Chapter 4: Jokes

Rating: T

Date: Tuesday, December 25, 2018

A/N: Hopefully this makes up for yesterday's super short chapter.

This chapter includes

Garth - Aqualad/Tempest

Jennifer Hex - Jinx (using a name I see used often since Jinx doesn't have a known name in the comics)

Antonia Monetti (Toni) - Argent

Adonis (not in the comics)

Trenton Roth (making a random name because Trigon just sounds odd as a birth name) - Trigon

Malchior Nol (adding a random last name, also not in the comics)

Tara Markov - Terra

Jokes

"I'm not keen with people staring at me, you know," Raven deadpanned. She kept her eyes glued to the book she held.

Garfield didn't reply and instead settled for attempting to see the title of the book she was reading.

"Lord of the Flies. What is so interesting about a book based on flies?" he tilted his head curiously.

Raven peered straight into his soul. "It is actually about the inherently savage nature of humankind and the barbarism boys can develop when stranded alone in an uninhabited island," she asserted in an impassive tone. Then, she turned back to her book and continued to read quietly.

"..."

Garfield looked away, slightly disturbed at both her mannerism and words. He instead decided to focus his eyesight on the clock above the board. Forty-five minutes until lunchtime. He sighed. Their government professor was on medical leave after having surgery for the third time in one year (he swore that woman lived in the hospital). As such, Garfield had nothing to do, not that he wanted an assignment to work on, but at least he would've had a reason to be bored. Right now, he could only stare at the clock or the few cute girls in the front row who kept giggling and glancing at him every few minutes. Yep, he was totally a ladies man.

He grinned cockily when one of them winked at him. After they focused their attention on something else, Garfield decided to go back to watching Raven. He was still trying to figure her out. He couldn't decide whether she was uncaring or just plain rude. Most likely both. He noticed the way her eyebrows furrowed frequently and the way she murmured quietly to herself every so often and that it took her about ten seconds to read two pages.

After watching her attentively for a few minutes, Garfield felt bored again, so he decided he wanted her attention. He opened his mouth wide and yawned noisily. After a few seconds without a reaction, he yawned again, this time making it louder and clearer. No reaction. He yawned, yet again, stretching his arms and legs wide and making it sound like he was about to swallow something whole. He heard Raven slam her book closed.

"Why are you sitting here again? Don't you usually sit in the front with all your popular cool kid friends," Raven glared at him.

Garfield glanced at Garth and Roy who were sitting in the front row talking about what he could only assume was their usual shenanigans.

"Nah," Garfield waved her off. "I just wanted a change of scenery, y'know? You get used to a place and then you kind of just want a break from it."

"You wanted a change of scenery in class?" Raven arched an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Garfield made sure to pop the 'p' to irritate her further. This was totally more amusing than just sitting around and staring at the clock.

Raven shook her head and slipped her book inside her backpack. She pulled out a textbook and a journal and began to write something in it.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"It's called being productive. You should try it sometimes instead of staring at me for half the class period," Raven snapped.

"Can't help it, you're just too interesting to watch," Garfield grinned.

Raven rolled her eyes, "I was reading a book. Is that really more interesting than attempting to read yourself?"

"Hey! I can read!" Garfield pouted. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not just a dumb jock. Gee, Rae, you don't have to believe in all those stereotypes. I'll have you know I have an A+ in AP Biology," he delivered proudly.

"First, don't call me Rae. Second, I firmly believe intelligence can't be measured with just letters and numbers," Raven retorted. "Third, you might not be a 'dumb jock,' but you are incredibly annoying."

"You keep saying that, but you continue to talk to me," Garfield pointed out over-confidently.

Raven didn't reply to that. He waited a few minutes for an answer, but she simply continued to work silently on her assignment.

"Okay I take that back," Garfield stated.

No reply.

"Come on Rae! Talk to me," he insisted.

Raven grimaced at the nickname, but other than that, she didn't reply.

Garfield huffed and turned to the clock. Barely fifteen minutes had gone by. They still had half an hour until lunchtime. He groaned loudly and slammed his forehead on the desk.

