Chapter 23

Saturday, April 27th

9:00AM

Logan wakes up in his room. He puts on a shirt then goes down to the kitchen. Raven is sitting at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of cereal and drinking hot tea. Dick is at the table eating toast and drinking coffee while reading the newspaper.

"Morning Dick," Logan says.

"Morning," Dick says, not looking up. Logan walks over to Raven.

"Morning Rae," Logan says then kisses her cheek.

"Morning," she replies. Logan walks around the bar to the cupboard to grab a bowl and cereal. He pours cereal and milk into his bowl then sits next to Raven.

"Sleep well?" Logan asks. Raven finishes chewing before answering.

"Mostly," she says.

"Good." Raven finishes her cereal then gets up to rinse her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. She then sits back down next to Logan and drinks her tea. "What's in you tea today?" Logan asks between bites of cereal.

"Just lemon," Raven replies. "I like to keep it simple in the mornings."

"Can I have a sip of it?" Raven passes over her mug. Logan takes a drink from it then passes it back. "That's good."

"Of course it is. I wouldn't drink it if it wasn't." Logan playfully rolls his eyes at her while she smirks back. He finishes his cereal and gets up to rinse his bowl. After he puts it in the dishwasher, he looks over at Raven.

"I'm going to go to the video game store," Logan says. "There's a new game that recently came out. Do you want to come with me?"

"No thanks," Raven says. "I think I'm going to meditate. I haven't done that in a while."

"Okay. I should be back in about an hour."

"Sounds good." He briefly kisses her.

"Later Rae." He walks out of the kitchen and back up to his room. He puts on jeans, tennis shoes, and a baseball hat. He grabs his keys then goes down to his truck. He starts it then drives to the video game store. Once he arrives, he parks his truck and goes inside. He finds the game that he wants and talks to some of his friends that are in the store. He then goes up to the counter to pay for his game then leaves the store. He gets a text from Raven asking him to pick up a book from the bookstore that just arrived for her. He puts the game in his truck then walks into the book store down the street. He goes up to the counter and asks for Raven's order. As he is waiting for the clerk to get the book from the back room, He looks through the rows of books. As he is browsing the rows, he hears Raven's name. He peers around the corner of the row and sees a group of high school age boys. While staying hidden behind the books, he listens to their conversation.

"What do you guys think of her?" one of the boys says.

"Raven Roth?" another boy says. "I guess she's kinda pretty but she's so creepy. She always wears dark clothes with her hood up. She never smiles and she glares at everyone."

"Why do you ask?" a third boy says.

"I'm thinking of asking her to prom," the first boy says.

"Why would you do that?" boy number 3 says. "She's gonna turn you down."

"She might say yes."

"And I might be the President of the United States," boy 2 says.

"Whatever," the first boy says. "I want her to at least leave prom with me."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"My cousin is going to hook me up with something to help with that."

"You're going to drug her? What if you get caught?"

"I won't. My cousin used it at his prom and never got caught."

"Why go through all this trouble for her? There are better girls."

"But this is Raven Roth. Not only is she hot, but no one can ever get close to her."

"She's slept with several guys so apparently some people can get close to her."

"Well I'm going to be another person to get that close to her. Don't you remember when Adam and Malcolm pulled up her shirt in the middle of the hallway at school? That alone makes me want to fuck her. And I want to find out if they're real or not."

"That was a nice view. I'm guessing that they're real. If they were fake, she'd show them off more. She wouldn't get a boob job then hide it under the clothes she wears now."

"What about Garfield? He always seems to be near her."

"That's what you guys are for. You keep him away from her, then I'll get her back to my hotel room for the night. Then you guys can come join in on having her too."

"How are we going to keep him away?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out. Are you guys in?"

"Sure, I'm in."

"I guess I am too."

"Good. Let's go talk to my cousin and see if he's got any thoughts for us." The three guys all walk out of the store. Logan is still standing behind the bookshelf, rage consuming him. Forgetting about Raven's book, he storms out of the store back to his truck. He gets in then drives back to the Tower. He goes up to his room and puts his game on his desk. He then changes into shorts and goes down to the gym. As he is walking down the hall, Vic passes him.

