Yours, Raven

Five

Moicha – Aunt
Pushang, Pushel – Uncle

Five
• • •

“Moicha Tracy! Raves! Pushel Jon,” Nicholas came in calling out for them early in the morning around 6:30 am.

Raven was still in her PJ when she ran out of the breakfast table to the living room to see Nicholas. Elliot and Aunt Grace were right behind him, along with Nicholas' big uncle Pushang Koshel.

“Hey, Raves!” Nicholas smiled at her as he strode in. “I’m leaving.”

“Right now?”

"Yup. Right now." His smile faded a little as he ruffled her hair, feeling the silky texture on his fingertips.

He adored this kid. He'd watch her grow up. He couldn't help but wonder how big she would be when he see her again. He bet she'd be a nice lady in time.

"Leaving now, Nicholas?" Tracy asked as she came out of the kitchen with her husband, wiping her hand on a kitchen towel.

"Yes." He smiled ruefully.

"Do well and take care of your health. If you get sick, you won't be able to do anything."

"Yes. Thank you, Moicha. I will miss you all so much."

Jonathan put an arm around Nicholas' shoulder, walking with him to the door and giving him a handful of his treasured advises and life skills. Grace and Tracy too fell into their own chatter, and Raven hung around.

One after the other, Koshang and Maxwell too came to meet Nicholas one last time before he leaves. Claudia too came just in time and Raven noticed that they were holding hands as they talked and that everybody, including her mom and dad were teasing Claudia not to cry. Only then did Raven realize that her Nick had a girlfriend.

Raven quietly slipped inside the house. No one noticed her. She couldn't bear to watch them. She couldn't bear to hang around. A sense of embarrassment and heartbreak overpowered her at the sight of her Nick holding Claudia's hand. . . and his eyes tenderly shimmering with love for her.

She went to the kitchen and sat on a chair at the breakfast table, pulling her legs to her chest.

Her eyes burned with tears but she forcefully blinked them back, knowing if she let them free once there was no stopping and that would be even more embarrassing.

Nick has a girlfriend.

Nick is in love with someone else.

The thought, the reality, echoed in her mind and it became painfully hard for Raven to process her thoughts, like a huge rock had crushed her brain, so she grabbed a sandwich for the table and stuffed her mouth with it.

Elliot got in the driver's seat since he would be dropping Nicholas at the airport. Grace settled in the backseat, Nicholas in the front, and just before driving off, he noticed that Raven was not around.

"Wait. Where's Raves?" He asked, coming back out of the car.

"She was just here," Tracy answered, looking around.

"Hold up," he told Elliot and went inside the house calling out for her. "Raves!"

Raven heard him calling, but she didn’t answer. She kept eating, for she knew any sound she made would betray her.

“Raves.” Nicholas appeared at the kitchen door.

Raven looked up to him, mouth full, eyes glimmering with tears, but her expression was as passive as she could manage. Nicholas stood there for a while. With the way she was bunched up on her chair and the way she was meeting his gaze, the soft, fragile look in her eyes made him feel something entirely different. He felt sorry . . . He knew she'd seen him with Claudia. He did nothing wrong. Raven did nothing wrong. Yet he felt sorry. . . and guilty.