No author's note this time. Disappointing eh?
Teen Titans: If I never knew you
Chapter Five
Previously:
"Too bad you can't do that sphere thing, Raven," shouted Cyborg.
"What sphere thing?" parroted Beast Boy.
"You know," Cyborg ducked out of the way of an oncoming Bird-A-Rang that Skei redirected, "the one she made when we had to hide from that monster."
"What monster!" Beast Boy was getting annoyed with his friend's vagueness.
"The one from—" Cyborg was cut off when the whole room turned black with Raven's power. The wind stopped and Skei looked around dazed.
"A…dome?" guessed Skei and drew yet another breath and let it fly.
The breath bounced off the walls and it kept going. Skei giggled again and subdued the breath. She gave them a dangerous look and her clothes began to rustle despite the lack of breeze.
"Raven, let us out!" commanded Robin.
The black dome fell and Skei rose into the air again.
"Is there no other way to stop her?" said Starfire as Lady Fan carefully made her way over to Raven and whispered something to Raven that brought a small quirk to her lips. Raven nodded and stood up straighter.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted and another sphere showed up. But this one only entrapped Ski. From the outside, white outlines of her features were visible and you could clearly hear her cries of aggravation. But then the cries of anger turned to cries of sadness, and terror.
"Mistress, forgive me! I did all I could! It was her!" she pointed to Lady Fan then burst into flames. Raven waited till the flames died out before she relaxed her powers. As the black energy disappeared, a gentle breeze swept through the room and then it was gone.
"We can't put that in a jar," said Beast Boy when the slight wind had crept past him.
Ignoring Beast Boy as always, Raven turned to thank Lady Fan for her advice. But like the last meeting, she had left without a trace. She picked up her fan and was gone.
"She does not like us?" asked Starfire.
"I don't think it's that." Raven replied.
"Maybe she has some other bad guys to take care of," shrugged Cyborg as he took a wild guess.
"Who knows," said Beast Boy said as he pulled the sofa back into its rightful place, "She's just a mysterious girl. She has her secrets, and since she's helped us so much, we shouldn't be nosy."
"Beast Boy's right," Robin nodded, "let's just clean up."
The end of the Titans year at school neared. It was the end of April with the start of May approaching. There were two more months of school left and the Jr. Prom was in about two weeks. Knowing it was the end of the year could not have made Robin any happier, but prom made him twitch. Just the mere word, prom, made him flashback to memories he thought he had buried deep within the confines of his mind.
Courtney, now among one of his closest friends, couldn't understand why he wouldn't go. Robin explained the Kitten story over and over again, but, to his displeasure, she failed to understand. She told him that proms were one-in-a-lifetime—even if you would have more than one prom.
"Are you going?" Robin retorted.
"If the right person asks me," she sighs.
Robin, who had finally come to terms with his more sensitive side, was still as dense as ever. He had no idea that Courtney liked someone and that someone was more than likely himself. But as much as he didn't want to go to prom, he had to. His goal was to ask Courtney, but he knew how it would affect Starfire.
"Do I know this person?" said Robin, curious.
"No comment."
"Quiet!" scolded Ms. Walch, covering the receptor of her cell phone with her hand.
Cyborg and Beast Boy were outside waiting for Robin after class. They pulled him away from Courtney and semi-circled him as two people could.
"Did you as her yet?" questioned Cyborg in a quiet voice, "You can't back out from this."
"No," said Robin, looking around in case.
"Dude, you know what'll happen if you don't!" squeaked Beast Boy.
"Yes," nodded Robin, feeling worse as seconds ticked by.
"Well then, get going!" said Cyborg, giving Robin a shove forward.
Robin began his trek to AP Calculus class. Distracted by his thoughts, he ran into three people and tripped one. He saw Courtney and her friend Justin talking outside the door. Robin didn't know much about this guy. He was one of those childhood friends and that was all he knew. The two of them had pretty serious looks when they parted.
"What's up?" Robin whispered to Courtney when Mr. Payton was writing on the overhead projector.
Courtney gave him a weird look.
"I mean, what were you guys talking about?"
"Who?"
"You and Justin. Just at first."
"Nothing really, just prom," she said, shrugging.
Robin thought to himself, what was there to talk about prom? He tapped Courtney and asked, "Did he ask you to prom?"
