(AU) Raven Roth has always been comfortably aware that she was different. What was once set in darkness was now illuminated by a bright new force she copes with as she adjusts to college life, love interests and feeling more comfortable in her own skin. An attempted sort of 'coming of age' story of a girl knitted between passion and what could possibly become of her life. (Red-x/Raven/Robin)
Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead as I continued to stare ahead at the empty road, music blaring into my ears and the promise of breakfast as my motivation as I turned around the corner for my last lap. I was never the athletic type, but I found that jogging had its own ways of helping me clear my mind of stressful things, not to mention it was a nice way to stay slim.
Now that I think about it, I was always one who preferred to keep my peace of mind, meditating as one of my favorite ways to pass the time. I panted heavily as I arrived at my house, wiping my sweat off with my towel I open the door and step in the kitchen to get a drink.
"Good morning, Raven."
I nodded as my way of acknowledging the greeting as I gulp down my glass of water. Arella placed a plate of eggs with some toast on the dining table as she washed a pan.
"How was your morning run, dear?"
"It was fine."
Arella smiled despite herself. Her daughter was someone of few words and she was aware she valued her solitude and privacy. She knew Raven could handle herself quite well and knew she had potential. Raven abruptly got up as she opened a cupboard to retrieve some Oolong Tea. The older woman took the plate and continued to wash dishes as her daughter poured herself a cup and another for her.
"Thanks, dear"
Arella grinned pleased as Raven nodded. They stayed silent for a while, enjoying the tea and early morning. Even though as growing up Raven questioned and for a while was bitter of her parents, as time passed she learned to accept and respect her mother's decisions. Her father, whom she never got the chance to know had left when she was only a few years old, while her mother struggled with bringing up her only daughter and working to support them. As any child, she had interrogated her mother on why her father was never home, why unlike her classmates she had only one parent and had grown up with no father figure in her life. Arella had no regrets, she had provided Raven with everything a mother could offer her child, plus more.
"I'm going to take a shower."
Raven took her cup to the sink and made her way up the stairs. She entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Hot water flowed down from the shower down the drain as Raven undressed and stepped in slowly. Closing her eyes, she savored the feel of the water flowing down her nude body. After a few minutes, she grabbed her towel and dried herself when she heard the doorbell ring. Seconds later, her mother called out.
"Raven! Robin's here!"
Raven peeked down the stairs and saw a male figure sit down the sofa as he exchanged pleasantries with her mother.
"Give me a few minutes."
Both looked up at the source of the voice but only saw a door closing.
"Well I'm off to work now. I'm late already as it is. I'll see you kids later."
"Alright, Mrs. R. Take care."
Robin watched as his best friend's mother walked out of the door and step into her car and drove off.
Raven sighed as she looked pulled on a shirt. She heard a familiar hum of her mom's car and saw her drive off from her bedroom window. She glanced back into the mirror and took in her appearance. She wore a loose tank top and jean shorts. She had let her shiny, black hair grow and it now flowed down past her shoulders. She had cut her bangs into a V shape weeks ago and it framed her pale face well and accentuated her strong features. She quickly stepped into a comfortable pair of shoes and grabbed her things and walked out and down the stairs.
"Hey."
The pale girl greeted her best friend in her usual calm, monotone voice with a grin.
"Hi Rae."
Robin smiled nonchalantly and stood up as Raven walked up to him. She had grown much the past year and was only shorter than him by a few inches.
"Come on, let's go before the two lovebirds start complaining."
"Whatever."
Robin chuckled at Raven's blatant response and grabbed her bag off the floor as they both walked out of the house and locked the door. They walked to a shiny black mini-van. Raved raised a perfectly shaped brow at Robin and he shrugged.
"Bruce insisted I use it since I mentioned to him about our trip."
"Oh ok. Not that I'm complaining, with all four of us in one vehicle I need all the space I can get."
Robin chuckled once more and placed Raven's bag at the back together with his. He got in the car and started the engine and saw that Raven was looking for a decent radio channel.
"This is certainly better than the radio in your car. I don't see why you insist on using that old thing when you could easily tell Bruce you want a brand new car."
"I know, I know. But I love that piece of crap. It took a whole summer to get the money to buy it and then another one to keep it running."
Raven turned to look at the lanky boy and smiled her Mona Lisa smile. Even though Robin had grown up pampered he wasn't spoiled, and he valued hard work and earning his own money. He always worked at the local sports center in town every year as an assistant instructor for his summer job. Although this year, he chose to spend it with his two best friends.
Richard Grayson had grown in his teen years and was a tall, lanky guy. He had some noticeable muscles, but not overly developed. He had short black, spiky hair and nice clear blue eyes. Raven wouldn't deny that she didn't find her best friend attractive.
Raven smiled as a familiar song played on the radio and settled on the station. They drove a few more blocks in silence and stopped at a red light when Robin started singing off-key to the song. Raven raised a brow and eventually let out a small laugh and punched Robin lightly on the shoulder. Robin laughed louder and stepped on the gas as the green light went on.
