Different

Chapter Ten: Surprises and Threats

I do not own: Teen Titans, Snapple, The Right Hand of Evil (or John Saul), Saran Wrap, Macy's, and Hot Topic

The bell brought me from my sleep. I blinked rapidly, trying to figure out where the hell I was.

Oh. I'm in school.

I glanced up to the board, and noticed that it had TEST TOMORROW in huge, multicolored block letters written across it.

Mumbling obscenities under my breath, I gathered up my books and made it to my locker.

Thank God lunch was next.

And yet, I couldn't figure out why my heart was beating in my chest.

I considered the options: That Gar was starting to figure out what really went on in my house, or that Gar was going to be at lunch and ask me if I was okay, if Gar was going to notice that bruise on my face…

Not that he'd notice anyway. He'd have to be close enough to kiss me to see it.

And with that thought, my pulse accelerated immediately, my cheeks heated, and while I was trying to figure out what was happening, Malchior chose the most inconvenient moment to hit on me.

"Hey, good-looking'!" Malchior drawled, leaning against his locker lazily.

I looked up from under my hood, and growled, "Leave. Now."

"Oh, no, I couldn't." His grin grew wider. "I can't move because I'm immobilized by the power of your eyes."

"More like you'll be immobilized by the power of my fists in two seconds." I mumbled under my breath.

"Oh, dear sweet Raven, what is that I hear? A threat?" He wiggled his eyebrows, and I felt so compelled to punch him.

In fact, I was just picture how he would look with blood pouring down his nose when I heard a familiar voice coming from down the hallway.

Gar.

I looked up, and noticed that in about thirty seconds he'd be close enough.

"Raven, would you go out with me?" Malchior tried, for about the thirtieth time this month.

I glanced up again, saw Gar quicken his pace to get to me.

I had a split second decision to make.

I dropped my books (on Malchior's feet -on purpose), and flung my arms around Gar.

"Gar! I'm so happy to see you!" I gushed, and also blushing at the fact that I was touching him.

"Raven…I'm surprised to see you." He squeaked out, his voice cracking somewhere in between.

Malchior looked on in disbelief.

"What are you doing?" Gar whispered.

"Just play along." I hissed back.

I quickly let go of him, and linked my arm with his. Gar pulled me closer, and I felt the blush deepen.

"Uh, bye." Malchior said, and quickly left.

I grinned at Gar. "Thanks."

He grinned back. "Anytime, Raven. Anytime."

I tried to pull away, but Gar wasn't letting go.

"Gar?"

He lazily looked down at me, and my heart skipped a beat. "Yeah?"

"Could you let go now?"

A smile spread across his features, and he slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me toward him.

Now I was pressing against his chest.

"I could," He breathed in my ear, "But I don't want to."

My breath caught in my throat.

He moved his head so that his cheek was against mine.

"Raven?" He said, his voice reverberating in his chest.

"Yes?" I squeaked, and began hoping that the halls were empty.

"I…" He moved again, so that his green eyes met my dark blue ones, "Raven, I…"

A wolf-whistle echoed down the hallway.

We both jumped apart as if we had been stuck with a fork, both of us blushing madly.

Vic's grinning face swam into focus.

I glared, stuffed my books in my locker, seized my lunch, and savagely kicked my locker shut.

I took off for the lunch room, cheeks still burning red.

"See you there." I managed to say, and didn't hang around to see if any of them heard.

I flew into the lunchroom, and took a seat next to Kori.

My God, I was still shaking…

"Friend?" Kori asked, taking notice of my inability to unwrap my sandwich, "Are you okay?"

I shot her a look that said I will be.

"Here." I shoved the sandwich at her. "You unwrap this. I can't."

"Most certainly, Raven!" She happily responded, grinning ridiculously and unsticking the Saran Wrap for me.

"Thank you." I breathed, and placed my head in my arms on the table.

"Raven, what happened?" Rich plunked his lunch tray down on the table, and took a seat across from me.

I lifted my head.

"I was scaring Malchior away by pretending to be going out with Gar, so I had my arm linked with his, and when he went away we ended up sort of hugging-"

"And they wouldn't let go!" Vic shouted, doing some sort of dance, and sitting down next to me.

"Way to go, girl!" Vic patted me on the head, and earned a death glare from me.

"Here." Kori slid the now-unwrapped sandwich back at me, and I quickly took a bite of my peanut butter sandwich.

However, Gar chose that moment to show up.

I fished out my water bottle from the brown paper bag, and placed it in front of me, trying to look at anywhere but Gar's face.