"Yeah, he did," she answered, not looking up from her calculator.
"So…Did you say yes?"
"Whoever's talking should stop before I catch him," warned Mr. Payton, his eyes never leaving the overhead screen.
Courtney didn't answer Robin, who was dying of suspense. He pounced as soon as the bell rang. He asked Courtney as they were gathering their stuff to leave for Japanese class down the hall.
"I told him I'd need some time to think about it," she said finally.
"Oh…Why?"
"Because I'm still waiting for the right guy," she said softly, giving him a sad look. "It sounds stupid doesn't it…?"
That night Robin had told Cyborg and Beast Boy what had happened. They had just told him he'd better ask her or else he was going to lose her. He stared at the phone, thinking of what to do. He dialed Courtney's number and listened, waiting for someone to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Courtney?"
"Yes, this is she. Who is this?" she asked.
"It's Robin."
"Oh, hi Robin."
Their conversation dragged on for another two hours. In those two hours, nothing about prom was mentioned. It hit midnight and Courtney announced that she had to get to bed.
"Wait!" Robin shouted into the phone," I need to ask you something."
"Sure, what is it?"
Robin gulped and pulled on his collar. "I was wondering," Robin hesitated momentarily," would you go to the prom with me?"
All Robin heard was a loud unidentified noise. She hadn't hung up on him but had dropped her phone. Her heart pounded while her head was still trying to process what just happened. She picked up her abandoned phone and searches for her voice.
"Wow, I would love to go to prom with you."
"That's great!" Robin said excitedly, "Good night then."
"Good night, Robin."
Three days from prom, Robin decided that it was time to tell his friends Beast Boy and Cyborg. He excused himself from Courtney, his palms sweaty and his smile crooked. His behavior seemed suspicious to Courtney. They ran around the corner and huddled up.
"What's up dude? Did you as her yet?" asked Beast Boy.
"Yeah, I did."
"What'd she say man?" questioned Cyborg, "You know the consequences."
"If you don't ask her, you lose the bet man! We said that you wouldn't ask her to prom; loser has to all the chores for a year!"
A tear streamed down from Courtney's eye and down her face. She didn't want to hear another word. She brushed the tear off her face and ran away as fast as possible.
"I know, I know! But can this not be about the bet!" said Robin. "She's my friend, I can't do this to her!"
"Dude, the chores!"
"I know but I think I do—"
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Courtney was nowhere in sight and Robin just assumed she had just gone to class without him. He found her already in the gym, slamming down volleyballs. Robin, not being a volleyball player, went to a court with a basketball game going on. After gym, she wasn't waiting outside as usual. She changed seats in physics and history. He caught her at her locker but she didn't acknowledge her presence.
"Courtney?" Robin waved a hand in front of her face. "What's wrong?"
She looked through him as if he were transparent. The smile that normally inhabited her face was missing. The shine in her eyes was absent. She blinked twice and sighed, "Nothing, Robin."
That night, the phone rang in the Tower. This was a rare occasion because not many souls knew their digits. Starfire dove for the phone and beat Beast Boy to it. She shouted her greeting loudly and cheerfully. In return, she got a dead-pan reply and a request to talk to Robin.
"Hello, this is Robin."
"Robin, this is Courtney. I just needed to tell you that I can't go to the prom with you…Sorry."
"Wait, what? Hello?" There was nothing but the dial tone now.
Robin pulled on his coat and took a look in the mirror. What he saw only made him think about Kitten again. After Courtney had taken back her word, he accepted Starfire's invitation. He walked out into the living room where Cyborg and Beast Boy were waiting while playing the Game Station. Raven wore a dress version of her leotard and Starfire wore the purple dress, the one she wore to face off with Kitten. Raven and Beast Boy rode with Cyborg, who had to go pick up his date. Robin and Starfire took the R-Cycle.
They walked into the lobby of the hotel, checked in, and found themselves a table in the dining room. Except for a selected few, the school's population moved into the ballroom after dinner. Among the seated were Courtney, her date, Robin, and Starfire. Courtney watched the others dance with a blank expression. Her toe tapped slowly to the songs, her head tilting from side to side. A body walked into her view of the dancers. She looked up into Robin's face.
"May I have this dance?" Robin asked, holding out his hand.
