A.N. – 'Nother quick review shout-out.

gladdecease – Occisor means "murderer" in Latin. Pretty lame, I know, but I'm horrible with coming up with titles. Now, I generally make them in a different language so that they don't seem as corny. - Well, thanks for your compliments! And… Are you studying Japanese, too? I'm trying to teach myself, and, admittedly, I'm making very little progress.

Fireyfly – Love ya, as always. Thanks for all the pointers and things!

They-Call-Me-Orange and Rose – Thanks for the compliments! They mean the world to me. 

Chapter Five

Garth and Kitten

The next morning, Raven strode into the unfamiliar art room before the first bell. Instead of desks, it contained multiple square tables scattered in a seemingly random fashion around the room.

She found Bee sitting at one in the corner and went to join her.

"Hey, girl," Bee said with a smile. "I'm glad you switched into Art."

"Me too," Raven responded. "I couldn't stand Mr. Harvlin anymore."

Bee shuddered. "I know what you mean."

"You mean… You agree with me?" Raven asked, shocked. Every other female she had talked to was smitten with him.

"He's… Too perfect."

The bell rang, splitting everyone's eardrums. Bee glared at it. "I hate that thing."

Gar raced into the room, late as always. He slid into a chair next to Raven, panting and gasping for breath. He looked down and stopped his stopwatch. "Better than usual," he said with a smile.

"But still late," Raven reminded him.

A large, portly woman swept into the room. She was wearing multiple, brightly covered scarves and a beaded head dress. "Welcome, class!" she said cheerfully. "Today, we will be painting." She sighed as she said the word, as if it were the reason to live.

The trio grabbed easels, paper, and paint at the front of the room, and returned to their table to begin. The teacher had not specified a subject, so all the paintings were vastly different.

After a time, Gar emitted a heartfelt groan, drawing the girl's attention. Paint covered his face and was stuck in his hair, and his frown only made it more comical. Bee laughed heartily, and Raven had a hard time restraining a chuckle. "I hate art," he grumbled. "I'm no good at it."

"Then why'd you join?" Bee asked between bouts of laughter.

Gar's eyes flicked to Raven, then back to Bee. "There weren't any other open classes."

Raven blushed.

-

The group was together for Math second period. As soon as Terra entered, she rushed over squealing. "Did you hear? There's a new student!"

"…So?" Roy asked.

"He's really cute!" Terra exclaimed. An unfamiliar boy entered the room, and Terra squealed again. "That's him."

He spotted the group and strode over. "Hey, Terra," he greeted. He flashed a perfect smile and tossed back his dark hair.

"Hey, Garth," Terra squeaked. She then turned and gestured to her friends in turn, "This is Vic, Bee, Gar, Dick…"

Before she could finish, Kori had latched on to Garth's arm. "I'm Kori," she said, staring up into his eyes.

Raven edged up to him on his other side. "Raven," she said simply, and shone a rare smile. Gar growled.

The bell rung, commanding them to sit down. "Come sit with me!" Kori exclaimed, leading him over to one side of the room. Raven sat on his other side, and Terra immediately situated herself in front. Terra and Kori then began barraging him with questions, both of them flirtatiously flipping their hair. Raven simply flushed and occasionally put in her input.

The boys sat on the other side of the room. Dick and Gar sulked, while Roy and Vic laughed. Bee joined them, feeling no attraction for the handsome student.

-

Later, Dick and Kori walked to lunch together. Kori was chattering away, and, though Dick usually didn't mind, he didn't particularly like the subject of the conversation.

"You know, friend Garth is really quite… cute, would you say?" Kori repeated.

"I suppose."

"I think he might even be cuter than Mr. Harvlin!"

"So you've said."

Suddenly, a friend of Kori's rushed up to them. "Kori! Have you seen the new guy? Isn't he the hottest guy you've ever seen?"

Kori and her friend walked away from Dick, giggling and occasionally squealing.

Sulking again, Dick sat down at their table.

"Don't worry," Bee assured him, leaning over the table. "It's just a crush. She'll get over it soon."

"I wasn't worried," Dick replied quickly.

Bee and Vic exchanged knowing looks.

-

Kori walked to her next class, conspicuously alone. For reasons she didn't know, Dick had decided not to walk her to class.

Kitten and her friends, a group of people that had always taken great pains to bother Kori, saw her walk past. They separated and began to walk around her. "So, where's your protector now?" one jeered.

Kori, determined to ignore them, walked on.

"Ew, look at her skirt," one said. Self-consciously, Kori looked down at her long skirt.

"She must have gotten it used." They laughed.

"And her shirt is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!"

Kori frowned. She made all of her clothes herself.

"And her hair is so long and gross! She's so ugly, it's a wonder she even has any friends."

Tears beginning to prick her eyes, she ran away, tripping over her skirt. The girls laughed and hooted, continuing to throw insults at her retreating back.

Not wishing to go to class, she threw herself on to the lawn behind the school, sobbing. Slowly, she sat up and reached into her purse. Shakily, she drew a pair of scissors out of it and poised them next to her hair.

Before she could snap them closed, though, a hand reached down to stop her. Surprised, she looked up. "Garth?"

"Don't cut your hair. It's beautiful," he said, sitting down next to her.

"No, it's not," she replied, gasping for air as she sobbed.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Her sobs slowly subsiding, she said, "I'm ugly. I shouldn't have such wonderful friends."

Frowning, Garth looked at her hard. "Your friends love you because of who you are, not because of how you look. Anyway," he smiled, "you're definitely not ugly. Whoever told you that is just jealous."

Kori smiled, but, surprisingly, didn't feel any fluttering in her stomach at his compliment.

He stood up. "Well, I have to go meet my girlfriend at the pool. But, remember Kori, I'm here if you ever need me."

Kori smiled and waved as he left. She found that she didn't care about his girlfriend – she'd much rather have him as a friend.

Slowly, she got up and wiped away her tears. She felt a sudden urge to talk to Dick – he always made her feel better, and he could dispel the few insecurities she still had because of Kitten and gang.

She found him on the other side of the school, talking to a friend. She almost ran up to greet him, until she recognized his company.

He was laughing and talking with Kitten.

Shocked and hurt, Kori backed away. Dick, spotting her, left Kitten and jogged over. "Hey!"

Kori slowly backed up.

Dick frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Actually, I am not feeling very well," she managed to choke out before she turned and ran away.

Dick watched her go, dumbfounded. Behind him, Kitten smirked.

-

Kori found Bee and Terra after school and approached them.

"Hey!" they both greeted brightly.

Kori smiled, glad to know that they would always stick by her. "I was wondering… Would you take me to the mall of shopping?"

Terra and Bee exchanged looks. "You mean… You actually want to go shopping?"

Kori nodded decisively.

"Awesome!" Terra exclaimed. "Oh, I saw the cutest skirt yesterday that would look fantastic on you!"