The next morning...
With James...
Just like a couple days ago, the goth woke up to the sunlight shining right through his window. He always hated it when he has to wake up this way. He could've sworn that he kept his curtains closed last night as he didn't have to face this issue once again. He wasn't too sure if a tiny part of the window was visible enough for some sunlight to shine through or, and he assumes this more than the other, Victoria moved one of the curtains an inch just so that he doesn't end up sleeping in today. Regardless of what had happened, James got up out of bed so that he can start the day.
After getting dressed and brushing his teeth, James went downstairs so that he can get himself some breakfast. When he entered the dining room, he walked in to find his mother standing by the stove cooking them breakfast and Victoria looking through the mail that they had received today. Trevor wasn't here at the moment, as he had left for his own workplace earlier before the goth woke up. Not that James really cared though, as he never really interacted with his step-father ever since he married his mother. Although, after discovering that his daughter was his own worst enemy back in his high school drama club, he felt like not interacting with him all that much was nothing more but a good thing. For what it's worth though, James is at least happy that Trevor is a good husband to his mother.
James walked over to where his mother was, then collected a plate out of one of the cabinets. Once he received one, he went over to his mother by the stove so that he can get some of the pancakes that she was making for them. He approached the side of her, placing his plate down onto the counter next to him.
"Good morning, mom." James said, sounding pretty tired after waking up seconds ago.
"Ah, good morning, James." His mother said as she places some pancakes onto her son's plate. "I'm glad that you're awake, or else you would've missed having pancakes for breakfast today."
"Eh, I probably would've woken up this early anyway. I have to go to work later during the afternoon."
Victoria finally decided to join the conversation after hearing the fact that her step-brother has a job, which she was rather skeptical about. "You have a job?" She asked her step-brother as he walked over to the table to sit beside her. "I highly doubt that you actually do."
"Well, I don't always sit around the house and play video games all day. I work at the pharmacy that's near the SPA Agency Building." All that Victoria could do in response was roll her eyes, much to the goth's annoyance. "Anyways...I was meant to go onto my shift at night like I normally do, but one of my co-workers has to go to his cousin's wedding down in Simhatten, so he asked me to take over as cashier this afternoon instead. At least when I get to go on a break, I get to see Jenny at the nearest diner when she's on her own break."
"Speaking of Jenny, my son told me that you and Jenny had a 'Girls Day Out' at the mall yesterday." James's mother said as she sat down next to her son. "How was your time hanging out with her?"
"Quite splendid actually. Thank you for asking." Victoria said with a smile. "I must admit, I had my doubts about fair Jennifer before we were at both the coffee shop and the mall...I feared she wouldst be not worth my time hanging out with...just like her best friend..." She then glared at James, referring to him when she said 'Best Friend'. The goth just rolled her eyes, as the drama girl continued. "...However, despite my doubts, I found that she is quite an enjoyable person to have as a companion. She is quite fun to have a tea with, indeed...although, I certainly can not say the same when it comes to shopping at my favorite stores. But regardless, she was still such a fun person to have around." The drama girl then blushed remembering another part of her time at the mall. "Also...during our time at the mall, I stumbled upon Ray there...twice..."
"You stumbled upon Ray?" James asked. "What was he doing at the mall yesterday?"
"He and...his girlfriend...were both going to one of their favorite stores there. I never asked which one...that's all I really know." She then smiled as she continued to talk about meeting her high school crush at the mall some more. "It had been...awhile since the two of us talked, or even had seen each other after our graduation last year. We talked it out a bit, and...hopefully one of these days, me and him will hang out together..."
"Really?" The drama girl nodded her head to James's question, causing him to be a little skeptical about something. "So...I'm guessing Raven's totally fine with you coming out of nowhere to continue your friendship with her boyfriend?"
After this was asked, Victoria's fond smile turned into a disheartened frown. "Well...she seemed rather displeased when I approached them..."
James could only cringe after hearing that said. Granted, he always knew that Victoria had a crush on Ray...on the contrary, it was quite obvious even before his mother married Trevor. Whenever Ray wasn't with Raven, whether it would be during the drama club or out in the hallways, he would always be talking or hanging out with Victoria instead, which was a lot more noticeable throughout the entirety of their Senior Year together. He always felt that it was going to be inevitable that one of them was going to end up falling in love with the other. He knew Ray wasn't going to fall in love with Victoria, but he knew the drama girl was going to fall in love with him.
