Chapter 5

Wednesday October 24

10:41 AM

It is between 3rd and 4th period. Logan is at his locker getting his books for his next class (Pre-Calc). Raven is next to him with her books waiting to walk with him to their next class.

"Do you want to start studying with me tonight for the test in Anatomy on Friday?" Raven asks him.

Logan looks at her briefly before continuing to grab his things. "I already know most of it but sure. When and where?"

Before Raven can answer, a few cheerleaders stop by them after hearing Logan ask his question. (A/N. They only heard his question, not the entire conversation.) "Wow Raven," the cheerleader in the middle, Stacy, says. "I knew you slept with football players. Didn't know you like to sleep with your friends, too."

"I'm not sleeping with him, and I haven't slept with any football players either," Raven says.

Stacy smirks. "That's not what I heard. Malcolm said that you two had sex two weekends ago."

"We didn't have sex."

Kendra, one of the other cheerleaders, speaks up. "So how was he? Amazing? I bet he's big."

"We didn't have sex! Leave me alone!"

Stacy says to the other cheerleaders, "She probably won't admit to it because she liked it so much and doesn't want him to be with anyone else."

"I don't care what he does. He broke up with me," Raven says.

Kendra speaks up, "Must be trying to get over the break up."

"He probably broke up with her because she's not good in bed and she's ugly," Stacy says.

Logan steps in. "Don't you have anything better to do than spread rumors? Raven is beautiful and didn't have sex with Malcolm."

Stacy looks at Raven. "How much did it cost you to make him say that? $20? A one night stand? Sex all weekend?"

Raven glares at the cheerleaders. "I didn't give Logan anything. He's my friend. And for the last time, I didn't have sex with Malcolm."

"Just admit that you're a slut and slept with Malcolm," Stacy shoots back.

"I didn't sleep with Malcolm! He raped me!" Raven yells then runs down the hall to class.

"Now she's making up things. She should really just admit to having sex with him," Stacy says.

"She's not making it up," Logan says angrily. He slams his locker shut and walks to class. When he walks in, he sees Raven looking down with her hood up. He sits next to her. She doesn't acknowledge him. He reaches over to grab her hand but she moves it away. The teacher, Mr. Dinardo, then starts class. About halfway through class, Mr. Dinardo tells them to work on their homework with a partner or in small groups. Logan moves his desk right next to Raven.

"You okay?" Logan asks.

"Fine," Raven replies. Logan tries to look under her hood at her face but can't.

"You sure?" Logan asks, concerned.

"Yes."

"You can talk to me Raven." She shakes her head. "Come on, Rae."

"Please stop. I don't want to talk about it. At least not right now."

"Will you talk to me about it later then?"

Raven is silent for a moment then nods once. Logan puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes once before removing it. They start working on their homework. Raven finishes before Logan is even halfway through. Logan looks over and sees Raven close her book.

"You're done already?" Logan asks, amazed.

"Yes," Raven replies.

"Can you help me then? I don't really understand it." The bell then rings, signaling the end of class and the start of lunch.

"I can help you tonight." They walk to their lockers to put their books away then to lunch.

"Thanks Rae—" Raven glares at him. "—ven." Logan smiles sheepishly.

After school, Raven is sitting on the bleachers at the soccer field, reading, and waiting for the end of Logan's soccer practice. (They are in the postseason tournament.) 30 minutes into the practice, Raven's light is blocked by someone standing behind her. She looks over her shoulder to see Malcolm standing there. She closes her book as he walks in front of her.

"What do you want?" Raven asks angrily.

"Can't I come over to say hello?" Malcolm says with a smile.

"No," Raven replies.

"Upset that I broke up with you?"

"Definitely not."

"Angry?"

"Angry because you raped me."

"It didn't have to happen like that. You could've enjoyed it and participated."

"I didn't want to! We were dating for 5 weeks!"

"So? I've have sex with people that I've only known for a day."

"Well I don't do that."

