unwilling to leave in the pit of his stomach. He knew what his friend had said was only a
joke but of course, Raven wouldn't think so.
<Why did Justin have to open his mouth? This is just great; we're going to have another
episode of WWF Smackdown in less than five seconds>, Lance pessimistically thought to
himself.
Raven threw Justin a short smirk; her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides,
obviously holding back the urge to do something irrational.
"Ah, if it isn't the Future Fast Food Fry Cooks of America! What's wrong? Did American
Eagle reveal the horrible truth that its fabric is made out of, dare I say, polyester? Or wait,
did Abercrombie and Fitch just announce it was going out of business?" Raven taunted.
Lance winced. Did she always have to ruin a perfectly good opportunity of peace? He
glanced at his friends and was surprised to find that JC wasn't the least bit mad, but in fact,
was grinning at Justin, silently suggesting him to say something back. Justin's girlfriend,
Adrienne, along with Amber, stood stiff as a board, hands on hips, mouth hanging open in
shock at what Raven had just said.
It was actually pretty funny to think that one comment from one girl could seem to make
the whole world stop rotating. It was something Lance admired in her. Of course,
whenever Lance spoke, everyone listened but it wasn't the same. With Raven, people
listened because they actually were interested and surprised in what she had to say. Even
the ones who didn't like her. With Lance, the only reason, in his opinion, was because of
his social status. And because of that, people felt they had to listen.
"Future Fry Cooks of America? That's pretty good, did you think of that all by yourself or
did your little group of freaks help you?" Justin facetiously questioned.
Adrienne let out a snort, crossing her arms over her chest and Amber's lips curved into a
smirk. JC's eyes darted from Justin to Raven, wondering what would happen next.
Raven's eyes narrowed to tiny, little slits and Lance guessed steam would rise out of her
ears any minute now. Raven jumped up from the booth, her hands clenched tightly in fists;
her knuckles whiter than snow. She took a step forward to Justin.
Lance scrambled up and stepped in between Justin and Raven. Lance glanced at Justin,
who sent him a proud grin but Lance gave him a disapproving frown.
"You guys, stop. You're bickering about nothing", Lance replied. Justin rolled his eyes and
Raven kept her mask of anger.
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't start anything, look at the Bride of Dracula. She's the one
who had to run her mouth because she couldn't take a damn joke", Justin scoffed.
Raven threw her hands up in frustration, then they flopped to her sides. Her dark eyes icily
stared at Justin, staring at him like he was a bug on her shoe.
"A joke? Then I guess the Monica Lewinsky scandal was just Bill Clinton's idea of a joke,
also", Raven acidly snapped.
Justin shook his head.
"No, you-"
"Justin, shut up and for once stop being an asshole", Lance commanded, slightly irritated
at Raven and Justin's insult games.
Justin's eyes widened and he quickly clamped his mouth shut. JC, Amber and Adrienne
stared in shock at Lance. They couldn't believe that Lance, someone supposedly on their
friend, would side with the enemy.
Lance gazed at Raven, Justin, JC, Amber and Adrienne, who all were suddenly mute. He
blinked, a little surprised he had defended Raven.
<But just because she's not the Queen of the School doesn't mean she's an emotionless
robot....Justin deserved what you said>, Lance thought to himself, as if reassuring himself
would wipe away his friend's shocked stares.
Justin was the first one to speak again.
"Woah, Lance, calm down. Dude, I'll remember next time to keep my mouth shut around
your girl", he answered, a wry smile on his face. Lance shot Justin a dirty glare.
"She's not my girl", Lance answered, annoyed. JC raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you guys out on a date?" he suspiciously questioned.
Lance gazed behind him at Raven, her mask of anger replaced with one of annoyance and
confusion. She probably was wondering the same thing as he was: what exactly could they
call this little...get together?
"Yeah Lance, if you guys aren't dating then why are you practically glued to the hip?"
Adrienne asked in her whiny voice, a sly smile on her face. He gazed at Adrienne, arms
crossed over her chest, honey colored eyes dancing with laughter, sly smile plastered on
her face, with her two sizes too small, striped polo shirt on and khaki shorts. He had
always disliked Adrienne but now, as he looked at her and listened her to, the feeling of
dislike grew greatly.
"We aren't glued at the hip. I just.....we had to do a project together and we were just
taking a break", Lance lied. Adrienne elbowed JC in the side and smirked. He returned her
grin and then their eyes both locked onto Lance and Raven.
"Ok so you guys have a project together..but that doesn't mean the teachers are forcing
you to spend time after class together", Justin observed.
"Uh...We're just-"
"Friends?" Amber asked, her voice coated in sweet syrup.
