so seriously. Raven didn't believe in any of it, but there was no point arguing with Elaise.

  Elaise's chat popped up with a video call request and Raven turned her webcam on, accepting the call. Two screens popped up, one of Raven and one of Elaise who was holding an armful of crucifixes, small bottles of holy water and a wooden stake with a smile on her face.

  "Um… Elaise?" Raven blinked with shock. "What are they for?"

  "You think I'm leaving them behind?!" Elaise looked appalled by the idea. "You never know what we might run into!"

  "You're the one saying it was safe…" Raven muttered.

  "Have you tried to protect yourself from ghosts and spirits? No!" the brunette grumbled but poked her tongue out. "You never know. It's just in case. It's all going in my trunk!" The girl left her chair that was in her room and turned her camera so Raven could see the trunk her friend was talking about. She shook her head when she saw what was plastered all over it: "Do not touch!" "Danger!" "Touchers die!"

  Raven sighed, watching her friend put all of her supernatural objects into the trunk and lock it up. "There's no such thing."

  "There is and you know it!" Elaise huffed. "Besides, what are you packing?"

  "Just a bunch of clothes, some empty books and my photo album," Raven chewed her lip. "What else would we need?" She hadn't really thought about what she would need to take. It wasn't like she could take her entire room!

  "Don't forget Rover," he friend smiled.

  Raven nodded and found her dog teddy sitting on her bedside table. She picked it up and hugged it tightly. She'd had the teddy for several years and she was unable to sleep without it nearby.

  She stopped for a moment as thoughts popped into her head. "Elaise, I'll be back." She put Rover down and raced out of her room, slowing when she reached the stairs. She made her descent as quietly as she could and heard her parents in the living room, talking on the phone.

  "Yes, she tried to blow up her school!" Jon was saying and Raven snorted at his exaggeration. She made her way to the kitchen and opened the cupboard, spotting an untouched box of Coco Pops and snatched it from the shelf, quietly making her way back up the stairs.

  "She's like this because of her troubled past," Lorna was saying to whoever was on the other end of the phone at, no doubt, White Grass Academy. "It still scares her."

  Raven growled and stormed up the stairs, making her footsteps as heavy as she could. Lorna had no right to say anything like that to a complete stranger! She walked back into her room and Elaise laughed when she saw the blonde with her box of cereal.

  "You're not serious…" Elaise couldn't contain her fits of laughter and almost fell off her chair.

  "They might not have them at White Grass," Raven frowned and gently placed her cereal in one of her bags.

  "That's true," the brunette nodded. "But anyway, I've finished packing, so I'll get my parents to drop me off now. See you soon!"

  Raven nodded and the video chat closed down as Elaise went offline. Raven turned to her wardrobe and pulled all the drawers open, grabbing all of her clothes and shoving them into her bags. She grabbed her photo album full of pictures of her and her friends and put it into one of the fullest bags, zipping it up. She finished her packing of the other two bags and had to double and triple check to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. When she was certain her packing was complete, she put her bags to the side of the room and pulled out her spare mattress from under her bed. She left her room to get some pillows and a blanket from the linen cupboard, taking them back
to her room to set up the bed for Elaise.

  She dashed to the bathroom and collected all of her make-up, her hairbrush and toiletries, putting them into another little bag so she had them all together. She put it in her room for the time being and jumped as the doorbell rang.

  She walked downstairs and already saw Lorna opening the front door, revealing Elaise at the front with three heavy-looking bags and her trunk. Her parents stood behind her with disappointment written on their faces.

  "Hey, Rich!" Elaise smiled.

  Raven greeted her and her parents before she took two of Elaise's bags, leading her friend upstairs. She heard Elizabeth and Adrian already speaking to Raven's parents and the blonde sighed.