Review Replies:
NightBolts101- Thanks for reading my story and I'm glad you liked it! I do have to agree that they are quite similar but this chapter is quite a bit different. I have also decided that I like the couples and won't be changing them, although I may write a Cy x Rae fic in the future. Who knows? Talk to ya later!
Steve-Racer – Thanks for reading! I really think that would be funny too! This is my first TT fic though so I think I had better stick with the norm. Thanks though!
MissMatchmaker – I agree...RaexRob is just...weird...and not good. no offense to those who like that pairing Lol! I'm REALLY glad you liked it and I'll try to read your stories! Thanks again!
SpAzZySwEeTpHiRe – Why thank you! I'm updating now! Lol!
Luvlifecharm – Thanks for the advice!!! It really makes thing easier to read. I did this chapter like that and I must thank you...so...THANK YOU! Lol! Thanks for reading!
A/N - By the way...if you want to know their schedules... just say so in your review and I will post them in the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
On the morning of their first day, the group gathered sleepily in the living room, all wearing their hologram rings. Cyborg looked human; as he was using the same rings he had used in The H.I.V.E., and was wearing a white muscle tank and blue jeans.
Robin's hair had changed from black to a dark brown and his eyes were now covered with sunglasses instead of his usual mask. He wore a pair of khaki cargo pants, a white shirt, and a red zip up jacket.
Starfire hadn't changed much at all. Her skin took a more normal color tone and the "whites" of her eyes became whiter. She wore a knee length jean skirt and a bright pink shirt she had gotten for her birthday three days ago.
Beast boy had changed a lot though. His hair was still green but his skin now looked...normal. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a dark purple T-shirt that read in white letters; "You laugh because I'm different, I laugh because you're all the same."
Raven's hair had turned a much darker shade, almost black, but her eyes were the same sharp violet. She was wearing a pair of girl's black cargo pants and a dark blue T-shirt that read "Define Normal" In small black letters.
"Okay then." Robin said suddenly. "It looks like we're ready so let's go over the rules. One, don't use your powers unless it's absolutely necessary and no one is looking. Two, don't use our real names. Remember; Victor Stone, Kori Anderson, Rachel Roth, Garfield Logan, and Rick Greyson. Three, be on the lookout for anything suspicious. We're looking for a maniac here, he could be anyone. Finally, it is very important that no one knows who we really are until we've found him, understand?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Here are your schedules, now lets get going."
"Um...Robin?" Starfire asked quietly. "How are we to arrive at the high school?"
Cy grinned. "Don't worry 'bout that Star. I fixed up the T-Car so it looks more...normal. I'll give you guys a ride."
The team walked to the garage and piled into the now 'normal' and rather used looking T-car. They drove into the downtown area of Jump City and, after 15 minuets of dreading the moment, finally reached the high school. The team filed out of the car and slowly walked through the glass doors.
They consulted their schedules and surprisingly found that they all had the same first hour class, Literature with Mrs. Sullner.
When they walked in the room, Mrs. Sullner let out a loud squeal. "Oh! Look kids, we have some new students joining us today!"
She was a large tubby woman and, much to Raven's horror, was completely decked out in pink as well as her classroom.
She walked over towards them and gave each of them a big hug. When she got to Raven, the team tensed and waited patiently for the sound of something exploding...but it never came. Instead, they found Raven in a state of deep concentration and annoyance, apparently trying not blow the woman to smithereens.
Beast Boy cringed. "Well, at least this class will be interesting. That teacher lady doesn't have a clue who she's dealing with here!" He thought. But Mrs. Sullner soon interrupted his thoughts and proceeded to introduce them to the class.
"Now kids." She said squeakily. "These are our new students. Why don't you five introduce yourselves? Your names, if you have any hobbies..."
She trailed off and turned to look at them, specifically Robin. "You can go first sweetie."
"Er...ok then." He said. "Uh...my name's Rick Greyson. I...uh...my hobbies are hanging out with my friends, martial arts, and uh...yeah."
