Summary: Koriand'r is sent to Earth by her K'norfka Galfore when a war breaks out between her planet and the Gordanians. Things do not go well for her until she meets the charming Richard Grayson or Nightwing as he is known in other circles. They form an instant bond, but things become complicated when feelings get involved and secrets get exposed.

Chapter One - Fate's Encounter

Monday, August 24th 7:55 AM - 1st period history

Kori's POV

It is early Monday morning and as always I am sitting alone in the back of my first period history class. I do not wish to be alone, but then again, I do not believe anyone truly does. It is just the people in this school, especially the girls, can be most mean at times. They constantly call me the names and do the making fun of me, all because I am different. So different in fact, that I am not even from the same planet as them.

I am princess of a far away planet called Tameran, but a little over an Earth year ago, a war broke out between Tameran and Gordania. Many lost their lives, including my parents. My k'norfka Galfore sent me here to Earth. He said our appearance was similar to humans. I could blend in, but blending in is not fitting in. I do not understand many of the slang words, and Earth culture can be most strange at times.

When I first arrived here, I learned in order to purchase a dwelling at my age, you must attend school, so I enrolled myself in Jump City High School. At first I embarrassed myself nearly every time I opened my mouth or did something, so I learned to keep quite and keep to myself, but even then, some students found it most enjoyable to do the picking on me. I decided that if fitting in meant making others hurt, than I would rather be an outcast.

Home life is not much better for me. I exchanged my spacial credits for American currency, but it is barely enough to rent a small apartment and pay the monthly expenses, such as lights, water, and cable. It all can be most expensive, I fear I shall run out of Earth currency soon. Sighing aloud, I realize how much I truly dislike my life. Remaining optimistic is becoming most difficult.

My spirits rise slightly when Richard Grayson strolls into the room. Richard is the most... I believe the word is popular? Yes, that is it. He is the most popular male in school, and absolutely gorgeous by any standards. He is tall for an Earthling, around 6'2, has a lean, muscular body, jet black styled hair, and the bluest eyes I have ever seen, although they were usually hidden behind black shaded glasses of the sun... or sunglasses, whichever it is I am not sure.

I watch him discretely as he passes by and takes a seat at a desk on the other side of the room, near his friends. A 6'4 muscular, Africa-American known as Vic, sits in the desk directly to his left. Behind Vic is an African-American girl named Karen Beecher, but they all call her Bee. She is Vic's chosen.. or girlfriend as they call it here. Earth relationships still confuse me.

Behind Richard is a ravened hair girl, who they call Raven. I am not certain if that is her real name. She is very quite, and I have often seen her reading. Behind her sits a fair-skinned, blonde-haired boy named Garfield, but he does not like to be called that, I have heard him argue with Vic on many occasions because of it. He is shorter than the other boys, shorter than me at the height of 5'9. He sleeps a lot in this class, as he is doing now.

I find them odd in a way. They are all so different from each other, yet they chose to remain together. Most high schoolers stick to the social groups, which are people like themselves, but they do not seem to conform to any one group. Sometimes I think about approaching them, but I fear them doing the making fun of me, even though none of them ever have. In fact, I do not believe they even know I exist, which may not be a bad thing. I let out another sigh, and turn my attention to the front of the room and wait for class to begin.

Monday, August 24th 7:57 Am - 1st period history

Normal POV

Richard Grayson plopped tiredly into his seat, instantly laying his hand down on his desk. Vic grinned at his friend, and took out his phone to text him.

(Late night?,) he sent.

Dick felt his phone buzz, and raised his head. He took out his phone, and glanced at Vic before responding.
(You have no idea. It's like every criminal in Jump city had a meeting and set a goal to make sure Nightwing got no sleep.)

Vic snickered as he read the text.(Told you, you should let us help you.)

Richard shot him a look. (Do you understand what kind of lecture I'd get from Batman if he found out I was involving civilians in all of this?)

