Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual
The Start of Something New
Richard sent several swift punches to the dull colored punching bag swinging in front of him. Sweat poured down his forehead and his breathing was labored, but he kept working towards the bag. He had been out of the gym too long and snow boarding didn't count as a quality workout. He needed to stay fresh and quick in his movements. Behind him he could hear a door open, but he paid no mind to it. He had to stay focused.
"You know, Dick, we've only been gone four days." A voice said from behind him. "You can relax, that's why they call it a vacation."
Richard stopped punching the bag and turned to see who was behind him. He smiled when he saw Bruce walking towards him, carrying what looked like nice clothes in his hands.
"Crime never sleeps, Bruce," he said as he took a sip of water, "you taught me that."
Bruce rolled his eyes. "You seem to have a selected memory."
"Only if it means I get to give you grief." Dick said with a grin.
Bruce held up the clothes. It was a nice, blue button down shirt and dark jeans. Alfred must have packed them secretly because he couldn't remember putting them in his bag. Probably another plan to get him to meet a nice girl, or so the faithful butler would tell him every so often. Bruce, himself, was dressed in a nice suit. Where was he going?
"How come you're dressed to the nines and I get the button down?" Dick asked as he regarded the clothes with raised eyebrows.
"Because I'm going to the adult New Years Eve party and you're going to the teen's one." Bruce said as he handed them to his adopted son.
Dick groaned. "But why can't I go to the adult party?"
"Because you're not an adult." Bruce said matter-o-factly. "You need to meet people your age."
"Now you're starting to sound like Alfred." Dick said as he pointed his water bottle at Bruce.
"Just make sure you shower before putting those on." Bruce said as he started to walk out of the gym.
"Tell Diana I said hi!" Dick yelled to Bruce before he was out the door. He heard Bruce mutter something, making him smile to himself, before the man was gone.
"I hope Bruce doesn't expect me to sing karaoke." He muttered as he headed for the showers.
Dick pulled on his collar as he opened the door to enter the New Years Eve party. He didn't want to be here. It was going to be some lame ass party where the workers of the ski lodge were going to force everyone to have unpleasant interactions and he would have to avoid girls trying to pull him in for a kiss at midnight. Great. Thanks, Bruce.
Much to his surprised when he opened the door the party was full of life. There was decent music playing from the DJ station when people weren't singing karaoke. There were fun, glittery decorations and lights hanging around the large room and a large table filled with drinks and deliciously looking snacks and treats. People were laughing, singing, dancing and just having a good time all around. He had to give it to the lodge; they did know how to throw a decent party.
On the far side of the room he saw (heard more like it) the one person he was desperately trying to avoid. Her blonde head was facing away from him and he took the chance to duck out of her line of sight. He moved over to where the food table was as his stomach gave a loud growl. He did work really hard in the gym, he deserved a few chocolate cheese cake bites.
"I bet you can't eat that entire layer of chocolate cake." Dick heard a voice from next to him say.
He turned to see two guys, about his age, eyeing a giant, six layer cake that sat at the end of the dessert table. One was an African-American teen that looked like he could bench press the Batmobile and not break a sweat. The boy next to him was smaller with messy blond hair with dark green streaks running through it and a mischievous grin on his face.
"I bet I can." The African-American teen said with a determined grin on his face.
"I'll take that bet." Dick chimed in as he wandered over to where the two were standing.
Both boys smiled at him.
"So whose side you on, Charming?' The smaller teen asked.
"The man who could curl this entire table's side." Dick said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"See, Gar, someone believes in me." The bigger teen said as he grinned down at his friend. He turned to Dick, extending his hand, "My name's Victor, and this is Garfield."
"Gar, please, call me Gar." Gar said quickly as he shook Dick's hand after Victor.
"Call me Richard, Charming is middle name." He said with a wink at Gar.
"I call them as I see them." Gar said with a shrug of his shoulders. He turned to Victor, rubbing his hands greedily. "Now, my friend, I believe it's time for you to eat some cake."
"And what do I get if he can eat the whole thing?" Dick asked as Victor started to reach for the cake.
