a/n: Highschool!AU because these are my faves. *shamelessly takes an already written piece and expands/modifies it to fit the prompt*
Update: I just noticed there was a "school" prompt. brb while i smack my head on a wall.
Deep breaths. Counts of seven.
Tara Markov tightens the laces on her red Nike runners. She finds her mark, takes a swig of Gatorade and places it on the charcoal track. She ties her golden hair in a ponytail, stretching her calfs while she's at it.
"Yeah, Tara!" she hears screams from the stands, only to find Kole Weathers, Toni Monetti, and Joseph Wilson clapping wildly. She waves at them and blows an over-dramatic kiss.
"Nice fangirls," Wally West commented, coming out of nowhere and giving her crooked smirk.
"They're my friends," Tara replied shortly. "I don't see any of yours cheering you on."
"That's because I actually have cheerleaders," he waves at a group of freshmen on the sidelines, who start screaming shrilly.
"Jesus."
"Yeah, I guess you could say he's cheering for me too."
She rolled her eyes and tried her best not to hurl. It was honestly just a try-out for a place on the Varsity track team. She knew she had reserved herself a spot last year when Coach Oatway was so impressed with her that she allowed freshmen like Más and Menos to try out as well.
"Well, Tara, let the best man win," said Wally. "Me, Más, or Menos. But realistically, me."
She ignored him. Tara hears nothing except Coach Oatway blowing her whistle, causing the crowd to erupt in cheer. And then she feels the weight coming back just behind her knees, then down to her feet, and then into the earth and she is off and weightless again, flying past the other runners, her arms pumping up and down and the whole world is quiet except for the crunch as she zooms over the gravel in the track.
She glances to her left and there is no one. To her right, a blurred Wally, who's got his chin jutting out as if it would win the race all by itself. She sees a dark-haired boy leaning next to a fence with a wide toothy grin, staring at her as she runs. But the white ribbon is bouncing towards her and she tears past it, racing into the distance till her feet with a mind of their own begin digging up footfalls of dirt and brake her short.
Then all her friends are standing on the side pile with her, banging her on the back and slapping her head with their papers, for she has won again and all the sophomores can stand a little taller for another year.
She comes up to Wally, hand out in handshake. "The best man wins, right?"
He returns the grin. "Nice job, Tara. I'll be seeing you at Track then."
She waves goodbye, returns Kole's hug and laughs at Toni's photos of Tara running with the wind pulling her mouth back and showing her teeth.
"Real attractive, Tara, truly."
She can't help but look for the boy sitting next to the fence, and she sees him. And she smiles. Because he knows that she knows she's good, no doubt about it. He nods to congratulate her and then he smiles. They stand there with this big smile of respect between them. And it's real.
Garfield Logan is a pro when it comes to Biology AP. He's the only sophomore in that class and he has the second highest mark in class, after Garth Curry beat him by 3%.
(He's not bitter.)
He's the first to finish his test on platyhelminthes, brings it to Mr. Vince's desk and smirks to himself. Mr. Vince hardly notices him approach his desk, his blonde hair frizzled as he tries to fix the class computer.
Gar turns around, catching Garth's eye and shrugging at him confidently. Garth scoffs and scribbles something down on his paper.
He takes the hall pass and walks out of the room, whistling his way to the boy's washroom. He hears a locker slam shut and he turns the corner to see what it is.
Baran Flinders, otherwise known as Mammoth (because of his abornmal non-human size and hairy arms) was pushing Joseph Wilson into a locker.
"We had a deal, pipsqueak." he bared his teeth, pressing his face closer to Joseph's.
Just as Gar was about to step in, he heard a yell come in from the other side of the hallway. Expecting a teacher, he was surprised to see the twig-like blonde girl running towards Baran.
"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled, stepping in between Joseph and Baran, pushing Baran aside with her tiny hand. "Picking on Joseph for money?"
"The band geek owes me math homework," Baran growled. "Step aside, blondie. I don't hit girls."
At this point, students began to peek out of their classrooms to see what the commotion outside was about. A small crowd began to circle them, and Gar moved closer.
