Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Author's Note: I don't know exactly why but I'm pretty sure I channelled High School Musical for this in some kind of way. Mixed with Romeo and Juliet. Yeah. That's what we'll say it is. Anyways, originally written in 2014.
There was a bitter chill to the air despite the sky being flawlessly blue and the sun beaming down on the world and illuminating everything in its path. Autumn was an odd season; it was a lot more refreshing than the stuffy days of Summer but it was more inviting than snow filled Winter days.
The birds chirped to each other within the trees before taking off and plummeting towards the ground before skilfully pulling back up and twirling through the air.
As the gentle breeze blew, one of the few dead leaves upon the branch of an ash tree snapped off and fluttered to the ground. While the natural serenity occurred outside, there was a science class nearing its end at Raymere High School.
The students were all practically falling asleep as the clock ticked slowly. The teacher with a monotone voice continued to drone on about the amount of galaxies and solar systems that inhabited the universe.
Among the army of bored teenagers was a boy of 17 years old. He ran a hand through his ebony hair and sighed. He closed his eyes and rested his head against his hand.
Richard Grayson was the adopted son of billionaire, Bruce Wayne and if he had to choose one thing that he did not enforce positivity into; it would be Science class. "Dick" as almost everyone called him was more of a sports type of guy considering he cherished his title of being captain of the football team at the school. He wasn't shy of popularity either. However, he wasn't labelled as the type of popular kid who made others feel bad about themselves.
Without sounding too sure of himself, Dick was well aware that practically everybody liked him. He didn't exactly have a personality that you could hate.
Dick opened his eyes and glanced around at his fellow classmates; more specifically his friends and teammates. He grinned at his best friend, Wally West who was blatantly sleeping through the class and snoring loudly too. Dick was surprised that the teacher hadn't noticed Wally's more than obvious lack of enthusiasm for the class.
Dick had known Wally since he was 9 years old; when Bruce had first adopted him. The confident kid had a mess of red hair and a pair of striking green eyes. Wally was part of the football team as well and he was one of the most valuable players too. Wally was the fastest boy on the team which caused him to be helpful during games when they had to wing it and try to place a touchdown with minimal time to spare. Wally was the one person that Dick could completely trust with anything.
Behind Wally, was Victor Stone who sat in his chair idly drumming his fingers against his desk. He was probably the nicest guy anyone could ever meet. He was quite a large African American teenager who was brutal in sports but wouldn't hurt a fly outside of his sport activities. Dick had known Vic for a long time and they had had a few arguments in the past but were generally quite close.
Across from Vic was Garfield Logan; the class clown. Garfield was the one who always made jokes to calm situations down or to break the ice in awkward ones. Dick could always count on Gar to make him laugh if his day was going downhill.
Diagonally across from Garfield was Ryan Anders. Dick had only known Ryan for a little while. He had joined the football team a couple of years ago but Dick and the guys had only started to befriend him recently. Ryan was somewhat similar to Wally in features. He had dark red hair and bright green eyes. Dick got on with Ryan though and they had shared a lot about their personal lives such as family. Dick had told Ryan about his parents and his adoption whilst Ryan had told Dick about his own parents' death and the fact that he lived with his grandfather and his twin sister. Sometimes, Dick wondered about Ryan's family. He had never personally met any of them; not even his twin sister.
Suddenly, Dick sighed in relief as the bell rang out loudly. No one in the class waited for the teachers' words of dismissal and practically sprinted out of the door. Dick threw his bag over his shoulder and headed out of the classroom behind everyone else.
He soon joined the guys outside and immediately sensed the buzzed aura associated with Wally.
"Ah man! I'm so pumped for the game tonight!" Wally gushed, fist pounding the air.
"Calm down, man. You'll give yourself a heart attack." Dick sighed, as they sat at the table outside.
"Aren't you excited, Dick?" Garfield wondered, grabbing his tofu sticks out of his bag.
Dick shrugged, "I am but... I hate playing against Ashwell... They're all so competitive and stuff." He explained.
Ashwell High School was the main rival school to Raymere. It had been a school rivalry for years and years; even before they were alive. Everyone at Raymere pretty much agreed that the rivalry was stupid and unnecessary but students at Ashwell took it so seriously. They were so aggressive and self centred because they always thought they were the best and that they were above anyone else from another school.
