Shhhhh

Chapter 9 (bonus chapter)

Hi! So, right now, I'm just telling how Dexter fell in love with Raven. It's a bonus chapter. I promise that you will be able to know what Apple does with Raven and the other three next chapter.

A five-year-old Dexter was on the playground with all the other kids, playing like everybody else. He was playing a game and he was the bad knight. Daring was the good knight and Apple was the princess that Dexter had "captured". Everyone else was doing whatever after they wanted to do, but five-year-old Raven was watching the game's progress in secret. Dexter noticed, but instead of telling his brother, his instinct told him to let Raven watch. She wasn't doing any harm, right?

The game progress. "Knight Daring, I am taking Princess Apple away!" he said as he ran off with Apple following. "Save me, Daring!" she squeaked from the top of the miniature tower-slide. "Of course, my pretty princess!" he said as he looked into his mirror. Even then, he was sort of obsessed with being perfect. Dexter and Daring looked at each other and Daring...

... pushed Dexter to the ground. He rubbed dirt into Dexter's hair and took Dexter's glasses off his face and put it on the ground about two feet away from him. "Hey!" Dexter squealed. "That's not nice. It hurt! And I can't see!" Daring looked at his brother and said, "Relax, bro, it's just a game." Daring climbed to the top of the tower-slide and carried Apple down. "My hero!" she exclaimed with a peck on the cheek. The two went to go play another game on the other side of the playground, where everybody else was, without even bothering to help Dexter. Only Raven was close by. As soon as she was sure Daring and Apple wouldn't see her, she ran over to Dexter and helped him up. "Are you okay?" she asked in a sweet, innocent voice.

"Y-yes, but i-it really hurt w-when he sh-shoved me down! H-he didn't even h-help me up! He's s-supposed t-to be my b-big brother!" Dexter began to cry. "Just a second." the girl exclaimed. Dexter had no idea who helped him up. After all, he could barely see without his glasses. She pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to him. His hands fumbled in the air a few seconds until his hands felt something soft, the handkerchief. He gently took it from her, and their hands bumped together. Dexter turned red and moved his hand, with the handkerchief, away. As he dried his eyes, the girl dusted off his coat, hair, and shoulders. She then picked up his glasses, cleaned them on her spare hanky, and took his hand.

Dexter turned even redder when she grabbed his hand, put the glasses on his palm, and curled his fingers around them. He smiled and put them on. When he saw that the girl in front of him was Raven, he almost jumped back. She must have seen him cringe, and she looked down, tears welling in her eyes. He saw this reaction, and took her hand and said, "I'm s-sorry. It's j-just that I w-was s-surprised that y-you would h-help me... Daring's always saying how you are m-mean and v-vain like your m-mother. But th-thats not t-true. You're m-much n-nicer than h-he is..." She looked him in the eye and said, without a trace of malice or sarcasm, "Do you mean it?"

"Y-yes, I think so, o-otherwise I p-probably wouldn't have s-said so."

She smiled a smile that he thought was prettier than Apple's. Why no one would talk to her was beyond him. When the teachers called them in, the walked next to each other, talking and laughing about whatever after five-year-olds talk about until Daring pointed them out. "Hey, look, Dexter's got a giiiirlfrieeeend! And it's Raaaaveeeen!" Everyone laughed and Raven rushed off to the girl's restroom, sobbing. Dexter got mad and yelled, "Hey! That's not nice! She's not evil. She helped me up and cleaned me off when no one else noticed. You know I hurt my shoulder last week, Daring, and you still pushed me down, got DIRT everywhere, and put my glasses where I couldn't see or reach them. SHE helped me up. SHE asked if I was okay! SHE lent me her hanky! SHE dusted me off! And SHE cleaned and gave back my glasses! Call her evil now!" Daring just stared. It seemed as if Dexter had gotten his point across until Apple said, "OooOOooh, SOMEONE'S in LOVE!" The others laughed nervously until the teacher told them to quiet down and read a book. Raven walked in, her eyes slightly puffy and cheeks glistening a little. But, her head was held up high as she grabbed a book and sat down in a dark corner. Everyone remembered, deep down, what Raven had done for Dexter, even though she didn't know him.

Dexter sat down near her and scribbled a messy note in crayon on a piece of paper. He folded it up and passed it to Raven. She read it and smiled at him. He smiled back. The note had read:

I'll always be your friend. -Dex

Aww! Sorry if I made that a little cliche or cheesy, but I still think it's a cute way for him to begin falling in love with her - and for her to fall in love with him. In my opinion, I think that Raven always loved Dexter, but wasn't aware of her feeling towards her, and Dexter always loved her, but was aware of his feelings for her. Anyways, please review or PM me so you can tell me if you liked the bonus chapter! :-)