Of Thieves And Do Gooders

Raven’s Point Of View

When I woke up it was still relatively dark out, so I glanced at the clock beside my bed and found that it was only five-thirty in the morning. Ick. Nevertheless, I rolled out of bed and put my cold feet on the floor with a grimace.

Once I was finished shuffling around the room, looking for decent clothing to wear--I settled on a pair of dark blue jeans and the blue long-sleeved shirt Jack had given me, along with my cropped leather jacket. I found a brush and pulled it through my hair several times before setting it down again and then wandered into the bathroom to brush my teeth. There was a perfectly brand new toothbrush waiting for me there.

Content with my appearance, I looked at the clock again. It was now five-forty-five in the morning. I sighed and wandered into the hall, padding silently down the hall with my socks to soften my footsteps--it was much easier for me to sneak around without shoes. I stalked down the stairs into the observatory and paused on the last step leading down into the room. With a contemplative sigh, I tapped the fingers of my left hand against my right palm and decided to walk into the middle of the room and lay down.

My body felt completely at ease, making me wonder if I was really awake yet, my mind was blank and I gazed up at the stars that were still sparkling in the sky. At least there were stars rather than clouds, otherwise I’d just feel stupid and cliché. That was one thing that I did not do, ever, I didn’t stare at clouds and try to figure what they looked like. They looked like puffy white things in the sky, end of story.

I stretched my legs lazily out and put my hands behind my head. I thought absently about what it would be like to be a star, would I just sit up there and do nothing all day and everyday? That sounded like an incredibly boring and pointless life.

My random thoughts didn’t last long, however, when I heard almost silent feet following the steps down into the observatory. Maybe if I laid completely still they wouldn’t notice the random girl lying in the middle of the floor in the dark.

“Enjoying my impractical ceiling?” Jack mocked as he loomed over me and obscured my perfect visual of the boring stars and their boring lives.

Damn, no such luck.

The floor actually was rather comfortable, simply in the way that the tile contrasted my body heat and put my temperature at a comfortable medium between hot and cold…which would technically be called “warm”, but who wants to be technical?

“No,” I replied quickly, “However, I am enjoying your practical tile floor.” Somehow I knew he’d make a crack about the observatory.

“Of course,” Jack said with a laugh and surprised me by sitting by my side. A short silence passed between us, where I stared at the stars and Jack’s eyes wandered around the room, landing on me once or twice before he commented, “I didn’t realize you woke up so early.”

I shrugged. “I’m just used to it,” I replied and added, without looking away from the sky, “So? Are you gonna teach me something? Or should I just leave now?” I joked, rolling my head to the side to look at Jack now.

Jack smiled at me. “Later,” he said simply, tapping his fingers nonchalantly on the tile, “Unlike you, I have a job to maintain.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ugh, work, how unfortunate,” I said with just he right amount of disgust. Then, I added with a sarcastic smile, “And I suppose you expect me to hang around while you’re off in the real world?”

Jack stood up quietly and dusted off his hands without much thought. “I do,” he said with a strange, knowing smile. “I believe that you’ll hang around for quite some time.”

I frowned at the last part of his sentence. “What makes you so sure about that?” I asked, tilting my head back to watch him as he turned to leave the room.

That same knowing smile on his face, Jack replied with, “Because, I don’t think you want to disappoint my son a second time,” he spoke calmly and exited the room without another word.

That stupid smile was stuck in my head even when he was gone.

Why was Hayden’s dad so much like him?…Wait, that’s backwards…and kind of a stupid question. But still, it was eerie how much alike they were, even if they didn’t look alike. I had to assume that Hayden had already filled his dad in about me, otherwise he wouldn’t bring Hayden up like that. What a cheap shot anyway--I mess up once and it’s instantly thrown back in my face. It wasn’t even entirely true!

I mean, I guess I didn’t really want to let Hayden down by disappearing again. But it definitely wasn’t the only thing keeping me here, it was just one of a few things. I could leave whenever I wanted, I wasn’t tied down or anything. It was more like Hayden was a nail that had been driven into my foot and I couldn’t get rid of him unless I got my hands on a hammer, but the hammer was just an inch out of my reach. Of course, I could just sacrifice a bit of pain to get the hammer and be done with it, but still, I didn’t want that pain if the current situation wasn’t painful at all. All I had to do was stay in one place.

