AN: So here it is...the third chapter and the party. Hope you like it...i'd have more to write but i don't want to give spoilers.
Disclaimer: I in no shape, form or fashion own Teen Titans. I do however, own the storyline.
On with the story...
Chapter Three
Five came all too early. My phone blasted the loud annoying sound that was my alarm and I had no choice but to get up. Turning off the alarm, I uncurled from my ball and made my way to my small bathroom. Looking in the mirror I concluded that I was a wreck, my hair was mashed on one side, my face as red as a tomato and my eyes were as puffy as marshmallows. I turned on the facet and splashed myself in the face with cold water. After pretty much freezing my face off, I got the redness and puffiness to go away.
I blew my nose then went back to my room, straight to my boring wardrobe in my boring closet. My favorite black t-shirt caught my eye. I loved this shirt; it fit me better than any of the other ones I owned did. A white outlined guitar and self-bleached spots served as the point of decoration.
Grabbing my halter top/boy shorts dull blue swimsuit that was laying on my chair, I quickly changed, pulling my favorite cut off blue jean shorts over my bottoms and the black shirt over my top. I slipped on my worn in black chucks, grabbed my sketchbook and towel and ran my brush through my hair. Getting it to look half decent I grabbed my sunglasses using them to hold back my straggly bangs and headed toward my door.
"Mother, I'm going to Richard's, be back later." I yelled at my mother, who I believe, was in the kitchen baking.
"Ok, goodbye Kori dear." She yelled back.
I walked out my balcony doors, climbed down 'our' tree and landed in Richard's side yard with a light thump.
"Richard, Richard? Wherefore are't thou Richard?" I yelled giggling, just because he shattered my heart doesn't mean I couldn't be goofy with him anymore, plus he'd worry if I weren't.
"Ah, my dear Kori, I am but standing on the back porch waiting for your lovely call." He replied smiling and waving from his back porch. I smiled back and quickly joined him, wishing he only truly meant what he had said.
"So, I am the first to arrive, no?" I asked.
"Yeah, you are first like always." He laughed.
I laughed too, putting my sketchbook and towel down on one of the beach chairs lining Richard's pool.
"What do we have planned for this wonderful evening?" I asked acting extremely rich and important.
"Ah, nothing but eating gourmet hotdogs and hamburgers, going for a dip in the Greek inspired pool, talking about extremely important daily happenings and listening to the clear and crisp sounds of the stereo." Richard replied acting like he was smoking a cigar and was a wealthy event chairman.
"Ah, yes, yes of course. I do wish, though, that the rest of the guests would hurry and arrive so we can get this perfectly wonderful gathering started." I replied, using a straw as a French cigarette and acting like I was holding a martini glass.
"Yes, that would be perfectly wonderful." He replied, puffing on his imaginary cigar.
"Oh, for the love of drama, would you two quit. I could hear your pointless babbling from my house." Rachel complained as she appeared from around Richard's house.
We laughed as Rachel went and set down next to the chair containing my towel and sketchbook, shoving her nose in yet another new novel. Vic and Gar appeared, not long after, from the other side of Richard's house, loud and goofy like normal. I smiled at my goofy friends as they came running to where we were standing.
Gar's face lit with an elated smile and he slipped his shirt off, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Rachel's eyes came up over her book…and was that a blush? Before I could call her on it, her nose was back in the novel and Gar was flying through the air towards the deep end of the pool. I giggled as Gar went sailing under the water. Vic was close behind, cannonballing in and fully submerging Gar with his wave.
Richard slipped off his shirt, laughing at his friends and I caught my breath. Could this guy be any more perfect? His abs rippled as he laughed and I had to mentally slap myself in order to look away. He turned toward me, a hopeful look on his face, "Come in with us?" he asked.
"Yeah, in a minute." I replied, trying to keep my eyes from straying to his chest.
"Ok." He said face lighting up before he dove into the water. I watched him come up for air then went and set next to Rachel.
"You like him…don't you." Rachel stated, lowering her book so her eyes peered over the top.
"No, I don't." I lied again, good grief, I needed to quit doing that; I've never lied this much to my friends.
"Yeah, you do." She said annoyed, "I'm not blind or deaf, the little sad excuses for 'drama' talk you do screams 'I like you!'. Plus I heard your intake of breath when Rich took off his shirt; I'm surprised Canada didn't hear it." She finished lazily.
