This one goes out to the reviewers! Thanks a bunch. This chapter's a little shorter; there just wasn't another place to cut it for a little while. Btw, I don't actually own Teen Titans.
Under the Rose
Chapter 2Jinx blinked several times, getting used to the unfamiliar sensation of the contacts in her eyes. She had done so the entire ride over, sitting in the back of Ellie's convertible. The wind had blown pieces of hair from her ponytail, and she pushed a bothersome clump behind her ear. They were sitting at a table just inside the window of the crowded restaurant, waiting for the guys that Miranda had said were joining them.
"And so I was talking to Jenny the other day and she said that Brad had broken up with Michelle and I was like, omigosh-" Miranda droned endlessly about people Jinx didn't know. Ordinarily she would have felt out of the loop, but Jinx- for all her bossy tendencies that Billy had complained of- was happier listening than talking.
"They were just so perfect, you know? Like, I expected them to get married or something. And-"
"Hey!" Ellie stood, waving to someone outside. Miranda paused in her rant and waved along with her. Jinx turned to see three guys jump out of a crookedly parked SUV. One of them was Brian- she gasped in surprise- followed by a quiet brown-haired student with a guitar strapped to his back and, lastly, a redhead with a large grin. He wore a navy shirt that made his hair look as though it were on fire. Jinx's eyes widened and her mouth went dry. Look anywhere but at him, because he's got-the hair- and it'll only make you depressed and why are you standing sit sit sit. Jinx smoothed her long ponytail, hastily, and sat abruptly, trying to act casual, taking a sip of Elisa's drink accidentally.
Miranda, if it weren't for her short stature, would have pummeled the other brunette into the ground with her hug.
"Uh, hey 'Randee," said the guy affectionately. Ellie grabbed Jinx by the elbow and wrenched her from her seat. "Guys, this is Rose. Rose, this is Andrew Oceans- Miranda's boyfriend, and Brian Marks."
Andrew nodded a hello over the top of Miranda's head. "Hey." Jinx decided that the two were an example of the "opposites attract" theory. She wondered briefly if that philosophy had included heroes and villains, but the thought was banished quickly.
Brian stuck his hand out for the second time that day. "We've had a brief run-in already," he said smoothly. "Nice to see you again, Rose. You look nice."
"It's the same thing I was wearing earlier."
"Doesn't make it any less nice."
Jinx blushed slightly despite herself (after all, living with Billy Numerous didn't get you accustomed to suaveness) and shook his hand as Ellie stiffly moved on to the third newcomer.
"Is this your roommate?" she loudly asked the blond. Brian shook his head, still smiling at Jinx (which, honestly? Was really obvious and slightly annoying, she thought).
The redhead held out his hand congenially. "Name's Wally West. I'm actually Andrew's roommate, not Brian's." He grinned and ran a hand through his hair, making it look like the wind had blown it out of place. He then held out his hand to Jinx. "Rose, was it? Nice name."
Jinx looked at him for a long (and, for the poor guy, probably awkward) minute. There was something oddly familiar about him.
"It's the hair, isn't it?" He flashed a jaunty smile. " Chicks dig it."
Jinx scoffed and left his hand hanging, opting to roll her eyes instead.
"Can we please get some pizza here? I'm dying," Miranda exclaimed. "You guys were so late!"
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Wally glared at Brian's back, and for the world he wouldn't have been able to explain why. He was glaring unconsciously, and trying not to, but Surfer Blondie kept pulling out every possible conversational remark in existence to use on Rose Thompson. But maybe she deserved the smothering. After all, she had refused to shake THE Kid Flash's ever-excellent hand. Not that she had known he was Fastest Man Alive (not really Kid Flash anymore, the name just stuck), but still, common courtesy.
"Sir, what would you like?"
Did Brian just whisper in her ear?! What-the-heck and why was he so dern jealous? He had only know this Rose Thompson for five minutes, tops. So why did it feel like she was so familiar?
"Sir! Can I get you anything?"
