Sp: You guys, you guys, I'm sorry you guys.

Adog: …I'm not even sorry :)

#09 - Highschool's a Highway

Wally was nervous on this morning. He tried so hard to cover it, but he really couldn't.

Knowing that today was the day, he slipped on a pair of dark jeans along with a white long-sleeved shirt covering the bruises that were still decorating his torso. Only then he put on his blue shirt. Finally his old-worn out gym shoes followed. When he was done he slung his backpack over his shoulder and went down the stairs.

It had been six months since his return home from the Watchtower med-bay.

Six months in which his legs had healed and he learned to walk and function again. Six months in which he had to practice excusing himself from any question that were surely to come.

Six months since his ID has been revealed.

Wally breathed deep. He had missed so much at school that he was afraid he might have to skip class. He was afraid of his peers' reactions…

A gentle hand on his shoulder ripped him from his thoughts. As he looked over, Iris handed him a brown-paper bag that held his lunch, "Barry's going to drive you to school." She said smiling.

He had completely made himself at home at his aunt and uncles house. All the past months, his parents had completely denied the very relation to Wally, but he didn't seem to mind. He didn't like his parents much anyway. But still it did hurt a little. Though his aunt and uncle were all the support he needed.

The car ride was completely silent as Barry drove towards Central City High School. He would glance at his nephew every now and then, debating whether sending Wally to school was the right idea or not.

The reporters were still harassing them; they couldn't even go grocery shopping without a reporter that just 'happened to be there.' Granted, it got less but they were still pests.

Normally, Barry, Iris, and sometimes even Hal would be there to scare them off, but Barry couldn't be by Wally's side at school. There in that hellhole he was all on his own.

Pulling to a stop in front of the massive high school, Wally was already 45 minutes late.

Barry had just kept driving around afraid to let his nephew out of the car alone.

"Are you sure, you're ready for this?" Barry asked cautiously, looking at his nephew that hadn't said anything since the night before. "We can wait a little longer, or we could sign you up for some online classes."

Wally only stared at the school, gathering all the courage he had left. All the pride that there was left inside him.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm ready." he said with a nod, glancing at the reporters waiting at the far corner of the school yard.

"Uncle Barry," Wally added as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "I don't wanna quit being Kid Flash. But I also don't want to quit being Wally West." he wanted to be strong, or at least pretend to be. "I have to do this..."

Barry frowned but then nodded shortly, giving the boy a quick one-arm hug. "Call me if anything happens." seeing the redhead nod too he watched him slowly getting out of the car and heading towards the building.

The reporters were on him in a heartbeat; but Wally did exactly what Barry told him to do and what he had practiced. Keep walking, don't look at them and don't talk to them.

Stepping inside the building, he glanced around and figured - he didn't miss any of this.

There was a time when Wally could walk down the hallways of his school like a boss, but now he felt like it was his first day of school. It felt so foreign even though he had walked these halls so many times before in the past.

For some reason he felt hunted, even within the walls of the school, even in the empty hallways.

A quick glance at his schedule told him his math-class were in room 235. It was the second class of the day, and he was already 15 minutes late for class. Still seventy five minutes to go.

Great, now I have interrupt class!

He waited a second in front of the door, hearing the teacher speak. Finally, he got the courage to lift his hand and knock on the door. The knock was enough for the teachers voice to stop. "Come in!" the teacher called to Wally on the other side of the door.

The speedster swallowed, took a deep breath- then dared to enter.

"Sorry…my…my uncle lost the way." He apologized awkwardly, immediately feeling the looks of the entire class' eyes glued on him.

Students' jaws dropped seeing Wally - no Kid Flash - out of costume in their classroom! Quiet whispers and giggles erupted throughout the room. The kind of whispers and giggles that Wally had always made uneasy.

"Enough!" the teacher barked at his students and as a result, they all fell dead silent, yet they didn't tear their looks away. He could feel them studying every single inch of him to a point that Wally wanted to turn on his heel and disappear.

"So, you're Wally West?" The teacher asked, though knowing that the boy was the famous Central City Kid Flash from the news. He was teaching a superhero!

He knew he shouldn't be too excited about this, and he should treat him like any other student. It was Mr. Eads first day as an actual teacher, just out of college.

