Jim's Folly

Not much to this chapter…sorry. Oh well! It's Raven's birthday…Jim should be turning nineteen in a little while. I think. I'll double check that. Yes. In about…half a year's time, Jim will be nineteen. I've calculated it….he'll graduate at twenty-one. Great! It's only a year off from my original plans. You see…I didn't intend on having Jim shot. It was one of those "hey, let's give this a try" gimmicks. *shrugs*

Chapter 16

"Andrew is my pride and joy," she told him. He nodded. He could tell. Andrew's pictures were all over her office, she spoke of him often…he lived with her. To think someone was so close to their nephew…Jim frowned. Andrew and Raven's relationship was suspicious.

Jim said nothing and let her continue, his hand on her arm as they stood, overlooking the beautiful scenery. They were at the BenBow Inn, its form finally complete.

He wanted to kiss her.

He asked her a few questions and the two talked for awhile until the topic of past loves came up.

"When I was fleeing from Romania…and I stopped on Capernaeuma for awhile, as you know…I met someone. He was very kind to me," Raven told him.

Jim frowned. "What happened?"

Raven looked up at Jim, her eyes swimming with tears. "He was very kind to me," she repeated, her face blurring as Jim looked at her. Confused, Jim blinked several times.

Rowan's face appeared in the place of Raven's and the blue-skinned man smiled maliciously. "Hey, Jimmy. Miss me?"

Jim jumped, scaring himself awake.

Sitting up in his hospital bed, he concluded it had all been a dream. All that talk with Raven had only been a dream. What a waste of time.

He frowned. Had those feelings been real? Did he really want to…kiss her?

He bit his lip. Weird. Dreams were weird.

---

Nearly a month later, preparations for Raven's twenty-first birthday party were complete. Her students had planned for her first day back to be a good one: full of fun, dancing and cake.

The students had even rented a Dance Dance Revolution game machine.*** Appropriate for a dance teacher, they thought.

Jim had been through a lot of rehab by then and was finally out of the hospital, now in a rehab clinic a little while from the Academy.

Jim was given a day pass, unbeknownst to Raven, so he could attend her party.

In the large dance room, Amy was bubbling with excitement. Everything had been moved around and now there was a DDR Center in one section of the room while many tables were set up with food and drinks. Students were starting to arrive and were milling about, here and there. Raven was due to arrive in twenty minutes.

In her office, Raven was making final adjustments to her lesson plan. In the chair across from her desk was Angel McLeod, the blue-skinned, green haired wild substitute teacher who had been teaching Raven's class for the last while.

"So, I trust Jim's doing all right?" Angel asked, winking. Raven didn't see her wink and didn't bother blushing. She knew what Angel meant by her statement.

"He's fine. Out of the hospital and into rehab," she muttered, scribbling last-minute notes in the corner of one of the papers.

"Why do you make notes for a dance class?" Angel questioned. Now she had Raven's attention.

"It's partially dance class, partially choir. They need songs to sing, notes to read. Didn't you give them anything to sing or read from?" Raven's eyes were wild. She'd thought Angel had been taking care of the kids!

Angel shrugged, her violet eyes sparkling with mischief. "They were supposed to have notes?"

Raven shook her head, sighing heavily. "I'll survey the damage once class starts."
Angel glanced at the clock above Raven's head. "Perhaps you should go to class now, Instructor. You know, to make sure things are good…?"

Raven frowned. "You hiding something from me, Ms. McLeod?"

Angel grinned. "No, not at all. I just think it may be the best thing if you go now."

Raven stood. "I hate when things are hidden from me, Angel. What is going on?"

Angel stood with her, saluting in hilarity. "Go and find out, Instructor."

Raven didn't have to be told twice.

As the Instructor left the office, Angel paged Amy.

---

Amy's pager buzzed and she glanced at it. "She's coming!" it read. Amy gasped.

"Everyone hurry up! She's coming!"

---

Angel McLeod wasn't far behind Raven as she stormed down the hallway, notes in hand. Raven was prepared to teach a class, Angel was prepared to have a party.

Raven approached the classroom and frowned as she heard a lot of noise. Above her, the bell signaling class rang.

Raven opened the door and was shocked. Stepping inside, the entire assembly of her music and dance classes were together, all grinning ear-to-ear or tentacle-to-tentacle, depending on the race.

"SURPRISE!" they all yelled as she entered. Raven was speechless. Amy, blushing profusely, approached Raven.

Raven pointed at her blond student and shook her head. "So THIS is what you were talking about?!"

Amy grinned and laughed, opening her arms. "Happy birthday, Instructor!"

