Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, or any shops mentioned in this chapter. If I did, I would never have let them cancel the show, and I would have many more clothes.
This chapter is a bit boring, but the next one will be better. The little ruler thing wasn't working, so I had to make my own little lines.
Ch. 7
Raven leaned back and listened as Starfire continued to talk about her relationship with the team leader. She reached for some more popcorn, and paused when she realized that she had stopped talking. There was a question in Starfire's eyes as Raven looked up. "You have barely said a word, friend. What have you been thinking about?"
"Oh," Raven trailed off, "I was listening more than thinking."
Starfire kept on staring at her, "Is something troubling you, friend?"
"No," Raven said, thinking of blood…and Beast Boy.
"Raven," she said quietly, "you can trust me. You are the closest thing I have had to a sister. You are dearer to me than Blackfire could ever be," she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before continuing. "You can always trust a true sister."
"A sister?" Raven cocked an eyebrow.
"Someone who will always be there to talk to. Someone you can always trust. A best friend," she smiled, "a sister." Raven showed an almost invisible smile. "So now tell me, what is the problem?"
"Starfire…" Raven paused to think for a moment. "I'm not sure. I…" she sighed, "I don't know how to explain this. I've been feeling strange lately," Raven decided she wouldn't tell her about the blood, or the thing that had been in her room. "There is someone." She tried not to see him in her mind. "I," she stopped, "Do I really have to talk about this?"
"Raven," Starfire was the picture of a caring friend, "if you do not talk about it, it will only get worse." Raven clenched her hands in the pillow. "Now," Starfire continued, "Who is this 'someone'?"
Raven shook her head, "That's the problem. I've been feeling weird around this person. It reminds me of what I felt for Malchior. Except it's different this time. And he has a girlfriend." Blonde hair flashed through her mind's eye. "Well, not yet. But…they were always so happy together. And it seems like I'll never be as good as her," she whispered.
"Do you care for him?" she asked gently.
"I'm not sure," Raven whispered. She thought of the blood, and wondered if something involved in that was messing with her emotions.
"If you care for him, you should tell him. This other girl," Starfire scoffed at the word, "is probably just some, how do you say, mindless bimbo?" Raven laughed. She wondered what Starfire would say if she knew who she had said that about. "I think, you should just take a chance and tell him."
"But..." she said quietly, "what if he chooses me, and isn't as happy?"
"Raven," Starfire laughed, "if he truly cares for you as well, he will be happy. I am wondering though, who this 'he' is."
"Oh, he's...just this guy I know who works at the coffee shop," Raven lied.
"Dear friend," Starfire said, "you are sad." All of a sudden she perked up. "I shall return shortly," she said as she ran to her closet and began to rummage around. She came back holding a necklace of sorts. "Here," she said as she put it around Raven's neck. "It is a charm from my planet, used to keep away evil spirits." Raven started. Did she know something about the thing that was after her? "In my home, sadness is considered an evil spirit."
"Oh," Raven said as she looked down at the necklace. "It's...pretty. Thank you." Starfire beamed at her.
"Now, shall we move on to the gossip?" Starfire happily asked. Raven let out a half hearted laugh and nodded. "Do you think Jinx still likes Cyborg?"
"I don't know," Raven considered, "When we were fighting the Brotherhood, she showed up with Kid Flash, so..."
Raven and Starfire talked on into the night. When they were finally going to sleep, Raven smiled a content smile, and thought that maybe the charm would work with other evil spirits.
timetimetimetimetimetime
Raven opened her eyes slowly. She lay on top of the blanket on Starfire's bed. She looked over. Starfire lay with her head hanging over the bed, her hair almost touching the ground. Raven sat up and rubbed her eyes. She felt it come up in her throat. She ran into Starfire's bathroom, and stood over the sink.
Wasn't the charm supposed to help? She coughed. The blood came. Except this time she didn't feel the sharp pain. She coughed again. There was less blood this time. Then it stopped all together. Raven looked at her reflection in the mirror. The necklace shown bright in the reflective glass. Raven smiled. Looks like the charm really worked.
She washed the blood down the sink and went back to Starfire's room. Starfire was sitting up on the bed, "Are you alright friend? I heard you coughing."
"I'm fine."
"Here," Starfire went over and took the necklace back.
"What? I thought..." Raven squinted at Starfire.