I shuddered. I wasn’t too good at staying in one place.

Speaking of which, I stood up suddenly, annoyed at Jack for indirectly giving me something to think about. I had to move now, do something productive before I drove myself insane.

Unfortunately, there was nothing productive for me to do, being left without a supposed “teacher” who had yet to teach me anything.

So, I did something completely and utterly ingenious. I went back up to my room, laid down on my bed, grabbed a pencil that had been sitting on my desk and started tossing it up into the air and catching it just before it hit me in the face.

Sound a little moronic? Well, I’ll have you know that it didn’t once hit me in the face…okay, it didn’t once hit me in the eye to be more truthful. But it kept my boredom at bay until someone knocked on my door and I almost hit myself in the eye with my source of entertainment.

“What?” I called as admittance, although I had a good idea of who it was.

Hayden peeked into the room carefully and looked at me with an impassive expression, then he said, “I thought you might be gone.”

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t sweat it Loverboy, I told you I’d still be here in the morning. It isn’t like I have anywhere else to be--” I gasped and shot up, startling Hayden into the room as if he might save me from something absolutely terrifying.

“What?” he demanded seriously.

“I have to go Christmas shopping,” I announced, and jumped off of my bed and paused before asking, “Wait, what’s the date?”

Hayden gave me a vexed look and said calmly, “December twenty-third.”

“Shit sticks,” I muttered to myself and my head buzzed with potential gifts for Jack Crawford…the rich guy that probably had everything he could ever want. I bit my lip and remembered Hayden, damn it, I had to buy something for him too. Talk about last minute shopping.

“Who are you shopping for?” Hayden asked casually, now looking more relaxed knowing that I wasn’t being attacked by a maniacal spider of some random breed.

“Your dad, you…hmm…Damion and Leon too, since they might get their feelings hurt otherwise…Speaking of which, what do they like?” I thought about that for a second and added, “What do you want, for that matter?”

Hayden blinked at me for a long moment and then laughed. “Me? Don’t worry about it Raven, I don’t need anything, and my dad sure as hell doesn’t need anything. You don’t have to buy anyone anything,” he said as if it were obvious.

I glared at him, and he smiled at me in return. “Well you don’t have to tell me what you want, I’ll just buy you some super-nice lingerie, I assume Leon and Damion want matching man-thongs and I’ll buy your dad something nice.” I smiled suddenly, picturing Damion and Leon’s reactions to such random gifts. I stood up and stuffed my feet into my beat up old Converse and hesitated. “Hey…Uh…could you…?” I stopped and shook my head. “Never mind, I’ll see you later.” I turned to leave but Hayden stopped me.

“Wait, hold on a minute. What were you gonna ask? Could I…what?” He blocked the door when I tried to ignore him and I scowled, “Come on Ray,” he stuck out his bottom lip in mock pleading.

I snorted at the look on his face, “I was just going to ask if you could lend me a car or something. But I can walk, town isn’t that far,” I offered with a shrug and hiking my cropped leather jacket up a little.

“Stubborn,” Hayden told me with a small chuckle, “I’ll just drive you, alright? My dad wanted me to ‘show you around town’ anyway,” he mocked and ran his fingers absently through his hair.

I gave him a mocking stare.

“What?”

“You’re worried about me ditching you? Really? As if I’d use such a lame excuse as Christmas shopping,” I retorted with a small laugh. “I’m not going anywhere alright? I’ll be back, damn, you’d think I was your girlfriend or something.”

We both stopped breathing for a moment. It was a stupid reference in the first place, just joking about that sort of thing was awkward. I know it sounds a little strange, but I knew it was some sort of unspoken rule since the night Hayden had accidentally kissed me in the hospital that any hint at us dating or being anything other than friends was taboo. We just didn’t joke about it, and I only had a vague idea why. It was a hunch and if I went off of it I would probably look like a moron.

“Right, I want a bitter girlfriend like you,” Hayden joked back, although he didn’t sound uncomfortable at all, I could see something shift in his eyes.