"Sure, whatever. Too bad he's in love with my sister and plans on asking her out." I replied thinking I'd won our little fight.
"Kori, in case you haven't noticed, every guy in this town is in love with Komi." Rachel countered.
"I know, but Komi would be stupid not to date Richard and she knows it…that's why she flirts with him more than normal." I acknowledged.
"Well, tell him how you feel before he asks her out." Rachel said ending the conversation by pulling her book back over her eyes.
Yeah, I can't tell Richard how I feel about him, he'd just laugh…and laugh. I set there pondering on it until I felt water sprinkled on my face. I looked up and saw myself looking into Richard's clear blue eyes. I had to squint, seeing as the sun was right behind his head, and his eyes looked like the pool he had just come from.
"I thought you said you'd be coming in in a minute?" he pouted.
I smiled, "Ok I'm coming."
He smiled his signature lop-sided smile and dove back into the pool. Rachel lowered her book to reveal her eyes and gave me a 'you better tell him' look. I sent eye daggers at her then stripped to my swimsuit, taking my sunglasses off my head and made my way to the deep end.
I neatly dived into the water and let the cool weightlessness engulf me. I opened my eyes and looked around. I dove to the bottom and rubbed my stomach along the tiles, just like my favorite animal, an Orca, does on rubbing rocks near coves; I liked the smooth feeling along my stomach. I mermaid swam to the surface and burst out engulfing fresh air.
"How do you do it?" Richard asked in a game show host voice.
"Do what?" I asked innocently.
"Hold your breath for so long." He stated like I was dumb.
"Don't really know, just can." I smiled before diving back underwater.
I swam smoothly and silently to where Richard was floating, grabbed his ankles and giving him a large tug, pulled him under. He turned to me underwater and I smiled, waving, swimming backward to avoid him and his attempts to grab my arm. I smiled at him again and doing a front flip/turn swam away from him.
I came up for a short intake of air, then dived down to the bottom of the nine ft. end. I rubbed my stomach along the tiles again then turned to see Richard's clear blue eyes, which were starting to turn red because of the chlorine, starring into mine. He smiled his famous lop-sided smile as he tried to grab my arms. I saw his arms move and I quickly dove up and over him, flipping to float behind him. I grabbed him around the middle and almost sucked in a lungful of air when I felt his abs, they were more chiseled then I had thought.
Before I could do anything his hands were tickling my stomach. I kicked and tried my hardest not to inhale water. He finally let me go and I sped to the surface, gladly sucking in clear air. Richard appeared by my side in less than a second, filling his lungs with air as well. I caught my breath, then jumped up, pushing on Richard's head, sending him under. I dove under and swam as fast as I could to the three ft end, hoping Richard wouldn't catch me. I came up and eagerly waited for him to swim to me.
He came out of the water, lop-sided smile gracing his handsome features. "My lady," he said bowing, "I believe you have won our duel."
"Is that so, or are you just trying to be a nice Knight in Shinning Armor?" I asked trying not to laugh.
"Just trying to be nice." He smirked. "I'm hungry, anyone else?" he yelled.
"Us!" Gar and Vic yelled at the same time. All three jumped out of the pool and ran to the grill, ready to do the 'man cooking.'
I pulled myself out of the pool, went to my chair, wrapped up in my towel and set down waiting for the food to be ready.
"You like him." Rachel stated in monotone but with a sense of finality.
"No, I don't." I insisted. Why couldn't I tell Rachel I really did, I told her everything else.
"Yeah, that's why you insisted on flirting with him in the pool and not joining Gar's and Vic's water polo game." Rachel replied sarcastically, still hidden behind her book.
"Ok, fine. You win, yes I like Richard." There was that so hard, I think not. "But you tell a single soul and I'll take you library card." I threatened.
"Yeah…right." She said lowering her book. "But I won't tell anyone, you have my word."
Convinced of her loyalty, I opened my sketchbook and began a bunch of little doodles, mostly little animated versions of me and my friends doing the crazy things we do…well except for Rachel, I normally drew her with a book in front of her face and sitting down. About thirty minutes later, the smell of grilled food reached my nose and my stomach grumbled. Luckily a few minutes later the guys yelled, "Food's done to perfection!"
