After shaking Victor's hand, Robin felt like he was finally going to get what he'd been promised. A new beginning. A new school that could keep up with his abilities. New peers that associated his name with grace and flight instead of falling. A new family not under constant mafia pressure… Well, you can't win them all. But a house with his own room would suffice for now.

First hour was amazing. Miss Simms' class was small, so she focused less on teaching right away and more on helping the half-dozen teens feel comfortable and familiar with each other. They even agreed to a class project to submit to a science competition as their semester test. Victor wanted to build a car, but Robin and the others were able to talk him down to a fighting robot. Miss Simms then had to break up a debate between him and Victor over which programming system would be best for said robot, asking if the class could explore the options before a brawl started instead of after. He could see himself being friends with Victor, perhaps.

Garfield, not so much. That much became very clear during lunch hour.

"What are you doing here?" The short brunette demanded.

Robin glanced at Victor then back to Garfield. "Getting food?"

Garfield rolled his eyes. "I mean here. Specifically. With my bro."

"Easy, Gar. You two just had a bad intro," Victor said calmly. "Robin's cool. You'll like him."

"To be fair, he's already decided I'm a nerd," Robin mittered.

"Man, we all nerds," Victor laughed. "Ask him about rhinos."

"What about rhinos?"

Garfield's mouth twitched. "Rhinos are cool, dude! Like, they were the inspiration for unicorns, you know. Everyone thinks they're a gentle giant, like an elephant. They aren't! A rhinoceros will trample you! I mean, so will an elephant, to be fair… It's weird, because rhinos don't actually have any real predators, but they spook easy. If a bird nearby flinches, they take off! You'd think they'd be fine, but noooo, poachers exist! So there's only, like, 28 or 29 thousand…"

Victor pointed a thumb at the rambling teen and smirked. "Nerd."

Robin chuckled. "At least he knows something about something."

"-why every comic book worth anything has a character with rhinoceros traits," Garfield finished. "Because Rhinos. Are. Cool. Is there a vegetarian alternative, or just salad today?"

The lunch lady sighed. "No, we got your mom's complaint. Cheese pizza, down the line."

"Sweet! Hot food!"

"I'll take his burger," Victor offered.

"And you, kiddo?" she asked, handing Victor two sandwiches. "Pizza, burger, or chicken sandwich?"

"O-oh, I, uh… Burger?" Robin said. She handed him a plate for his tray. "Wow. I've never seen this much food in one place."

"And I'm having all of it," Victor said. "My dad says I should cut down until I'm able to really exercise again, but what does he know?"

"Yeah, my- my sponsor says the opposite. 'You need to eat. Food is energy.'"

"Oh, you're on scholarship, too?" asked Victor. "Which one?"

"Well, it's…," Robin hesitated. Blending in was part of this new life, and his sponsor wasn't exactly an unknown name in town. Or in the state. Or in the country. "One of those STEM grants. I was too advanced for my old school, so they sent me here."

"Neat! That explains why you know MATLAB. Python's still better."

"Python is not better. MATLAB can course-correct itself."

"Python is the DNA of robot language. You wouldn't have MATLAB without Python," Victor said.

"That's just an argument from antiquity. It's bad logic."

"$6.98, please."

Robin paused as Victor handed a $20 to the clerk and waited for his change. He forgot about this part. The clerk punched a few buttons.

"$2.75, please," he said.

Robin quickly placed a card in the clerk's hand. Don't look at the name. Don't look at the name. Don't look at the name. The clerk returned the card, and Robin slipped it into his shirt pocket, still silently praying no one saw it.

"Dude, there's that girl," Garfield hissed, nodding to the corner.

Two girls, actually, were seated at the table. The taller had long ginger hair, golden brown skin, and vibrant green eyes. She was busy operating on her pizza with a spoon. The shorter was pale with choppy brown hair and dark gray eyes. A book hid much of her face except when she stopped reading to sip soda through a straw.

