Meanwhile...

With James...

He and Ray had finally arrived at the coffee shop that their friend Raven was waiting for them at.

Upon entering the building, the two goths took notice that there weren't a lot of people here today. Then again, this coffee shop was pretty small in comparison to either Gino's Pizzeria or Roxie Road's Ice Cream Parlor, so it wasn't a complete surprise to see not a lot people around here. Regardless of this, at least with a short amount of people here it will be a lot more easier for them to find Raven around here.

Speaking of Raven, during the first few seconds of being here, both of them found her rather quickly. The goth girl was just sitting at one of the random booth tables that were located to the left side of the building, staring out the window wondering where her friends were. The goth stood out among everyone else who had came here too. What with her red hair in a braid going down her back and black dress with a red corset? She wasn't too hard to miss, especially for both James and Ray.

Once they found her, the two made their way over to the booth table she was sitting at. Both of them sat down alongside the goth girl, catching her attention when they did so. Ray sat next to his girlfriend, while James sat in the other seat across from the two of them. Once both men were sitting down, Raven finally spoke.

"Finally, I was wondering when you two would show up here." She said, before pointing over to the front counter nearby. "By the way, I hope you guys don't mind, but I ordered your coffees while I was waiting for you to get here. You guys don't mind that I went ahead and did that, yes?"

"Of course not." Ray told her while giving a shrug. "Besides, you already know what kind of coffee I tend to get here anyways."

Raven just chuckled hearing that, before giving her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, you know I always do." The goth girl then turned her head to look over to James, who was was looking at the both of them in silence. "James...I must say, ever since Katie had that talk with you, things have been a lot more quieter around Goth Boy's house whenever me and Ray head off there. How have you been since than?"

James just gave a sigh, then shrugged at the goth girl's question. "Things are fine with me, honestly." He told her, before looking over to the window to his right. "Tell you though, after all the attempts of trying to get me and Jenny to hang out with those guys, I really should've just moved on after graduation. What a waste, huh?"

"Well, just be happy that you're friends with us." Raven then rolled her eyes. "Besides, you wouldn't even want to be friends with Goth Boy anyway. That man can be a real asshole at times."

"Raven, lighten up on Goth Boy." Ray told his girlfriend. "Yeah, he can be a bit of an asshole for no reason at times too, but his friend, Winter Takara, left Simport awhile ago. He hasn't been the same since after his friend had left town."

"Yeah, but...still."

"Look, I don't completely know what had happened with Goth Boy and...whoever that Winter Takara girl you brought up...but can we please just drop this right now?" James asked his two friends. "After me and Katie talked, I rather not have anything to do with those goths anymore. You guys, including Violet, are probably the only friends I can really ever get out of that group anyway."

"Raven Wright! Your coffee is ready!" The clerk shouts from the front counter.

"Ah, finally." Raven said as she got up from the table. She looks behind herself at the two men at the table. "I'm just going to get our coffees now. I'll be right back."

"Okay." James said, before Raven went off to collect their drinks for them.

James and Ray were left alone at the table for a couple seconds, as it didn't take long for Raven to collect their coffees for them. Despite there being only three cups, Raven was able to manage carrying all of them over to the table without a problem. Not to mention, she used to volunteer at the coffee shop during her first year in college, so this was easy for her.

Sitting back down with them, she resume the conversation. But instead of talking any more about Goth Boy, she decided to change the subject to something else. "So...James, how's Jenny doing?" Raven asked him. "It had been awhile since I ever asked about her, so...I thought I'd ask. So how is she?"

"She's fine, really. She's still working at the SPA Agency, me and her still hang out together during her days off, she's doing fine." James told them before taking a sip of his drink. "Although...quite recently, she did introduce me to a friend of hers, one whom Jenny had never told me about before until I finally met him."

"Really?" Ray asked.

"Yeah...some guy named Rob." James then pointed at the male goth before continuing. "He...kind of looks like you a bit, Ray. But...that's not really important..."

"Then what is?" Raven asked him.

"Somewhere...during our hangout...Ian called me. We talked for a bit, and...well..." James then rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds, before finally confessing what was on his mind right now. "I never told you guys, but...I've got a crush on Jenny."

Hearing this said, Ray just gave his best friend a smirk. "Come on James, that's no secret."

"What? You knew the whole time?" The geeky goth asked, clearly shocked by Ray knowing this already.

"I had a hutch, really. You talk about her and hang out with her so much, I'm surprised you two haven't considered forming a relationship yet." Ray then gave his friend a smile before continuing to talk. "How come you never told us about this before? This is actually rather sweet."

"I...I don't know...I guess I just didn't really know how to approach you guys with this, really." The goth then turned his head to look out the window to his right. "I honestly don't even know how to tell Jenny any of this either. She's been my best friend for a long time, and...I don't know..."

"Just tell her." Raven said with a smile. "It's as simple as that."

"Is it really that easy?"

"Yes." Ray said, before turning to look at his girlfriend. "I must admit, I was rather nervous to approach Raven to ask her out too, but...then I mustered the courage to tell her how I feel about her." He then looked over to James again. "...Then afterwards, we've pretty much remained together for...five years now."