"Well, we'll just be sure to win and rub it in their faces tonight then!" Wally cheered, earning a smirk from Dick,
"Yeah, I guess... And I get to rub it in Xavier's face specifically. God I hate that guy." Dick chuckled,
"Count yourself lucky that you only have to see his smug face at games and not practically every day." Ryan groaned, earning a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Dick.
"Oh yeah! Isn't your sister dating him?" Vic checked. Ryan rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless.
"The guy needs to be thrown off of a cliff or something." Garfield stated,
"Ugh. He's a jerk and they're so going down tonight." Dick vowed. Wally grinned and punched his shoulder,
"Aw yeah! That's what I like to hear!" He exclaimed.
Vic cast a glance over his shoulders and smiled as he noticed the last members of their group. He turned back to the guys and jerked his thumb in their direction, "Here come the girls," He told them,
Ryan smirked as he sipped his soda, "Having withdrawal symptoms from waiting too long to suck faces with Bee?" He joked, earning a high five from Garfield.
Vic narrowed his eyes at Ryan and playfully brought him into a headlock and ruffled his hair, "Alright big guy! I give!" Ryan protested, as Vic released him with a triumphant grin.
Karen Beecher, more so known as "Bee," was Vic's girlfriend of 2 years. She was the head cheerleader and was the complete opposite of what was expected stereotypically of head cheerleaders. She was playful and kind. She had dark skin with black hair and deep chocolate eyes.
Beside her was Jenny Ashbrook; Wally's girlfriend of 3 years. She was exuberant and bubbly but she could also be blunt and sarcastic, especially towards Wally however, that was due to how comfortable they were around each other. Jenny was a hard girl to miss if you saw her. Her hair was a sickly pink colour with subtle black highlights. Her skin was pale and she had grey eyes that often reflected the pink of her hair. Jenny was also part of the cheerleading squad alongside Karen.
Lastly, there was Rachel Roth. She was a dark and mysterious girl who was hard to figure out. She was Garfield's girlfriend of 1 year. It had been hard for Garfield to tell Rachel how he felt considering she was a somewhat hard person to openly approach. Rachel had pale skin and purple cropped hair with eyes that were a dark blue almost like a midnight sky colour. Out of the girls, Rachel was the one who had been around the longest, certainly in Dick's life. Dick had known Rachel since he was 10 years old. He and Wally had rode past her on their bikes and knocked the novel that she was reading from her hands. Dick still chuckled when he thought back to how angry she was.
The girls sat at the table and they continued to talk about the game of the coming evening. Dick was getting more and more excited for it as the day progressed. He always got a slight adrenaline rush whenever they played big games with Ashwell; no matter how the score came out. Like the boys had already discussed; students of Raymere weren't as pathetic as Ashwell in thinking that winning was the only thing that mattered.
Garfield swigged a mouthful of clean water from his bottle before splashing some against his face to wake himself up. He scanned his eyes across the stands and spotted Rachel. He started waving to her to get her attention which after a couple of minutes, worked.
She nodded to him and responded with a small wave of her hand before returning to the book she had brought with her. Garfield sighed,
"I can't believe she brought a book to read." He mumbled.
Dick nudged him, "Hey, at least she's here, supporting you." He reminded him.
Garfield smirked, "Yeah... She's pretty great like that." He sighed.
Dick chuckled and stood up. He was happy for all of his friends but some part of him felt incomplete. He was constantly surrounded by happy couples and he had never been able to stay in a relationship for literally more than a few days. He had never had serious feelings for any girl. He was still hopeful that he would eventually find a girl who caused his heart to beat quickly and his palms to get sweaty but he just didn't know when he'd find that particular girl.
Dick watched as the Raymere cheerleaders began their routine. It was traditional for the cheerleaders of both schools to perform their cheer before the game began to support their home team. He smirked as he noticed Wally join in playfully with the girls. That was one thing that Dick loved about Raymere students. They were all friends with each other which caused actions like Wally's to be acceptable and humorous.
He couldn't help but cast a glance over at the opposite stands which held the visiting Ashwell students. Their facial expressions immediately gave away how little they cared for the opposing team. None of them even so much as smiled in a sportsmanship type of way. Dick shook his head. This is why he hated them so much; they thought they were above everyone else and had no idea how to be friendly with others.