Still no reply.

He laid his head on its side and observed her. Then, the incident that had occurred yesterday popped into his head. His face warmed up, and he realized he still hadn't found a proper way to apologize. Then again, she hadn't mentioned it at all, so maybe she was over it? And she was talking to him, after all. So clearly, they were all signs that he shouldn't mention it and simply forget it.

"I'm sorry about the whole gym thing yesterday…" he blurted out. Way to go Gar, you had no reason to mention it at all.

Raven shifted slightly in her seat, but she didn't emote otherwise.

"Why was that man threatening you yesterday?" he asked, not expecting a reply.

"Why were you following me?" she returned.

"I… wasn't following you…"

"How else do you explain you spying on a private matter in an empty street during the middle of the night?"

"It wasn't intentional. I was taking a walk in the park, I heard a loud noise and voices, so naturally, I went to check it out. What if it was an innocent woman being harassed by a man? It's only logical to go check to make sure everything's okay," Garfield explained. "I was going to help you, but you seemed to have things under control. And I admit it, after that, I did follow you but only because I wanted to ask if you were okay."

"This whole act of chivalry is going to get you killed someday."

"It's called being a decent human being," Garfield crossed his arms. "You could learn a thing from it," he droned under his breath.

"If you're trying to derive some sort of reaction, insults don't affect me. And as I said before, you have no reason to sit here. You could be sitting up there with your own friends."

"Do you ever smile?" Garfield questioned abruptly, ignoring the current topic at hand.

"I don't have a reason to right now if that's what you're getting at."

"How about I tell you a few jokes?"

"Please don't."

"Alright, if you insist," Garfield cleared his throat in a dramatic manner as if he were about to make a speech. "What did the grape say when the elephant sat on it?"

Pause.

"Nothing, but it let out a little wine!" he snickered. "Okay, another one, another one… What do you call a broken can opener?"

Pause.

"A can't opener!" he let out another hearty chuckle. "Why'd the old man fall down the well?"

Pause.

"Because he couldn't see that well!" Another laugh.

"A priest, a pastor, and a rabbi walk into a bar. The bartender says, 'What is this, some kind of joke?'"

Garfield's eyes widened comically and he beamed when he remembered one of his favorites, "Oh! Another one!"

"A priest, a pastor, and a rabbi walk into a bar.
The bartender points to the sign on the wall that says 'No jokes served here.'
They asked 'Where can we get a drink?'
'The place across the street,' replied the bartender.
As they started to leave, a horse walked in. The bartender pointed to the sign and said 'Follow them.' But before they made it out the door a chicken flew in.
The bartender pointed and said 'You too.'
The chicken said 'You've got to be kidding!'" he laughed hysterically, slapping his hand on his knee and almost falling out of his chair.

After a few seconds of recovering from his nonsensical snickering, he continued, "Okay, the last one, I promise! Knock knock!"

No response.

He leaned over, and like it was some sort of secret, he whispered, "You're supposed to ask who's there, Rae."

"If I play along, will you leave me alone?"

"Yes."

"Who's there?"

"Quiet horse."

"... Quiet horse who?"

"Neigh…" he murmured.

"..."

"..."

"... That was terrible."

"Aw! Don't deny you didn't laugh even a little bit!" he accused with a goofy grin.

"I didn't."

"HA! So you don't deny it!"

"I do."

"So you laughed!"

"I didn't."

"But you admitted that you didn't deny it!"

"That makes no sense whatsoever."

"You make no sense!"

"Please stop screaming. You're dragging too much attention to yourself," Raven muttered.

Garfield noticed that a few people were staring at him, and in addition to his screaming and her whispering, Raven was still very much focused on the textbook in front of her which made him look like he was having an intense argument with himself.

"Heh," Garfield scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

For the last few minutes of class, Garfield was too embarrassed to attempt to further the conversation with Raven, which she probably appreciated. He instead decided to continue glaring at the clock until eventually, the bell rung. Raven was gone before he could even say a proper goodbye.

"Friends! I hope you are having an utmost fantastic day!" Kory exclaimed as she plopped down in the seat next to Dick.