Cyborg was next. "Uh...hey. I'm Victor Stone. My hobbies are cars and weightlifting. I'm also really into computers."
Then Starfire went. "Hello friends! My name is Kori Anderson. I like to read and sing, and cook, and watch my friends play the mindless video games, and do the hanging out. I also enjoy going to the mall with my friend Rachel." She giggled and looked over at Raven.
"Yeah, anyway..." she said in monotony, "My name's Rachel Roth. I like reading, writing, meditating, being with my friends...at times, and" She narrowed her eyes at the teacher. "Basically anything that strongly excludes the color pink."
Then it was Beast Boy's turn. "Heh heh...Hi! I'm Gar Logan. I like tofu, animals, and pizza...oh yeah...and pulling pranks on my friends...especially Vic."
"Oh how wonderful!" Mrs. Sullner squealed. "Well then, um...Rachel, Victor? You two are going to sit back there by Jessica; she's a lovely girl. Garfield, Rick, Kori? I want you three to sit up here by Matt and Josh. They'll explain the project we're working on to you." They all groaned softly and slowly, meandered to their seats.
When Rachel and Victor reached their seats a girl, seemingly around their age, was waiting there for them.
"Hi." She said. "I'm Jessica...the lovely girl. You can just call me Jess though."
Rachel stared hard at the girl for a moment, before Vic broke her gaze by annoyingly waving his hand in front of her face.
"Yo Rachel? Earth to Rachel!" He said.
"Oh...sorry Vic. I just...have a headache." She said as she shook her head and sat down next to Cy, who was sitting behind Jess.
He turned towards her. "Hey Rae? Is something up? I could be wrong but I don't think a telepath getting a headache is good news." He whispered.
"No Vic. I'm fine." Vic looked at her intensely.
"You sure dark-girl?" He said, using his nickname for her.
"Yea, I'm always fine. It'll pass don't worry about it."
Jess had long bright red hair with some black streaks that was pulled back into a rather messy ponytail and her eyes were a silver-gray surrounded by green plastic-rimmed glasses. She wore a bright blue shirt that read, "Normal people scare me." And the jeans she wore were ripped and covered with an assortment of colored patches.
Kori, Rick, and Gar sat in their seats and immediately decided they didn't like them. The two boys, Matt and Josh, who were supposed to explain the assignment to them, were complete and total morons.
"Hey gorgeous...and dudes." One of the boys said. "I'm Matt and this is Josh. You can sit by me Kori, I'd be happy to explain how things work around here to you, if you know what I mean."
"Um..." Kori said hesitantly. "Actually I believe that I will sit over here by Rick but, I'm sure that Gar would enjoy sitting next to you very much." Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know Kori I really don..." Gar started, but with one look at Matt and Robin's faces changed his mind.
'Besides, this Matt dude looks like the perfect victim for some of my new pranks.' He thought and sat down next to Matt with a mischievous smile.
Matt was a short guy with a sort of dark blonde hair. He wore baggy jeans and a tight green shirt that looked like it had been formerly owned by a girl half his age. Apparently that 'look' was in right now. Josh wore a pair of black cargo shorts and another one of those ridiculous tight shirts, except his was a dark pink and had a black stripe going down the front-left side of it.
"Don't worry about her Matt, she just doesn't know who we are yet. They'll learn. In the mean time we can always hang out with that other new chick. She looks smart enough to know what's good for her. At least until that Kori girl comes to her senses." Josh whispered.
Gar heard this and turned his head towards the boy.
"So," Vic said questioningly. "What's this project we're working on?"
"Oh yeah...that." She replied. "Well, we're supposed to pick a partner and then interview them about their past. Then we have to write an essay on what they told us. We're doing interviews today after we pick partners."
Rachel and Victor exchanged worried glances but before they could ask any more, they noticed Gar stand up and start yelling at the boy next to him.