"That's too bad. If you did, you wouldn't have been in so much pain. Or if you would have just willingly had sex with me."

"You didn't even care about me. You just wanted sex. I trusted you."

"Not my problem."

"What are you doing here?"

Malcolm steps closer to Raven, who is still sitting on the bleachers. "Maybe I want you to be my girlfriend again."

"No."

Malcolm stands so he is right in front of Raven, inches from touching her. He leans down and puts his hands on the bleachers on either side of Raven. She has to lean back to keep him from touching her. She leans back until her back is against the next row of bleachers. "Maybe I wanted round two," Malcolm whispers in her ear. Raven's eyes widen in fear and she opens her mouth to yell for help. Malcolm quickly covers her mouth with his hand. He presses his legs against hers so she can't move away from him. He leans his head down to kiss her when he is hit in the back by a soccer ball. He turns around but keeps Raven pinned to the bleachers.

"Get away from her!" Logan yells at Malcolm angrily while walking over to them. Obviously he was the one who hit Malcolm with the soccer ball.

"Why should I?" Malcolm retorts.

"Because I said so," Logan replies.

Malcolm laughs. "What are you gonna do? Kick soccer balls at me? Big deal. I'm six inches taller than you and probably at least fifty pounds heavier."

Logan walks closer. "Let her go or I will make you."

"Oh yeah? Prove it," Malcolm says cockily. Logan throws a punch at Malcolm who moves out of the way of the punch. However, in dodging the punch, Raven is able to get away from Malcolm and moves several feet behind Logan. "That was one of the weakest punches I've ever seen."

Logan smirks. "Raven got away from you though, didn't she? That was the goal. Hitting you just would've been a bonus."

Malcolm glares at Logan. "I'm not finished with her yet." He moves toward Raven, but Logan tries to tackle Malcolm before he can get to her. They each try to take the other down. They separate and start throwing punches at each other. Logan aims a kick at Malcolm's legs but he quickly moves away. While he is regaining his balance, Logan tackles him to the ground. He starts throwing punches at Malcolm while on top of him. Malcolm blocks some of them but others hit their desired target. Malcolm also connects with some of his punches. After a few more minutes of fighting, some of the soccer players pull Logan off Malcolm and hold him back. Some others also keep Malcolm back. Logan and Malcolm struggle to get to each other to fight again. The soccer coach blows his whistle and they all turn to look at him.

"You are cutting into my practice time!" the coach yells. "Who are you?" he asks Malcolm.

"Malcolm Noll. I play football," Malcolm replies.

"Don't you have a practice to get to?" the coach says.

"At 4:00," Malcolm says.

"Well I suggest you get to it," says the coach. "I will be reporting this incident to your coach as well." The players holding onto Malcolm release him. He glares at Logan then leaves. The players holding Logan let go of him as well. "What do you think you were doing Garfield?"

"Helping my friend," Logan replies.

"You interrupted practice. We have Semi State next week."

"Sorry Coach."

"Is she your girlfriend?" the coach asks, indicating Raven standing a few feet away.

"No, just a friend. She gives me a ride home every day."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have a car."

"I don't like people sitting in on our practices. I've only allowed her to stay because she hasn't caused any trouble. Until today that is."

"It wasn't Raven's fault. It was because of Malcolm. Some stuff went on between them a few weeks ago and I guess he wanted to relive it."

"And why did you stop practice to interfere?"

"I didn't like what happened between them and didn't want it to happen again. I was protecting Raven."

"Very well. Go home and be ready to practice tomorrow. You probably won't be focused any more today anyway."

"Thanks Coach."

The coach addresses the rest of the team. "Let's continue practice. We might go longer now to make up for the time Garfield stopped us." The team goes back to practicing. Logan grabs his bags and walks over to Raven.

"Are you okay?" Logan asks.

"I think so." Raven says. "Let's just go home." Logan nods and they walk to Raven's car. She drives them to the Tower. They get out of the car and walk to the elevator. As they ride in the elevator up to their floor, Logan breaks the silence.

