Today is the day.

We fight Red Raven and we hope we keep our lives. If I do live, my powers are gone. The atmosphere for the four hours I've been awake is anything but joyous. I tried to sleep in and pretend the day wasn't among us. Jonas wasn't going to allow me to do that.

After reading the files yesterday, Jonas and Ash decided to sleep over. All of us were pretty shaken up with the news that Thomas and Mickey were brothers. Maybe we should have seen it coming.

Ash and I slept in sleeping bags in my room. Mason and Jonas weren't exactly best friends so Jonas slept on the couch downstairs. I woke up to Jonas sitting criss-cross beside me. Ash was gone, but it was around seven a.m when I was awakened.

"School?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes with my fists.

Jonas smiled, despite my lack of willingness to wake up. "Good morning to you too." He leaned down to give me a kiss on the forehead. The smell of Dial soap overwhelmed me.

"Why do you always smell so good?" I slowly got up and made my way to my closet to pick out an outfit.

"I don't. I just make sure I smell good around you. Usually I smell like sweat." He admitted.

"How... Charming?" I chuckled as I laid out jeans, a white tank top, and a navy blue cardigan.

"Just being honest," he laughed, "Now hurry up and get dressed. I made us breakfast downstairs." Just like that, food fixes everything. I shooed him out of the room so I could get dressed.

The outfit isn't something I would usually wear, but today is a day like no other. Why not dress up a little? I walked out of my room to find Jonas waiting on me. He grabbed my hand and walked beside me down the carpeted steps. I try not to think about how the end of the day is going to ruin me, because I know Jonas is reading my mind, making sure I'm okay. I have to be brave today. There can't be any doubts.

I forgot how well Jonas can cook. The scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage left me wanting more as I was rushed to go upstairs to brush my hair, teeth, and cover some bruises on my face with make up. Ash had to help with that to make sure I didn't go overboard again. Once we were done, Jonas lead us out the door and we took my car to school.

The whole morning went by in a blur. I'm not sure I even took notes in the first two classes. Now that it's lunch time, I am fully alert. Yes, food gets me through rough days.

The bell rings for lunch and I bolt out of my english class like there's no tomorrow. Of course, I'm not using my super powers. Am I?

I'm standing in line with a tray when Jonas puts his hands on my shoulders. "You okay?" He whispers in my ear. What I love most about this situation is he didn't invade my bubble. No hands were placed on my waist in an attempt to be romantic. He was simply trying to comfort me.

I sigh, "I'm getting there. Maybe once my stomach stops growling I can think straight." Jonas laughs and points to chicken nuggets for the lunch lady to plop on his tray.

"Everything's going to be fine. Just think about how much fun we're going to have at the dance tonight." He smiles from ear to ear.

I smile back, "Can you even dance?"

He purses his lips in thought, "I've been going home and playing Just Dance every day for the past week. I'm an expert."

We take our seats at our normal table. The one that's against the back wall away from popular students. Ash is staring at us intently, with a scowl on her face.

"Have you two even kissed yet?" Ash may be shy around 99 percent of the school, but when she's with us, she's always blunt. Remember when I said she never stops asking questions? This is proof of that statement.

Jonas blushes a crimson red, brighter than Red Raven's suit. It's nothing out of the ordinary to me that Ash would be curious. We tell each other everything, and I hadn't gotten around to telling her that Jonas and I made a bet and he lost.

Ash sits across from us, waving her hands for us to spill the details. Jonas startles me by being the first to speak.

"Well I mean, she did lean into me that one time and I was like 'whoa she actually likes me'. But then I guess she changed her mind because she didn't kiss me after all. So I had to make a bet with her that I was hoping she would be the loser and kiss me first,"

"Wait, what? You made a bet?" Ash exclaims. I can't tell if she's bewildered or if she's excited.

Jonas rolls his eyes, "Yeah, keep up. Anyways, so I wound up in the hospital after our little adventure,"

"You mean accident?" She interjects.

"Nuance. So I woke up and she still wasn't going to kiss me, even though I knew by this point she was falling head over heels for me."

I slap his arm, "Quit reading my mind already!"

Jonas rolls his eyes again, "It's okay. A woman's mind is never made up. I always had to check five minutes later to see if you still liked me." He begins to laugh while Ash and I grimace towards him.

"So you lost the bet?" Ash smirks in my direction. I feel like she's trying to say 'I told you so' very subtly.

