My My Immortal

The Lie Continued

"My friend, Willow (AN: Raven dis is u!) woke up then and grinned at me."
- My Immortal, 2006

       Palms sweaty, I peered through the droves of teens loitering around the cafeteria, hoping to catch sight of Raven's signature black hair. After pushing through the crowd with mumbles of "excuse me" and "pardon me," I finally saw her. Rather than seated at a lunch table, she was near the windows, sitting cross legged on the floor. She was so absorbed in the thick novel resting across her lap that she didn't notice me approaching. I took the opportunity to spend an extra second looking at her, trying to ignore the increased speed of my heart beat. She was beautiful, as always. Her hair, freshly dyed jet black, brushed against her shoulders, starkly contrasting their pale white. Her outfit of a red tanktop, black skinny jeans, and a pair of sneakers was understated, yet somehow encapsulated everything I wished I was. It was simple, it was goth, and it showed that Raven was beyond caring about the opinions of her peers. Tearing my gaze away, I sunk down to the floor, plopping myself down a couple of inches away from her side. After awkwardly clearing my throat, I gently nudged her with my shoulder. Startled, she immediately wrenched her head up, a protest forming on her dark tinted lips as she prepared to fight whoever had disrupted her reading. Thankfully, as soon as her eyes met mine her truculent expression melted into a friendly smile. She joked, "It's about time you showed up, Tara. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

        I felt a smile growing on my own face, and I sheepishly replied, "Me? Forget about you? Never." 

        She laughed lightly and slugged my shoulder. "Yeah? Well if that's the case, don't wait until halfway through lunch to show up, alright? We've got work to do." With a stretch she stood up, placing her book underneath her arm. "C'mon, let's get going."

        Raven led us into the deserted computer lab, selected a desktop in the corner of the room, and set her heavy backpack down with a thud. She slid into a chair then patted the one next to her, motioning for me to sit down. She punched in her school login, and soon we were staring at the words I had written last night. I flushed with embarrassment. I had been half asleep when I wrote, so only now did I realize the extent of my mistakes. The page was absolutely littered with red lines. Apparently I had even more typos than I thought . . . 

       With a beam, Raven looked over at me. "I didn't have a chance to work on editing yesterday, so I figured I could do it now. Then by tonight, I'll be ready to help you with your second chapter!"

        She turned back to the computer and immediately started correcting the spelling. I was mortified by my own poor grammar, but it seemed like Raven didn't even mind my mistakes; she was just enjoying writing.

        I sat anxiously, only occasionally glancing at the screen. I was baffled by the determined smile on her face. How was this fun for her? I just didn't get it, as much as I wished that I did. When she started liking My Chemical Romance, I bought each and every one of their CDs. The first time she dyed her hair, I begged my mom to let me color mine (she only let me put in a washable stripe, but it was something). But even though she was now writing during lunch, study hall, and when she could get away with it, gym class, I had never pursued writing myself. As strong as my impulse to emulate her was, I knew where my talents lay, or at least where they didn't.

        If I hadn't lied and tangled myself up in this fanfiction writing nonsense, there was no way that I would be writing even now, but, for better or for worse, I had lied, so I had to write, no matter how much I hated it. If I didn't finish another chapter soon, Raven would figure out my deception, and would probably never talk to me again. Alright, that might be a bit melodramatic; I was sure that she'd still be my friend, but what about more than my friend. She probably wouldn't want to date a liar.

        Ugh, I needed to snap out of it. I had no idea if she would be interested in dating me period, so there was no reason to worry myself thinking about it.

. . .

        Before Raven was through with her corrections, the sharp brrriiinng of the bell reverberated around the room. She swore under her breath and glared at the clock, as if cursing time itself for moving so quickly. Looking almost guilty, she turned to me. "Sorry, Tay. I guess I'll just have to finish this at home. You can still send the second chapter to me if you want, but I probably won't be able to get to it."

        Trying not to let on how relieved I was, I quickly reassured her that she should take her time, that there was absolutely no rush at all. She smiled gratefully, and we parted ways for the day. Once she had turned to walk down the hall, I sighed to myself and quietly thanked God for giving me another day to come up with a chapter.