Viper

Chapter 6: Homecoming

Raven POV

Two Weeks Later

The bright flash of my mom's cameras assault my eyes as she snaps a photo of Nate and me in our homecoming outfits. His hands wrap around my waist as she snaps at least a million more before setting her camera down on the table. "Oh, you two are just so perfect." She says with a smile. Nate chuckles at her comment, adjusting the corsage on my wrist. He takes my hand and leads me out the door to his car, glancing back at me the whole way, making me blush slightly.

As we pull into the school parking lot, he parks in his designated spot, gets out, and opens my door for me. I give him a smile and a small nudge in the ribs with my elbow. We walk inside, greeting James and his date, and find a table to sit at.

Tom POV

As the song ends, Samantha's arms fall off my shoulders. I ended up asking her to the dance, even though I didn't even want to come after what Nathan told me. She accepted my offer to take her a little too enthusiastically for my liking. I look past her, watching Raven walk through the door with Nate. Her dark purple gown falling down to her ankles makes me swoon. Samantha shoulder checks me as I realize I've been staring, and links her arm into mine as she starts walking towards our table to join everyone else.

Raven turns as I catch her eye, making her smile at me. Nate wanders off to go meet with his football teammates, leaving Raven alone with the rest of us. She steps over to me, looking me up and down. "Hey, Tommy you clean up nicely. I like what you did with your hair." She says, making my heart race as she reaches to feel one of my dreadlocks. I had put my hair up into a bun, letting the ends spill out the front. Bill told me not to wear one of my caps to the dance and helped me pick out a nice outfit. "Thanks, you look...great," I say, almost fumbling over my words. I spin the bracelet that Raven left at my house around my wrist nervously. I had tried to return it to her the day after I found it, but she wanted me to keep it, admitting that she had made it for me.

Bill saunters over, greeting Raven and gushing over her outfit. He looks around the gym, furrowing his brows. "Where's Nate? Didn't you come together?" he asks, standing on his toes as he looks. She points over to the corner where he stands talking to his teammates, "He's over there with his other friends, probably talking about the game next week." she says.

The night rolls on and we all dance, while I skip out on all the slow songs, really not wanting to dance with Samantha. As the DJ announces the last song of the night, Nate wanders off to go say goodbye to his other friends. Raven sits down next to me and sighs, watching him walk away. "Did you have fun?" she asks as she turns to look at me. I nod and smile at her, basking in her beauty. "I had a lot of fun, although, Samantha is a little bossy on the dancefloor," I say with a chuckle. She nods and giggles back in agreement.

Her face lights up as she notices what song is playing over the speakers. I've never heard it before, but she seems to love it. I watch her sway back and forth to the sound of it. "Oh I just love this song so much, it's the best slow song ever." She says, closing her eyes. I gather up the courage and stand up, holding out my hand to her.

Raven POV

"Want to dance?" he asks, holding his hand out to me. I take it and nod as I stand up, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He places his gently on my waist and starts swaying back and forth. I smile as he spins me around, chuckling to himself. He brings me back close to his body and looks into my eyes as he keeps swaying from side to side. I giggle as I watch his face turn from pink to bright red.

Right before the song ends, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and find Nate standing behind me, looking rather annoyed. Tom quickly lets go of me and takes a step back. I know if I don't say something, Nate will be upset with Tom for stealing his date. "Sorry, that was one of my favorite songs so I asked Tom to dance with me since you were talking with your friends," I say, covering for Tom. Nate's eyes soften apologetically as he steps closer to me. "Sorry Rae, I didn't mean to stay over there that long. Thanks for keeping her company man." He says to both of us.

Tom gives Nate a nod and turns to go find Bill. Nate takes me by the hand and leads me out to the hallway where he stops at the front door. "Rae, I want to ask you something." he starts as he pulls me to a stop. I turn to meet his gaze and cock my head to the side. He takes a deep breath in and holds both of my hands in his. "Okay, here it goes. I've had a huge crush on you since middle school, and I thought now would be a good time to finally tell you," he says nervously. Heat radiates off my face as he speaks.

"Will you go out with me?" he asks with a tremble in his voice. I smile, looking him in the eyes as I nod. "Yeah, okay." I say with a nervous giggle. Middle school me would kill to be in my shoes right now. I've been waiting for years for him to ask me out and I thought it'd never happen. Although, I definitely thought Tom would beat him to it since he was going to ask me to the dance. I guess Tom doesn't feel that way about me like I thought. Nate grins at my acceptance and places my hand in the crook of his elbow as he leads me out the door.

Tom POV

"Will you go out with me?" I hear Nate say as I exit the bathroom. I stop in my tracks before rounding the corner. I'm not usually one for eavesdropping, but I feel like this is something I need to hear for my sanity. I hold my breath as I wait for her to answer him. "Yeah, okay." she says back to him. My cheeks start to burn and my heart feels like it's going to explode. I listen as they walk down the hall and out the doors of the school. I step out from the corner and slide my back down the wall, sitting on the floor with my head between my knees.

Light footsteps approach, making me look up with misty eyes to find Bill jogging towards me. He kneels down next to me and holds my forearm in his hands. "Was ist passiert, Maus?" ('What happened, Maus?') he asks, concern laced in his voice. I look down at my feet and sigh. "Er bat sie, seine Freundin zu sein..." ('He asked her to be his girlfriend...') I say, scowling at the ground. His face drops and he plops down against the wall next to me. I sit there in silence with him, thinking about how I should have asked her when I had the chance. If Nate hadn't interrupted us the first night she came over, I would have asked.

Bill nudges me as he swivels over onto his knees. "Let's go home," he says, standing up and holding his hands out to help me up. As I get up from the ground, Samantha wanders out of the gym, locking eyes with me as she walks in our direction. She steps right up to me and smiles nervously. "Hey Tom, I was kinda wondering if, maybe, you'd want to go out with me?" she asks, playing with the tips of her curled blonde hair. I take a second to answer, thinking that it might just be better to see someone else. "Yeah, okay." I say with a small smile. I always thought that Sam was kinda cute, so what the Hell?

She smiles brightly back at me and leans up, kissing my cheek softly. "Cool, let's go do something tomorrow." she squeals eagerly before walking out the door. I smirk at down at my feet as Bill crosses his arms at me. I look up at him as he furrows his brows. "If I can't have Rae, I'll just go back to how I dated back home," I say with a crooked smile. Bill rolls his eyes at me and gestures towards the door for us to leave.