"'The truth.' Dumbledore sighed. 'It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.'"
~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

–•–•–•–

Raven ate breakfast in less than 5 minutes. She didn't gorge or anything. Gar was just gone for 5 minutes or so and when he left she had a full plate. When he came back the plate was empty and she was sitting straight up and innocently looked around wile everyone questioned, "What just happened?"

She also found out that Garfield was vegetarian. He had tofu eggs and bacon. She didn't seem to mind it though.

"Friends! Raven has agreed to go to the mall with me!" Kori brought all the attention to herself. Raven looked at Garfield and he winked. She looked back at him with a straight face, but was smiling on the inside.

She liked making people happy. It made her feel good...

...but she still liked beating the crap out of thugs a little more.

"Raven you agreed to that?" Vic asked. Shw nodded.

"If you haven't noticed, all I have is a black shirt, jeans, and boots." She replies.

"When we first met you were wearing something else." Gar says.

"They stole those."

"You said you had more clothes." Dick adds.

"I did." She answers firmly. Dick had this strange feeling overcome him. "No I didn't." She turns away.

"But...eh whatever." Gar brushes it off. "Kori says new clothes are always a good thing." he takes a fork full of Tofu eggs.

"That is right. And the senior citizens have given me a good amount of money."

"How much did they give you Kor?" Vic asks.

"Probably gave her a million dollars. You know how old people are." Gar remarks.

"Not quite. They gave me about $500."

"Woah. What'd you do for them?" Dick asks.

"Heehee! It was bingo day! I won $400 and they gave me $100 as a thank you for spending the day with them."

"Nice." Vic gives her a thumbs up.

Raven has been staring out the window this whole time. She zoned out into her own little world, hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Raven, shall we leave now?"

"Huh? Oh. Sure." Kori snaps her back into reality.

"You ok?" Gar asks putting down the fork.

"Yeah. Just daydreaming. Let's go." She pulls her hood up, recreating the unsettling shadow as Kori snatches up her purse from the couch and bounds out the door. "We will be back by four friends!" Raven stuffs her hands into her pockets the door shuts seemingly on its own.

I should be more careful.

–•–•–•–

"Hey Kori?"

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

"17. Why do you ask?"

"You're driving Vic's car."

"I obtained my license last year. Vic is 18 so he usually drove with me. Now I am allowed to drive on my own!" She says happily. "Did you have your license?"

"When I left home I had just turned 16 like a week before so I never applied. But I know how to drive."

"Oh you do? Who taught you? What school did you go to?"

"I was homeschooled." She replies. She stares out the passenger seat window longingly.

"By your mother?"

"No."

"Then how did you learn?"

"I observed other people, and taught myself when I was like fifteen." And Mikah...

"You taught yourself how to drive? Perhaps you could teach Gar when he is of age." She says a bit suprised as her respect for Raven obviously grows. "We are here." She turns into the mall parking lot.

"How old is Garfield?"

"He is the youngest of us. His birthday was last week in which he turned 15."

"Hm." They get out of the car and Kori locks it. The head and tail lights flash and they go inside.

The doors slide open as they are greeted by a bustling mall.

"Woah. Why is it so busy it's only 11."

"On Native American's Day, there are many sales in the shops here. People want to come early to get a good deal."

"I...guess that makes sense. Doesn't Native American's Day replace Columbus Day in California?"

"I believe so." They start walking. "Shall we shop for me or you first?" Kori asks politely as they round a corner.

"We can go to your stores first I guess."

"Hooray!" She throws her arms up into the air and then hugs Raven.

Raven grunts as she is clearly uncomfortable in her current situation.

"Please, don't hug me." Kori releases her grasp.

"Why not?"

"I'm not particularly fond of hugs." Or any human contact for that matter.

"But Raven, hugs are a sign of friendship!"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to politely decline."

"Oh. AHHHH!!" Kori's eyes explode with happiness like fireworks on the Fourth or July.

"What?!"

"Look!" She points to a store with a gigantic sale sign reading EVERYTHING MUST GO! 70% OFF THE ENTIRE STORE! in big yellow font on a pink poster. This sign was in the window if one of Kori's favorite stores. Jolie Belle. Clearly a French company that came from France and branched off into other countries, just to add foreign currency to their already extensive collection.

"Oh. That place. I've seen that place in commercials. They're closing in a few months and switching locations I think." Raven states. Unfortunately no one hears her as Kori has already dashed inside at light speed. Raven rolls her eyes and goes in.

Ugh... this place is pink. Too pink. Waay to pink.

It was extremely pink. Everything was a different shade of pink. Perunia for the shelves on the walls, baby pink for the walls themselves, magenta for the stands, bubblegum pink for the hangers. It was like a tanker filled with pink paint exploded in there. There was a French and American flag hanging over the cash registers that offset all the pink in the room. Not by much though.

She spotted Kori bouncing around from rack to rack, grabbing different dresses and skirts. She grabbed a jean jacket and a few shirts too and then disappeared into the changing room.

"Raven!"

"Coming."

Raven walks (uncomfortably) to the back with her hands still deep in her pockets.

"Tell me if you think these suit me!" She calls from one of the stalls.

"Which one are you even in Kor?"

"This one!" She answers giving absolutely no indication on which one she is in.

"Kori I'm not a psychic! I can't read your mind!" Wait...

"Ok ok! Just wait for me to exit the stall then!" Raven sits on a round stool and leans back against the wall.

Within a few minutes Kori comes out with a purple crop top, a light colored denim jacket, and a purple skirt.

"How does this look?"

"Suits you." Raven's answer makes Kori smile brightly and skip back into the stall.

