A Thing of the Past, Chapter 6
"Could you be any more annoying?" Raven inquired from the couch in the living room.
I looked up from the kitchen table where I had been sitting, trying to think of something to get for Terra to celebrate our one month anniversary.
"Huh?" I said, coming out of my reverie.
"Ever the articulate one," she stated satirically as she went back to her book.
I shook my head, tired of trying to figure Raven out, and went back to the list in front of me. It was blank. It's not that I couldn't think of anything, it's just that they were all bad ideas. The others had gone out for the day, having their own errands to run, leaving just me and Raven.
Suddenly, my pencil levitated out of my hand. "Hey!" I yelped in surprise, reaching out to grab it but barely missing.
The pencil levitated over to Raven, landing easily in the palm of her hand. "The only good this seems to be doing you is as an amateur drummer," she said, "continuously tapping for the past hour now. Repetitiveness tends to get on one's nerves, you know."
I stared at her angrily before I went back to staring at my list. "Whatever," I murmured.
"What are you trying to do?" Raven asked, looking up from her book after about a minute of silence.
I sighed. "I've been trying to think of something to get—Sara." Raven slammed her book shut.
"Don't you mean Terra?" she asked accusingly.
I stared at her. My heart stopped, frozen with the shock I was feeling, then pounded back to life. How could she know? I wondered. We had been so careful. "How did you find out?" I asked quietly.
She only glared at me. "How did you find out?" I repeated, my voice rising in pitch.
"'Truth's like a fire, and will burn through and be seen,'" she murmured, an icy smile appearing on her face.
"Huh?" I asked confusedly.
"It's a quote from Maxwell Anderson," she said, holding up the book she had been reading.
Why can't she ever just give me a straight answer, I thought bitterly. "That doesn't explain how you found out," I said in irritation.
She sneered at me. "You talk in your sleep," she said as though it should have been completely obvious.
I looked at her suspiciously. "When have you seen me sleeping?" I questioned.
A small blush came to her cheeks, her anger forgotten for the moment. "A few days ago when we all watched those movies," she said quietly, almost shyly. "The others had already gone to bed. Usually, I'm the first to leave, but I really wanted to see that last movie." Her blush deepened. "You dozed off and slumped into my lap and began mumbling before I could wake you up."
She cleared her throat and took on a more serious tone. "At first, you were just talking about blue bunnies from Mars coming to steal our broccoli supply. Then, you said something that caught my attention: Sara was not real. So I thought I'd experiment by asking you some questions. You admitted that there never had been a Sara, that Sara was really Terra. That it was all a lie." She gave me a poisonous look. "And that's only the abridged version."
This is so not good, I thought tremulously. "Do the others know?" I asked anxiously as I made my way over to the couch.
"That you talk in your sleep? Yes. That Terra is back? I don't think so," she answered. I took Raven's hand in mine, squeezing slightly.
"Please, Raven, you can't tell them," I begged. "Not yet anyway. Not until Terra's ready. She thinks—"
"What?" Raven snapped, taking her hand back. "She thinks that somehow we'll all forget what she did to us? What she did to you? That just because she saved us all from a volcano, which, I might add, she caused to erupt, we'll all forgive her?" I jumped slightly when a light on the wall burst. I had never seen Raven show this much emotion before. It was somewhat scary, but also entrancing.
She sighed, trying to gain back some of her composure. "Beast Boy, you know she's just going to hurt you again. That's all she's ever done to you. What makes this time so different?"
"Because she's different," I explained. "She's sorry, really sorry, for what she did—"
"Then why doesn't she tell us this herself?" Raven interrupted.
"Like I said, she's not ready," I said quietly.
"When will she be ready?" she asked exasperatedly. "She's been back for, what, a month now? And all she's done is turn you against us. You were sneaking around and lying to us so you could go and see her. Even now you lie to us with this make-believe friend. When will it stop, Beast Boy?"
"I don't know," I yelled in frustration. "Try to put yourself in her place, okay? Think of what she must be going through—" I stopped suddenly. Wait a minute, I thought, I know what this is: Raven is jealous.
I smirked at her, scooting over so I could be closer to her. "Oh, Raven," I cooed. "It's okay. You don't have to be jealous of Terra. I just figured that since you have some—difficulty—with your emotions—"
Raven stood abruptly, her book falling to the floor. There was a horrified look on her face. "What are you talking about?" she asked abhorrently.
I stood slowly. "Well, about you and me, of course," I replied.
I stared at her, waiting for a response, when I felt the sharp sting of a slap. It was the second time I'd been slapped in a week. I began to rub my cheek, more from surprise than pain.
"You pompous, arrogant, self-centered twit," she seethed. Another light on the wall burst. "I am trying to help you, as a friend, yet all you do is twist my words to glorify yourself." The kitchen table flipped over and broke. "Well, fine, if that's how you want it, so be it. And when she hurts you, you'll have no one to turn to but yourself." The television shattered. "After all, that's what it's all about, isn't it? You." She bent over, scooped up her book, and stormed out of the room, breaking a few more lights on the way.
I stood there for a moment, stunned. Shaking my head sadly, I sat back down on the couch. I had no idea Raven was that jealous, I thought in amazement. A voice interrupted my thoughts.
"That didn't go very well," Terra commented from the doorway.
I looked up, not even surprised to see her. I patted the seat beside me. "No," I remarked as she sauntered over. "Not well at all. And I hate to think how the others will react."
She sat down and crossed her legs sensually. "Do you think she'll tell the others?" she asked casually.
"No," I replied certainly, crossing my arms over my chest and looking off into space. "Raven's good at keeping secrets."
"But what if she does tell?" Terra's voice had taken on a dangerous tone.
"I guess we'll have to do something about it then, won't we?" I responded coolly, giving her a light kiss on the cheek.
There's no turning back now, I thought in dismay. I looked at her face, the face of the young lady I had fallen in love with. A chill ran down my spine as she smiled the cruelest smile I have ever seen formed with human lips.