to an end. A few minutes later, Lance appeared in conversation with JC, who was at his
side. JC suddenly noticed Raven waiting and nudged Lance in the side. Lance glanced
over at Raven, smiled, said goodbye to JC then headed over to her.
"Hey, long time no see", Raven jokingly greeted. Lance laughed.
"Do you need a ride home or are you staying after?" he questioned after giving her a light
kiss on the lips.
"Oh, thanks but no. I'm going dress shopping with Alicia, Kerry and Tia", Raven
explained. Lance rose an eyebrow in surprise.
"Dress shopping? As in a dress for the homecoming dance?" he inquired. Raven nodded, a
toothy grin on her face.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to miss my own crowning as queen", she added.
"Ok, this morning you were practically shooting fire out of your eyes because you thought
I nominated you for the crown and now you're perfectly happy with it. What made you
change your mind?" Lance curiously asked.
"Let's just say, a little encounter with an old friend of yours", Raven vaguely informed.
Lance frowned and thought for a moment.
"Oh boy, don't tell me Amber gave you shit about the nomination?" Lance wearily asked.
Raven laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking him in the eye.
"The correct statement would be more along the lines of, *I* was the one dishing out
*all* the shit", she proudly replied. Lance chuckled and wrapped his arms around Raven's
waist, pulling her closer.
"That's my girl", he joked. Raven's cheeks turned faintly the color of a ruby.
"My girl, huh? I think I like getting used to that", she whispered. Lance responded with a
deep kiss; the kind that almost made your forget where you are and who you are. Both
would have kept kissing until the cows came home if it wasn't for the sudden shriek of a
horn from a royal blue VW Beetle, from behind.
They jumped apart and looked at the driver, who was sticking her fuchsia streaked hair
out the open window, with two giggling girls in the back. Raven groaned.
"Perfect timing, Alicia", Raven sarcastically greeted. Alicia grinned.
"Was I interrupting something?" she teased, her eyes looking from Raven to Lance. This
sent Tia and Kerry into a fit of hysterical laughter and Lance to blush.
"No, not really", Raven mocked, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, ok. In that case, I'm sorry Lance but I'm afraid I have to steal your girlfriend for a
little shopping trip", Alicia apologized. Lance shrugged.
"That's ok." He went behind Raven and enclosed his arms around her waist.
"I'll talk to you later", he murmured into her ear. Raven smiled and quickly brushed her
lips against his.
"All right, I'll see you later", she replied. Lance let go of her and returned to his car. Raven
opened the passenger side of Alicia's car and slid in, closing the door behind her. They
pulled out of the parking lot and began driving to the mall.
"So, it looks like that saying, trouble in paradise doesn't apply to two", Alicia observed
over the sounds of "Wish You Were Here" by Incubus.
"Nope, I guess it doesn't", Raven simply replied, annoyed with all the speculation
involving her and Lance.
Noticing Raven's annoyance, Kerry changed the subject.
"So, do you have your credit card?" she asked from the back seat, referring to the only
one she had, which her parents had bought for her in case of an emergency.
"Yeah. I just hope my parents don't flip too much. I mean, I don't think they're going to
think this is as much of an emergency as we do", she replied.
A few minutes later, the group arrived at the mall and headed into David's Bridal, which
was not only a wedding gown provider but also sold prom/formal dresses. Raven was
tempted to buy a black, one shouldered, floor length dress that had a slit up to the right
thigh but decided that she wanted something that was bright and for once, she was tired of
black.
Tia found her final homecoming dress choice, which was a lavender, floor length dress
with a V-neckline. The back was opened also in a V shape, that went a little less than
halfway down.
The next stop was JC Penny were Kerry and Alicia found their final dress choices. Kerry
bought a two piece set; a white, strapless apron top with rhinestones and a lace-up back
with a white skirt that reached her ankles. The top was solid and covered her chest and
some of her stomach, then turned into a sheer, see-through material that exposed her belly
button.
Alicia fell in love with an ankle length, iridescent ball gown with a triple-strap back. It was
the color of cloudless, blue sky on a lazy summer day.
