Wally West couldn't be more excited about today as he looked himself over in the mirror. He wanted to look extra special for today. Though some may think of today to be a sad and terrible day Wally couldn't help but smile brightly.
Today was his first day as a junior.
Adolescent times were slipping from his very finger tips and maturity was setting in. He was getting older, wiser...
Wally looked at himself in the mirror one more time and grinned. "Oh yeah. I am looking good... Who's that sexy guy in the mirror? Wally West of course."
"Wally," came the voice of his mother from behind his bedroom door. "Are you finished getting ready? Jenn is downstairs waiting for you."
"I'll be right down," Wally shouted as he looked back at his mirror and made sure his hair looked okay. "Looking good, West... looking good." He snapped his fingers and ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs to find Jenn waiting for him. "Hey, Jenn," he leaned over and planted a small kiss on her lips. He pulled away and smiled. "You look dazzling as always."
Jenn smiled. "You don't look so bad yourself. So, do you mind telling me what took you so long?"
Wally shrugged as he opened the front door to his house for her. "Would you believe me if I said it was a wardrobe malfunction?"
"You were doing that mirror thing again weren't you?"
"Yup."
Jenn laughed and shook her head. "C'mon. We're gonna be late."
---
As a couple of students began their day with a smile, others weren't as jubilant. A perfect example of this was Raven Roth. Normally it didn't take Raven long to force herself out of bed and get ready for school but today she was being stubborn. She had the covers over her head and refused to get up.
Kori placed her hands on her hips and scowled. "Raven, this is ridiculous. You're supposed to be the reasonable one here!"
Raven poked her head out of the blanket and stuck her tongue out. She then covered her head with the blanket.
Kori stomped her foot and let out a frustrated growl. "You did not just stick your tongue out on me." Kori grabbed fist fulls of Raven's blanket and yanked it off of her.
"Kori!"
"Get up and get dressed." Kori ordered.
Raven huffed and rolled on her side while Kori left the room. "When did she get all demanding?"
Kori closed the door to Raven's room and made her way downstairs with a smile on her face. When she arrived downstairs her family was already there, except her father who was at work. Ever since Ryan was born Myan had been taking on the workload while Luan cared for Ryan. Of course this was just temporary.
"Hi, Ryan," Kori said in a baby-talk kind of way. Ryan giggled and smiled, waving his hands trying to grab Kori. Kori stroked his red hair with affection. "He'd getting so big."
"I know," Luan said softly, wearing a smile of her own. "Pretty soon he'll be all grown up..."
"Gee, mom, that's so long from now," Komi said as she walked over to her mother who was sitting down at the kitchen table while Ryan in his highchair right beside her. "Let's think about the present shall we? Like me being a senior!"
"I have never seen you this happy about something that concerns school." said Luan as she picked up Ryan.
"I know but now that I'm a senior my high school life is almost over," said Komi with a grin on her face. "I'll be in college in no time."
"Let's think about the present shall we." reminded Luan as she handed Ryan over to Kori so she could start working on the dishes in the sink.
"What ever," Komi said as she grabbed her car key's off the kitchen counter. "I'm off to go pick up Donna."
With that said Komi left the room and headed towards the front door. A few seconds later after her departure Dick walked through the door.
"Knock, knock," he said sheepishly, tapping the wall before walking in the kitchen. "Komi let me in." Dick turned his head to the side. "Morning, Mrs. Anders."
"Good morning, Dick," Luan said, spearing him a glance and smiling at him. "Remember, it's alright for you to call me Luan."
Dick nodded. "Right."
"Dick, hey," Kori said standing up and walking towards him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to pick you and Raven up for school," he said while caressing her cheek and planting a soft, gentle kiss on her lips. He pulled away and smiled. Dick turned his attention to the child in Kori's arms. "Hey, Ryan. High five!"
Ryan giggled madly and slapped Dick's hand using both of his hands. Dick smiled and took Ryan from Kori's arms. During the summer Kori and Dick had done a lot of babysitting for Ryan and Dick had gotten very attached to the youngest of the Anders children, something that Kori would frequently tease him about. And even though she teased him about it, Kori loved that part of Dick. It was a positive look for their future. Besides, Dick assured her that she would always remain his number one for favorite Anders child.
"Shouldn't you be leaving now, Kori," asked Luan. "School will be starting soon."
"You're right," Kori stepped to the door in the kitchen which was near the stairs. "Raven, if you don't hurry up we'll leave without you!" Kori turned to Dick. "Ready to go?"
Dick nodded and put Ryan back in his highchair. "Bye Luan. See you later, Ryan."