"Well, nice to know some double-standards are good," she said, cocking her head.
And then she landed a kick square in his nuts.
There was a loud "OH" from the crowd, people covering their mouths and pointing at the girl. Baran stumbled back, slamming into the opposite side of the lockers. She flicked off pretend dirt from her shoulder and smiled. Joseph grinned at her and she bumped his fist.
"What's the matter? You guys never seen a superhero before?" she turned to the crowd, giving them a crooked smile.
"Tara! Tara! Tara!" a group of freshmen began to chant, and she waved them off.
"Will Tara Markov, Baran Flinders and Joseph Wilson please report themselves to the principal's office right away?" Ms. Bell's voice chimed across the school's PA system. Tara rolled her eyes, and put her arm across Joseph's shoulder as they made their way to the second floor.
Walking towards him, she smiled at Gar and gave him a wink before her curtain of blonde hair turned the corner.
The entire student body was unable to decide whether or not they liked this strange new girl. Some believed she did not "know her place" as a new student at Jump City High. She behaved as though she had lived in the city all her life, and was far too outspoken and opinionated, a combination that alienated a few members of said student body. Others admired her for her courage and thought of her as someone who was genuinely nice – just slightly misunderstood, that's all. Whether they were a member of Team Tara or not, however, most students agreed that there was something unique about her.
At lunch, Gar plucks up the courage to talk to her.
"People are talking about you," Gar told Tara. He slid his lunch tray onto the table where Tara was sitting and sat down across from her.
They were in the cafeteria. It was Thursday, and Tara had woken up that morning feeling eternally grateful that the week was nearly over. It had been a rough couple of days. She was looking forward to some time off. "Oh really?" Tara said disinterestedly, biting into an apple. "What are they saying?"
"So far, the general consensus is either that you're slightly insane," he said, "or just plain awesome."
"Yeah?" she chewed thoughtfully for a while. "And what do you think?"
He raised an eyebrow. "A little bit of both," he said matter-of-factly.
That made her smile. "I'm Tara, by the way."
"Yeah, I know," he returned her smile and regretted those words as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Nice, he thought. She thinks you're a stalker.
"I'm Garfield," he replied, quickly filling his mouth with salad to shut himself up.
"Garfield!" she exclaimed. "Like the fat orange cat?"
He nodded, jokingly wary, hearing that one countless times before.
At that moment, Toni and her boyfriend, Isaiah Crockett appeared at the table, both holding trays of their own. Toni exhaled loudly as she sat down. "I'm really, really nervous about tomorrow."
"The most important thing is that you don't lose Battle of the Bands," Isaiah said, waving his fork in the air as he spoke. "Or you could lose your 30 bucks."
"Yeah, because it's that simple," Toni rolled her eyes.
"Where's Joseph?" Tara asked.
"Eating lunch in the principal's office," Toni replied. "Also known as his dad's office."
"Yo, Gar!" he heard Victor Stone call him over to the senior's table, his usual eating spot.
"I'll see you around, Tara!"
And with that, Gar stood up and left. Tara watched him walk away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Toni leaned in and winked. "So. Tara. Interested?"
Tara laughed. "No, of course not."
Toni shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to ask. A lot of girls are. But don't say that, it'll just go to his head."
"True," Isaiah nodded sagely, his mouth full of meat loaf.
"Huh," Tara looked back at the current topic of their conversation who was nearing the cafeteria exit doors. She supposed she could see what people found so attractive about him. He was very good-looking (very, very good-looking). "But I thought between the two of you, you were the ladykiller, Isaiah."
"Don't get me wrong. I steal my fair share of hearts. I stole this one's, didn't I?" he laughed, pointing at Toni. "How can I not? Just look at these muscles, my perfectly tousled hair, my friendly and welcoming smile..."
"Do go on," Toni groaned.
Isaiah swallowed his food and continued. "But really, a lot of girls are into Gar."
"They just don't talk about it publicly," Toni said. "But I'm a girl, and I use the girls' changing room, and you hear things in there," she shuddered, "Things I do not want to repeat."
"I still think I'm the better-looking one," Isaiah said.