Gar placed his hand on his chin as he thought for a moment. He grinned evilly towards Richard. "If Vic eats the whole layer of cake then I will do a dare made up by both of you, no matter what it is."
"Sounds dangerous." Victor said, but he was smiling widely.
"But if he can't finish it, then you two have to take a dare from me, no matter what it is." Gar stated. He stuck out his hand, waiting for Richard to take it.
Dick hesitated for a moment. He didn't need Bruce dragging him out by his ear if he got in trouble for streaking through the snow in front of the entire ski lodge population. But the idea of cooking something up with Victor, who seemed to know Gar very well, was too good to pass up. Bruce said he needed to make friends, right?
"You're on." He said as he shook Gar's hand.
"Excellent." Victor said as he rubbed his hands together. "Gar, give me a count down. It's time to eat some cake!"
Meanwhile, across the room…
A girl with long, fiery red hair made her way through the crowd, trying to ditch the group of boys who were relentless in their pursuit to get her to dance with them. She was too busy looking over her shoulder at the boys that she didn't see where she was going and bumped into someone. She fell to the ground and looked up to see a blonde girl glaring down at her.
"Pardon me." She said to the blonde with an apologetic smile on her face.
"Aww aren't you cute." The girl said as she bent down so they were eye level. "Stay out of my way."
Kory watched as the blonde girl and her posse stepped over her and walked in the direction of the food table. She heard the girl say something about a guy named Richard. Poor bloke. She stood up and began to wipe the dust off of her gold sequined dress, but she stopped when she saw the boys beginning to surround her.
"Come on, cutie, just one dance." One of them said as he frowned at her.
Kory opened her mouth to say something, when she suddenly heard another voice breaking the circle of boys.
"There you are." A girl with short dark hair said as she walked over to Kory, putting her arm around her neck and pulling her close. "I thought you said to meet by the fireplace at nine."
Kory looked at the girl for a moment, confusion written all over her face. Who was this girl? She didn't know her. The dark hair girl winked and Kory smiled as she caught on. She slung one tanned arm around the girl's waist.
"You know my sister," Kory said easily, "wouldn't let me leave the room until my makeup matched my dress perfectly."
"Are you two together?" One of the boys asked, disappointed by this turn of events.
"It's a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions that two beautiful girls are strictly off the market to your greedy little hands." The dark haired girl said as both girls started to leave. She cocked her head over her shoulder and smirked at the boys, who were gawking in their wake, "Or is it?"
The girls waited until they were out of sight of the boys to finally separate. Kory was grinning at the girl who returned it with her own, small smile.
"Thank you so much." Kory said.
"It's no big deal." The girl responded. "I saw them stalking you and, well, us girls need to watch out for each other."
"Agreed." Kory said with a shake of her head. "My name is Kory."
"Rachel." The dark haired girl said. "My mother forced me to go to this party, hoping it would make me socialize more or whatever." Rachel said with a roll of her eyes.
"Are you not having fun?" Kory asked, genuinely concerned.
"I was enjoying the quietness of the fireplace room reading my book." Rachel said as they sat down in two comfy chairs. "Karaoke and parties aren't really my thing."
"I've been stuck with my sister and her friends the entire trip, so it was nice to hang out with people my own age." Kory admitted.
"Skiing or snowboarding?" Rachel asked.
Kory laughed. "Ice skating actually."
Rachel cocked an eyebrow, mildly impressed by her answer. "Really?"
Kory nodded her head. "I did ski a few times and landed on my butt a few more." Both girls giggled. "What about you?"
Rachel shook her head. "My mother loves to ski and she and her girlfriends wanted to get away for the week, since the weather was prime for winter sports."
"So why did you come?" Kory asked curiously.
"She promised the tea would be endless and that the fireplace room had a beautiful view of the mountains, and perfect for reading." Rachel said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Sounds peaceful." Kory hummed.
"You-you should join me sometime." Rachel said hesitantly. She was nervous about asking Kory to hang out with her. She wasn't used to asking people to hang out, but Kory seemed nice and someone worth getting to know. Maybe she could end up with one friend by the end of the trip after all. She held her breath as she waited for the girl to respond.
