Buford, Georgia. 1993.
A dirty blonde-haired boy sporting a green hoodie smoothed his hands over the curves of the street pole, smiling to himself.
"Aaaaand... there! The last flyer!" He exclaimed, his dull pink overbite stretching over his teeth in a wide grin. Placing his hands on his hips, the boy looked over the bright colored flyer, nodding in approval.
A loud yawn ripped out from another teen standing a short ways behind him. He was a fairly built fella, reaching almost 6 feet tall, with dark brown skin and a red tinted glass encasing the entirety of his left eyeball. He stretched his hands over his head, effectively cracking his back bones.
"BB, don't you think these flyers are a little too..." The large guy trailed off, relaxing his body after that much needed stretch.
"Too what? Dank? Legit? Dope? Bangin?"
"Whack." He deadpanned.
"Dude, Cy, what are you talking about? I stayed up like all night working on these flyers!" The short teen puffed out in exasperation. The darker of the two scowled a bit, looking at the flyer plastered on the pole for what he hoped was the last time today.
!WANTED! MEMBERS FOR OUR HELLA FRESH NEW BAND, BBCB AND THE BARRELS. Only super sexy people allowed. (It also helps if you can play an instrument) Meet up with us at 710 Greenbird Ln. If nobody's home, wait on the back porch until someone gets there. And remember, IF YOU AIN'T BANGIN, DON'T BOTHER US. Sincerly, Beast Boy. ;)
"I dunno, man, it just sounds kinda tacky. And uglyist." Cyborg commented, folding his arms over his muscular chest.
"What the hell is "uglyist?"
"You know! Like "sexist" or "racist," except towards ugly people." He explained as if he were talking to him about the weather. Beast Boy rolled his eyes at his brute of a friend. See? He wasn't the only one who said stupid things.
"Right...anyways, you just watch. These mega legit flyers are gonna bring in so many new members! We'll have to start turning people down!" He exclaimed. For them, that was a huge deal. They obviously didn't get many eager musicians. knocking on their garage door. Cyborg sighed in defeat, too tired to argue with his amped amigo.
"Fine. I'm trustin you on this one, BB."
"Dude, don't worry. There'll be people at our doorstep by tomorrow morning for sure. I got this one in the bag!" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air and taking off down the sidewalk. Cyborg rolled his eyes with a smile coming across his large features, running after the energetic teen.
Beast Boy sat slouched over his synthesizer plugged up to the wall of his garage, tapping on the keys experimentally. It was nearly three quarters past 7 in the morning. He tapped his foot lightly against the ground, playing a simple melody with his fingers to pass the time until Cyborg came for him. He was rarely up on time for his large friend to pick him up for school. On a normal day, Cyborg would be dragging his scrawny butt out of bed. Beast Boy was never an early bird, and the thought of having to get up at 6 o'clock just to catch the bus made him cringe in disgust. He was lucky Cyborg got his drivers license (well, a permit to be exact) as soon as he turned 16, it spared him from the horror that was the school bus. However, today he was pumped with energy thinking of the potential musicians that would come in for an audition, if any at all. he bit his lip a bit at the thought, shaking his head left and right.
"They'll come. For sure. It's all good." He reassured himself, standing up and rolling his neck around, his constant half smile appearing on his face. A loud horn suddenly blared through the gap of the slightly opened garage door, cutting through the silence of the spacious room. Beast Boy grinned and grabbed his deep purple backpack, slinging it over his shoulder with one hand and pulling open the garage door with the other.
"Rita! I'm gone!" He shouted back in the direction of the house, running towards the light blue van parked in front of his home. A woman who seemed to be in her early forties sporting bright purple yoga pants poked her head out of the garage door.
"Alright! Be safe, hon!" She smiled at the teen's retreating figure and went back to her early morning yoga session.
Beast Boy hopped into the passenger seat of his friend's van, throwing his bag in the back seat.
"You're up bright and early this morning. Did hell freeze over?" Cyborg teased his best friend. Beast Boy merely grinned, shaking his head at the older teen.
