Richard was careful to make sure Kori knew exactly what she was suppose to do after giving her the schedule of her classes. After leading her to a class filled with rowdy, energetic students, he reluctantly started for his own classroom. But, not before sounding like a worried mother, saying, "Okay, when class is over, just stay here in this room. I'll come by and walk you to our next class."
She had responded with a cheerful, "Glorious! I cannot wait, Robin."
The class, which she had soon been informed of as Art, consisted of bright colorful substances, which she had been invited to smear across some white surfaces. It wasn't until her hands were dipped in a blue substance that she saw the rest of the children holding and dipping sticks into the blue stuff. With her grin ever present, she wiped her hands off on the white surface, and picked up a random stick, mimicking her peers.
The act was simply thrilling, and left her with complete and utter glee. She expressed her joy to her neighbor on her right, and was answered by a mere eyebrow quirk by the girl. The time ended far too soon to Kori, and for a moment, her smile drooped a fraction of an inch. With a chorus of bells, the students hurriedly picked up their mess and gathered their belongings. Kori again mimicked them, picking up a sparkly bag Alfred had given her that morning.
She had waited, as Robin requested, in the classroom. Soon, though, more kids she did not know filed in and took seats previously occupied by her classmates. As the minutes passed, more kids arrived. Eventually, the teacher appeared once more, and shooed the confused Kori out of the room.
Once outside, she noticed the halls were nearly empty. Wringing her hands, Kori glanced left to right for any sign of Robin. He was nowhere to be seen. Now frowning, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the white slip of paper a woman in the office– Richard had called her "Bitch" after leaving, so Kori assumed that to be her name (though, she hadn't looked like a female dog)– had given her. Schedule, was what everyone had called it.
Bruce had explained the concept of Earthling schools to her yesterday night before she retired to bed. She had caught on quickly, eager to experience his tales herself. Kori knew the thing she had just experienced was a 'class', mostly because Robin reminded her of the word. And Kori also knew that the professors of each class expected their students to arrive on time for each class. Kori didn't want to be late, and Richard still wasn't in view, so she began to search for the next class on the list herself.
She was quite lost, and her optimism was slowly diminishing. Looking up from the paper, Kori pushed open a nearby door and walked through. Her gaze perked up considerably– a green boy and the girl Kori had bumped into earlier that day with Robin were both standing in the small room.
"Greetings, friends!" she exclaimed, going for the green kid. Taking the hand he was using to rub his sore face in her own, she mimicked the movements Bruce had performed yesterday. The 'shaking of the hands' was a most pleasant action, and brought Kori a great amount of satisfaction.
"I am Koriand'r," she introduced herself to him, then looked towards the other girl. "You are Raven, yes? I remember from this morning."
Raven, whose eyes had widened considerably with the arrival of Kori, replied carefully, "Uh, yeah."
This was a first. This morning, when she and Kori had knocked shoulders, Raven was sure Kori had been of Robin's popular group. None of them, as far back as Raven could recall, had ever spoken to her so freely; and remembered her name after one meeting, at that. Kori was new, that much was certain. Raven, quite observant, had never seen her around. Even so, the fact that Kori had been with Robin that morning left Raven convinced he had recruited her into his group.
This left her confused. Kori seemed completely pure, so innocent; she seemed genuinely nice. What was Robin doing hanging out with her, then? He liked his girls snobby and conceited, last time Raven checked.
Caught up in her own thoughts, Raven missed a little of what Kori had continued to go on about.
"...and the colors were magnificent! I especially liked the purple and yellows," Kori explained to the green-haired kid, who looked shocked that someone as beautiful as her was actually talking to him. Suddenly, Kori paused, and the boy held his breath, waiting eagerly for her to continue.
"My apologies, friend," she finally said. "I have misplaced my manners. You know my introductory term– or name, as Robin calls it– but I do not know yours."
For the briefest of moments, Raven and the other kid glanced at each other, both curious about the way she spoke.
"Oh, I'm Garfield," he replied after a moment's pause, quite vigorously. And he was quick to add, to both Kori and Raven, "But you can call me Gar."