(Civilians my ass! Raven's half demon, Bee's got all sorts of abilities, and if weren't for these hologram rings on our fingers, we'd be the biggest freaks in school,) Vic Retorted, referring to the rings he, Gar, and Bee wore to conceal there appearance.

(Stop complaining, your life's good. You got Bee, you're the number one wide receiver in the country, and you'll be in the NFL in 5 years... the last thing you need is to get hurt running on rooftops in the middle of the night with me,) Richard joked.

Vic grinned proudly at the number one receiver in the country part. It was true, he was ranked by ESPN as the number one wide receiver in the country, and had scholarship offers forms schools like Alabama, USC, UCLA, LSU, Florida State, and Texas.

(Yeah I guess you're right, but I can't take all the credit. My quarterback is pretty good.)

Richard scoffed (Pretty good? I threw 40 touchdowns last year, and I bet you I throw 50 this year.)

(I don't care how many you throw, as long as you throw them to me,) Vic responded still grinning.

Before Richard could reply the bell rung and Coach Garret the history teacher/gym teacher/head football coach walked through the door."What up coach!," Vic called out on sight.

"There's my stars," the coach greeted as he was over to Richard and Vic.
"Friday's the first game of the season, You ready Grayson?"

Richard raised the glasses off his eyes and gave coach a look that exuded confidence, which Kori, along with every other girl in the room, beside Bee and Raven, found breath takingly sexy. "When am I not ready?"

Coach Garret grinned before turning to Vic. "What about you Stone?"

"Child please, the question is are they ready for me," Vic replied smugly.

"That's my boys," Coach Garret exclaimed, but then drastically sombered when he remembered he had to teach. Letting out a sigh, he turned on his heels and headed to the front of the room. "Now, as much as I'd love to go on and on about football all day, unfortunately I'm required by law to actually teach you something."

Everyone let out a collective groan besides Kori who remained silent, Raven who was reading, and Gar who was still asleep, drooling on his desk by this point..

Coach Garret raised his hands in defense. "I know, I don't wanna do it either, but I have to. So, for the next two weeks you and a partner will pick a country, and write a paper on it's history, culture, religion, government, and blah, blah, blah, blah. Got it?"

"Oh, Dickie-Poo," Kitten, a blonde headed girl called from across the room. Richard cringed, Vic and Bee laughed, Raven rolled her eyes, and Kori suddenly found her desk very interesting.

"Oh no, no, no, no, I pick your partners. Ain't no one corrupting my quarterback," Coach Garret spoke up.

Richard let out a sigh of relief while Kitten scowled. He couldn't stand kitten. She always hit on him, even though he had made it abundantly clear many times that he absolutely no interest in her. Kori saw Richard's relieved expression and smiled a little to herself. Kitten was one of the girls that constantly picked on her, and it comforted her that Richard wasn't a fan of hers either

"Alright, groups," Coach Garret began, picking up a clip board off his desk.

"Logan, Roth." Raven sighed and Gar snored.

"Stone, Beecher." Vic and Bee smiled at each other, while Richard frowned. Four names in and his friends were gone, which meant he'd end up with someone he didn't know or didn't like.

"Redd, Moth." Richard glanced over at Xavier Redd. They had a mutual hate for each other. Before Richard had arrived Xavier had been the quarterback, the most popular guy in school, the heart throb, but all that changed when Ricahrd showed up. Ever since then they had an unspoke rivalry, A silent battle between to alphas. Richard smirked, celebrating a little victory. Not only had he avoided kitten, but now Xavier had to deal with her.

A few more names were rattled before Coach Garret called out, "Grayson, Anders." Kori's heart began to pound dangerously fast, and her mouth fell agape, but she didn't look at him, she didn't want to see his expression. Richard Just raised and eyebrow, having no idea who that was. Seeing no one looking in his direction, he looked back at Raven. "Who's Anders?"

Without looking up from her book Raven pointed across the room. Richard followed her fingers, fully prepared to scowl, but he couldn't when he saw a beautiful redheaded, tan skinned girl, with the most absolutely amazing green eyes he'd ever seen. 'Why don't I know her? She's just... wow,' he thought to himself still taking in the girl's appearance, but strangely enough she wouldn't look at him. 'Must be shy,' he reasoned.

