บท 34: Void Grasp I
Time was like a cascade that flows in one direction and never stops. It waits for no one, one can only swim with the current, or against it.
"Jean love, are you playing with Annie today as well?" The Madam asked while preparing what looked like a subtle breakfast, porridge.
"Yes, mom... I'll be late. You don't need to leave a meal; we will eat dinner outside" It took her a while to answer, an internal struggle. Jean hurried up to put on her shoes, clumsily carrying her backpack in one arm as it continued to fall off.
"Lovely~ Ray just parked outside".
"I saw him; I'm going now, Mom, love you–".
"Wait, come... I packed up breakfast for you two... tell him that you cooked it." She pushed the packs to Jean's chest. The latter blushed; it wasn't the first time her mom had done that. The support was gladly taken.
"Thanks~"
"Are you two going out yet?" The lady took the chance to ask, tapping her fingers on her elbows.
Lately, Jean had been going out almost every day and coming back late. It was starting to worry her a bit that Jean was going astray. And even if she could trust Ray, some things couldn't be condoned.
"It's complicated, Mom, but we're more than friends." Jean didn't want to explain things that she didn't even understand.
Her mom took both her cheeks in between her palms and kissed them twice.
"Just don't hide things from us, okay? You know your dad likes him too".
"D-Does he thought?" The girl asked, doubtful.
"Even if he doesn't, I will make him, don't worry, sweetheart~ now go, don't make the boy wait, convince him to take mommy in a ride in that car time~".
"Thanks, Mom. I'll try! By the way, I didn't tell you and Dad, but I'll be getting a part-time job."
"Oh? doing what?" Her eyebrows squinted, 'Maybe that's what she has been doing late...'
"You know Ray's mom is a model, right... well, she works with some other girl who has a lot of money, and she wants me to be her secretary... so, it is not like a cashier or anything like that".
"So it is safe, right?".
"Yes, of course!".
"Nothing shady?"
"... yes, nothing shady". Jean evaded her gaze, something her mom noticed. Before she received a scolding, Jean took her mom's right cheek, held it for a second and kissed it.
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I have decided. I'll do my best for all of us".
After that, she departed... Elaine remained there, dazed and convinced her daughter wouldn't go astray no matter what, she didn't have to be worried. She was in safe hands.
...
Outside the house, a black Corvette was parked on the opposite side of the road. Ray waited until a gorgeous redhead left her house and boarded in.
"What took you so long? I know girls take time preparing, but this is..."
"Ugh, I was talking to my mom; she sent this for us".
Jean leaned in to kiss Ray's cheek, he accepted the kiss and also the food that was packed up in two plastic bowls.
"Porridge? nice. I'd love to have it now before it gets cold but I'm driving..." He started the engine and they drove off.
"I can feed you~".
"Go on then~"
Jean gasped, she expected him to back off but Ray opened his mouth wide as he drove, she had no choice but to reap what she sow and fed him the porridge, forsaking her own.
"They did a wonderful work, when did you pick it up, today?" Jean asked regarding the car.
"Emma told me to pick it up from the workshop yesterday evening around Manhattan; I happened to be in the area, so I just did. You're right, I love this car".
"Good for you".
"Jealous of my car?~"
"Not at all", She groaned, 'Not the car anyway'.
Jean looked at him, the same sideglance every morning and yet he still managed to look different every time. A bit darker, a bit gloomier... as if there was a mask of sympathy concealing something hideous.
"Are you going out to play with friends today too?" She asked tentatively, he merely nodded and ate another scoop of porridge.
"Which friends are those, Ray? No one at school–"
"Some friends I met through Wilson Fisk. We play darts," He divagated, somehow with a sincere tone.
"Would you take me one day? I like darts"
It was a lie; she never played that game before, 'I just want to know what you have been up to'.
"It is an all-man club, girls are not allowed, especially pretty ones, so you can't come" Ray laughed.
Jean flustered at the innuendo but still grit her teeth at how crafty he was at evading this topic every time he raised it for the last two weeks.
"A club without girls around sounds like a boring club..." She huffed.
"Boring yet peaceful".
"Hey..." She glared ominously, "What do you mean peaceful?"
"See?~"
"Ugh, you're really..."
She harrumphed and continued feeding him without saying another word; after that, she had her porridge struggling to keep her mock-upset gaze since the porridge was so tasty. In the end, her countenance crumbled, and Ray started at her, deep in thought but still smiling.