Ryan ignored Dick and was more focused on the colorful pattern which was printed on his bottle. Dick chuckled and followed Kori out of the kitchen and to the foyer where he stood by the front door.
"So, you ready for junior year?" Dick asked, glancing at Kori.
"After all the drama that happened last year," said Kori. "Not a chance." She took Dick's hand in her own and smiled affectionally at him. "But at least this time we're together."
"Yeah," he said softly. "And this time nothing is going to separate us."
He ran his fingers up her arm and up to her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. Just when he was about to lean in he stopped due to a coughing sound. Dick sighed and turned his head to see Raven standing there.
Raven smiled sheepishly and waved. "Hi."
"Of course. Now she gets up." Kori said as she opened the door and walked outside. Raven began to follow Kori out as well, Dick failing in line behind them.
"Lovely weather for the start of junior year huh, Raven." Dick said absently as they walked over to his car.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Shove it up your ass, Grayson."
Dick paused in his walk and chuckled. "Well, someone's cranky."
---
Roy stood idly outside of the front door to Jade's house after ringing the doorbell. He looked up at the cloud's and sighed. "What a drag."
Like most students, Roy was wishing he didn't have to go to school. If it was up to him he would have chosen for summer to last another two months. At the thought of summer a goofy grin spread across Roy's face. After suffering during his sophomore year karma worked it's magic and granted him a carefree summer, all of which he spent with Jade.
Jade... he smiled at the thought of her. They certainly got a lot closer during the summer. But during these past few weeks Roy noticed that him and Jade were a bit strained.
Roy shook his head. "It's probably all in my imagination," he told himself. "She's probably just irritated that school is starting again." Roy nodded his head, positive that was the answer.
He pulled out his cell phone from his jean pocket to check the time. He rarely wore a watch these days since he had given his father's watch to Jade. His father's watch was precious to him, as was Jade. Roy's eyes bugged out when he saw the time on his cell phone. Roy knocked on the door one more time, wondering what was keeping Jade. Surely it wasn't some wardrobe malfunction, that was more of Wally's style as strange it sounds.
The door opened and Jade stepped out, looking a bit pale. Roy was too happy to see her to even notice. He opened his arms wide and smiled. "There's my girl. How about a--"
"Roy, could you stop flirting for one minute please," Jade snapped. "My mom is still home you know. Now come on, we have to get to school."
She walked past him and went straight to his car, Roy following in a slower pace behind her with his eyes cast on the ground and hurt splashed across his face.
"I just wanted a hug..." he mumbled quietly to himself, sounding a bit sad.
---
The car ride in Vic's car was a lively one. Riding in Vic's car was him, Karen, Alain and Toni. The four chatted with enthusiasm, each one of them excited to start the new year of school. As of right now the four of them were reminiscencing on their summer vacation.
"I swear, it took me forever to drag Alain away from that beach." Toni said as she finished telling Karen and Vic about her summer vacation with Alain.
Karen giggled. "Vic's the same way with this burger restaurant."
"You do realize we're in the car," said Vic. "Don't you?"
The girls laughed again and the boys grunted in response.
"Thanks again for the ride to school, Vic," said Alain. "Me and Toni really appreciate it."
Vic shrugged indifferently. "No problem man."
"Hey, where's Gar at," Toni asked, suddenly noticing the green-haired teen's absence. "Doesn't he usually ride to school with you guys?"
"He does but...," Vic smirked. "Just wait and see."
The others rose curious eyebrows and looked at each other, each one of them wondering what Vic meant. The car began to slow up and eventually came to a stop. Vic smiled broadly.
"We're here!" he announced.
They all stepped out of the car and gazed up at the school.
"Wow... it's just like I remember it." Karen said.
"Yeah, I know," Toni said in agreement. She scrunched up her nose. "You think they would have given it a paint job or something."
Before the others could respond a horn beeped at them. They turned their heads to the side, expecting to see a car coming into the school parking lot. Instead, the beep came from a white moped that parked itself in the space right next to Vic's car. The person riding the moped removed his helmet to reveal a pair of green eyes and hair.
Gar smiled up at his friends. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Alain rose a brow. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at the vehicle Gar was sitting on.
"It's my new moped," Gar said proudly, stroking the front of his vehicle when he got off. "My parents got it for me over the summer. Pretty cool isn't it?"
"Dorky is more I like it." Toni muttered to Alain who nodded in agreement.
"Well... it's very... you," Karen said to Gar. "Congrats."
"I'm sure Raven will love it." Vic said with a satisfied smirk. Due to his comment Karen, Toni and Alain laughed while Gar blushed a deep shade of red and looked away.