He was broad with a body that belonged to a PE teacher more then to a math teacher. His hair was dark and his eyes attentive. "I'm Mr. Eads, go ahead and take a seat."

Wally sat himself down in the back of the room trying to avoid the other students.

During the lecture he could see them turning around in their seats to get a better look at him. When Mr. Eads would turn his back to write on the board, the students started taking picture of him with their cell phones.

"Hey!" a kid whispered, "Hey, Kid Flash!"

Wally wouldn't react to that kid. His name was Wally West after all, and he wasn't going to respond to someone calling him his superhero name, when he wasn't even wearing his uniform. The kid dropped his effort half way during the lecture, but there was no one actually focusing on the subject anymore. Even the teacher seemed a little distracted.

Wally couldn't remember ever embracing the break-bell ringing that hard then before. He stood up from his seat –calmly however- waited until everyone had left gossiping the room until he entered the crowded halls.

Maybe he could ninja to his locker, keep away from the cafeteria and walk into next classes without being seen?

But as soon as he stepped into the hallway and begun his battle through the oceans of students, the corridor went silent and everything seemed to freeze around him. More eyes trained on him then ever before.

Whispers filled the air.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah, Kid Flash."

"I can't believe he goes to our school!"

"I told you he was alive!"

"If I were him I wouldn't want to show my face after getting my ass kicked like he did."

He tried to ignore the eyes, the hushed whispers, and the people who were calling for him, either by Wally or Kid Flash.

Some students even began to follow him.

Every time he would try to lose them, there would be another group waiting for him around the next corner. He wasn't going to run, he just wanted to get to his locker and head to his chemistry class. Why was that so hard to understand for them?! They wouldn't want this to happen to them as well, right?! It made him angry. He wished that for one second they would tried to get into his situation but no.. They only cared for the press.

Somehow he managed to slip away from those who were pursuing him, and got to his locker. It was simple now, open the padlock, change the books, head to class. As he started to open it a hand appeared and slammed the locker shut. Wally flinched from the noise – a thing that had happened frequently. He couldn't stand loud noises anymore.

"Hey there, Westie!" the all to familiar voice of the boy that had been bullying him since he was 8 years old sounded close to his ear. Michael Dalton. "Long time no see my buddy, my friend, my pal."

Instead of turning to confront Michael, Wally pushed his hand away and opened his locker. He switched his books, before calmly shutting it and walking away.

"Oh, is that what you do now run away?" Michael called after him, getting everyone's attention on the hallway. "Is the famous Kid Flash to scared to fight now? 'Cause he got his ass handed to him by the Joker?!"

Wally bit down on his lip, so hard he could taste the disgusting metallic taste cover his tongue. A taste he knew all too well and a taste that made his heart beat faster. He clenched and unclenched his fist trying to ignore everything Michael was saying. He kept walking but he trailed a few steps behind him.

'There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium' he started to sing in his head trying to block out Michael's voice.

"I mean, what kind of weak superhero gets captured by the Joker?" Michael continued, "Why does the Flash still have you as a sidekick?"

That last comment caused Wally to stop dead in his tracks.

"…And Hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium…" Wally mumbled closing his eyes tight. Don't flip. Don't deliver a punch at super speed that could easily break his neck.

Why not? A human body is so fragile.

Wally gasped quietly, thrown off his concentration. Who said that...? He rose his head and looked around but the students were staring at him anxiously.

"Why would he want to keep a sidekick that's so weak he got captured, beat and unmasked by the Joker!?"

Wally hissed and dropped the search for the mysterious speaker. In the blink of an eye he was in front of Michael and delivered a straight, painful punch to his celiac plexus. Wally was used to getting bullied in school – though it wasn't as bad in high school- and he never fought back.

But now… Everyone knew. There as no point in hiding how crash he was.

A smile graced Wally's lips hearing the gasp of his fellow students as Michael sank to his knees in pain clutching his abdomen. He had sent the message; you don't say anything about Flash to his partner and get away with it.

He walked to his Chemistry class, smirking at the eyes that now watched him.

Not one second he wondered where this grin came from. Not one second he thought he should not grin at causing pain.