Ouch. Bitter? Really? Did he have to bring that up? Besides, I wasn’t bitter. Even if I was, I prefer denial thank you very much--and if anyone makes that stupid joke about the Nile river, I swear, I’m going to scream.

“Whatever.”

Partial silence.

“Crap.”

I gave him an odd look, “What?”

“I just pissed you off, and I wasn’t even trying,” Hayden replied, looking shamefaced.
“No you didn’t, I’m fine. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’ll snap over every insult,” I said with a small laugh, “Besides, you were joking,” I turned slightly and said in a drawn out voice, “R-ight?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said quickly.

I looked at him for a minute and said abruptly, “Okay, exercise time.”

Hayden gave me a skeptical look before saying, “Exercise? I thought you hated all physical activity.”

“I do, but that doesn’t matter because this is an exercise for you,” I poked him in the chest and circled him like a shark.

“I’m not running just because you tell me to,” he said stubbornly, trying to watch me as I circled him.

“Don’t worry, there’s no running involved. What you’re going to do, is call me a name, and be completely comfortable with it,” I ordered stopping in front of him with a lopsided grin.

“Alright,” he said with a sneaky grin on his face and continued, “‘Raven’, there you go, I called you a name. Is that really all you got?” he mocked.

I scowled, “You know what I mean. For example: Hayden, you’re a dirty trashcan full of poop--see how comfortable I was with that? Now you try,” I gestured for him to talk.

“You got that from Surf’s Up,” he argued.

“Doesn’t matter, go!” I demanded.

“I’m not going to call you--”

“Pussy.”

There was a short silence where I could practically feel his anger tear through the air.
“What?” he asked, although I knew he’d heard me.

“I called you a pussy,” I repeated, keeping my face completely straight.

Hayden shook his head, “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work, its immature and stupid.”

“Okay, dick head.”

More angry silence.

“Getting annoyed yet Heavenly Hayden?” I mocked, looking as sinister as possible.
I could see that his jaw was clenched tight when he shook his head in reply.

“Cock ass, fanny bandit, queer, loser, any of these hitting any nerves?” I asked casually. When he didn’t reply, I added, “Fuck face, dipshit, moron.”

“Raven, sto--”

“Limp dick, faggot, idiot.”

“Would you fucking quit?” he almost yelled, grabbing a fistful of my shirt collar.

“Not until you call me something back,” I said evenly, my eyes stern. “Or are you too much of a pussy?”

His hand tightened around my shirt collar and his shoulders shook slightly, “God, do you always have to be such a stubborn, callous bitch?” he demanded loudly, letting go of my shirt and pushing me back slightly. “Stop calling me a pussy,” he ordered.

I clapped slowly with a grin on my face, “That was good, seriously, hit me right in the sore spot with that one. I can be a little callous, the stubborn part though? You might want to leave that out next time ‘cause I’m a little proud of that.”

Hayden looked at me over his shoulder, eyeing my grin with confusion in his eyes, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that, I--”

“No, no, no! You’re relapsing!” I said quickly, cutting into his apology, “That was good, see? I’m not crying over it, I’m not even the slightest bit mad. There was my point, right there. Not all girls get mad at stupid name calling.”

There was a strange silence that passed between us.

…

…

Hayden frowned before saying, “You’re weird, you know that?”

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“So am I giving you a ride or what?” Hayden asked, raising an eyebrow when I looked at him strangely.

“If you want, but I gotta ditch you at some point--and, you can’t follow me,” I instructed sternly, grabbing a random hundred dollar bill out of one of my drawers. Then I stopped, considered that for a moment and grabbed an extra wad of cash and stuffed the money in my pocket.

“What? Why are you ditching me?” Hayden asked crossly, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he followed me out of my room.

I looked at him like he was an idiot and he scowled back at me, “Because, I might not be the most religious person--okay, so I’m not religious, but I stick to tradition, and you don’t get to know jack shit about your present. And I swear to God if you try to guess what it is, I’ll kill you,” I threatened.

Hayden rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I’ll just hang out at the arcade in the mall or something.”

I groaned.

“What now?” Hayden asked, now following me through the observatory.

