"Oh, guys, you're late again today." I sighed heavily, tossing my backpack over one shoulder. "Remember, we still have school, and I really don't feel like running to class again."
Mia, naturally, was the first to roll her eyes. "Relax, Raven. It's not like the school's going to disappear if we're five minutes late.".
Jason just smirked, sipping his iced coffee like he had all the time in the world. "And whose fault is it that we're late? Hmm? Maybe the person who owns a flower shop and insists on opening it every morning before school?"
I shot him a glare. "Excuse me for being responsible."
Mia laughed, putting her arm around me. "Responsible and old-fashioned. Come on, who still has a flower shop anymore? You can just start an online business and sell them off your phone like a normal Gen Z."
I rolled my eyes, pulling out my keys from my pocket and closing up the shop. "I like the smell of flowers, okay? Not everything has to be digital."
Jason leaned forward, a sarcastic grin spreading across his face. "That's a lie. You were literally on the phone for two hours last night stalking that hot chemistry class dude."
My cheeks flushed. "I was not stalking him. I was—"
"Reading his whole life story?" Mia raised an eyebrow.
I groaned. "You both suck."
They burst out laughing as we walked down the road to school, the cool morning breeze rustling the leaves on the trees over us. Another completely normal day. Completely and utterly normal.
At least that's what I told myself every time.
Living a Normal Life
Being a seventeen-year-old girl in this world wasn't exactly thrilling, but it wasn't horrible either. My day was simple—wake up, open my flower shop, get chastised by my best friends for being too responsible, attend school, sit through tedious classes, not completely embarrass myself in front of nice guys, and then go home to my mom's tasty cooking.
Normal. Safe. Predictable.
But then there was the other half of me. The half that felt things.
Like how I could hear people speaking from down the school hallway even though I had dozens of students all talking to each other. Or how I could see a missing earring on the football field from the window on the second floor.
It wasn't something I ever really gave much thought to. I just figured I had really great hearing and vision. Maybe it was inherited. Or perhaps I was simply lucky.
Either way, I never even considered it. Because why would I?
Werewolves didn't exist. Superpowers weren't real. And my life was completely normal.
School, Drama, and a Whole Lot of Trouble
The moment we stepped into school, trouble welcomed us.
"Did you see what happened this morning?" Mia whispered, tugging me along as Jason turned and walked away toward his locker.
"What?" I answered, already pulling out my phone.
She swatted it out of my hands. "Don't use your phone. Listen to me. Kayla and Jordan broke up."
I let my jaw fall. "No way."
"Yes way. And get this? She totally dumped him in front of the entire school in the parking lot. Yelled at him. Flung his hoodie in his face. Called him a cheating rat."
I gasped. "Oh my God. No."
Mia nodded, eyes wide. "It was legendary."
I groaned. "Ugh! Why do I always miss the good stuff?"
At that moment, my ears picked up on a faint whisper from across the hall.
"Sure, Jordan was totally faking with some other girl at school. Kayla's cousin spotted him at the mall—"
I blinked, my gaze in the direction of the speaker. A group of students stood by the lockers, talking in such hushed tones that nobody should have been able to hear them.
And yet… I heard everything.
A shiverchill ran down my spine, but I brushed it off instantly. Coincidence. Maybe I just had super great ears.
Before I could brood on it, the warning bell rang.
"Shit, we're late," I growled, clutching my textbooks.
Mia smiled. "Told you it wouldn't kill us."
I rolled my eyes and hastened to class, unaware that this was the beginning of the end of my so-called 'normal' life.
Something's Not Right
That night, after school, after homework, after hours of senseless scrolling through social media, I reclined in bed staring at the ceiling.
Something was. off.
Maybe it was the crickets outside my window, still singing a chorus of their night song. Or my mom's heartbeat down in the living room, on the TV. Or the whisper of trees so clearly, like they were leaning in and speaking right in my ear.
I pushed my eyes shut, taking a slow breath. It's nothing.
Just another normal day.
Just another normal night.
And yet, simultaneously, I couldn't help but feel as though something monumental was building.
Something I did not anticipate.
I rolled onto my side, holding my pillow close as I tried to shake the eerie sensation creeping up my back. The sounds of the evening were amplified, every rustling leaf, every chirping cricket echoing in my ears like the distant playing of a flute.
I scrunched my eyes closed. Ignore it. Just sleep.
But then—sound.
Whispery, but distinct. Like. footsteps on gravel.
I sat up a little, my heart pounding. Was that in the backyard?
My room was on the second floor, and from my bed, I could see directly down to the flower shop below. I pulled the blanket up over my chin, looking out the window into the darkness.
Nothing.
Just the black silhouette of the trees along the edge of the backyard. The street was empty. Everything was okay.
But that sound… I could have sworn I heard someone.
I let out a nervous breath, lying back again and pulling blankets over my head. Maybe I was just making it up. Maybe my brain was playing tricks on me after hearing so much drama today in school.
Maybe—
THUMP.
My entire body froze.
That was no imagination.
I sat up again, racing heart, and listened carefully this time.
The wind whistled softly. The leaves crunched. The house creaked. And then—
Another step.
Slow. Deliberate. Closer.
I flinched my head towards the window, but before I could even respond to what I was witnessing, my phone vibrated on the nightstand, making me jump.
Mia: Are you awake?
I grasped my phone, shaking slightly with my hands. Me: Yeah, why?
Her answer was immediate.
Mia: I swear to God, I think someone's outside my house.
My blood ran cold.
Me: WHAT??
Mia: I heard footsteps. I looked, but no one's there.
A cold chill ran up my spine.
I wasn't going crazy. I wasn't dreaming it. Because Mia was hearing it at the same time as me.
I fought to swallow, trying to keep my fingers steady as I typed.
Me: Lock your doors. Close your windows. Don't look outside.
Mia: Raven, this is creeping me out.
Me too.
I glared at my mom's window, my stomach twisting in knots. Maybe I should get my mom awake. Maybe I should—
Another step. This time right beneath my window.
I did not move. Did not breathe.
And then.
A shadow shifted.
On the very extremity of the trees.
I could barely distinguish it, but my eyes seized on it the moment I had seen it.
Too far for a normal human to see. Too dark to be noticed by anyone else.
But I could see it.
A figure. Looking at me.
I clasped my phone so tightly that my knuckles ached.
And then, in the blink of an eye—the shadow was gone.
Gone, as if it had never existed in the first place.
I didn't sleep that night.
I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, my heart pounding in my chest, wondering what in the world was going on with me.
Because somewhere deep down inside of me, I knew one thing for sure—
This wasn't normal.
Not even close.