Jonas huffs, "Yes, I lost. Geez, we need another guy friend at this table. I'm starting to feel outnumbered." He takes a chicken nugget off his tray and pops it in his mouth, angrily I might add. I shrug and pick up my water bottle.

Ash suddenly squeals in delight, "So you're official! Oh my gosh," she adds under her breath, "I have to start making the invitations. What color do you want in your theme?"

I spit some of my water out, "Theme?"

Meanwhile, Jonas chokes on a chicken nugget, "Invitations?"

Maybe Ash has caught on by now that we are definitely not official and we've only kissed once. I really don't want to be the one that admits to this.

"For your wedding. You two are official by now, right?" At this point, I think she's caught on. She's just trying her best to embarrass us.

"We haven't been on a date yet, Ash. Hold your horses." Jonas says after catching his breath.

"Oh. Well would you want to double date with Mason and I sometime?" She suggests.

"No." Jonas and I reject simultaneously.

Ash shrugs and we continue to eat lunch making fun of Jonas' bet. He's not too pleased, but even he admits it didn't work how he wanted it to. What I don't tell him is I would've kissed him first had he given me a few more seconds.

***

Jonas changed in the bathroom and Mason in his own room. Meanwhile, Ash and I were still trying to find our dresses.

"I promise you, they were up here this morning! I picked my outfit out from my closet and saw them!" I try to explain to Ash.

"Well for some reason they're not there now!" She throws her hands up in aggravation.

As we begin to panic, running around my room, a knock on my door makes us stop in our paths. "Not now, guys." I grit through my teeth and continue pacing.

"It's mom." Ash and I look to each other.

I clear my throat, "Come in." The door slowly creeks open and mom steps in. She's sporting her usual low, short ponytail but she hasn't gotten out of her pencil skirt and blouse yet. In her arms are what I presume to be our dresses.

"I had these dry cleaned when you left for school. I hope you don't mind." She says sheepishly.

"Oh. Th-thanks." I stammer out. She nods in silence and exits the room while closing the door with no other words.

"That was nice of her. Now let's get those dresses on!" Ash's mood becomes happy-go-lucky again as she begins to slip into her dress. I'm still stunned and stand in front of the door.

"Del, get your dress on already. Jonas' parents and my parents are going to be here any minute to take pictures. It's a good thing we already did our hair and makeup-" Ash begins to ramble on about the dance. I'm stuck in a limbo, trying to figure out why my mom suddenly decided she was going to do something kind. She couldn't possibly know about our plans for tonight, even if she had talked to dad. Dad didn't know any more than she did.

Before Ash can scold me again, I slide my own dress on. The light blue brings out the remaining white streaks of my hair, but it won't be as noticeable in the dim light of the gym. I'm slightly self conscious that the dress is two pieces but Ash said I rocked it and mom approved it as well.

Ash wears a light pink dress that makes her look like some fairytale princess. Her dress does a fantastic job complimenting her black hair and the beads at the top of the sweetheart neckline give it a nice finishing touch.

"Dude. We look awesome." I laugh in amusement and Ash chuckles too. Sure this isn't our first school dance, but it's our first high school dance with boyfriends. Well, dates. Jonas and I still aren't sure what we are exactly.

"Come on!" Ash squeaks once we hear the doorbell. We run out into the hall to see all of our parents gathered around the guys taking pictures. Before we make our entrance, we watch in amusement as Jonas and Mason - who have appeared to strongly dislike each other at times - are posing back to back.

Mom happens to look up from her camera to see us leaning against the banister. She ushers for us to come down to take pictures as well. Giddy, we skip down the steps, although I'm very careful this time. The difficulty level is extreme considering the three inch heels we're both wearing.

Jonas and Mason stare at us with dropped jaws. We may not dress up a lot, but we clean up nice if I say so myself. The boys quickly straighten up and wrap their arms around our waists for a quick picture. Well, several 'quick' pictures. Jonas' parents sure are excited to see me considering I'm the reason he has a bar line across his forehead. His mom and dad are still in their work clothes, just as my mom was.

Before we head out the door, mom tugs on my arm, holding me back from the others. Her eyes search my own for a few seconds before she speaks up, "Be safe." The double meaning is evident.

Somehow, some way, she knows what we're up to. She knows what's going to happen tonight. If it weren't for these two simple words from her, I don't know what mental state I'd be in.

Thank God for mother's intuition.

***

The music can be heard from the parking lot. I'm use to seeing the gym's fluorescent lights but everything is dark except for the light of street lamps in the parking lot. Chills race down my spine, but no one else seems to be as anxious as I am.

