Disclaimer: I own a notebook full of ideas, but I don't own Teen Titans.
Please read this, review, and answer the questions at the bottom. Please!
Chapter 11
"Jump City…" he breathed as he stared out the windows of the airplane.
It was a fairly good sized city, not too huge but not too small either. He could also see, probably several miles just outside the city, a small little slice of suburbia. He noticed that all the houses looked exactly the same, and positioned in straight rows along the sidewalk. Every now and then, there would be a larger sized building, which he took to be either a school or a hospital.
He then understood why she was so happy the day she moved to Jump City. "I mean, who would want to live in a town where all the houses look alike, the people are unfriendly, and the coffee is all watery?" he asked himself.
The plane was landing. He was fidgeting around in his seat, very nervous and anxious about what he would say to her. "I can't do this. What if she never forgives me?" he asked, not knowing he said it loudly enough for other people to hear it.
The older woman next to him, who had been silent the whole time deep into a book, said out aloud, "You must do it anyway. If she doesn't forgive you, at least you'll know. It's better than the agony of wondering for every day of your life if you did the right thing. Go to her. If she comes back to you, she will always be with you. If she doesn't, she never did and will."
Richard, slightly taken aback by her sudden outburst, but still grateful for the advice at the same time, answered, "You know, you're right. I should do this. I will do it. Excuse me, I'm going to go fix myself up." He then walked down the aisle way, making his way toward the bathroom.
When he was gone, the man, who sat on the other side of the woman, came back and asked, "So, where's that young man who was sitting by us? Something happen?"
She looked to her left. "You know, I don't know. I remember hearing him talk to himself, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Then, I read this line in my book that deeply touched me. I think I might have read it aloud."
"Can I see?"
She handed her romance novel to him. "Hmm… it is a moving line," the man observed.
In the bathroom, Richard practiced his lines. "Ahem, Rachel? Look, about that, I'm sorry. No! That's too insensitive. Okay let's try again."
He cleared his throat again. This time, in a very emotional and bawling voice, he said, "Please, forgive me! I'm so ashamed of what I've done. Please! No, she'd probably just kill me for saying something like that! Okay, one more time."
"Could you hurry it up in there?" asked an angry voice outside.
"Just a moment! Okay, here we go. Rae," he started in a sad, but serious voice, "I'm really sorry. I should have considered your feelings about is, and I hope you can forgive me for the fact that I was so tactless. Oh, that just sounds terrible. Oh, forget it. I'll think of the right thing once I'm there." He opened the door and apologized to the angry man waiting impatiently for him to get out.
Once the plane landed, he grabbed his stuff as quickly as he could and darted out into the airport. He looked all over for her, but couldn't find her. He checked the flight schedules. She wasn't on his flight, so she had to be on the other one. Turns out it was delayed for a while and she would arrive in a few minutes. He waited patiently for a while, thinking of what he would say to her.
"Flight seventeen from New York has arrived," said a voice over the intercom.
"There we go." He scanned all around, looking for a black haired girl with violet streaks and eyes. He didn't see her anywhere. All the people had come, and he still hadn't found her.
"Damn it! Where is she?" he wondered.
"Here," responded a quiet voice.
He turned around. There she was, Rachel, except instead of looking like the normal, strong, apathetic Rachel, she looked depressed and vulnerable.
"Rae," he said in wonder.
She then said in a voice so quiet that it was almost a whisper, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Kitten and start catching up on whatever it is that happened?"
He noticed the sadness in her voice. "Rachel,"
She interrupted, "Look, Richard, I'm sorry about how I acted. I shouldn't have been so selfish and blind. I should've realized how much you cared about her. I'm sorry for telling you about all of that, but I hope you don't hate me and that we can still be friends…" Her voice was quiet, hoping to refrain from crying in front of him and appearing weak.
"Rachel, look…"
"I mean, I know that you don't like me that way, and I accept that. I know that you're only here so you can hear me apologize and not feel guilty if you did."
"Rae,"
"I'm really sorry. It's just that after getting my heart broken, you were just there, and I don't think I should have…"
"Rachel!" he shouted, hoping that she wouldn't interrupt again.
"Yeah?" she asked, wishing that he wouldn't yell at her.
"That's not the reason why I came here at all."
"It's not? Then why are you here anyway?"
"Look, I've been considering things. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have taken your feelings into account. And I also wanted to tell you, that…"
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to tell you that…"
"Yes?" she asked again, wondering why on earth he came to Jump City if he couldn't even speak."