"So…that was fun."

"Not my exact thoughts."

"Not mine either. Wanna talk about it?"

"Take a shower first then meet me on the roof." The elevator doors open and they walk to their rooms. Logan grabs some clothes then walks to the bathroom to take a shower. Raven puts her bag in her room and goes to the kitchen to make some tea. After she puts her tea in a mug, she goes up to the roof. Ten minutes later, the door to the roof opens and Logan walks onto the roof in sweatpants, a t-shirt, and sandals. They both sit near the edge of the roof.

"So what did Malcolm say to you?" Logan asks, looking at Raven.

Raven doesn't look at him. "He asked if I was upset that he broke up with me. I told him I was angry that he raped me. He said that I could've participated and enjoyed it instead, and if I had sex all the time then I wouldn't have been in so much pain. He also said that it wasn't his problem that I trusted him, which I guess really isn't. Then he said he was there because he wanted round two. That was when he trapped me against the bleachers. Then you saved me from him."

"He's such an asshole," Logan says angrily.

"Yeah he is. But thank you for getting him away from me. I was scared when he told me he wanted round two and trapped me. He covered my mouth so I couldn't yell for help too," Raven says. Then in a small voice she says, "I thought he was going to rape me again." A tear runs down her face. Logan sees this and wipes it away while putting his other arm around her. Raven looks at him.

"As long as I'm around, that will never happen. I'll protect you from him. I'll do whatever I can to keep him away from you."

"Thank you." She doesn't lean into him but doesn't pull away from him either.

"Wanna tell me about this morning?"

"What's there to tell? Those cheerleaders were accusing me of something that didn't happen and I got tired of it so I told them what really happened and left."

"They didn't believe you. After you left, they said that you were making things up and should just admit to having sex with Malcolm."

"I can't believe he told people that. He raped me and is telling everyone that we had sex. It's not the same thing. Sex is when both people are willing; rape is not."

"I know. I'm sorry for what he did. But people will believe him more than you because he's on the football team and popular."

"And I'm just a creepy ugly Goth girl."

"No you're not."

"You called me creepy yourself."

"I know and I'm sorry for that. I guess I just said that because you keep to yourself a lot and your room has strange posters and statues in it. I am sorry though."

Raven looks at him and sighs. "I forgive you. But do you still think I'm creepy?"

"Not creepy. Just different, like everyone else." Logan smiles at her. She gives him a small smile in return. They sit on the roof in silence until they are called down for supper. After they finish eating, Raven helps Logan with his math homework then they start studying for their anatomy test on Friday.

"Anterior is toward the front. It's the same as ventral. Posterior is toward the rear just like caudal—"

Logan interrupts her. "No. Posterior is the same as dorsal. It means toward the back. Think like a dorsal fin on a dolphin."

"Okay. Medial is toward the middle so toward the stomach and lateral is away from the middle so like the limbs right?"

"Not quite. Medial is toward the midline of the body or the center. Medial is like the median in math, the middle. Lateral is toward the side of the body, away from the center. So the radius in your arm is lateral to the ulna."

"What are the others?"

"Proximal is closer to a point of origin and distal is farther from the point of origin. So my elbow is more proximal than my wrist because my elbow is closer to my shoulder which is the point of origin for the arm. Cranial is toward the head. You could probably guess that because it sounds like cranium. Caudal is the opposite and means toward the tail or lower part of the spine. And superficial or external is closer to the surface of the body while deep or internal is closer to the center inside the body."

"How do you know these so well?" Raven asks. "You don't know anything this well."

"Ouch. Harsh much?" Logan says hurt but smiling.

"Sorry, that was pretty mean. But you've hardly even studied."

"My parents were very interested in animals and anatomy and biology. I knew most of this stuff before I was eight. I guess that's why I like it so much and why it comes easily to me."

