"Miss Ridley!" I woke up to Alfred knocking on my door. "It's time for you to get up and get ready for school."
I rolled over and put my head under my pillow. I had spent most of the night trying to think why that card had been left in my room, as well as the answer to the riddle. Needless to say, I didn't get enough sleep because of it.
I heard the door open and suddenly the pillow was pulled forcefully off of my head.
"Master Bruce won't take kindly to you being late to school again miss," Alfred said looking down at me. "Wake up now."
Ugh! Fine. I rolled my eyes and sat up with a stretch.
"Get dressed and then come down for breakfast," Alfred said with a satisfied nod of his head. "Don't forget that Master Richard will be driving you to school today."
I groaned internally. How could I forget that? It felt like Bruce was slowly taking away my freedom when he should've been giving me more of it.
"Don't give me that look miss," Alfred 'scolded'.
I rolled my eyes again and flung my legs over the side of the bed. Alfred gave me a nod before leaving the room.
Getting up I walked over to my dresser and picked out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to wear. Yes I wore T-shirts even if I wore something over them. I wasn't an idiot and with the weather getting warmer it would be suicide to wear a long sleeve shirt.
Tugging on a purple shirt I make my way over to my closet and pulled out my favorite emerald green cardigan. Putting it on, I made sure to button it up all the way before slipping in my sneakers and exiting my room to go eat breakfast.
"Did you have a good night sleep?" Bruce asked me when I entered the dining room.
I nodded and sat down at the table before for filling the plate in front of me with eggs and bacon.
"Richard's going to be driving you to school,"Bruce reminded me, "He'll also be picking you up once it's over."
I shot a glare at Bruce. Thanks for reminding me for the hundredth time! Alfred already told me.
"I'm only looking out for your well being Ridley," Bruce said with a sigh, complete misinterpreting what the glare meant. "I want to make sure that you're safe. After what happened with the press ambushing you last time, I want to take precautions."
Really? I raised an eyebrow. I'm sure that was part of the reason, but I know there was something else as well. It was no secret that there was a huge break out at Arkham Asylum last week. Did Bruce know about the card? No, probably not. He'd have grilled me about it and then lectured me about how I needed to stay safe.
"Finish your breakfast and then go meet Richard outside," Bruce said after a moment.
I nodded and quickly finished my breakfast before getting up from the table and grabbing my bag which was by the door. I nodded in thanks to Alfred as I walked past him.
"Have a pleasant day at school, miss," Alfred said with a smile.
Like hell I will. I nodded and then waved as I walked out the front door and down the drive to where Richard was waiting.
"Lovely morning, isn't?" Richard asked me as I got into the passenger seat.
I nodded. Sure I guess.
"I can't believe that Bruce made me drive the car today," Richard said, starting to complain. "I'm just as capable of driving the motorcycle, but noooooo Bruce made me drive the car because he was worried that we'd get in an accident."
Bruce is such a worry wart.
I silently watched the trees go by as he drove. We rode in silence and I fiddled with my headphones before slipping them on. Hitting shuffle I listened to Taylor Swift sing about her most recent cheating boyfriend.
After fifteen minutes Richard tapped me on the shoulder and I hit pause.
"We're here," he said with a grin. "I know you don't like it, but try to have a good day, ok? I'll be here to pick you up after school."
I nodded and stepped out of the car. Welcome to hell I thought bitterly as I made my way towards Gotham High.
Walking into the large three story brick building I wondered how I was going to survive this time. I couldn't wait until school was over, then I wouldn't have to deal with this. I sensed people staring at me as I walked to my locker and I did my best to ignore it. Getting to my locker I opened it and then tossed my stuff into it. Grabbing my notebook and binder I headed to my first class of the day; Science.
Entering the room I sat down in my usual spot in the back of the room. Looking around I saw that once again I was the only one there at the moment, besides the teacher, who was sitting behind their desk grading papers. The other kids would probably arrive a few seconds before the bell rang. Five minutes later the rest of the class filed in and found their respective seats, meaning that no one would sit by me if they could help it. I heard running footsteps and saw Max Knight run in just as the bell rang.
"I'm going to have to count you late, Mr. Knight," the teacher said raising her head.
"But I made it here just as the bell rang!" Max protested, "So technically I'm not late."
"And i'm technically the teacher," the teacher said, her face hardening. "Go sit down."
Max shrugged and then made his way over to my table.
"How are you doing Ridley?" he asked in a low voice so the teacher wouldn't hear.
Good. I shrugged my shoulders and turned to face the front of the room as the teacher started her lecture.
Needless to say, the lecture was the most boring thing ever and I quickly zoned out.my attention wandered over to Max who was playing some game on his phone.
"Wanna try and play it?" Max asked, noticing my interest.
I shook my head. No thanks. I don't to get caught playing it and get in trouble.
"You sure? Ok then," Max said with a shrug.
I turned back to my notebook which I was writing song lyrics in. My thoughts wandered and I found myself thinking about the guys sitting right next to me. Max was the only one that was remotely nice to me and i knew that his friends gave him crap about it. I didn't understand why he wanted to spend time with me, I supposed it was nice, but we really weren't considered friends because he only really talked to me when we had class together, which was only a few times. The rest of the class period was dull and I'm pretty sure that half the class was pretty much asleep by the end of it.
