I had no idea what I was doing.
This Raven girl was different in a way no one could ever imagine. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of superpowers she had, but I found myself trying extra careful not to say anything stupid. Her whole personality seemed to revolve around remaining calm and trying not to express feelings too outwardly.
As I sat there beside her in that party, I had a nagging feeling lurking inside. What did I expect to happen? This girl was one of the city's main protectors. She's physically powerful and slightly emotionally unstable. What could I, of all people, do to make us both satisfied with ourselves? I honestly didn't even know what I was doing during this whole conversation. Was I really trying to pass the time, or did fate have a different plan?
I could tell by the butterflies in my stomach that something decided to keep me there, talking to her, trying to let something loose. My emotions are almost always perfectly in check, but I couldn't help sensing trust in this girl.
Who am I kidding? I've known her for what, fifteen minutes? I checked my phone. 10:38.
"So…" I started. "When did you start getting in this 'Teen Titan' business? I mean, you must be pretty much a professional by now, right?"
She blinked. I think it's the first time I even saw her do so. "Three months ago," she said. She looked at me. "Why are you asking me this?" She looked a little annoyed. I hoped I hadn't stepped over the line.
I shrugged. "I'm just making conversation. I dunno."
"We both know why we're here," she said flatly, standing up. "We're both social outcasts how don't usually like the idea of having conversations with other people. We both like dark things, judging by your…lovely attire…" She motioned to my shirt. I didn't know whether she was complementing me or starting to leave. There's no way I'm going to let her take that chance.
"I—"
"Furthermore," she continued, cutting me off, "we both know this party was brought onto us in some way or another by another person or persons. If it hadn't have been, we would both be sitting at home, in solitude, with no one to bother us in our little shells." Raven stood over me, her voice cold and emotionless. I could tell she was frustrated, but I said nothing. She was right, after all. She probably felt as if this conversation was forced onto her, something she could have avoided but went along with anyway.
Raven sighed. Her features hardly showed up in the dim light, and her hood only made it worse. I could still see her violet-colored eyes, though. It was like they were their own source of light.
"I'm sorry," she said. "Usually I don't start acting like an asshole this early in a conversation." She leaned back against the stack of wooden crates in front of me, folding her arms across her chest. "To answer your question, I've been in the Titans for three months. I don't know if you remember when those aliens touched down in the middle of the city, but that's when we all fought together for the first time."
"Must have been intense," I muttered. "I'm guessing you didn't have the advantage of practiced teamwork for that."
Raven nodded. "We didn't. It was actually a little more awkward than intense, to be honest." She paused and then answered my question before I could ask it. "I don't exactly work well with other people. I had been by myself for a little while before that night, so trying to display a little 'team effort' was kind of new to me." She glanced off to the side and took in a deep breath. "If it wasn't for those aliens, we wouldn't have all met."
I shifted on the crate I was sitting. "Sort of a blessing in disguise?"
Raven looked back at me, and I'm pretty sure she raised her eyebrows. "Hmm? Well, yeah, I guess."
Silence between us followed. The ongoing party happening around us hardly existed for the last twenty minutes or so. I'm not usually the type to even fall into this type of deep and meaningful conversation, but as long as it kept us busy and away from the crowd of socially inept teens, I was okay with it. Judging from Raven's slight interest in our encounter, I could tell she just wanted a quick getaway as well. Neither of us needed to have anything to do with anyone else except for ourselves.
Maybe that train of thought is the reason why I hate people.
The song changed once again, this time to a popular techno-rock song that let loose some cheers from the crowd. Raven had her head slightly turned in that direction. "Ugh, not this song," she groaned. "Cyborg has this song on repeat practically every day while he works on his car."
I frowned. "Doesn't he ever get tired of it?"
She shook her head. "I can never understand this kind of music. I hear zero appeal to it. It's nothing but repetitive nonsense."
"Well, what kind of music do you even listen to?" I asked. I didn't really think she would give me a straightforward answer. It was hard to be able to predict just be looking at her. Metal? Punk?
"Classical." She answered. "Occasionally I'll listen to some rough orchestral stuff, but it depends on my mood." Her dark violet pupils gazed directly into mine, almost like peering into my soul. Do humans even have purple eyes? Many have blue, but not with that kind of beautiful purple shade.
From there I wondered what she was like under other moods. Chances are she just shunned everyone while under the influence of anger, fear, or sadness. I'd had my share of punching things in my bedroom each time my dad was there to piss me off. That seemed to happen pretty frequently, anyway. At least he's a little more scared of me now than when I was younger.
"What about you." She repeated.
