Shhhhh

Chapter 2

Raven-

Raven blinked back tears, surprised and hurt that Apple would stoop so low as to do this. A page of her personal journal was on the MirrorNet for all to see. Her tears were coming, and she tried to hold them back, but a small sob escaped her mouth, and her tears were finally set free. She buried her face in her pillow (she had redecorated - taken off all of the spikes on her furniture, gotten rid of the evil crown, and changed her bedspread to a gorgeous purple - since Apple had made her side of the dorm evil-looking) and sobbed until she felt empty. She laid there for two hours, but, to her, it seemed like ten years. She broke out of her trance when a knock sounded on her door. She barely managed to squeak out a Who's there, and Maddie burst into the room. For once, her face wasn't happy or cheerful. It was angry, indignant, and somehow comforting. "I can't believe the nerve of her! An apple nice on the outside is not necessarily nice on the inside." Maddie crossed the room and plopped down beside Raven. Raven would have responded on normal terms, but Raven felt like a chasm - dark, cold, and empty. She simply stared into space. After all, her personal feeling for Dexter were out there for the fairytale world to read. "Hello? Are you there, Raven?" Maddie asked. Maddie persisted in asking and dancing and making silly faces until Raven cracked a grin. "There. Now that's better. Shake off the gloomy-glooms!"

"Thanks, Maddie."

"Your welcome. If this makes it better, Dexter is looking for you. Also, I already knew you liked him - no, you love him. That's because I overheard the Narrators say so a week or two ago. And the Tower Salon..."

"Wait, Maddie," Raven interrupted. "Dexter is looking for me? After he saw that post? Are you sure? I thought he would want to avoid me after that."

"Yep. As I was saying, the Tower Salon is having a sale! They will cut the price of a haircut in half IF you let your stylist do whatever after she wants! Let's go! Well, I'm not going to get a haircut, but do you want one?"

"Of course, Maddie, let's go."

-Dexter-

Dexter was confused.

His feeling for Raven had been strong since he first saw her in Nursery Rhyme School, even when she accidentally almost blasted him, narrowly missing him and hitting a flower vase instead. But, she had been upset for good reason. After all, that day, Sparrow Hood had taped a "Kick Me, I'm Evil" sign to her back - and the Merry Men had done what the sign said. She had tried to apologize to him and he had tried to let her, but the other Royals, especially his brother, Daring Charming, had kept her away. Even then, she was strong, smart, brave, kind, and beautiful. He wanted to talk to her and tell her that he also had feelings for her. He asked Maddie if she could tell Raven that he was looking for her. Three hours later, while sitting in his dorm, thinking of ways to confront Apple in person and rant about what she did to Raven, when Maddie hexted him: Meet me in the Enchanted Forest in 20 min.! I'll bring Raven! {:-), along with a picture of where to go. Dexter immediately grabbed his nicest outfit and ran into his dorm's bathroom to change and clean up.

-Raven-

Raven liked how her head felt so much lighter. Her new haircut went wonderfully with the outfits she had just bought at Book End Boutique. She especially liked the one she was wearing right then, a simple, black choker necklace, a purple scoop neck tank top, a black mini-skirt, and simple black heels. Her eyes were lined with black, making them pop, and dusted with purple. All in all, she was stunning. Raven walked with Maddie to a clearing in the forest that even Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman didn't know about. Maddie had said that they were going to have a tea party, just the two of them. So, naturally, she was shocked when she saw Dexter waiting in the clearing. She turned to Maddie and whispered worriedly, "What is Dex doing here? He probably wants to tell me he wants to stop being friends, after Apple's post." Maddie simply smiled and gently pushed her in the clearing, where Dexter could see her. Dexter turned, looking right at her. His eyes widened and he breathed "Whoa, Raven, is that you?"

-Dexter-

Dexter was amazed by Ravens new hair. It was parted differently, so that the purple streaks in her hair started immediately. Also, it was choppily cut a couple centimeters from her chin. It framed her face perfectly. She had also changed her make-up and clothes. He automatically adjusted his glasses and attempted to smooth down his hair. He knew Raven was beautiful, but, now, she was doubly so. To him, she looked like a goddess. Raven's cheeks burned bright red and she looked down, trying to hide the tears he had seen in her eyes. "Hey, Dex. I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, because that journal entry and those doodle were truly done by my hand. I... I was so, so stupid to think someone as nice, sweet, understanding, and great as you would ever fall for someone like me." Dexter was truly taken by surprise, surprised that she automatically assumed he was mad and wanted to stop being friends. He laughed nervously. " Raven, that, uh... is not what I actually wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to say that, if that entry is true, I feel the same way about you. I... how do I say this... have really liked you since Nursery Rhyme School. I just, uh, didn't know how to tell you."

-Raven-

Raven's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe that a guy like him would like her so strongly - and since Nursery Rhyme School, too! "Really? Or is this a prank being played by Apple, to get my hopes up, and then break my heart afterwards?" Raven said, seriously and without a trace of sarcasm in her voice. Dexter looked hurt, almost offended, and said "I mean it, Raven." And, all of a sudden, he crossed the clearing towards her, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, hesitant at first, and then sweet and gentle. When he pulled away, he still held her in his arms. "Did that convince you?" he asked. As an answer, Raven leaned in and kissed him back, passionate and caring. And the two stood together in silence, kissing and staring at each other in between each kiss.

-Apple-

Apple watched Raven get shoved in the clearing to Dexter. She heard them confess their true feelings to each other. And, most importantly, she saw them kiss, talk, and kiss some more. And she caught it all on video.

When the newly formed couple walked out of the clearing hand in hand, she left and walked to the tea shoppe owned by Maddie Hatter's dad, the Mad Hatter. It maybe owned by the parent of a Rebel, but there was no other shop's tea that compared to their's. She ordered a cup of Lovely Lavender and a Fairy Nut Bar and got to work on her MirrorPad. She hexted Raven the video of her and Dexter in the clearing, along with the message Sign the book or I will post this video on MyChapter! She also sent it to Dexter. Immediately, Dexter hexted back You were there? How? Raven, I promise a prince's promise that I did not set this up. Apple immediately hexted Of course he didn't! He's too dumb to plan something like this. I followed him. The response from Raven involved calling Apple names most unsuitable for for a princess's ears, saying Dexter was a thousand times smarter than her, and saying that she would not sign some stupid book because someone forced her to, but as long as Dexter didn't care. Dexter said he did not care, and Raven hexted I will NOT sign the book! and called her some more unsuitable names, ending with You are almost as evil as my mother. Apple growled at the last remark. No, she was NOT evil, because she was perfect in every way, physically and mentally. At least, she thought so. She went back onto MyChapter and posted the video, captioning it, Check this out! This is completely unedited! For the second time that day, she got an avalanche of responses almost immediately, and, surprisingly, quite a bit of them called her "evil" for posting this and accused her of trying to blackmail Raven, and one of these responses was from Briar Beauty, her own best friend forever after. Apple let out an evil-sounding cackle, and the Mad Hatter was startled, for he thought she was the most Evil One Of All out of Mirror Prison (a.k.a. Raven's mom). Apple smiled wickedly and thought, So, you want to play that way, Raven. Well, bring it on.

I hope you enjoyed Chapter Two! I'm really sorry to the Apple White fans for making her the villain, but this is just what I think would be really good for a story. Please review and tell me what I could do better! Thank you! :-)