Despite all of this though, James always was curious with how Raven truly felt about somebody like Victoria being friends with her boyfriend. Throughout Senior Year, he hadn't seen those two girls hanging out together whatsoever. From the way that she was describing it even, it seemed like Victoria's encounter with Raven at the mall was the very first time that they've ever faced each other, let alone the first time Raven's even heard about their friendship together. Whatever the case truly is, he could only assume that it could only go from bad to worse if he doesn't have a say in any of this.
"Yeah, I had a feeling that Raven wasn't going to be too happy to see you..." James said rather bluntly. "No girl likes it whenever some random girl their boyfriend happens to be friends with all of the sudden comes around."
"Oh nonsense, Louiston!" Victoria said, while shaking her head 'no' to what he was saying. "Certainly, just because I approached the two, dost not mean I am a threat to their relationship. Ray be nothing more but a humble friend of mine."
"Victoria, enough being in denial about all of this. I already know 'Humble Friend' only means 'Crush' when it comes to somebody like Ray." He then points at himself. "Do you want my advice on this whole thing? Whatever you do...don't rekindle your friendship with Ray at all."
"What?!" Victoria said, now raising her voice in a surprised, yet aggravated tone. "This is utterly ridiculous! I just reunited with Ray and now you're telling me to end my friendship with him?!"
"Victoria, I'm just looking out for my friends here! I'm also looking out for their relationship as well, because the last thing I want to imagine is for them to break-up!" James said as he began to raise his voice a little bit. He then began to point at Victoria as he continued to talk. "All I'm saying is that if you hang out with Ray, especially now that Raven knows who you are and your friendship with him, you're going to break them up."
"Well, you're a hypocrite then, Louiston! You don't want your friends to break-up with each other, yet you decide to force me to end my friendship with Ray!" Victoria stood up from the table, before pointing at her step-brother. "I don't know what makes you think I'm so untrustworthy enough to be friends with him!"
"You?! Trustworthy?! Do you hear any of the words coming out of your mouth?!" James said now standing up out of his own chair. "You think I'd trust the girl who acted like a total bitch to me and a few of my other friends throughout our entire Senior Year of high school?! You unfairly sent somebody to detention once! How the hell do you expect me to think that you of all people is at all trustworthy?!"
"James, that was unnecessary..." The geeky goth's mother said, hoping the two don't end up starting an argument. Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears as her son and Victoria both continued to argue with each other.
"Oh blimey, this again..." Victoria mutters, before pointing at her step-brother while glaring directly into his eyes with anger. "At least I know how to listen to the teacher, and NOT be on my phone DURING class! You always wonder why I was being assertive towards you and your chaps when you were being immature buffoons!"
"Victoria, please..." James's mother said in an attempt to calm the two down. Unfortunately, neither of them listened once again.
"Hey, don't act like I was the only one immature throughout Senior Year, Victoria! You once threatened to have me sent to detention all because I had a comic book in my backpack!"
"Oh, well, when I see one comic book being the only thing that you have in your backpack, what exactly did you expect me to do?" She then walked over to James, glaring directly into his eyes as she got close to him. "Did you honestly THINK that I threaten to report you to Principal Rosalyn without a reason?! Typical...you're always complaining about such petty things, Louiston."
"Sure, I complain about petty stuff..." The goth looked away from his step-sister rolling his eyes, before glaring at her again so that he can finally finish this argument. "Well, this problem I have right now...about you and Ray being friends...it's not petty. You're going to ruin his relationship with Raven if you continue hanging out with him! Clearly Raven's not happy to see you, so don't try to make things worse than it already is!"
Victoria just scoffs at what James told her. "You can't make me, and you won't make me!" She began poking the goth on his chest, leaning closer to glare directly into his eyes. "You may have ruined my entire life by becoming my step-brother, but the last thing I will let you ruin is my friendship with Ray!"
