Chapter 3 (part 2)
"Uhhhh" Beast Boy dug in his pocket where he had stashed the list and looked over it "Same here" He laughed, that was weird.
"Okay, then," Tara said. "Just uhh... follow me then," she walked out of the classroom, having to push her way through the jammed door way. She made her way down the hall, avoiding people who kept pushing other kids out of their way. The hall ways were hectic. You couldn't get down one hallway without getting bumped into at least once. Tara made her way to her locker where she put her book away, and grabbed her history text book.
Beast Boy snatched his book bag up and quickly fallowed Tara, when kids pushed him he pushed back. And after a little while they stopped pushing as much. When Tara was getting her books out of the locker Beast Boy stood behind her, gripping the straps on his bag and looking around, it felt weird being in school for the first time.
"Since you don't have a book, you can just read off mine," Tara said as she closed her locker and locked it up again. She turned to face him. "I have one friend in history, but she sits on the other side of the room, and there's an empty seat next to me. Maybe you can sit there," she suggested. She figured her teacher wouldn't mind. He was cool.
"Really?" Beast Boy looked back at Tara "Thanks!" maybe school wouldn't be too bad, she seemed not to notice it was really him, that was a good thing. Who knew? Maybe after awhile he would be able to tell her who he really was, but wouldn't until he was dead sure on how she would act about it. He knew Tara wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
Tara smiled a 'you're welcome' smile and started off to history class. Someone crashed their shoulder into hers, and she stiffened her arm to it hurt more when the kid crashed into Tara. The girl gave Tara a look, and called her a name, which Tara completely ignored. She was used to it now.
Beast Boy darted after Tara, grinning. When the girl rammed into Tara he was ready to do something about it, though thought better of it not to. He didn't want to cause too much trouble. And getting into a fight or hurting someone was probably considered trouble. "You know her?" He asked Tara, referring to the girl.
Tara shrugged. "Not really. Her name's Katie. That's all I know. One of the 'popular' crowd. Third time she's done that. She seems to have a knack for crashing into me, and somehow it's my fault." Tara shrugged again. You get used to being crashed into when you go to school. "I almost got in a fight a couple times. Never did though. They'd probably suspend me if I had. But, they always backed down. They're such cowards. They come looking for a fight, then when you say a few things that make it sound like you kick the crap out of them, they back down. It's just stupid." They entered the History classroom. Tara headed for a seat in the middle of the room, setting her books down on the desk.
"Wow, sounds fun" He said with sarcasm and a laughing grin plastered to his face. He fallowed Tara and took the seat next to her, setting his book bag right under his feet as so no one would take it or anything.
"Hold on a second," Tara said. She went up to the teacher's desk and explained the 'situation'. "So, is it okay if he sits in the empty seat next to me?" she finished off.
"Of course," the teacher said with no hesitation, and a grin. He was a cool teacher.
Tara nodded and went back over to Gar. "He says it's okay for you sit here," she told him. "We're working on this packet thing, he gave me an extra for you, so here," she handed Gar an extra packet. Tara took her seat and pulled her packet out. She was half way done so far.
"Awesome" He said, handling the packet, "hey umm... what is it again?" He asked, looking to his left at Tara a bit confused. Guess this is what he got for starting in the middle of the school year, but like he had told himself before, he wasn't here for some stupid grades.
"Well, you just read through the book, and write answers as you come along," Tara told him. She looked over at the teacher to see he was paying no attention, but trying to get a spoon to stick to his nose. He was goofy like that. "Here," she handed Gar her packet. "You can copy my answers." She really didn't care. She wished she'd had someone to copy answers off when she first came. It would have helped a lot better.
Beast Boy looked down at Tara's packet then up at her and smiled "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pick up on whatever. If I fail, then alwell" He shrugged, he really didn't care. Just do well enough to stay in the school and he would be fine.
Tara shrugged. "Suite yourself," she said, pulling the packet back. She found the page she was on and got to work again. It was small, only three pages, so she only had about a page and a half to go. The whole class was spent working on the packet. Some people worked, some people talked. Tara went off and on from talking to Gar, to working. She just barley finished when the bell rang again. She picked up her book, the packet inside as a book marker, and stood up.
Beast Boy had been staring mindlessly at the questions or whatever he had to do. Mainly just doodling on the paper, but every now and then jotting down an answer. When the bell rang again he looked up, wonder why time seemed to go by so fast when you just day dreamed and doodled. He gathered his things and stuffed them in his book bag's spare pocket, that way not having to open the one with his titan uniform.
Tara started to the door. "I have Biology next period," she said to Gar. She was kind of hoping that he would too. It was nice to have him to talk to for some reason. Her friends in her biology class were also limited. In fact, she didn't really have any friends in any of her classes. They were all mostly acquaintances. Just people that she talked to in class. There were only two classes she had where she actually hung out with them outside of classes. But, she doubted she'd be that lucky.
"Lets see what I got" Beast boy said, or Gar as we should start calling him in school. He again dug out the list and looked it over and handed it to Tara "Is this just like yours?" He asked, it would save a lot of time if they knew he just had the same schedule as she did.
Tara leaned closer and looked over the schedule. "English, History, Biology, Lunch, Gym, holy crap, Geometry… That's exactly my schedule," she said, giving him a slightly surprised expression. "Well, it's rare, but it happens," she shrugged slightly, but part of her was happier then she showed. She finally had a friend in all her classes. Wait… he was her friend… right? "Well, you can just follow me around like a little lost puppy for today," she joked with a smile.