“The mall, really? That’s so cliché,” I complained.

“Where the hell else do you look for last minute Christmas presents? The gas station?” he mocked.

“Fine, you’re the one driving anyway.” I pouted slightly, tucking my hand dramatically into my armpits to emphasize my crossed arms.

Hayden ignored me.

“This way,” Hayden said distractedly, grabbing my hand and redirecting me so that I was following him. My mind, however, lingered on the contact of his hand on mine, however short amount of time it had been--what point four-three seconds?

We reached a garage and Hayden plucked a ring of keys from a bulletin board without looking twice, which meant he didn’t care what car he took or he obviously had taken that particular car several times before. I followed him, eyeing the other cars with obvious lust. I must admit, I love fast cars. And Jack Crawford had plenty of them.

There was a beeping sound and lights flashed as Hayden unlocked the car. I shook my head slightly when I saw the car he had chosen. Of course. How could I expect anything different from Hayden Silverman?

“What’s with that look?” Hayden demanded as he slid into the driver’s seat and I flopped into the passenger seat.

“What look?”

“That look,” he waved his hand in my face and I swatted it away.

“Nothing,” I said with a slight laugh, melting a little inside as the car roared to life and I could feel it purr beneath me. “It’s just that…a silver Volvo.” I couldn’t keep from giggling at the irony.

“What? You got something against silver? Or Volvos?” he asked, not quite getting the irony in the situation.

“No, silver’s cool, Volvos are alright…Have you ever read Twilight?” I asked, seemingly changing the subject.

“Twilight? As in that vampire book chicks go crazy for?”

I nodded.

“Hell no, like I want to read about some overly dramatic vampire-guy sucking face with some ditz.” Hayden rolled his eyes and pulled out of the parking spot.

I laughed harder, not even insulted by his negative outlook on a book that I had quite enjoyed.

“What?”

“The main guy’s name is Edward, right?”

“Okay, what’s the point?”

“And he’s really hot, right?”

“I don’t want to hear about your fictional crushes, Raven,” he complained, now pulling out of the garage.

“One of his main characteristics though, is the car he drives, right?” I continued ignoring his skepticism.

We were driving out the gate now.

“Seriously, where’s this going?”

I grinned at him until he stole a side glance at me and then I said, “Guess what sort of car he drives?”

Hayden stopped short of pulling out onto the road and looked at me with a devastated expression, “No…” he whispered, more so to himself.

“Yes!” I nearly shouted, bursting into laughter. “You seeing the irony?” I asked between laughs.

“No,” Hayden said defiantly, his cheeks burning a slight shade of red to my great happiness.

“You are extremely good looking,” I felt my insides freeze at how much I had revealed about what I had thought of him and hastily added, “based on the reactions of the female population at Shadowstep Academy, that is, and you drive a silver Volvo!” I couldn’t keep the laughter at bay when his expression darkened and I had to add, “Can I call you Edward?”

“Fuck no,” he said vehemently, and pulled out onto the road and away from the house.

“Oh, come on, it’s just funny to me, you’re not being a very good sport, Edward.”

“Raven, don’t start with that,” he warned, pushing his speed up to fifty-five.

“I’m sorry Edward, what are you going to do, bite me?”

“Raven, seriously.”

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t have to bite me, you’re Edward, you can just dazzle me,” I broke into another quiet fit of laughter.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Hayden complained with a scowl.

“Don’t worry, it was a compliment.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel better,” he commented dryly.

“It should.”

I leaned back in my seat with a grin and glanced out the window as Hayden flipped on the radio and changed the channel four times before changing it to a CD instead. It was a mix, apparently, considering the artist jumped between Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Rise Against and Bullet For My Valentine. However, I noted that a lot of the songs were by Rise Against and instantly new what I was going to get him.

Hel-lo ‘Appeal to Reason’, I chimed happily in my head, picturing the newest album of which I already owned myself--or I had owned it, before I left it at Shadowstep Academy. Damn it. Now I needed a new copy.

The rest of the car ride was relatively quiet, except for the small cracks I made about Hayden’s Volvo. He was going to hate the car by the time I was done messing with him.

