"So crash," Bart Allen said when Barry told him that he was going to attend Central City High next week.
Life was pretty sweet at the moment. Only a month ago, the team had been able to take down the Reach and get Jaime off mode. And it was because of him, Bart, that the future was now safe. Additionally, crime rates had plummeted now that the Light and other supervillain organizations had been dismantled.
Which is why Bart got to go to a real school for the first time ever. He still got to hang out with the team at the headquarters, and he hung out with Jaime, Tim, and Wally all the time, but now he actually had a chance to be a real teenager!
He had been spending this month watching all of the movies and TV shows that he hadn't had a chance to see in the future. He got to read books slowly, for pleasure, and he found that he actually loved reading. And he listened to music, and went shopping, and tasted all sorts of yummy foods. He just got to chillang with his grandparents while he didn't have any responsibilities to save the world. Totally. Crash.
When Barry dropped him off at school on Monday, Bart couldn't contain his excitement.
"Call me or Iris if you need anything. Anything at all," Barry rolled his window down and told Bart.
"Of course, Gramps! I'll zeezee you after classes," Bart hugged his Grandpa through the window. Some kids laughed and called out to him for being so affectionate, but Bart didn't care at all.
"And Bart," Barry added running his hand through his blonde hair. "Don't use your powers at school unless it's an absolute emergency. Okay?"
"You got it, pops!" Bart flashed his famous speedster grin and jogged over to the entrance. Barry smiled and drove away.
Once inside, Bart's eyes widened like that of a kid in a candy store. Lockers, hallways, fliers, potential friends, teachers, classes, and backpacks all filled his head. "So crash," Bart muttered before forcing himself to fast-walk all around the lobby to check everything new and unusual out.
"A whole new woo-oorld," he sang out loud. He had just watched Disney for the first time the other week, and he thought the whole franchise was really schway. He twirled around, startling the secretaries. "A dazz-ling place I ne-ver kneeew…," he sang and danced up to a group of 3 boys that looked to be his age with Central City letterman jackets.
"Hi, I'm Bart. Bart Allen. Technically short for Bartholomew. But you can call me whatever. It would be crash if we could be friends! What's your name?" Bart interrupted his solo and held his hand out to the group.
"Piss off, shithead," the tall blonde said. His friends snickered and they walked off. Bart jogged (at normal speed) ahead of them and faced them again. He laughed.
"Haha, I get it. Really, I do, I'm the new twip in school. But let's try to get off on the right hand, 'kay? I'll see you guys later!" Bart called as they pushed past him and kept walking. The speedster pouted for a moment, but then he slapped his grin back onto his face. A cluster of seemingly nice girls and a couple guys were coming his way.
"Hey, guys! I'm new, my names Bart. Nice to meet you…," Bart trailed off as the group eyed him but didn't acknowledge him and kept moving. Come on, Allen. Think of a new approach! He thought. He went down the west hallway and walked up to one girl who was shoving things into her backpack from her locker. She looked frustrated as she had to sit on the floor because her locker was on the bottom. Each time she looked down, her thick framed glasses slid down her nose and wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail fell into her face. She blew them away and shut her locker, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Bart," he held his hand out to her. She looked startled and stared wide-eyed at him.
"Emily," she said timidly as she took his hand and shook it.
"Emily. I love that name! It's really shiny," Bart said.
"Huh?"
"Say, Emily. I'm brand new here. You seem nice, would you help me find some of my classes and get a feel of the school?" He asked. She blushed and pushed her glasses up past the bridge of her nose.
"Um, s-sure," she replied. "Which classes do you have?" Bart yanked a crumpled paper out of his new backpack.
"It says I have Mr. James's English class first," he told her.
"Oh, I have that class, too. Let me take you there. We don't want to be late." She started heading down another corridor.
"Oh, that's crash! This is going to be great!" Bart exclaimed as he threw his arm around Emily. She tensed under his touch and blushed.
"Um, uh," she sputtered.
"Something moded?" Bart asked.
"H-huh?" she said. Before Bart could say anything else, they arrived in the classroom. Emily evaded his arm and went to sit down. A quick scan of the class told Bart that one of the guys with the lettermen from this morning was in his class.
