"Hey, son!" Mr. Grayson called as the door opened to admit Richard into the house. "How was your study session?"
Richard cringed at the mere mention of it. He and Kitten hadn't gotten anything done; all Kitten did was hit on him mercilessly, and she would always find one way or another to distract them from getting their work done. "It was fine, Dad," Richard responded untruthfully. He looked at his watch; it was nearly six o'clock. He groaned. Now he'd probably have to finish that two hundred-word essay in the morning, when he usually trained in the basement. Richard sullenly dragged his backpack to his room, so he could finish as much of his homework as he could before dinner.
XXXXX"Kori? Kori, get up!"
Kori's eyes snapped open and she saw her sister, already in her bathrobe and slippers, hovering over the bed that Kori lay in. Kori jumped a bit, but quickly regained her composure. "Sister, when did you get home last night?" she demanded. She sat up in the bed, clutching the blankets around herself.
"Oh, just about eleven-thirty. Relax," Konni added hastily on Kori's look, "I just lost track of the time. I'm fine."
"I wish to know why you were away for so long without telling Ryan and I where you were!" Kori hissed.
"I think you're forgetting who the older sister is around here," Konni countered with annoyance. "Ryan's already up and having breakfast. Get your robe on and come downstairs—I've made pancakes." With that Konni turned on her heel and swept out of the room. Growling to herself, Kori reluctantly obliged.
XXXXX"Dude, animals have feelings too," Garfield insisted. He and Victor sat on a bench by the gates of Jump City High. "They're living things! It's not like they want to be eaten. They want nice long lives, just like the rest of us!"
"It's only natural that most people eat meat," Victor retaliated. "Humans are the predators."
"Hey, maybe I should tell you a little story about a horse—"
"Look, they're at it again," someone droned. The two looked up to see Jinx, Richard, Raven, and Kori approaching. "I thought you two were going to settle your differences," Jinx added, smirking.
"Yeah, when Kori's around," Garfield muttered. He turned to Richard. "So, how was your homework date, Rich?"
"I'll give you all the details as soon as I have you hanging off our tree," Richard uttered.
Garfield giggled uneasily.
Raven smirked from underneath her hood.
Kori hoped that no one would ask about her sister.
"How's your sister, Kori?" Victor decided to ask that very moment.
"She's doing quite fine," Kori lied. "We have quite a bit of 'catching up' to do, however…"
XXXXX"I am handing back your poems from last week," Mrs. Dilettante announced to the fourth period Poetry Workshop class, "and I must say that I am slightly disappointed! It was your first assignment, true, but the lack of feeling in these poems is quite appalling! You must learn to truly connect your relationships with other people with the prose, bind them together so that they clearly express what is on your mind…a wise poet once said that you only know that your poem is complete when it feels like the top of your head has been taken off and people can see straight into your mind!" Secretly, Mrs. Dilettante hoped that no one would ask who this poet was, because she herself couldn't recall who.
The students were still trying to process what the eccentric teacher had told them. With every paper that was passed back, there was a miserable groan or sigh in response. Mrs. Dilettante eventually reached Raven and handed her the poem; Raven took notice of the red comment interrupting the prose and read it:
Raven, if there is anything that you would like to talk about, my classroom is always open.
Raven sighed miserably.
XXXXX
Richard tried desperately to avoid eye contact with Kitten in English class the following period, but she wasn't about to give up so easily.
"Thank you SOOOOO much for helping me with that project," Kitten yipped in his ear, trying to attract his attention so that he would look at her. "You were SUCH a big help!"
Yeah, by the way, we didn't get anything done, Richard thought irritably. "You're welcome."
"Heeee!"
Richard sighed and looked across the room at Raven. She was deeply absorbed in a book, and unfortunately was therefore unable to exchange annoyed glances, which for some reason would have lifted his mood a bit. Now more than ever, he wanted this period to end so that he could escape the ultimate source of annoyance that was seated right next to him.
XXXXX
Fortunately, the school day ended soon afterward. Richard, Raven, Jinx, and Kori walked toward their houses and Kori and Richard dropped off early on, leaving Jinx and Raven to walk the rest of the way. "Mrs. Dilettante is already 'concerned' because of the content of my poem," Raven murmured bitterly as they strolled down the sidewalk. "I didn't notice that I was writing my own ticket to the counselor's office…"
"Oh, Raven, I should have figured," Jinx snorted. It was quiet for a while. "Raven?"
"Yes?"
"My parents are working late tonight."
"Oh."
"So, would you mind if I stopped by at your place for a while?"
Raven blinked a bit; she hadn't brought Jinx to her house in years, so she wondered how Wallace would react if he saw Jinx back after so long. Nevertheless, she politely responded with, "Sure, why not? I'm sure Wallace and Mr. and Mrs. West won't mind at all."
Jinx smiled and they walked the rest of the way without saying much.
Wallace looked up from his application papers on the kitchen table when he heard the door open. "Hey, Raven?" he called. "Do you think you can clean Scath's cage? I'm kind of busy at the moment."