Ash latches onto the crook of Mason's arm and they race off in front of us. Poor Mason. Jonas looks to me with his hand held out. I grab it with a smile.

I'm not certain what's playing over our heads, but it's definitely something from the radio, just from hearing the catchy tune. As we step into the gym, I assumed every girl was going to be judging each other's dresses. That was not the case this year. Good job, girls, you're really stepping up on the classy scale.

Jonas wraps his hand tighter around mine, and that's about when everyone started to go back to their everyday high school judgemental attitude.

We made our way through the crowd, and I could hear the whispers begin. I tried to shut them out, and then a thought occured to me. Jonas can read their minds. Even if he physically tunes people out, they're still in his head. If he goes down then I'm going down with him. We're a team, now and forever. Let the immature juveniles carry on with their gossip.

Jonas hasn't said a word yet, but I know he's been reading my mind. He looks like he's alright, though. Nothing seems to have disturbed him.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He nods, more cheerful than ever. I don't think that's humanly possible for Jonas, but the facial expression is shown before me.

"What?" He smiles down at me.

"You mean you're not reading my mind?" I feign shock.

He looks away with an adorable grin, "No, actually. I'm trying to spend tonight without my powers until they're needed. Plus, I realized I have an unfair advantage." He takes my hands and whisks me out to the middle of the dance floor.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Most girls spend their whole life trying to find a guy who knows what she wants even when she doesn't say it out loud."

"So you're saying I beat the game? That I can't find anyone better?" I pretend like he's making me angry.

"What? No. You definitely could. I'm just saying-" I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck.

"I knew what you were saying, and I think you're right. I've found the best guy in the world. But you don't need to be able to read my mind to be my boyfriend."

He raises his eyebrows, "Boyfriend?"

I clear my throat but no words come out. He grins again - actually I don't think he's stopped grinning - and pulls me closer.

"I like the sound of it. I get to be your best friend, sidekick, and boyfriend. How lucky am I?" I close my eyes against his chest and try to understand how I've not realized my feelings for him for so long.

"I need you to know something, Jonas. If things don't work in our favor tonight-"

He silences me, "Della. Everything's going to be okay. We've got a whole team. If by some off chance any of us lose our powers, I'll still be here for you." All I can do is bury my head into his chest deeper.

I look up into his eyes as the first slow song comes on. I recognize the song as Look On Up by Relient K. Jonas' eyes sparkle back at me and I feel an electric spark between us that makes me reach up and run my hand through his hair. Standing on my tiptoes would usually be the only way to reach his height, but tonight I wore heels. As I slowly press my lips against his, the struggle isn't as comedic. The jolt of energy goes stronger. Is this what love feels like?

I'm about to break away when the gym goes even darker than it was before. Jonas goes stiff and we stop kissing only to hold each other close. This is not happening here, Red Raven. This is not what the deal was.

People start to scream as we're suddenly surrounded by a pitch black abyss. If it weren't for Jonas holding my hand, I would've lost him in mere seconds. Where is Mason and Ash?

All of a sudden, lightning begins to strike outside and thunder shakes the building. The lightning must have knocked out the power. Remain calm, Della.

"Sorry, everybody! We're going to turn the generator on in just a few minutes." A teacher announces. I breathe in and out, hoping to calm my nerves. Jonas runs his hand against my arm as Mason and Ash come jogging up to us. At least, I think it's them. When they get closer with their phone's flashlight I see their faces clearly.

"What's going on?" They ask us. I shrug in complete bewilderment.

"Attention. Attention faculty and staff. At this time we have been advised by the town commissioners to go into lockdown."

Definitely appropriate to panic now.

I turn to the group, "What's that supposed to mean for us? If we aren't allowed out of here, then I can't hold up my end of the deal with Red Raven and then he'll kill everyone in the city."

Mason groans, "Geez, he's going to win whether you come or not. We have to sneak out of here if we want any say in the citizens' lives."

I'm about to agree when I spot a tall blonde figure in the light of Mason's phone. He's dashing off with a girl wearing a strapless, lavender colored dress out the back door of the gym. Mickey, I think angrily.

"We have to go before Mickey gets away or a teacher catches us," They all nod in agreement, "So, like, now would be a good time to move!" I whisper yell.

We dash out of the building from the same exit I saw Mickey take. While I'm not exactly sure why the school went into lockdown, I know Red Raven had something to do with it. But he won't win.

No matter how hard he tries, no matter how many obstacles he places in my path, I won't back down. I won't let him take my powers away. This ends tonight.