Lance stared at his girlfriend, her anger clearly present. He realized that because of the
whole bet and trying to get Raven to warm up to him, he hadn't spent much time with
Amber. In fact, the last time they had gone out on a date was two weeks ago. He hadn't
even spoken to her since the first day of school and that was Monday. Today was
Wednesday. Somehow, during those few short weeks, their relationship had started to
crumble. And somehow, during those few short weeks, Lance had slowly understood and
realized he didn't really care. He responded with a shrug. His friends were silent, their
opinions of the so-called relationship between Lance and Raven written all over their
faces; huge, wide, totally unbelieving smirks.
"Um, Raven..I think we'd better head back. You know, we need to work on the project"
Lance replied to Raven, the last part coming out in more of a question than a statement.
He looked at Raven's face a little more closely, something catching his eye. Her face was
blank but her eyes...they were watery. Was she going to cry?
"Yeah, whatever", Raven replied, her voice coming out a little hoarse. Raven began to
shuffle out of The Shack and in the direction of Hot Topic.
"Am, I'll call you later, ok?" Lance whispered to Amber as he brushed a stray piece of
shoulder length, fine platinum blond hair away from her face. She looked away.
"Hey, I promise, ok? I know our relationship hasn't been the best since the start of school,
but we can change that, ok?" Lance reassured. Amber glanced back up at him and offered
him a small, hopeful smile.
"Ok", she responded.
Lance smiled back and gave her light kiss on the lips.
"I'll see you guys later", he called over his shoulder as he headed out of the restaurant.
His eyes scanned the clusters of people, trying to locate where Raven had run off to. He
finally saw her, sitting on a bench in front of the fountain, a few feet away from The
Shack. Her thick hair was limply hanging in her downward hanging face, so he couldn't
see her expression. He gulped, feeling a little nervous. He hoped Justin's comments hadn't
gotten to her.
"Raven, are you ok?" Lance quietly asked, taking a seat next to her. She didn't say
anything, her thick hair acting like a curtain.
He let out a puff of air and glanced in front of him, lost in thought.
"I'm sorry about what happened back there. I hope you know I would never say anything
like", Lance answered. He glanced back at her. She slowly gazed up at him, brushing her
hair away from her face.
Her eyes were slightly puffy and her cheeks were stained with black tears from her
mascara bleeding in. He blinked in surprise. Raven was the definition of tough. She never
let anyone's comments bother her and always had a sarcastic comeback. Or at least she
seemed to. It was odd to see her shine in this light. Maybe he hadn't learned everything
about Raven Kenzington even though he thought he did. He scooted closer and cautiously
wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
<You know, I hadn't really noticed before, but Raven isn't half-bad looking...in fact, look
past the 90's grunge outfits and heavy makeup and Raven's kind of...hot> Lance thought.
<Holy shit, what the hell am I thinking?!> he thought immediately after the statement had
echoed in his head. He brushed it away and focused his attention on Raven.
"Look, I'm sorry and-"
"You think a lame apology is going to help the situation; make everything better?" Raven
bitterly snapped, shoving his arm off her shoulder.
"I know it doesn't make everything one hundred percent better but at least I told you I was
sorry."
Raven let out a crisp, short laugh.
"Maybe in your world. But I live in reality, Lance; not some cotton candy, unicorn and
puppies fantasy bull shit land where the mall is open twenty-four seven", Raven answered
back, her voice still drenched in a sarcastic, acid tone.
"Why is it always my fault when something goes wrong? Why do you always attack me
when one of my friends says something to you? I can't jump into their head and change
their opinion!" Lance cried out in frustration. Raven sniffled.
"But you don't have to sit there like a bump on a log and let them ramble on! Their YOUR
friends! You could have done something!" Raven exclaimed.
"I DID DO SOMETHING!" Lance shouted, causing a few heads to turn.
"What? Told them to shut up? Yeah that really helps, Lance. You tell them to shut up
today and they'll just find some way to think of something crueler and more sarcastic
tomorrow", Raven argued.
"Raven, I know the concept of the high school social scene is a big mystery to you but I'll
let you in on a little secret; if you're a nasty bitch with PMS seven days a week, you're not
going to get far up the social ladder", Lance bitterly snapped back, his voice turned back
to its regular volume.
"I mean, we're not even friends but-"
Lance smirked, his eyes icily boring into her.
"If we're not even friends then why is this whole thing such a big deal?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
- But I'd play with fire to break the ice
And I'd play with a nuclear device
Is it something I'll regret?
Why do I want what I can't get?
- Exert from the song "Wendy Clear" by Blink 182
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