Dreams and Gates

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. I wish I did, but I don't. Too bad for me.

Ava looked up at the clock from her school desk. There were about 30 minutes left to double check her test. A yawn escaped in her mouth, which she did her best to hide. There was a dead silence that seemed to fill the classroom. No, that was a lie; in a way, she believed that dead silence would have been a blessing compared to what she was hearing now. Instead of silence, all around her she could hear the maddening scratching of pencils on paper, and the slow tick-tock of the regulation school clock just above the whiteboard in front of class. Even the sterile smell of the ever clean classroom began getting to her today. Midterms: they always seemed to make the slightest things just that more annoying than usual. She looked around her to find her classmates who were intently working on their English test and oblivious to the world around them, before looking down at her own paper once more.

Ava yawned again; and this time, it was strong enough to make her eyes water just a bit. She rubbed her eyes before a tear could form and recomposed her self. She could feel herself dozing off, so she did her best to keep busy. After brushing a lock of her natural blonde hair behind her right ear, which she did out of habit, she began overlooking her exam. Question one: A, Question two: C.

She while she checked her work, she alternated looks between her paper and the slowly moving clock. Ava began to wonder if things were always this boring, as she erased a mistake on her paper and fixed it with the right answer. No, there was a time when things were never ever boring. They were scary times; times when she thought she deserved to die, though she still wasn't sure if those times even belonged to her. But still, in a sense, when she did think about it, she did die on that day…

Ava's eyes began to close. She could feel her body weigh her down like she was being overwhelmed by quicksand. The weight of her eyelids felt like ten pound dumbbells. Not good. She tried to fight the urge, but she was losing. It was too late, her eyes were now closed, and she started hearing the voices of her mind calling to her again into darkness of dreams.

"Pencil's up! Please pass your tests to the person in front of you and get them all the way to the front." Mr. Anderson's loud and booming voice shattered the silence of the class and more importantly, it woke up Ava. Thank goodness. She looked around in a daze, but passed her paper up to the front out of instinct. The exam had ended, but it didn't stop a few of her classmates from writing in a few more guesses before the actually handed them in.

Another day gone.

"That was some test huh?" The voice came from the chestnut haired girl that was sitting in front of her. It was Ava's friend, Christy who was now twisted in her chair to talk to a very exhausted Ava. Christy looked at Ava's bright blue eyes with a touch of concern.

"Y'know those bags under your eyes don't really suit a girl like you. Not getting much sleep lately, are you?"

"Girls like me don't worry about things like sleep." Ava responded with a drone-type tone, but she her best to smile afterwards to help ease her friend's inquisitive mind. It was true, she didn't get much sleep; she hated sleeping. When she had no choice but to sleep, she always seemed to try her best to wake up as soon as her body allowed. It was the only thing she could do to stay away from those nightmares. It was odd of course; a high school freshman still having nightmares like a kid, but if the normal freshman had gone through what she had gone through, then they wouldn't get much sleep either.

"So, class is over, wanna' grab a bite to eat at that new burger place before you head home." Christy offered to consul her friend with the gesture of good food. It was a tactic that usually worked, but after midterms, Ava was way too drained to do anything but go home.

"I think I'll pass, I have some more studying to do for tomorrow's math quiz." The school bell rang signaling the day's end. Ava quickly put away her stuff, grabbed her backpack and said her goodbyes to Christy before she rushed out of the school gates headed for home.

The walk from Murakami High to Ava's house wasn't a long one, but with her fatigue setting in, it would be a challenge. Ironically, along the way there were plenty of sights to take in to help keep her mind off of her tiresome state. The park that she normally walked through was filled with life. Young children who were already out school, same as her, were playing tag in the playground. There were some middle-aged men and women either out for an afternoon jog or to walk a dog from one end of the park to the other. And every now and then, she'd even spot a couple having a picnic or talking to each other on a bench. The only thing that seemed to be glum was her.

After she had cut through the park, all Ava had to do was walk a few more meters of sidewalk that lead into her neighborhood. The stretch of sidewalk also happened to harbor one of the best sights the city had to offer as it ran alongside Jump City's coast. She took a deep breath before crossing the street and onto the sidewalk. To her right Titan Tower, which was home to Jump City's greatest heroes, could be seen by the plain eye. From its tiny island off of the coast, it reached upwards far into the sky and ended at the top with its appearance resembling that of a giant capital "T". From that height, she had no doubt that the Teen Titans could see all that happened in their city. Still, she did her best not to look at the marvel before her as she continued her march. There was something about it; something that made her feel horrible inside. Like there was a pit in her stomach, or something in her body that chilled her lungs into ice. It was the same feeling she'd get when she had a dream.

In fact there was a day not too long ago when she actually had the "honor" to have met one of the Titans face-to face. His name was Beast Boy. Like a hurricane wind that knocks open a door, he tried to waltz his way into Ava's life. And like all the Teen Titans, he was "unique". He had green skin and from what she knew, he could change into any animal that he wanted. She even had a chance to see him fight a monster once. He had a pretty cool power; she often wished she could be a bird so she could fly. Then again, what kid hadn't wished for something like that? But for someone with such a cool power, he was so odd. When they first met, he seemed friendly at first; even with a funny personality to boot. Though, for some reason, he kept calling her "Terra" and tried his best to have Ava remember who she was; he even tried to do so by literally throwing dirt in her face, which she still wasn't sure as to why he did it, but it made her angry and that was for certain. She knew very well who she was for the most part, and what he wanted her to be was no more than a figment of his imagination. In the end she managed to have him leave her alone. For a superhero, he seemed really desperate. It made Ava kind of feel sorry for the guy, but like the Tower, the thought of Beast Boy seemed to shake her soul up a bit. Leave superhero things to superheroes, she thought. She shook her head a bit to throw off her memories while she continued pacing through the last bit of sidewalk and into her neighborhood.