"Well," Starfire looked down, "After wearing this, the necklace looses some of it's potency. It must be not be worn for a few days, so it can gain it back."
"Oh," Raven shrugged. She couldn't act like this was a big deal.
At that second the doorbell rang. Starfire looked puzzled. "Who could be here at this hour?" Raven glanced at the clock. 9:30. "They couldn't have ordered a pizza this early in the morning."
Raven shrugged again, and said, "Let's go find out who it is."
linelinelinelinelineline
Beast Boy trailed after Robin and Cyborg. Why had someone chosen this morning to ring the doorbell so early? He had just woken up and gone to the control room when it happened. He sighed. Last night he hadn't had a very good sleep. When the boys got to the door, Raven and Starfire were already there, about to answer it.
"Good morning, Starfire," Robin said, moving over and kissing her on the cheek. "Did you and Raven have a good sleep over?"
"Robin," Cyborg cut in, "can you save your love talk until after we figure out who woke me up this early?"
"Yeah," Beast Boy said. He made sure he didn't look at Raven. The doorbell rang again. Robin went over and opened the door. Beast Boy almost gasped. Almost. She stood there, her blonde hair flowing in the wind, her eyes as blue as saphires. "Terra," he whispered. She was wearing blue jeans, and a white tank top.
"Um, hi," she said uncertanly, "I know I wasn't supposed to come this early, but I had something I wanted to tell you." She paused, "You are letting me stay here right?"
As soon as she said that, Starfire lept forward and envelloped her in one of her famous hugs. "Of course!" she squeeled. "Come inside friend!" She grabbed her hand and flew her up the stairs.
Robin laughed, "Starfire," he said affectionatly, and ran after her. Cyborg just shook his head and followed. Beast Boy was walking up the stairs when he noticed Raven hadn't moved. He looked back and saw her staring at the door.
"Rae..." he trailed off. He shrugged and ran up the stairs. Why should he try to figure out what was wrong if she was only going to yell at him? Plus, Terra was waiting. Terra.
When he got to the control room, everyone was already there. Even Raven. She must have teleported. He sat down on the couch and smiled up at Terra, who was standing in front of the T.V. "So what were you gonna say?" he asked.
"Well," she beamed, "tonight, one of my friends from school is throwing a huge party, and I wanted to know if you guys wanted to come."
"Yeah!"
"Oh, yes!"
"Sure."
Cyborg laughed, "Sounds like fun."
Raven was the only one who didn't say anything. She just shrugged.
"I wanted to ask you early," Terra continued, "becuase I thought we could all go to the mall to get some new clothes for the party."
"That'd be awsome!" Beast Boy smiled, "Right?" he looked at the other Titans, who all agreed as well.
"What kind of party is it?" Robin asked, "Formal? Casual?" He rose his eyebrows, "What?"
"Well, it's casual, but it doesn't look like you guys have any casual clothes." Terra smiled. "So, who's up for shopping?"
After everyone had showered, and eaten a quick breakfast, the T-car sped towards the mall. "So, where should we go first?" Beast Boy asked the group when they had entered the large shopping mall.
"How about...Pac Sun?" Terra asked. "I could probably find some good clothes for myself and Starfire there." She studied the boys. "You guys might be able to find something there too. I think Raven would like Hot Topic more, though." She turned and led them to a store with a large sign with a sun on it.
"Hello," the store clerk said as she approached the group, "If you need help finding anything, just ask me." She smiled and went to help another customer.
"Now," Terra beamed, "you boys go see if you can find anything you like." She turned to Starfire, "I think you need some jeans." As Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy began looking through the racks of clothes, Terra led Starfire to the jeans. Raven slowly wandered through the store, looking at random shirts.
Terra picked up a pair of light blue jeans and held them up to Starfire. "Try these on," she insisted. Starfire went into the dressing room. A few minutes later she poked her head out of the door.
"Um..." she slowly eased herself from behind the door, "is this acceptable?"
"Starfire," Robin said walking over from the other side of the store, "they...you..." he blushed, and looked down. The jeans fit her perfectly. They were long enough for her legs, and they fit snugly on her small figure.
Starfire smiled, "Now I must locate a shirt, yes?"
"Yeah," Terra said, shooing Robin back to look for his own clothes. Starfire looked at the shirts, forgetting to change back into her normal attire.