"What?!" Gar said loudly. "You think you can just make a girl like you by just being the 'cool' kids that nobody messes with? Huh? Well, I got news for you Josh. Kori's not gonna take that trash from you and if you think Rachel is, then you're in for one heck of a shock. So why don't you just turn around and leave us alone before you humiliate yourselves."
The boys chuckled. "Well, aren't you a little hotshot." Matt said as he stood up to face Gar. "You think you can just walk into our school and tell us what to do? I don't think so greenie." The two boys were now at each other's throats, eyeing each other fiercely.
Suddenly, Gar heard something in his head.
'Beast Boy stop.' Raven said.
Beast Boy was used to her mindlinking him every now and then but he never expected it during school.
'Calm down, anger is pointless. You're drawing attention to yourself and that is not what we need right now.' Gar sat down and stared over at Rachel.
Mrs. Sullner started to speak then.
"Alright class...settle down, settle down. I think it's time to pick our partners and start the interviews. Um...so go ahead. You may choose to be partners with anyone in the room." She said loudly. The room quickly erupted into noise.
Rick leaned over to Kori. "Hey Kori." He whispered. "Partners?"
Kori giggled loudly and gave Rick one of her infamous hugs. "Of course Rick! I'd love too!"
Just then Matt walked up. "Hey Kori, you wanna be my partner?" Rick glared at him.
"Too late Matt. Kori already has a partner." He said.
"Excuse me Rick, but I believe I asked Kori to be my partner...not you. So, Kori?"
Kori frowned a bit. "I am very sorry Matt but I am already partnering up with Rick. Besides, I did not particularly like the way you treated my friend Gar." And with that, Kori and Rick walked over towards some empty chairs in a back corner and sat down to start the 'interview'.
Jess walked up to Vic. "Hey...uh...Vic right?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's me."
"Uh...you want to be my partner?"
Vic turned to look at Rachel questioningly. "What?" Rachel said with a smirk "Go ahead...why should I care? Go on."
Vic smiled and turned back to Jess. "Sure. Hey, let's go sit back there with my friends Rick and Kori. Rachel and Gar 'll probably sit there too. You mind?" He asked.
"No! I'd love to meet your friends. Besides if they're as nice as you then I'll have no problem."
Vic chuckled. "Well," he said. "You met...or should I say 'survived' Rachel and she seemed to like you, so the others should too." Jess looked quizzically at him.
"What do you mean by 'survived'?" she asked.
"Well," he replied laughingly. "Rae just isn't the easiest person to get along with. But don't get me wrong; once you get on her good side, you've got a friend for life." 'Unless of course you're Terra.' He added mentally. "She's like a sister to me you know?"
Jess smiled. "Yeah, I understand. I just hope we get along. I don't have many friends here." She said.
Vic frowned. "What? Why not?"
"Well here at Jump City High, to be what's considered 'cool' you have to be one of those slutty, rich kids that are too stupid to spell out their name without the help of their butler. Let's just say, I think they're idiots and am very proud that I am excluded from that particular group." Vic laughed.
"Was it like that at your old high school?" Jess asked. Vic fumbled.
"Uh...yeah. Yeah it was. Really annoying huh?"
"Yeah I know. Well, why don't we start the interview?" She said as she sat down next to Kori and Rick, who had already started.
"Sure...why not."
Gar got up and started walking over to the other side of the classroom to talk to Rachel but just as he got there, he noticed that Josh already was. He got closer and tried to listen in on their conversation.
"So," Josh asked. "You want to be my partner Rae?"
Rachel glared evilly at him. "Excuse me," She said. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe I gave you permission to call me that." Josh faltered, a little taken a back.
"Uh...ok then...Rachel. So would you like to be my partner? I promise I won't do anything you don't want me to do." He said.
Rachel smirked and stared straight into his eyes.
"Oh," she said menacingly. "So does that mean that if I agree to be your partner you'll stop breathing and drop dead? Cause if not then I really don't think this is going to work out. Besides, I already have a partner."