"Alright CB, let's dip!" He shouted, turning up the radio as they zoomed off to face the world. I.E go to school.
They sped off so fast, they didn't catch the sight of a suspicious looking teen eyeing Beast Boy's home, a familiar flyer squeezed in his right hand. He saw the car speeding off down the road and sighed, stuffing the flyer in his back pocket and heading down the sidewalk towards the high school.
If there was one thing Cyborg hated about school, it was English class. Math, he could do. All you had to do was calculate numbers in many different variations to meet the final equation. Piece of cake. Science, he could also do. He might even admit to enjoying it if his parents weren't so dead set on him becoming a "scientist" or an "engineer," or anything more stable than an athlete/drummer of some garage band. But English? It was totally bogus in his eyes. Like, why the hell would you teach a bunch of English speaking students how to speak English? The whole process seemed pretty redundant, if you asked him.
He slouched over his (rather cramped) desk, his arms hanging over the back like some kind of monkey. Blowing a raspberry, cyborg looked towards the empty seat beside him, praying to God that someone who was good at English would sit beside him. In a way, he was actually glad Beast Boy didn't share any core classes with the tall teen. That boy couldn't grasp the concept of core subjects to save his life. He didn't know how his short friend even managed to graduate passed the 5th grade. Beast Boy was a grade below him, which was a relief, to say the least. He loved the little booger to death, but he loved cheating off of smart people even more. When it came to him and BB, he was the smart person being cheated off of. It wasn't as much fun being on the receiving end.
More students began to gather in the home room. One by one they took their seats in a desk of their choice, none of them choosing to sit beside Cyborg, much to his distain.
Must be the eye... he thought bitterly, rolling his one good eye. He turned in the direction of the window, resting his cheek on his palm. The last of the students came in along with the teacher, and he barely noticed the air shift as a shadow moved past the aisle to sit in the seat beside him.
"This seat taken?" a scrappy deep voice spoke from beside him. Cyborg looked up to lock eyes with...a pair of shades?
"Uhh...oh! Nah, man, go for it." He said. The lean boy nodded curtly and slid into the desk beside him, tapping his index finger on the old wood. Cyborg eyed the strange character. First of all, the shades made him look hella creepy. Maybe it was a fashion statement? Cyborg shrugged. He didn't know jack squat about fashion. That was a world he would rather not dive into. Secondly, the kid was sporting some pretty badass looking leather jacket and ripped faded jeans. Not many teenagers in this school looked like they came straight out of some gang fight, but he guessed there was a first time for everything.
Cyborg was about to turn back towards the window when a thought sparked in his mind. He smiled his sweetest smile and turned towards the boy's direction.
"So...what's up, dawg?" He asked in a friendly voice. The strange guy barely turned.
"Nothin."
"New here?"
"Not really. Been here since last semester."
"Any good at English?"
"Somewhat."
Cyborg frowned. Something about the kid was beginning to irk him. He just couldn't tell if it was because he was indirectly ignoring him or the fact that Cyborg could smell his hair gel from all the way over here. He cleared his throat and straightened the collar of his grey opened button up.
"Well, I don't usually do so hot in this class. Maybe we could help each other out?" There. He threw it out there. This seemed to catch the boy's attention. He turned towards the oversized guy with a quirked eyebrow.
"Help each other out?" He asked skeptically. Cyborg nodded his head with a large smile.
"Yeah! ya know, like sometimes you can give me the answers on a quiz, sometimes I can give you a hint or two. Sometimes you can help me write out my essays, sometimes I can help you with a grammar error. Give an' take, word?"
His eyebrow seemed to fall back under his shades, and he let out a huff, turning back towards the front.
"Oh. you mean you wanna cheat off a me." He stated with a light laugh. Cyborg grimaced at the tone in his voice. I mean, he didn't have to make it sound so bad.
"Well, I wasn't thinkin' those exact words, but yeah pretty much. So we cool on this?" He asked, his fake smile returning.
"Ha. yeah, no."
"What? Why not?!" Cyborg barked. He didn't even notice the teacher begin to take roll.
