His problematic mate

*** Raya’s POV *** * “Look at her shoes.” “Her eyes are so creepy.” “I heard she enjoys killing small animals.” I tried to ignore the whispers and snickers from my fellow students as I was heading towards the entrance of the hell hole they called school. I was used to their harsh words and preconceptions about me, because I heard them every day. None of them took the time to really get to know me and no one wanted to put themselves at the centre of attention in a bad way while doing so either. There were the ones who just stayed away from me and talked about me behind my back, thinking I didn’t hear them, because they were afraid of me. They thought I was cursed. Then there were the bullies who made fun of me in front of everyone for their own entertainment or just to seem cool and popular at my expense. The third kind of group were the ones who just totally ignored me, like I didn’t even exist and, honestly, I preferred it that way. It was not a surprise that I didn’t have a single friend. There were a few nice girls and guys who tried to be my friends before, but my bullies started to bully them as well and that didn’t sit well with me, so I distanced myself from everyone for others’ sake. Why did they behave that way towards me? Because I was different and because they always needed to find a victim to their stupid jokes. My hair was jet black like the darkest night without moonlight. My skin was pale because I was always indoors, since I didn’t have friends to go out with when the weather was nice. My lips were red and my eyes were big and a light shade of blue, which made them look scary to a lot of people, but my mom always told me how beautiful and unique I was. For a long time I thought I was adopted, since my mom looked totally the opposite of me. She had dark blonde hair and green eyes and after a few years I couldn’t take all the questions in my head anymore and asked her straight. She said I was just being silly and I probably looked like my father, who I had never met since I was born, but guess what… mom neither. Strange, huh? I know, but it was true. Mom said she didn’t remember having an affair with anyone, so she assumed that one night when she was out partying with her friends, someone spiked her drink and r*ped her when she wasn’t herself. She said she only remembered waking up in her room, feeling sore in her lady parts, and then a few weeks later, her period was late and she found out that she was pregnant with me. She was nineteen years old at that time and her parents kicked her out of home right away because they didn’t believe her when she said that she was probably r*ped, but she couldn’t remember anything. They were too ashamed to have a daughter like her, so they sent her on her way with a bag and some cash while she was carrying me under her heart. Cruel, right? However, my mom didn’t give up, she never did. She went to live with her grandma while she stopped going to school and got a job in a restaurant. Sadly, my great-grandma died even before I was born, so mom stayed alone, but at least she had somewhere to live. Grandma left her small cottage on the edge of the city to mom and all of her savings, which wasn’t a lot, but it helped mom to survive alone for a while. She worked until she could with a huge belly, then she started babysitting so she could stay at home and take it easy. She could even continue babysitting after I was born and it was the best solution for her since she needed to stay at home with me anyway. I was always very grateful to my mom because she raised me even though she didn’t have anything. She was my hero and she would always be. The story of my mom explains why there are holes in my shoes and clothes, but I never cared about what others thought of me.. Okay, that’s a lie. Others’ harsh words always hurt me, I just learned to ignore them and accept myself the way I was. I always hoped that there was something or someone out there for me and my life would change drastically one day, but I didn’t know what or who. I needed something to keep me going for all those years while I was bullied and laughed at, but with time I became kind of immune to their cruelness. “Move, you freak.” I was suddenly pushed from behind, which made me stumble forward and it snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see a guy who used to make fun of me heading towards the school hurriedly. I just let out a sigh and continued my way through the entrance of the school. The whispers and finger pointing and snickering continued and I didn’t understand how they hadn’t gotten bored of themselves yet. I mean, they have been doing that since I started high school two years ago. I was almost sixteen, so I had two more years here and I couldn’t wait for high school to end. I planned to look for a job as soon as I turned eighteen, when I didn’t need to attend school anymore , but mom didn’t want me. She wanted me to go to college because I was ‘super smart’ as she always said. She said that I don’t need to worry about money because she will get it for the time we need it, but I didn’t want her to. “Ms. Stone, can you please stop daydreaming and pay attention?” I lifted my head up to look at the teacher who was explaining something. “Sorry.” I murmured and earned chuckles from my classmates, but I just rolled my eyes at them. ‘When will they grow up already?’ I wondered. Then suddenly I smelled smoke and rolled my eyes right away, but I was on alert and looked around myself. I didn’t want to take the chance after the last time when that pyromaniac guy almost burned the hair off of my head accidentally. “COLLIN STEVENS, principal’s office, now.” The teacher shouted while glaring at Collin after he noticed the burning paper on the floor. Collin rolled his eyes and stood up before picking up his backpack and walking out of the classroom without a word. I looked down at the burning paper and saw a drawing of a black-haired girl and the word ‘cursed’ was written above her. I couldn’t see the rest of it, but I was sure it was something about me again, like always. The teacher stepped onto the burning paper so that it stopped the flames, but by that time only black ashes were left from it. Then he walked back to the front and continued teaching. “Hey, Raven.” Someone said from behind me and I ignored him. I didn’t want to listen until they learned to use my actual name. “Pssst… are you deaf?” He asked and I rolled my eyes as I turned around. “I am not deaf and my name is not Raven either. What do you want?” I asked Benjamin frustratedly. He was Collin’s side chick, I mean, best friend. “Whatever, Raven. You owe a thanks to Collin, you know? He is in trouble with his dad because of you.” He said reproachfully and my eyes widened slightly. “What? Why would he be in trouble because of me?” I asked him, but then I remember the girl on the paper he burned. “He..” he started to explain, but he was cut off by the teacher. “Raya Stone, principal’s office, now.” I turned to the front in disbelief, but there was no point in starting arguing with him. I just glared at Benjamin and packed up my bag to head to the principal’s office. It wasn’t the first time, so I was familiar there already. When I got to the office, the door was closed but I heard shouting inside. “What the f*ck did you do again? Didn’t I tell you to stop using your power in school?” The principal shouted and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What power? Collin was the principal’s son, so I wasn’t surprised at his tone, especially because Collin was always in trouble. He was a kind of bad boy in the school, but I didn’t understand what power his dad was talking about. I couldn’t hear the rest of their conversation because they were talking in hushed tones, so I just sat down and waited till they finished. After a few minutes, the door opened and Collin walked out and he was seething. He slammed the door shut behind him and then he noticed me. He just looked at me, then started to walk past me, but I stopped him by grabbing his arm gently. “Wait.” He turned back and glared at my hand on his arm. I wanted to ask him what his friend was talking about, but then his skin was burning hot under my touch and that distracted me. Maybe he was so angry that he was boiling from anger or he just simply had a fever. “Are you alright?” I asked him instead. He pulled his arm out of my hold abruptly and glared at me with hatred. “Don’t ever touch me again, don’t even look at me. Just stay the f*ck away from me.” He spat with so much venom dripping from his words that I took a step back from the surprise. Maybe he was really in trouble because of me and he was very angry at me, but I didn’t do anything to him, at least not intentionally, so why did he need to be so rude? Then again… what did I expect? He turned on his heels without waiting for me to say something and stormed away. For a moment, I just stood there and looked at his retiring back, while I tried to hold my tears back. I didn’t know why it still hurt when they treated me like sh*t after all those years, but I couldn’t help it. I took a deep breath and pulled myself together before I faced the door of the principal’s office. “Come in.” I heard him saying even before I knocked. Maybe he saw me on the cameras in the corridor. “What happened again, Raya?” He asked with a sigh when I sat down in the chair in front of him. He was a handsome man around his forties, but he looked much younger than his age. “Nothing special, I just turned around when someone wanted to talk to me.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess the teacher was already upset after Collin’s performance.” I said and he let out a sigh again and rubbed his forehead. “Please try to be sent here less in the future. As much as I enjoy your company, I have a lot to deal with, so please at least you make it easier for me, alright?” He asked and I felt sorry for him. This was my second year in this school and I have been sent to his office thousands of times already. Most of the time, it wasn’t my fault, which he got to find out from the camera footage eventually and we kind of became friends. He was a good man. He was the only one who tried to stop my bullies, with more or less success. “Alright, I will try.” I told him with a smile and stood up to leave. He wasn’t in a good mood so he dismissed me quickly at this time, but then I remembered what Benjamin said earlier. “Oh, one more thing,” I said and turned back towards him. “I am not sure, but I heard that Collin burned that paper because it was something… not so nice written on it about me. Please don’t be so hard on him.” I told him and his eyes slightly widened before he nodded his head. If Collin really got into trouble because of me, then I could help him out at least by telling the truth.