Upon completion of the list Coach Garret spoke up. "That's it, now let's get start... You know what? Screw it," he waved his hand dismissively. "We'll get started tomorrow. I got important stuff to take care of today," he said as he took a seat at his desk. "Grayson, Stone, front and center," he ordered, confirming the 'important stuff,' he had to do was football related, which everyone already really knew.

It was a simple reason why students loved Coach Garret. They knew he didn't want to be in class anymore than they did. The only reason he taught history was because it was required by California law, that all high school coaches must teach something, and history was probably the most straight forward thing you could teach. This is what happened, and here's why. Done.

As Vic and Richard discussed the game plan with Coach Garret, the rest of the class talked quietly among themselves. Kori sat silently in her desk, feeling worse than before. Surely he wasn't going to want to be friends with her. No one did. She was an outcast, and he was the king of the high school, the prince of Gotham, a celebrity, constantly gracing the television screen and the covers of magazines with his presence. It was hopeless. Surely he'd make fun of her, just like everyone else. Sighing, she laid her head down on her desk until class ended.

The next three periods weren't that bad. Only a couple of girls had said something to her, usually it was more. In lunch, she went and got her food, before heading to her table, where she sat alone, as she did everyday. Richard entered the lunchroom a short time later. Deciding against the horrors of school lunch, he headed to the circular table in the middle of the lunchroom, where his friends were already seated.

"Yo! What up Dick," Vic greeted as Richard took a seat in between Raven and Gar.

"What...," he paused his greeting, noticing the red mark on Gar's cheek. "What happened to you?"

He pointed at Raven. "She slapped me!," He yelled, glaring at her.

Raven looked up from her book. "Don't fall asleep on me and it wont happen," she replied monotoniously.

"I...," he began his retort, before noticing Vic staring at something. "What are you looking at?," he asked.

"Dick, isn't that your history partner over there?," he questioned, motioning toward a table on the far side of the room.

Everyone turned in the direction of Vic's gaze. Richard that it indeed was and she was sitting by herself, looking completely miserable. "Yeah," he nodded. "Why is she sitting alone?"

Bee shrugged. "I don't know, but she looks sad."

Being an empath, Raven focused on the girl's emotions. Upon feeling the girl's depression she frowned. "Not sad, more depressed actually," Raven informed to the group.

Richard saddend. "I'm going to talk to her," he said, quickly standing and walking off before any one else could say anything.

Kori sat solemnly at her table. Despite the fact that Tameranians had nine stomachs, she wasn't very hungry, and was just picking at her food with a plastic fork. Suddenly her attention was grabbed when she felt her table jar a slightly. She looked up, and to her amazement Richard Grayson was sitting there, looking absolutely glorious. He wasn't even wearing his sunglasses. His electric blue eyes instantly captured her, and placed her in a state of complete awe.

"Hey," he greeted with a warm smile, bringing her out of her dazed state.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, the nervousness evident in her voice. "Greetings."

He quickly made a mental note, that she was most likely not from the United States. No one he knew said "greetings" as an actual greeting.

"I'm Dick, or Richard Grayson, whichever you prefer," he informed extending his hand out to her. He normally didn't like for anyone to call him Richard, but he was willing to make an exception on occasion.

She liked the name Richard, it rolled of the tongue better than Dick. "I am aware of who you are," she replied shaking his hand lightly, blushing far to much as she did.

"What's your name?," he asked with a certain level of charm in his voice.

"Umm, Kori Anders," she replied, biting her bottom lip

"Kori," he thought aloud. "I really like your name."

She blushed. "I thank you... but may I inquire why you have come to my table?," she asked, but not sounding the least bit rude. After all the jokes that had been played on her, she didn't trust humans, so she was of course a little skeptical of him.

"I was just curious why you were sitting alone, if you want me to leave I...," he began, before she cut him off.

