Okay, I just had to get this out of my head or I was going to go insane. Let's see if you like it. And another thing, if you liked Miss Martian in the series, I'd recommend not reading this. She's bashed. But other than that, please review.
Conner Kent sat back in the couch with a heavy sigh. His black t-shirt bore no symbol of his father, hiding his secret identity to the other people at that torturous place where he was trapped for eight hours a day, five days a week, 36 weeks a year for two more years: School. Of course practically every other boy in the building wore a shirt with Superman's shield or Batman's or Flash's, sometimes even Green Lantern's shield would make an appearance in the halls so he didn't understand why he had to hide his shield.
A clatter in the kitchen behind him, told the black-haired teen that his Martian girlfriend was making their lunches and then they'd be off to Happy Harbor High School.
Conner buried his face in his hands with a groan and pressed his head into the couch cushions as his Cobra-Venom-altered white wolf tapped his nose against his knee. Conner moved his hand from his face, one landing in his lap and the other going to scratch behind Wolf's ears.
"Something wrong Conner?" M'gann asked as she put the lunches in brown paper bags.
"No," Conner said, trying to keep his tone down from an annoyed snap. M'gann knew from experience to drop it there. She pushed some of her red hair out of her Caucasian face as she put the lunches into the respective bags of their owners.
"Well, lunches are packed. And our homework's done. Ready to go?"
"No." Conner stood up, walked over and slung his grey-and-black backpack over his shoulders as he stormed out the door, grabbing his jacket as he did so. M'gann shook her head and sighed deeply. Without a word she pulled her pink backpack on and mentally prepped herself for another day as Megan Morse, high school cheerleader.
"Wait up Conner! I'm coming!" Wolf watched as his master and the Martian girl vanished down the hall then turned to face the static-filled TV, sitting down to wait for his master.
"I'm kinda excited for this science project. According to Wendy the project gets done in pairs. I'm hoping we get to work together on this, don't you?" Megan asked quickly as she clung to Conner's arm as he wove through the crowd of students, trying to suppress a snarl of annoyance. There were always at least fifteen groups of kids who thought it was perfectly fine to stand right in the middle of the hallway and inconvenience everyone else just so they could talk to the friends who they would also be talking to after school on a social-media network or cell phone or face-to-face. At least this was the last period of the day and he'd be able to go home after this.
"Sure," Conner said in response to Megan's question as he pulled them into the classroom for psychology just as the warning bell rung. Conner sighed. The room's walls were painted a dull vomit-yellow and the carpet was threadbare and probably as old as the mountain Mt. Justice had been carved from. The lab tables were black and looked like marble but were really plastic. The teacher's desk sat up front, facing the tables and his black leather swivel chair sat empty behind it.
Megan tugged on Conner's arm and pulled him towards their table but she froze in mid-step. Sitting next to the teacher's desk on the floor was a girl dressed in a knee-length black skirt, a blue button-up shirt with long sleeves, black shiny pumps and a silver ring with a sapphire heart resting on her right middle finger. The girl had long white-pale-blue hair that pooled around where she sat and her skin was white as milk. Her face was buried in her knees, which she'd brought up to her chest.
Megan let go of Conner's arm and walked over to the girl.
"Hello?" The girl leapt back, a hand instantly going to her chest as she released a mix between a scream and a yelp of fright. She hit the wall with a loud thud that caused the dry-erase board to rattle. The girl's blue eyes which matched her shirt were wide as she panted for air. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. My name's Megan Morse and that's my boyfriend, Conner Kent," Megan introduced. The girl looked at her as if she could see past the Martian shape-shifting ability and see Megan for what she really was. "What's your name?"
The girl stayed silent, glancing from Megan to Conner and back and forth. Conner sat down at his and Megan's table. If the girl didn't want to talk, Conner had no issue with it. Just one less person to annoy him.
The teacher walked in holding a small stack of papers.
"Here you are Miss Hawkes. You just need your parent/guardian to sign this form tonight but I'm sure that you understand the course material yes?" The white-haired girl nodded as the teacher handed her the papers. The girl nodded. "And we'll all be getting new seats today so you arrived on a good day." Megan looked a little worried.
"Mr. Harris, we just got new seats last week," she objected.
"I know. But already some students are misbehaving with their partners and I feel obligated to move everyone."
"But Conner and I-"
"Are some of the best students in class, I'm aware. However I believe that by pairing you two up with other people, they'll take the message and start behaving." Megan scowled before sighing loudly.
"So where are our new seats?" The bell rang again and students began to file in.
"New seats!" the teacher called, ignoring Megan for a moment as he moved to the front table near his desk. Here we've got Conner Kent and Skyler Hawkes." The girl with white hair took a seat at the table as Conner picked up his bag and moved to his new seat. "Everyone, Skyler's new here. Her family just moved to Happy Harbor and I expect you'll treat her kindly. Now then…" The teacher continued calling off names as Conner took his seat.
"Hey," he said as a greeting.
"Hello," the girl said timidly. "I like your t-shirt." Conner looked down to make sure he'd hidden the S shield, which he had.