We pulled into town in a matter of twenty long minutes, although for the past three I had been staring blankly out the window when “Roadside” started playing. The song changed and I kept staring out the window, watching inattentively as the mall parking lot accumulated before me and the car came to a halt.

I knew the exact place where I could find a music store and walked purposefully into the main entrance, Hayden trailing behind me, probably surprised that I could walk that quickly. I stopped instantly and he nearly ran into me. Turning with a straight face and raised eyebrows, I stared at him, hinting for him to go elsewhere.

“What? You’re ditching me already?” Hayden complained, glancing around, obviously trying to decide where he would go instead.

“Yup. So, close your eyes and count to fifteen and I’ll be gone,” I said seriously, waiting patiently as he stared at me with a vague smile on his face.

He realized I wasn’t joking. “You serious?”

“Don’t I look serious?” I countered with raised eyebrows.

Hayden rolled his eyes and hesitated another second before he closed his eyes, looking like he wasn’t enjoying the act in the least.

I was off in a flash, I didn’t bother trying to simply walk quickly so I didn’t look like an idiot, I full on ran around the corner before he had time to even realize I was gone. All those hours of silent walking improved my silent running too, not to mention that all the people surging around us were yelling excitedly over each other.

Yeah, I looked like an idiot and a group of mall-goers giggled when I nearly tripped over my own feet, but I had successfully avoided Hayden’s detection. Therefore, I merely had to make it to the music shop without running into him again. Which was relatively easy--although once I almost ran into him as he was eyeing a particularly cute blonde and only avoided him by diving into the nearest Victoria’s Secret.

Once at the shop, I quickly found the CD, grabbed two copies, saw a copy of Theory of A Deadman’s newest album and snagged that too. I paid for my CD’s and was out of the store in minutes. Fast shopping was always the way to go. In and Out, just like the restaurant.

I thought about it for a second and smiled evilly to myself before ducking into a smaller version of Barnes and Nobel. It wasn’t difficult to find the book I was looking for, since they always displayed it where everyone could see. The familiar red apple adorning the Twilight cover reminded me vaguely of The Giver, but that wouldn’t sway me into purchasing the newer cover with the movie’s characters taking the apple’s place. It left so little to the imagination.

As I turned to leave the counter my eyes swept over another book, one with a girl’s down turned face shadowed in purple light and red tulips popping out at me. On the cover the book proclaimed in slightly blurred letters: Evermore. I bit my lip when my fingers itched to pick up the novel. With a sigh, I grabbed the book and walked to the counter to purchase the two books. I didn’t bother reading the back, because in this case, I was judging a book by its cover, which proclaimed it had something to do with “immortals”, that was enough for me.

There were two things that I never stole. CD’s and books. Both for the same reason. If I liked an artist or an author and they got money for each album or novel that they sold and everyone kept stealing their masterpieces then they wouldn’t get paid, and then they wouldn’t make music or write books. So, I chose to support them instead…with my probably stolen money. But at least they were getting paid and still creating entertainment for me.

Once again, fast shopping. It was my specialty. I slipped the CD’s into the Barnes and Nobel bag and disposed of the original bag, hiding the evidence of my gifts. Now, as for Damion and Leon…I adjusted my aimless course and found the rainbow colored sign that read: Spencer’s. Surely I’d find something moronically amusing for them there.

And I was right. The moment I walked into the store I saw a Bullet For My Valentine sweatshirt that practically screamed Damion’s name. So I snagged it and looked around for something that might suit Leon’s taste. It wasn’t that easy, however, I did find Damion something else to add to his pile--a poster on healthy ninja living. As for Leon, I eventually found something that I thought suited him, but I still needed to find him one more thing for symmetry’s sake. I had settled on a funky looking electric ball, you know, those really cool ones that you touch and the sparks collect under your fingers? One of those.

I figured he could amuse himself for hours with something like that, and if I needed to distract Damion and Hayden, I figured I could use it on them too. So, it was a win-win situation on my part.

Once I was finished at Spencer’s I decided I would drop into the nearest Buckle and grab a couple Affliction brand shirts…one-hundred-and-thirty bucks later, I was done shopping, carting around three extremely expensive shirts. Hell, you wouldn’t even think I was a petty thief with the cash I was carting around.