"Hey man," Vic says. Logan doesn't say anything. He just storms past Vic with an angry look on his face. When he goes into the gym, he immediately goes over to the punching bag and starts hitting it as hard as he can. Dick is also in the gym. When he sees Logan over at the punching bag, he goes over to him.

"Hey Logan," Dick says. Logan ignores him. "You okay?"

"Leave me alone," Logan growls. He continues punching the bag. Dick decides to let him be and continues his own workout. When he finishes 15 minutes later, Logan is still punching the bag with no signs of stopping. Dick walks out of the gym and down to the kitchen to grab a Gatorade. Once Dick leaves, Logan turns up the stereo in the gym.

Down in the kitchen, Dick grabs a Gatorade from the refrigerator and opens it to take a drink. As he swallows, Vic walks into the room. He sees Raven on the couch, reading. Vic walks over to her.

"Hey Raven," Vic says. "Is Logan okay?"

Raven looks up from her book. "Is he back?" she asks. "He went into the video game store to buy a new game then I asked him to pick up the book I ordered from the bookstore. I haven't seen him since he left."

"I just passed him in the hall and he looked angry and just ignored me," Vic says.

Dick walks over. "He's in the gym right now," Dick says. "He's been hitting the punching bag for the past 20 minutes. When I tried talking to him, he told me to leave him alone."

Raven puts her book down. "I'll go try to talk to him," she says. She gets up and walks to the gym. When she walks in, she sees Logan still hitting the punching bag as hard as he can. She turns down the music to a lower volume and walks over to him.

"Logan?" Raven says. He ignores her. "Logan, are you okay?" Still no response. "Logan, talk to me."

"Go away," Logan says, throwing more punches. Hurt, Raven walks away from Logan. She sits on a bench along the wall and watches him. After 15 more minutes, Logan stops hitting the punching bag. He grabs it as it is swaying and his exhausted body moves with it. Raven gets up and walks over to him. He has stopped moving but is still leaning into the punching bag.

"Have you calmed down now?" Raven asks. Logan looks at her.

"Not really but I'm too tired to hit this bag anymore," Logan says.

"Well your hands are in no condition to punch the bag anymore either." Logan lets go of the bag and looks down at his bloody and bruised knuckles.

"I guess you're right."

"Come on. I'll wrap them up for you." Logan follows Raven out of the gym to the bathroom.

"Actually Rae, I'll take a shower first. I'm sweaty from hitting that bag so much. Can you wrap my hands after that?"

"Fine. I'll be in my room. Come get me when you're done."

"I will." She starts walking away. "Rae?" She turns around. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to go away in the gym."

"Tell me why you did and I might forgive you."

Logan sighs. "I'll tell you once I take a shower."

"Fine." She continues walking down the hall. Logan closes the bathroom door and takes a shower. 10 minutes later, he walks out with a towel wrapped around his waist and his dirty clothes in his hand. He goes to his room and puts his dirty clothes in his hamper. He then puts on boxers and a pair of shorts. He runs his towel through his hair to dry it then goes down to Raven's room. He knocks on her door, which she opens a moment later.

"Hey," Logan says.

"Let's go to the bathroom so I can take care of your hands," Raven replies. They walk to the bathroom and Raven wraps up his knuckles. "You should probably ice your hands too."

"Maybe later," Logan says. They walk back to Raven's room. Logan sits on Raven's bed then lays back on it, letting out a breath.

"Are you okay?" Raven asks, sitting next to him.

"I'm still pretty worked up but I'm trying to relax."

"Do you want me to give you a massage to relax?"

"It couldn't hurt. Besides, I'll never say no to your hands on me." Raven blushes lightly as Logan rolls over onto his stomach. Raven starts to massage his shoulders and neck. She moves down his back then back up to his shoulders. She continues the massage for 15 minutes.