"You too, Kory," he smiled sheepishly. Garfield swore everytime Kory appeared, Dick lost his 'cool guy' aura around her. It was amusing to watch, admittedly.

"We decided to sit with you losers today," Karen grinned as she took a seat between Garth and Roy.

"Unfortunately…" Jinx (her name was Jennifer Hex but everyone called her Jinx considering she seemed to bring about bad luck to everyone she interacted with on her first year at Jump High) muttered as she took her own place between Victor and Wally.

"Hey Jinxy," Victor grinned at her.

"... Don't call me that," she grumbled.

"So? What's this about the cheerleading tryouts?" Toni asked enthusiastically when she sat down by Kory.

"Oh yes! As I was saying, Kory has officially joined the Bumblebees," Karen announced to the table.

"Good job, Kory," Dick complimented, causing Kory to blush.

"Nice one, Kory!" Victor congratulated.

"That's great news," Garth smiled.

"You seem like a natural," Roy replied.

"You're going to look smoking in that outfit!" Wally added, earning an elbow from Jinx. "Ow! Calm down Jinxy-poo, you know I still have eyes for you."

"Grow up, Wallace," Jinx rolled her eyes.

Garfield grinned at Kory, "You'll fit right in, Kory."

"That's exactly what I've been saying. She'll look like a bombshell up there!" Karen exclaimed.

"I am most thankful for all your compliments, friends," Kory smiled widely. "I am very excited to dance and cheer for your sports teams. And if I may, what is a bombshell?"

"It just means a really pretty girl," Toni quickly responded as the rest of the table snickered.

"Like Roy said, you're a natural," Karen noted.

Kory clapped her hands together, "It makes me very happy to hear that!"

"From the captain of the cheerleading squad, too," Victor pointed out which only made Kory squeal.

"So, what's up with the creepy new goth chick over there?" Jinx pointed at one of the lone tables in the corner of the cafeteria.

It was the first time Garfield noticed Raven was in their lunch, considering he hadn't seen her during those two weeks she went missing (he assumed he'd been hallucinating or something when he saw her yesterday). She was sitting by herself reading her book while ignoring the lunch tray in front of her and her general vicinity.

"She likes sitting alone. I'm not sure why. It's the same during class," Victor commented before chomping on a big piece of his hamburger.

"I respect it. She looks like an introvert, and she's probably still getting used to this place," Dick nodded.

"I heard she was homeschooled," Toni pointed out.

"Did you guys hear what happened in homeroom this morning?" Karen questioned.

"Yeah, I was there," Dick replied.

"What happened?" Garfield asked curiously.

"Mr. I'm-so-tough-guy Adonis tried to ask her out, in a very crude manner mind you, and when she declined his advances, he got really pissed off. So this other guy, Matt I believe, tried to defend her honor or whatever, you know how guys are. They started fighting, and when the teacher finally did separate them, Adonis tried to pin the blame on Raven by saying she was an 'attention-seeking whore' and Matt tried defending her again. They were sent to the principal's office, but the most interesting part is that Raven didn't even flinch, thank Matt, or even react to Adonis' insults. A little creepy honestly," Karen responded.

"You were there, Dick? What happened afterward?" Victor asked.

Dick shrugged and took a bite of his mashed potatoes, "Nothing really. Raven didn't seem affected by it. Everyone was gossipping about her, and it was fairly obvious, but she didn't seem to care."

"Why did Adonis act so rudely?" Kory posed.

"Adonis is a jerk, Kory. I don't recommend you ever talking to him or even paying attention to what he says," Toni told her.

"Then again, Raven is creepy and rude, so who says she didn't ask for it?" Jinx voiced her opinion.

"Jinx, don't-"

However, before Victor could say anything, Garfield interrupted and snapped, "Leave her alone. Raven isn't that bad. She just doesn't like people very much. She's not too different from you, Jinx. Would you say you're asking for Adonis to bother you?"

"Please, stop arguing, I do not believe any girl would ask for such treatment," Kory replied before Jinx could. She glanced at Raven. "I believe Raven might just be misunderstood." Then, she stood up with her lunch tray in hand.