After that was said, Victoria walks out of the dining room so that she can leave the house. James and his mother just remained in there spots in complete utter silence. Neither of them spoke nor did James say back down to eat his pancakes, both of them just remained where they were. It wasn't until the goth lets out a discouraged sigh, that one of them finally said something.
"Um...I think I'm done with breakfast now...I should be getting ready for work." James said as he slowly tried to make his way to the living room walkway, since he didn't want to face his mother yelling at him for starting that argument.
"Damn it, James..." The goth's mother said, causing her son to stop in his tracks before he could leave the dining room. "Ever since I had married Trevor, you and Victoria haven't been getting along whatsoever. You're both grown adults. Why can't you and her resolve your issues?"
"Mom, after all the bullshit that I had to endure throughout my last year of high school, do you honestly expect me to trust in a girl like her?"
"No offense sweetie, I feel you're just assuming things too quickly when it came to what Victoria was saying. It really just seems like she only wants to be friends with your friend Ray, not to date him."
"But..."
"Just let her be friends with Ray. I doubt that she actually wants to be together with him knowing that he's dating Raven." The geeky goth's mother than looks at the time on her phone. "Oh, you should probably be hurrying on getting ready for work, dear. You don't want to be late."
James was about to say something in regards of Ray and Victoria's friendship, but decided not to. All he could do was just shake his head, while letting out a sigh of defeat. "Fine..." He muttered, before turning around and heading upstairs to continue getting ready for work.
Meanwhile...
With the goths...
Most of them were hanging out at Goth Boy's house like they'd normally do. They weren't doing anything too interesting, they were only doing what they'd normally do whenever they were at the house. Some were talking to each other, some were doing poetry, while others were just standing around either bored or just unhappy. It was really nothing more but another typical day at Goth Boy's house.
Despite most of them didn't seem too excited to really be here, with the exception of Yuki, one of them had nothing but romance on their mind. Obviously, that goth was Crystal, since all she could think about is how to approach Chaz to ask him out on a date. Since she had already talked to Yuki about it, Crystal decided that she should probably bring this up to both Violet and Raven. She could bring this up to Goth Boy and Ray, but unfortunately, both of them were busy, and she doubts that either one of them would actually care about what happens between her and Chaz, since neither of them are friends with the biker whatsoever. So, Crystal was left to talk to Violet and Raven about it.
Crystal, Violet, and Raven were all sitting in the upstairs hallway of Goth Boy's house. Crystal was leaning on the wall next to the goth leader's bedroom door, while Violet and Raven were standing right beside her. During their conversation, the rebel girl had explained what had happened between Chaz and Summer a few days ago, even bringing up her conversation with Yuki at the bar last night. She wasn't sure if either of them knew about what had happened that two days ago, so she decided to fill her friends in on what had happened during their break-up.
"So that's what had happened?" Violet asked the rebel girl. The goth sounded monotone like she'd normally be, but Crystal could tell from the look on her face that Violet was feeling guilty for what had happened to Chaz. After the rebel nodded her head, the goth spoke again. "That really sucks. Is he okay now?"
"He should be. I mean, Katie told me that she talked to him about it yesterday morning." Crystal told the two girls.
"But what about Summer?" Raven asked. "Knowing you, I'd thought you'd be doing something like ruining one of her dates with her new boyfriend, or some sort of prank just to spite her for what she had done."
"I'm hoping Yuki finds the time to bite that bitch in her face. Right now, I rather be focused on trying to get Chaz as my boyfriend."
"You...really think he'd be ready to date, two days after his break-up with Summer?" Violet asked while raising an eyebrow at the rebel. "I don't really think that's really such a good idea, Crystal."
"Hey, don't be a hypocrite, Vi! We all know that you broke up with and moved on from Lord Daniel within only two days yourself!"
"That's because Lord Daniel and I were so different, and he constantly was trying to make me love cute things instead of spooky things." Violet then rolled her eyes, letting out an annoyed groan. "Either way, can we just focused on you and Chaz together? The last thing I want to talk about, let alone remember, my relationship with Lord Daniel."
"Fine...whatever...sorry I even brought it up in the first place."
"Anyway...all that I'm saying is just to rush too quickly in a situation like this one. The break-up was still two days ago and from how close they were after high school, he and Summer have been close with each other for an entire year. I would just say to wait until either tomorrow or the day after that for you to try to start a relationship with him."
