Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans… blah, blah, blah etc.
You know how high school sucks? Have you tried attending high school as your secret identity when all you really want to be doing is fighting crime as a superhero? Well, it sucks even more that way. Welcome to Gotham Academy, the boarding school with the highest teenage superhero population on the Eastern seaboard. Only, now I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's take it from the top.
It was the evening before my first day of Sophomore Year at the prestigious Gotham Academy. Bruce had insisted that I take a break from the Robin mantle and attend high school. The press were getting suspicious of my lack of visible enrolment in school anyway.
Naturally, I was angry. I'm not a child and refuse to be treated as such but Bruce insisted, and when Batman himself demands you do something it's probably in your best interest to do it. So here I was, three weeks later, unpacking my case in a private room (courtesy of my billionaire father) and mumbling swearwords under my breath. The room itself I couldn't really complain about. It was a decent size (nothing compared to the rooms at Wayne Manor, but that was to be expected) with a bed in the corner, a desk, a nice closet and a pretty decent view of the courtyard. Being paranoia personified I hooked a couple bugs up, just two cameras – one in the corner facing the door and the other facing the window. It couldn't hurt to be safe. After bugging my own room I pulled out my laptop and wireless Internet. Having hooked everything up I began initiating the code to establish a secure connection with the Bat cave. If something big was happening in Gotham, Robin was going to be there, high school be damned. I found a secure place to hide my Robin uniform, just in case I should need it in an emergency. Satisfied with my work I figured I'd brave the common room of my boarding house and meet my fellow classmates.
Just after locking up my room (paranoia personified) I turned to face the hallway, only to be knocked backwards by a distinctly green blur.
"Oh dude, I'm so sorry, didn't see you there!"
The boy speaking stood up and offered me his hand.
"Garfield. Garfield Logan. Pleased to meet you," the boy said. I was staggered by his odd appearance. The boy was wearing the school uniform, only it appeared to be a size too large for him and it hung off his shoulders. His hair was blond with a very distinctive line of green running through it. I wondered idly what would possess someone to dye his hair like that. The kid was short. It's rare that I meet a guy over the age of 13 who is shorter than me and it was a good feeling. I noticed that he wore a grey ring on his index finger. It took me a moment to realise that I'd been standing silently scrutinising him.
"Oh right, yeah," I stammered, a good start, "I'm Richard. People call me Dick."
I watched Garfield suppress a smirk.
"Dude," he started, "I think we're going to get on really well."
"Thanks?"
Garfield turned around and shouted down the hallway.
"Victor! Vic, come here. I've met a guy with a name more awkward than me! I win!"
I buried my face in my hands; this was so not where I wanted to be right now. Not when there were streets to patrol and criminals to detain. Being mocked by a short teenager named Garfield with green dye in his hair was so not on my agenda. My moping was interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps and I looked up.
"Now this I gotta see, grass stain," said a sceptical and booming voice. Now this guy was a giant. Looking like a line-backer he had to have been at least 6"5 with broad shoulders and dark skin. Even being the hero I was, this guy was intimidating. He came up and stood beside Garfield.
"So, what's your name?" He asked after looking me up and down.
I narrowed my eyes, "I'm Dick."
The guy actually had the audacity to laugh. At me, Robin – The Boy Wonder. The guy was laughing. Man, I wanted to kick his ass.
"Damn Gar. And you thought you had it bad," he guy guffawed and wiped his eyes. Once he was finished laughing he stood up and offered me his hand. I noticed at once that he was wearing a ring similar to Garfield's, also on his index finger. Odd.
"I'm Victor Stone." I grunted and accepted his hand, praying for this socially awkward encounter to end and silently cursing Bruce.
"Well, seeing as you're new, Vic and I are going to be your guides to Gotham Academy. We'll make sure you've got everything you need for this place," Garfield announced, dragging me in the direction of what I assumed was the common room.
I had to admit, the boy's common room actually wasn't that bad, a kitchenette stood off to the side, and the main room itself was decent. Several sofas were dotted around a central TV hooked up to a game station and a pool table sat in the corner.
"Pretty sweet, huh?" Victor asked, indicating to the room in front of them.
"It's decent," I replied, after all, I had a 'spoilt rich kid' persona to keep up.