"Cause I don't wanna be the cause of some cheater growing up to be retarded." He stated simply, raising his hand when his name was called. A few girls looked in his direction, blushing at the sight of his cool exterior.
"Dude...did you just call me retarded?" Cyborg asked slowly. The boy shrugged.
"Basically."
Cyborg's eyebrows twitched.
"Why you spikey haired lil bitc-"
"Victor Stone!" The teacher yelled out, startling Cyborg to his core.
"P-present!" He yelled back, grimacing at the scattered giggles coming from the rest of his home room. He glanced at the target of his slip up and just about exploded at the smirk spread across the spikey freak's face.
Cyborg sunk back into his seat, making sure to glare daggers into the boy the rest of the class period.
"Dude, you seriously need to chillax." Beast Boy said from around the straw in his mouth. They sat in a small diner near his home after school, drinking milkshakes to pass the time. Beast Boy thought it would be a good idea to wait a bit before going home to give the "many applicants" the idea that they were super nonchalant and had better things to do with their lives. Cyborg groaned, slurping up the last of his fifth milkshake.
"You don't understand man. I just wanna ring that kid's scrawny lil neck!" He yelled out, positioning his hands in a choking motion for emphasis.
"kinky."
"Dude, don't make it gross." Cyborg huffed and threw his empty cup to the side of the table, the remains spilling over the edge. He could practically feel the dirty looks coming from the nearby waiters, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"C'mon, he can't be that bad!" Beast Boy reasoned.
"He covered his page the entire class period."
"He seems like a stand up guy-"
"And the girls kept drooling over him like dogs at a piece of meat."
"Honest and sexy-"
"That lil jerk asked me if I would like fries with my retarded."
Beast Boy nearly spit out his milkshake. He coughed out a laugh, covering his mouth to prevent anything from spilling out.
"Oh my God, dude. This guy sounds awesome." The short teen sputtered between fits of laughter. Cyborg grumbled, crossing his arms in a pout.
"Fuck you man."
"You gotta take me out to dinner first!" He winked, and Cyborg could feel those five milkshakes coming back up his throat.
"Are you gonna pay or not?" A raspy voice suddenly spoke from beside them. Cyborg looked up and locked eyes with a pair of dark violet ones. A rather annoyed looking waitress about their age stood by their table with a check in her hand and a very noticeable scowl on her face. Her black tinted hair was cut in a slightly longer than average bob and her skin was as pale as day. She wore a long black dress with a plain looking choker and brown combat boots, adorned with the diner's signature apron. Cyborg was slightly intimidated by her heavy stare and looked away quickly, picking up the milkshake he'd tossed over moments before.
"Howa bout a discount for a fellow classmate~?" Beast Boy asked the girl as he leaned over the table to draw closer to her. Said girl merely rolled her eyes and just about threw the checkbook in the teen's face, walking off into the kitchen to do who knows what. Cyborg looked at his friend, who was rubbing his bruised nose with an angry frown.
"Um, who the hell was that?" he asked.
"huh? Oh, that was just Raven. We have a few classes together." Beast Boy explained, stuffing the money (which he totally just stole from Cyborg) into the checkbook. The tall teen furrowed his brows.
"Does she always look so..."
"Terrifying? Depressed? Like she just murdered your entire family? Yeah, pretty much. But Rae Rae's pretty dope whenever she's not acting like she's got a stick up her as-"
"Ahem."
Beast Boy all but jumped out of his seat. He looked up at the girl with sheepish smile, handing her the checkbook with a nervous chuckle. Raven snatched it out of his hands and walked to the cash register to put in their money, glaring at them the entire time. Slowly the boys stood from their seats, then hightailed it out of that place.
Cyborg and Beast Boy finally arrived at the younger's home, pulling into the driveway of his purple tinted house. The blonde huffed out a breath, turning towards his one eyed friend. Cyborg looked back and smiled nervously, clearing his throat.
"...Listen BB, there might not be anybody waiting for us-" He was stopped by a tanned hand covering his mouth.
