Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with "That's So Raven."

Chapter 5

Sunday came and went and Chelsea and Raven thought it best if they didn't see each other. Keeping their distance seemed to help both sets of parents accept it. They had a whole day to think about it and come to a more concrete conclusion like, "It's okay, it doesn't change anything too much, and life can carry on." Not, "It'll be hard, but we'll accept it."

Both girls didn't know if their parents could think that way if they had gone out together that Sunday. Raven thought that all her parents would think about is what she and Chelsea were doing.

So, Monday rolled around, and the girls met and talked in school like they were best friends, instead of a couple. And the day was going fine, until Spanish class.

Senorita Rodriguez was talking about pronunciation of past tense verbs, and Raven was yawning. They had been reviewing the same thing for two weeks. If the rest of the class didn't know it by now, they weren't going to get it. The other thing with Spanish class was that Chelsea sat three seats behind Raven, which meant that note passing was harder since the kids between them were nosey bast--

RING! RING! RING!

"Okay class, that is the fire drill bell. Por favor, form one line and slowly walk out of the room." Senorita Rodriguez clapped her hands together, more excited about the break in class time than the actual class. She hurried from the room, ahead of all of her students. Raven rolled her eyes. Teachers were supposed to stay and make sure that all of the kids got out of the room. She hoped that if there ever was a fire, she would be in any other class but this one. Senorita would probably push kids out of the way to get to the exits.

Raven stood, turning and letting the kids behind her move past her; she was waiting for Chelsea. Chelsea closed her binder and stood up, fixing her shirt. She met up with Raven, who smiled.

"Thank God." Raven whispered dramatically. The girls laughed, starting to follow the rest of the class. They didn't get two steps before they bumped into him.

Rocky Collera, Bayside's oldest and most feared deliquent.

Rocky wasn't tall; he stood at a towering 5'10", but what he lacked in height, he made up for in bullying. His greasy, shoulder length black hair covered his piercing blue eyes and scruffy face. His old, tattered leather jacket stretched over his broad back and strong arms. The buckles hung loosely, clicking every so often when he moved. (When you heard that sound, you ran, no matter where you were.) The black heavy metal t-shirts he wore definitely saw better days; the band names and pictures were faded and cracked. Dark blue denim jeans and black biker boots finished off the fearsome ensemble. He smelled of oil and cigarettes, and he looked like he hadn't showered in days.

"S-sorry." Chelsea stammered, avoiding all eye contact. Rocky was well known for torturing any girl that caught his eye, and she didn't feel like being his target today.

"Ladies." Rocky hissed, his deep, raspy voice only adding to his creepy image. His cracked lips curled around his teeth, exposing slightly yellow canines that Raven always thought were too long for a human. "Aren't we looking fine this morning?"

"Yeah." Raven said quickly, grabbing Chelsea's arm and moving past Rocky quickly. The classroom was almost empty, and Raven didn't want to be alone with him.

"Hey, stay with me. Let's talk." Rocky said, moving quickly toward them. Raven shook her head and pulled Chelsea out of the room, catching up with the rest of the class. Chelsea looked back. Rocky was standing in the classroom door, smiling menacingly. He didn't leave the room though, and she was thankful.

"Oh God, could he be any more disgusting?" Raven asked, shuddering.

"And creepy?" Chelsea added, shaking off the bad vibe she got from him.

"You know, I heard that he went out with Bianca for like two days. But he was so scary, that she had to break up with him. And she didn't come to school for three days because she was scared of what he would do."

"Bianca? Really?" Chelsea asked, surprised. "I thought she'd be tough enough to handle him."

"No way girl. Besides, he's too old for her. I heard he was 19."

"But why stay in school?"

They followed the rest of the student body outside and across the street. The crowd was loud and chaotic, but Raven and Chelsea tuned them out.

Raven shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he enjoys coming to school, making everyone's lives miserable. Psychos like that kind of stuff."

"You know, we've successfully avoided him for three years. Why does he have to zero in on us now?" Chelsea whined.

"I don't know. We might be the only ones he hasn't bothered yet."

"Yeah well, I hope he stops after today. I don't even want to go back to class."

"I doubt he'll be there. He's probably in the boys bathroom with the rest of his nasty gang."

Rocky's gang wasn't large, but it was fierce. There was Michael Whitman, his secondhand man. Michael was silent but intimidating, dumb as a stump, and did anything that Rocky told him to. He was taller than Rocky, leaner and faster. If by some miracle, a freshman managed to outrun Rocky, Michael caught them and held them down until Rocky got there. Michael always wore the same thing: a black, ripped, male tank-top and greasy blue jeans, accompanied by black combat boots.

Then, there was Tyrone Jacobs. His bald head was covered in small, slightly discolored scars and he always wore dark sunglasses, even in class. He wore a black hoodie, black jeans, and black converse sneakers. This boy was silent and deadly. You didn't hear him coming until it was too late.

And last, but not least, was Deckland O'Malley. Deckland was a transfer student from Ireland and had hooked up with the gang last year. He had a wicked temper. He was loud, obnoxious, and downright mean. He was always ready for a fight and challenged any boy who dared to look at him the wrong way. Most of the time however, Deckland started it and you couldn't get out of a confrontation if you tried. He respected and listened to no one but Rocky. Deckland's short, firey red hair was accented by the emerald green button down silk shirt that he wore over a white male tank top and dirty blue jeans he tucked into his black combat boots.

