A few days went by, all of them routine and uneventful. Friday afternoon at lunch the group met at their usual table. Garfield spent the first few minutes raving angrily about cooking class…until the subject came to the upcoming homecoming dance.
"It's gonna be awesome!" he declared with certainty. "My first high school dance…"
"Why are you so excited?" Raven asked boredly. "Do you have a date?"
Garfield sweatdropped. "No-o-o-o…but c'mon! Staying up late, dancing the night away…aren't you looking forward to it?"
"Hardly. I'm being forced to go against my own will."
"Eh, you don't count anyway," Garfield said with a wave of his hand. "You don't get excited about anything. But I know that I'm going to get at least one girl to dance with me."
"Don't get your hopes up too soon," Richard suggested dryly.
Garfield smirked. "You underestimate me, Richard. All the times you're not around, the ladies are all over me in class! I am one of the most respected—" His speech was interrupted when a gob of mashed potatoes soared across the room and collided with his cheek with a splat! He slowly turned around to see a co-ed group of freshman students, laughing at one of the boys' antics. Richard sniggered, Kori leaned against Richard in giggles, and Raven turned her head down to conceal her smirk.
"Don't…say…a word," Garfield warned his friends, swiping the potatoes off his face.
XXXXXOnce Garfield returned home he consulted his closet for an appealing outfit. He was looking to make the dance worthwhile. Even as a sixth grader at his old middle school, he would be overcome by euphoria at the thought of spending a night without parental supervision with a bunch of fun-loving girls, contending for his affection (even though, unbeknownst to him, he was the one doing the contending).
Sure, euphoria tends to make one do crazy things. But who could resist?
He settled for a pair of khaki shorts and a green polo shirt. Satisfied, the teen nipped into the bathroom for a shower.
XXXXX"You're going to the dance?" Wallace asked incredulously.
Raven sighed and stirred her tea with a spoon. She sat at the kitchen table, her adoptive brother hovering around her. "Yes, all right? My friends really want me to go with them for some reason."
"Okay, okay." Wallace held his hands up in defense. "But it's so unlike you."
"Feh."
"Are you going to dress up?"
"Wallace, you know that's just about as likely as me getting an account on Neopets." Raven picked up her teacup. "I need to go meditate. I'd better be in a good state of mind tonight for…you know…safety reasons." She got up and left the room, leaving Wallace to mutter to himself about various unintelligible things.
Raven opened her bedroom door; the décor mostly consisted of a calm, light grey color on the walls, excepting this one corner in the back of the room where white paint stretched out about five feet on each side. She had three large bookshelves lining one wall, decorated with a collection of gargoyle figurines. Her bed was to the left, with a small dresser at the head.
Raven set her teacup on her bedside table. She proceeded to withdraw a few scented candles from her drawer and light them, before pulling out a small blue mat and setting it in the white corner. She sat down on the mat, legs folded neatly under her, faced the wall, and started to meditate.
XXXXXKori kneeled on the mattress on her bed. Across the room was a long mirror held onto the closed door. She stared at it, her eye's green gaze penetrating hard into those of her reflections'. A quickly glance at the clock on the wall told her that it was five past seven. In less than an hour she would be headed to the dance. The homecoming dance…the very first dance of the year…and everyone from school would be there. Including Tom.
It would be far too easy to lose sight of the group on the crowded dance floor and be cornered. She would have to stay with her friends as long as possible…
XXXXXApproximately fifty-five minutes later Richard stood in line for the admittance through the doors of the school gym. Ahead of him was a long queue of students, yammering on excitedly as they yearned to start their first after-school event. Richard scanned the campus, searching for any sign of his own friends, a.k.a. the ones with a mental capacity…
Suddenly a large male form came barreling at him. Thinking quickly, the teen dodged the possible blow and turned to see a senior boy crashing into some of his cronies; buffoonish guffaws echoed through the air, as a lot of people in the general area seemed to find this kind of bodily harm amusing. Richard scoffed silently to himself, and continued to be on the lookout for his friends.