I blinked, realizing I had been staring off into space, getting that chill of memory I had often tried to block out. "Oh. Uh, metal." My attention was transfixed in no particular place, but it was oddly near to her foot that vertically rested on the crate she leaned on. "There's some great classic rock that isn't too bad either." I decided to go for it, even if there wasn't much of a chance. "So, you like showtunes, or…"
I didn't get to finish my sentence.
The first robotic squid emerged from the crowd along with a series of screams. It zipped by us quickly, as if heading towards the darkest corner of the warehouse. My heart stopped for a brief moment, knowing realizing exactly what was going on. Time seemed to slow down dramatically, and my eyes met with Raven's for a fraction of a second.
"Run," they said.
I split.
My legs carried me back towards the edge of the crowd, which was now mostly staring into our section of the warehouse with looks of awe, excitement, and fear. I looked back and immediately wished I hadn't.
The squids had somehow duplicated themselves into three variants and attached themselves onto two of Raven's Titan comrades. Beast Boy squirmed and fought from his human form in the clutches of one of the squids, which was rapidly trying to escape in the opposite direction of the crowd. Raven floated up into the air, and using some sort of black energy, lifted the large crates we were sitting on and hurled them towards the retreating monster. They both connected, and the squid as well as Beast Boy were dropped to the ground beyond my point of view.
"Isn't this exciting?" A girl beside me shouted over the music. "I don't think I've ever seen the Titans in action like this before!"
I tried my best to ignore her. Just the fact that she was finding entertainment in the face of danger kind of pissed me off. My attention attempted to focus on the battle scene in front of me, hoping to God that Raven wouldn't get hurt.
My heart skipped a beat. Raven and I may never meet again by accident like this, I realized. We had so much more to talk about.
Maybe I had found a way not to be alone anymore.
"Let's go, folks! Evacuate quickly and swiftly! Let's go, let's go!" The male voice shouted into the microphone from the DJ station. I was frozen in place while my realization had sunk in. Reality finally returned, and I hastily moved with the crowd towards the warehouse doors. The sound of glass shattering in the distance behind me made me look back again just as I reached the doors. The trio of squids was surrounding Starfire, who looked completely pale with fear.
"Let's go, kid." A large figure appeared beside me, only a few inches taller but with about six times the muscle. He pushed me softly through the doorway and out into the night.
Raven didn't return for me.
I waited for about an hour after the evacuation, practically waiting below a street light while the cops came to clean things up. I'd done nothing wrong, so I let them interview me anyway. I was still uncomfortable with it, but I didn't care that much in my hope that Raven would come back.
It made sense, though. I did my duty in keeping her occupied during the party. It's not like we had a real connection or anything. She's a damn superheroine, and I'm just a stupid-looking goth kid.
I made my way over to Vinny, who was still leaning against the warehouse texting from his phone. He looked up. "You finally ready to go?" he asked, probably a little angrier than I expected.
I nodded. I was definitely hoping he wouldn't be too pissed, but I wasn't about to tell him about Raven just yet. She ditched me, after all. Never to be seen again. Maybe I'll tell him sometime, but I was in too bad of a mood to say anything else.
The drive home was nothing but silence. The clock hit midnight just before we turned into my driveway.
"Thanks," I muttered as I exited the vehicle. I reached into my pocket and tossed Vinny a five-dollar bill. "For gas."
"Thanks, man." Vinny said. He lowered his head and looked at me straight before I closed the door. "..You okay? You just seem a little preoccupied."
I hesitated, knowing I couldn't just get off the hook without saying anything. Vinny was my bro, but I just couldn't bring myself to give him a forward answer. Not tonight. "Yeah, I'm fine. Seeya."
I shut the door and made my way to my house, too bitter to look back or anything. I felt like a jerk doing that to him. Hopefully I didn't offend him too badly.
Entering the house, I lazily slipped my shoes off and quietly ambled upstairs into my bedroom, too busy recollecting everything from my encounter with Raven in my head. I had never seen her entire face under that dark blue hood. She was just as pale as I was, maybe even paler. Her personality was…
I fell onto my bed and laid there for a few minutes. What was it about her that was so striking to me? Was it her general look? I pictured her figure in front of me again, standing in front of me, leaning ever-so-casually against those wooden crates. Gazing into my mind.
I was thinking too deep into this. The music from the party replayed itself over and over through my mind, the same annoying, catchy tune that took me back into that building. Opening my eyes, I reached over and grabbed my iPod from my nightstand and stuck my earbuds in. The soothing comfort of progressive metal met my ears and mind, taking me away into the blackness of unconsciousness.