"No!," she said with a little to much haste, causing another blush to color her cheeks. "...It is just, people here do not like me. I am not from here, and I do not understand the slang or the culture." She hung her head and her voice grew somber. "I chose to sit alone so I can avoid the name calling and the words of meanness."

Richard felt his heartbreak a little and his blood boil. This girl seemed like the sweetest thing in the world, how could people possibly treat her like that? "Screw them," he replied with anger in his voice.

She tilted her head, a confused look across her face. "Screw them?," she repeated back

Remembering she wasn't from here, he explained. "Yeah, it means don't worry about it. It's their problem if they don't understand you, not yours."

She gave him a small smile, but it quickly fell. "It still hurts," she replied as she bowed her head once more.

Richard felt guilty. If he had known about this sooner, he could have stopped it, he could have made them leave her alone. Reaching across the table he placed his hand over hers. Her head raised in surprise and she met his blue eyes, making no effort to move her hand. His touch was so... warm, and yet chilling. She really couldn't describe how she felt at the moment. "Come sit with me and my friends," Richard requested, his gaze making butterflies flutter their wings in her stomach.

She was stunned, but also still reluctant. "I do not know. Besides are you not the popular? Will it not affect you negatively to be seen with me?"

She was a little surprised when he began to chuckle. "I don't see how being seen with a girl as beautiful as you could effect me negatively."

Her face turned beet red. "You think I am beautiful?," she questioned in disbelief.

He nodded, smiling. "I do. Now please, come with me. If I go back to my table without you, my friends are gonna beat me up. You don't wanna see your history partner get mauled, do you?," he questioned playfully.

She giggled and shook her head. "No, that would not be pleasing."

"So you'll come?," he asked hopefully.

She nodded in agreement and Richard smiled, standing as he did. He gently pulled her up with him. Picking up her tray her with one hand, he kept his other firmly clutched to hers, which made her blush once more as he led her away from her former table.

The whole lunchroom hushed to an array of collective whispers, as all eyes fell on them. Kori noticed kitten. Her face was one utter envy, and to be honest, it made her feel kind of good. Reaching the table, Richard introduced her. "Hey guys..., he paused when Raven shot him a death glare, "and Raven. I want you all to meet Kori Anders."

"What's up little lady, I'm Vic," Vic greeted, smiling widely.

"And I'm Gar," Gar added enthusiastically.

"Hey girl, I'm Karen, but just call me Bee," Bee introduced

Raven looked up from her book and gave the girl a small smile. "Raven, call me Raven, not Rae," she said, turning to glare at Gar.

Kori smiled brightly. She hadn't expected to excepted so fully. "Greetings."

She felt Richard release her hand, but it quickly found it's way to her lower back. He placed the tray on the table beside Raven, and ushered her to sit, which she did. He then pushed Gar over a little and made room for himself to sit beside her.

"So why were you sitting by yourself?," Bee asked.

She sombered, but was about to respond when Richard spoke up. "Because some people in this school are trash."
Kori smiled at him softly. She was beginning to feel like he really was different.

Vic quickly understood and changed the subject. "So what do you guys... and Raven, wanna do after we get out of practice?"

"Dudes, let's just go back to Dick's, order some pizza, watch a movie, and chill."

"Chill? Is your house cold?," she asked Richard.

He chuckled a little. ,"Uhhh no, it just means relax," he explained.

"Sounds good to me," Bee agreed, while Raven shrugged indifferently.

"What about you Kori?," Richard asked. "You wanna come with us?"

She wanted to scream 'yes' at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't. "I cannot. I have no money for the pizza."

Gar was the first to reassure her. "Don't worry about it, Kor. I haven't paid for anything since I met Dick. He's rich, he'll take care of you."

Kori looked at Richard, who smiled and nodded. She knew he was rich, but didn't like the idea of spending his money. Then again, it was nice to feel accepted."I would like to come," she agreed.

"Well, alright," Vic bellowed, his wide smile returning. "What class do you have for your last period?"

"Pre-calculus," she answered.

"Dude, us too," Gar exclaimed as if it was the most amazing coincidence in the history of ever.