"I have more!"

Of course you do...

Another few minutes pass by and Kori comes out with something else. This time it's a casual, form fitting, red and pink dress with a scoop neck.

"That looks nice."

"I was hoping you would approve! Or else I would not have bought it."

"What why? If you want it you should get it. Doesn't matter if other people like it or not."

"Oh..." she thought on this. "I'm going to change back. We can then ring these up and go get your clothes. I know the perfect store for you!"

It takes them another ten minutes to leave the store. Kori found more stuff that she liked. Eventually they made it out and Raven's eyesight possibly got worse the longer she stayed in there. They went down the escalator and found the store Kori knew was perfect for her new friend.

"Road 21!"

"Really?"

"They have things like ripped jeans, chokers, boots, and many many hoodies. Not to mention they sell quite dark clothes!"

"Really? Hmm."

"We are going to get you a complete wardrobe!"

"Wait what?" Kori doesn't even answer. She just drags her into the store.

"Do you like this?"

"Uh..."

"How about this?"

"I–"

"Ooh! This would work with your skin!"

"Maybe–"

"How about this hoodie?"

"Well–"

This shirt, that bracelet, those pants, that headband. Kori bombarded her with about $300-$400 worth of clothes.

"Go try them on!"

"Kor I don't need this many–" aaannd she shoves her into the stall.

Ugh. I guess we'll be here for a while. I'm obviously not getting everything. Or trying on everything. I'm not staying till 8.

Raven picks out a few things to make an outfit.

Black tee-shirt with shoulder cutout sleeves, black leggings, a different (and darker) indigo hoodie, and knee high combat boots.

Raven steps out of the stall slowly and shows her friend.

"Ooh! You look great!"

"Uhh, thanks."

"Put on something else!" Raven sighs and goes back in.

A form-fitting, long sleeve, black shirt, dark blue denim jeans, calf high boots, and an indigo crop sweatshirt.

"That looks even better!" Raven rolls her eyes. "Do another!"

A loose black T-shirt with ripped sleeves, jean shorts, lace-up ankle boots, and an indigo, zip-up vest with a hood.

"Wow. You are quite the designer!"

"You're the one who picked out the clothes."

"But you are the one who created the outfit."

"Ugh!" Raven throws her arms up in frustration. Kori giggles.

"Try on some o the skirts and dresses."

"Ok, so something you should know about me, I don't do skirts and I don't do dresses. Nothing you say will get me into one. Got it?"

"Maybe..." Kori answers slyly. Raven's arms go up again.

They spend almost a full hour just trying on stuff.

"Do you like them?"

"All the ones I tried on? Yeah."

"Which one do you intend to wear?" Raven kind of knew from when she first got through the first three. She just kept trying on the others to humor Kori.

"I guess the second one I tried on."

"Ok then. Put it on and we'll pay."

"You can do that here?"

"Mhm! It'll ring up as long as you give them the tag."

"Cool."

They leave the dressing room and go to the register.

The beeping noise over and over puts Raven on edge. It's pretty annoying.

"That'll be $312.28 please." Kori pays, leaves the cashier in shock that a 17 year old just handed her a stack of three hundreds and a twenty. When she snaps out of her trance she gives the girl her change and they leave her with he jaw dropped.

"Should we leave now?" Kori asks.

"I guess. We got everything. We got more than everything. It's almost 4 too."

"I guess we should."

They got into the mall in the far end of the mall, and now that it was later in the day, people had thinned out (at least over there) and that area was almost empty.

"Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"I am getting a feeling. A very creepy feeling. The atmosphere in this area is strange." Raven slightly reacts to the word, 'creepy' but Kori doesn't acknowledge it.

"Why? It's just a little empty over here. Besides, we're leaving anyways." Kori nods and they keep going.

The doors slide open and they step through into the sidewalk. They wait for a car to drive by before they try and get to the car, but something grabs Raven's arm and stops her.

Raven stops and Kori whips around to see a boy about their age with hair skin and brown hair. He was grinning a little. The grin didn't seem friendly.

"Uhm, hello." Raven says.

"Hello sir! If you do not mind, could you please let my arm go?"

"Oh sorry. I had to get your attention some how." He replies.

Raven plants her hands on her hips and doesn't move.

"What are you getting at kid?"

"Sorry I just can't resist a beautiful lady." He grins wider. Kori blushes and Raven rolls her eyes and adds a loud groan.

"Why thank you!" He yanks Kori in a bit closer.

"How about I take you two somewhere special?" The wind blows Raven's hood clean off. "Ooh. I guess pretty girls come in packs of two." He grins again.

"Look buddy, she has a boyfriend. Back. Off." Raven steps back into the curb and stands right next to the two of them.

"Aww c'mon girl! What's your name? You single or you taken too?"He grabs Raven's wrist too.

"My name? Go F Off is my name. I suggest you do it before I have to hurt you." Raven threatens.

"Aww you don't mean that. C'mon. You can tell me." He lets go of Kori and brings his other hand up to her waist and sets it there, with no intent to move it. Oh definitely negative!

She yanks his hand off her hip, twists his arm that's holding her behind his back and painfully pushes it in a direction it shouldn't be going.

"Agh!" She moves him out of view from the rest of the mall.

"Listen perv, wether I'm 'taken' is none of your business. Neither is my name. So if I were you, I'd keep my hands off girls and off the marijuana."

"How did you–?"

"You reek of it kid. If I find you again it won't be pretty. Now get out of here."

She pushed him out of her grip and he bolted away.

"Thank you Raven." She pulls up her hood.

"No prob."