"Ok I'll stop. We're almost there."
The black-haired girl squinted her eyes in the bright sunlight and quickly put on her sunglasses that she placed in her pocket before they left. She immediately saw a tall, muscular man with a slim, attractive girl holding his hand in her tinted view. Robin quickly parked in an empty slot in the parking lot and unbuckled his belt. Raven did the same and grabbed her small bag. They walked towards the two and the muscular man waved in his usually friendly manner while the woman smiled.
"Hey Rob!"
His knuckled clashed with the said boy's and then turned to Raven and gave her a warm smile.
"Rae! Glad you decided to come with."
They shared a light hug before Robin greeted Karen and Raven nodded at her direction.
"Come on guys! I wanna get there before lunch so we gotta hurry and get all the stuff we need."
Raven rolled her eyes at Victor's enthusiasm but got her own shopping basket and grabbed a few necessities. Seeing as she already had most of what she needed in her bag inside Robin's car she wandered off until she was at the liquor isle and snickered when she found her other three companions debating on what to buy. Karen eventually settled the guy's argument when she made them pick heads or tails.
"Nice way to settle things, Bee."
Karen or Bee laughed. She was clad in her usual ensemble of yellow and black, hence the nickname. Both guys turned around and noticed her for the first time.
"Hey, I have brothers. I'm used to settling things quick."
Victor grabbed a considerable amount of beer then the friends lined up at the cashier when Robin insisted he pay for everything they bought.
"Boo-ya! Alriiight! Thanks man."
"Hoorah."
Raven said dryly in her usual sarcastic manner.
"Wow Rae, I really heard the enthusiasm from that."
"What can I say Cyborg, I hang around you too much."
The pale girl remarked while the rest laughed at the two's usual friendly exchange. Victor, or Cyborg ruffled Raven's hair and she huffed and walked towards Robin, annoyed. The bigger built guy got his nickname for his love of technology and his need to work out, which most of the time, clashed.
A few minutes later, they were all in Robin's mini-van with Raven in front and Bee at the back with Cyborg and started their 5 hour drive. They had kept conversation for a few miles but Bee who was obviously still sleepy had fallen asleep on Cyborg's shoulder and he too eventually succumbed to slumber which left the boy blunder and Raven the only one's awake. They drove silently for a few miles when Raven set down the book she'd been reading. Robin noticed this and attempted to start a conversation without getting a response. He looked over to her and saw that she had her earphones on and couldn't hear a word he was saying. He tapped her shoulder lightly and her violet eyes settled on his.
"What?"
Raven took off one earphone and looked at Robin questioningly.
"I was wondering if you could grab a soda for me. My hands are full."
Raven nodded and bent down looking for a soda in the paper bag at her feet.
"Uhm.. Orange or grape?"
"The latter. Please."
Raven handed the slightly warm soda to him.
"Soo.. What book are you reading?"
Robin knew that Raven loved to read. Never being much of a bookworm unless it had to do with school, he took great interest in the books Raven read and she usually told him the story and her insights and they often debated on topics.
"It's called Haunted. It's by Chuck Palahniuk."
Robin nodded, familiar with the author as one of Raven's favorites.
"What's it about?"
He asked nonchalantly as he sipped his soda and kept one hand on the wheel squinting at the sun despite his sunglasses.
"I'm actually just beginning to read it, but basically it's sort of a collection of stories from each character. They all end up staying in one house the rest of the book, very fantasmagoriana like, but more dark and macabre of course."
They continued their conversation for a while until Raven claimed she wanted to get on with her book. Robin understood and said he was tired from driving and woke up Cyborg to switch turns as he transferred to the back.
Raven stared at a page of the book while the words stared back at her. She had been reading but got distracted. She frowned as she closed the book and changed a song on her music player. She frowned. She was worried about her future, more importantly college. Cyborg got a scholarship that let him excel in sports as well as in academics and she was happy for him. Bee got into a similar school with her high grades, which was only a few hours drive away from Cyborg's, while Robin got into the same school as Cyborg, which was his adoptive father's choice school. Raven was happy for her friends, but it left Raven alone in a separate college that allowed her to excel in her art and writing, but was in the same city as Robin and Cyborg's school so they could still hang out.
She couldn't deny that she was slightly worried on how things would fare out in college. She wasn't the most agreeable person and she certainly wasn't about to change herself just to fit in the new school. She sighed as her eyelids started to droop. She was starting to get drowsy.
She glanced back at Robin with a slight grin as she settled into her seat and set her soda on the armrest.
"You ok, Rae?"
Raven glanced at Cyborg, noting the slight concern in his voice before nodding .
"Yeah, Cy. I'm fine. Totally fine."
Cyborg smiled at his friend's characteristic monotone voice and set his eyes on the road as he drove off.
"Beach, here we come!"
Sorry if the names confused you, I wanted to use their superhero names than their atler names since I'm more comfortable with them. Let me know what you think of chapter one.