She let out a sound of happiness, and held up a lavander colored shirt. "Raven," she glanced over at her friend, "what do you think of this?"
"It suits you," Raven commented. The shirt was purple, Starfire's favorite color, and looked as if it would fit her as well as her jeans did. The shirt had a pretty flower on it. "It suits you," Raven repeated.
Starfire squeeled, "Then I shall buy it!" she laughed. "Many thanks to you," she said turning to Terra, "for showing me these wonderful clothing items."
"No problem," Terra shrugged, "looks like the guys found some stuff too." The girls walked over to the check out counter, where the boys were waiting. Cyborg was getting a shirt and jeans, and Robin and Beast Boy were both getting jeans as well.
"Terra," Beast Boy asked, "aren't you getting anything?"
She laughed, "I already have normal clothes."
"Should I charge all this together?" the clerk asked.
"Yeah," Robin said pulling out the Teen Titans account card.
Minutes later the Titans walked out of the store holding bags full of clothes. "May I see your purchases?" Starfire inquired.
"You can see them tonight when we wear them at the party," Cyborg laughed.
"C'mon," Terra said, leading them in another direction, "Raven still needs an outfit, and BB and Robin still need shirts." She led them to a store with bright red letters hanging over the arched doorway. "Hot Topic," she smiled, "all about the music. Or something like that."
Raven smiled as she walked into the store. This was her kind of place. "Hey, there," the clerk said, "all shirts are half off. If you need anything just come get me." He smiled at the girls. Raven had to admit, he was pretty good looking. He had black hair that did the little sweep across his forhead. She blushed as she moved to look on the shelves.
Beast Boy noticed her blush and for an unknown reason to him, he was mad. He hadn't said a word to her all day long, and Terra was here with him. But he was still mad that there was a guy making Raven blush.
Raven picked out a pair of dark blue jeans, and began looking for a shirt. She smiled when she came across a black T-shirt with a red rose on it. Upon looking closer, she noticed a white outline of a raven holding the rose in it's beak. She grabbed it.
"Hey, Raven!" Robin called over, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," she said as she ran over to the counter. She laid her stuff down, and glanced over the other items. Beast Boy and Robin were both getting shirts, but she couldn't really tell what was on them.
"Did you find everything okay?" the worker asked, smiling at Raven.
"Yes," Beast Boy said sharply. Raven glanced at him. She heard Starfire telling her to tell the person she cares about...but what if she was wrong? Terra was back. He would never like a person like her. Why get her hopes up?
Robin paid with the Teen Titan account card, and they left the store. "Man," Cyborg said, "I'm hungery. Who else wants to grab something from the food court?"
"Yeah," Robin agreed, "it's about lunch time anyway."
"Ooo," Starfire pondered once they arrived at the food court, "What shall I get?"
"I'm getting Chick-fil-A," Terra announced.
Beast Boy gasped, "Terra, how could you?" He grinned when she playfully punched him in the arm.
Raven tried to ignore the transaction, and declared, "I'm getting Japanese." She didn't say another word as she moved off to get her food.
The rest of the group went out to find what they wanted. When they got it, they found a table, and began to devour their food. "So," Beast Boy asked, while eating his steamed vegetables, "What have you been doing lately Terra?"
"Not much," she said, "School's over, and I've just been hanging out with my friends."
Beast Boy tried to act casual, "Do you have a boyfriend or anything?" Raven tried not to wince, or look too interested.
"No," Terra shrugged, "guess I just haven't found a guy I like enought yet." Beast Boy smiled, and Raven stared at her food. Why was she feeling like this? She didn't like Beast Boy. He was...Beast Boy. He was the one who always tried to make her smile. He was the one she couldn't stand. Right?
Robin and Starfire had begun their own discussion about some Tamaranian thing.
"Why are you askin' BB?" Cyborg asked, laughing.
"Oh, uh, no reason," Beast Boy blushed. Terra laughed.
No reason? Maybe Raven shouldn't go to this party after all. She would just have to watch Beast Boy and Terra get together again. But, she asked herself for the hundreth time, why did she care so much?
End of Chapter
Author's note: Will Raven go to the dance? Will Beast Boy and Terra get together again? Will the guy from Hot Topic stop flirting with pretty girls? Some of the answers in shall be in the next chapter!
That was fun, I couldn't resist. Hope you liked this chapter. :)