I jumped up, throwing my sketchbook and pencil down on the chair, and grabbed a plate, I was really hungry. "Ok, which are Gar's burgers and dogs?" I asked eyeing the plate pilled high with perfectly grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.
"Gar's got em on a plate all his own." Richard replied from the grill.
"Are ya'll sure you don't want these wonderful tofu dog and burgers?" Gar asked raising his plate in the air and wiggling his eyebrows.
"Man, nobody wants your fake meat tofu junk!" yelled Victor from his place at the condiment table.
"This is not junk!" Gar replied defensively. And so started Gar's and Vic's daily fight over tofu vs. meat.
"So, should we stay here and watch this debate unfold?" Richard asked, acting all political before taking a huge bite of his hotdog.
"Why don't we go and talk in private, it would be much less loud, plus we can always catch the debate later, it never seems to end." I replied all stuck up before taking the biggest bite I could of my hotdog.
"A splendid idea. Let us go now." Rich said leading the way to his front porch. I followed, towel around my hips plate of food and a drink in my hands, thinking maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all.
He led me to the swing on the front porch and we set enjoying the light wind that was drying our hair slowly. His blew around his head like a black halo…did I just think that? That is so corny. Mine, however, was blowing all in my face, the short lose strands of my growing bangs tickling my nose. I tried to inconspicuously scratch my nose my wiggling it, but I probably ended up looking like a bunny on drugs.
"Hey Kor?" Richard asked, facing me.
"Yeah." I replied, wiggling my nose again. He smiled.
"Are you sure you don't care if I date your sister, cause I mean, you were really quiet on the way home after I asked. And then I've never seen you get out of my car so fast, you love that car and tend to spend the longest amount of time in it you can." Richard said, confusion and sadness hanging in his voice.
Not this topic again. 'Do Not Cry.' I told myself over and over again. Just tell him how you feel, you admitted it to Rachel, it wasn't so bad…just tell him. "No, it's ok." I chickened out. "I just wasn't in a talkative mood this afternoon. And I told you I had fans waiting, I had told them I'd submit today. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to submit it, just in case something went wrong. That's all." So that wasn't a complete lie.
"Oh, ok." He smiled. "I think I'm going to ask her out tonight. No time like the present, right?"
And I thought my heart was shattered…guess I was wrong. "Yeah, no time like the present. I wish you luck." I said trying to keep the sadness from making my voice crack.
We set talking, the wind getting a little stronger, blowing through my hair just the way I liked. Luckily we talked about more pleasurable topics until we both decided to go for a night swim and to make sure Rachel hadn't killed Gar.
"Gar! Vic! Last one in the pool's a rotten egg!" Richard yelled as he ran off to dive in the pool. Vic and Gar weren't too far behind, unfortunately for Gar, he was the rotten egg, which meant he got dunked and dunked hard. I laughed at my happy friends then went and set down next to Rachel. She was still reading but the book was almost done.
"Why did you leave me with those two blundering dimwits?" Rachel growled, lowering her book to show a very annoyed look on her face.
"Oh, you know you like Gar and Vic's one of your best friends." I replied smiling slyly.
"I Do Not Like Gar." Rachel hissed. "But I'll agree that Victor is one of my best friends…but he acts so stupid when he's around Gar." Rachel confessed.
"You do like Gar, I saw you look and blush when he shed his shirt earlier." I brought forth.
"Whatever." Rachel stated putting her nose back in her book.
I took that as a yes and smiled victoriously. I set back and watched the guys in the pool, smiling. After a few minutes of Rachel not talking I decided to join the guys, Rachel was getting to the good part in her book and I knew she wouldn't talk until she finished it. I pulled my towel from around my hips, hung it over the back of the chair, grabbed the volleyball lying beside my feet and threw it in the pool.
"Volleyball! I'm with Gar!" I yelled before diving into the water.
"How bout 'water keep away'?" asked Victor when I came up for air.
"Fine with me, but I'm still with Gar." I agreed. And so began our till-midnight game of 'water keep away.' It was mostly me against Richard the whole time, but I tried to mix it up some. Victor was just harder to get the ball from, seeing as he's like 6'5" and HUGE compared to my 5'11" and tiny. Plus it was funnier, along with easier, to dunk Rich.