Kory's face broke into a wide smile. "I would love too! Although, I don't really have anything to read, so if you brought extra-"
Rachel was giving her a look that clearly stated she had brought plenty of reading material and that Kory would have options. Kory smiled warmly at her. She took Rachel's hands in her own, causing the dark haired girl to blush.
"I am excited to have met you!" She said. "This will be glorious!"
For the first time since she had arrived at the ski lodge, Rachel felt like yes, indeed it would be very glorious.
Meanwhile…
Dick groaned as he stared at the one last piece of chocolate cake that he knew was going to be his downfall. He had to hand it to Vic, though, the man had powered through the layer quickly, but the richness of the fudge filling had proved to be too much. Victor leaned against a wood beam, groaning slightly.
"Never again." He moaned.
"Yeah, you say that until we hit the dessert buffet tomorrow night." Gar said with a laugh as he patted his friend on the shoulder.
"True." Victor said as he popped one of his eyes opened, a small smile on his lips. He turned towards Richard, "Sorry, man, I let us down."
Richard shook his head and high fived Vic. "Don't be sorry, that was impressive."
"I'll have to burn all this off on the slopes tomorrow." Victor said as he rubbed his stomach, his face still slightly pale.
Richard perked up at the mention of the ski slopes. "Do you guys snowboard?" He asked excitedly.
"You're looking at two of the most badass boys ever with a board." Gar said as he slung his arm around Victor.
"Think you can hang?" Victor asked in a challenging voice, but he was grinning.
"I'm sure you guys won't have too much trouble keeping up." Richard said with a smirk.
"Dude, you're on!" Gar said excitedly.
"Richard!" A shrill voice said from behind them.
Dick felt his heart plummet into his stomach. "Oh no." He looked over his shoulder to see the blonde girl from earlier making her way over towards his direction.
"Is that your girlfriend?" Victor asked with a smirk.
"Hide me." Richard said as he dove under the food table.
Victor and Gar exchanged a look before they stepped in front of the table where Richard had just hid himself. The blonde came to an abrupt stop in front of the two boys who had just crossed their arms over their chest.
"Move." She said impatiently.
"Looking for something?" Victor asked.
"Someone." She said through gritted teeth. "I just saw Richard over here and I want to talk to him. I haven't seen him all day and his Kitten misses him."
Gar nearly choked on his laugh. "Kitten? Your name is seriously Kitten?"
"What's it to you broccoli head?" She asked with a disgusted look her face as she regarded his hair.
"I think we saw your boy toy sneak off to the balcony." Victor said as he watched Gar's face turn into a look of offense.
Kitten gave them a fake smile. "See, isn't cooperating with me so much easier?" She turned on her heel and snapped her fingers. "Girls, let's go."
They stomped off in the direction of the balcony, disappearing into the crowd. Richard crawled out from under the table and stood up; looking at the place she just disappeared to.
"Thanks, I owe you guys one." Dick said with a smile.
"Dude." Gar said.
"Don't even worry about it." Vic agreed. "We will gladly help you hide from her."
"How do you know her anyway?" Gar asked.
"She's the daughter of one of my dad's business partners." Richard said with a roll of his eyes. "So we see each other a lot, unfortunately."
Victor pulled Richard in under his arm, rubbing his head with his knuckles. "Stick with us, Charming, and we'll protect you from her evil powers of womanly charm."
Richard laughed. "Well, thank you."
Victor released Richard and both boys turned to Gar, who was staring intently at a couple singing karaoke in the middle of the room. He was eyeing Richard with a mischievous look playing in his dark green eyes.
"What are you looking at?" Richard asked nervously.
Gar rubbed his hands together, smiling. "I think I've thought of your dare, Mr. Charming. I hope your vocal chords are warmed up…"
Dick gulped as his eyes wondered up to the karaoke stage.
Meanwhile…
"Scully is right every time." Rachel argued playfully. "Science always wins out."
Kory laughed. "Come on, Mulder has to be right sometimes, aliens have to exist."
Rachel shook her head. "Did I mention our room has unlimited Netflix along with endless cups of tea?"
"So I'm hearing a X-Files marathon after a relaxing day of reading?" Kory asked with a cock of her eyebrow.
"I'm not saying it's a date, but it's a date." Rachel confirmed.
