(Authors Note: Sorry if Star is a little out of character in my fic, but it is AU, and Star isn't an alien in the fic, but she'll be a little ditzy still. Enjoy the new chapter. And sorry if this one doesn't start up a huge part of the story yet. This is more for character development, but trust me, I'm hard at work on the third chapter, and trust me, it'll be worth waiting for.)

Chapter 1: Getting Attention

The next morning, Raven woke at a couple hours before school. She dressed in a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and pulled a matching black skirt up with it. She grabbed her long trench coat, and pulled it over her shirt, grabbed her backpack, and slowly crept toward the door. No use in waking her father at the moment, since sometimes him with a hangover was worse than him drunk. She reached the front of the house and slowly opened the door, making sure to not make the least bit of sound.

Once done, she ran down the street in the early twilight, to the house of her best friend, Starfire. She was never sure why her mother had called her Starfire, but the name was cool, and so was Star herself. Raven tapped on the window of Star's rooms, and waited for her to let her in as she did every morning. Raven dropped to the wet ground, and thought for a few moments about the handsome guy on TV. It was weird, she thought, that she was attracted to the green kid in school. Usually, that's the type of kid not necessarily popular in school. She didn't care though. Suddenly, the window rattled, and slid open. Raven jumped up, and turned to see Starfire staring down at her. Her hair was a mess, and her night gown was drooped down on her left shoulder; she had obviously just gotten up.

"Sorry," she moaned, "I overslept."

Raven smiled and climbed in the window. She sat down slowly on Star's bed, and waited for her friend to dress. A few minutes passed, and Star came out in her purple two-piece her mother had made her. It looked a little weird, but Raven thought it was pretty cool. Star suddenly leaned over, and touched Raven on the cheek. It stung a little.

"Another bruise. Gee, Rae, your Dad must have been hitting the drinks hard last night, and I'd say he hit you pretty hard too. That's three times this week. You really need to do something about him. Call the cops, something, just find a way to stop him. You'll end up…well, never mind."

Raven held back a tear or two, knowing she couldn't possibly do that to a man who was somewhere, deep down, still her loving father from three years ago. She wiped her face, trying to hold it, with a small bit of rage surfacing inside her. Suddenly, nearby, a glass left on Star's table shattered. Raven quickly jumped, and forgot all her thoughts.

"That was….weird," Raven said, looking at the pieces.

"Yeah, lets go get ready," Star said, "My mom makes one hell of a pancake. I'm sure she won't mind giving you a few."

Raven smiled, and headed out with Star. For some reason, she felt like it would be a long day.

-xxx-

The bus dropped them off an hour later outside the front of the Jump City High School. At least a crowd of one hundred reporters and journalists stood outside, as the green boy, known as Beast Boy, walked up the steps at nearly the same time. A crowd of girls inside jumped up and down awaiting his arrival. Beast Boy looked over, seeing Raven going up the stairs near him, looking at him. She was pretty, he thought. He gave her a slight wink, one she definitely saw, and continued on. Beast Boy looked up at the crowd of girls, and thought to himself, Man, this is gonna be a long day.

-xxx-

"Did you see that!" Raven said excitedly, grabbing Star, and hugging her tightly in an unusual display of affection for Raven, known to most as "Quiet-Goth-Girl".

"Yeah, but, Rae, your choking me," Star sputtered.

Raven let go quickly and went back to walking toward her locker. She then noticed everyone in the hall starring at her, each with their own creeped out look on their face. Raven ignored them, and walked on.

As they reached their lockers, side by side, as with every morning, Star's boyfriend, a short, yet not to bad looking guy named Dick Grayson, and his friend Vic Stone, a tall African American male, almost twice Dick's size, waited for them.

"He girls, what's shaken today?" Vic said, a grin as wide as Texas on his face.

"Nothing new," Raven said in a monotone voice, while pulling books out.

Dick gave Star a kiss on the cheek, and stepped back talk to the both of them.

"So Starfire, want to catch a movie tonight? Bruce said he'd pay for it," Dick asked her, smiling.

Always generous when Richey-rich pays, huh? No, that was wrong, she told herself, and shook away the thought.

"Maybe," Star said, and turned to Raven to talk again, obviously seeing the same thing Raven saw at that moment. "Well, actually, Dick, I'm going to have Raven over. She needs help…ummm…studying."

"Well, ok," Dick said sadly, and tapped Vic on the shoulder to tell him to come with him to class.

"Hey Dick, maybe we can make friends with that new guy, the green dude. We'd be on top if we needed someone to help us stand up to someone else," Vic laughed, and smiled.

"Like anyone wants to mess with you," Dick joked back.

Raven and Star watched as the two walked off, laughing with, joking with, and before stepping into their class, punching each other.

"Boys," Raven said mockingly.

Suddenly, the bell sounded.

"Ah, not again!" Star yelled, and grabbed Raven, pulling her away to their first class.