"Where are you going, Kory?" Dick furrowed his eyebrows.

"I will go talk to her. What if she is in need of a friend?" she smiled before turning and heading towards Raven's table.

"I don't recommend it, Kory. She is rather mean, and I don't think your personalities would work very well together," Dick warned.

Kory stopped in her tracks, but she didn't turn to look at them. She took a moment to reply, "You underestimate my ability to handle impolite behavior, and you overestimate Raven's negative attitude. I believe she does not do it on purpose. I spoke with her during my first day. She was the only one who did not treat me any differently because of my heritage or my way of speaking. Raven may not seem like the nicest, but she also does not seem completely honest in her hostile behavior. I think she hides her true feelings behind a mask because she does not wish to be hurt. I respect that, but I will still attempt to act friendly toward her. In my opinion, Raven is a good person, and I do not appreciate people talking badly about my friends, especially other friends. I will talk to you all later."

With that, she walked away. Everyone watched in stunned silence as Kory sat down in the seat in front of Raven, who arched an eyebrow at the girl but didn't comment otherwise on it.

"... Since when is Kory so… attentive?" Roy broke the silence.

"I'm not sure," Dick added quietly.

While his friends continued to talk, Garfield couldn't remove his eyesight from Kory and Raven. He pondered Kory's words. Despite her being rather naive, she had a really good point. Raven didn't seem completely honest in her act. It made Garfield wonder why he had taken such a keen interest in her. Then, a tinge of jealousy arose in Garfield's stomach as he watched Raven speak to Kory (even though she didn't seem to pay her full attention to her). Why couldn't she speak to him as she did to her? She seemed rather irritated by him, but she could easily speak to Kory who was the loudest, most cheerful girl he had ever encountered (a bit like Garfield himself). So if Kory could initiate a conversation so easily with Raven, why couldn't he?

"Raven!" Garfield caught up with her as she walked out of the school building. Though his car was parked at the back of the school, which he was currently walking away from, he continued to follow Raven.

"What do you want?" Raven groaned.

"I just want to talk to you…" Garfield admitted. He placed his hands inside his pockets as he strolled alongside.

"Didn't you talk enough during Government?" she raised an eyebrow.

Garfield chuckled and responded, "Nah. I still got a ton of energy to expend."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to talk? Anything that isn't meaningless small-talk? I don't exactly like it."

"Oh, yeah. I was going to ask…" Garfield wasn't sure what to say. He had walked over fully expecting her to ignore him. "... How are you?"

"That's it?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I was having a nice quiet day until you came along."

"You don't really mean that."

"How do you know what I mean to say?"

"I don't, but I do think you're playing the role of a bitchy girl when you're really not."

"Believe what you want, but that's what I call denial."

"Why would I be in denial? Wouldn't that be you?"

"I am not in denial. On the other hand, you seem like you expect every girl to fall head over heels for you on your first-day meeting, and when that doesn't happen, you turn into an irritating parasite."

"So... You're saying I still have a chance..?"

"When did you get that impression?"

"You implied that I expected you to fall for me on our first-day meeting, but you didn't deny the fact that you could still fall for me later on," Garfield smirked, feeling a hint of pride at his logic, despite it being improbable that she would ever set her eyes on him.

"I did just call you an irritating parasite, I don't understand how you'd even be remotely interested or believe I'm interested after that."

"I'm stubborn like that."

"I noticed."

"I also don't believe you're as mean as you let on."

"So you mentioned."

"You talked to Kory, after all."

"Kory is also incredibly annoying, but she doesn't insist on talking to me as much as you do."

"So you're saying that I have to pretend I don't want to talk to you to get you to talk to me?"

"I didn't say that at all."

"It sounded like you did."

Raven stopped in her tracks, "I just don't want to talk to you at all. I don't get what I have to do to get you off my back. There's plenty of other girls for you to bother, including Kory who sounds like she'd be the most interested in talking to you considering you two are so much alike."

"I just want to be friends with you."

