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

Chapter 8

She opened her eyes, confused. It was dark and foggy, and she was in the middle of Bayside high in her pajamas. Raven looked around, nobody else was there. Why was she here? The already dim lights that lined the hallway ceiling were further dimmed by the thick, smokey fog. The sound of a locker shutting made Raven jump and turn.

"H-hello?" She said weakly, and nobody answered. There was the quick sound of footsteps off to her left and she turned, but the hallway was empty. Raven looked at the classroom door off to the side. Room 187. 187. Why did that seem so important? She looked down the long hallway again, squinting to see better.

"Hello!" She yelled loudly, and suddenly Chelsea came into view. Her back was turned to Raven, and she was walking down the hallway slowly. "Chelsea?" Raven called, and her voice seemed to echo.

Raven walked toward Chelsea slowly, barely able to see her through the fog. "Chels, wait up!"

There was a slight snicker behind her and Raven felt her skin grow cold. What was going on?

"Chelsea, Chels wait!" Raven screamed, jogging toward the girl. Chelsea turned, her back facing the lockers.

"Raven, what are you--" Suddenly (and impossibly), a pair of arms flew out from the lockers and wrapped around Chelsea's waist. Raven stumbled back, surprised. But then she dashed forward when Chelsea screamed. "Raven!"

"Chelsea!" Raven screamed in fright as her girlfriend was pulled backward...into the lockers...and out of Raven's sight. Raven ran for them, thinking that she could jump into whatever Chelsea was pulled into, but she slammed into the hard metal lockers and fell to the cold floor with a thump. Getting up and scrambling foreward, Raven tried again. Nothing. The lockers were solid.

She banged on them. "Chelsea! Chelsea where are you!" There was silence. "Chelsea answer me!" Raven screamed, tears coming to her eyes. A hand dropped on her shoulder and she turned...and came face to face with Rocky Collera.

"Boo." He said flatly before pushing Raven. And the once solid lockers became a hole of nothing, and Raven was falling...falling...falling...

"NO!" She screamed as she fell further and further into darkness...

Raven snapped her eyes open, gasping for air. It took her a minute to realize she was in her bed, still in her bedroom. She looked around, still feeling the terror of the dream. Sun shone from the window onto her body, but she was freezing. And wet. Raven was drenched in sweat.

"Oh my God," She said breathlessly, wiping the sweat from her damp face. She looked at the clock. 8:33. The dream was so real, so frightening. Raven closed her eyes for a second and saw Rocky's face. She opened them quickly, shivering.

"It was just a dream. Just a dream..." Raven said to herself over and over, but her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to break through her chest. She pulled the blankets off of herself and sat up, trying to shake her fear. But it wasn't leaving.

Chelsea stood in front of her dresser mirror, brushing her hair quickly and rubbing her lips together to even out the lipstick. She flipped her hair, letting it fall into its natural perfect position, and then she began to apply eyeliner. She was done with one eye and pulling down the bottom eyelid of the other when Charlene knocked on the door.

"Chelsea?"

"Yeah." She said, running the black eye pencil across the lid.

"Dinner's ready."

"Oh, Mom, sorry." Chelsea said, putting the make-up down and turning. "I'm going out with Raven tonight."

Chelsea saw her mother pale and clasp her hands together at her stomach. "On a...date?"

"Yeah." Chelsea said slowly, feeling very uncomfortable. "Nothing fancy." She added quickly. "Just the movies."

"Oh." Charlene nodded a little, but didn't say anything else. An unsettling picture of Raven and Chelsea making out in the back of the movie theater flashed through her mind. Then she mentally scolded herself. 'The girls wouldn't do that. They're still keeping their relationship private from everyone else.'

Charlene sighed. She felt bad that they had to keep it a secret, and she felt even worse that she was glad they were doing so. She remembered back a few months, when she was treating a mother with a son who was gay. The mother was having a hard time accepting his feelings towards other men. Charlene now felt this mother's pain.

It wasn't supposed to be pain though. Charlene thought she was liberal-minded. She never felt threatened by homosexuals before. She didn't mind them. They are people too. But that was when they were outside...not here in her house...in the shape of her daughter.

Would she be able to support Chelsea? Accept her relationship with Raven? Charlene didn't know yet. All she knew was that she wanted her daughter to be happy. That was all that mattered for the moment.

The doorbell rang and Chelsea grabbed her jacket. "That's Raven." Chelsea walked slowly past her mother, unsure of what she would do. When she got out of her bedroom, she jogged to the door and opened it.

Raven was standing on the steps, looking at her cell phone. Her hair was back in a simple pony tail; she had on a dark blue hoodie over a white tank top, with form-fitting blue jeans and white sneakers. It was casual, but Chelsea thought she looked beautiful. "Hey."

Raven looked up and gasped. Chelsea's long red hair was flowing down over her tight black shirt that hugged every curve of her body. Low rise, dark blue, denim jeans and black boots finished the outfit, and took Raven's breath away. She was gorgeous. "H-hi." She stammered, amazed.

Chelsea blushed at Raven's reaction. But before she could do anything more, Charlene was at the door. "Hello Raven."

"Hi, Mrs. Daniels." Raven said sweetly, smiling. Her eyes kept wandering back to Chelsea.

"You girls going out for the evening?"

"Yeah."

Chelsea stepped down to Raven and turned to face her mother. Raven tried her best to keep eye contact with Charlene, but it was getting really hard. They stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do or say next. Then, Charlene sighed.

"Well, you know the curfew Chelsea. I expect you to be on time."

Chelsea nodded. "I will Mom."

Charlene eyed Raven and Raven suddenly knew how it felt to be Chelsea on that Monday night. She could feel herself getting tense and uncomfortable, something she had never felt around Mrs. Daniels before. Man, this was tough.

"You girls have a…n-nice time now." Charlene managed to force out, plastering a smile on her face. Chelsea's eyes widened.

"Mom!" She muttered, shaking her head in a 'what the hell?' fashion.

"Okay." Was all that Raven could say.

Charlene nodded nervously and then closed the door. She leaned against it, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. Her daughter was going out on a date with another girl…

Both Raven and Chelsea looked at the now closed door in shock.

"Okay, that was weird." Raven said, turning to Chelsea, and gasping for the second time that night.

"How do I look?" Chelsea asked, already knowing the response, but wanting to hear it out loud.

"Absolutely…gorgeous." Raven stated breathlessly.

Chelsea smiled. "You're looking pretty hot yourself this evening."

They walked down the steps, linking arms immediately. Raven closed her eyes as that familiar smell of strawberries filled her nostrils, dancing around her head and leaving her in a daze. "Mmm."

"What?"

Raven tightened her arm around Chelsea. "Nothing."

Chelsea smiled again. She knew that Raven could smell her shampoo; she washed her hair three times to get that effect. Seeing Raven in that euphoric trance made Chelsea's heart swell. She never knew it felt this good to be wanted. To be loved. And to love back as well.

Chelsea was going to say it tonight. In the park, under the stars. She was going to tell Raven she loved her.