...Hi, guys. It's been a long time, but I have a good excuse. I joined the army and have been away for awhile, therefore haven't had anytime to write. The good news is I have a ton of ideas and a new found motivation. As all of my stories do this will have switching points of view, but as of right now I see a vast majority of it coming from Kori's perspective, also, I currently have this and another story in the works. I'll have a question about that subject at the bottom, but enjoy guys.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
This was it. What all teenagers wait for since the very first day of high school. After three long years of tests, early mornings, piles of homework and of course a ton of drama, which is to be expected when you pile a bunch of heavily hormonal teens together, it was finally here. Senior year. My name is Kori Anders and I attend Gotham Academy, a prestigious school on the east coast, specifically for the teenagers of Gotham City's rich and famous. Oh, and you can throw in the handful of people who have athletic or academic scholarships, such as as my friend Victor Stone who is somewhere between the next Steven Hawking and Ray Lewis, being a talented linebacker for the school as well a science genius, knowing everything there is to know about... well, everything.
I myself am the daughter of two representatives of the island country of Tameran, just off the coast of Australia. I moved here at the age of seven due to my parent's job. Though I am decently well liked now and have the most glorious group of friends one could have, it hasn't always been this way. The first couple years I was here I was I was bullied horribly, being called weird and a freak. It was mostly due to my odd customs and my horribly broken English, which took me some time to perfect. Luckily for me I had the luck to meet someone who guarded me through my more awkward stages in elementary school and middle school. That person is of course my best friend and honestly the most cherished individual in the world to me.
You may have heard of him a time or two. He was the adopted son of the world famous Billionaire Bruce Wayne, the crowned prince of Gotham, and the unchallenged king of this school. Yep, he was none other than Dick Grayson himself.
Even as I walk through the front double doors of the school, I find a monstrous banner of him in his black and silver Gotham Knight's football number twelve jersey hanging from the hallway wall, which is meant to advertise to upcoming football season, but really it just goes to show how big of a deal he is at this school.
A slight smile crosses my face as I think back to our first encounter years ago.
I was just a third grader at the time and I was sitting in the sandbox, my tongue poked out as I busily worked on my magnificent sand castle, fit for any princess. I was way into Disney at the time. As I said earlier, at that time I was not well liked, so I did not even attempt to play with the other kids on the playground. Usually I just sat there in that box or walked around the small track that circled the playground. Anything to avoid being made fun of or bullied.
On this day however, something that would change everything took place, almost as if destiny itself intervened. Then again it might have all just been a chance encounter. Who is to know, but on that particular day, for whatever reason, a large fifth grade boy with curly red hair and freckles walked up to my sand castle and kicked it over, sand flying all over my purple dress in the process.
I looked up at the boy, my emerald eyes full of hurt. He laughed and looked over at his friends, who were returning his amusement. I felt a tear begin to form in one of my eyes, but before could fully breakdown, a mysterious blur darted in front of me and knocked the boy to the sandy ground.
It took just a few seconds to gather that the person who had knocked the boy over was none other than Dick Grayson. He had just arrived at the school that day and the only thing I knew about him was that he was quiet, not having said a word since he was introduces by the teacher that morning and that he seemed angry. Not a regular type of anger. No, it was something much deeper than that. Later I would learn the story of his parents murder at the hands of a Gotham crime boss Tony Zucco and his adoption by Bruce Wayne, but in that moment he was just a classmate who had decided to defend me, something no one else had done since my arrival there.
The much larger boy stood up in a fury, embarrassed that he had just been knocked over by someone so much younger and smaller than him. He swung recklessly again and again at Dick but he was literally untouchable, years in the circus enhancing his reflex and speed to far beyond that of the average human, especially an average nine year old. Realizing the entire playground was watching and that he was making a complete fool of himself, the boy quit trying to strike Dick, finding it to be an impossible effort.
"This isn't over kid," the bully spat windedly.
Dick just stared at him coldly, clearly not afraid of the boy. With that the boy stormed off, leaving only Dick and I in the sandbox. What happened next was the first domino to fall in the next ten years of my life. The next thing I knew he sat down across from me and began to pile up sand.