"Shut up." Gar muttered.
"Who should shut up?" Jenn asked as she stepped up to the group with Wally by her side, having just arrived.
Vic chuckled. "Grass stain here is just upset that I made a crack about his little cru--"
"Vic, shut up!" Gar yelled as he jumped on Vic's back and wrapped him in a headlock, cutting off Vic's sentence.
The two fell to the ground where they continued to wrestle with each other, the others watching them in amusement.
"Shouldn't we stop them." Wally asked after a long pause, looking up at the others.
"Nah," Karen shook her head. "This is too funny to stop now."
---
With Gar and Vic's fight over and done with the small group of friends proceeded inside and walked the halls of Jump City High School. When they went to go retrieve their schedules they ran into Dick, Kori, Raven, Jade and Roy. Since they were all together they opened their schedules at the same time. They were all pleased to see they shared lunch, gym and US history together at the same time. Kori was observing her schedule when it was suddenly pulled from her hands. She turned around, ready to demand her schedule back until she saw just who had it in their hand. Kori's face went from anger, to surprise and then to joy in less than five seconds.
"Xavier," she cried, flinging herself into his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"The feeling is mutual, cutie." Xavier said softly, rubbing his hand up and down her back with affection.
Dick began a coughing fit and the two separated. Kori pulled away from Xavier sheepishly and stepped to the side so she was standing besides Dick. The others stood behind them, watching with curious eyes. Anytime Dick and Xavier were together made good entertainment for the others. For an extended period of silence all Xavier and Dick did was stare at each other. Red eyes clashing with blue eyes. The tension was suffocating and Kori made a small noise, breaking the silence.
"So, Xavier, what do you have first period?" Kori asked.
"US history."
Kori's face brightened with a smile. "That's what we have. We can all walk to class together."
"You sure I wouldn't be imposing?"
"No, not at all," Dick answered, surprising everyone. "We're all friends aren't we."
Xavier smiled a small, almost unnoticeable smile, and nodded.
"Well that was a complete waste of time," droned Raven as she began to walk away. "I'm going to class."
"Raven's right," Gar said as he fell in step behind her. "I thought they would at least fight or something."
The others voiced their agreements, following Raven and Gar, leaving Xavier, Kori and Dick behind.
Kori smiled at Xavier and Dick. "I think it's great that you two have been getting along. It really makes me happy." She smiled once more before following the others, leaving Dick and Xavier in silence.
"Nice acting, Grayson," said Xavier. "For a minute there I almost believed you."
"You weren't so bad yourself for a criminal." Dick said coldly.
"From the mouth of a filthy playboy." Xavier snapped back.
"Ex-playboy."
Dick and Xavier glared at each other. During the summer the two had reached an understanding. They hated each other but around Kori they would put their dislike to the side to make her happy. Kori was important to both of them and if they had to play nice with each other in front of others than so be it. The two glared at each other for about five more seconds before turning away and catching up with the others.
The walk to class was a short one and Dick, Kori and the others got to class with time to spare. They took seats in the front of the room, Dick and Xavier sitting on either side of Kori. Gar pulled out a seat for Raven and he grinned at her. Raven, however, merely rose a brow and sat on the seat next to the one Gar pulled out for her. Gar scowled for a quick second and sat in the seat he offered to her, resting his head and arms on the desk with a grumpy look on his face. Vic and Karen shook their heads and took the seats behind them with Jenn, Wally, Toni and Alain sitting as coupled pairs to either side of them. Jade took the last seat next to Jenn instead of going for the two free seats in the front. Roy stood by her desk for a moment before he sighed and took the seat in front of her.
Kori took a brief moment to look around the classroom, spotting some old familiar faces as well as some new ones. That's when she spotted the worst, in her opinion, person ever to have walked the halls of Jump City High School.
Kitten Moth chatted animatedly with her two best friends Mandy and Cindy. For a moment her eyes seemed to sparkle with merriment until her eyes flicked towards Kori and her friends. Upon spotting them her eyes took a darker hue which could be considered almost evil. Kori looked away but Kitten continued to glare.
"I wonder what our new teacher will be like." Wally said.
"As long as our new teacher is nothing like Mr. Mod I'll be happy," said Karen as she relaxed in her chair. The door opened and she turned her head to see who it was. She gasped, her eyes going wide in disbelief. "Oh shit..."
A chuckle escaped the lips of the British teacher with cherry red hair as he entered the room. "Ms. Beecher, you know how I feel about language in my classroom." Mr. Mod said with a smirk as he stepped in front of the class.
