Chapter 3: Behind This Smile
Raven's P.O.V
The teakettle let out an ear splitting whistle, alerting Raven her tea was done. She quickly took it off the stovetop and poured the steaming brew in her favorite mug. Raven smiled slightly as the memory of how she got the mug flashed in her mind.
"Hey Raven, I know how you love your herbal tea, so I got you a mug," Robin said, flashing her a glimpse of his amazing smile.
"Thanks, I-I really appreciate it," Raven responded, taking the mug into her hand. As she examined the mug she noticed something. The mug was a deep blue color adorned with the name 'Raven' in purple lettering. It was custom-made, Robin had gotten her a custom-made mug! Robin may have not noticed because of her thick hood, but Raven had a genuine smile on her face.
Raven's heart glowed as she recalled the memory. The fact Robin took her into that much consideration really touched her.
"Stop it, Raven," she scolded herself, "You shouldn't be thinking of the walking traffic light, the unavailable walking traffic light. Besides you have better things to think of." Anxiety set in as Raven thought of the prior engagement she had gotten herself into. Forgetting the relaxing mug of tea, she continued to fret.
"You have no idea who this girl is," she continued to herself. "She could be a new enemy or worse. Besides, you hate..."
A sudden presence interrupted her troublesome thoughts. The masked boy behind most of her problems strolled into the kitchen. Clothed in his civilian clothes, Robin wore a red t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, the infamous mask covering the mystery that was his eyes.
"Hey Raven," he greeted leaning on the countertop next to her.
"Hi, Robin," she replied, struggling to meet his hidden gaze.
"Going somewhere? You're actually out of uniform for a change," he sounded surprised. Raven wore a dark blue t-shirt adorned with the words 'Hate me, love me, do you think I really care?' in white. A pair of light blue jeans accompanied the shirt.
"Yeah, I was planning on going to this poetry reading this afternoon," Raven lied, unsure of how her leader would react to her potential new friend.
"I could come with, Cy and Beast Boy went to this videogame convention and Star is packing for a trip to Tamaran. So I'm free for the day," Robin explained. Raven felt like she had been punched in the stomach. To be Robin's last option was the worst feeling in the world.
"No it's fine, you should spend time with Starfire, y'know, before she leaves," she choked out every word.
"You sure, 'cause Rae I've been feeling like you've been avoiding me. Have I hurt you in anyway?" Robin asked.
"Don't go all emotional on me now especially when I'm just getting used to mine," Raven joked. "Everything is fine, our friendship is fine."
"Are you sure?" Robin questioned, his concern fading.
"Yes, now go help your girlfriend pack before you annoy me," Raven shooed him away.
"Alright, I'll leave you to your tea," Robin said, walking out of the kitchen. Raven stared with a heavy heart as he left, the burden of her feelings reemerging with every step he took away from her and towards the alien princess. She wished just for a day her sorrows wouldn't hold her down, but those same sorrows had been set free when hanging out with Aria. Raven thought of the date she had with the carefree girl.
"You never know unless you try," Raven suddenly thought.
Raven stood outside the entrance of the massive mall, nerves being eaten alive.
"Et dicendum est quod in somnis autem ut dixi non visum est ut videtur," Raven chanted, concealing her chakra from view. Opening the glass door to the shopping wonderland she thought, 'Here goes nothing.'
Crowds of people came from every which way. Hundreds of stores lined the first and second level. Bright lights filled the entire shopping center. Raven suddenly felt very small compared to the busyness of the place. She quickly made her way to the escalator, fighting the urge to take flight. She arrived at the food court searching for that familiar hairstyle.
"Rae!" a voice yelled. Raven turned the see who the voice belonged to.
"Hi, Aria," Raven spoke.
"Hey, you would not believe how long it took to find a decent outfit," Aria puffed. The petite girl was wearing a black, laced shirt with a purple tank top underneath. A black pair of leggings covered her slim legs. A wild tangle of hair was swept to one side of her head.
"That looks fine to me," Raven assured her.
"Thanks," she replied. "So I was thinking we could go to Forever 21 first. Sound good?"
"Yeah," the dark girl agreed. Aria led the way to the popular store, home to many teenage girls. As soon as Raven entered she immediately thought, 'This reminds me of Starfire's room.'
Dozens of teenage girls flocked around the many racks of clothes. Music played in the background of the mayhem. A heavy fragrance filled the entire store.
"So, where should we start?" Aria beamed, clapping her hands together.
"Um..." Raven was unsure how to respond.
"You don't do this much do you?" Aria asked. Raven shook her head in response.
"Tell you what, I'll go pick out some clothes and you try them on to decide whether or not you like them," Aria planned.
"Okay, but nothing too crazy or pink," Raven consented. Aria let out a light laugh and fled to arrange Raven's wardrobe. Glancing around, curiosity and doubt began to eat away at the dark bird. She wasn't sure there was anything here to match who she was. Everything the store represented didn't fit Raven's persona.
'I'm not a naïve little teenage girl, I'm not Starfire,' Raven thought. 'But sometimes I wish I was. Sometimes I wish...'
"Okay, I'm back," Aria announced, interrupting her deliberations. Raven looked up to see a bundle of clothes hanging over her thin arm. Leading her to the dressing room Aria explained, "I arranged the clothes into outfits. I made sure none of them are pink or too crazy. But they're not what you're probably used to. Oh, and they do match your hair dye, which is really good by the way, can't even see the roots."