"I mean," Robin said, looking around, "there's not really anywhere else to sit…"

"Dibs on the redhead!" Garfield said, darting away.

Victor glanced up at Robin. "I hope she decks him."

"If she doesn't, I might," Robin said, rolling his eyes.

As they approached, though, the redhead smiled. First at Garfield, then at Victor and Robin.

"Greetings, sadiq!" she bubbled. "Is this friend yours?"

Victor set his tray on the table and nodded. "Yeah, that's Garfield."

The goth snorted, but said nothing and kept her eyes on her book. Garfield glared at her, then snapped back to the redhead with cheery, hopeful eyes.

"But you haven't told me your name yet, my sweet," he cooed.

"Smooth," said Victor.

"Like oil," added Robin as he, too, sat down.

The girl, though, just giggled. "Kori. I just moved here."

"Yeah," said the goth, closing her book. "And you annexed my table."

She picked up her soda and sulked away, possibly headed to the outdoor commons.

"What is 'annexed?'" Kori asked.

"It's when you put something away for later," Garfield said confidently, causing Robin to facepalm. "So. You just moved here?"

"Oh, yes. I am finding the words are…," Kori rolled a hand in the air. "Kaef atakl? Stubborn?"

"Difficult?" asked Robin.

"Yes! This is making it hard to explain my mind," Kori said. "At home, I am fine. Here… I need more time for thinking."

Victor nodded. "Makes sense. You're translating in your head. It's gonna take a little more time."

"Mm… I'm sorry. It is rude to ask, but," Kori leaned forward to lower her voice, "what happened?"

Victor's stomach dropped. He looked to Garfield in pain, and his friend grabbed Kori's arm.

"You're curious, I get it," Garfield said, "but you're right. That's not okay to ask. Vic is still healing."

"I understand. You are sad. I was sad, too, coming here with Uncle," Kori said.

"Uncle?" Robin asked.

"Mm. Mother and father… My sister would not come with us, and my brother was made to go somewhere else. I miss them."

"Car crash."

Everyone stared at Victor.

"I was driving," he explained, picking at his second burger. "Mom was with me. I didn't see the sign. That's on me. The guy who hit me didn't have his lights on. That's on him. Totalled the car, wrecked my left side, and Mom…," he trailed off.

Kori nodded. She started speaking Arabic, stopped, and said, "Mother and Father are dead."

Robin sighed. "Mine, too."

"What?" Victor asked, shocked.

"Ever heard of the Flying Graysons?"

"Oh my god," Victor said. "The ones who died in that circus accident only a few years ago?"

"Yeah. 'Accident.' Sure."

"Mafia?"

"Mafia."

"Mm-hm. You'd think the cops in this town could do something," Victor said, and Robin agreed.

"I thought their son's name was Dick," Garfield said.

Victor groaned loudly. "You're right, man. That's very not bully-friendly."

Robin grit his teeth and hissed, "This. Means. War."

Garfield raised a brow. "Oh? Do you even know who I am? Dick?"

"Gar, I don't-"

Robin cut Victor off. "I don't need to. I'm more than smart enough to destroy your life. Nagasaki will look like a joke when I'm done with you."

"I'm my own joke, Dick," Garfield said, leaning back with a grin. "Besides. I don't know what Nagasaki is."

"A Japanese city," Kori said flatly, "bombed in World War II by Americans. Millions died, people who were not part of the war. You should really learn your history, Garfield. It is important."

A soft "oh" escaped Garfield's lips as the lunch bell rang. Robin poured his barely touched food in the trash and left before Victor could try to stop him.

A new beginning? No. A new school with the same sad politics. New peers bringing up the same painful history. A new handler with the same impossible expectations. A new bully with the same dumb face.

Robin looked at his phone and opened a text exchange marked "Sir." He typed quickly "I was right."

The response arrived right before the bell rang.

stand up for yourself then

Robin smirked.

Game on.