As Dick gulped some of his water from his bottle, his eyes scanned over the Ashwell football team and their supporting cheerleaders. He had seen them all before of course but suddenly, he noticed one cheerleader in particular.
She was the only student out of the Ashwell population who was smiling at the Raymere cheerleaders' display. Dick smiled. She was gorgeous to say the least; she had dark red hair and tanned skin that seemed to highlight her deep, jade eyes.
He guessed that he hadn't noticed her before because she was one of the backing cheerleaders but now he noticed that she wore the black wristband, signifying that she was head cheerleader.
Dick gulped but continued smiling as her eyes locked with his from across the field. The girl bashfully flashed him a smile and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Dick couldn't help but smirk at this odd little moment that he was sharing with the mystery girl.
He looked away and clapped as the cheerleaders and Wally finished the routine.
Kori Anders cast her eyes downwards after sharing eye contact with the dark haired boy sitting across from her. She was the twin sister to Ryan and yet she couldn't name a single one of the guys that he played football with. As close as she and Ryan were, they hardly spoke about school to each other. There would be no point considering neither would understand properly on account of attending different schools.
Kori clapped as the Raymere cheerleaders finished their cheer routine but felt a hand against her shoulder. She glanced up at Kitten and frowned.
Kitten Moth was one of Kori's fellow cheerleading 'friends' and she used that term loosely. She disliked many people at her own school but Kitten definitely won the award for who she hated the most. She was so materialistic and self centred; two things that Kori could not stand.
"What are you doing, Kori?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, "They're our rivals, remember?"
Kori raised an eyebrow, "And that means I cannot clap for their performance?" She asked, wondering if she was being serious,
"Right," Terra joined in. Terra Markov was similar to Kitten but she wasn't as materialistic but she could be just as mean and spiteful.
"But... It is good sportsmanship to-" She was cut off by another cheerleader,
"Blah, blah, blah. It's the way things work, Kori. You know that." Barbra stated, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder. Barbra Gordon was the girl that Kori least disliked. Of course, she still didn't like her but Barbra wasn't quite as bad as Kitten and Terra and Kori could usually tolerate her.
"Sides, Xavier would go nuts if he saw you supporting the enemy." Terra added, causing Kori to frown. X'hal, she makes it sound as though we are at war. Kori thought.
Kori sighed as she looked over at her boyfriend. She knew all too well that she did not belong at Ashwell; she was so very different to the other students. She was far from self centred and she would rather help someone through a problem whereas her fellow classmates would laugh and ridicule them. She had no real friends there.
She stood up as she realised it was their turn to perform their routine for Ashwell. She held back another sigh as she noticed Xavier wandering over to her with a smug smirk.
He placed his hands on her delicate waist and roughly pulled her close to him, "Hey babe... Good luck with the routine." He murmured,
"Thank you, Xavier," She replied, politely. Kori made a face and rolled her eyes in annoyance as he began kissing her jaw line and her neck.
"You know... You're uniform makes you look incredibly hot... It makes me wanna rip it-"
Kori cut his vulgar statement short by patting his shoulder and laughing nervously, "I should go and start the routine..." She mumbled, stepping out of his embrace.
Xavier nodded and was quick to smack her behind. Kori stood completely still for a moment as her eyes widened. She swallowed the anger that built within her and exhaled loudly. She continued to walk onto the field with the other cheerleaders trailing behind her.
She had once been in love with Xavier. They had now been together for approximately 3 years and for the first 2 years, she had been extremely happy being in a relationship with him. However, in the past year, he had changed so very much. He seemingly only wanted one thing from her nowadays. He had also come into drugs in recent months and that had affected his behaviour a lot. He would continuously be paranoid when she was not with him and at times, he would be very aggressive and intimidating towards her. Kori wanted to break up with Xavier but she didn't know how to do it. She was worried that he would react badly which seemed highly likely, in truth.
Dick watched the small display between the red headed girl and Xavier very closely. He realised instantly that the girl must have been Ryan's sister, Kori. Dick wasn't sure why but he gritted his teeth as he observed the somewhat dysfunctional couple across the field from him. It made him angry that Xavier could get away with acting like such a pig towards such a beautiful girl.
