Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans!
The rain refused to let up for the rest of the day. A few students braved the storm to come in and grab a bit of peace and quiet for studying, but for the most part, the café was empty. Victor came out from the kitchen to sit with Raven behind the counter.
"So, Garfield seemed like a nice guy," Victor commented as he flipped through a car magazine. Raven rolled her eyes.
"You talked to him for less than 2 minutes. You don't know enough to form an opinion of him." She said, refilling the napkin holders. "Did you order more coffee sleeves last night?"
"He had a firm handshake. That's always a good sign." He said, dog-earing a page. "Yeah, they should arrive tomorrow."
"Many people can have a firm handshake and still be awful people. Thank you." She responded. The bell rang above the door. Raven stood up, but sat back down when she saw who it was.
"Hello friends!" Kori practically danced into the coffee shop. She dropped her bookbag behind the counter and grabbed her apron off the hook in the corner.
"Hey Kori," Raven and Vic said in unison.
"Not very busy today, is it?" She asked, tying a bow behind her back with ease.
"Nope." Raven said, focusing back on the napkins.
"A guy came in earlier and hit on Rae." Victor told Kori, grinning. Kori squealed and jumped up and down. Raven rolled her eyes.
"He liked the cookies, so really, he was flirting with Victor." Raven pointed out.
"What did he look like? What was his name? What did he order?
"Tall, blonde hair, green eyes, firm handshake. Garfield. Vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie." Victor rattled off without hesitation. At that, Kori seemed to wilt. "What's wrong?"
"I know him. He is in one of my English classes. He has a girlfriend." Kori said, plopping down in a chair and sighing.
"I don't remember mentioning that I liked him, and that seems to be a key part of a relationship." Raven muttered. Victor waved her off.
"She's just sulking because he didn't leave his number behind." Vic teased. Raven huffed in annoyance but was prevented from saying what was really on her mind when the front door chimed. A frazzled woman with three small children walked in.
"Hi, welcome to The Night Owl. What can I get you?" Raven said, tucking her hair behind her ears and moving the napkins off the counter.
"Three small hot chocolates, please, and a large black coffee. Boys, stop pulling your sisters pigtails!"
"Coming right up." Raven said, smiling kindly at the children. "The small table in the corner has some paper and colored pencils, if they would like to draw for a little while."
The three children immediately ran to explore the art supplies and the woman sighed in relief.
"Thank you. I'll clean up after them."
"No need. I don't mind." Raven said. "Here, the coffee is on the house." She slid the drink across to the woman while Kori took the three hot chocolates over to the children. In the presence of an activity, they were remarkably well behaved.
"Really? That's awfully kind of you." The woman looked like no one had ever done something so kind for her in a while. Raven just smiled at her.
"I know what the difference a cup of coffee can do. Enjoy!"
The woman sat and enjoyed her coffee while the children colored. Raven, Kori, and Vic sat together behind the counter, talking softly.
"So tell me more about this girlfriend. Is it serious with him?" Victor asked, leaning toward Kori.
"They have only been together for a few months, but they are never apart as far as I can tell. He waits for her outside her classes." Kori whispered.
"I guess we'll have to keep looking then." Vic said dejectedly.
"Boo-hoo." Raven rolled her eyes at them. "Stop with the gossip about my love life. It hasn't worked out with any of your blind dates for me anyways."
"There is always a chance, my friend!" Kori said, her smile big. "The world is full of fish!"
"I think you mean there are plenty of fish in the sea." Vic chuckled.
"Well somehow, you always pick the smelly ones. Remember Adam? He was more concerned with his muscles than treating me like a human being." Raven reminded her.
"To be fair, Adam was not technically my choice. He was a friend of a friend of Richard's cousin. So you can blame him." Kori deflected.
"Speaking of, where is he?" Vic asked. "I thought he would be here by now."
"Study group. There's a psych test coming up." Kori replied. "He might be here later, but I doubt it. You know he will study til 3 AM if no one stops him."
The children ran up to the counter at that moment, showing off their artwork. The mother smiled at Raven and thanked her once more for the coffee and distraction, then they ventured out into the deluge. After the bell stopped ringing behind them, Raven pulled out her latest book from below the counter, and made herself a cup of tea. Vic went back to his car magazine, and Kori pulled out her homework.
Every once in a while, Raven would find herself losing track of what sentence she was supposed to be on, thinking instead of Garfield's green eyes. She would never admit it to her friends, but she was as disappointed as Victor was about his relationship status. He had seemed genuinely nice, someone she wouldn't mind getting to know better, and possibly welcoming into her little circle of loved ones. But Raven had read enough books to know that men with girlfriends usually did not being close friends with other women. It never worked out without someone getting hurt.
And when had books ever steered her wrong?