The room had fallen quiet after Lia's question.
Too quiet.
It was as if someone had asked who was getting married while attending a funeral.
Raven, as if struck by an invisible bolt of confusion, sat upright on his bed.
"…What do you mean, why am I scared of Clara?" He asked, eyes squinting. "I'm not scared of her. Why would you even say that?"
Lia, or Lio, as everyone else still believed, tilted her head slightly. "Because that's what it seems? You flinch whenever someone mentions her, and every time a girl gets within a two-foot radius of you, you start acting like the floor's about to open up and drop you into a guilt pit."
"…Okay, maybe I flinch a little," Raven admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "but not because I'm scared of her. I respect Clara. She's... she's important to me."
From her curled-up spot on the floor, Siris hugged the pillow tighter and narrowed her eyes. 'I also want to be important to him.'
