Raven & Garfield

5. The Comic Switch(es)

Sorry, this chapter is shorter than usual. I was going to add an extra scene into this one, but I thought it would work better in the next chapter.

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~Raven~

Garfield knew that she was reading his comics.

She could tell, by the way he turned the pages much slower and sometimes even met her eyes beforehand as if silently asking her if it's okay to move on. Raven knew now that Garfield wasn't in with the bus demons. He never talked to them on the bus (and much less to her) and plus, he was far too dorky, and...Raven couldn't really think of much else to describe him but nice.

Garfield was a nice guy.

And today, when Raven boarded the bus, he seemed to be waiting for her (like he was that polite). In his hands he held a comic called 'Watchmen'. It looked so ugly that Raven almost decided not to read it. Almost. She was bored, so she ended up reading over Garfield's shoulder anyways. She liked it best when he read The Walking Dead. Raven had always been fond of horror and it was interesting to say the least (although she hadn't started reading it from the beginning, so she wasn't quite sure what was up with that Rick guy and his incessant need to talk to his imaginary dead wife on some telephone).

As it turned out, Watchmen wasn't too bad. But just as it was getting to the good stuff, the bus stopped outside their school. Which sucked, because that meant Garfield would continue reading it at school and will probably read something else on the ride home.

Except he didn't.

When Raven boarded the bus that afternoon, Garfield held the comic book in his hands and continued exactly where they'd left off. And by the time they got to Raven's stop, they were still reading. There was so much going on and they stared at entire frames for minutes on end. Raven was reluctant to go, but as she got up, she felt something smooth slip into her hands. It was the comic. She whipped around to see Garfield, turned back around, staring out the window.

Why did he give it to her?

Raven bit her lip and considered giving it back but the next thing she knew, the driver was yelling at her to sit down or get lost so she hurried off the bus and started towards her house, all the while smiling to herself unconsciously and clutching the comic book to her chest.

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~Garfield~

Why did he give it to her?

What if she didn't give it back? What if he was wrong and she wasn't even interest in his comics? What if he never got to finish the first issue of Watchmen because he'd lent it to some girl who didn't even ask for it? But if she kept it, then they would be even. It would cancel out the whole Terra-Raven-sit down mess, right? No...It wouldn't. That was just wishful thinking. But if she did give it back, what would he say? Thanks?

《♡》·《♡》·《♡》

~Raven~

Raven read the comic three times over that night. She kept it in the top drawer of her desk. Just to keep it safe. And the next morning, Raven boarded the bus to see Garfield staring out the window. She handed him his comic and he took it.

《♡》·《♡》·《♡》

~Raven~

The next morning, Raven was greeted by a stack of comics on her seat. She picked them up, sat down, and put them in her bag. Garfield was already reading. But Raven didn't want to read in front of him because that would be like...like admitting to something. However, she thought about them all day, and as soon as she got home that afternoon, took them out.

They were the first 5 issues of The Walking Dead. Cool. Maybe now she'll get the story better.

That night, Raven ate dinner cross-legged on her bed. She was being extremely careful to not spill anything on the comics. After all, they were in pristine condition (stupid, perfect Logan kid). She continued to read the comics well into the night. And she was only vaguely aware of Declan watching TV in the living room, so she was surprised when he came into her room. She practically fell out of bed when he jerked the door open and looked at her accusingly, as if expecting to catch her in the middle of a midnight hijink.

When he saw that she was just reading, he grunted and told her to turn off the light before leaving. After he shut the door, Raven got up and switched off the light. She could have easily gotten away with keeping it on for longer, but she didn't want to risk it. She didn't want to have to see his face again.

Declan looked exactly like a rat. Like the human being version of a rat. Raven had a hard time understanding her mother's taste in men. Even Raven's real father was messed-up looking. For one, he was a giant. Literally. And even in his younger days he had white hair. Raven couldn't even summon one single memory where he was smiling. And sometimes, just sometimes, it was almost as if he had no pupils and his eyes were all the colour of his irises - inhumanly yellow. He sort of reminded her of...a demon.

Raven shuddered. She had no good memories concerning her father, and she didn't want to think about him anymore. She returned to her bed and continued reading. There was enough light coming in from the window anyways.

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~Garfield~

She read stuff as fast as he could give it to her. And whenever she handed them back to him in the morning she acted as if they were something delicate. Something precious. And they would always be in the exact same condition that he gave them to her in; without so much as a bent corner. The only noticeable difference would be the scent. His comics always came back smelling like her. Like lavender with mixed herbs.

At this point, he was giving her 5 issues daily. She finished all of The Walking Dead that he had in less than 3 weeks. Now, he was giving her X-Men, and he could tell that she liked it because she wrote the character's names on her books between band names and song lyrics.

They still didn't talk on the bus. But it was a less confrontational silence. It was almost friendly (but not quite).

Garfield, however, would have to talk to her today, though. To tell her that he didn't have anything for her to read. He had overslept, and forgot to pack the comics he set out for her the previous night in his haste. He didn't even have time to eat breakfast or brush his teeth (which made him self-conscious, knowing how close he'd be to her). However, in the end, when Raven made her way up the aisle and to their seat, Garfield simply shrugged and looked away.

《♥》·《♥》·《♥》

Okay people, I may have disappeared for quite a while, but I'm back (for now, hopefully), and from this point on I'm going to try to update more frequently. I know that's what every slow-updating writer says, but I really will try. Also, I haven't been spending the last few months doing nothing, I've been working on several other things here and there, and I dare say that there is a small, tiny, like really miniscule chance that I may have gotten slightly better at writing, so...Starting from next chapter, I'm going to try to wrire more detailed because reading back on previous chapters, I've noticed that I can be quite vague. Wish me luck, everyone!

~Skies_Of_Fire