"You can watch practice with Bee and Raven. Dick loves showing off in front of all the girls," Vic teased.

"I don't show off, I'm just that good," Richard defended himself, sounding matter-of-factly.

"Yeah sure, that's why you always do drills shirtless."

Kori blushed at the thought, while Richard rolled his eyes. "Wait," Kori began, "Where will you be," she asked Gar.

"I'm on the team!," he exclaimed.

"Oh, are you not small for the football?," she questioned, cocking her head to the side a little. Both Richard and Vic were tall and muscular, While Gar was short and kind of scrawny. She was just making an innocent observation, but the others found it hilarious. Everyone laughed absurdly, Raven even smiling a little. "Oh, I like her," she commented.

"Yeah, me too," Vic managed as he laughed ridiculously.

"Yeah, this girl's alright," Bee added in.

Gar just huffed and flexed his muscles, which just caused everyone to laugh more. The bell rung shortly there after and everyone stood leave. As Kori began to walk off she felt someone lightly grab her arm. Turning, see found Richard standing there, smiling down at her. "Can I walk you to class?," he offered, as the cafeteria cleared out.

She beamed up at him. "I would like that, Richard."

Richard returned the smile and placed his hand on the small of her back. "Where to malady?," he asked.

She giggled, before responding. "Chemistry."

As he led her down the hall to the chemistry room, many girls stared, mostly because she was Richard Grayson, and among the female population, that made her public enemy number one. Truthfully the sneers and glares didn't bother her at the moment. Richard and his friends were treating her better than anyone had since she arrived on this planet, and he'd been right when he said that it wasn't her problem if people didn't like her.

As they approached the room, Richard came to a stop, and she did as well, turning to look at him. "I think Vic's in here this period. Just set with him and he'll take care of you," Richard instructed, absent-mindedly gliding his hand down her arm.

Her breath hitched, leaving her to only nod. Something about when he touched her skin drove her crazy. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit," he said giving her one last smile before turning to walk off. She watched from just outside the chemistry door as he left. If she were alone, she would have squealed in pure joy, and flown through air, twirling her body gleefully, but unfortunately she couldn't do that, not only because the ceiling was low on this hall, but because humans couldn't fly and it would seriously flush the blending in plan down the proverbial toilet. Sighing happily, she turned and headed into the room, finding Vic sitting at one of the lab tables in the back of the room. She was slightly hesitant about approaching him, after all they had just met, but she swallowed any fear, and headed to his table.

Vic saw her approaching and smiled at her. "Yo! What's up little lady."

"Greetings Vic, may I sit with you?," she asked.

"Of course," he said, standing and pulling the chair next to him out.

"I thank you," she smiled up at him as she took a seat.

"Hey, don't mention it Kor," he waved her off.

Just then, Kitten walked in the room and instantly shot a death glare at Kori. Vic saw this and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about her, she's just jelous Dick asked you to sit with us. She's obsessed with him. I'd bet she has a shrine in his honor in her closet or something," he joked, wiggling his finger around his ear, which Kori knew meant, 'she's crazy.'

She couldn't help but to giggle. "I thank you Vic, you and your friends are most nice."

"Hey, like I said, don't mention it," Vic said, smiling at her warmly.

Reassured, she completely ignored Kitten. After a moment, she turned back to Vic. "May you do me the favor?"

"Sure Kor, whatcha need?," Vic asked.

"Please explain to me the football. I wish to understand," Kori replied. Maybe that would give her something she could discuss with Richard the next time he talked to her.

Vic's face was one of complete shock. A girl who wanted to talk ball was completely unheared of to him. His shocked face quickly turned to an ear to ear grin. "Me and you are gonna get along real well."

Chemistry flew by quickly, with Vic explaining every aspect of the game known as football. During this time she concluded three things:

1. The name made absolutely no sense.

2. It was most violent

3. It was the most glorious thing she had ever heard of.

After chemistry, or rather football 101, she headed to P.E. As she approached the gym she began to get butterflys, knowing Richard was in there with her this period. Walking through the door, she found Richard and Gar sitting on the bleachers on the far side of the room. Noticing her walk in, Richard smiled and Gar waved. She returned Richard's smile and waved back at Gar, before heading into the girl's locker room to change into her gym clothes.