Back when Gar was that close to me, I wanted to kiss him…

And, the bread chose that moment to decide that it wanted to show me it was moldy on the inside.

I made a startled noise, mouth still full of peanut butter. I swallowed, gagged, and downed about half of my water to get the taste out.

Kori, Rich, Gar and Vic looked questioningly at me.

"There was mold in the bread."

Four faces made the same disgusted face at the same time, and I wished I had a camera.

"Here." Gar said, tossing me three dollars. "I'm sure that whatever is in the pizza they're selling is better than mold."

I opened my mouth to insist he take it back, when he continued, "No, Raven. No excuses. Just take the freaking money."

I nodded, grabbed the money, and ran off to the lunch station. I didn't bother to see exactly how red his face had become.

Back at the table, I was sure they were razzing him.

I had managed to spend only two dollars and thirty cents in the lunch line. I came back to the table carrying a slice of pizza and a can of Snapple.

"Hey." I dropped the change in front of Gar's place. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He mumbled, his face still a bright pink.

Everyone else at the table snickered.

For the rest of the period, we ate in peace. I planned the rest of the day in my head. Gar did his history homework, and Rich helped Kori with hers. Vic spent the entire period staring at the back of some girl's head.

After school, I said goodbye to everyone and walked to the library. I returned the books from the week before, and checked out a few more.

I noticed that over the past month, I have been reading less poetry. And in the more recent weeks, they also had a romantic story line.

I went online, checked my email, found nothing interesting, and browsed for about half an hour.

I said goodbye to Kori when I left.

When I got home, I ran through my house, dropping off my backpack and grabbing a fifty dollar bill. I jogged to the supermarket, and picked up milk, bread, peanut butter, herbal tea, and more stuff that I needed at home.

As I was walking home with bags in tow, I saw my father standing in the doorframe. I swallowed.

"Raven, what the hell did you think you were doing?" He yelled as soon as I was close enough to hear.

"I was at the supermarket." I answered back, lifting the bags in each hand.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What did you get?"

"Milk, eggs, bread, you know, the usual." I disguised the shake in my voice, and I kept my head down.

There was silence for about thirty seconds, when he spoke again.

"Did you get any beer?"

"Dad, you know they wouldn't sell it to me." I calmly answered.

"Well, what good are you if you can't get it to me?" He spat.

My eyes widened.

No.

I flinched, fearing the slap that never came.

Instead, he walked through the house, looking for his car keys.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and walked through the house myself.

I was finished putting the groceries away when the phone rang.

I jumped about a mile, and began wondering if Gar was calling… and while I walked towards the persistent ringing, I wondered where that thought had come from.

"Hello?" I cradled the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

"Did you get bread yet?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"Excuse me, but who is this?" I friendly said.

"Listen, Roth, stay the hell away from Gar! He's my boyfriend!"

Now I knew who it was, and I was pissed.

"Well, Terra, you listen!" I snarled back, slamming the refrigerator door shut, "You broke up with him."

"Don't tell these lies, Ravie." I could hear the smile in her voice, "You just might start believing them."

"Terra! You listen here-" I was greeted by the dial tone.

I angrily shoved the phone back onto the cradle, missing it once and having to do it again. I glared at the phone for a second, anger boiling in me.

The lights flickered.

Under a normal circumstance, it would have scared me.

But instead, today's encounter with Malchior entered my head.

The lights flickered faster.

I began thinking of what could have happened to Kori, since I saw Amanda walking towards the library earlier today.

I glanced at the phone, while shredding a napkin in my hands, and was surprised to see it floating.

That's right, Raven.

Feel the anger.

Embrace it.

What?

The anger was being washed away with surprise, when...

No. Raven, anger. You are the anger. Be the anger!

I was startled by the sudden ringing of the phone, and it dropped onto the table, released from my telekinetic grasp.

"Hello?" My voice shook a bit.

"So, Rae, did you get bread yet?"

Anger flared up again in my chest, and the lights turned off.

"No, Terra, you bitch!"

"Raven? Raven? It's me, Gar!"

Relief and embarrassment flooded me all at once.

"Gar? Gar? I'm so sorry." I watched in slight annoyance as the shades on the windows flipped open and closed again and again with my voice.

"Are you okay?"

"Me? I will be." I picked up another napkin and twisted it. "Terra just prank called."

"Really? What did she say?"

I hesitated.

Should I tell Gar the truth, or should I think up some lie?

Before my mouth could catch up with my brain, I told him.

"First somebody asked if I had gotten any bread yet, and the next thing I know is that Terra is telling me to stay away from you. That you're her boyfriend, and I better stop telling lies."