Luckily, just as the line started to let up and the students began to enter the gym, a familiar green-haired freshman boy bounded up to join him. "Hey Richard!" Garfield chortled, screeching to a stop right before the older male.
"Hey Gar," Richard responded, smiling.
"Isn't this so sweet?" Garfield inquired joyfully. He was clearly excited. "So Rich, you've been to one of these dances, right? What can you tell me about it? I need to know what's in store for me tonight!" He smoothed back his hair in what he probably supposed to be a suave kind of manner.
"Uhh…" Actually, it was just a dance. If you've been to one of them, you've been to them all.
At that moment two more familiar figures approached, one of which was more enthusiastic that the other. "Richard! Garfield!" Kori called, taking hold of Raven's sweater sleeve and pulling her along the rest of the way. "So glad that we've managed to get in line with you!" The four of them were getting closer to the gym doors by the second.
"Hey guys," Raven greeted monotonously.
"Hi Raven." Richard couldn't help but smirk at how Raven clearly wasn't planning on enjoying herself that night.
Just then the door monitor called for their tickets, and the four of them were quickly swept into the gym.
XXXXXLoud music throbbed through the gym and met the ears of the four teens as soon as they stepped inside. All of the bleachers had been folded neatly into the walls, giving the room more space. At the far back a stage had been set up, where a DJ monitored the music and all the while continued to rile the crowd up. The students kept on pouring into the confined space, and the air became quite humid within minutes.
Garfield could practically smell the excitement. He breathed in deeply, absorbing it through his nostrils. Then he turned, and bowed comically before Raven. "Miss Raven, would you care to dance?" he asked, pretending to be pompous.
"No," came her reply. Raven's hair wasn't to be let down.
"Suit yourself." Garfield shrugged and turned to Kori, offering a hand. "Mademoiselle Kori Anders?"
The redhead snickered and accepted; the younger boy led her to closer to the middle of the dance floor and they quickly blended in with the rest of the students as they danced casually.
Richard and Raven held back and they watched their friends kick the night off. "Sure you don't want to dance at all?" Richard asked.
"Quite sure," Raven answered. She tugged at the collar of her sweater; the humidity was already unbearable. "Sure, I'll stick around for the most part. But you know how people lose control at these kinds of things. I don't want to come undone."
"Raven, it's not like we're at a rave or anything—"
"That doesn't stop most people," Raven interrupted, gesturing at a nearby group of students their age. Richard turned to look and gulped uncomfortably at the sight of their dance moves.
"You know what, maybe you have something of a point…"
XXXXXA car pulled into the school parking lot. As soon as the headlights dimmed a tall youth stepped out of the drivers' seat. The figure turned its head at the sound of the pumping music only twenty feet away in a large gym. Sighing, it slammed the car door and headed for the office, a light stack of papers in hand.
XXXXXRaven groaned in disbelief. Only feet in front of her were her three friends; Richard had joined Kori and Garfield after about a half hour, and was now dancing alongside them…well, at least trying to.
"Richard, if you want an honest opinion, then I have to tell you that you're making a fool of yourself."
"What if I didn't want an honest opinion?" Richard continued to dance as how he was, making odd motions with his arms and stepping unsteadily with his feet. Garfield and Kori had to pull over for a while, turning away and covering their mouths in attempts to conceal their laughter.
Pretty soon Richard noticed that his friends had dropped out. He stopped moving and sighed. "All right, I can take a point…" A rush of pink tinted his cheeks as Garfield and Kori let loose their giggles.
When Garfield's chuckles subsided he proposed, "Does anyone want some punch? I'm going to get some—I need to try out everything there is before the night's over…" He suddenly trailed off and did a double take. There was something standing over the pink punch bowl at the table several yards behind Kori that caught his eye. He found himself in a locked stare with the something, until Richard interrupted his thoughts.
"Nah, I don't think I'll have any. Besides, I've heard that they found the stuff in a box that someone anonymously left in front of the office door…no way am I touching any of it."