Upon emerging she headed to where Richard and Gar were sitting. She noticed Gar was in a simple white t-shirt and Richard was wearing a black muscle shirt that showed off his muscular arms, and ripped chest. Her heart began to beat faster as she took in his appearance, and it only quickened when he smiled down at her.

"Hey Kori," he greeted extending his hand out to her, to help her up on to the five foot tall bleachers.

She could have easily gotten up there under her own power, but she wasn't about to refuse his help.

"Greetings," she replied as she allowed herself to be lifted up and took a seat in the space between Richard and Gar, actually feeling very comfortable.

"Dudes, you know what were doing today?," Gar questioned.

"Coach said we're gonna run laps around the gym the whole class," Richard replied.

"Ughhh, I hate...," Gar began began, before he was interrupted by a squeaky female voice.

"Oh, Dickie-poo," came kitten's voice in an almost musical tone.

"Dude, you need to get rid of her," Gar complained.

"I'm about to," Richard responded.

"Why is she sitting with you," Kitten spat, glaring at Kori coldly. Kori's eyes fell, but quickly rose again when she felt Ricard take her hand protectively.

"Because we want her to," Richard answered, anger audible in his voice.

But..., but you never let me sit with you," she pouted.

"Well, we actually like her," Gar retorted, throwing his arm over Kori's shoulder. Richard nodded in agreement.

"Aghhhh!," Kitten screamed in frustration, before storming off.

Kori smiled. First Vic comforting her, now Richard and Gar standing up for her. It was true, these people were different.

"Oh, yeah high five," Gar exclaimed, removing his arm from over Kori's shoulders. Richard released her hand and obliged him.

"I thank you both," Kori said, as Gar lifted her arm and forced her to high five him, which made her giggle.

"Don't worry about it kor, we stick together," Gar exclaimed.

"Yeah," Richard agreed. "We'll make sure they leave you alone from now on. I just hate I didn't notice this sooner."

"Oh, it is not your fault," Kori assured him.

"But still...," he trailed off.

She rubbed his arm to comfort him. "It is the okay now, yes?"

Richard brightened. He was amazed at how positive she was after everything she had been through. He really admired her for that.

"Yeah it'll be okay now," Gar reassured. "We hate bullies, all of us. Why didn't you ever ask on of us for help? We would have made them leave you alone."

Kori sighed deeply. "I feared being the made fun of."

Richard retook her hand. " Trust me Kor, none of us would do that."

"Yeah, we're all weird ourselves," Gar began but quitened when Richard sent him a look that said 'shut it.'

Kori didn't notice the glare Richard had sent Gar so she just continued the conversation. "None of you appear weird to me, but I do trust you. No one has been so nice to me since I moved here."

"We've got your back," Gar replied

Kori's eyebrow scrunched in away that Richard thought was adorable. "You have my back?," she repeated unsure of the meaning of the unfamiliar expression.

Richard was about to explain when Coach Garret entered the room. "Alright you lazy, obese, video game playing teenagers, today were gonna work your tails into shape. Laps around the gym all period," he ordered in full drill Sargent mode. Groans echoed throughout the gym, Gar being on of the teens contributing.

"I hate this class soooooo much," he whined as he jumped down from the bleachers, with Richard following behind.

"If you do not like gym, then why did you chose to take it?," Kori asked as Richard helped her off the bleachers.

"I didn't wanna take it. I got kicked out of culinary last year before Summer, because I accidentally almost set the school on fire," he informed rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Kori's eyes widened. "That was you?"

Gar just nodded with an uneasy chuckle.

"That's why I don't let him cook at my house anymore," Richard added.

"Alright you maggots, go!," Coach Garret blew his whistle.

As everyone began to jog around the gym, Kori looked over at Richard, who was running beside her. "I forgt to do the thanking of you for inviting me to your house."