At exactly midnight Rachel closed her now finished book and pulling Gar and Victor from the pool, went home. I dunked Richard one more time then pulled myself out of the pool. Rich came up laughing and splashing me got out of the pool. We dried off in silence, letting the night sink in. I folded my clothes, grabbed my sketchbook, slid on my chucks and turned to Richard.
"Goodbye Richard. Parting is such sweet sorrow." I said waving at him as I went to the tree between our bedrooms.
"Goodbye my dear Kori. Until tomorrow." Richard replied smiling as he followed me to the tree.
I threw my clothes, sketchbook and towel over my balcony and began the climb up.
Richard's point of view
It had been an awesome day, Kori told me I could date Komi, but man did she look hott tonight…and I never think of her as hott. She's beautiful, but she's nothing like her sister, right now though, climbing 'our' tree, she is so hott. She is so athletic and strong, she just doesn't know it. She's a really good swimmer, I have no clue how she can hold her breath that long, but oh well. And she was so cute tonight when we were on the front porch, the way she wiggled her nose to keep her hair from tickling it…I had to try really hard not to tuck the lose strands behind her ear…because I can't like Kori. I'm in love with Komi right? Yeah, I'm not in love with Kori…I'm in love with Komi. I'm just thinking she's Komi at the moment…yeah, that's it.
Kori's point of view
"Good night Richard, sweet dreams." I called down once I was safely on my balcony. My calling to him seemed to wake him from deep thought, I wondered what he was thinking.
"Oh, um…good night my dear Kori, sweet dreams." He replied.
I walked into my room and looked back out the balcony doors, noticing that Richard had waited for me to get inside before he turned back to his house.
I sighed, wishing I had told him how I felt tonight. I ran a comb through my wet hair, changed into my pj's, too tired to worry about a shower, set my alarm for six and went to sleep.
Next night
Around midnight the next night I was shaken awake to a loud thumping. I groaned and rolled over thinking it was someone knocking on my door. "Go away." I mumbled.
"Kori, it's me Richard, wake up." I opened my eyes and saw Richard standing at my balcony doors, smiling ear-to-ear.
I stumbled out of my covers and went to open the door, pretty much sleep walking. Why was Richard standing on my balcony at midnight?
"Guess what?!" he whispered excitedly after I opened the doors.
"What?" I replied groggily.
"She said yes!!" he practically yelled, eyes shining.
"Who said yes to what?" I mumbled confused.
"Komi said yes, we are now officially going out." He replied happily.
Oh, that her saying yes to that what. Even in my sleepy state I could swear my heart's shattered pieces shattered yet again. Now that Komi had Richard, she'd never give him up, especially to me, her dorky little sister, the little sister she knew had a crush on him, the little sister she hates.
"Congrats." I whispered, knowing I couldn't make my voice sound any louder than that. "Why didn't you come up through the house if you were with Komi?" I asked, sleepiness getting to my curiosity.
"She thinks I went home. I couldn't be all like "I'm going to go tell Kori, your sister now." So I came up this way." He replied.
"Oh, well goodnight. I'm tired." I whispered.
"Hey, something wrong? You sound pushy and aggravated." Richard asked worriedly.
"No, nothings wrong, just tired." I said as I went back into my room, crawling into my bed. "Goodnight." I slurred, pulling my covers up to my neck and turning my back to him, not wanting him to see the tears flowing down my cheeks.
He walked to my bed and spoke to the back of my head. "I know something's wrong, but I'll wait till you're ready to tell me about it. Good night my dear Kori." Before he turned to leave I felt his lips give me a kiss on the back of my head. I hoped to goodness he didn't feel me go rigid and I was glad I had taken a shower before going to bed. As he left I felt like yelling at him why I was so upset, but I couldn't, not now.
Once I knew he was gone I flipped back over and watched as the light in his room went dark, wondering why he kept calling me his dear Kori, why he had kissed me, what I was going to do around him and Komi and why he had to be in love with Komi. I fell into a restless sleep around one thirty and six came all to early.
AN: So how was it? I may have Richard a little ooc but i think it's ok. tell me if you think he is. i think i just have him happier than the 'Robin' Richard. Review please and tell me how i completely murdered this chapter.