"Alright, who's next to sing?" The karaoke host asked over a microphone to everyone in the room.
Suddenly, a bright light landed on both girls. They shielded their eyes as everyone turned to look at them. Rachel immediately pointed to Kory, an apologetic look on her face. Kory just sat frozen before she felt hands pulling her up onto the stage. There was a boy who was pulled up as well. He had dark, black hair and when she caught a glimpse of his blue eyes she felt herself blushing heavily.
Richard tried to protest as Gar and Victor dragged him onto the stage. He had thought his punishment would involve nudity or maybe wooing a girl and making an idiot out of himself, not singing. Why did it have to be singing? He was shoved towards the microphone and he managed to flip his middle finger up to his two new friends before they hopped off stage.
He sighed and turned to look at the poor soul that had got dragged up with him. He felt his whole body freeze when he looked at her. Richard had seen some beautiful girls in his life, but none of them, none of them seemed to compare to her. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into an intricate braid and her tanned skinned looked beautiful with her gold sequined dress. The thing that made him catch his breath though, were her gorgeous emerald eyes. He could get lost in them forever.
"Someday you're going to thank me for this." He heard Gar yell from somewhere around him. "Or, maybe not." He added when the music started playing.
Richard tore his eyes off of her to look at the screen where the lyrics were starting to pop up. He could feel the panic start to rise in his chest. He had never sung in public before. Maybe a few times in the shower, but there were so many people watching, including this gorgeous girl standing next to him. It was sink or swim time.
R: Livin' in my own world. Didn't understand that anything can happen when you take a chance
He didn't sound too bad, not too bad at all. He caught a glimpse of Gar's and Victor's jaws dropping. He smirked slightly.
K: I never believed it
Richard's eyes immediately snapped back to her. Was it possible for her to have a voice of an angel along with everything else about her?
K: What I couldn't see. I never opened my heart
R: Ohhhh
K: To all the possibilities
Both: I know
K: That something has changed
Both: Never felt this way
K: And right here tonight
Both: This could be the start of something new
Richard grabbed onto the microphone stand and leaned in closer to the girl. She was smiling as her hands clasped around the microphone.
K: It feels so right
Both: To be here with you, ooh. And now looking in your eyes
K: I feel in my heart
R: Feel in my heart
Both: The start of something new
Richard pulled the microphone off the stand and stepped closer to her. She did the same so that they were now facing each other.
R: Now who'd of ever thought that
Both: We'd both be here tonight
K: Oh yeah, the world looks so much brighter
R: Brighter, brighter
K: Oh, with you by my side
R: By my side
Both: I know that something has changed, never felt this way
K: I know it for real
Both: This could be the start of something new. It feels so right to be here with you, ooh. And now looking in your eyes I feel in my heart, the start of something new
Kory could see the crowd gathering around them out of the corner of her eye, but she was focused on the boy in front of her. Who was he? What magic spell did he cast to get her full attention? What made him so different than the others? She looked down to see Rachel smiling at her, giving her the thumbs up.
R: I never knew it could happen til it happened to me
Both: I didn't know it before
K: But now it's easy to see
They moved even closer to each other, moving to the beat of the music. Kory smiled brightly at him and he returned it instantly.
Both: It's the start of something new. It feels so right to be here with you, ooh. And now looking in your eyes I feel in my heart, that it's the start of something new, it feels so right
R: So right
K: To be here with you
Both: And now
K: Looking in your eyes
R: Looking in your eyes
They moved closer to each other, their eyes locking together. Richard could feel his heart racing, but not from singing in front of everyone.
K: I feel in my heart
R: Feel in my heart
Both: The start of something new
The song ended and crowd around them went wild. Kory and Richard stood close together for a moment longer before Gar and Victor hopped on stage, patting Richard on the back.
"Dude!" Gar yelled, "You didn't tell us you could sing!"
Richard watched as the girl handed the microphone back, smiled at Richard and joined her friend who was waiting for her. Richard pulled himself from his friend's grasp to follow her.
"Hey, wait!" He called.
Both girls turned to look at him. He stumbled and came to a stop. Now that she was looking at him he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Luckily, his friends came to his rescue.
