"He's outside the house again," my sister Camille says. "He's sitting in his car, just staring at the house."

"I know," I reply. Shivers run through my body at the thought of my ex-boyfriend stalking me. I broke up with him about a month ago and he's been following me everywhere like a lost puppy. "I told him to leave me alone, but he refuses to just let me walk out of his life."

"Should I call dad again?" Camille asks.

"No," I reply. "Raven is harmless. There's really no need for dad to chase him away again. Besides, Daniel is coming over and Raven hates him."

"Alright," Camille says then walks out of my room and back into hers. I slump back down onto my bed and let out a short sigh. A moment later the doorbell rings and I jump back up from my bed.

I run down the stairs and open the front door, expecting to see Daniel's soft blonde hair and bright green eyes. I nearly scream when I see Raven standing before me. His icey eyes stare at me through his ebony hair. His eyes look sad, like he wants to cry. I've never seen him cry, then again, I've never really seen him sad either.

"What are you doing here?" I ask angrily. "I told you a thousand times that I do not want to see your face again."

"Donna please," he pleads. "Can't we talk for a moment?"

"Dammit Raven!" I exclaim. "There's nothing more to talk about!" With that, I slam the door in his face. Part of me feels bad for being mean to him like this, but I don't have feelings for him anymore and he just doesn't seem to understand that.

I sit down on the couch and take in a few small breaths to calm myself a little. The doorbell suddenly rings again. I stand back up and this time I decide to make sure who is at the door before I open it. I peek out the window and see Daniel's head of golden hair. I smile to myself and open the door.

"Hey Daniel," I say.

"Hey," he says. "Are you ready to go out for dinner?"

"Yes," I reply then grab my jacket because it's chilly outside. I follow Daniel out to his red Malibu and he opens the passenger side door for me, something Raven never did. I get into the car and flash Daniel a soft grin. He smiles back, then closes the door and runs to the other side of the car. He gets into the car and a moment later, after we both have put on our seatbelts, we pull out of the driveway.

***

"I saw Raven's Charger outside your house again," Daniel says over a plate of chicken stir fry. "Is he still bugging you?"

"Yes," I reply. "He came to my door today. He said he wanted to talk." I twist my fork through my lasagna.

"Do you want me to say something to him?"

"No," I say quickly. Raven could easily bench more than his own weight, mostly for helping out his dad at the car shop, I would hate to see what he would do to Daniel. "I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Daniel asks. "I don't like him stalking you like this." Daniel's instinctive protectivness puts a smile to my lips. He smiles back then takes a bite of the chicken stir fry.

"I'm sure," I say and take the last bite of my lasanga.

When we arrive back at my house, Raven's car is gone and my dad's blue truck is in the driveway. The darkness of night has begun to float about the neighborhood, triggering the luminous street lamps to turn on.

"I had a nice time," I say, nearly laughing at how mannered I am trying to sound.

"Well that's what I was going for," Daniel says. We smile at each other again then Daniel leans down and presses his lips to mine. We kiss for a few seconds then I head on into my house. I wait until I see Daniel's car pull out of the driveway before I close the door.

"How was your date?" my mother asks as I enter the kichen.

"Great," I reply. "Daniel's a dream."

"Well, then maybe he was the one who sent these roses," my mother says, pointing to a vase full of red delicate roses. I smile then grab the vase and run up the stairs to my bedroom.

There's a little white card hanging on a silver piece of ribbon that is tied into a bow around the vase. I open the card and see not Daniel's signature, but Raven's.

He doesn't know when to quit. This time he's gone too far. He never sent me flowers when we were dating, yet he thinks a vase of roses will win me back. He is such a fool.

I go into my bathroom and dump the water out from the vase and wrap the roses in a towel. I have to give them back to him so he can get it through his thick skull that I am over him. I set the towel of roses on my bedside table then get dressed into my pajamas.

I set my alarm clock for 7a.m. so I can get to school early to confront Raven. I lie down under my blue comforter and close my eyes.