Mouth - 2 Raven - 0

Right about now, Raven wanted to disappear. Not only had she embarrassed herself in front of Micah, but she also managed to do it in front of future classmates. Lots of people from different schools were doing their Core awakening today. She can see it now. The beginning of her brand new high school life. She would be that weird girl who threw herself at Micah Kesson.

She could feel herself sinking into the pits of despair or just sinking. She glanced down to see herself falling into a shadow. Before she could react, Penny was at her side and yanking her up.

"New power?" Penny muttered, before focusing her attention on Micah. "Sorry about my clumsy friend here. I'm Penny Rodriguez."

Raven glared at Penny. She was pretty sure Penny was the one who pushed her. She would get her back later, but right now she was more interested in what happened. When she glanced down, her feet were no longer sinking into the shadows. Instead, she was on solid ground. She glanced at her Embud in excitement. Was it turning green?

One glance showed her that it was still a boring gray. What had changed was the design on her Embud's left side. An image of a stick figure halfway through a black shadow was etched on the orange part of the band. It was not unusual for people to have their Illusion magic shift. It was unusual for Raven. Raven actually had pretty good control over her Illusion magic. She even planned to get an Illusion permit today. Her teachers had suggested she go for it. It was pretty rare for someone at her age to pass the test, but her control over her Illusion abilities was fantastic. It was strange for it to change now of all days.

Lost in her thoughts, it took a while to realize someone was talking to her. Penny gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs, bringing her back to reality. She looked up and met intense blue eyes. She had almost forgotten about hot- uh, Micah.

"Yes?"

His eyes shone with amusement. "I was wondering what your name is?"

"Oh, it's Raven Delias." Yeah, that's lame. This was her time when she should have redeemed herself by saying something charming.

Come on, think! Ah, I got it. She opened her mouth.

Micah reached over, catching a lock of her hair in his hand.

Raven froze, mouth hanging open. Her gaze locked on his hand. Her hair slid between his fingers before it fell from his hand.

"You have beautiful hair," Micah said.

Raven didn't move. Did he just feel up her hair?

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"Sorry," Micah said, straightening up, he looked almost embarrassed. "That was inappropriate."

Raven blinked owlishly at him, not sure if at some point she had walked into a weird dream sequence.

"Well... Raven and I are going to go. Nice meeting you Micah!" Penny said as she hooked her arm in Raven's and began dragging her away.

"Raven, you should close your mouth. You don't want a bug to fly in," Penny muttered when they were a safe distance away.

"Did that just happened?" Raven asked, still not sure she believed it.

"Yup."

"No, I'm serious, did this insanely hot and extraordinarily talented guy feel up my hair?" Raven asked again.

"Yeah, among other things," Penny said.

Raven turned to her friend and looked her dead in the eye. "Should I be flattered or offended?"

"I'm not sure," Penny said. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure. I mean I think I should be offended, but..." Raven covered her face. "I think I must be shallow or something because I'm not offended and...is that because he's hot or because he's a prodigy?"

"You're sinking again?" Penny said.

Raven dropped her hands from her face and sure enough, she was sinking. She looked down to see she was sliding deeper into a shadow. "Help please."

Penny grabbed her arm and dragged her up, but as soon as she let go Raven started sinking again.

"What is up with this?" Raven exclaimed, lifting her foot up just to sink again.

Behind her, someone snickered. Raven turned her head, glaring at the offender. Leaning against the wall, watching them in amusement, was a guy with messy olive colored hair and a bored expression in his honey eyes. He was only a little taller than Raven, probably around 5'8, compared to her own 5'6. His lips quirked into a smirk that fit with his impish face. Something about him irked her. Maybe it was his blasé attitude to her struggles.

"You could help us, you know?" Raven said pointedly.

He shrugged. "I know." He didn't move.

Raven glared at him and then turned away. "Jerk."

He snickered and she was about to snap at him when suddenly the floor solidified.

"Finally," Raven said. She turned to Penny, but Penny's attention was completely fixated on the guy behind her.

Raven turned back to the guy. He pushed off the wall and shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

"You're welcome," he said as he walked away.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven called back at him, even more annoyed. She huffed and turned back to Penny. "What was that about?"

Penny didn't respond, she was still staring after the guy.

"Penny?" Raven called. "Are you okay? Please don't tell me he's your type."

Penny whipped around. "Do you even know who that was?"

"Should I?" Raven asked with a shrug.

Penny clutched Raven's shoulders and shook her. "Why are you never caught up on anything?"

Raven swatted her hand away. "Okay, okay. I get it. So who was it?"

"That was Syrion."

Raven froze. She might not have recognized him, but she knew the name. Syrion. The famous sixteen-year-old who was adopted by MDE Superior Cole Harrison. Syrion, who had taken down some of the more infamous magic-based criminals. He was the only known person who could neutralize magic.

"Are you kidding me? Is this prodigy Tuesday?" Raven said, exasperated.

"Look at you," Penny said, grinning. "You managed to embarrass yourself in front of not just one prodigy, but two."

Raven sighed. "This is my life. Can someone just hide me away?"

As if some higher power heard her request, a man with a clipboard entered the room. "Raven Delias."

Raven perked up. "Here."

The man nodded and marked something off on his clipboard. "This way please."

"Good luck," Penny said giving her a quick hug.

Raven nodded and then began walking towards the man. Her attention returned back to the reason she was here at the Access Facility. Today was the day she awakened her Core magic. Today would determine her future.