Catching Feelings

Chapter 11

Raven was up half the night packing. By six in the morning, she had all of her belongings packaged away in brown boxes in her room. Although she was all packed up, she had no place to go. So she decided to grab a couple suitcases and stay at her mother's until she found another place. Sure she could go stay at a hotel, but nothing beats the comforts of home. She picked up a brown suitcase and rolled the other to the door. Raven gave her apartment one last look; a bunch of emotions hit her. She loved, laughed and cried in this place, but she had to leave it behind in order to move on with her life. Raven walked out the door, not bothering to take another look.

It was around eight a.m. when Raven arrived at her mother's house. The drive from Manhattan to Brooklyn would have been tolerable if it wasn't for the early morning rush hour. This was why she preferred traveling by subway. She stood on the stoop of the large brownstone juggling her bags. Her finger rapidly pressed against the doorbell, while giving the door a few swift kicks. Raven let out a frustrated sigh, it was clear that no one was home. So now she had to use her key. Now for a normal person, this wouldn't be a problem, but for Raven it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Her key ring held so many keys she'd forgotten which ones actually had a purpose.

After finding the right key she opened the door and stepped inside. "Mom! Hello, anybody home?" she yelled. Raven walked through the foyer and into the living room area. She sat her bags on the floor and went over to the telephone to make a call. A yawn had escaped her lips as she dialed the number. That loss of sleep was catching up to her.

The phone rang in her ear as she waited for someone to pick up, "Hey Ari, it's Raven." She replied to the booming voice that said hello.

"Raven, where the hell have you been, we can't keep doing this phone tag thing."

"I know and I'm sorry, I just lost my phone again."

"You gotta be kidding me kid. Are you going to be this careless when you get out to LA?" he asked sarcastically.

A slow smile spread across Raven's face as she started to catch on to what he was hinting to. "What are you saying Ari?"

"Pack your bags kids, you got the part! The producers loved you. The studio's been sending me offers since last evening."

"I can't believe this right now," Raven jumped up and down in excitement.

"Didn't I tell you all those bullshit gigs would pay off? Shooting starts four weeks from now, so make sure you swing by my office sometime today so we can go over these contracts."

"Can we do it tomorrow? I'm completely done in." Another yawn escaped her as she spoke.

"Sure, why not, this is only your career we're talking about. What the hell, why don't we make it next week?"

Raven shook her head at his exaggeration, "Ari..."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, but you better make it bright and early."

She agreed and hung up the phone.

Raven climbed up the never ending staircase and treaded down the hall to her old bedroom. When she got inside she was welcomed by pure nostalgia. Pictures of old friends from high school and prom photos littered her mirror. Posters of Janet Jackson, TLC, Aaliyah, and Usher were all scattered on her wall.

Raven kicked off her sneakers, raising her arms above her head as she let out a drawn out yawn. "Home sweet home." She said as she stretched out across her full size bed.

A few hours went past when Raven found herself stretching and yawning. She got out of bed and threw on some yellow sweatpants, a black sports bra and jogged down the stairs. It was somewhere around noon and the need for food was making itself know with each rumble in her stomach. So she headed into the kitchen to find something to eat. When Raven walked through the swinging door, she noticed someone had beaten her to the refrigerator. Raven leaned against the door frame watching her little sister search for food.

Her sister never heard her enter the room, so when she turned around she jumped a foot in the air; the container she was holding nearly fell on the floor. Raven laughed at her sister's flustered face. After getting herself together, she sat the container on the counter top. "What the fuck Raven! You almost scared me to death." She yelled as she went to get a fork from a drawer, "what are you doing here anyway?"

"I should be asking you the same thing. Why aren't you in school?" Raven stood there with her hands on both hips, waiting for an answer that she already knew.

Raven's sister paused for a moment; she had to choose her next words wisely. "We got out early." She replied unconvincingly, stumbling across her words along the way.

Raven laughed as she went to fix herself a sandwich. She shook her head remembering the days when she used to pull the same stunts. "That's bullshit, seriously Karris this is me you're talking to."

When Karris saw the 'yeah right' look her sister was giving her, she let out a sigh. "Okay, so I cut class, big deal."

"Oh it will be when mom finds out." Raven replied as she piled pieces of turkey on bread. She thought back to the never-ending speeches her mother would give her about school. Their mom was pretty much laid back, but there was one thing that she didn't play about, and that was their education. She made it known early on that college was not an option but a requirement in their house.

"So what... are you gonna tell on me?" Karris asked defiantly with her arms folded across her chest.

Raven smiled and shook her head at her little sister's bratty behavior. "That would be violating the sibling code, besides I won't have to tell, mom has a way of finding these things out." She said, and took a bite of her sandwich to silence the rumbling in her stomach.

Karris shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. So why are you here again?" she asked while poking at the crisp lettuce in the tupperwear container before stuffing the salad into her mouth.

"I moved out of my apartment." Raven searched through the cabinets, as she spoke, her eyes lit up when she found a bag of Cheetos. She dumped some on the side of her plate and hopped up on the counter next to her sister.

Karris looked at her questioningly with a raised eyebrow. "And you chose to come back here?" She got her answer when Raven nodded. "That was stupid. I can't wait until I'm old enough to move out." She always thought her sister had it easy, she could do whatever she wanted and come and go as she pleased. She thought Raven was foolish to give that up.

"You say that now because you're only sixteen, but when you get out in the real world, you're gonna see just how easy you have it here." said Raven.

"I doubt it." Karris said with a shrug. She watched as Raven continued on eating what she deemed an unhealthy meal. Her nose wrinkled just looking at her stuff her face with the cheesy snack. "How the hell do you eat like that and not gain any weight?"

"Because I got it like that." Raven stuck out her tongue and tussled her sister's hair as she hopped off the counter. "What time is mommy getting home?" She asked as she cleaned her plate.

"One of her patients is supposed to be going into labor today, so I don't know." She replied carelessly.

Raven dried her hands on a towel and turned back to Karris. "I'm gonna go take a shower, why do you do something productive like... read a book." said Raven. She laughed as Karris gave her the finger. As she walked away a carrot flew by her head. "That's why you missed, you delinquent." Raven replied over her shoulder as she exited the room.