Richard waved it off. "Don't mention it. If your gonna be hanging out with us, you'll be over a lot."

Kori smiled brightly. "I am doing the looking foward to it."

"Yeah, me too," Ricard agreed giving her a look that made her blush.

They continued to run lap after lap, eventually leaving Gar behind. Richard was suprised Kori was able to keep up with him, while not appearing out of breath in the slightest. It was very impressive, especially considering how fast he was going. Eventually Coach Garret blew his whistle, signaling everyone to stop. "Grayson, Anders, good work," the coach praised. "Everyone else, it's gonna be a long semsester for you. I expect better tomorrow, now head to the lockerooms and change in."

Everyone began to crawl toward the locker rooms besides Richard and Kori, who casually strolled in, showing no ill effects from the running. Richard being the famed superhero Nightwing, was in peak shape, while Kori being Tameranian, didn't require nearly as much air as humans, even able to fly in space without any problems. Kori finished dressing in, and was about to exit the locker Room when Kitten and two other girls approached her, none of them appearing to be to happy. "Listen you little skank," Kitten spat,"I want you to leave Dickie-poo alone. He's mine."

Kori was naturally insecure, but at the moment she was feeling rather sure of herself. "He is not yours, and I believe the saying is you cannot always get what you want," Kori retorted, before walking past the fuming girls and out to the locker room. Upon emerging she saw that Richard and Gar were waiting by the gym's doors, which made her smile. She quickly scampered to them, not wanting to keep them waiting. "Kor," Gar exclaimed after she reached them, "how did you do that?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Do what?"

"Keeping up with Dick," he elaborated. "You weren't even breathing hard."

"Well, ummm...," she stammered for an explanation.

Richard interjected. "All of us don't spend are free time playing video games. You workout, right?," he asked turning to her.

That sounded reasonable. "Ummm yes, I do the working out."

"Cool, maybe we could run together sometime? You know, outside of school," he questioned.

"Oh yes, that would be most enjoyable," Kori exclaimed gleefully.

"Okay you two, quit flirting and let's go. I don't want another detention," Gar complained.

Richard rolled his eyes, while kori blushed.

They made their way to class, where Vic, Bee, and Raven were already seated in the back of the room. Kori usually sat up front, but she felt comfortable with the group at this point, and wished to sit with them, so she followed Richard and Gar to the back of the room, and took a seat across from Richard.

Class was fairly boring, and no one was really paying any attention. Gar was making goofy faces at Raven in an attempt to make her laugh, but was failing miserably, Vic and Bee were passing notes back and forth between each other, Richard was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, hidden behind his dark shades, and Kori was doodling in her notebook, occasionally glancing over at Richard.

Eventually the bell rung, ending the day. Everyone filed out of the room. The six teens paused in the middle of the crowed hallway. "Alright, we'll catch you girls after practice," Vic said before giving Bee a good-bye kiss.

"We'll be waiting," she replied once he released her lips.

Just a few feet over Richard and Kori were having a separate conversation. "Here," Richard said taking the sunglasses off his eyes and placing them over hers. "It's pretty bright outside today."

She giggled as she adjusted the glasses on her eyes. "I thank you."

Richard grinned down at her. "You definitely make those look better than I do."

"I do not believe that to be true." She began, beginning to become shy, but continued her train of thought. "I believe you are most handsome in your sun glasses, although they do hide your eyes, which are most glorious." As she talked she looked away from him blushing.

He chuckled softly. "My eyes?," he repeated. "Your eyes are hands down one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

She flushed completely. "I thank you," was all she could muster.

"Alright lover boy, let's go!," Vic called.

"Yeah dude, we're gonna be late," Gar added.

Richard glanced at them, frowning, before turning back to Kori. "I'll see you in a bit," he said, running his hand down her arm.

Kori found herself suddenly needing a deep breath. "Okay," she nodded.

Richard gave her one last smile before turning to walk off with Vic and Gar, while the girls headed toward the football stadium.