Bart followed Emily's lead and took the seat right next to her in the front row. After all, he had heard that good students sit in the front. Before he could chat with Emily more, the bell rang and a few, last, stragglers meandered in and took seats.
A man with a tweed, brown-plaid blazer and brown slacks rushed hurriedly in the room. His tie was crooked, he held a brown briefcase in his hands, and his matching colored hair was sticking up. He looked like a very young person with older fashion taste.
"Sorry I'm almost late, class. But I did say 'almost.' Hello, to those of you who don't know me, I'm Mr. James. James James. I know, laugh if you please. Call me James squared if you must. Let's dive right in," he said. Mr. James James then proceeded to discuss the semester syllabus for English, boring most of the class, barring Bart of course.
"And in November we will be reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet-," he said when Bart interrupted.
"We'll be reading it?" Bart asked. Mr. James squinted at him.
"I don't believe I know you," he said to Bart.
"I'm Bart. Bart Allen. I'm new here," he gave the teacher a smile.
"Ah, well, Bart, in my class, if you have a question, please raise your hand. And yes, we will be reading Romeo and Juliet," he answered.
"But it's a play," Bart countered.
"Bart, please try to raise your hand." The class giggled at the young teen and he flushed ever so slightly. Then his hand shot up into the air.
"Yes, Bart," the teacher said, sighing and sitting down at his desk.
"But, James," he started.
"Mr. James," James corrected.
"Romeo and Juliet is a play. Don't people usually watch or perform plays?" Bart asked.
"Yes, they do. This is why at the end of the unit, we will all watch the movie with Leonardo Di Caprio." Bart raised his hand again. "You don't have to raise your hand before everything you say," Mr. James pointed out.
"But you said-," Bart started. This class was very much confusing him.
"Just say what you were going to ask, Bart"
"Well, it's just that, if we're going to watch the movie, why do we have to read it as well?" Bart asked. The class snickered.
"Because Bart, it's the only way to truly absorb the text."
"But it's a play."
"Yes."
"So it was meant to be watched. If it were a book, we would read it. But we don't read movies. So I just don't understand why we're reading a play," Bart said.
"Well you don't have to like it, Bart. You just have to do it."
"Um, that's not what I said," Bart argued.
"Let's move on, shall we?" Mr. James said to the class. Bart raised his hand. The teacher rolled his eyes. "What, Bart?"
"You said you want us to absorb the text, right? Weren't plays written so that one could absorb the text through a different means than reading it?" Bart said.
"Alright, Bart. I can already tell that this is going to be a long school year for you and me. I need you to stop joking around or I'm going to have to send you to the principal's office," Mr. James told him.
"But-!"
"Not but's."
"I'm just trying to-"
"Alright. That's enough. Moving on, after Romeo and Juliet, we'll have a grammar unit." Bart's hand immediately shot up in the air. Mr. James ground his teeth and reluctantly called on him. "Yes, Bart?"
"Why are we learning grammar after doing all this reading?" Bart asked earnestly.
"I'm sorry?" Mr. James didn't fully understand the question.
"It just doesn't make sense. Shouldn't we learn grammar before we do any reading? In fact, shouldn't we have learned grammar a long time ago? What are we all doing reading if we haven't learned how to do it properly?!" Bart exclaimed. The class erupted with laughter.
"Perhaps you should have a chat with Mr. Hawkins about how things are run in this school, Bart," Mr. James said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Who's Mr. Hawkins?" Bart stopped and asked.
"The principal," Mr. James replied.
"Oh, grife." The entire class laughed hysterically as Bart took his stuff and exited the room.
So this is just a little story that I wrote for myself about Bart and his teenage years and struggling with sexuality. I decided I'd post it for others to read and see if anyone likes it. I've already written most of it so updates should be fairly frequent.
All of the future slang Bart uses is from future slang used by Firefly, other comics, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and movies. You can look them up on TV tropes. They're really fun.
Also, I'd like to dedicate this story to the LGBTQ community and anyone who's ever been bullied or has had to hide who they are. It's not fair, and I hope to spread awareness through writing. Reviews are like candy for me and they only take 10 seconds to write, so I really appreciate them! Thanks!