"Whatever dude, I'm getting myself some grub. Vic, go claim our couch."
"Sure thing. You're coming with me Spikey."
I got the impression that this Victor guy and I weren't going to get on the most smoothly.
"It's Dick. Not Spikey."
"I'm sorry man, but there is like no way you're getting me to call you that… It ain't right."
Before I could do something really stupid, like punch the guy, Garfield returned with a blob of what could only be described as white goo on a plate.
"Oh G, you've got to be kidding. That looks disgusting. Keep that the hell away from me," Victor held his hands up in front of his face and scooted away from Garfield.
"Its just Tofu. Its full of soy-beany goodness."
"I'm with Victor, that looks horrible," I added.
"Suit yourselves," Garfield commented through a mouthful of food, "So this is the common room. The girls are allowed in here, but not in the rooms and stuff, because… well, you know. The food in the kitchen is a free-for-all system, but if you really want something you can put your name on it and hope that's enough to deter the upperclassmen. Dinner is at 7. Get there promptly or you'll miss out on the good stuff. Breakfast is at 8, but you can always grab something from the fridge instead. The seniors normally run the TV, but occasionally you can get a request in. Also, Pool is a matter of pride here; so don't do something stupid like challenge someone you don't know to a game. If you get your ass kicked, your rep is as good as gone. I think that's about it. Vic, did I miss anything?"
"Light's out is 10:30 for sophomores," Victor added.
"Yeah, that."
"Tomorrow will probably be orientation and stuff in the morning, so don't sweat it too much. Do ya know what you're taking?"
Time for me to show off, "I'm taking 12th grade trig, College Calculus, AP English language arts, Advanced physics, Russian and WHAP."
"So you're a geek, that's cool. Victor here is a geek too. Great with all the tech stuff, he is."
Oh, I see. A challenger appears. Well, I'd like to see Victor Stone beat Dick Grayson at the 'tech stuff'. That'd be hilarious. I've been handling the world's most advanced technology since I was nine. I'd been programming and updating the Bat computer regularly since I was 12 and I was proud of it. I would enjoy showing him up. My uncontrollable competitive streak reared its ugly head.
"Oh really?" I asked, "I know a thing or two about computers myself."
"My dad works at S.T.A.R. Labs, I help him out from time to time."
Garfield and Victor smirked, as if they were in on some kind of joke. Right.
"I know a lot about their new technology and I've got a bit of a flare for computing in general," again Victor smirked as if he had just made a good joke.
"I've done some work with WayneTech," I refused to be shown up by this guy. I figured I might as well show off my connections if he was going to show off his, "My Dad owns Wayne Enterprises and he lets me do some of the programming work."
The look on Victor and Garfield's faces was priceless.
"Duuude-" Garfield breathed.
"You're Dick Grayson? As in… The Dick Grayson? Adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson?"
"The very same," I replied smugly.
"Dude." Garfield said again, "You're like… famous."
I nodded, enjoying their reactions.
"Well, all right!" Victor's voice boomed.
"Huh," Garfield muttered, "I'm friends with a famous person."
The clock on the wall ticked past 7 o'clock and everyone in the room began moving towards the door very suddenly.
"Oh man," Victor exclaimed, "We're going to be late for dinner. We do not want to be late for dinner. Especially on the first night back."
Garfield jumped up and launched himself over the back of the couch, heading for the door. I followed suit, but made sure to land slightly awkwardly so as not to appear too agile. It wouldn't do to act like Robin in this situation.
"No fair!" Victor shouted after us, "Ya'll know if I tried that, I'd break the sofa."
He was forced to take the long way around, intimidating people in his way until he was walking next to us again.
"Oh, Dick, we'll have to introduce to you Rachel at dinner," Garfield commented, "She's a good friend of ours."
"And Gar here has a huge crush on her," Victor added, "It's so great, she couldn't give a damn about him and he fawns over her all the time."
"Dude, shut up," thoroughly embarrassed, Garfield shoved Victors shoulder ineffectually.
"We'll introduce you to Kori too. She's a transfer student. She's very… excitable."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Oh, you'll see," Victor smirked as we entered the dinner hall.
Well, hell. That was cryptic.
A/N: So! There it is: the beginning to my first full story.
Let me know what you thought in a review.