"What...Who?" Gar thought at the same time it came out of Josh's mouth. Rachel smiled evilly.
"Gar." Gar breathed a mental sigh of relief and walked over to her.
"Hey partner. Wanna find a seat?" He said happily. Raven mindlinked him.
'Eaves dropper.' 'Hey, can't blame a guy.' He replied, and they walked over to sit by the others.
"Hey guys!" Rick said as Gar and Rachel walked up.
"Hey." Gar said. "Who's your new friend Vic?"
Vic smiled widely. "Oh...this is Jess. Jess, meet Gar, Rick, Kori, and Rachel."
Rachel smirked. "We've met Vic, you can stop trying to impress her now." She said evilly as Vic blushed brightly.
"Er...hello then. Nice to meet you all." Jess said as she smiled nervously.
Rachel and Gar sat down on the other side of Vic and Jess and started the strenuous task of making up their pasts.
"Uh...ok then Rae. When's your birthday?" I don't really know her birthday...forgive me.
"October 27th."
"Hey, that's next week!"
"Yes...That has come to my attention." She said dully.
"Oh...well then I'll just have to remember that won't I?" Gar replied. "Ok then, uh...describe your family." But as soon as he had said that, he thought twice about the matter.
"Er...maybe not right now." He said.
"Hey Gar," Rachel said softly. "Do you by any chance happen to have an aspirin?"
Gar looked at her quizzically. "Wait..." He said. "You have a headache? Isn't that like a sign that the world is ending?"
Rachel glared evilly at him. "So do you have any aspirin or not?"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Gar said quickly. "I'm just saying that it doesn't exactly scream 'good' when a telepath gets a headache...especially you. But no, sorry I don't. I think Rick does though."
Rachel sighed. "Never mind then."
"Are you sure you're ok Rae?" Gar asked.
"Yes Gar, I'm fine."
The groups continued their interviewing until the second hour bell finally rang and they all headed off to their separate classes. Rachel to the Art Room, Rick to the Biology room, and Vic, Kori, and Gar to their Algebra I class with Mr. Ross.
ALGEBRA: When Kori, Vic, and Gar reached Algebra room, the immediately knew that they would dislike this class. The walls were rough gray brick and the windows were covered in heavy wood shutters. The only lights in the room were a few harsh fluorescents. The teacher, Mr. Ross, looked ready to kill. He wore black slacks and a long sleeve gray shirt. His hair was in a short buzz cut and his stone cold eyes were framed in thin metal-lined glasses.
"Alright," He said sharply. "Everyone open your books to page 347 and do numbers 1-29. You three come over here and get your books. Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I'm Mr. Ross."
Kori, Gar, and Vic quickly grabbed their books and sat down in the back of the classroom. Then, Gar noticed Josh sitting not four seats away.
"Oh no." Gar said. "Not him again."
Vic stared at the boy, puzzled. "What'd he do exactly?"
"He and his stupid friend were talking bad about Kori and Rae. They were talking about them like they were idiots who didn't know anything." Gar ranted. "They think they're so smart. They think that just because we're new here that they could intimidate us and maybe get a date. AND he called me greenie!"
"But I call you greenie all the time." Vic said quietly.
Gar stared at him. "Exactly! Which is why they can't!"
Vic chuckled and looked back at him. "Well at least that explains why you were fighting...and why you were looking at Rae all weird. Let me guess. She mindlinked you and told you to shut up before you drew attention to yourself and that 'anger is pointless.' Am I right?"
"Yeah...she just said it better...you know without the words 'shut up'."
"Man, it's a good thing you listen to her Gar." Vic said. "Otherwise you'd probably both be in detention. Kori and I are gonna have to keep an eye on you in here just to make sure you don't..."
"SHHHH!" Kori said as she leaned over to them.
But just as the three looked up, Mr. Ross spoke loudly from behind them.