"Well," He stuttered. "I don't know what to say."

"That's okay," I answered, "You don't have to."

"No, I want to say something- anything, but I feel so… so… helpless."

The refrigerator door opened as soon as pity washed through me.

There was an awkward silence on the phone for what seemed like a minute.

"So…" I found myself voicing, "You get the homework done?"

As soon as I said that, I felt like thumping my head against the counter.

I'm talking to Gar about homework?

"Except for the English." I heard a laugh in his voice.

"Is Macbeth really that bad?" I asked the first question that came to my mind.

"I'm sure," Gar began, and I smiled, and as waves of annoyance at myself flashed through me, the faucet turned on, "That if it were written in a more modern fashion, that it would be enjoyable."

I rolled my eyes, walked to the sink to turn the faucet off, and said, "Are you quoting someone from online?"

"No…" There was a guilty tone to his voice, and I laughed.

But my pleasure died as soon as I saw the silver car pull into the driveway.

"Hey, Gar, listen," I said, and trailed off.

Slade was with him.

"Yeah?"

Was I imagining it, or was Gar's voice nervous?

"Um… I have to go now." The sentence tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it, and I considered banging my head against a wall.

"Oh. All right." I could hear, loud and clear, the disappointment in his voice.

"But Kori and I are going to the mall Saturday want to come?" I asked all in one breath.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Okay. Sorry. Got to go. Bye." I placed the handset in the cradle as quickly as I could.

And then I noticed that the oven was on and the microwave was running.

The sound of the jingling of keys came from the back door.

I closed my eyes.

This was gonna be hell.

A few hours later, with my father and Slade busy planning the downfall of the world as we know it, or something of the like, I escaped upstairs with a mug of tea and a few good reads.

First, I picked up The Right Hand of Evil, by John Saul, and turned it over in my hands for a few minutes.

Convincing Kori to go to the mall wouldn't be a problem at all.

I opened to the first page, glancing at the clock.

It was late, and the book could wait until tomorrow.

I felt unexplainably horrible about dumping the tea down the drain, but I didn't want the caffeine keeping me up until four a.m.

I fell into a deep sleep, and didn't wake up until morning.

It was lunchtime yet again.

I unpacked my lunch, took a mouthful of a ham-and-cheese sandwich, and stuck my nose into The Right Hand of Evil.

I heard someone come to the table, their tray clattering down. I sensed them staring at me.

Finally, I tore myself from Jared's description of "The Twin Thing", and turned to face whoever was staring at me.

I found Kitten glaring back.

To say I was surprised would have been an understatement.

"Yes?" I rudely asked, before she could say anything to me.

"You talked to him last night, didn't you?" Kitten accusingly said, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at me.

A sudden throb of fear worked its way down my spine.

How did they know?

"And what would you do if I did?" I spat back at her.

A malicious grin spread across her face.

"The possibilities are endless, Gothica." She admired her pink fingernails, and then tapping them on the table.

"Are you threatening me?" I hissed, my stubby nails curling into a fist under the table.

"No, not yet." Kitten whispered. "Consider this… a warning of things to come."

"Get out of my face." My voice was just above a normal sentence, and it had enough edge to it to remind me of my father.

But Kitten was already leaving the table, shoving her tray towards me.

The mashed potatoes sloshed dangerously close to my shirt, but the gravy slid down the tray and unto my jeans.

I let out a ragged shriek just as Kori entered the lunchroom.

"Friend Raven!" She rushed towards me, grabbing napkins from the trolley as she ran. "Are you unharmed?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Kori." I took the napkins from her hands, and started wiping the gravy from the fabric.

Our eyes met, and I said, "Are you up for the mall Saturday?"

Her delighted response gave me my answer, and I asked if we could bring everyone else.

She said yes, and we began discussing plans as we sat down, waiting for the boys to arrive.

I managed to survive the rest of the week, worry mounting as Saturday and my birthday grew closer.

Funny, on Saturday it would be a week exactly until my birthday.

Was I freaking out?

Of course I was.

On Friday night, I searched every corner of my room for money, and emptied out my wallet.

I had saved up for something, and I decided that I was going to spend it tomorrow.

I called Kori one last time, making sure nothing had changed.

Galfore was picking all of us up at eleven.

A sudden honk from the driveway told me that it was time to go.

I snatched my wallet, laced up my sneakers, and tore downstairs, sticking a note for when my father when he and Slade woke up.

I opened the front door, snarled at the falling rain, and dashed into the van.

Kori turned around in the front seat, grinning at me.

"This will be most memorable, I think!"

I agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, we were speeding along down the highway.