"Yes, I think I will also pass," Kori added.
"Same here," Raven replied.
Richard shot her a teasing glance. "Still afraid of coming undone, Ray?" This earned a glower and forced an apologetic grin out of him.
Garfield blinked and grinned again. "All right. I'll…be right back." He gave a parting wave and ducked into the crowd, pushing his way through the mob of people until he reached the punch table. Resting his elbows on the table and raising a "sexy" eyebrow, he asked, "Did you call?"
Jinx smirked.
XXXXX"I…have never smoked before."
Garfield and Jinx sat on the short wall surrounding a tree outside of the gym and parallel to the parking lot. Garfield noticed that Jinx didn't take a sip of her punch and looked at her with mock shock. "You've never smoked, Jinx?"
"What, do you take me for a crazy person?" the pink-haired girl chuckled. "That stuff kills you, kid."
Garfield tried to find a way to fight on the oncoming blush; why did she call him "kid"? Did he act too young? "Yeah…I know that…"
She continued with their spin-off of the drinking game. "I've never driven a car before."
"What, and you think I have? I'm only fourteen." Garfield instantly wish he hadn't said that. He must've sounded really childish. "Ahem…aren't you old enough to get your license, though?"
"Yeah, but when I took the test I came this close to running over the instructor." Jinx held her hands a few inches apart for emphasis.
"But…wasn't he in the car?"
"Well, he was supposed to be…but that's just another reason why I'm not allowed on the roads."
They snickered.
Garfield turned his gaze towards the parking lot. "Hey…speaking of cars…!" He pointed at a nearby car that had immediately caught his attention. Jinx looked in the direction that he was pointing, and saw a nice-looking, medium-sized car with two-row seats; it was a metallic white color, brightly streaked with a dash of blue on each side over the doors.
"Pretty nice," Jinx agreed. She looked back to face Garfield and saw that he was already running to the car's side. She abandoned her punch and went to join him.
" 'Pretty nice'?" Garfield gasped. "This is just about the sweetest ride I've ever laid eyes on!" He examined the exterior closely. "I've never seen anything like it. The design is so unique…maybe it's not a model from around here?"
"Hey, Veggie Boy—none of the models in this parking lot come from around here. We export half our lives from Japan, remember?"
Garfield sweatdropped and lowered his head to hide his blooming complexion. From that angle he noticed something through the window in the car door…
The car was unlocked. Whoever owned it had forgotten to lock it when they left.
Hmm…maybe he could possibly make up for his childishness if he just…
Garfield looked around; he and Jinx were the only people outside. Grasping the door handle, he opened the door a crack with a flick of his wrist. He'd braced himself for an alarm, but when there was no sound he relaxed and opened the door the rest of the way. Garfield peered inside. Jackpot; the keys were set carelessly on the dashboard.
"Uhh…" Jinx watched nervously as Garfield slid comfortably into the driver's seat. "Logan, what're you doing?"
"I'm just having a look-see," Garfield replied as coolly as he could. He rested one hand on the steering wheel and picked up the keys in the other.
"Logan, I don't think you should--!"
"I'm sure whoever it is wouldn't mind if I took a little spin around the parking lot," Garfield assured her, before he slammed the car door and fumbled with the keys and the ignition. C'mon, Gar…you've seen your parents do this before…
Jinx's eyes widened. "No! You don't know how to drive! If you're trying to be cool then you're just being a dickhead! I'm serious, Logan, get out of the car!"
She peered through the glass and was horrified to see Garfield slide the keys into place.
"NO! Logan, you're going to get yourself KILLED!" Jinx panicked. She beat her fists on the window wildly. "I'll break you out if I have to! Just get the hell out of that ca--!"
Suddenly the car took off, leaving the bare air under her fists. Jinx froze in terror as she watched the car speed away—straight toward a concrete lamppost. A sickening crunch was heard when metal connected with rock. Jinx's heart skipped a beat as the post swayed, before luckily standing straight again.
"Holy fuck!" Jinx found her voice and sprinted to the car. "Holy fuck, holy fuck…Logan! Logan, can you hear me?"