He was reeled into a trance as he witnessed Kori jumping, dancing and flipping in an enthusiastic way. Cheerleading seemed to suit the kind of person he assumed she was. Just from the gaze they shared a couple of minutes ago, he knew for a fact that she was not like the other students that attended Ashwell High for the plain fact; she had smiled back at him instead of shrugging him of like he was vermin.
Dick shook his head and noticed that they had stopped performing. He smiled and clapped along like the rest of the students of Raymere. Although the rest of the cheerleaders turned away like there was no one applauding them, Kori took a chance and smiled in the direction of the Raymere students.
He wasn't sure if she did it absentmindedly or not, but he couldn't help but get a small rush of emotions as Kori's smile rested with him.
Suddenly, the coach blew his whistle loudly which gave the team the signal that it was time to start the game. Dick exhaled a breath and stood up. Once again, he saw a scene that made him want to punch Xavier in the face even more than usual.
He watched as the psychopath grabbed Kori and forcefully gave her a tongue bath that, by Kori's expression, she did not enjoy in the slightest. Sure, Dick had never spoken to Kori but he still felt that it was wrong to treat a girlfriend like she was nothing more than a piece of meat.
Dick pulled his helmet on and joined the others who had already began running onto the field and getting into position. He secured his black captain armband and looked ahead and eyed Xavier who looked as smug as ever.
"Get the tissues, Grayson... You're gonna be crying like a baby once this game is over." He remarked,
"In your dreams, Xavier." Dick retorted, rolling his eyes. His point was continuously proven about kids from Ashwell being self centred, over confident jerks.
Kori watched the game intently from the sidelines. She always enjoyed watching Ashwell VS Raymere because more often than not, Raymere would win and she felt happy for her brother's victory. However, when Ashwell occasionally won, she didn't exactly care for it as it was followed by a conceited Xavier talking about how much skill it takes to compete in football. It infuriated Kori to no end when he would talk about himself as if he were superior to everyone else around him.
She bit her lip in anticipation. The score was currently not in Raymere's favour. Kori honestly couldn't deal with a night of listening to Xavier talk about himself. In the last couple of minutes, Raymere needed to get two more touchdowns to simply draw even. She tapped her knees as she hoped the victory would fall to Raymere tonight.
The air horn sounded, signalling the end of the game. Kori sighed and her shoulders slumped at the outcome.
Of course, Ashwell had been victorious tonight.
Wally pouted like a child as he and the others wandered up the street towards their local diner. Jenny noticed this and slipped her hand within his,
"Wally, c'mon... Chin up..." She sighed,
"I hate losing to Ashwell, Jen. They're such arrogant jerks and it pisses me off." He complained,
"I know but... You can always show them up next time. I know you guys can do it," Jenny urged, giving him a reassuring grin. Wally glanced at her and couldn't resist smirking at her. It was part of the reason that he loved her. He could be a complete pain in the ass and yet, Jenny would still be there, trying to reassure him of things. The red headed boy wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her lips. He paused and rested his forehead against hers,
"Thanks," He mumbled, grateful for her attempt at cheering him up,
"You're welcome, red." She replied, grinning.
"Ugh. You guys just result in reminding me that I'm alone." Ryan groaned, placing his hand upon the door of the diner.
"Dude... Didn't you have a date the other night?" Garfield reminded him,
"Yeah... What's your point?"
"You could choose to not be alone if you actually gave one of your dates a chance at a second date."
"Eh... I don't like any of them that much though..." Ryan shrugged. Karen rolled her eyes and lightly punched his shoulder,
"And that is why you do not have a girlfriend," She commented, shaking her head.
Ryan chuckled and they slowly filed into the diner. The group practically froze as they noticed the team that they had lost to that night sitting in the corner, accompanied by their supportive group of cheerleaders.
Dick rolled his eyes and pointed to a booth by the window, "Let's just sit there and try to ignore them, guys." He suggested, earning a couple of nods.
He waited as everyone piled into the booth and glanced over at the Ashwell students. He was searching for Kori. He had an idea that she would've been dragged along to the diner at Xavier's request.
