First Time

Intentions Revealed

Chapter 2: Intentions revealed

It was dinner time at the Anders home, and the dining room table was filled for the first time in a long time. Myand nad Luan sat at the widths of the table, while Raven and Kori sat on one side of it's length, opposite of their guest Arella and Tom. As Kori and the adults ate, Raven stabbed vegetables with her fork. She hadn't taken a single bite or said one word since they sat down for dinner. The only thing she did do was lock her gaze on Arella who faced her at the table.

It took awhile, but eventually Kori noticed this and her eyes saddened. She could tell by the look on Raven's face that the young goth was feeling two things; curiousity and anger, and judging by how silent she was Kori knew her anger trumped curiousity.

Unable to take anymore and hoping to help her friend, Kori dropped her fork on the table and looked at Arella. "So, Mrs. Roth-"

"Oh, call me Arella," the dark haired beauty said with a smile, placing her glass of wine on the table.

Kori smiled sweetly, correcting herself. "Arella, if you don't mind me asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"

"Kori!" Myan scolded.

Kori ignored her father and instead sent a small smile in Raven's direction, one that was returned and the girls clasped their hands together under the table.

"It's fine," Arella assured Myan before turning to Kori.

"After I left Jump City I moved to Florida and got in touch with an old friend from high school." At this she smiled at Tom and they held hands above the table, a sight that caused Raven to narrow her eyes. "He took me in and helped me get back on my feet."

"Anything for you, darling," Tom replied with an affectionate smile and he kissed her hand before returning to his dinner.

"Darling?" Kori mused outloud, looking nervously from Arella to Raven, then back again. "You two must be really close."

There was a pause before Arella continued. "Well... actually we are. Tom and I are married."

"You got married?" Raven asked in disbelief, her eyes wide.

"It was very spontaneous," Tom began to explain. "We had just finished watching my son's baseball game and-"

"You have a son?" Raven nearly stood up from her seat in shock.

"Actually, I have six-"

"Six?" Raven repeated. How many shocks would she recieve in one day?

Tom nodded before continuing on with his story. "So we had just finished watching the game and had gone out for some ice cream, and I don't know how she did it but Arella had chocolate all over her face."

Arella slapped him with her napkin, a playful smile on her face. "It was not all over my face."

Tom laughed. "So, anyway, I was helping her clean up and we're both just laughing, and suddenly it hit me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman. So I asked her, right there in the ice cream parlour in front of all my boys."

"We went and made it official the next day," Arella added.

"And we've been happier ever since."

"That's lovely," Luan told her. "I'm happy that you've been living life to the fullest since you've left town."

At this Raven looked away and began stabbing vegetables with her fork again.

"Thank you. That really means a lot, especially considering how unhappy I was before, but it's in the past now and I've moved on."