Gar sat near me, with Rich and Vic in the back.

I had my hair down into two short braids, and Vic found pleasure in tugging on them occasionally.

I felt another tug, rolled my eyes and turned around.

"Yes?" I sighed to Vic.

He picked up my braid, and stuck the end of it in my ear.

I shrieked, and I reacted by whapping Vic across the top of his head.

Unfortunately for him, I had decided to wear rings that day.

"Oww…" He moaned, cradling his head.

"I'm sorry." I said, as the rest of the car hooted in laugher.

Gar reached over to high-five me, and I obliged, rolling my eyes as we did.

Kori turned around in her seat, chatting with Rich, who was staring at her avidly.

Vic poked me in the back of the head, and ducked.

"What?" I hissed.

He pointed towards the talking couple.

"Isn't that sickening?"

"Yeah, it is." Gar agreed.

We turned into the parking lot, and then all hell broke loose.

The skies had been lightly drizzling before, but now they started dumping buckets. Lightening streaked across the sky.

"Oh, no freaking way." Rich stated calmly, watching from behind his sunglasses.

"Friends, does someone have an umbrella?"

After some strategic planning (and seeing that the rain wasn't going to let up), we were all crowded under one bright pink, and floral, umbrella.

Gar looked up darkly at the umbrella. "If anyone recognizes us, we're all dead."

I mumbled an agreement.

We scurried until we were inside Macy's, when we shook out the umbrella and took a look around.

"Let's go." Rich said, striding towards the direction of the food court.

Rich didn't see the dejected look on Kori's face.

"I wanted to look in the shoe department." She whispered to me, "But we'll have to go some other time, right?"

Some other time?

"Sure, Kori." I whispered back.

As long as I made it past my birthday.

One of the first stores we passed was one for videogames, and Rich, Gar and Vic all steered in that direction.

Posters advertising next month's game plastered the glass walls on our way in, and we found the boys drooling over the newest gaming system.

I flipped over the price tag in front of them, and snorted.

"You're not going to find a paycheck like that anywhere around here, boys."

"So what?" Gar asked, still enthralled by it, "It's fun to dream, right?"

The other two nodded in agreement.

Since I knew they weren't getting out of there, I waved pre-order forms for Mega Monkeys IV Special Edition in front of their noses.

They each grabbed one, and quickly filled out the information, and handed it to the dweeby-looking guy at the desk.

Kori and I practically had to drag them out by their collars.

All of us were eyeing Hot Topic.

"Let's go, shall we?" I asked, and led the way into the store.

I looked back at Kori, who had the slightest look of apprehension on her face.

"Don't worry, they do sell purple." I assured her.

Rich and Gar wandered in the direction of the "saying-stuff shirts", as Gar so eloquently put it yesterday at lunch, and Vic ducked behind some sales racks to stare at the girl manning the register.

I lifted through stacks of shirts, and rifled through the sweatshirts, while Kori went to go look at their selection of jewelry.

When I went up to pay for a pair of pants, I found Vic still looking at the cashier.

I rolled my eyes, and Rich joined me to pay.

As we were paying, Rich started talking to me in a quiet, strangled voice.

"Raven, listen, I need your help." His eyes must have darted around behind those glasses, because he paused before continuing.

"Yes?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I need to know how to ask a girl out." When my gaze asked hi to clarify, he stuttered, "Kori."

"I knew it!" I murmured triumphantly. "Don't worry, Rich," I continued. "We'll help you…"

I grinned devilishly as Vic and Gar met my gaze.

Rich confessed, I mouthed to them, who strangled hoots of laughter.

Five hours later, we huddled inside of Macy's, waiting for Galfore to return.

"I can't believe there's only one week left," I murmured, clutching my bookstore purchases in my hand.

"One week until what?" Gar's uncanny hearing didn't fail him this time.

I cursed silently, swallowed and said, "Until my birthday."

There was silence.

Then,

"PAAAR-TAY!" Vic shouted gleefully, wrapping me, Gar, Rich, and Kori into a bear hug. "It's Ravie-Dear's sweet sixteen!"

I glared at them all, and shot a look at Gar.

But, being pressed against Gar didn't stop me from blushing uncontrollably.

Or speeding up my pulse.

A realization swept through my head.

I could fall hard for Mr. Garfield Logan.

Very, very hard…

Reviewer… responses?

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As those members know, I still can, with the handy "reply" button.

To my anonymous reviewers: THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW!

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To those who STILL want to join the DCC- check my profile.

And why is Raven freaking out when she's so close to Gar? As Jimmy the Gothic Egg puts it, she's got the hots for him.

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