...
They reached school shortly after and met Annie at the gate; she gasped when she saw the car all fixed, and she wasn't the only one.
"T-That's Ray...?!"
A crowd formed around; they pushed Annie aside, but Ray ignored all of them and pulled both his friends into the school. One individual who stared at him with a dead glare was Walt, who was also his age, and yet he didn't have a car yet. Although kids could get their license in California from sixteen years old, most didn't do it until they were eighteen.
Even the teachers felt concerned. It showed that Ray's parents either didn't give a fuck about him, or they trusted him blindly... and in his case, they thought it was the former.
"We should probably keep coming in the bus, Jean".
"No way! It's so cool. Don't worry, they will get used to it," Annie said; all she wanted was a chance to take a ride, too.
Sadly, she felt her friends were distancing themselves from her ever so little day by day.
...
School went normally up until noon.
"You know, in a few days, there is a voluntary trip to the Columbia University Science Lab. Do you guys want to go?" Annie said as they made their way out.
Both Jean and Ray made a troubled expression. If it was voluntary, that meant they were most likely not going to go; instead, they'd rather be doing something else.
Just seeing their apprehension made Annie's face sour. She wanted to spend more time with them, but each time she asked what they did, they didn't give a clear answer. If she asked to join, they said she couldn't. At this stage, they were going to be separated, and she'd lose her chance to be with Ray.
"I will go with you, then... you're coming too, right?" Jean said suddenly and asked Ray, lifting up Annie's mood with a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
Little did Annie know, Jean, too, wanted to take Ray out of whatever he was doing, even if for just one day. The boy stared at them both and sighed.
"Alright, we can go together. I'll clear my schedule for that day".
"Thank you!".
Now, the girl had something to look forward to. Little did she know that fateful day would change her life completely. If it were for the better or worse, she wouldn't know.
...
Once they reached the parking lot, they noticed a white Ferrari parked next to Ray's car and a blonde fiddling about with her phone until she saw them.
"It is so annoying to wait for you all the time, ginger... can't you hurry up a bit? My time is money" She didn't even wait until Jean was before her to start an argument.
"Do you expect me to drop out?" The redhead rolled her eyes and turned around, "I will be going with her today; I'll see you guys tomorrow".
"It's alright, Annie. I'll be going toward your house today, so... I can drop you off if you want".
"I'd love that!" The girl jumped; it was her chance to not only take a ride in the car but also be alone with Ray, a chance that the two other girls rolled their eyes at.
Ray would enter his car immediately. When he saw Emma's frown and finger tapping, it could only mean one thing: 'What are you waiting for?'
He walked up to the blonde, held her waist and kissed her hard in front of myriad eyes without a care in the world. She answered with equal passion, uncaring about the myriad eyes; she only cared about the closest two pairs of eyes.
"You drive the car, and I gift you... the least you can do is kiss me every time you see me~" She held his cheek, infatuated and a little afraid of the ever-increasing darkness he emitted day by day. It wasn't something others could perceive.
But she and Jean could.
"Not a problem for me; I don't mind kissing you even when I don't see you".
"I don't know how that works but I like it. Go, you're not going to tell me where you're going, are you?".
"Neither are you and Jean" Ray laughed.
"I guess we're all quite busy~" She entered her car, revitalised for the day with that kiss.
Ray turned around and held the redhead as well.
"W-Wait! N-Not in front of–!"
She got her kiss, too, gasping at her lips being taken like that in front of everyone else. Annie couldn't believe what she was seeing, and neither could the teachers, who enviously fixed their glasses to have a better look at what was going on in the parking lot.
"It is only fair this way".
"You player!"
"Should I take that kiss back?" He prepared to give her another.
"N-No! Just go!" The flustered Jean hurriedly went into the car. She loved that kiss madly, but she hoped it wouldn't be in front of everyone at school right after kissing Emma!
'What would they think?! They'd think we're sharing him?! or that Emma is my lover too?!' She couldn't cope.
"Stay safe out there, Jean. Don't be reckless" Ray pulled Annie into the car and started the engine.
*VROOMMM!!!*
He wasn't kind on that pedal and drove off like a lunatic, the same way he had done for Veronica and Jean on their first ride, only to show off the car and give them a bit of fun.
Emma laughed and drove off too in the opposite direction, watching how Jean held her hurriedly palpitating heart.
"So? How does it feel to be number two?"
"Oh, shut up, will you?".
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