I finally finished chapter 10! Sorry I haven't updated for a while. School's been getting really annoying, but it's Wednesday, so the weekends soon! Then I can stay up till all hours of the night typing!
"Hey, Kori!" Jinx said as she opened the door. Kori stepped inside, smiling brightly with her mother in tow.
"Wow, Kori," Raven exclaimed, her eyes bugging out of her head. "You look beautiful!" Kori was dressed in a dark pink dress, white gloves, and was carrying a pink rose.
"Thanks," Kori said. "You two look beautiful too!" She pulled both Raven and Jinx into a hug. Raven was taken aback by this gesture, but hugged her back all the same.
Jinx and Raven led Kori and her mother into the family room, where Jinx's mother and Angela were both talking. They jumped up from the sofa when the group of four entered, complimenting Kori and introducing themselves to Kori's mother. Raven noticed that Angela kept putting a hand up to her left cheek in an almost self-conscious way.
Kori was soon ushered in front of the white curtain, where she stood smiling politely as her mother began snapping away.
"Now a picture of all three of you," Jinx's mother put one hand on each Raven's and Jinx's backs and pushed them lightly in the direction of the curtain. Kori smiled at the two of them, and beckoned. Jinx and Raven shrugged at each other and walked back in front of the curtain. The three girls gathered together in a six-armed hug and smiled as their mothers began snapping away with their cameras.
Luckily, this bout of picture taking ended quickly, so the girls were free to talk amongst themselves while the mothers entered the kitchen to set out dinner.
"Jen, Garth is gonna freak when he sees you," Kori squeezed Jinx's arm. "You look so pretty!"
"Thanks, Kori," Jinx smiled. "And call me Jinx, okay?"
"Got it," Kori gave Jinx a thumbs-up, just as the doorbell rang for the second time.
The three girls ran to answer it, Raven's tennis-shoed feet making stomping noises, Kori's high-heels clacking, and Jinx hardly making a sound, as she hadn't put on any shoes yet.
Jinx pulled the door open as she had before, and into the entranceway stepped Robin and his father.
Robin wore a simple white shirt, black pants, a black jacket, black bow tie, and polished black shoes. Raven cast a glance at Kori, and saw her staring glassy-eyed at him. Raven elbowed her lightly, which seemed to bring her back to her senses.
"Hey, Robin," Jinx and Raven said at the same time.
"Hi," Kori greeted him a second after the other two.
"Hi, Jen, Kori, Raven," he said, nodding his head formally as he looked at each of them. "I would like to introduce you to my father, Mr. Grayson."
"Pleasure," Mr. Grayson, a tall man with black hair and gray eyes inclined his head to the girls as well.
"Here, I'll show you into the family room," Jinx adjusted her normal, 'follow me' sentence to appear more formal. She led the way, with Raven and Kori bringing up the rear.
The three mothers had returned to the family room, and Mr. Grayson walked over to their group to introduce himself before the picture-taking resumed.
"Um, Robin, can I ask you to do me a huge favor?" Kori asked apprehensively. Raven and Jinx backed away a few steps almost automatically.
"Sure," Robin said without hesitating. "What do you need?"
"Um, I kinda made this bet with me sister that I would be able to get a date to homecoming," Kori said, her face turning slightly pink, "and I, uh, kinda didn't. So do you think you could take one picture with me so I could pretend that I had a date? It's just that I can't stand her teasing me."
"Sure," Robin smiled in an almost excited way. He cast a glace over to his dad, who was fumbling with his camera. "Dad looks like he's ready to start embarrassing me anyway." He smiled at Kori, who had giggled at his joke.
"Robin, I know you despise pictures, but your mother will have my head if I do not take at least one," he said, turning his camera on and beckoning for Robin to stand in front of the curtain.
"Very well," Robin said, suddenly talking formal again. "Kori was wondering if I could be in a picture with her, because her sister wants a picture of her and a boy." Robin stepped in front of the curtain, and beckoned with his head to Kori. Kori's mother, noticing that her daughter was walking back into the picture zone, hopped up and turned her camera on.
Jinx and Raven watched, smiling slightly, as Kori's mother scuttled in front of the curtain for a brief second to put Robin's arm around her daughter's waist. Both Kori and Robin blushed when she did this, but kept smiling.
"Cuteness," Jinx whispered to Raven. Raven nodded her head.
"Yeah," she whispered back. "Let's just hope Kitten doesn't find out."
"Ooh, I almost forgot about her," Jinx said, wrinkling her nose. "Even if I forget about her, it still means she's coming. Dang."
Kori and Robin left from in front of the curtain after about a minute, and then joined Jinx and Raven one more.
"Thank you so much, Robin," Kori was still pink in the face.
"No problem," Robin said, his face pink as well. "So, any idea when everyone else will be here?"
The doorbell rang.
"How about now?" Jinx smiled as she ran to answer the door. Raven, Kori, and Robin stayed in the family room this time, waiting for Jinx's return with the person who had just arrived.
Jinx returned after a few minutes with six people in tow: Roy, Leo, and Garth, along with one parent for each guy. Jinx and Garth were both blushing slightly. Raven grinned as she noticed this.
Jinx's mother exploded with glee at this point. She had obviously heard enough about Garth to guess that he was the one wearing the blue shirt under his jacket and with his long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She practically skipped over to him, trapping him in a giant hug.
"It's so good to finally meet you," she exclaimed, releasing him and making Jinx turn red.
"Mom, cut it out," she said under her breath, but Raven, Kori, and Robin heard her, which made them snigger.
"I'm glad I don't have a date," Raven whispered. "My mom would probably do something like that if I did." Kori giggled softly, and Robin smiled.