However, I still needed one more thing for Leon. Damn it.

I adjusted my course and started off in the direction of the opposite side of the mall, to where I knew a Gamestop lie in wait. When in doubt, by a video game. Besides, if he didn’t like what I bought him, I would just steal it when he wasn’t looking. Done and done.

When I arrived, people were packed into the store, or at least it seemed like it was packed since the store itself wasn’t that big and shelves made it impossible to move in a straight line. An instant before I stepped into the store, I saw Hayden’s head bobbing between shelves, picking up one game and setting down another with a shake of his head. I walked silently behind him and glanced over his shoulder, taking note that he had Fable II in one hand and Final Fantasy X in the other.

Odd choices, I decided and asked abruptly, “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

Hayden jumped and thrust both games back onto the shelf before turning to give me a sharp look. “What?” he asked out of instinct and then answered my question, “Games, of course, what else do you look at in a Gamestop?”

I gave him a suspicious look. “Why’re you so jumpy then?” I asked.

Hayden rolled his eyes and instantly relaxed. “I’m not jumpy,” he said simply and then asked casually, “You done shopping?”

I nodded and then thought about that for a second and asked Hayden, “Hey, what’s something I could get Leon? He likes video games right? Which one would he want?” I randomly started picking games off of the shelf while I waited for his answer.

“Umm, Leon?…Well, he likes Dead Or Alive games, so I guess you could get him Dead Or Alive Four--he broke his version anyway when Dame and him were playing Frisbee with it.”

I gave him a strange look.

“Neither one of them wanted to go buy a Frisbee,” he explained with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes and nodded knowingly. “Of course, makes complete sense.”

After a half hour or so of looking, I ended up getting Leon Dead Or Alive Four and gazing longingly at some of the newer games. I also caught myself staring at the copy of Final Fantasy X that Hayden had been looking at. It was by far the most epic love story I had ever played through, and the plot itself was interesting.

On a different note, I was finally done shopping! I was grinning ear to ear the moment that we stepped out of the mall and Hayden seemed to notice, since he said, “Stop smiling like that, its freaking me out.”

My smile faltered as I glared at him for a minute and then reapplied it. “Then you’ll just have to be freaked out, because I’m happy and I’m not going to stop smiling because you want me to. Deal.” I smiled a little more insanely, feeling my eyes bug out of my head.

People were staring.

“You look like that clown from It.” He glanced at me again and grimaced, “Seriously, now you’re really freaking me out, you look like you just murdered someone.” Hayden saw that people were staring too and shook his head before hooking his arm through mine and looking like he was supporting me and helping me walk straight before he said in an emphasized, slow voice, “Come on Raven, we’re going home now.” He sounded reassuring, as if I always looked like that.

Great, he was pretending I was mentally challenged. What was worse was that the people who had been staring completely bought it and looked away, pretending like they hadn’t been staring in the first place.

Might as well take this a little further, I thought and took exaggerated steps forward before coming to an abrupt halt and stomping my feet onto the pavement, “No!” I shouted, slurring the word slightly.

Hayden faltered, giving me a look that was completely thrown off. Haha, he hadn’t expected me to go along with his little charade. He tugged on my arm a little, “Come on Raven, let’s go home,” he pulled me forward a little harder so that I stumbled.

“No go home!” I whined loudly, stomping me feet again and ripping my arm away from his, making sure to twist my head exaggeratedly to the left and to the right.

People were staring again. Excellent.

Hayden stepped quickly back to where I was, grabbed my arm again and whispered fiercely in my ear, “Okay, okay, you win the drama award, now stop,” he demanded.

I screamed suddenly and ripped my arm away from him, then started flailing my arms through the air and yelling, “Help me, help, help!”

“Raven!” Hayden yelled over my own screaming and pinned my arms at my side, “Stop!” he ordered fiercely, but quietly.

“Candy!” I demanded loudly, stomping my feet since my arms were still pinned to my side.

“Raven, I don’t have any candy--”

“Candy!” I yelled again and he clapped a hand over my mouth.