"Well, I don't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not the friends kind of gal, and I doubt that's your only intention."

"Come on Rae! I'm not a prick like Adonis."

"Please stop calling me Rae, it's not helping your situation. And gossip spreads rather quickly in this school, doesn't it?"

"Adonis had no right speaking to you like that."

"There goes that chivalry situation again."

"Raven, would you at least give me a chance?" She raised an eyebrow, and he quickly added, "At a friendship, not a romantic relationship, because I very well know the only chance I have at a romantic relationship with you would probably only be in an apocalyptic scenario where a demon lord conquers the earth and sets everything aflame."

"Where did you get that from?"

"Some comic book, but that doesn't matter. What I mean is, can we just at least try to get along? I feel like I'm hitting rock bottom with you, and I don't want things to be like that. I really do want to be your friend, even if you don't believe it."

"Fine."

"We're friends?" Garfield asked excitedly.

"No, but we can try to get along. I have a few set rules, however. First, you have to stop calling me Rae. Second, we'll only be acquaintances at best. Third, you have to stop telling me stupid jokes and insisting to talk to me."

"... Can I at least sit with you during lunch?"

"... Yes," she answered hesitantly.

"Sweet! Can I bring a few friends?"

Raven took longer to answer, "Fine, but if they're as loud as you are, don't bother because I'm perfectly fine with just switching tables."

"I promise they're not! I'm the loudest, really. So it doesn't get any worse than me or Kory," he reassured her.

"That's comforting," she deadpanned and continued to walk.

"Where are you heading?"

"Home. You should too."

"Are you walking home? Where do you live? I could give you a ride."

"No, thank you. I like walking home. It helps me clear my mind."

Garfield was going to insist but decided not to as he believed he had already pushed enough boundaries with the girl, "Okay. I'll leave you then. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

He gave her a wide grin that she promptly ignored, "Sweet! Bye Rae-ven…" he chuckled sheepishly when he noticed her scowl. Then, he trotted back to the school parking lot to retrieve his car.

"Daughter," her father stated as Raven stepped into her rather large, ludicrously wealthy mansion. Raven bit her lip as she let her backpack fall on the floor and approached the large, intimidating man. "You're home. I have someone you'd like to meet."

Raven tried not to frown as the silver-haired man walked into the room from her father's office.

"Hello Raven," he feigned a gentleman tone. "Pleasure to see you again."

"Malchior..." she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

On the other side of town, Garfield was walking into his own much more modest yet affluent home. Inside, Rita peaked her head out of the kitchen to see if Garfield had arrived. She grinned widely and quickly exited to greet him. She adjusted the collar of his casual button-down shirt and dusted his shoulders.

"Uh… What's going on?"

"We have someone here to see you!"

"Who…" Garfield's voice dissipated when he noticed who had just walked out of the kitchen.

"Hi Gar," the thin blonde girl brushed her hair behind her ear and observed him with her large, azure eyes. "It's nice to see you again."

"Tara…" he stuttered.

It was going to be a long and disastrous night.

A/N: Why does Waldo wear stripes?

Because he doesn't want to be spotted!

Haha! I love stupid jokes! That was one of my favorite scenes so far. I hope you enjoyed it! I decided it's about time to add my beloved and signature dramatic twist into the story. Please, if you have suggestions or challenges, add them in the reviews below! They help, I swear! Thanks for reading.

Rachxel - It was a really short chapter, but I wanted to add a little more background on Gar. I continued, but I realized I just liked ending it at that point. Hopefully, this made up for it! Thanks for the honest opinion, too! I won't be doing a third person focus on other characters (maybe one or two but most likely not). However, there will be sideline romances between Dick and Kory as well as Jinx and Wally (and maybe others). For the most part, this is BBRae centered, so I didn't bother adding RobStar in the summary because I'd be lying if I said they were also going to be a focus. Not to say it won't happen, but it won't be a focal point. As for a schedule, I can't say I have one. I don't want to settle for one since I'm a very impulsive and 'go with the flow' kind of writer. I don't want to disappoint readers by saying I post chapters on a certain time and having it not happen.