"Are you more relaxed now?"

"Yes I am. Thank you." He rolls onto his back and looks up at Raven. She is sitting next to him.

"So what got you so angry that you ignored everyone, told me to go away, told Dick to leave you alone, and hit the punching bag until you were too exhausted and didn't even notice your bloody knuckles?"

"You."

"Me?"

"When I was at the bookstore to pick up your book for you—shit, I forgot your book."

"Continue with your story. We'll get the book some other time."

"When I was at the bookstore, I heard your name come up. I saw a group of guys all talking together so I listened in on their conversation while hiding. They were talking about you. One of the guys is planning on drugging you at prom and taking you back to his hotel room. I'm sure you can imagine what his plans are next."

"Yes I can. Go on."

"He told his friends that it's their job to keep me away from you so he can carry out his plan. Then his friends can join him in the hotel room to have their way with you. They also said something about a time when Malcolm and Adam pulled up your shirt in the middle of the hallway at school. When did that happen?"

"That was the same day I got suspended for fighting."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We weren't on the best speaking terms at the time."

"Fair point. The guy is also wondering if you've had a boob job and if yours are real or fake."

"I would never have cosmetic surgery, especially not at 17."

"I know that."

"So their conversation made you that angry?"

"Yes. I don't want anyone to ever talk about my girlfriend like that."

"People will talk about whatever they want to, whether you're around to hear it or not."

"I know that. But the fact that I did hear it makes it worse."

"Why didn't you tell the guys that you would report them or something like that?"

"They were all football players. They've all got at least 50 pounds on me. My knuckles wouldn't have been the only thing bloody."

"Well then I'm glad you didn't get into a fight with them. And I forgive you for telling me to go away earlier."

"Can I make it up to you for how I acted toward you? And for forgetting your book?"

"I'm sure you'll think of a way to make up for your behavior. And we can go into the store this afternoon to get the book."

"How about I take you to dinner after we pick up the book?"

"That's fine with me."

"Great." Logan sits up and leans over to kiss Raven. "I'm sorry again. Even with how angry I was, I shouldn't have acted that way toward you."

"I already forgave you."

"I know but I still feel bad about it." Raven kisses him.

"Don't feel bad about it. Just try to not do it again." They stay in Raven's room for a while longer, just talking. Around 3, Logan goes to his room and puts on jean shorts and a t-shirt. He puts on tennis shoes then goes back to Raven's room. They go down to the garage and get into Logan's truck. He drives them to the bookstore so Raven can get her book. Once they pick up the book, they drive to the park. Logan grabs a blanket from his truck and Raven takes her book. They walk through the park then come to a tree on a hill overlooking a pond. Logan spreads out the blanket under the tree. Raven sits on the blanket, leaning against the tree. Logan lays on the blanket and rests his head on Raven's thigh. Raven reads her book aloud while Logan closes his eyes while listening to her. After an hour, Logan gets up. He goes over to a nearby food truck and gets food and drinks for both of them. They eat their dinner while talking. Once they finish, Raven gets up to throw away their garbage. When she comes back to the blanket, Logan is sitting leaning up against the tree. She lays in his previous position, with her head laying on his thigh. Logan reads some of Raven's book aloud. After Logan stops reading, they both enjoy the silence and watch other people in the park. Around 9, fireworks are shot off on the other side of the pond. During this, Raven sits up so she is leaning back against Logan's chest. Once the fireworks are over, Raven and Logan go back to Logan's truck and drive back to the Tower. They go up to their rooms to get ready for bed. Raven walks down to Logan's room and walks inside. They both lay down on the bed after turning off the lights.

"Thank you for tonight, Logan," Raven says. "It made up for earlier today."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Logan replies. "I thought it would be good for us to both have a relaxing evening after how I acted earlier."

"It was definitely deserved."

"Good night Raven." Logan kisses her, which she returns.

"Good night Logan." Raven lays her head on his chest and her arm across his torso. Logan wraps one arm around her waist. They fall asleep shortly after.