After JC Penny, the girls hit Macy's. After a few minutes of searching through the racks,
Raven found the perfect homecoming dress. The floor length dress had a top part that was
a halter with a square neckline and thin straps. The back was open and dangerously low,
the plunge stopping just above her hips. At the bottom, the dress was an ocean blue, then
faded into a baby blue and then finally into a pale, pastel blue. There were glittery, blue
flowers connected together on groups of vines, placed close together on the bottom of the
dress and then as you got to the top, the groups were farther apart, until there was only
one single flower group, located on the upper thigh. Raven snatched her size off the rack
and headed into a dressing room.
A few minutes later, she hesitantly stepped out. Raven thought the dress looked perfect on
her; it fit perfect and made her dark eyes brighter. But despite this, she still wanted the
opinion of her friends.
"So, guys what do you think?" she asked, looking at each of her friend's expressions.
Alicia grinned.
"That dress looks absolutely fabulous on you!" she complimented.
"Aw thanks. Do you guys think Lance will like it?" Raven asked, giving a little twirl.
"Lance will more than like it, he'll love it!" Kerry exclaimed. Tia nodded.
"When he gets a look at you in that dress, he'll have to pick up his jaw off the floor."
*~*~*~*~*
Over the next few days, tension was running on an ultimate high between Amber and
Raven for the crown and Justin and Lance for the bet. Questions and rumors were flying
like water on a grease fire; Who's going to win? Who's Lance going to bring? What will be
Raven's revenge?
The popular group spilt in half due to Lance and Justin's rivalry and sudden ex-friendship.
One side of the table became Lance, Joey and his pick of the week, Chris and his girlfriend
and a few other guys and girls. Sometimes, Raven would join them but most of the time
she sat with Alicia, Kerry and Tia. The opposite side would be Justin, Adrienne, JC,
Amber and another few of popular guys and girls.
Posters by both girls began appearing everyone you turned and soon become new
wallpaper; the cafeteria, the gym, outside classrooms and even in the bathrooms. (The
guys taped up posters in the boy's bathroom and the girl's put up posters in the girl's
bathroom.)
Of course, there were other nominees besides Raven and Amber but no one seemed to
notice. The entire senior class was too busy being caught up in the whole Cheerleader vs.
Punk controversy.
It was an exceedingly tight race; one minute it was Raven who was winning and the next it
was Amber. And of course, Amber could not condone this. She had to be the queen right
here and right now. She was downright sick and tired of waiting, she wanted results now!
Besides, she was Amber Anderson, Goddess of the school and damnit, no cynical,
vintage-wearing, pop-is-dead, Gwen Steffani wannabe was going to beat her.
And so, of course, she took a cheap shot, sending the 'friendly' competition into total war.
After school, she ordered all her henchmen and henchwomen to deface and eliminate all of
Raven's posters; tearing them down, drawing bird wings, uno-brows and mustaches on the
faces and gluing posters of Amber over Raven's.
Next, she broke into Raven's gym locker and cut a huge whole into the butt of her gym
shorts, which were shorts Raven had bought with her own money. Satisfied with her little
'surprises', she and the rest of her sheep packed up and went home.
But even though she had caused this damage, Amber felt there was just something
missing. Something Amber wouldn't conduct until tomorrow.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, the gossip and laughter about Raven's new and improved posters scattered
around the school like a broken wine glass. A few minutes before the bell rang, signaling
the beginning of class, Lance, who was sitting next to Raven, asked her if she was upset.
Raven responded with a crooked grin.
"No, not at all. I think it's actually kind of funny", she truthfully replied, inwardly laughing
at what she had in store for the Queen B. herself. Lance shook his head.
"You're my girlfriend and I sometimes I *still* don't understand you", he answered. Raven
laughed.
"You'll understand on homecoming night when Amber-" she stopped.
"When Amber what? Tell me! What are you going to do to her?" Lance demanded. Raven
shrugged, the smile still on her face.
"You'll see."
"Oh c'mon, I'm your boyfriend, don't I have a right to know?" Lance pleaded, giving her
the classic puppy-dog pout. Raven shook her head.
"That just gives you more of a reason not to", she slyly replied.
Suddenly, Kerry ran into the class, skidding to a halt in front of Raven.
"Kerry? What are you doing here, you're supposed to be at the other end of the hall in
calculus", Raven replied confused. Kerry took a few minutes to catch her breath before
responding.