"Dude, don't worry about it. Even if nobody shows up today, that doesn't mean they won't show up tomorrow!" He stated and hopped out of the van with his bag slung over his shoulder, walking off into the back. Cyborg sighed and shook his head, smiling. Sometimes that kid was too optimistic for his own good. He put his baby (I.E his van) into park, sliding out the keys and stepping out of the large car.
He was about to walk to the back himself when his short friend came running out from around the house, his eyes wide in what Cyborg can only describe as shock.
"Dude! There's some guy sitting on our back porch!" He exclaimed, a wide grin spreading over his features. "This is it, man! BBCB and the Barrels are about to get their first Barrel!"
"Woah, stop wigg'n out for a moment, B, how do ya know he's even any good?" Cyborg reasoned, trying not to get the boy's hopes up too high. But it didn't seem like they were coming down anytime soon. Beast Boy shook his head, his smile only growing wider.
"Oh, I know. He brought his own guitar! That thing looks freaking sick!" He hissed out, grabbing Cyborg's sleeve and dragging him to the back of the house. The teen rolled his eyes, but he had to admit he was also excited to see who wanted to join their ace band. He just didn't show it much. Someone had to be the grown up around here, didn't they?
"Look look! There he is..!" He said in a hushed voice, pointing to a figure slouched over the first porch step with a wicked red and black guitar leaning beside him. Cyborg's face nearly fell straight to the floor at the sight before him.
"oh HELL no." He blurted out, grabbing the figure's attention. He stood to his full height once he took notice of the two boy's, quirking his eyebrow in interest when he spotted Cyborg.
Bogus leather jacket? Hella creepy stalker shades? Foul smelling hair gel? Oh yeah, this was that scrub from earlier. He smiled and walked up to the two, and Beast Boy nearly fell on his knees.
"Dude," He started, and Cyborg just knew he was gonna say something completely stupid.
"Your hair looks amazing. How do you get it to stand up like that?!" He asked excitedly, leaning closer to the male. The boy in question leaned back awkwardly, clearing his throat. Cyborg scoffed.
"He probably uses his boogers or something. No wonder it smells so bad." He muttered out, crossing his arms.
"Did you just say I stink?"
"I dunno, did you call me retarded?" Cyborg shot back. Even though he couldn't see the kid's eyes, he knew his eyes were probably rolling out of his head from behind those shades.
"Look, I just came to audition for this band..uh..." He pulled the flyer out from his back pocket. Even though Cyborg wasn't looking, he could just tell Beast Boy left planet Earth from sheer happiness. He had to fight the urge to smack the kid upside the head.
"BBCB and the...Barrels..?"
"Ever learn to read?" He asked. The boy scowled at him, and Cyborg cocked his head in satisfaction.
"Ignore my tin-headed friend here," He jabbed a thumb in Cy's direction, who verbally grimaced, "so you came to become a Barrel, right? The garage is this way. Follow me!" He exclaimed, taking off towards the garage with Cyborg following grumpily behind.
"Wait! Don't you wanna know my name?" He asked suddenly.
"Not really." Cyborg commented under his breath.
"Oh yeah! Sorry bout that dude, what's your name?" He asked. The lean boy smiled, placing his hands in his pockets and walking towards them.
"I'm Richard. Or Dick. Dick Grayson."
A/N Just so you know, they're not going to be "BBCB and the Barrels" for long. Also, I wasn't gonna have Robin and Cyborg be so salty towards each other at first, but my fingers sort of slipped LOL.
Oh, and starfire will be showing up very soon!
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I admit I've never been really good with updating, but I have a lot of inspiration for this story so I don't think I'm gonna abandon it anytime soon. I just don't know when I'll update. It could be tomorrow or weeks from now, so please be patient if you decide to read . Thanks!
One more thing, I don't really have a cap on how many chapters I want this to be, but I do know that I wanna fit in a lot of content, so this can be 30 or 300 chapters, I have no clue XD Basically what I'm trying to say is I'm sort of winging it on this one.
One ONE more thing, don't question me about the title...I suck at titles...