Good boy.


As the day went on, Wally got more and more annoyed with his fellow peers. They kept coming up to him in groups asking for his autograph, picture, or just make up an excuse to be near him.

As the day went on, Wally's tinge of aggression would not leave. An aggression he did not fully notice.

And every time Wally said: No!

The only upside of the day was the cafeteria ladies giving him extra desert, -even though it was disgusting- he was happy he could promptly fill his stomach better then he could before.

But nothing could have prepared for him for the end of the day.

He had just escaped his last class a few minutes before the bell rang and was able to get to his locker and pack his bag with everything he needed. He wanted to get out of the building before the sea of students flooded the halls.

But he wasn't quick enough because he couldn't get his English textbook to fit in his bag, so when the bell rang he was still struggling with his supplies. With a powerful shove, he managed to get his textbook into his backpack before he slung it over his shoulder. Now he was ready to go-

"There he is!" a high-pitched squeal reached his ears.

Wally looked over his shoulder and saw a group of girls, -more like a mob- dressed in Kid Flash and Flash gear, charging towards him in full force.

For a moment Wally stood idle and shocked.

What…the hell…?

Normally, Wally would be all about getting attacked by girls, he was a ladies man after all. But these chicks…they looked bloodthirsty. Were they getting closer?

"Oh crap."

Run!

He turned tail and ran though it was hard to gather speed among the crowded people.

And these girls were fast!

He rammed his fist into his pockets, fishing for his goggles. When he found them, he pulled them over his eyes, tightened his backpack on his back and set off.

Since there was no wind threating his eyes, he could clearly make out his way. Like a rabbit, he made a sharp turn around a corner and knocked over a trashcan in a weak attempt to slow down the bloodthirsty fans.

His eyes darted around, he couldn't get to the door because of the people blocking it. So instead he jumped on-top of the school's trophy case and took a seat out of reach from the blood thirsty fans.

The air stung in his not completely healed lungs, his eyes were fixed to the entrance that was right there, but still out of reach. He was not jumping down into the mob of crazed Flash and Kid Flash fans!

He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes clutching his side that was throbbing with pain. His uncle had told him to take it easy with his lung, but he was so freaked out by those possessed fans, with those crazed stalker eyes he had no choice but to run.

"Wallace West!" a voice boomed over the noisy, curious students. He knew that voice. It was Principal Gordon "Get down from there, right now!"

Wally opened his eyes and looked down at him, his eyes darted away from a moment looking at his odds, as the crowd of fan-crazed girls got closer. He shook his head, "Nah, I'm good."

"Now, or you will have detention for weeks!"

Detention or getting jumped by crazed fan-girls.

Wally thought about it for a moment, he'd take his chances with detention over rabid fans any day. But he knew that Barry and Iris were going to have a cow.

"I am not kidding, Wally!" Gordon called, "Get down from there this instant!"

"Wally?" A new voice managed to be heard of the laughter, giggles and the principal's voice, "What's going on?"

Wally turned his head so fast, he was sure he would get whiplash, his green eyes landing on Hal who was standing near the exit of the building. Apparently the off duty Lantern wanted to pick up the kid from school.

Wally breathed thanks.

He took a leap from the trophy case that made the students go 'Aw man!' and rushed over to his uncle. "To the car!" He cried pushing Hal out the door, "Fast!"

Hal blinked furiously as he was pushed into the car, but that didn't mean he was going to start it, "What's the rush, Kid?" Wally was looking at him in a panic, before turning his attention towards the window and pointing.

"That!"

Hal looked up seeing a mob of teenage girls charging towards his car.

"Oh, that…" Hal said letting out a small laugh, but he stopped when they were getting way to close to his car. He turned the key, but the car wouldn't start, "Oh, hell no."

Wally was vibrating in his seat, yelling at Hal to start the car, he was going to be smothered by these fan girl. He was jerked out of his panic feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. Wally swallowed, reached for it and flipped it open.

'Thought you would love being chased by a mob of fangirls.'

Just like that, out of nowhere an arrow hit the ground, releasing a large cloud of smoke, giving Hal just enough time to start his car and speed off away from the school and mob of Kid Flash girls.