She was doing it again. Babbling.
"Right," Raven repeated.
"Okay! Well. Goodnight!" Annabelle gave a little wave and turned to go.
"Oh shit," Raven said.
Annabelle turned back. "What?"
"Nothing," said Raven, but she was obviously lying, the lie settling across her face as she glanced back into her living room at the phone balanced on the mantlepiece. The phone that had a blinking green light.
"Nothing?" Annabelle asked, suddenly concerned.
"Nothing," Raven said. "Um. Nothing. I’ll stop playing. Thank you. Good night."
And as Annabelle walked back across the garden, she thought how nice it was that Raven had thanked her. And then she thought how right she’d been that being nice and kind and gentle was the way to go. And finally she thought that perhaps now she and Raven were going to be friends. All it had taken was a smile and a little time.
Chapter Eight
Raven woke to the sound of her phone having a complete nervous breakdown.
It was buzzing so violently on the bedside table that it had actually moved several inches toward the edge, and the screen was lit up like a Christmas tree. Notification after notification scrolled past, too fast to read.
For a moment, she just stared at it, her brain still foggy with sleep.
Then she remembered.
The Instagram Live.
"Oh, shit."
She’d switched it off as fast as she could, but what was out in the world was already out in the world and there wasn’t much she could do about that.
She grabbed the phone and unlocked it, and immediately wished she hadn't.
@ravenfan4eva: OMG THE NEIGHBOR IN THE DINOSAUR PAJAMAS I'M DYING
@krimsonkissesfan: Who is she??? She's adorable!!!
@musiclover2025: "I have school in the morning" I CANNOT
@ravenhall_updates: This is the cutest thing I've ever seen #AdorableTeacher #GrumpyRockstar
The comments went on. And on. And on.
Raven scrolled up to the top of her notifications and saw the video thumbnail: herself standing in the doorway, guitar in hand, looking confused and irritated. And there, just visible in the frame behind her, was Annabelle.
In those ridiculous dinosaur pajamas.
Smiling that relentlessly kind smile.
Looking like an absolute ray of sunshine at, Raven checked the timestamp, half past twelve.
The video had over five hundred thousand views.
"Oh, crap."
Her phone buzzed again, this time with a call. Claire's name flashed on the screen.