Hayden dug into his pocket, grabbed something, pulled his hand away from my mouth only to stuff something into it. I almost spit it out, when I realized that it was a butter rum Lifesaver. I licked my lips and nodded to him to signify that I would comply and he led me back to his hilarious silver Volvo.

Once I was buckled in and he was pulling out of the parking lot, I turned to grin smugly at him. He tried to ignore me. So I asked simply, “So, do you often start things that you can’t finish?”

“The only time I don’t finish things are when I start them with you,” Hayden said matter-of-factly, smiling a little to himself. “That was a terrible impression, by the way,” he pointed out, pulling out onto the road.

“Whatever, I rocked that impression, everyone else seemed to buy it. By the way, if you get the cops called on you I’m not helping you out, for all they know you did kidnap a retard,” I said, picking casually at the dirt under my fingernails.

Hayden laughed a little. “You are a retard, but I didn’t kidnap you.” He quickly changed the subject before I could retaliate, “So what else did you buy?”

“A book,” I said simply with a shrug of my shoulders.

He looked away from the road for a minute to give me a skeptical look. “Right.”

“What?”

“That bag looks like it has nine other bags in it, and you think I’m going to believe that you just got a book?” He snorted his disbelief.

“Okay, okay, I also got myself a CD,” I admitted, waving the new Rise Against CD in front of his face.

“Rise Against?” Hayden asked quickly, although he’d only seen the CD for a second, “Damn, why didn’t you buy me a copy?” he whined, scowling a little.

I rolled my eyes. “Because, I obviously like seeing you in pain,” I replied, stuffing the CD back into my bag again. “I also got Leon and Damion something from Spencer’s, Buckle and…then that game for Leon, that’s it though.”

Hayden nodded absently, looking thoughtful. I could tell by the way he pressed his lips together that he wanted to know if I had gotten him anything, but he didn’t want to ask, because he already said I didn’t have to buy him anything. Hilarious. I didn’t say anything else though, he would just have to suffer for awhile, until I got tired of seeing him silently sulk.

Another ten minutes passed and I asked him, “So? You get me anything?”

He stole a glance in my direction, saw the mocking glint in my eyes and narrowed his eyes at me. “Depends, you get anything for me?” he asked, taking the bait that I had set for him. People are so predictable sometimes.

“Of course,” I said, feigning astonishment, “I said I’d get you something, didn’t I?” I laughed at the relief that was on his face and watched as it changed to thought, he was already trying to figure out what I had gotten him. So he was one of those people. I’d have to hide his gifts pretty damn well then.

“Yeah, well I didn’t believe you,” Hayden said simply, the gate to the house coming into view.

“What’d you get me?” I asked, looking at him at the corner of my eye, although I was pretty sure he wouldn’t tell me. It was just something I didn’t expect him to tell me.

Hayden snorted. “I’m not telling you.”

I looked in the back seat where my bags were sitting and frowned. “You didn’t even have a bag, what could you possibly have gotten me?”

Hayden smirked evilly. He knew that the stupid present thing would haunt me.

“No, you aren’t just going to leave it at that. Did you get me something some other time? Is it in the trunk? Or are you just lying?” I demanded, glaring at the side of his face as he continued to drive through the now open gate, keeping his eyes directly ahead of him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m going to tear apart your room,” I threatened.

“Thanks for the heads up, now I’ll hide it somewhere else,” Hayden said with a shrug of his shoulders, putting the car into park.

“I’m not tearing it apart to look for my present,” I pointed out knowledgably and got out of the car.

Hayden beat me to the front door and I looked at him with a small frown on my face, he had gone serious suddenly, I could see it in the way his mouth was set. “What?” I asked, wondering if someone had just died.

“So, about getting you back into Shadowstep Academy…” He searched my eyes for a minute and I looked down at the ground, feeling awkward at the movement. I hated when he did that, even if he didn’t do it often.

“What about it?” I asked casually, picking nervously at the dirt under my fingernails.

“I’ve got a plan,” Hayden said simply.

I looked up suddenly, intrigued and glad to see that he didn’t look so strangely meaningful anymore. “Well? What is it?” I demanded

Hayden smiled. “It’s pretty simple really.”