When Ava arrived at her home, she noticed a moving truck parked at the next house down from hers. Movers scurried about to bring in its contents into the once vacant house. She always wondered as to when someone would fill in that house, even though she herself hadn't lived in the neighborhood for that long. In the moment that Ava looked took a moment to see what was going on, a man in a suit came from around the truck's side. He was speaking on a cell phone and though she couldn't make out what they were saying, judging from the gestures on his face, it looked like a serious conversation. He had graying hair around the sides of his head topped with a dark brown on his scalp. The man's face reminded her of one of those tough cowboys from an old film. But she believed that his eyes were his most distinguishing feature; like wise hawk. He glanced in Ava's direction and as soon as he noticed her staring his serious expression had lightened up. The older man quickly said goodbye to whoever was on the other line of his phone line before hanging up and approaching her.

"Why hello there, are you Ava?" The suited cowboy's voice, which addressed a dumbstruck Ava, was rough, but the tone from which he spoke in was, was in contrast, very soothing.

"Uhm. Yeah, how did you know?" She asked as she stepped a bit back out of suspicion, but the man's light-hearted expression did not change.

"Oh, please don't fret. I've already had the pleasure of meeting your mother. She was nice enough to welcome me to the neighborhood and told me about all about you." The older man smiled as he spoke, which made him seem so inviting. It was quite an awkward since the look he had on when he was talking on his phone was so stern. He then extended an open to the school girl.

"Nice to meet you, meet you my name is Andrew Ballard."

Ava shook the man's hand and was quite surprised that his hand was so much larger than hers; making her hand feel more like a pebble than anything else.

"Nice to meet you." Ava replied courteously, though she was still too tired to say it whole-heartedly.

"Your mother tells me that you're attending Murakami High School, same as my boy will be tomorrow. I'd introduce him to you, but he's still at the old house gathering a few things. Maybe you'll bump into each other tomorrow." Mr. Ballard let go of the girls hand and reached into his pocket for his cell phone.

"Well, I have a few more calls to make. Again, it was nice meeting you and your mother. If you could please tell her I said thanks for welcoming me into the neighborhood, I'd really appreciate it." And with that, he walked back towards his own home and was soon enough back on his phone continuing his conversation with whomever he said goodbye to earlier.

Ava lived in a small house on the corner of Riley St. It was small and simple, with an alternating white and blue color. It had a cozy feeling all around it. She walked in though the front door entrance and could hear old 60's music playing in kitchen where her mother was probably preparing dinner for the upcoming evening. The familiar smell of her house was as unique as the next person's, which could only be described with words that probably did not exist.

"Ava is that you?" Her mother's voice carried out from the kitchen and to the front door.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm home." Ava responded as she made her way to the living room to set her bag down, and then to the kitchen to greet her mother. Her mother was at the kitchen counter preparing what looked like pot roast before it had to be put in the oven. Ava leaned on the same counter and studied her for a moment. Her name was Sheryl, and behind her large glasses, she housed hazel eyes. Her light brown hair, which she usually wore down, just barely touched her shoulders, but at the moment was it was tied back into bun. She was well aged, being around the age of her late 40's or early 50's, and though she looked frail, within her she held a strong motherly spirit. She worked hard as a manager of the local grocery store, so that she could cater to herself and Ava, and she did her job well. She was lucky to have found a mother like her. It truly was a shame that she wasn't Ava's real mother.

"So I met the new neighbors." Ava broke the silence with small talk. Her mother was too engrossed in the pot roast preparation to look up at her adopted daughter.

"Oh, so you met Mr. Ballard? He's so nice isn't he? Did you get a chance to meet his son?" Sheryl asked as she added carrots to her to roast.

"No, he said he was still gathering some things for the move. But he says thanks for making feel welcome to his new home."

"Oh, he's such a nice man. It's too bad that his son isn't around. In wonder if he's the same as him. Well, at least you'll get a chance to meet him at school right?"

"Maybe…When's dinner going to be ready?" Ava decided to change the talk to a shorter subject.

"In about two hours or so." Sheryl replied still focused on her cooking. Ava took in a breath, then pushed off of the counter and headed for her room.

"Ava, make sure you take a nap before you head down to dinner. I've noticed you staying up at nights. I'll check up on when I'm free here."

"Aw mom…" Ava tried to protest, but as soon as she did her mother stopped what she was doing and walked to her daughter. She gently held Ava's cheeks with both of her old and worn hands. Her hands felt warm as she inspected the bags under the young girl's eyes.

"No buts. I don't want to see you fainting from exhaustion." She released her daughter and tapped the tip of Ava's nose with her index finger. In response she wriggled her nose like a bunny, which made her mother laugh just a bit. She then returned to her pot roast and left Ava to herself.

Ava sighed; there was no point in arguing against her mom. She was so sweet, but when she put her foot down, she could be quite adamant. However, while Ava avoided a verbal confrontation, she wasn't above pretending to nap. Her mother, like anyone else, wouldn't be able to tell if she were faking it or not. She hadn't told her mother about the nightmares; she refused to tell anyone for that matter. But more importantly, she didn't want to burden her mom with foolish children affairs. She already owed her too much to bring about any worry for her. With that she continued down the main hall of her house and with only a few tiny paces, she arrived at her room.

Me: Well, thanks for reading. I'll be updating when I get the shot. Hope you liked it and I hope you give a review, be it good or bad.