"I-*pant*-just-*pant*-wanted...to let you know....that Amber cut a hole in your gym
shorts."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Towards the end of the day, Raven got called down to the principal's office. It was
nothing to alert the media about; she had to leave early to go to a dentist appointment. But
of course, with her reputation, fake explanations began to surface and by the end of the
day, Raven had supposedly had been expelled from school because she had been caught
dealing ecstacy in the girl's bathroom during lunch.
Seeing this as an opportunity to seize the crown forever, Amber began telling everyone
*she* knew the absolute truth about why Raven had left. Upon hearing and finding this
out, people fled to Amber like bees to a full pot of honey. The 'truth', or Amber's white lie
was that Raven had been caught in the act with Lance by her parents and they were
sending her away to a boarding school for juvenile delinquents in Iceland.
So you could imagine Raven's complete shock and rage when she arrived back to school
the next day when random people approached her, asking why she was still attending
Bronson Alcott and then having to find out the rumor from Alicia, who was a little
skeptical when she set the record straight.
Raven kept her head held up high, told as many people as she could the real truth and
acted like nothing had happened. But inside, she was broken and crying. How could
anyone even think that about her? Even Alicia, her best friend hadn't had 100% faith that
she'd done anything with Lance.
She was keeping her cool pretty well. That is, until lunch time. She entered the cafeteria
with Kerry, Tia and Alicia at her sides. The noise in the room immediately went down
three volumes, the only sound muffled giggles and frantic whispers. Raven didn't know
where Lance was but all she knew was that she needed him next to her right now.
"It's ok. Just ignore it. You've got us", Alicia quietly reasoned. Raven nodded, trying to
fight back the sandpaper lump the size of a tennis ball clogging her throat. The group
made their way to the table and sat down, opening their lunches and chatting amongst
themselves like it was just an ordinary day.
Suddenly, Amber with Amy and Adrienne attached to her hip sauntered over to their table.
Amber smirked, her eyes darting from Raven, then Alicia, to Tia then to Kerry and finally
settling on Raven. Raven forced herself to throw Amber her nastiest glare, despite the fact
she felt like crying. But Amber didn't retreat back to her table or even flinch.
"So, Crow, shouldn't you, like be up in Iceland by now?" Amber asked.
"Shouldn't you be looking for your brain?" Raven darkly replied. Amber shot her a tight
smile.
"Nice try, Crow but like your pathetic comebacks won't do any good", she sneered.
"Whatever Amber", Raven replied, not in the mood to deal with the dramatic antics of her
enemy.
"Like, what's wrong Crow? Are you like, mad that like the whole school like knows your
dirty, little secret? Or, like are you upset that like you're now like the town bicycle?"
Raven felt the tears start to sting her eyes as she glanced away. She bit her bottom lip,
hoping it'd stop from causing any tears to fall. She wouldn't give Amber the satisfaction in
seeing her bawl.
The sound of the metal chair squeaking echoed throughout the now dead silent cafeteria
as Alicia stood up, standing in front of Raven and glaring heavily at Amber.
"You know Amber, I feel bad for you", she icily replied. Amber turned her gaze away
from Raven for a few minutes and at Alicia.
"Why's that?" she smugly replied.
"Because even though God gave you beauty, He obviously forgot to take away the
personality trait that makes you a complete bitch", Alicia frostily answered. Kerry and Tia
laughed and Raven chuckled.
"Well, like, clearly, God like, forgot to like, take away the like gene that like made your
friend a like, complete slut", Amber scoffed. Adrienne and Amy erupted into cackles and
soon, the popular half that supported Amber laughed until *all* of Amber's supporters
began laughing.
The laughter seemed to fill her head, louder than a rock concert, trapping her in her place.
Her breathing increased as the urge to cry increased; their laughter surrounding her,
covering her like a wool blanket. Raven shakily arose, glanced from the what seemed like
millions of laughing faces and then bolted towards the door, running so fast that if the
track teacher was around, he'd be begging for her to join the team.
She was about to sprint out the cafeteria door when she crashed into a wall. But it wasn't
a wall at all, it was a guy. She slowly glanced up and into the face of Lance. He had heard;
she knew he had. And now he was going to announce their break up in front of the entire
school and then make out with Amber as the finishing touch. But instead, she felt his
fingers brush away the tears on both cheeks. She sniffled and he leaned down and lightly
kissed her. The feeling of his lips on hers made Raven feel almost better. That is, almost.
