as Raven and Lance swept into the room, like the Queen and King overlooking their
subjects, both enveloped in an aura of slight arrogance. A DJ spun away in the corner and
the glowing lights shimmered like Tinkerbell's fairy dust. It was like a scene ripped out of
a teen movie; the only things missing
were the director yelling every five seconds, sound check crew with a microphone shoved
in front of her face and a bored hair/makeup specialist hovering by. The entire room
seemed to become quiet, like someone had suddenly ripped out their vocal cords.
And as the royal court's eyes lingered on her and Lance, she realized it finally felt good to
be stared at and not because someone was whispering about her behind her back. In a
way, it was like a cream pie smashed in the face of each one of her enemies.
Everyone continued dancing but no one dared to utter a single noise. Lance's hand clung
onto Raven's like an anchor as he led her to an empty space on the crowded dance floor.
Her floor length, jet black, halter top dress swished behind her like a cape as Lance dipped
her downwards.
'Gotsta Be' by B2K blared in the background as she got lost in the depths of those green
eyes of his, turning her knees to jello. He didn't blink as she slowly rose upward and finally
into the security of his strong arms. He cleared his throat, glanced down for a split second
and then to her face again.
He was nervous about something.
"Raven, I just want you to know...", he trailed off.
"What?" Raven anxiously questioned. He gave her a crooked smile.
"I want you to know that-"
"Rise and shine Orlando! This is KISS 95.7 and the time is 6:35! Coming up next-"
Raven groaned as reality slapped her in the face. She peeled open one eye, then another
and sat upright in her twin size bed, trying to make her grogginess disappear. She let out a
huge yawn and rubbed her eyes, her vision starting to come into focus.
"It was all a dream. The whole thing was a dream", she muttered to herself. She sighed
and swung her legs over the right side of the bed and began to shuffle to the bathroom
down the hall. After she had taken a quick shower, she wrapped a towel around herself
and ventured to her room and to her walk in closet across from the bed.
After three minutes of sorting through her clothes, she picked a pair of worn-in, baggy,
navy blue jeans and a fire engine red T-shirt that had a picture of the face of a grinning
monkey, with the words: Monkeys steal my underwear at night written underneath in
barely legible, black capital letters.
She pulled her hair back into a half-ponytail with a black, square hair clip. For makeup,
she outlined her eyes with black eyeliner, giving her dark eyes a brooding, haunted effect.
Along with this was also a touch of black mascara a heap of strawberry lip gloss. At 6:55,
she clattered down the stairs
messenger bag, crammed with books slung on her shoulder and grabbed an apple for
breakfast, just as Alicia screeched her royal blue VW Beetle into the driveway, late as
usual. She rushed out the door, trying not the slam it, knowing everyone else in the house
was still in a deep sleep and hopped over the door and rolled down window and into the
passenger�s seat.
Sum41 poured out of the speakers as Alicia sped down the quiet streets and to school.
"So, I take it you rejected Pretty Boy?" Alicia guessed. Raven rolled her eyes.
"And a good morning to you too", she caustically snapped. Alicia chuckled and ran
through a yellow light and made a left.
"How'd he take it? Not well, I suppose, hmm?" Alicia asked, ignoring Raven's comment.
"It went perfectly fine."
"So he freaked out? Act like no couldn't possibly be an option you seriously had been
considering?" Alicia suggested. Raven sighed and nodded.
"Yeah..he said it was bull and so I told him off and then hung up on him. I'm hoping he'll
take the hint and leave me alone for good. Maybe by second semester we can all pretend
this whole situation never occurred", Raven predicted.
"Forget about it? I don't think so! He's going to keep trying to win you over until you're
six feet underground", Alicia corrected.
"Oh thanks for the optimism, Lesh. Why doesn't he take the hint that I don't want to go
with him? He may have the intelligence to give Einstein a run for his money but when it
comes to love, he's more dense than Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless", Raven noted.
"He doesn't take the hint because he likes you. He doesn't want to give up without a
fight", Alicia advised, just as she pulled into the school's parking lot.
"I guess but....I just wish I didn't have to like him and then it wouldn't have to be so
complicated."
*~*~*~*~*~*
The bell rang for the ending of the fourth class of the day. Raven sluggishly dragged
herself out of her history class and to her lock, at the end of the hall. The next class she
had was english so she needed to switch her history book with her english notebook.
When she finally managed to squeeze herself into the tiny space in-between each student's
locker, she noticed that the door was halfway open. A frown crossed her face as she eased
open the door. Her eyes widened, her mouth hung open in bewilderment at the site before
her. A pile of red rose petals were scattered at her feet, from the opening of her locker
door and another pile was sitting on the top shelf of the inside of the locker.
On top of the pile of rose petals was a single, crimson rose with a white envelope
attached. She picked up the rose, unaware of the small crowd forming behind her and tore
open the envelope.
Stuffed inside it was a piece of ruled notebook paper and a lump. She took out the paper
and read, hoping it would give a clue to who had left her this surprise. In computer font,
the note said:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
All these flowers are pretty
but not as beautiful as you
Her heart fluttered and she reread the poem. Who could it possibly be? It was either a joke
or someone who really did like her. She pondered the options a little more, then folded the
poem back up and put it in her pants pocket. She then reached into the envelope and
pulled out the lump, which actually was a set of car keys!
"Holy shit", she muttered under her breath. Attached to the keys was a Post It note that
said:
I know this probably won't make up for everything I've done but it's a start. As of right
now, you are the owner of a Mustang Convertible. I remember how you told me you've
always wanted one, so I decided to let that dream come true.
If you can, please meet me outside, in the front of the school, on the far right side, during
lunch. There's some things I need to explain.
Raven let out a shrill screech after reading the last few words. The note was signed:
-Pretty Boy, AKA Mr. Eminem Wannabe
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