Wally snapped to attention at the counter, forcibly lifting his hand to smooth his previously angry eyebrows. Stop it. "Umm...could I get three slices with extra cheese, pepperoni, and mushroom?"
"I'm sorry, I was too busy glaring at the guy ahead of me to hear your order. What was that?"
Wally turned his glare to the nosy cashier, a frizzy-haired woman wearing hippie sunglasses and a broom skirt. "I'm sorry, do you want me to pay you? Or for that matter, come here ever again?"
"Three pepperoni and shroom slices, 5.76, sorry for butting in, I tend to do that."
Wally tossed her the money and moved to wait for his plate. He passed a "Help Wanted" sign and regarded it for a moment, glancing out the window to the bank across the street. Weird managers. But good placement. He took the sign and folded it up into his back pocket.
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Jinx subtly positioned herself another inch away from Brian as she waited for her pizza to be placed on the "pick-up" counter. Her fingers were fidgety. They had been since she had watched the cashier open the drawer to nestle her money among several other bills. It would have been so easy to steal when she turned away to call the order. So easy for Jinx, that is. She was Rose now. She was good now. Right?
"So what's your favorite Italian food? Aside from pizza, obviously."
Jinx smiled at Brian's question. He may have been obvious, but it was kind of cute. " Lasagna tops all," she asserted.
"Spaghetti's much better."
"In my personal opinion?" Wally said in passing, "Stuffed shells. It's like a taste bud party." Jinx laughed. Brian noticed his pizza and grabbed the plate, making his way back to the table.
"Pepperoni and mushroom," called out the hippie cashier, gracelessly setting out two floppy plates. "With a side of hidden jealousy."
Jinx stepped forward. "The pizza's mine but...what? And I only got one slice."
Wally appeared behind her, sipping on his soda. "That last part? Some of my sophomore buddies tell me that Hippie Lady has always been off her rocker. Better to not pay attention to her at all. And the pizza's mine too."
There was one plate with one piece, and the other had three stacked on it. "Oh," Jinx replied. She turned to take hers but came face to face with Wally, who was in the midst of the same action, and Jinx found herself caught in a wonderful but petrifying (palm-drying, can't breathe, nonoheisnotKidFlash) cerulean stare. Wally held out his hand. "Let's try again. Wally West."
Jinx took his hand and shook it. "Rose Thompson."
Breaking the stare, Wally gallantly grabbed both plates and tucked the drink in his elbow. "Not every day I meet a fellow prushroom eater. Where'd you go to high school?"
Jinx waved off the question. "You wouldn't have heard of it, a GT school up north. Prushroom?" She found herself seated between Brian and Miranda, across from Wally.
"Don't you love it? I made it up myself. It's a mix between pepperoni and mushroom."
"Wow, so clever."
"You're a facetious one."
And so the six of them ate pizza, and talked, and laughed. It was almost unreal to Jinx, contentedly listening to the enjoyably trivial conversation. It wasn't like back at Hive- she had to take whatever was left for her after the hurricane of ravenous and stupid boys had its fill. Here it was pleasant, all-inclusive, and...Normal. She laughed softly into her Coke. So this. So this is college.
Brian leaned in to her. "I'd enjoy it if we went out some time, Rose," he said softly. "There's a dance for incoming freshman next week. Come with me?"
She blinked a few times in surprise, similar to how she had done in the car on the way over, only this time she snorted into her soda too. Goodness. He found the courage to ask after not even a day?
Should she? There was something racing through the back of her mind- a red and yellow blur...a shock of crimson hair, and a flash of sea-colored eyes, and then it was gone. Just like he had left before. Three years was too long to spend on a silly schoolgirl crush.
Jinx grinned back at her blue-eyed suitor. "Sure thing."
And although she missed the brief and flashing look from Elisa, Wally caught it right before Miranda squealed at the two of them.
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There you go! I'm working on outlining the rest of the story, just to know what I'm doing each chapter, etc. Just keep reading and reviewing and all that good stuff :)
-Silver Miraces