"Pleased to meet you," Kori replied so earnestly that Gar's chest swelled slightly with pride.
"Robin?" Raven spoke up finally. "You mean, Richard Grayson?"
"Yes," Kori replied brightly, clasping her hands in front of her. "That is right. He says that I may call him 'Robin'."
Raven blinked a few times. "Why would you call him that, though?"
"It is his..." Kori trailed off, struggling to find the right word. "It is his...nickname. Yes, his nickname."
Raven nodded, a frown plastered on her face.
The sound of the bell jarred all three of them. Raven picked up her bag from the ground; Garfield jumped; and Kori looked around for the source of these strange bells.
"Oh man," Garfield whined as he started towards the door, "I'm gonna be so late for Math. Mr. Gellar is gonna slaughter me– carnivore."
With that, he bolted out the door. A second later, he rushed back in, hesitated, then gave Kori a big hug. Raven rolled her eyes, but Kori beamed and hugged him back. Garfield pulled away, looking beside himself with delight as he once more rushed out the door. Luke was gonna be so jealous to hear that he hugged a friend of Richard Grayson. Luke was gonna be jealous to hear that Garfield was friends with a friend of Richard Grayson. The day was rapidly brightening.
After Garfield left, Kori looked at her schedule once more and stepped in front of Raven before the girl had a chance to leave.
"Friend, might you escort me to my next class? I fear I cannot find the correct location; and I do not believe I waited for Richard in the proper location, for he did not show up like he said he would."
Raven raised an eyebrow, her frustration and impatience fleeing her a little. "Richard was suppose to show you to your next class? And never showed up?"
"Correct," said Kori.
Raven fumed, wordlessly grasping Kori's forearm and pulling her out of the bathroom and down the hall. She knew Richard ever since kindergarten. He wasn't always a jerk, but once middle school hit, Kitty and Fang befriended him. He was rude, cold to everyone, and didn't care about anyone but himself. And this only further proved her opinion.
"Let me see your schedule," Raven said, taking the paper into her own hand. Looking it over, she handed it back and said, "You're in my math class next. We're not gonna be that late, and Mrs. Jenkins isn't too unreasonable so we won't have detention."
Kori made to reply happily, but Raven beat her to it, concluding, "Okay, here we are."
The professor glanced over at the two as they entered; Raven took a seat, mustering up a small smile of apology. Kori stood there, looking around for an empty seat.
"Up here, dear," Mrs. Jenkins pointed to a desk by the window. Kori bounced over to the seat and sat down. The lesson continued, as Kori reached in to her bag and searched for a notebook and pen– Alfred had quite a time explaining the use of a pen yesterday night. Kori didn't understand why there were pens if people had pencils.
Listening with rapt attention for the next ten minutes, Kori, and the rest of the class, turned their attention to the haggard Robin staggering into the room. He looked windblown and warm, as though he'd run a few miles before appearing. Having shed his leather jacket, which was carelessly held in his right hand, his green t-shirt clung to him and made a few girls in the back giggle and whisper to each other.
"Sorry, Mrs. Jenkins," he murmured, running his hand through his hair a few times as he took a seat next to Kori. Mrs. Jenkins brushed him off and easily returned to her lecture.
Kori beamed, and said softly to not upset the class. "Hello, friend Robin. You are in this class as well?"
Robin's head snapped up in her direction, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "Kori," he exclaimed, then quieted down after a look from the teacher. "I didn't know if you'd find the room; I got held up earlier," he explained, pulling his notebook and pencil out. "You found the class easily, right?"
"Oh yes," Kori replied. "Raven showed me how to get here."
Robin frowned, stealing a quick glance over to where Raven wrote in her notebook. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Yes. I met her and Garfield in a small room with sinks and mirrors. They're very nice." Kori took this time to wave energetically at Raven. Raven either didn't notice, or pretended not to.
"Um, right," Robin replied, giving her a small smile and looking towards the teacher, waiting for the class to end.
A/N: Sorry about the wait