Crystal could only just stare at Violet after she was given this advice from her. She opened her mouth about to say something to go against everything that the goth girl had just said to her, but found herself unable to. She knew Violet was pretty much right when she told her all of this, and even though she hated Summer, she knew how close her and Chaz were when they first started dating. Not to mention the fact that she was also Chaz's first girlfriend, and he had done everything in order to show her that he loved her. She honestly couldn't argue with anything that was being told to her.
With a sigh, Crystal nodded her head. "Fine..." She muttered. "I doubt it would've been possible for me to even ask Chaz out anyway. He and Tim are going to be busy at the auto-shop all day, and the last thing I really need is to disrupt them during work." She then stood up from the wall, while placing her hands in her pockets. "I'm sure I'll find the time to talk to him about it tomorrow."
"Alright." Violet said, while nodding her head. "That sounds like a good idea to me, Crystal."
"Anyways...since Goth Boy doesn't really need us for anything at the moment, I don't see any reason to end this conversation yet." Crystal then turned her head towards Violet. "By the way, I've heard that you and Ghostly have just started dating a couple days ago. How have things been between you and him so far?"
Nearly blushing, Violet smiled while crossing her arms. "So far, I like Ghostly. He's probably one of the nicest people that I have ever met in this entire town. We had our first date quite recently too...we went to see a horror movie together at the movie theater."
"Well that's awesome to hear. I hope things go great for you and him." Crystal then turned her head towards Raven. "How have things been between you and Ray?"
"Things have been fine between us..." Raven said, before she crossed her arms and slowly glared at the staircase at the end of the hallway behind. "However...I am a bit annoyed with him about one certain thing I have just recently discovered..."
"What do you mean?" Violet asked.
"Yesterday, me and Ray were heading off to our favorite store in the mall...until some random girl decided to stop us in our tracks. Apparently, this girl...Victoria...was somebody who Ray used to be close friends with, back when we were all still in the Royal Academy together." She then faces forward at the two goth girls, continuing to explain everything that had went down during her encounter with the drama girl. "She had also informed me that apparently one day, both her and Ray had decided to have lunch together out in the school's courtyard together, all while I was still in class."
"Oh crap...Ray was cheating on you?" Violet asked, sounding nearly flabbergasted by what she was being told. Crystal even looked shocked, finding it completely unlike Ray to do such a thing, especially to Raven. However, the goth girl shook her head at this being asked.
"Ray wasn't cheating on me..." Raven reassured the two of them. "He and Victoria were only hanging out together as friends and that's it."
"Okay..." Crystal said, now no longer seeing this as a big deal all that much. "...If they are just hanging out as friends, I don't see why you'd be upset with him over something like this."
"I'm only upset with Ray because I'm only hearing about his friendship with Victoria until now. The least that he could've done was just mentioned her to me whenever we were hanging out together or whenever he was prepared to hang out with her." Raven then glared down towards the floor, shaking her head in disappointment. "I guess I should be grateful that he finally told me at least one thing about their friendship after our trip to the mall yesterday...he and Victoria have decided to continue their friendship from where they left off, and that they were going to be hanging out together at times once again."
"I see..." Violet said while rubbing her chin. "Does Victoria seem trustworthy to you? I'm pretty sure since she's met you already, I don't think she'd be having any sort of feelings for Ray knowing that you're his girlfriend."
"During our first conversation together back at the mall, Victoria hadn't stopped staring at Ray ever since she approached us. I can only take my chances and assume that she's not trustworthy in the slightest."
Crystal cringed, while shaking her head at everything that Raven was saying. "Damn...none of this seems good in the slightest..." She said. "What are you going to do about all of this?"
"Well, considering that they're friends once again, I don't think I have any sort of power to convince Ray not to." She then made her way over to the stairs, before glaring behind herself at the two goths once again. "I'll tell you this though, if Victoria even attempts to try to steal Ray from me, then all I can say is that I'm not going to be too happy about it." After she said that, Raven walked down the stairs leaving Violet and Crystal to look at each other, concern for what would become of Ray and Raven's relationship together.