"Victor! Garfield! Kori!" He said. "See me after class."
ART: Raven immediately cringed when she entered her next class. 'Not again.' She thought as she stepped farther into the light pink atmosphere. "What have I done to deserve this?" She asked out loud.
"Ugh! I know!" A voice said behind her.
Rachel turned around and smiled a bit. "Hello Jess." She said as she took her seat in front of an empty easel, and next to Jess.
Jess smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad that at least someone in this school agrees with me on the whole 'overly pink' issue." She said as she popped two aspirins into her mouth.
"Jess?" Rachel asked. "You wouldn't mind giving me a couple of those would you?"
"No!" Jess said happily. "Go right ahead! I always seem to have a headache so I almost always carry a bottle. Just in case you ever need some."
"Thanks." Rachel said.
Just then their teacher walked out.
"Hello students, I'm Zach. Not Mr. Zach...just Zach. I'm gonna be your Art teacher for the rest of the year. So...uh...today, we're just going to draw. Just draw whatever you want, you know? That way, I can see kind of what you guys draw like." He said. "So...go ahead...just draw. Oh and feel free to use the paints and other equipment. Just be careful."
Rachel and Jess exchanged glances and picked up their pencils warily.
Jess looked confused. "Hmm...he must be new cause the old art teacher we had was just like Mrs. Sullner. Not that I'm complaining or anything...it just seems weird that we would get a new teacher in the fourth week of school. Oh well." She said and continued to draw on her canvas.
Rachel picked up her pencil and began to draw. She didn't quite know what she was drawing but her hand was still moving. Fifteen minuets later though, her canvas showed a picture of five different ribbons intertwined in front of a dark black background. One purple sparkly ribbon, one shiny metallic blue ribbon, one dark red ribbon with a black stripe down the middle, one dark blue ribbon that was frayed at the edges, and one bright green ribbon that had a number of different textures across the front of it. They intertwined tightly in the middle but spread out near the ends. One side lighter colored than the other.
I couldn't really think of anything and it was about 2:30 AM while I was on the phone with Rae so she just told me to make something cool up that would 'vaguely' tie into the titans...plus I drew it in math the day before...I was bored, you can't blame me. So...yeah...not my greatest moment but...what the heck.
"Well Miss Rachel," Zach said suddenly from behind her. "It would seem you have a natural talent. You too Jess."
Rachel looked over to Jess' canvas and right then and there, had to agree with Zach. She did have talent. Jess' painting was beautiful. She had drawn her hand on a canvas as if she was drawing on a separate canvas. Then that hand drew the same thing, and the hand after that, and the one after that too until you could no longer make out the details.
"Thanks Zach." Jess said modestly. "Yours is really good too Rachel. What's it mean?"
Rachel opened her mouth but closed it again. 'How do I explain this?' She thought. 'Oh well.'
"Uh..." She said shortly. "I...er...don't exactly know really. I just kind of...let it happen."
Zach smiled. "Well, you both did great work. Would you mind if I kept these to use as examples?"
The girls both shook their head.
"Great." Zach said as he picked up the paintings. "I'll just put them over here and I'll return them you soon so you can go home and show your parents."
Rachel thought about this statement for a moment and had to suppress a small laugh at the thought of her father congratulating her on her wonderful art.
"What's so funny Rachel?" Jess asked.
"Oh..." Rachel said, as she recovered her composure. "Nothing...sorry ...I just...don't worry about it."
"Uh...ok then Rae. Wait...I can call you Rae right?"
"Sure...why not. I mean I don't mind or...AHHHH!" She screamed as a can of bright yellow paint was dumped all down the front of her and Jess. She turned around to tell off idiot but when she saw who it was, she stopped dead.
'No! It can't be...'
A/N: Tee Hee! CLIFFIE!!! Not a very good one I might add but...none the less...CLIFFIE!!! Lol! Well, I really hoped you enjoyed it and PLEASE review!!! Thankies!
-R.S. Logan