A/N: Ah, yes – thank you, everyone who so very kindly reviewed. The stupid server was down, so it took me a while to update, but trust me, I did as soon as I could. To get to the point, for my fantastic reviewers there will be a little thank-you at the end of this fic. To all of you, read on!
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Disclaimer: Although I have always desperately hoped it would be so, I do not own Teen Titans. I do not own Warriors either, but they are not part of this story, and so I will save that for a different fanfic that I am writing.
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Raven sat on the steps of her front porch. She was clad in a gothic black dress, and her hair was neatly combed back to her forehead. She bit her lip in anxiety. This was the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Why was Gar Logan offering to give her a ride? Why had he invited her at all? He already had a girlfriend, and she happened to be hosting the party. How could he even lay eyes on her?
She heard a rumbling noise, which grew louder and louder as it neared her corner. She stood, brushed herself off, and took several deep breaths. But she was shocked to find that, rather than a car, Gar had done the honors of driving up to Raven's house in a motorcycle – a mo-ped. Great.
"WHERE DO I SIT?" Raven screamed over the sound of the roaring engine as she hurried down the cold concrete to where the blond boy was standing.
"JUST CLIMB ON BACK BEHIND ME, AND HOLD ON TO MY SHOULDERS!" he yelled back.
"DID YOU DO THIS ON PURPOSE?"
"WHAT?"
"DID YOU BRING THIS MO-PED JUST TO – AH, FORGET IT!" yelled Raven. She hoisted herself onto the motorcycle behind Gar, and felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. Oh, damnit. Why did this happen every time she was near him?
Gar smiled and laughed. "HERE WE GO…"
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"Please, convince him to let me come with you?" Amanda fakely pouted. Kori shook her head firmly. "No, sister. He invited me to this occasion and it is I who shall be attending." She sat tensely at the window, tapping her finers lightly against the glass.
Kori's flowing purple dress brought out her green eyes. Her long, white gloves and modest white heels matched the "crown" headband which brushed back her bangs, revealing her full golden face.
Wheels braked on the road, and a car horn sounded. "I must leave," said Kori. "Richard has arrived. Farewell, sister; I shall be back late." She waved at the glowering Amanda, who continued to glare long after the car was gone.
"Farewell. Oh, I will, Kori. But you may not," muttered Amanda. She picked up the phone and dialed Kate Moth's number.
"Hello? Kitten, hon? This is Amanda. You're going to the Markov's dance, right?…"
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Gar carefully wove through the mess of cars. Raven held tightly to his shoulders, her straight black hair whipping about in the wind and dust. Finally, they were on the long, empty road leading to the Markov Nightclub. It was here, out of the realm of necessary concentration, that the teen boy allowed himself to be lost in his own thoughts.
He wondered what Tara would look like tonight. She never wore anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't picture her in a dress. In fact, he could hardly picture her. His mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of the girl sitting behind him on his gleaming new motorcycle…
Raven. Dark eyes wide in shock when he drove up, pale cheeks red with embarrassment when he told her where to sit. Gar couldn't believe he had never noticed it before, but Raven Roth was…beautiful. Entrancing. Amazing. She spoke, moved, breathed with a certain quality Gar had never found in Tara. When he was near her, he felt paralyzed and yet, in a way, peaceful. At rest. She was calm, stoical, and serene, completely unlike Tara, and yet just as attractive…
Whoa. How could Gar think like that? You already have a girlfriend, he reminded himself. Raven doesn't even like you. Be happy with what you have.
But you just can't help the way you feel.
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Jen was lucky to live near the Markovs' place. This way, she didn't have to ask Wally for a ride. God, that would have been embarrassing. But she needed to show up with a date. What would she do now?
"Jen? Jen Hexington?"
Jen whipped around. The speaker was a small, skinny girl with dyed pink hair. Jen could have sworn she'd seen her before, but where – ah, at school. Fuschia Bright, wasn't she? The missing Vic Stone's girlfriend?
"Yeah, it's me. What do you want?" Jen's lavender eyes flashed.
The girl stared back at her worriedly. "Listen, can you sneak me into the party? I need to interview people there, get some information on…important stuff. I know I wasn't invited, but I really need to…you know…"
Jen was concerned. "Uh, sure, but wha – "
"Let's go," muttered Fuschia. "And don't worry about your date, I've already told Wally West to go with you. He'll meet you there." She gave Jen a look that said to drop the former topic.
Wally again. Just great.
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Rich gulped when Kori got into his long, dark red car and climbed into the passenger seat beside him. The moonlight illuminated one side of her face, bathing it in a soft, mysterious glow. He mentally kicked himself. What was his problem?
"Hello, Richard," she said softly.
"Hey, Kori," he croaked. Kori smiled at him, and he felt his heart pounding. "Uh…so, have you ever been to a private dance, before this?"
"Not really," she said, avoiding his gaze, her eyes darting around the car. Then they rested upon the full moon. She gasped. "Oh, Richard, look! It is…beautiful." Her eyes glowed happily. She was oviously excited, but when she finally exchanged a contented glance with Rich and sighed, was there something more hidden there, some sort of secret feeling that Rich somehow recognized?
"Yeah," he replied, "beautiful." But he wasn't looking at the moon…
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A/N: Okay, I know I didn't give ya much here. But come on, it's an update, and I'm furiously writing the next installment! WML and be patient! Thanx peeps!