Those four menaces were it, but they were more than enough. When they were in school (which wasn't the case for a lot of the year), everyone was fair game. If you got in their way, you prayed for an early end. Most of the time, boys were the victims of violence, but the girls got their fair share of harrassment from this dangerous crew. Nobody challenged them and everybody feared them.

Raven, Eddie and Chelsea had managed to fly under their deadly radar for three years, but now it seemed their luck was about to change for the worse. And it couldn't have come at a more complicated time.

Raven sighed as students began to file back into the school, dreading seeing Rocky in class. To both her and Chelsea's relief, however, Rocky wasn't there.

The rest of the day carried on as normal, with Rocky and his crew nowhere in sight. Then, school ended, and Raven, Eddie and Chelsea got stuff from their lockers and headed out the door. They walked down the school steps, talking about the day, when suddenly that familiar, spine chilling, raspy voice called out to them.

"Ladies!"

Raven and Chelsea turned as Eddie walked on. He stopped a few feet ahead, and turned around, growing pale at the sight of Rocky and his gang.

Raven and Chelsea stood frozen in place as Rocky addressed them from across the way. The others were leaning up against the brick wall of the school. All of them were smoking. Rocky didn't move toward them, instead, he stepped back and put a hand on his friend Michael's shoulder.

"Hey Red, my friend here likes you." Rocky shouted, but it came out muffled by the cigarette he held in his mouth. Chelsea could feel her face turn red. Michael just stared at her, burning holes through her with his intense gaze.

Raven's face scrunched in disgust. "Ew." She whispered just loud enough for only herself to hear. Getting over her initial paralysis, Raven grabbed Chelsea by the wrist. "Come on Chels, ignore him." She pulled Chelsea, who took a minute to get her legs working.

"So what'll it be?" Rocky called after them as they hurried off. He didn't give chase though, and all three teens sighed in relief as they moved out of sight.

"Hey Rae, Chels, do you have any idea who that is?" Eddie asked as they rounded the corner to Raven's block.

"Who doesn't know who that is?" Raven asked Eddie, shooting him an annoyed glare.

"What did you do to grab Rocky Collera's attention?"

"Nothing. He took a liking to us in Spanish."

"Man Rae, this is serious. You think he was serious about Mike liking Chelsea?"

"I don't know and I don't care Eddie."

"He didn't like me." Chelsea cut in, her voice barely above a whisper. "But he wanted me. I could see it."

"Yeah well, he can't have you." Raven said, hooking arms with Chelsea, trying to make her feel better. "You're taken."

Raven could feel the goosebumps on Chelsea's arm. They had spooked her bad, and that made Raven furious. How dare they pick on her like that.

"Y'all better watch out." Eddie said, shaking his head. "Rocky is serious business."

"Will you hush!" Raven said, annoyed. "She's scared enough as it is." She whispered sternly at Eddie.

"You should be too. And you should pray that tomorrow, Rocky and his friends forget about you."

"You're killing me here." Raven said as they made their way up the stairs to Raven's porch. Raven unhooked arms with Chelsea, grabbed her keys from her pocket, and opened the door.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

There was no answer. Nobody was home yet. Raven and Chelsea stepped inside, but Eddie didn't. "I gotta go meet Chantel. I'll pray for y'all okay?"

"All right Eddie." Raven answered, rolling her eyes and throwing her bookbag in the corner by the closet.

"Bye." Chelsea said, doing the same.

Eddie left and Raven closed the door. Chelsea sat down on the couch, looking over at Raven. "Do you think they'll forget?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they've forgotten already Chels." Raven shrugged it off, taking a seat next to Chelsea.

"I really don't need them to hassle us right now, with everything that's going on."

"Don't worry Chelsea. Everything's gonna be fine. Rocky and his stupid crew don't make up a whole brain combined. They'll probably go pillage or whatever it is they do, and they'll forget all about us. I swear."

Raven moved in closer to Chelsea, putting an arm around her for comfort. She gently started to kiss Chelsea's neck. Chelsea closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side a little, giving Raven more access. Raven started at her jawline and planted slow, soft kisses all the way down her neck to her collarbone, nuzzling it a little with her nose. Chelsea turned her head just as Raven moved upward, catching Raven's lips on hers.

"Feeling...better?" Raven asked between short kisses.

"Much..." Chelsea replied, a smile spreading across her face.

"Good." Raven grabbed Chelsea's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before getting up. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and start on our homework."

"Why?" Chelsea asked, looking up at Raven, clearly not ready to stop kissing.

"My parents and Cory could be home any minute. I don't think they need to see us kissing after just telling them on Saturday. I don't want to shock them too much. It's gotta be gradual, or they might flip. Plus, Cory doesn't know. And, doing our homework in the kitchen where they can see us will probably make them feel...normal."

"All right." Chelsea sighed, disappointed, but understanding. "I'll get the stuff. You go get me a soda."

"Yes ma'me." Raven nodded, heading into the kitchen.