"Who knew the little lady had a killer voice on her." Victor said as he put his arm around Richard.
The girl blushed and smiled. Richard could feel his insides melt. A smile like that could change the world. His world to be exact.
"Thank you." She said. "It was most fun, was it not?" She asked, looking at Richard.
Richard just stared at her. Gar nudged him after a moment. "Oh, yeah, it was pretty cool." He said as he ran his hands through his hair.
"I'm Kory, this is Rachel." She said as she introduced her friend, who had been silent the whole time.
"Richard." He said before turning to his friends, "And this is Victor and Gar."
"You ladies want to hear a joke?" Gar asked wagging his eyebrows in their direction.
"You don't want to hear one of his joke." Victor stated much to Gar's dismay.
Kory giggled and even Rachel smiled. Richard's eyes returned to Kory and she met them, before she smiled at the ground, her cheeks turning red.
"Mind if we join you ladies for the evening?" Victor asked. He was willing to play wingman all night if he had to. It was clear that there was a spark between the pair. Something special.
"We would love you too!" Kory said excitedly. She looked at Rachel, making sure it was okay.
Rachel looked at Kory. She wasn't big on meeting a lot of new people, but Kory seemed excited and it was hard to not feel it seep into her. The boys seemed nice enough and she had to admit, watching Kory and Richard sing together was something interesting.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Rachel said with a shrug.
"Glorious!" Kory said as she clasped her hands together.
The five friends spent the evening laughing and talking during most of the party. They got Gar to sing a song on karaoke and they even convinced Rachel to hop on the dance floor for a few songs. Richard felt himself pulling towards Kory every chance he got. Around her he would smile wider and laughed louder. Her laugh was just as beautiful as her singing voice. They would often separate from the group to talk more privately.
"Have you been having fun?" Kory asked Richard.
He leaned in a little closer. "Honestly, when Bruce made me come to this party I wasn't too happy." He stated
"And now?" Kory asked shyly.
Richard smiled warmly, his eyes looking down at the ground before he turned back to look at her, "But now I couldn't be happier."
Kory smiled. Talking with Richard was easy. It was like they had known each other all their lives. Being with him felt familiar and warm. She liked the feeling.
"You have a wonderful singing voice." She said.
"Mine was nothing compared to yours." He said as he waved his hand at her.
"You are too kind." She said with a deep blush.
Richard leaned in a bit more, his eyes flashing down to her lips. It was crazy, he barely knew this girl, and yet he couldn't wait to find out exactly what her lips felt like against his. Kory arched her neck and leaned up, as if she were thinking the same thing he was…
"Richie-poo there you are!" Kitten's voice said from behind him.
Both teens broke their trance to see the blonde girl stomping over to them. She came to a stop, resting her hands on her hips, glaring at Kory.
"Richard, it's almost midnight and I need you for the special midnight kiss." She said in a demanding voice.
Kory looked up sharply at Richard. "Are you two-"
Richard looked horrified. "No! We-"
Kitten laid a hand on Kory's shoulder, a sickening sweet smile on her face. "Sweetie, I told you to stay out of my way. Now run along so Kitten can get her man."
Richard didn't know what to say. This was all going wrong so quickly. He could see Kory's eyes fill with tears. Before he could say anything she took off running. Richard felt his chest tighten as he watched her go.
"And yet again boys prove why they suck." Rachel said as she started after Kory.
"Rachel, wait!" Gar said as he grabbed her arm.
"Richard isn't with Kitten." Victor explained.
"Yeah, we had to help hide him from her early today." Gar said. "She just wants him for her own."
Rachel looked up at the giant clock on the wall and then back at the two boys. "We don't have a lot of time if we're going to fix this."
"What's your plan?" Victor asked with a smile. He was beginning to really like the girl in front of him.
"I'll find Kory," Rachel stated, "Gar you distract the blonde and Victor you get Richard out of there as fast as you can."
The boys nodded their heads. Rachel quickly put Victor's number in her phone so she could call him when she found Kory before taking off into the crowd. Gar took a deep breath and dove into the fray.