Raven sighed. "Could I clean the cage later, Wallace? I have company."
"Oh? You brought Richard with you?"
"Close," Jinx responded, smirking, "but no cigar."
The sound of Jinx's voice brought Wallace cautiously slinking to the threshold. "Jinx?"
"The one and only," Jinx said with a flourish and a wink.
Wallace raised an eyebrow, but Raven hastily motioned Jinx to follow her up the stairs. Jinx scoped out the hallway; not much had changed since the last time she had been there. There was a light fluttering noise and she felt something perch on her shoulder as she and Raven reached Raven's room. "Hello, Scath," she said, stroking the parrot's onyx plumage. "He's still alive?" she asked Raven.
"No, he's perfectly deceased. That's why he flew up to you and sat on your shoulder," Raven replied sarcastically. She opened the door and the two of them entered her abode.
"Why's that corner white?" Jinx prodded.
"It's my meditation corner."
"What, you still meditate? I was hoping that you would grow out of it."
"My deepest apologies." Raven rolled her eyes.
"No-no-no, that's okay," Jinx said, holding up her hands. "So, why did you keep with it?"
"It helps me relax…"
"Cool. So…can you teach me how?"
XXXXX
The phone rang in Richard's room. He sat on his bed, trying to ignore it, because he already had a pretty good idea of who it was…
The answering machine picked up, and he could hear himself reciting the same "I'm-away-from-the-phone" message that he had been using for a few years now.
"Hi, this is Richard. I can't come to the phone right now, because I'm probably at school, in the basement, at one of my father's shows, or I might have some other weird and obscure reason as an explanation. Whichever reason it is, I'll be back sometime soon, so please leave a message after the beep.
"…uhh…beeee—"
The answering machine cut the message off by finally beeping for itself. Richard groaned as he anticipated the mind-grating voice—
"Heyyy, Ricky! I've been calling OVER and OVER but you haven't seemed to pick up yet! You must be reeeeally busy. Please reply to all of those other messages that I left you! It's getting kind of late, so I'll see you tomorrow at school, mmkay?
"Oh! And remember to come to the pep rally in the afternoon! The new cheer squad has a new routine, and I would LOOOVE it if you could see it!
"Mmkay, bye now!"
Beeeep.
Richard couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being stalked somewhat.
XXXXX
Kori was relieved to see Konni reclining on the couch in the living room when she got home from school. "Good afternoon, Konni," she greeted setting her book bag down at her feet. "You're staying for dinner tonight?"
Konni rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, Kori, I'm not going anywhere." She ran a set of fingers through her pitch black hair contemplatively, not seeming to notice Kori's eyes on her. "You know, it's a big world out there."
Kori nodded in reluctant agreement.
"Maybe I should take you to see it sometime."
Kori nodded again, though she highly doubted that she would like it if Konni did.
XXXXX
"…close your eyes. It's easier to focus your energies if you do. Now clear your mind…concentrate on your breathing…"
Raven and Jinx sat in lotus positions on the floor, facing the white corner in Raven's room. It was silent for a moment, before Jinx opened her eyes and interrupted the quiet.
"How am I supposed to concentrate on my breathing? If I do I start breathing weird."
Raven groaned and her eyelids slid open. "Just keep track of your inhales and exhales."
"Oh…you mean like this?" Jinx closed her eyes again. "Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…"
"No," Raven interjected, "absolutely not. That's extremely annoying."
"Heh. It wasn't working, anyway…"
"Just pick two or three random words and use them to keep your breathing in time. Sort of like a metronome."
"What, I sit here and start muttering random words? If I just pick words off the top off my head and start saying them over and over and over I'll start to sound like an idi—"
"Azarath-metrion-pinthos."
Jinx blinked. "Say huh?"
"You said that you couldn't think of any real words to say, so I made up some nonsensical words for you," Raven explained.
"Ohhh…so it's 'azarath-metrion-pinthos', eh?" Jinx mused. "Actually, I think that I could grow to like that. It's kind of catchy."
"Good," Raven said, closing her eyes to get settled again. "Now that we've come to an agreement, let's try again, shall we?"
"Okay." Jinx followed suit and took a deep breath. "Azarath-metrion-zinthos…"
Raven's eyes blinked open. "Wait—I thought that it was 'azarath-metrion-pinthos'."
"It was? Well, 'zinthos' sounds better anyway."
"Hmph…all right then…"
The two of them resumed meditation, murmuring their new incantation together:
"Azarath-metrion-zinthos…azarath-metrion-zinthos…"
XXXXX
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've had lots of schoolwork…and I shouldn't really be on the computer anyway but my mom tends to be about ten times nicer than my dad. :0)
And yes, there are going to be more "serious" story lines later. Most definitely I am going to write about things that you NEED to know—like the thing about Raven's father—and of course I have to write a good story line for Victor (which I already have some ideas for).
Again, I will try to update as much as possible. Many thanks to the readers who are sticking with me. :0)