"It's true." Raven said.

"That easy, huh?" James asked to himself, before giving his friends a confident nod. "Well...alright...if it's that easy, I'll be able to tell her tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ray asked confused.

"I would tell her tonight, but...after work, she has to babysit her little brother, Kevin." The geeky goth sighed, before taking another sip of his coffee. Placing his cup down, he continued to explain why he can't tell Jenny his feelings tonight. "All I can say is that whenever Jenny went through a stressful day, probably best to leave her be. I tried calming her day by text, but whenever I do so, we always...almost argue."

"Oh...I see..." Raven said with a cringe. "Well...when you tell her, we hope she says 'yes' to you."

"Thanks. You guys are true friends."

"Your welcome." Ray and Raven said in unison.

Back at Katie's house...

Chaz had finally finished up in the bathroom, and was now exiting the room to return to the others downstairs.

But right as he exited the bathroom, he turned directly to his left only to look down to notice something leaning against the wall nearby. It was none other than Katie's skateboard. After their argument moments ago, Chaz had completely forgotten that, despite not liking her upon first glance days ago, she does in fact know how to skateboard. For what it's worth, at least he knows that Crystal wasn't lying about that part.

He then went over to the skateboard and picked it up. He must admit he wasn't really all amazed by the looks of it, since he had seen a lot of them down at the skatepark whenever he and Tim went to hang out there. However, when he looked on the back of the skateboard, he was rather surprised by what was written on it, directly in between where both pairs of wheels were. It was a name written in a black marker...'Allison'.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with that?" Katie's voice said from the stairs.

Hearing Katie's voice, Chaz immediately looked away from the skateboard he was holding, turning his head to face the stairs. Katie was just standing there, glaring directly at him with her arms crossed and her fists balled up. It was pretty clear to Chaz that picking up what was probably the tomboy's most favorite object was a very, very bad idea. Without a word being said, Katie went over to Chaz and snatched her skateboard out of his grip.

"I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but nobody touches my skateboard except for me." Katie said, before taking off her backpack to place it in there. "You hear me, tough guy?"

"Chill out, dude." Chaz told her, as she placed her skateboard into her backpack. "I was just checking it out. I wasn't going to break it."

All Chaz got as a response was nothing more but a scoff. "Whatever...I still don't trust you one bit." Katie then proceeded to zip up her bag. "I mean...I probably would've tolerated you walking into my bedroom without me looking, but for you to grab my skateboard. I would honestly..."

"Should I ask who Allison is?"

Hearing that name said immediately caused Katie to stop talking. She immediately got up from the ground, slowly turning her head towards the biker to glare at him some more. Despite not being able to see it fully, Chaz did take notice that for a split second, he could tell that Katie's expression appeared to be that of shock moments before she glared at him. She didn't even answer the question either. All that she gave as a response was nothing more but complete silence.

After a couple more seconds passed, Katie closed her eyes, possibly to think to herself how to tell him about this. A couple more seconds had passed and Katie finally opened her eyes to look at him. However, instead of glaring at him, Katie just gave a look that seemed to be a mix of depression and irritation.

"It's...it's complicated, alright?" Katie told him. "She was just somebody that me and my dad were close with back then, and...let's just say that we...really don't like to talk about it all that much...especially now." The tomboy then looks behind herself at the backpack that she usually carries with her everywhere. "Though...all I really can tell you, when I was younger, this was probably the first gift she had ever given me for Christmas."

"Really?" Chaz asked her. "Not a toothbrush or anything?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Katie looked at the biker again. "We have enough of those already, especially back when I was a kid. The benefits of your dad being a dentist, am I right?"

"I guess...my dad works at the auto-shop."

"The auto-shop? Really?"

"Yeah. So do I?" Chaz then went over to the rails, leaning on them as he approached them. "Although...compared to your job, Katie...I can't exactly say where I work isn't what you would call...amazing..." The biker then rolled his eyes. "Long story short, after my parents had divorced, my dad has became nothing but a total asshole ever since. Sometimes, I want to punch that prick straight in his face so that he could shut up for once."

"Damn...that bad, huh?"

"If I said he's an asshole, then he's an asshole. Nothing more that I can say there." Katie cringed, before Chaz proceeded to tell her what he has in mind later on in life. "It's not all bad though, as one of these days, I'm going to quit that job and work at some other auto-shop. Maybe even work at some sort of bike shop even. I don't know right now, but...me and Tim will talk about it when we both quit one day."

"Tim?"

"Close friend of mine. He was meant to come, but...he got stuck with stuff down at the Boardwalk. So...I had to bring Summer instead."

"Ah...I see..." Katie then looks down the stairs, before placing her hands in her jacket pockets. "Your girlfriends a lot more nicer than Crystal described her as."

"Summer has her moments...but she's not a bad person like Crystal always does. I'm glad to see that somebody that's like her doesn't she her as such." The biker than got up from the rails, before pointing down the stairs behind him. "Speaking of which, I think we should be getting back downstairs now. Those two are probably wondering where we are."

"Good point. Let's go." Deciding to end their conversation there, Katie and Chaz went downstairs to continue their hangout with Crystal and Summer.