Chapter II: The Meeting

Raven walked through the school halls looking for "Terra". It was 3:30 and the last class had just let out. The halls were packed with identically dressed school girls. Raven felt completely out of place; a thousand eyes stared at her unapprovingly. She had never attended a formal school like this.

The girl Beast Boy called Terra stood in the hallway surrounded by several friends. Raven could feel the tension along with a faint sign of recognition. The group's conversation suddenly ceased as she approached. A thousand butterflies swirled through Raven's stomach. The girl's friends stared coldly at her.

"Can I talk with you?" Raven asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the girl's soft blue eyes focused on her. "Aren't you that green boy's friend?" she asked.

"Yea, my name is Raven."

The other girls looked on disapprovingly. "Are all of you freaks funny colors?" one of the girls spoke up. Raven turned and glared at her.

"It's OK girls. I'll catch up with you later," the girl who looked like Terra interrupted. The other girls nodded then made their way down the hall whispering to one another.

The girl Raven wanted to talk to clutched her books to her white blouse. She remained silent until the others were a safe distance away from her. "I'm sorry about that."

Raven continued to glare at them as they finally turned the corner. Now she remembered why she kept outside contacts to a minimum. "Nice friends," she said full of hate.

"My friends aren't perfect. Nobody is; I accept their faults because they accept mine," she said firmly. "Let me get you a soda and we can talk."

"Thanks," Raven said as her burning anger began to subside. The pair made their way silently towards the cafeteria. The girl pulled out a card and pushed it into the vending machine then turned to Raven. "What would you like?"

Raven scanned the meager selection. "Grape's fine." The girl punched in Raven's selection and the can tumbled out of the bottom of the machine. She reached down and pulled the soda out and handed it to Raven then turned and made her selection. Another soda tumbled down to the dispenser. She pulled her card out then reached down and grabbed her soda.

The two walked over to an empty table, slid down into their chairs and popped open their sodas. Both took a sip and an awkward silence ensued. Raven looked cautiously at the girl Beast Boy swore was Terra. She certainly looked like her.

"I asked your friend to stay away from me," she began cautiously. "He was beginning to freak me out."

Raven took another sip of her soda. She understood the girl's predicament; Beast Boy certainly could wear on your nerves after awhile.

"Are you his girl friend or something?" she asked suddenly.

Raven swallowed fast trying not to spit out any soda. "No I'm just a friend doing a favor," Raven said with a slight cough and a choke. "I'm trying to keep him from having charges brought up against him."

The girl smiled understanding Raven's odd sense of humor. "Your friend insists I'm this Terra girl. Who is she anyway?"

Raven paused unsure how to answer the girl's inquiry. "She was a close friend of Beast Boy's; kind of a fallen star. I guess he felt he could help her, but she betrayed him."

"What happened to her?"

Raven paused again not sure how to explain what had happened to Terra without getting too complicated. "She's no longer with us."

"I'm sorry," she said with remorse. "I guess that explains his infatuation with me. But why did he send you to talk to me?"

"He wants someone else to see if he could possibly be right about you," Raven replied.

"Do you think I'm this Terra girl?" she asked. Raven looked into her soft blue eyes. Her resemblance was uncanny but she hadn't had any real sense that Beast Boy was right. It was then she realized that she had hardly asked the girl any questions.

"No, I don't think so," Raven said coolly. She knew Beast Boy would be heart broken with her assessment.

The girl nodded in agreement. "I'm real sorry that I wasn't who your friend thought I was. I can't see how he could like someone who tried to kill him."

Raven took another sip of her soda and nodded in agreement. "Yea," she said with a sigh, "he can be real stubborn when he sets his mind to it."

Raven felt a sudden unease fill the girl seated across from her. She looked up into her panicked eyes.

"Look, I've got to get going," she said nervously. "I really hope your friend gets over this." She gathered her books together and stood up from the table and looked down at Raven.

"I'm sure he will," Raven replied. "Thanks for the soda. I promise he won't bother you anymore."

She smiled at Raven then quickly walked out of the cafeteria. Raven watched her wondering why she had left so panicky. She raised the soda to her mouth then froze in sudden recognition. "Wait a minute…how did she know," she said to herself as her heart began to race. Raven stood up and ran to the door trying to figure out which direction Terra had gone.