This is chapter nine...right? Uh, yeah, I think.

So, for all you RobStar fans, I've finally begun to shed some light on their relationship. Sorry for the teaser, folks. I'm just having too much fun with it.

So, I'm aware several people want to kill Malchior right now...I think thats a good thing; that means I made him hated. Or is that just because everyone hates him so much already?

To BBRae4life - Grr...I wish I could reply to you! But um...Raven's gonna have to find out the hard way. And the angst comes back, yes. So you were on the right track.

When Raven had arrived back in her room that morning, she could only guess what happened. Knowing her friends, they probably bickered until they noticed she was gone or it just got so bad, everyone just split. Karen was probably in her room, fuming, and everyone else had gone home or to their own rooms.

The next morning, Raven awoke earlier then usual and had hurried her way all through the morning. Slipping out of the room silently, she made her way down the corridor with a steady pace. Karen was a late sleeper; she probably wouldn't notice Raven's absence until later.

Which is why she ran into the last person she expected to: Kori.

"Raven," Kori at first said softly, trailing her eyes over the dark-haired girl. "Are you feeling…alright?" She stumbled with her words, trying to pick the right ones.

Raven looked to her feet; she had nothing to say. Kori kept opening her mouth and blinking her eyes at Raven, though trying to speak, but the words never came. After what seemed like a lifetime, though rather a few seconds, Raven continued down the hall.

Whispered so lightly, so that if Raven had been a couple inches a head, she wouldn't have heard it was, "I am sorry."

What was she supposed to do? One part of her was screaming, wildly jumping up and down, ripping out her hair and waving her arms at Kori madly, where the other was sitting in a corner, scowling. In a calm tone, the voice told her to keep walking. She listened to the second one.

"You can't avoid me forever, Raven."

No, Karen. Raven felt like putting her hands to her ears; she did not want to talk to Karen. Not right now.

"…What?"

"I think you know what I mean," Karen slid her tray onto the table and took a seat next to Raven. She straddled both legs on the bench, one hanging over each side. She took one of Raven's hands and bit her lip. Karen always did that when she was uncomfortable.

"Raven…you may not want to hear what I'm about to tell you," She paused, "But I'm telling you nevertheless. I'm sure you know Malchior took a month off of school, correct?"

Raven nodded.

"It wasn't by choice. Raven, he was—"

"Ladies," a silky voice came from behind the two girls. Karen could swear she saw a sly grin rested on his face for a moment. "Am I interrupting something?"

Karen gritted her teeth. "Yes, as a matter of fact you are. Do you mind?"

"Many, many apologies…Karen, was it?" Karen narrowed her eyes at him, biting her tongue to keep herself from lashing out. "But you see, I have something very important to ask our friend Raven."

Raven looked up from gaze into her lap and blinked at Malchior blankly. Karen was biting her lip again, unseen by Raven. Her eyes looked fearful and she looked around the bustling cafeteria for help. She knew what was coming.

"…I'm sure you are aware of our school's dance…" Karen was boring her eyes into Vic's neck.

Please turn around, please turn around, she pleaded silently. In the nick of time, he turned and took not even a nanosecond to comprehend what was happening. He nudged Gar, who looked up from his breakfast burrito.

"…And, I would be honored if you…"

"Malchior, old buddy!"

They all turned to see a smirking Gar, arms outstretched at Malchior. "Gimme a hug!" He grabbed the pale-haired boy and pulled him into a hug, slapping him on the back. Looking over his shoulder, he and Karen mouthed a conversation.

'What are you doing?' She mouthed.

He widened his eyes and looked ready to scream. 'I don't know!' He mouthed back.

Eventually, he pulled away and clasped his hands together, beaming at Malchior. Malchior straightened his white shirt and tie, awkwardly stepping away inch by inch.

Raven, amongst this all, felt ready to explode. Malchior had been about to ask her to the dance. Raven, being asked to a dance! And now, her "friends" had interrupted the moment and he might not ask her again. Did they just like seeing her unhappy?

But Malchior did not look ready to give up. He forced an uncomfortable smile and opened his mouth to speak. But whatever he said was drowned out by the ringing bell. He flared his nose momentarily, but smiled again. Bowing, he grabbed Raven's hand and kissed it, departing with the words, "Another time, my dear."

In the hallway, Raven managed to catch Gar by himself, loading books into his locker.

He smiled as he saw her approaching. He hadn't realized how much he missed seeing Raven storming down at him, fists clenched. Of course, in the past situations, he had played some prank on her or done something that made her want to maim him. She actually looked quite pretty when she was angry…Oh god.

Stop, stop, and stop! Whoa, where did that come from?

"Gar…would you mind explaining to me what happened during breakfast?" She hissed through gritted teeth.

He couldn't help but slink his shoulders. He really hadn't wanted to talk about that.

But this was Gar. Gar, who could smile his way out of any problem, laugh his way out of any tension, or prank his way out of suppressed feelings. Gar, who could get out of anything.

"Now, Rae. Let's not be hasty," He smiled at her. She softened her shoulders.