In the minutes that followed, pictures were taken of the new arrivals, and Jinx was ushered into a picture with Garth. The two of them went rather pink as a result of being so close to one another, but smiled politely at the camera.
Leo, Roy, Robin, Raven, Kori, Garth, and Jinx all formed a little circle and began talking as the mothers and fathers went into the kitchen to help Jinx's mom get dinner ready.
"So we're only waiting for three more people?" Larry asked.
"Bea, Vic, and Kat," Jinx said, giving Kat's name an annoyed emphasis. Robin looked a little embarrassed as she did this, so she quickly changed the subject by saying, "Are all of you gonna come to the party afterward?"
The word 'yes' circled around, with a slight pause as it reached Raven.
"I guess," she said hesitantly. "I mean, unless you know who decides to be a big idiot and make a huge fuss." She gave Jinx 'the look,' and Jinx gave her a small nod of comprehension.
Their circle was broken as the doorbell rang once more. Jinx ran to see who it was, while the rest of them stayed put. The parents all came back into the family room, obviously awaiting some more picture taking.
Jinx returned with Vic and Bea. Kori immediately ran over to Bea, complimenting her on her dress. It was black with small gold sequins sewed all over it. Bea was smiling cheerily, her left arm linked in Vic's right. Their mothers followed them into the family room, both looking slightly emotional.
Jinx's mother ushered the two in front of the curtain, and their mothers began taking pictures as if their lives depended on it. The two women were apparently very good at speed-picture-taking, for Vic and Bea were only standing up in front of the curtain for thirty seconds when their mothers announced themselves finished.
"Well, since all the young men are here, why don't we get a group shot?" Jinx's mother asked, shepherding Robin, Garth, Leo, and Roy back in front of the curtain. Bea stepped out of the way and over to Kori, Jinx, and Raven.
"You all look so pretty!" she exclaimed, squeezing Kori's arm.
"You too," the three other girls said. They all giggled, and turned to watch the guys get their pictures taken.
Vic, as the tallest, stood in the center of the group. To his right were Robin and Garth, and to his left were Roy and Leo. The group of five all smiled politely, standing straight up with their hands at their sides.
"Take a funny one!" Jinx called as the parents all stopped taking pictures. The guys' faces split into evil grins. They huddled together for about five seconds before facing the camera once more.
Vic tilted his head up slightly, looking up to the ceiling. He had a look of stupidity on his face, and his mouth was open. Robin and Leo stood on either side of him, gazing off to the left and right with similar expressions. Roy and Garth leant on either Robin's or Leo's shoulder and feigned sleeping.
The four girls erupted into a fit of laughter. The parents all suppressed small laughs as well and quickly took the picture.
"Let's call this one, 'Boredom in Homecoming 101,'" Jinx laughed. The other three's smiles widened at this comment.
"Kitten's really late," Raven pushed one of her longs sleeves up to check her watch. Jinx moved closer to look at Raven's watch.
"Yeah," she said, frowning. "Oh well. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll finish the picture taking without her." Raven and Jinx exchanged evil grins. Jinx's comment also left Kori with a small grin on her face.
Jinx's mother seemed to be thinking along the same line as the girls, for she also checked her watch once the picture taking was over.
"Why don't we get a few shots of the whole group now, since Kat isn't here yet," she suggested. All the boys except Robin nodded enthusiastically at this proposal, and the girls all walked over to the guys, Jinx pulling Raven.
Jinx and Bea knew exactly where to stand at once, as Garth and Vic each held out an arm. Raven and Kori stood to the side, before Mr. Grayson spoke up.
"Be a gentleman, Robin, and offer one of these young ladies your arm," he winked pointedly at his son.
Robin went slightly pink, but looked at Kori and held out his arm. Kori turned an equal shade of pink before walking over and taking his arm. Roy took Mr. Grayson's advice as well, and held out his arm to Raven. She walked into the picture zone and took his arm, half wishing she could skip this picture.
The parents all started waving their arms, trying to communicate to the teenagers while positioning their cameras. The group had to squish together to all fit in the picture, but they all managed.
After two minutes, the parents all lowered their cameras and declared themselves done. No sooner had they done this then the doorbell rang, and Jinx's mother ran to answer it.
The group immediately broke apart, knowing what was about to walk into the room. No one, except maybe Robin, though he suddenly looked like he had swallowed a bucket of ice, wanted to be in any pictures with her.
"I was half hoping she forgot," Jinx whispered to Raven and Garth, who still held her arm.
"She wouldn't have," Raven rolled her eyes. "Poor Kori." The three of them looked over at Kori, who was standing close to Robin, and had an expression to match his.
"Well, no one ever dances the whole time with their date," Jinx said, trying to make light of the situation. "Kori'll get a dance with Robin. Just like you'll get to dance with –"
"That's good to know," Raven interrupted quickly. She had a faint idea of whose name had been about to come out of Jinx's mouth, and she was certain that she did not want to hear the rest of the sentence. Jinx now wore an almost smug smile on her face, while Garth looked rather confused.
"HI ROBIN!" a voice exclaimed. Everyone's heads turned to face Kitten. (A/N: Her dress is just like the one in DWD, so I'm not gonna describe it.) She was smiling in an extremely girlish way, and she giggled as everyone looked at her. Her father was walking behind her.
She pranced over to Robin and seized his arm tightly. He tried to smile, but failed dismally; the look he wore now made it seem as though he was constipated.
"All right, everyone, into the dining room for dinner!" Jinx's mother called out. Everyone slowly trailed into the dining room. Raven waited until everyone had already gone in, and then grabbed her mother's arm.
"Don't let him blame you for me having fun," she said, giving her mother a stern look. "If he hurts you, call me, and I'll come home."
"Oh, sweetie," Angela pulled her daughter into a large bear hug. "Tonight's your special night. Don't you worry about a thing."