Chapter Five
"Good morning, class," said Mr. Webber above the din. Third period Honors English was about to begin.
Dinah often wondered how she did it. I've probably got the world's weirdest after-school job, she thought. Who else around here spends their free time going on stakeouts? She buried her head in her English Lit textbook; her homework lay scattered on the table before her. After spending nights on … "The Job" … she found school to be an island of sanity … of normalcy, even.
"We have a new student joining us today," said Mr. Webber. "Ms. Cantrell, would you care to introduce yourself to the class?"
Dinah surfaced from Byron and Wordsworth at the mention of the name. CANTRELL?!
A thin girl with short brown hair, hazel eyes, a paperclip in her earlobe, and an athletic build stood up in her seat. She stood about five-eight and wore a black leather jacket. "Hi," she said shyly. "I'm Brenda Cantrell. I'm in the Honors Program here."
For the love of God, tell me that's not HER, thought Dinah.
"I just transferred here from Ridgewood…" Brenda continued. "I'm happy to be here."
Ridgewood's in Gotham Heights, thought Dinah. Her pulse was racing now, her chest pounding. Is this really … HER? Is Spoiler really in my English class? Dinah's breathing slowed as reason seized her. Maybe she is, maybe she's not. I need more evidence.
After school, Dinah searched the motorcycle parking lot. She walked along the line of motorcycles, once more searching for Spoiler's mysterious Kawasaki Ninja. She noted each parked motorcycle silently to herself: Red Honda … blue Kawasaki … green Ninja … blue Honda … red Kawasaki.
All at once, she found the motorcycle staring back at her in broad daylight -- a canary-yellow late model Kawasaki Ninja, license plate number Kevin-Delta-Jacob-Two-Nine-Larry. Holy shit, it's HER!
"May I help you with something?" said a voice from behind Dinah.
Dinah wheeled around, following the voice. There -- in the flesh and staring her in the face -- was Brenda Cantrell a.k.a. Spoiler. She wore a blue backpack on her back and carried a black full-face motorcycle helmet.
"Umm … nice bike," replied Dinah nervously.
"Thanks," said Brenda. "Haven't I seen you someplace before?"
"Umm, yeah … we've got English together," said Dinah. She extended her hand towards Brenda. "Dinah Redmond," she said as she introduced herself.
"Brenda Cantrell," said Brenda as she shook Dinah's hand.
"I'll let you get out of here," said Dinah as she backed away slowly. "It was nice meeting you."
"Same here."
"I'll see you tomorrow," said Dinah with a shy wave and a nervous, toothy grin on her face.
"See you tomorrow."
Dinah watched as Brenda put on her helmet, kick-started the motorcycle to life, backed out, and sped away. I've gotta tell Barbara about this, she thought.
"She's here!" exclaimed Dinah to Barbara in the empty classroom. Barbara was sitting at her desk grading papers.
Barbara stopped grading and looked up at Dinah. "Who is 'she'?" she inquired.
"She … Brenda Cantrell…" Dinah leaned forward and dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "…Spoiler."
"You're sure about this?"
"I saw the bike," said Dinah, barely audible now. "What's more, I'm taking English with her."
"If it IS her, how does she come to be here … in New Gotham?"
"She said something about being in an … Honors Program."
"That doesn't surprise me," said Barbara. "New Gotham High's Honors Program attracts students from all over the District. Gotham Heights is no exception."
"I can't believe she's here," said Dinah. "Superheroes in a high school? Come on!"
Barbara blinked and glanced away nervously. Dinah then checked herself as she remembered that she was staring into the face of the former Batgirl.
"Sorry," Dinah apologized sheepishly. "I'm going to study hall," she said, turning to walk away.
"Dinah…"
Dinah turned to face Barbara once more. "Yeah?"
Barbara removed her glasses. "Don't let on … that you know," she said quietly.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Dinah replied. "Professional courtesy, right?" she said with a grin.
Barbara smiled a quiet smile. "Professional courtesy."
