Gotham Academy: Chapter I. Acceptance
Gotham Academy. Home to some of the most talented seventh through twelfth grade intellectuals in the country. Yeah, it's pretty prestigious all right. But it's just like any other normal high school – you know, if the student body keep a grade point average at a constant 3.7. Pretty tough, isn't it? But you've just been accepted.
Artemis flipped through the mail she'd set down on the coffee table, trying to ignore the ever growing heap of bills. She almost passed over an envelope addressed to her as she separated out the mail. She thought she must've been seeing things since she didn't know anyone who'd possibly be sending mail to her- unless… no, he hadn't ever contacted them and never would. She stared at her name printed clearly on the surface of the envelope. Artemis Crock.
She turned the envelope over, her fingers poised to rip it open any second. But she had a feeling it was something important, it just felt like expensive paper, so she was careful not to rip its contents. She fished out a thick piece of cardstock paper. The creamy surface of the paper proved that it was way better quality than any mail she could possibly afford to send.
She held her breath as she unfolded the letter, anxious to know what it said. And as she read the words, a pit grew in her stomach, and she felt… disappointed. It was from Gotham Academy, the school she'd applied to a few months earlier. Easy enough, send in a transcript, fill in an application, write an essay… And they had accepted her.
Artemis knew she was supposed to be filling with pride about then and running around the apartment, elated to be moving up in the world, and gleefully telling the good news to her mother. But she wasn't happy, because the only reason she'd even applied was to keep her mother content, and she hadn't thought she'd actually get in.
She didn't want to change schools. Not when she finally started to fit in again. Some snobby school filled with rich kids and geniuses wasn't the place for her.
She crumpled up the letter and was about to toss it in the trashcan when her mom wheeled into the room.
"Artemis? What is that?" she asked.
"Just some mail for me Mom, nothing to worry about." She hated lying to her mom, and she wasn't very good at it either. She'd never been much good at it with anyone, in face. Anyone she cared about at least.
"Let me see it."
Artemis grudgingly handed over the letter, and her mom opened it up. The official Gotham Academy seal at the top gleamed in the light, and she saw her mother's eyes light up with joy.
"Artemis! You got in on a full scholarship!" she beamed. But then her face fell again, "But why were you about to throw it away?"
Artemis sighed, and turned away. She sat down on the couch to be level with her mom and finally replied, "I have friends at Gotham West and I just… I don't know if I'll fit in there."
"Oh Artemis. You'll fit in fine. They have an archery team, you can find out when tryouts are and sign up for it. And besides, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I never got the chance to do anything like this when I was younger."
Her mother's eyes began to fill with tears and Artemis felt a pang of guilt for trying to throw away her acceptance letter. Her mom really cared about what was right for her, and she knew it was hard enough for her to try to and keep her daughters on the right track when she couldn't provide much for them at all.
"Alright mom, I'll go," she said softly, giving her mom a hug. I'll go for you, she wanted to say, but she kept it inside herself.
"I GOT IN! MOM! DAD! GOTHAM ACADEMY ACCEPTED ME!" Megan squealed, running around the house like a crazed fangirl who just discovered that her OTP was getting married.
"They say they want me to be in their English program… I ACTUALLY GOT IN!"
"That's nice honey," Megan's mom replied, picking up the new baby off the floor. The toddlers pulled on her skirt and she tried to cook the rest of the spaghetti without having to stop the baby from crying or break up a fight between the pre-teens and make sure the toddlers didn't get into the medicine cabinet one more time.
Megan sighed and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, clutching the acceptance letter. She was excited to go to Gotham Academy, but she resented the fact that her parents were too busy to share her excitement. She was sure they were proud of her; they just didn't have time or energy to show it.
Megan grabbed a pink suitcase from out of her closet and started to pack. Gotham was a long way away from where she lived, but she would be staying in one of the dorms there.
She worried a little about what her parents would do without her, but she decided they probably wouldn't notice the difference anyway. There were enough older teens in the house to take care of everything. She just needed to focus on her studies. If she worked hard enough, and was smart enough, maybe her parents would finally notice that she wasn't just another one of their kids. Maybe they'd see her as… special.
She sighed and plopped onto her bed next to her pink suitcase. These were silly delusions. She lifted her head from the white sheets on her bed with the black and red designs of vines on it, and looked out the window. The sunlight streamed in through the purple curtains and she looked at how happy the birds looked outside, hopping around on tree branches and singing so the world could share their joy.
A small smile spread across her face and she felt a little better. She continued to pack.
(A/N:) This is the first chapter for an AU I'm writing. For early updates, check out my tumblr :D There's a link on my profile.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it :) Care to leave a review?
-Safirel