"What are you doing?" I asked as I studied him carefully, are eyes meeting for the first time.
"We're going to build your castle back. It'll be quicker if we work together," he responded, a logical seriousness in his voice that most nine year old just don't possess.
A huge smile took over my face and I began to help him pile the sand up. After that moment not a day passed where we didn't talk. It wasn't much at first. Some days, at least for the first few months, he was zoned out usually, clearly still suffering on the inside. Some days he would barely say anything, but his presence beside me in class or at lunch was enough to comfort me and I think it comforted him too in a way. Eventually he became more open. We started having long conversations and hanging out after school either at my house or at the Manor. He even spent countless hours helping me with my English, reading books to me and having me read them back to him, and in return he asked me to teach him Tameranian, which excited me greatly because no one had ever taken any interest in my culture before then. That was probably the exact moment when I became completely smitten by him. Though we had both have made many other friends since that day, the bond we shared has only gotten stronger and we've only gotten closer.
Over the years, especially in high school, a lot of people from fellow students to even teachers have mistook our relationship for more than friendship. Our close friends love teasing us about how close we are, but I think both he and myself attempt to ignore it. I mean, we're friends. Best friends. Closer than I can even begin to describe, so of course there could never be anything between us, right? I mean he is gorgeous, but it's completely okay to find your best friend attractive. Absolutely nothing wrong with it... I don't think so anyway.
Umm, anyway, I turn down the hallway to where my locker is and I find a gaggle of my friends surrounded the door that leads to the court yard where everyone hangs out and where the seniors get to eat lunch.
On the far left I spot Victor Stone. Vic is a large African American with a booming voice that feels like it could shake the ground at times. If had to describe him in one word it would be massive. He's easily over 6'4 and has arms the size of watermelons. It's no wander he's considered the top high school linebacker in the country. If you didn't know him you'd probably be frightened by him, but he's actually the nicest guy on the entire planet. He's easily more of a teddy bear rather than a grizzly.
Next to his giant like frame is his long time girlfriend Karen Beecher, but even the teachers refer to her as Bee. She's the captain of the cheer leading squad and is absolutely beautiful with her long black hair and her dark complexion. She's so full of energy that I sometimes wonder how anyone could keep up with her. Her goal is to go to NYU next fall to study fashion and eventually own her own design company and I have no doubt that she will accomplish it. If I ever go with Dick to any of Bruce's events I always consult her on what to wear, knowing she won't let me walk out of her house until I look as close to flawless as possible.
Then there is Garfield Logan, the 5'6, dyed green haired, ball of energy. Gar, as he's called, is the school's mascot, parading around the school as a knight the day of every home game. He's considered the class clown and is surprisingly best friends with Vic, both having an obsessive love of cheese pizza and video games. Even though they're the same age Vic takes on the older brother roll and does his best a keep Gar out of trouble and in return Gar keeps Vic from overthinking everything as he tends to do at times.
Rachel Roth is next to him. She's a 5'3 goth girl, who completely stands out in our group, always wearing black and never showing any emotion. Her story is similar to mine. During middle school she was bullied very badly, but one day someone made the mistake of knocking her books out of her hand in front of Vic and Dick. While Vic helped her gather her books, Dick made a few threats to the boy who had committed the act and whatever he said must have worked because the boy never even looked in her direction again.
Every since that day Rachel had been apart of our group. At first she didn't say much, simply deciding to read while the rest of us engaged in various conversations, but now she's more than happy to share her opinion on whatever topic we happen to be on at the moment.
After her is Donna Troy. She is sure to be the first female president of the United States. She's involved in everything that happens in Gotham Academy, being captain of the schools volleyball team, head of the homecoming and prom committees, and you can't forget class president. Also, she happens to be model like gorgeous, standing 5'8 with tan skin, long, curly, dark hair, and a killer smile. She's easily the most popular girl in school and rightfully so. She's amazing and there for any of us the second we need her.