"It doesn't come easily to me. I'm going to have to study all the time for this."

"I can tutor you if you want."

"Really? You would do that?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because it would mean more school-related work for you and you don't really like school."

"True but I don't want you to fail anatomy when I could help you."

"Thanks."

"You have to do something for me though"

"What?"

"Help me to not fail Pre-Calc. I don't understand it at all."

"Okay. You tutor me in anatomy and I'll tutor you in Pre-Calc."

"Deal. Wanna seal it with a kiss?"

"Don't push it. The cheerleaders already think I want to sleep with you."

"Sorry. Shake on it then?" Logan holds out his hand. Raven shakes her head at him but takes his hand and shakes it. They continue studying for the test, Logan correcting Raven when she's wrong. Around 10:00 they start putting their stuff away.

"We're still on for the dance on Saturday right?" Logan asks Raven.

"Yeah. Why?" Raven replies.

"Just wondering. We haven't talked about it at all. Are we going out to eat beforehand?"

"I was just planning on eating here. We will have our costumes on anyway."

"Okay. What's your costume?"

"I don't know yet."

"The dance is three days away!"

"I know. I'm just not sure what I want to go as yet. What are you going as?"

"Well I had an idea if I was going by myself but since I'm going with you, I don't know. I kinda thought our costumes should coordinate somewhat."

"What was your idea if you went by yourself?"

"The Hulk."

"You would need muscles for that."

"I have muscles."

"Since when? Last time I saw you without a shirt on, you had no definition. You were pretty scrawny actually."

"When was the last time you saw me without a shirt on?"

"I don't know."

"I know it wasn't this summer if you said I was scrawny. Probably not last year either. We live together and you haven't seen me without a shirt on since freshman year?"

"I guess."

"Wow. You must really have avoided me those summers. And anytime I didn't have a shirt on other times."

"Are you saying you aren't skinny anymore?"

"I'm still skinny but not as much as I was. I have 'filled out' more as people would say."

"Are you sure you can back up all this talk?"

"See for yourself." Logan then takes off his shirt. Raven looks at his torso. His muscles are very defined. He has a six pack and his sweats hang loosely on his hips. Her eyes trace all of the lines of his muscles.

Damn, Raven thinks. He really has filled out. He's hot. How did I not notice before? The way his sweatpants hang on his hips is sexy too—Whoa. What am I thinking? This is Logan. The skinny kid I met freshman year. When did he start working out?

"Raven?" Logan says waving a hand in front of her face. She snaps out of her train of thought and looks at him. She realizes she had been staring at him the entire time. She blushes slightly and looks away from him. Logan grins at her. "Like what you see?"

"You definitely aren't scrawny anymore," Raven says blushing more. "When did you start working out?"

"During the summer after freshman year. I didn't want to be the super skinny wimp anymore."

"If you got into fights before living here, I don't think you were a wimp."

Logan smiles. "You don't know how many times I lost those fights though. Anyway, ever since then I've worked out every day for at least an hour."

"When did you work out today? You were with me most of the time."

"Today I actually worked out around four in the morning. I woke up around 3:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so I figured I'd get my workout in for the day. After I worked out, I took a shower and slept for about an hour before I needed to get ready for school."

"Why did you wake up at 3:30?"

"I don't know. Thinking too much maybe. Maybe a dream. Not really sure."

"What were you thinking about?"

Logan shrugs. "Nothing and everything I guess." He puts his shirt back on. "We should probably get to bed. We have school tomorrow."

"Yeah." They walk to the elevator and go to their floor. They stop outside Raven's door. "Good night Logan."

"Usiku mwema, Raven." He gives her a quick hug then goes to his room. Raven is again confused at what he said to her since she didn't understand it. She wanted to know what it meant and what he said to her the other night as well; she just hadn't gotten around to asking him. She goes into her room, puts her books and notes away then gets into her bed. She didn't realize how tired she was until that moment. A few minutes later, she falls asleep.