"Are you ok? I heard about what Amber said and-"
"I-I want to go home", Raven interrupted. Lance nodded, wrapped an arm around her
shoulder and guided her out the cafeteria door, down the hall, out the entrance door and
to his car. He opened the door for her, waited until she got in and then shut it behind her.
Then, he got into the driver's seat and began driving to Raven's house.
"I'm really sorry about whatever she said", Lance replied, breaking the silence. Raven took
a shaky breath.
"It's ok, it's not your fault."
"I guess so...I just wish there was something I could do..", he answered, trailing off.
Suddenly, his face brightened and he drove right past Raven's street, Sunset Blvd.
"Um, Lance? You missed my house", Raven informed. Lance smiled.
"I know", he stated. A few minutes later, he turned onto Laurel Street and stopped in the
driveway of a large, blue house. He turned off the car and opened the door, starting to
walk to the front door. Raven followed.
"We're at my house. I have just the thing to help everyone forget all about that rumor
Amber spread", he explained. Raven looked at him skeptically.
"Lance, I don't know where this idea is headed but I don't see how sleeping with you will
make everyone forget about Amber's rumor", she replied. Lance stopped, sending Raven
stumbling into him. He quickly spun around and searched her face to see if she was
serious. Her expression showed no signs of joking.
"Rave, I can't believe you'd think I do that at a time like this!" he exclaimed. Her
expression relaxed.
"Oh. Ok. So then why are we at your house?" Raven asked. He slyly grinned.
"Follow me." Lance reached into his pocket and pulled out his house keys. He put the
correct key into the door, turned the knob and opened it. They walked in and since Raven
was last, she shut the door behind them.
"Wait right here, I'll be back in a second", Lance ordered. Lance hurried up the stairs,
turned a corner and disappeared out of view. Raven shrugged and leaned up against the
front door, examining the huge house. On the first floor was the kitchen, dining room and
TV room. She guessed that upstairs was the bedrooms. A door on the side of the stairs led
downstairs to the basement.
A few minutes later, Lance came down the stairs, a grin on his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Raven teased. Lance shoved a picture in her face that he
had been hiding behind his back.
"What's this?" Raven asked.
"Take a look", Lance replied. Raven gazed at the picture, her eyes widening. It was a
recent picture of Amber. Except this wasn't just any picture of Amber. She was dressed in
a pair of Teletuby pajama pants and a red, spaghetti strap tank top. There was a suspicious
looking, chunky, forest green blob on her shirt and she looked like she was laughing. Her
eyes were wide open and glazed. Her hair was up in a really high ponytail and on her head
was a black, lacy thong.
Raven burst out into hysterical laughter so hard that her sides began to ache and tears
spilled down her cheeks. After a few long minutes, she managed to control her laughter.
"Oh my God!! Where did you get that!?" Raven cried, taking one look at the picture and
laughing all over again. Lance grinned.
"It was at one of Justin's parties last year. She got really drunk, I mean, I'm talking
can't-stand upright, barfing-every-minute-drunk. Anyway, someone, I think was Joey,
dared her to run around the yard with her underwear on her head, for thirty minutes. No
one expected her to actually do it, but she was so drunk she said sure. It was pretty funny;
all of us were about to piss our pants from laughing. Adrienne found JC's mom's camera,
which had film, so she started clicking away. But Adrienne was laughing so hard that only
three pictures developed clearly", Lance explained. He paused.
"I have all three copies", he added.
"That's priceless! And that green blob, I'm guessing is barf?" Raven asked, pointing to it.
Lance nodded.
"Yep."
Raven laughed, which came out in short wheezes.
"Holy shit! That's some funny stuff. But how'd you get the pictures?" Raven questioned.
"Amber gave them to me. Since I was her boyfriend at the time, she said "only she could
trust me to keep them a secret", Lance informed.
"Until now", Raven commented. Lance nodded.
"Aw, you're the best boyfriend any girl could have", Raven teased, throwing her arms
around his neck. Lance laughed.
"No argument there", he replied. Raven laughed and captured his lips in a deep, slow kiss.
When they broke away, Raven laughed again.
"What's so funny?" Lance asked.
"I just had the greatest idea."
"Does it involve making copies of this picture and posting them around school?" Lance
eagerly guessed. Raven laughed and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Yes. That and enlarging this lovely photo to a poster size that even Fat Basterd from
Austin Powers couldn't hide."
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