Wally West, a tall, lean, red head, with huge grin, is on her left. Wally is a ...special person. He's cocky, egotistical, irritating, yet somehow probably the most likable person on the planet. You can't have a conversation with him without laughing, mostly do to how animated he is when he talks. I've never actually seen Wally sit still for more than five seconds, which probably is part of the reason that he is captain of the track and basketball team. I believe he holds the state record for the 100 meter sprint and easily the best basketball player in our school.
The only one missing from our group is of course Dick, who for some reason is never on time for anything for whatever reason. As I near the group, Vic is the first to notice me, and automatically exclaims in his booming voice, "good morning, little lady." The rest of the group is alerted to my presence and they all turn to me with pleasant smiles and greet me similarly.
I smile and wave back, greeting everyone with a good morning and a smile before finding me a place next to Donna.
"Well, don't you look cute today" Bee says referring to my purple crop top and tight fitted jeans. "A certain quarterback you trying to impress?" she teasingly jokes.
I frown at her in response. How are they going to start this on the first day back? "No, but speaking of Dick, where is he?"
Wally shrugs. "You know how he is. I'm willing to bet money he'll be late to his own funeral."
Everyone made sounds of agreement before Donna interjected. "I tried texting him this morning to see if I could get a ride while my car is in the shop, but he didn't text me back so I have no idea."
I shrugged just thinking about it. I talked to him last night and he seemed okay, though I did hear Alfred telling hims someone was at the door for him in the background and after that he seemed in a rush to go.
Just then the crowded hallway begins to part like the Red Sea and sure enough its for him, Gotham's prince, the 6'2, lean muscle framed, ice blue eyed, future NFL Quarterback, Dick Grayson.
It's odd, apart of me hates the way the girls look at him. I know what they want. They want the life style, the money, and the fame and I think that he deserves someone better than that. Then again that would mean that he'd actually want more than a one night stand. He's never actually had a girlfriend except last summer when he had a fling with the police commissioner's daughter Barbra Gordon, who was a senior here last year before heading off to Stanford University for college
Come to think of it, I wasn't the biggest fan of that either. Hanging out with Dick is a big majority of what my summers consist of, so I felt really alone when that was taken away from me. Needless to say I was more than happy when they broke up even though I'm not totally sure what caused it. He just said they had a few issues that couldn't be fixed and I accepted that, just happy to have best friend back on a full time basis. I'm clingy I guess. I don't know what I'm going to do if for some reason we don't go to the same college in the fall. As right now I'm considering USC, but Dick has offers from all of the top football programs in the nation so he could go nearly anywhere at this point. I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I'm come to it.
"What up Richie Rich?" Vic exclaims as they share one of their overly complicated handshakes.
"Yeah, why didn't you text me back this morning?" Donna scolds, poking him in the center of his chest. "I needed a ride and because of you Vic had to drive all the way across town to get me."
"Sorry," Dick raises his hands in defense. "I have a perfectly reasonable explanation. I wasn't home last night and I left my phone at the house."
"Where were you?" I ask, confused.
Dick just smirks before slyly glancing over a skinny blonde who stands at her locker looking in our direction. "I went out. Didn't make it back before morning."
I roll my eyes and feel my stomach kind of fall a bit. I don't know why he messes around these girls. I'm still a virgin and am more than content than to wait until I meet someone who I plan to marry. Rather it's my culture or my morals I don't know.
"You dog, you," Wally grins, noticing the same thing I did.
"She's the reason you couldn't give me a ride?" Donna shames him. "Oh, you're in so much trouble. You owe me."
"What do you want MS. President?" Dick responds jokingly, standing up super straight.
"Car rides to and from school everyday until my car is out of the shop," she quickly responds.
"Deal," Dick replies with a charming smile, extending his hand out and shaking hers.
Just then the bell rings and the traffic in the hallway picks up dramatically, everyone headed to their perspective classes.
"Well, this is it dudes," Gar begins.
"Senior year," Dick finishes. "Here we go guys," he says, throwing his arms over mine and Donna's shoulders, while Wally jumps on to his back.
There's chapter one. What did you like? What did you hate? Also, like I said at the top, I have a question for all of you. Do you want me to do two stories at once or finish this one out before starting the next one?