Good, he thought. But it was not for reasons he thought. She missed being called Rae. Only Vic or Gar usually had called her 'Rae', and it pained her somewhat when she heard it again.

The bell rang. It was times like this that he really understood the term 'Saved by the bell'.

"Eh, gotta jet. But I'll see you around, 'kay Rae?"

That goddamned bell! Someone up there must really not like her.

When lunch rolled around, she saw Karen and Malchior both coming at her from different directions. Seeing him, Karen gained speed and reached her before he did. She linked arms with Raven and threw a smug glance at the boy, who was struggling to maintain his cool.
"We should really get going soon, Karen."

Karen shook her head and took a long sip of her drink. "No way," She said.

Jen and Wally exchanged glances and smirked at Raven's confused look.

"Today is our day. We are going to paint the town!" Jen exclaimed, laughing.

"I'm thinking a nice yellow," Wally added, smiling at Jen.

"What? We can't skip school!"

"C'mon, Raven. It's three to one. Majority rules," Jen continued.

Raven glared at her three friends, mouth open, for a few seconds. But the more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. Her lips twisted into a small grin, hardly something she had done in a long time.

"I spoke to Raven today," Kori said softly, picking at her food. She and Rich had also decided to eat off campus today. Everyone, Kori included (secretly, though), assumed it was a date, but Rich protested that it was just a friendly lunch with two friends. They had dated once, but things got so awkward that he had decided to pretend it never happened.

He looked up from his cheeseburger. "What?"

"In the hallway, this morning," She replied, pushing her food away.

"How was she?"

"As well as someone in her position can be. I do not think she is aware of what he is capable of."

Hormones raging, Rich leaned over and grabbed Kori's hand. Kori was near tears. "Don't worry, Kori. We won't let him anywhere near you again."

He pulled himself out of his chair and draped his arms around her. She nestled herself in his chest, though refusing to allow tears.

"Wally! Hurry up with those bags!"

He grunted under a mound of shopping bags and boxes in reply.

"I knew coming to the mall was a bad idea," He finally managed to say, sticking his head around the pile.

"Shut up, no one cares," Jen laughed.

Raven almost walked into Jen, who had stopped abruptly in front of a jewelry window shop. She was staring at a red jewel on a ribbon, like a necklace.

Karen put a hand on her shoulder. She knew what Jen was thinking. "Keep walking, come on."

Jen twitched her fingers, shaking them out. Three months and she hadn't stolen a thing. Meeting Raven, then Karen and Wally, really had helped. She'd be lost without them.

"Okay, so we've got another hour and a half until Jen and Raven need to head over to class," Karen began, "Here's what I propose. We each take turns with our stores, and one person should always at least buy something!"

Jen and Raven exchanged glances. The only one in the group with money was Karen. Raven got some money from the government, Wally had an allowance, but Jen lived on her own; except for her older cousin who was never around. And none of them even crossed the borderline to rich.

Acknowledging this, Karen wanted to hit herself a million times over. She was mentally slapping herself. "Right…stupid Karen, stupid…well, how about this?"

Two figures appeared next to Karen's shoulders as she thought. They were both Karen, though clad differently. One was dressed in a spandex suit, holding a whip. Horns rose up from her afro-buns and a long tail shot out from behind her. The other wore a long white robe, a halo on her head and wings sprouted from her back.

"Let's torture Daddy. He just hates it when we max out his credit card," The spandex-wearing one said.

"No, no! We can't do that to our father!" The other shouted.

Karen jerked her head back and forth between the two. Of course, this looked very strange way over back here in reality, because Karen was muttering to herself and whipping her head back and forth.

"What about the time he cut off our credit card?"

"It was only for a month!" The white-robed one protested.

"When he sent us off to this school?"

"But look how many friends we've made out of it!"

The one in black bit her tongue playfully, casually turning her head to look at the one in white. "When he took away our cell phone?"

The white-robed Karen opened her mouth to speak, but instead, smiled evilly.

"Do it."

"Uh…Karen?" Jen waved a hand in front of Karen's face, snapping her back into the real world.

"Hm? Oh, how about this? I have to buy at least something for one of you every time we go into a store!" She practically screamed. (Cue anime Karen, rubbing hands together evilly.)

No one really rejected to this. They could see Karen wouldn't take no for an answer; she was especially stubborn. Jen grinned, Raven smiled softly to herself, and no one could really see what Wally was doing behind all those bags.

Karen broke out in a malicious smile. Jen and Raven backed away slowly, somewhat intimidated by this very evil looking Karen. She grabbed the two girls' hands and dashed into the nearest clothing store.

Behind the pile of bags, Wally huffed and puffed to keep up. "Hey! Wait up!"

Necklace is a reference from Lightspeed...yeah.

Okay, so this chapter was just meant to lighten the mood a bit. I added comedy, even though I suck at writing it...

Lol...I especially liked Karen and Gar in this chapter.

Have I got you wondering what is so mysterious at Malchior yet? If I haven't, I'll just keep adding the mystique and intrigue! -cackles-

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