"See you in math," Max told me when we exited the classroom. I nodded and headed to my next class, which was History.
The rest of my classes were pretty much the same as my first class and I was glad when lunch finally rolled around. Grabbing my lunchbox I headed outside and towards my usual eating area against the side of the building. Pulling my headphones out of the headphone jack, I switched on my iPod and turned the volume up at full blast. I bit into my sandwich and listened to My Chemical Romance's S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W. I let the music wash over me and relaxed for the first time in a while.
Leave a dream where the fallout lies
Watch it grow where the tearstain dries
To keep you safe tonight.
He burns my skin
Never mind about the shape I'm in
I'll keep you safe tonight yeah, yeah...
I was having a rather pleasant time until I saw Kyle and his idiot friends walking near by.
Please don't notice me.
Kyle was perhaps the biggest jerk ever and made it his personal goal to harass and make fun of me as much as he could.
"Hey Ridley!" he said noticing me and walking over. His friends followed him snickering.
Shit.
"I'm having an end of the year party," Kyle said. "I was wondering if you wanted to come. What do you say?" he smirked and his friends laughed like hyenas.
I glared at him. Fuck off.
"Why do you always wear long sleeves?" one of his friends said loudly. I think his name was Ben.
"It's obvious that she's trying to hide something," Kyle said, "Let's find out what it is."
No! Leave me alone! I struggled when two more of his friends lunged at me and grabbed my arms.
"You're always wearing the stupid sweater," Kyle said advancing towards me. "Let's see what's under it, shall we?"
Frantically I kicked my legs out and managed to connect with his shin.
"What the hell?" Kyle said glaring at me. "Bitch," he spit.
He nodded his head to his friends and they gleefully ripped my cardigan off. Assholes.
"So you do wear something other than long sleeves!" Kyle said gleefully. "Not sure about what I think about the purple shirt but-"
He stopped when he saw my scars and his eyes widened. "My word," he said, "You have problems. More than one. Either you're depressed or you enjoy the pain that it causes," he sneered at me. "You know... if you are into that kind of stuff I can hook you up with someone."
He let out a laugh as if he thought that he was with funniest person ever.
"Get it?" he asked his friends. "Hook up?"
Shut up! Shut up shutupshutupshutup! I clenched my fists.
"Oh just wait till the others hear about this," Kyle said with a smirk. He pulled out his phone. "Pose for a picture boys," he said to his friends.
NO! I struggled again in vain, but their grip was just too tight. Burce would be mad if he ever found out about this. How would he explain it to the press? The image that he'd worked hard at perfecting would be ruined thanks to me. I knew that he would be more worried about me than his image, but that didn't stop me from worrying about it.
"Hey," I heard someone say from behind Kyle and his friends. I looked up to see Max standing there with his arms crossed. "What do you think you're doing?"
"None of your business," Kyle snapped. "Back off."
"Are you hurting Ridley?" Max asked coming closer.
Leave before you get hurt. I don't want to get you mixed up in this.
"What does it matter to you?" Kyle asked, turning around to face Max.
"I want to just make sure that she's ok," Max said.
"You her boyfriend or something?" Kyle said.
"What does it matter to you?" Max asked with a smirk. "Leave now before I call a teacher over and tell them what you're doing."
Kyle scowled at Max but jerked his head. "Come on guys," he muttered. "Leave the bitch and her knight alone. For now." He walked away with his friends snickering behind him, no doubt laughing about the pun he had just made.
"You ok Ridley?" Max asked softly, approaching me.
Not in the slightest. I felt tears start to pool in my eyes and I shook my head.
Max crouched down and picked up my cardigan. "Those guys are assholes," he said, handing it back to me.
I nodded in agreement. Yes they are.
"Ridley..." Max said slowly, noticing my scars. "What are those?"
I ignored him and started to put my cardigan on.
"Ridley," Max said more forcefully. I glanced up at him and met his blue eyes. "Did you do this to yourself?"
I shook my head.
"You're lying," Max said. " I know for a fact that Bruce Wayne would never harm anyone, much less his daughter."
How do you know that? I asked silently. But I of course knew that Max was speaking the truth. Bruce would never hurt anyone unless he had to, and that was only when he was Batman.
"Look," Max said with a sigh, "I know that it's none of my business, but if you are really cutting yourself you should go see a therapist or something."
I shook my head again. I'm not doing this to myself.
"I think that we should go to the office and report Kyle and his idiot friends at least," Max said after a while.
I shook my head again. If Kyle found out that I went to the office he would hound me just as much as the press would except unlike the press, he would hurt me.
"Damn it Ridley!" Max said letting out a frustrated breath. "Can't you see that I want to help you?"
Why do you want to help me? I gave him a questioning look.
Max's face softened, "I want to help you Ridley because I- I care for you."
Well shit. That's not what I expected him to say. I thought that he'd say something along the lines of 'I wanted to do the right thing'.
"Come on Ridley," Max said standing up. "We are going to the office now."
He didn't give me any room to protest as he practically dragged me there.
A/N: The song used in this chapter was S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W (Scarecrow) by My Chemical Romance. All rights belong to them. I am merely using the song as a way of foreshadowing things to come ;)