About five minutes after the first-period bell rang; Beast boy and I entered the classroom, purposely late. We scouted the room for Kitten, and she was there talking obscenely loudly about a party she was having later that day. She made sure no ear missed a word she said and finished up with: "Only the coolest of the cool are going. No LOSERS allowed." She said with a pointed glare at some people in the room.
I took her not solely targeting me or "Dean" as a good sign. Then I thought about how stupid and cliché or codenames are. I broke my train of thought and turned to Beast Boy.
"You have to socialize. Find Fang or some of his friends. Find anyone that's dressed like you and reeks of axe and desperation. We have to get invited to that party."
"Rae you aren't really the party type… Why so eager all of a sudden?"
"It's Brittany… Not Rae, I mean Raven. And we need to get closer to Kitten, so we have to go to the party and see if we can get anything out of her.'
"Oh. Oh! Right! Cool. I'll go around back with the guys skipping class. Meet up in the closet at 12?"
"Fine. I'll talk to Kitten, and try to get invited, maybe one of us will be successful."
"So should we do a goodbye hug?"
"No."
Beast Boy rushed out to the back of the school hoping to find delinquents smoking or skipping class. That is exactly what he found, Kitten's boyfriend, Beast Boy remembered, Fang was out there. Beast Boy found it weird that no one was really taken aback by the teenage boy with a giant spider for a head. In fact, he was one of the most popular guys in school.
Beast Boy shook the logic from his head and tried to start up a conversation.
"Got a light I can use?" he said in his best tough-guy accent.
Fang and the crew gave him a once over and looked unsure of his presence. Beast Boy decided he needed to sway them quickly. Before he could say anything Fang asked him a question.
"You got boots, what do you ride?"
"What?"
"OHHHH Let's roll guys, skinny jeans over here is just a poser."
Beast Boy knew he had to save this conversation before 'Dean' was sent into social exile forever.
"No, I ride a Motosoka 3000."
"You mean the old lady scooter?"
"It's not a scooter it's a moped and it's wicked."
"Yeah. Like I said let's roll. Scooter boy is beyond lame."
"Bikes are too mainstream. Every wannabe cool guy rides a bike, but only the severely cool ride mopeds, everyone does it in Oklahoma. Me and the band pretty much started that. But I get it; you guys wanna continue to be lame, whatever. I just wanted a light."
Beast Boy lied through his teeth hoping to reel the conversation back in and regain control. It worked. He could sense uncertainty in the voices of the overconfident gang. He had to harp on that before it was too late, so he decided to make a big show of turning around to leave to show that he had lost interest.
Fang, not wanting to be upstaged, coolly stated his desire for Dean to stay when he said "Wait, I still didn't give you that light."
Beast Boy turned around with a smirk. "Got 'em" He thought.
Right when he was taking the lighter, "Brittany" rushed in and seemed a bit frustrated due to the blush on her cheeks. Instead of asking what was wrong, he greeted her with a cool "Babe, what's up?"
"Dean, we had an agreement to meet in the closet… you stood me up."
"Oh sorry! I forgot I was just trying to get a light, and I ran into Poser's 'R' us over here."
"ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. DEAN, you are SO funny! But we really need to go."
"Are you two about to get it on?" One of the unnamed members of the Fang Gang called out.
Raven's face immediately turned hot, and she quickly denied it with obvious disgust in her voice.
"Oh, so she's one of those girls then. If Dean is so cool, why can't he find a girl that will put out?" Fang cockily whispered to his lackeys.
Realizing what she had done, Raven takes desperate measures to save the façade. Wrapping her arms around her "boyfriend's" neck, she plants a kiss on his collarbone, "Dean we are never having sex in a janitor's closet again, it's dirty and the bleach fumes mess with my hair. You know that." She said just loud enough for the eavesdroppers to make out.
Oh my gosh... I just implied that I have frequent sex. With BEAST BOY. BEAST BOY. I could feel myself getting sick. How could I even say that? SEX with Beast Boy?
In the distance, I heard a lamp explode in the parking lot. Knowing exactly why it exploded sent a wave of panic through me, Only making the problem worse. I was having trouble suppressing all of my emotions. If we stayed any longer I could have blown our cover. I knew we had to leave now.
"Dean! Dean, we have to go!" I hoped Beast Boy would understand that this was an emergency.
Thankfully he got it and shut down the conversation fairly quickly.
"Kay babe let's roll. Later losers."
I fought the urge to glare at him. This is NOT the fifties, tone it down.
As soon as we got out of earshot I began to mutter under my breath
"Azarath metrion zinthos Azarath metrion zinthos"
As I was chanting I noticed that Beast Boy's face twisted up next to me, and I could tell he was listening to something.
"What's wrong? What do you hear?"
"Nothing nothing. Just seeing what Fang thinks about us..."
I could tell it was more. His eyes were narrowed and his face was contorted into something you'd rarely see in him: a scowl. I needed to figure out what was wrong with him. But right now, I couldn't focus on that. All of my energy needed to go to preventing myself from accidentally exploding the school.
"Let's go." he said interrupting my thoughts.
I'd rarely seen him this frustrated. I knew that something was bothering him and he wouldn't tell me what.
As soon as Brittany and Dean were out of earshot, Fang and the gang commented on the couple. First how the new guy was probably full of it, but his girlfriend was "SMOKIN." And arguing about their plans to steal her away and do "the unthinkable" to her.
"Please! that guy has never ridden a bike in his life." Said an arrogant gang member.
"But that Brittany chick…hot. We gotta keep him around, so I can steal that little-" added another before he was interrupted.
"You'll steal her? You know I'll have my hands all over that before you can even see anything under that tight little tank top." A thug by the name of Tommy interrupted.
"Boys, boys. You're both wrong. I'm taking her." Fang interjected.
"But what about Kitten?"
"What about her? Brittany 'won't mean anything to me.' She'll be 'just a fling.'" Fang said as his weird tendril fang things extended into almost a smile.
As soon as we could be alone, I tried to slow down my breathing and clear my mind. Meditation was so much harder without the gem normally placed on my forehead to help align my chakras. I needed to go deep, the chanting wasn't doing enough. I retreated to the lotus position and let my eyes glow white.
"Beast Boy, watch the door. If anyone comes in they'll see me using my powers."
"You got it Rae."
I ignored his nicknaming allowed my head to go clear. I suppressed all of my emotions and then dissolved them. I was now completely calm.
"Beast Boy, what did you hear when we were outside?"
"Nothing Rae, it's just those guys. I don't like them."
"Neither do I, but we aren't here to make friends. We need information, and they're a pretty good way to get to it. Especially Fang."
'I know, but—."
"But nothing. You need to make nice with them."
"But Rae?"
"WHAT Beast Boy?!"
"It's not me who needs to make nice."