The hood and front bumper were damaged. She frantically opened the door, coming to see a pale Garfield; he stared straight ahead, eyes wide, and knuckles white from clenching the steering wheel.
"Oh no, oh no oh no oh no oh no…" Jinx looked around. She needed to get help, but everyone was inside. She would have to go to the dance in the gym…and find a few people that she already had in mind.
XXXXXJinx burst into the gym. The darkness assaulted her eyes immediately, but as soon as her sight adjusted she began to search frantically for the people she wanted.
No later than a minute did she find them. They stood in a circle, backs to her. "Hey!" she cried. None of them looked up; it was too loud with all the other teens dancing and singing. Jinx needed to get their attention somehow…and so she initiated the first crazy plan that was thought up.
Jinx tapped one of their shoulders. "May I have this dance?"
The person turned around. "No, I don't—auh!"
Jinx grabbed the chosen one's wrists and began to waltz noticeably toward the door.
"Jinx, you bastard! Have you gone mad?" Her dance partner was protesting quite aggressively.
"We need to talk!" Jinx shot back.
"Yeah, I'll bet…"
"I'm fucking serious!"
"Then stop dancing and tell me what you need to tell me! We're already getting odd looks." Raven wrenched her wrists free from Jinx's grasp. "No what is it? And make it quick, the dance is ending soon…"
"Look, there's this friend of mine who's crashed a car in the parking lot!"
"I didn't know you had friends," Raven scoffed. She turned around to walk away.
"I've seen you with him! Don't you know Gar Logan?" Jinx cried desperately.
Raven wheeled around so quickly she cuffed a freshman boy over the head with her arm; he fell against the wall and grabbed a streamer for support, causing half the decorations on that particular wall to be ripped free and to fall in shreds to the floor. "WHAT!"
Just then Richard and Kori rushed to the scene. "Jinx, what're you doing?" Kori hissed.
"Leave her alone!" Richard snapped. Then he caught the uncharacteristically worried look on Raven's face. "Raven, what…?"
"It's Garfield!" Jinx blurted. "He's just crashed a car…outside…we have to get him out of there! He's not moving!"
Without hesitation, they ran out of the gym, Jinx and Raven in the lead.
XXXXX"He's in shock," Richard muttered. He and Kori had managed to pry Garfield's grip off of the wheel and carried him to the pavement. He'd laid the boy on the ground, kneeling over him.
"Will he be all right?" Jinx asked, with a look of true concern.
"Miraculously," Richard answered, "he isn't suffering from any bad injuries. Just some bruises…" He cut himself off when Garfield gave an involuntary twitch. The younger boy gave a groan and blinked. The other four gave sighs of relief.
"As much as I hate to say this," Raven began, "I don't want to leave him to get caught. He's only just started high school…it'd be horrible if he got his first permanent record mark during the second week…"
"Yes, I would have to agree," Kori muttered sullenly. "We should help him get home right away…"
"Guys…what'm I doing on the ground…"
"Don't worry about it, Gar."
As Kori and Richard were helping Garfield to his feet, Raven looked Jinx in the eye. "Thank you," she mumbled. "Thanks for helping our friend."
Jinx gave a weak smile. "It's no problem. He's my friend, too."
"Yeah." Raven nodded. "And, well…even though we've had our differences and all…you might want to know that, if you're free at lunch, we're always at that cafeteria table in the far corner."
The two of them shared a smile for the first time in a long time. They assisted their friends in propping Garfield up and guiding him down the sidewalk. Jinx took the boy's left arm and coaxed him to take easy steps. She felt an alien, yet nice feeling…a new feeling of contentment and belonging.
And she was there to stay.
XXXXXA/N: That was the longest chapter in the story so far. Sorry for the wait! Please review, as usual. :0)
And in case you're wondering, the fic isn't over yet. I mean, there's still Victor that I need to introduce…and actually quite a few more people…so I'll work on/post the next chapters ASAP, okay:0)