"I love you too." He looked at her face again, but to his dismay, she wasn't smiling. She was frowning at him, looking at him like he was an even bigger jerk than before. "Rae, what's wrong?"
"What's your problem? You don't need to make me feel better with even more of your lies! Hypocrite! You're not in love with me! You just think you do. You're just saying that because you didn't like the Kitten that you saw. You're just transferring those feelings for her into me."
"No, really. Rae, I do love you. I need you."
"Oh yeah? Tell me. Why? Do you love me because you need me to fill a space in your heart that's empty? Or do you need me because you really do love me?"
"What?" he asked, a bit confused.
"Do you love me because you need someone in your life, or do you need me in your life because you really do love me? Are your feelings real, or are they just what you think they are?"
He was speechless. He didn't know what to say, in fear of offending her.
"That's what I thought," she spat out. "It's the first. Richard, I'm sorry to say this, but you really are a total loser." And with that, she disappeared from sight.
"Rachel!" He buried his face in his hands. "What did I do wrong this time?"
Then, someone standing by him who heard the whole thing, said, "You're not from here, are you?"
He stared at the girl in front of him. She was pale and had pink streaks in her hair. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Just call me Jenny," she replied. "Obviously, you don't know how to deal with Rachel Roth. Though, I am impressed that she got to know you so quickly and actually talked to you. Trust me, you should feel honored."
"How exactly do you know her?" he asked. "What do you mean by honored?"
"Well, duh. Of course you didn't know. You're not from around here, are you?"
"No," Richard said slowly, not sure whether he could trust this girl, Jenny, or not.
"Well then. You obviously haven't heard of how heartbroken she was after her boyfriend laid another girl and got her pregnant."
"She never told me that."
"Of course she didn't. Then the same girl runs down the aisle on the wedding day and starts screaming and revealing to everyone how Rachel's boyfriend was the sick bastard he still is. Then she cried for a long time. Then she met you, and you obviously didn't have a clue about any of this and went ahead and broke her heart. Actually, I don't think you should feel honored. You're just like all the others."
"How do you know her?" he asked, his voice sounding annoyed at the bratty girl in front of him.
"Well, Rae and I are…not exactly what you'd call BFF's, but I think I'd be a better one than those preppy girls she always hangs out with."
"You must be so jealous."
"I'm not!" she answered, not noticing the sarcasm in his voice. "It's just that… since she won't hang out with people like her, she's like a total outcast. She'd fit right in with us, but she won't give us a chance. I'm telling you, if she keeps going on like that, she'll be a total loser."
"Rachel is not a loser!" he declared firmly, defending her.
"Oooh… now she's got pretty boy protecting her. Please, you're just like all of them." Then she imitated in a mock, boyish voice. "Oh, I love you so much!" Then, in a high-pitched, girly voice, "Ahem?" Then in the boyish tone again, "Actually, I'm sorry. I forgot. I don't love you anymore. As of yesterday, we're over." Then she looked at him smugly, "Isn't that right?"
"I am nothing like that." He groaned. "Can you just tell me where she lives?"
"That I can do."
"Well than why'd you have to give me a hard time? Why not just give it to me at the beginning so we wouldn't have had to waste time?"
" 'cause it was worth it."
"Why?"
"You look so adorable when you get angry and defensive."
He gagged internally. He always hated this. Every single girl was the same. At the beginning, he thought that this… Jenny, was okay since she wasn't looking at him with lovey-dovey eyes. Now, he was just disgusted, again.
"Here you go. Oh, and tell her I said hi," she said.
"Sure." Then, under his breath as he walked away, "Don't count on it."
(groans loudly) What possessed me to write all that? How could I mess up his apology? Why'd I make Jenny (Jinx, thank you for telling me.) think that Richard was cute? Why do I suck at writing so much? When you have those answers, please review and tell me.
Oh yeah. I'm working on a "Sleeping Beauty" rewrite, but I need some opinions. Here they are.
Should Bumblebee or Jinx be the third godmother? (Star and Terra are the other two.)
Should Raven have her telekinesis and other powers or no?
Should Kitten be Raven's annoying younger sister who is heiress because her sister's gone or should Raven have no sister at all?
If you think Bee should be a godmother, should her name be "Bee" or "Karen"?
Do you think it's a good idea if I name the kingdoms "Azarath" and "Gotham"? Or should I be more original?
I'm serious! I want to know your opinion!