"Hold on just a second," said Vic, narrowing his eyes as he raised his schedule. "The schedule says Mr. Neil is supposed to be our teacher."
"Mr. Neil hit the lotto and quit," Mr. Mod said. "I, on the other hand, was granted a promotion with higher pay..." Mr. Mod smiled at this and looked at his class. "Which means you all have my for another year!"
"NOOOO!" Gar bellowed and others gasped. Mr. Mod was the teacher from hell. No one wanted him for another year.
Mr. Mod laughed sinisterly. "Oh yes!"
The room dipped into silence and one student began to cry over his misfortune.
---
The junior class was relieved when lunch time finally came. The other teachers they had weren't so bad but just having Mr. Mod for first period made them exhausted. Dick, Kori, Vic, Karen, Gar, Raven, Jade, Roy, Wally, Jenn, Alain and Toni all sat at one table. Xavier had departed earlier to go sit with his friends.
"I can't believe we have him again..." Dick said bitterly, having never really liked Mr. Mod.
"This so sucks." Toni said, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face.
"It could be worst." Wally said, trying to relieve some of the tension.
"How?" Raven asked dryly, sparing Wally a glance as she looked up from her book. Wally paused for a minute and opened his mouth only to close it again. He sighed, not having an answer to her question.
"Let's just enjoy our lunch," said Alain. "Shall we?"
"I'm with Alain," Vic said, grabbing his burger. "Let's eat!"
They all grabbed their lunch and began to chow down except for Jade who seemed rather uncomfortable and had her arms wrapped around herself. Roy looked to the side and saw that she wasn't eating. He instantly became concerned.
"Jade, is something wrong?" he asked softly. Everyone seated at the table dipped into silence due to his question and looked at the couple.
"Nothing's wrong," Jade said looking away from him. "I'm just not hungry."
"You sure? You've been acting weird for--"
"Roy! I said I'm fine!" Jade snapped, glaring at him.
"Hey, I'm just worried about you," Roy said as he let the frustration consume him. He was tired of Jade's attitude. "You've been acting like a whinny little bitch for the last couple of weeks and all I've done is been nice to you."
Jade glared at him and stood up. Roy flinched thinking she was going to hit him but all she did was walk away from the table.
Roy blinked and called after her. "Jade... Jade! Don't you walk away from me!... Come back here," Roy yelled. Jade continued to walk away and Roy was beginning to realize that she wasn't listening to his demands. "Jade...go cool off!" His last sentence was an attempt to make it look like he had control over the situation when in fact he didn't. Roy turned back to look at the others and saw they were all staring at him.
"Well...," Karen began dryly. "That went well."
"I'm gonna go after her." Jenn said as she stood up and left as well.
Kori slapped Roy behind his head. "You idiot. You better apologize to Jade next time you see her."
"But--"
"You better listen to her dude," Gar said with an amused smile. "Or else you'll have to face the fury of a bunch of girls defending their friend."
Meanwhile, Jenn was hot on Jade's trail. She turned the corner and spotted someone walking down the hall. She asked that person if she had seen Jade. The girl said yes and pointed at the girl's bathroom. Jenn said a quick thank you and walked inside the girl's bathroom, only to see that it was completely empty. Just as she was about walk out she heard a sniffle. It was faint but Jenn knew who it belonged to. She closed the bathroom door and turned around.
"Alright, Jade, come on out. I know you're there."
There was a pause before one of the bathroom stall doors opened and Jade stepped out, her face slightly pink due to crying.
"Aw, Jade," Jenn said softly as she wrapped her friend in a hug. "It's okay. Roy didn't mean what he said. He's just frustrated."
"I'm not crying because of what Roy said...," Jade said as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I've been taking my frustrations out on him... I had it coming."
"I would be lying if I said you didn't."
Both Jade and Jenn giggled at this.
"Alright," Jenn began, turning serious. "Do you mind telling me what's wrong?"
Jade shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. "It's... It's complicated."
"Hey, whatever it is you can tell me. Best friends forever," Jenn reminded her with a kind smile. "You can trust me."
Jade considered her words. What Jenn was telling her was true. Perhaps it was time to reveal this secret that she had been hiding. It was getting harder and harder every day to keep this secret locked up inside her. It would help if she had a friend by her side.
Jade double checked the bathroom to make sure it was only Jenn and herself. All was clear. They were alone. Jade looked up at Jenn and for a minute Jenn knew something big was coming. She just hoped it wasn't illegal.
A moment of silence passed until Jade began to speak.
"Jenn... I'm pregnant."
-----------------------------
HOW'S THAT FOR HIGH SCHOOL DRAMARAMA?
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