Marcus had to pound his chest twice to cough up the cupcake after laying eyes on her. The red hair, the hazel eyes, the hint of attitude on her face; it was definitely River.
What the hell was she doing here? And what the hell was up with her last name?
Their eyes met, and for a split second, displeasure sat on her face before she rolled her eyes.
"Moon? Are you okay?" Miss Violet's voice came from the front of the class. All eyes were on him due to his obvious reaction to seeing the new girl. "Do you know Miss Cockburn?"
"I—"
"He's an old friend," River explained.
"Oh, then that's quite alright," she pointed at an empty desk in front of Redrick, adjacent to Marcus's desk, "you can sit there, River."
"Thanks," she said, before taking her seat.
"Let's all welcome Miss Cockburn, and be nice to her. I won't tolerate any bullying in my class," she said, her stern eyes surveying the classroom.
After that, class started as normal while Marcus panicked.
What the hell was she doing in his school? They said they'd contact him, and his training would start today, but he never expected this.
Was Cockburn really her last name?
He observed her closely, taking slow, calculated bites of his cupcake. He still hadn't gotten an explanation on how both of them were healed of their injuries, and now he had even more questions.
"Psst!" He called over to her. She didn't turn—didn't even flinch. Maybe he wasn't loud enough. "Psst! Psst! Hey!" He raised his voice a little, but still no response.
"PSST! River!"
"Marcus," Miss Violet yelled from the front of the class.
All eyes were on him again. "Huh?" Marcus looked around, frantically trying to figure out why Miss Violet called him. Maybe he was too loud.
"What year was it?" she asked.
"What year was what?" Of all the times to ask him a question.
"Did the Roman Empire fall?"
"Uh…" he turned to Redrick, looking for an answer. Redrick's apathetic gaze, fixed to the front of the class, reminded him he hadn't given his friend a proper apology or explanation. He turned to Miss V. "Three hundred BC?"
The class giggled; Miss Violet's gaze killed it as soon as it started. She turned her scowl to Marcus. "The next time you distract my class trying to talk to Miss River, you'll be the one teaching!"
He slumped into his chair. "Sorry."
Miss Violet turned and continued, the gazes slowly leaving him, but lingering longer than normal—probably because he'd been talking to the new girl.
He turned to Redrick. "Hey, Red?" Redrick didn't bat an eye in his direction. "I know you're mad at me—and you've got every right to be—but I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."
Redrick cringed as he turned to him. "Ew!"
"What?"
"Don't apologise like I'm a girl, it's gross. People'll start thinking we're a couple," he said.
"You're the one who's mad at me?"
"Cuz you blew me off!"
"I didn't blow you off!"
"Why don't you both blow each other off?" River chimed in with a fake smile before turning her back to them.
Marcus and Redrick looked at each other and clicked their teeth. "Happy?" grumbled Redrick.
"I had something to do, and I needed an excuse to do it—"
"Really?" Redrick rolled his eyes. "This again? Lemme guess," he flashed a fake smile at Marcus, "you can't tell me what it is can you?"
"Actually…" Marcus held his finger in the air. Then he forgot the excuse he came up with. Redrick scoffed as Marcus slowly put his finger down.
He sighed, turning to Miss V while scribbling something in his notebook. "If you can't tell me where you're going, then it's whatever," Redrick shrugged.
"Wait? Really?"
Redrick reached over and grabbed Marcus's half-eaten cupcake. He stared at it before taking a huge bite.
His eyes opened in amazement. "This is really good!" he said through full cheeks. "I'll consider this as a peace offering," he took another bite, and then turned, pointing at his own eyes with his index and middle finger, and then pointing at Marcus's eyes, "for now."
Marcus smirked, waving off Redrick's gesture playfully. "Relax. You get too worked up."
"I get too worked up!? Mars, I don't even know why you gotta be sneaking around all the time. Me and Sarah are you're only friends, you definitely don't have a girlfriend, and—"
"I've got a life when I'm not hanging out with you. You know that, right?"
Redrick stared at Marcus, took another bite, slowly, and then have him the most exaggerated nod he'd seen in his life. "Yeah, of course."
"Asshole."
Redrick took one last bite of the cupcake. "No, I seriously believe you." He leaned in closer and whispered. "How else would you know…" he nodded in River's direction, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Marcus rolled his eyes. "Really? Her?" He didn't want to say anything demeaning or harsh, but she was annoying—very annoying. The stuck-up attitude, the "kid," thing, her bluntness; there were a lot of things he didn't like about her.
Despite all of this, he knew she wasn't a bad person at heart. She lost comrades—people she called friends—and that was just the day before. He'd definitely cut her some slack until she was done mourning and he could see the real her.
That said, it was strange that she didn't look like she was mourning.
Losing anyone at all at a young age wasn't easy. His mother couldn't afford therapy for him after his father's death, and he knew how hard it was for him during the few years that followed.
For weeks, eating was a problem, and he would cry himself to sleep on nights that he didn't suck it up and try to comfort his mother (those nights they both cried to sleep).
Back then he was six, and loss was something he couldn't comprehend. Things only got easier the more years went by, and even now, ten years later, it still hurt to think about.
Losing someone now might not hurt as much or confuse him the way it did, but it still wouldn't be easy. The most he'd seen her mourn were those momentary flashes of pain—but even those seemed to go beyond her comrades' deaths.
The only reason she wouldn't be more sad—and probably the reason for those windows of pain—was that it had happened before.
A lot.
Enough for her to get used to.
"River Cockburn…" Redrick whispered to Marcus. "I'd like her to burn my—"
"Redrick!" Miss Violet's stern voice nearly knocked him off his seat. "Join me in the front of the class please."
Redrick exchanged looks with Marcus and then sighed before heading to the front of the class.
Marcus watched Redrick march up to get his punishment and turned his attention to River, leaning forward. "Psst!"
"Would you quit trying to talk to me? You're being way too obvious—"
"What the heck are you doing at my school?"
"We said we'd contact you."
"Yeah, but that didn't mean you had to get all up in my personal life." He leaned back into his chair.
"Not much of a personal life to get into," she bit back. "And besides, your training starts today. We've already got your test mission planned out, I'll fill you in on all the details after class, so quit bugging me!" She turned and faced Miss V.
"River!"
"Shh!" She turned around, looking genuinely pissed. "I'm getting educated!"