He spotted her sitting on the end, next to Xavier who had his arm slung around her shoulders as if warning all other guys that she was his property.
Dick took a seat on the end after the others had sat down but kept his eyes on Kori.
He watched as Xavier leaned closer to her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded to him and pushed herself out from the booth. She strolled up to the counter and ordered something. Dick smiled as he noticed Kori's friendly attitude towards the waitress behind the counter.
Dick gulped and slid out from the booth, telling the others that he was going to get some coffee while he decided what he was going to eat.
He straightened up and walked over to the counter; standing just beside Kori without being close enough for it to seem creepy.
Kori slowly turned her head towards him with a small smile. Did she recognise him? He hoped so.
He instantly returned the smile as he mentally noted how much more beautiful she was up close, "Hey," He greeted,
"Hello," She replied,
"Your uh... Your cheer routine was really good tonight,"
"Thank you... I apologise for the outcome of the game..."
Dick chuckled, "It's fine... Oh! I'm Richard Grayson, by the way... But, most people call me Dick."
Kori smirked, "I am Korina Anders... However, most people call me Kori,"
Dick mirrored her smirk and they gently shook each other's hand, "You're Ryan's sister, Right?" He checked,
"Guilty." She answered; earning a light chuckle from Dick.
He continued to smile and stare at her until Kori giggled and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, nervously, "What?" She prompted,
Dick shook his head, "Nothing... I'm just surprised. Most people from your school would rather set fire to themselves than talk to their 'Rivals',"
Kori rolled her eyes and groaned, "Truthfully, I believe the rivalry between our two schools is ridiculous and pointless. Students from my school are so quick to judge others from your school without even knowing them. It is so stupid."
Dick felt the corners of his mouth turn upwards. She was definitely different from the rest of the kids at Ashwell.
"I think that way, too. No offense, but it really is your school that has the grudge. I mean, no one from Raymere cares about the rivalry..."
Kori giggled, "No offense taken. I agree with you."
"So, I take it that you don't like your school?"
Kori sighed, "Mm... Consider it this way... If I had the chance to go back and change my schooling choice... It would be done before anyone even realised."
Dick nodded and felt sympathy for her. It must be hard having to go to a school every day that you hate and seeing people that you have little tolerance for.
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself when he noticed Xavier making his way over to them.
Kori's eyes widened as she felt his hands on her waist but she knew they would probably end up going lower on her body. Dick noted Kori's facial expression harden as she felt irritated by his lack of respect for her personal space and how inappropriate his crude gesture was. Dick narrowed his eyes at Xavier in disgust for his continuous behaviour towards Kori.
"Babe, you've been up here for ages. You work here; can't you just go behind the counter and get the stuff?" He asked,
Kori exhaled and half turned towards him, "I have only been working here for a couple of weeks, Xavier... So, no... I cannot." She told him, defiantly,
Xavier rolled his eyes and in the process, noted Dick standing next to them. He flashed him a smug grin,
"Sorry that you lost tonight, Dick... I guess the better team won, huh?" He stated,
Dick snorted, "All you had tonight was luck, Xavier."
"Yeah. You tell that to the last oh, what is it? 6 times we've beaten you?"
"Careful, Xavier... You're pathetic is starting to show considering you keep track of feeble things such as the scores."
Kori felt awkward as she stood between the two boys who were now silently glaring at each other until the other backed off. She sighed but turned around towards the counter immediately when she heard that her order was ready.
Dick turned around too and took the tray of drinks before Kori could. She watched him with curiosity as he took a step closer to Xavier.
He suddenly thrust the tray against Xavier's chest, catching him off guard as he stumbled slightly whilst grabbing the tray. Dick slowly broke into a smirk, "Don't hurt yourself, big boy." He advised, in a hushed and smug tone.
Xavier's jaw visibly set and he turned back towards his table without saying another word to Dick, "Kori, let's go." He demanded,
Kori clasped her hands in front of her and smirked in amusement at Xavier's humiliation at the hands of Dick. She glanced at him and smiled whilst she lifted a hand, signalling goodbye.
Dick watched her as she followed behind Xavier and briefly mirrored her hand gesture. He lowered his hand and bit his lip as he refrained from giving into the smirk that was fighting to show upon his face...