"Uh…Thanks." Conner slipped his bag under the counter as Skyler began fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"Now that we're all situated, let's start class. So maybe you've all heard about the projects that start today. But I doubt many of you know exactly what they are. This project will count for 1/8 of your semester grade. I've already chosen pairs and I'll tell who's with whom in a moment. Now then, there will be a questionnaire due on Friday next week. Any questions?" The room was silent as Megan raised her hand. "Miss Morse?"
"Who're we partnered with?" The teacher smirked as he held up a sheet of paper.
"Right here. First pair; Skyler Hawkes and Conner Kent." Skyler stiffened as she looked at the dark-haired boy next to her before looking back down at the piece of lace she was playing with. Conner sighed as they were handed a sheet of paper with the guidelines and expectations.
"Answer the questionnaire about your partner. Answers must be in complete sentences. Sounds easy enough," Conner said as he scanned the page. He turned to his partner who had become disinterested in her skirt and was now doodling something in her notebook. "Hey, Skyler was it?"
"Yes. Skyler Hawkes. I just moved here this summer with my parents. And you?"
"Conner Kent. Megan and I were new last year." Skyler nodded.
"And was the transition hard?" she asked. Conner shook his head.
"Not really. But getting back to the project, think it would be alright it you were the one being studied? My guardian doesn't exactly take well to strangers being in our house." Skyler smiled softly.
"Of course it's fine. My new house is walking distance from the school so if your guardian needs to pick you up…"
"He won't have to. I can handle myself." Skyler nodded.
"I see. So may I see the rubric?" Conner passed the sheet to the white-haired girl and looked forward as the teacher began to further explain the instructions on the board.
"I'm home!" Skyler called into an empty one-story ranch-style home as she slipped off her shoes and backpack. Conner did the same as he scanned his surroundings. The living room was painted dark brown with a golden loveseat against the wall, a pale oak shelf covered in pictures of a younger Skyler and archeology books, a 48" television was mounted on the wall, facing away from the pale oak and marble fireplace.
In front of the two was a pale oak table with white legs and four chairs around it. One door lead to the back of the house and another lead to the opposite side that was partially shown with small carved poles seemingly supporting the wall above it.
"Well, you can take a seat on the couch if you like or if you have to use the restroom, it's through that door," She pointed towards the one between the couch and table, "turn left and it's the door at the end of the hall. I'll just whip up some snacks for while we study." Skyler went through the other door with a smile. Conner stood in place for a minute before he heard the girl begin to hum a little tune as the hum of the refrigerator joined her.
The black-haired teen set his backpack next to the couch as he headed towards the room Skyler had directed towards. He didn't really have to go but if he could familiarize himself with his surroundings it would give him a better shot in the unlikely case of an attack. But better safe than sorry. The hall was painted just like the living room.
Pictures featuring Skyler with a brown-haired, blue eyed man holding bones of various sizes or tiny brushes and hammers and chisels, Skyler standing in front of a museum exhibit with her arms crossed over her chest, looking as if she'd built the place herself, framed documents of school reports and doctorate and Masters degrees, and at the end was a picture of the brown-haired man in a black tux holding a beautiful brunette woman in a white gown in his arms. Both of them weren't paying any attention but rather on each other.
Conner felt a twinge of homesickness as the picture reminded him of the one hanging in his grandparents' house in Smallville with his father and step-mother.
He shook his head and made quick work of checking the rooms. Three bedrooms and one bath but the middle room looked as if it hadn't been used in a while and nearly everything was covered by a white sheet. Conner felt a shiver run down his spine before he shut the door and went back to the living room, standing in front of the couch with his hands in his pockets.
That's how Skyler found him a few minutes later as she walked out of the kitchen with a tray with two tall glasses of milk and a plate of golden-brown cookies with chocolate chips still melting from their time in the oven.
"Um…Are you alright there?" she asked as she set the tray down and sat on the couch. "You can sit down you know," she said with a light giggle.
"Yea," Conner said as he slowly took a seat. Suddenly, the television turned on with a cheery, "Hello Megan!" Skyler sucked in a harsh breath as she began to dig around in the cushions as the rest of the song began to play. "If you're looking for the remote, I think I sat on it," Conner offered as he slid his hand into the cushion and came into contact with one thing that was hard and obviously plastic and the other was soft, Skyler's hand.
The white-haired girl let out a squeak as she yanked her hand back without grabbing the remote.
"Sorry!" she said in a high-pitched voice. Conner pulled the remote out from the cushion and offered it to the girl as the theme song came to an end. Skyler smiled as she took it and turned the television off.
For a moment, the room became suspended in an awkward silence.
"Hello Megan?" the black-haired teen said.
"My mom was an actress in it when she was a kid. Her maiden name's Rita Farr. It's kinda my guilty pleasure. She hated being in the show but her family needed the money so she put up with it. Every time she catches me watching it, she says she's going to burn all the tapes but she just never does." The white-haired teen slapped a hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Conner. "Sorry, when I get nervous I tend to go on and on and…I'll shut up now." Conner chuckled lightly before digging the rubric out of his backpack.
"So then, your likes and dislikes," he started. "Aside from Hello Megan of course."
BZ: And that's the beginning of my Young Justice story. And for the record, this starts on the first week of school for Conner and Megan's junior year of high school. Let's just say since the last time we saw our heroes, Conner was able to spend most of the summer in Smallville with his dad, step-mom and grandparents. And yes, Lois Lane (Kent) is Conner's step-mother. Please leave a review and later!