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Raven
It hadn’t been all that long since Raven had woken up to her alarm clock howling and wailing in her ears. Since then, she had managed to roll out of bed, drag herself into the bathroom, fight the massive knots in her jet black hair, and return to her bedroom to begin the hasty search for something that would make her look at least a tiny bit presentable. Her mother’s new boyfriend was supposed to be coming over for lunch, so she had been told to look and act nice.
Unfortunately, Raven wasn’t one to dress nicely. All she had in her drawers were jeans and t-shirts with the occasional sweater given to her as a gift from her family. Digging to the darkest confines of her vast drawers, Raven managed to unearth a decent looking pair of white jeans.
“Perfect! Now all I need is a shirt,” she muttered, closing the drawer and turning to another. She hadn’t realized how out of shape she was and found it a tad surprising that, even at the average weight for her 5’8” frame, looking for clothes could somehow manage to wind her.
Standing up straight, Raven smiled victoriously, holding a dark blue t-shirt with silver sequins dotted here and there in her hands. Changing into her clothes, Raven began to wander why on earth she had anything with sequins on it, then realized that it must have been a gift from her cousins, Katrina and Kassie. They had always found sparkly things attractive, so it was no surprise they would give her something that was the epitome of sparkly.
Raven grabbed the maroon hair tie from her wrist and pulled her long hair up into a ponytail. If it wasn’t bad enough that it was constantly finding a way into her face, she didn’t even want to think about cutting it. Long hair looked good on her and, despite it’s annoying personality, she loved it.
Passing up on the chance to put on her shoes, Raven padded down the stairs barefoot. If the sudden greeting of sunlight wasn’t harsh enough to shake her from post-wake up sleepiness, the cold shock from the wood floor was. She let out a quick gasp and continued on to the kitchen, hoping that they had something to eat.
Just as she rounded the corner, the smell of greasy bacon, frying eggs, and toasting bread bombarded her nose. She closed her eyes and took in a deep, appreciative whiff.
“Mom must be trying to butter me up for the lunch date,” she said, continuing down the hall and turning into the kitchen. The tile was just as cold as the wood, so she hopped over as quickly as possible and threw herself onto one of the stools surrounding the island.
“Morning, Mom. What’s with the fantastic breakfast?” Raven asked, propping her chin up and watching her mother cook. She must have been making tater tots as well, since she was bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet. She always said that the best tater tots came from perky dancing. Raven didn’t bother asking what that had meant.
“Well, I have a surprise for you. One I think you’ll enjoy very much,” her mom said, turning and sending her 100 watt smile Raven’s way. Raven smiled back and raised an eyebrow.
“And that would be?” she asked , curiosity fuelling the nervousness in the pit of her stomach.
“We’ve got some very important visitors that will be joining us for breakfast and lunch. Actually, they’ll probably be joining us for dinner as well. They’ve just moved here, into that old house next door,” her mom said, turning back to the oven and flipping some pancakes that had somehow managed to escape Raven’s nose.
“New people? Neighbors? Really, mom? You know how much I hate meeting new people,” Raven complained, swiveling around on her stool. Her mother laughed and hopped over to the toaster. Not two seconds after she did so, four pieces of bread popped up from the slots. When it came to cooking, Raven’s mom had a sort of inner timer. She was at the toaster when it went off, at the pancakes before they burned, and at the bacon before it became too crispy. It was a talent Raven knew she would never possess.
“They aren’t new people, not in the least. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes, so wipe that sourpuss snarl off your face,” her mom said. Raven smiled and wiggled off her seat, heading over to the refrigerator and pulling out a tub of butter.
“Do these not-so-new people like butter?” she asked, grabbing a butter knife out of the drawer and heading over to the toaster where the four pieces of toast now sat next to on a plate.
“Yes, they do. And hurry up, will you? Butter soaked into the bread tastes the best,” she replied, scraping the eggs onto a plate and placing them on the dining room table, now set for four instead of two.
Raven reluctantly spread the butter over the slices, grabbing four more as they popped up from the slots. She wasn’t that excited about seeing these people that she apparently knew. With Raven’s luck, it would be her cousin Lanie and her annoying boyfriend Thomas. After stacking the toast on the plate and managing to balance it on her way to the table, the doorbell rang. The loud “ding-dong” echoed throughout the house, signaling the arrival of the guests. Either that or the mailman had a delivery for them.
“Raven, be a dear and get the door. It’s probably our guests,” her mom said, expertly maneuvering around her with a plate of bacon in one hand and the pancakes in the other. Raven sighed and trudged out of the kitchen.
The long hallway gave her a chance to think about all the horrible things she could do to the stupid Thomas without him realizing she was actually doing them on purpose and not by accident.
Turning the corner and heading into the living room, the doorbell sounded again.
“Raven, hurry up! Don’t keep them waiting!” her mom shouted. Raven heard the refrigerator door slam shut and knew that her mother must have fetched the syrup and jelly, probably even the whipped cream.
Walking a tad faster, Raven reached the front door and turned the knob. Standing still for a second, Raven mustered all the self control she had and opened the door, a look of pure boredom etched across her face.
When she caught sight of just exactly who the guests were, she couldn’t help smiling and squealing in pleasant surprise.
“Oh my God! It’s you! You’re here! In London!” she screamed, bouncing out onto the porch and enveloping her guests in a hug.
“Yeah, it’s us. Here in London,” Katrina said, retuning the hug while awkwardly trying to keep a jar of peanut butter under her arm at the same time.
“All the way from the States,” Kassie added, hugging Raven back just as warmly.
Raven pulled back and smiled, genuinely excited that her cousins were on her doorstep, peanut butter and all.
“Can we come in or are you just going to stare at us?” Katrina asked, the smile on her face showing that she was joking. Raven laughed and stepped aside, allowing the two women into her house.
“Finally, someone to talk to about the latest happenings in video game technology,” Raven said.
WonderlandTaxiCab · Mon Jul 20, 2009 @ 04:38am · 2 Comments |
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