Raven shook her head some more, accepting the fact that she didn't have time to be angry about this. She accepted Amy's hug.

Angel McLeod laughed hysterically behind the two and Raven sighed. "You were behind this, too, I'm assuming?"

"Yes!" she replied between gasps of air.

Amy smiled some more and let Raven relax and get used to the group before her other surprise.

Raven had discovered the DDR Center and had laughed at the irony. "Appropriate," she noted. Several students challenged her to a round to which she accepted, but for later. She wanted to mill around first.

The food was wonderful. Be it food from all over the area, there was a little of everything for everyone. There was even a large cake declaring "Happy Birthday Instructor!" All different races from Raven's classes had shown up, and all were happy to be there.

Approaching Raven a little while later, Amy pulled her aside. "I have another surprise for you, Instructor."

"Nothing embarrassing?"

Amy grinned. "No. A little attention catching, maybe."

Raven shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Well? What is it?"

Amy pushed a button on her pager and a door to the side was opened. In came Raven's two favorite men- Jim was in a hovering wheelchair**, grinning profusely and Andrew was sitting in his lap, happy to be there on a flying contraption.

Raven rushed over, grinning. Andrew chattered happily in Romanian as Raven scooped him into her arms.

"You look nice in your uniform, Mama," Andrew whispered into her ear and she grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "Call me prieten while we're here, okay, sweetie?" she replied and Andrew agreed. Raven looked at Jim, who had lifted his wheelchair to almost eye-level. "Hey, Cap. Good to see ya!"

"Saw you a few days ago, Jim. How are you?"

He smiled, addressing his bandages that were wound around his middle. "I've been better…but the doctors told me I'm doing really well. I worked myself too hard yesterday, but…it seemed to be to my advantage." He thought some more and his face lit up. "Oh! They took me off the diluted cocaine!" Raven's eyes sparkled. "That's great, Jim!"

The two chattered some more about Jim's recovery, Raven's party, and then decided Jim needed to catch up with a few other people. Amy talked with him happily, and even Beth appeared happy to see him.

One of the students, a black-skinned boy with two legs and four tentacles for arms, approached Raven. "Instructor, you promised me a round," he said. Raven glanced at the open DDR station, waiting for her.

She frowned. "Of all the days to wear a skirt…"

"C'mon, Instructor! You can dance during class in a skirt!" he urged. She rolled her eyes. He had a good point. "Only a couple of songs. I don't want too many people watching."
Raven carried Andrew over with her and set him next to the machine to watch. He kicked his legs in anticipation. He loved watching Mama dance.

Selecting a song called "R3," Raven prepared for the arrows to begin to scroll. She started at Basic Mode and her opponent, the black student, Billy, chose Trick Mode. He was going to show off.

"Yer goin' down, Instructor!" he taunted as the dance began.

Trick was too hard for him.

Raven surprised the masses that had gathered to watch. Most of the students were circling the DDR station, watching in astonishment as Billy tried his hardest to keep afloat as Raven demolished him.

"This is old school, Billy!" she told him. He breathed heavy, trying to keep up.

"Pick…a…harder…level!" he told her.

She chose "Think Ya Better" and went on Trick Mode. Billy did better on this one. After various songs including "Drop Out", "Dynamite Rave", "End of the Century" and "B4U", Billy decided he was finished.

Soon after, other students challenged Raven to a dance. Even Andrew wanted to try. She chose "511" for her son and he did surprisingly well for a seven year old.

After cake and more dancing, the students dispersed. The bell rang and the rest of the students left, but not before wishing Raven a happy birthday.

Jim drifted over, smiling. "I'm on a Day Pass, you know."

Raven smiled. "I don't have a class for next period."

He nodded. "Do we even have to complete this conversation?"

Andrew piped up from his place as he stood next to his mother, holding her hand.

"I want to come!" he added in English.

Jim patted his lap and Andrew happily climbed on. Andrew had made a new friend.

Raven, Jim and Andrew went for a walk.

---

Author's Note: I'm sure all of you know what a DDR game machine is…if not, it's a really cool game where you dance to a song and follow the arrows on the screen and step on the arrows on the floor to follow along and earn a high score. It's a really awesome game…and you'll most likely find it in arcades with the really good players lining up and watching each other speed-dance on Maniac Speed. I'm still on Basic…but I'm getting better…*sniff* I am, I really am!

** About the hovering wheelchair…I figured it would be hovering seeing as their ships fly in the air, they have artificial gravity, holographic windows, etc. A regular wheelchair probably wasn't common. ^_^

PS: You may be wondering what a prieten is. It's Romanian for "friend". Aww. How sweet.