Raven slowly nodded her head taking all this in.
"Alright, in you go," Aria basically pushed her into the dressing room. She blindly put on the clothes; anxious to see how it would look. Raven cautiously exited the dressing room much to Aria's delight. She let out a squeal and steered Raven to the large mirror saying "I present to you, Raven 2.0.
Raven stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wore a pair of black skinny jeans, comfortable enough to move in. The fabric was shredded in various places with a deep blue material underneath. A blue belt adorned with a silver buckle wrapped itself around her waist. A dark blue, laced long sleeved shirt accompanied the jeans. A black tank top beneath the half top completed the outfit. The ensemble accentuated the curves Raven never knew she had.
"Oh..." she whispered. The girl gazing back at her was alien to Raven. This girl was out of uniform. This girl had a woman's body. This girl looked attractive. This girl was Raven and Raven kind of liked this girl.
"Well, judging by the priceless look on your face, you love the outfit," Aria smirked. Raven gave a slight nod.
"Then shall we continue?" Aria inquired.
"We shall," Raven voiced, heading back to the fitting room.
"That dress totally matches your pretty green eyes," Aria commented. Raven had used a simple spell to change the color of her eyes.
"Thanks, but you're the one who picked it out," Raven said. After a lengthy, fun day of shopping, the duo decided to call it quits, and hang at the food court.
"Really, thanks, I don't usually have fun like this, so, this is very nice," Raven revealed. She took a bite of the pizza they had ordered. The mouthwatering aroma filled her with the desire to eat more. The divine Italian taste camped in her mouth.
"Next time it will be more fun if I could buy something," Aria pouted, noticing Raven's raised eyebrows she continued. "I'm sort of in between jobs so I'm kind of living off of Hale."
"Oh...about your brother...,"Raven trailed off.
"Yeah about that, I guess it's sob story time," Aria took a deep breath. "When I was thirteen, there was this fire at my house, you're looking at the sole survivor. Huh, lucky me, right? I lost my parents and my older sister, Anna."
"I'm sorry," Raven sympathized, unconsciously resting her hand on top of Aria's.
"It's okay, don't be sorry, you didn't cause the fire," Aria gave a wry smile. "Well, I didn't get away unscathed, my legs were badly burned, so I don't have to worry about shorts anymore," Aria let out a small chuckle before continuing.
"After that I was in the hospital for a while before going to a foster home where things got really bad. It finally hit me that my family was really gone. I realized I would never see them again," she quickly wiped a stray tear, "God, I'm such a girl. Well anyways, one day when I came home there was this new kid there. The first thing I noticed was his smile, it had a way of lighting up the whole room."
"Hale," Raven spoke softly.
"Yeah, Hale. The first words he said to me were 'Are you gonna be my new sister?' Since that day he has always tried to make me happy. Even though he was only nine at the time, I think he knew how messed up I was. Hale's always been like that, y'know, trying to bring a smile to someone's face," Aria paused. "He's the reason I was able to make it through. So I made it up to myself to make sure he would never have to face the horrors of this world. I wanted to make sure he always remained hopeful. When I turned fifteen I got my first job, all the money I made went to him or I saved it. I spent as much as I could on him, kind of spoiled him, I guess. Once I turned eighteen, I was at the legal age I could adopt. With the money I saved, I bought a tiny two bedroom apartment and started the whole legal process to adopt Hale. It took a year with a few tiny bumps in the road, but I got him. I think his social worker could tell how close we were and since he was fourteen, I didn't need to care for him as much anymore. So I guess in a way, we got our happily ever after."
"Wow, I had no idea," Raven murmured delicately.
"How could you? You've only known me for two days," Aria slightly teased.
"Yeah, but you're so cheerful, I never would have guessed," Raven admitted.
"The past is in the past, I can't let it hold me down. Hale taught me that," Aria resumed. "The prettiest smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears. The kindest hearts have felt the most pain."
"That's beautiful, where did you hear it from?" Raven asked.
"A book I read a long time ago, it's something I always remember," Aria said. "Now that you know my story, it's only fair you tell me yours.
"There's not much to tell," Raven lied. "My father is out of the picture which I'm happy about. And my mother and I never had the best relationship. Right now I'm just trying to figure out what makes me happy."
"That sucks about the parents. It's good you're trying to find yourself," Aria's chocolate brown eyes wandered to behind Raven. "Man, I wish I could get one." Raven turned her head to see the tattoo parlor.
"A tattoo?" an incredulous Raven asked.
"Yeah, I always thought they were cool," she answered.
"You know what, I'll treat you to one," Raven offered.
"Really?" now it was Aria's turn to be skeptical. Raven simply nodded her head with a tiny smile. Her friend shrieked, then with a devilish grin asked, "Why don't you get one with me?"
"No," Raven stated automatically.
"Why not?" Aria whined. "They're really cool,"
"Still not convinced," Raven replied.
"Oh, come on, a tattoo is more than body art. It's a way to mark an important quality of ourselves," Aria finished.
"Fine if I get one will you stop whining," Raven muttered. Aria vigorously nodded.
"Besides, if I don't like it I can remove it myself," Raven thought.
"So I'm probably going to get that quote," Aria carried on. "How bout you?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Raven said with a touch of mystery. She knew exactly what she was going to get.