Richard stood helplessly with Kitten's arm wrapped around his tightly. Maybe he should just accept defeat. He didn't deserve someone as amazing as Kory anyway. He was surprised when he saw Gar pop up in front of Kitten.
"Want to see me juggle?" He asked.
"No, now leave." Kitten said as she tried to push him out of the way. "We only have a couple of minutes until the New Year and I want uninterrupted make out time."
Richard shuddered at the thought. Gar laughed nervously and began juggling anyway. He was really terrible at it, but maybe that was the point. The cheesecake bites he was juggling started to drop to the ground around Kitten's feet. She screamed as she dodged some. One landed right on her dress, causing her to release Richard's arm as a murderous scream tore through the room.
"Come on, Charming." Victor yelled to Richard.
Both boys took off through the crowd.
"She's on the balcony." Victor said with a small smile. "And don't worry about Kitten, we'll keep her away."
"I owe you one." Richard said with a laugh and a small salute.
"I'll add it to the list." Victor said as he held open the balcony door.
Richard stepped outside into the cool, night air. There were a decent number of people outside, but he spotted her easily. He pushed his way through the crowd and came to stop at the railing next to her.
"Kory," He said softly, "Kitten and I, we're not together."
Kory looked up at him, her eyes still shining with tears. "How can I be sure of that? She seemed very adamant about it."
Richard didn't know what to say. He took her hand in his and pulled her close.
This could be the start of something new
He started to sing softly. It seemed the right thing to do. She smiled at him and he could feel the butterflies flutter away.
It feels so right to be here with you
She sang back.
Both: And now looking in your eyes
K: I feel in my heart
R: Feel in my heart
Both: The start of something new
They could hear people counting down in the background. Richard leaned in, his lips meeting hers gently. At first the kiss was sweet and innocent. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled in deeper by her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer by the small of her back.
Rachel, Victor and Gar watched from the other side of the balcony with smiles on their faces as the fireworks from the lodge shot off into the sky. They watched the couple kiss and somewhere, somehow the scene felt familiar, like they had seen it, lived it before.
Richard and Kory broke apart, grinning madly at each other. They leaned in for another kiss, but Victor, Gar and Rachel crashed into them, like a giant group hug. The five of them laughed as the fireworks continued going off in the sky.
"Happy New Year!" Gar yelled.
"Something tells me this year is going to be pretty great." Victor said as he pulled Gar and Richard in with his big arms.
"The start of something new." Kory said looking at Richard as she wrapped her arms around Rachel.
Richard nodded his head. "The start of something new."
Alfred opened the door the Wayne mansion, helping Bruce carry in the bags from the car. Richard was too busy on the phone talking to someone and only managed to carry in one bag before he plopped down on the couch laughing at something someone said.
"Master Richard seems to have met some new friends." Alfred noted.
"I couldn't drag him away from his new friends the rest of the trip." Bruce said as he sat his bags down.
"Bruce, we can accommodate four teenagers, right?" Richard asked from the couch, his hand over his phone.
"Sounds like I'll have to buy enough food to feed an army." Bruce said with a shake of his head, but he was smiling.
"You're the best!" Richard said as he turned back to his phone. "So, Vic, I was thinking…"
Richard continued talking on the phone as Bruce reached into a gift bag and pulled out a couple of photo frames, handing them to Alfred. Alfred took the pictures and his face broke into a warm smile. In one picture Richard was surrounded by four other people, all of them smiling, standing on a balcony with fireworks exploding in the background.
"I hope you're ready to handle five teenagers." Bruce muttered as he started for his room.
Alfred set the picture up on the mantle and looked down at the next one. Richard was piggybacking a girl with red hair and she was kissing his cheek. Richard was smiling brightly in the photo and Alfred could feel a small tear form in his eye.
"She says she's super excited to meet you." Richard said as he looked down at the photograph with a smile.
"And I look forward to meeting her as well." Alfred said as he placed the picture on the mantle over the fireplace.
He watched as Richard turned and wandered to his room, singing softly to himself.
The start of something new
Yeah, so I watched High School Musical and I wanted to write a cute au fic about it so here it is. I hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write and of course I had to include that song, it was just too perfect not to, so yeah. Drop me a review because they're always appreciated!
Vballqueen17