"Awesome!" Beast Boy err Gar said as he grinned up at her then put the list back in his pocket. "Little lost puppy eh? Mom should have named me Odie" He joked about his 'Garfield' name.
Tara laughed again, another real laugh. When was the last time she had laughed this much in one day with a real laugh? Probably when… well… a long time ago. She walked out into the over crowded halls again, making her way to her locker again. Once there, she unlocked it and put her history book back, trading it for her biology book.
Gar fallowed closely behind Tara, well sometimes behind her and sometimes at her side. Depended on how many kids where pushing their way through. He waited for her to get her book or books again, just looking around and scanning the long hall way. Lockers and doors on every wall, well der, it was a school.
"Okay," Tara said, as she locked her locker again. "Off to biology. Fun," she said sarcastically. She led Gar down yet another hall way, and into a class room. She went over and set her book down on her desk, smiling at a couple people who waved or said hi to her. It was another class they were allowed to sit where ever they wanted.
Gar laughed at Tara's sarcasm and again fallowed her. Wow, he really was starting to feel like a little lost puppy. As before, he took the next seat to Tara, following his new routine and setting the book bag down under his feet. He wiggled in his seat, trying to get comfy. School wasn't so bad... Okay he was hardly paying attention but that was beside the point. He finally got comfy, leaning back with his hands curling together in a ball and laying on his desk.
Tara sighed as class started. It was mostly book work and reading. The most boring kind of class work. About three quarters of the way through the class, Tara got seriously bored and grabbed a piece of paper. She took her pencil and wrote:
I'm seriously bored. I think I might die of boredom. At least we have lunch next, I'm starving.
She then crumpled it up and flicked it at Gar's head, just to be a bit of a pain. She looked away as if she was innocent.
Gar hadn't been paying attention in class, just staring like a zombie at the wall; every nowand then his dark blue eyes flickered around the room, glancing around at all the kids. He felt something hit his head and he turned it sharply around and looked at Tara blankly then looked down at the note and picked it up from where it had landed on his lap. He slowly unwrinkled it under his desk then looked down and read it, smiling to himself rather then laughing. He scribbled on the back of it
Yeah me too, lunch sounds good!
and thenthrew it at Tara's head then looked away. He had known it was her for a few reason. One, he knew 'Tara's' hand writing, and two; she was the only one to throw that at him.
Tara glanced over at Gar when the note hit her in the head, she laughed quietly and unwrinkled it, she read it to herself, and just then the bell for lunch rang. She stood up and picked her book up, waiting for Gar before walking out of the classroom.
Gar yawned and stretched his arms out before slowly standing up, scooping the back pack up as he did so. He grinned at Tara again before saying "You lead the way, I'm just a lost puppy who has no idea where he's going" He joked.
Tara laughed a little and started walking. "I was kidding," she half laughed as they came into the hallway. "You can put your bag in my locker if you want. It's kind of a pain to carry stuff to lunch with you." She opened her locker and put her book in.
"Well it's half true" Gar joked back and walked beside her. "Na that's okay, I rather keep it with me" He said, tightening his grip on the bag on his back. "But thanks again. You've been really nice and all"
Tara giggled a little. Smiling, she closed her locker and locked it. "Well, so have you," she told him with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Half of her wondered why she was being so nice to him and enjoyed hanging out with him so much. She realized she was still staring at him, and averted her eyes. Maybe… maybe she kind of liked him. She couldn't help it. "Uh… cafeteria's this way," she said, looking down the hall before starting over that way.
Gar smiled at her giggle, he had missed it. He had glanced over as she had looked away; he looked down at his feet then back up. he didn't want to bump into anyone because he wasn't watching where he was going. He couldn't believe it was lunch time already! That reminded him of the other Titans; maybe he should call and check in? Nah, he was sure he wasn't really missed. But then again what if they tried to call during class? The ringer on his T-com could almost always be identified but he was sure he would find an excuse.
Gar shook his head slightly, snapping back into the now time instead of thinking of the future. "So, what kind of food do they serve here? This is actually my first time eating in a school" He had a joking tone, but was serious.
"Really?" Tara asked as she led him to the cafeteria. Well, actually to the lunch line. "Well, there's pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and they have salads, and then one different 'special' every day," she informed him. They had gotten there fast enough so the line wasn't terribly long; their biology teacher let them out a bit early so they could get to lunch early enough.
His face cringed at the mention of all the meat filled foods. Even if he was acting like someone else, no way was he touching meat! He had proudly kept that no meat diet for years. Well he had slipped when getting messed in that acid but that didn't really count. But when Tara mentioned salads Gar grinned. He couldn't really think of anything to say at the moment. "So, anything fun to do after school? I mean, if I have enough energy from all this fun so far" He joked.
Tara grinned at his joke. "Anything fun… well, there's the pizza place," she said. "Or the mall, or the arcade," she told him. She grabbed one of the bottled waters, and a piece of pizza, just cheese, from the food counter, and one of the smaller side salads. She left the line and waited outside the door for Gar.
Gar grabbed a salad and some water as well, that was all he needed to eat for now. If he was still hungry he would grab a tofu dog at home. "Cool" He said in response to Tara. "Where do you like to hang out?" He asked, walking over to where she was waiting with his salad in one hand and water in the other.
"Well, sometimes I go out for pizza with friends, sometimes we hang out at the mall. Or just kind of aimlessly walk around to places," Tara told him. "I guess it just depends on where we feel like going," she shrugged and sat down at one of the many empty tables. She opened her water and took a couple gulps.
"Sounds fun" Gar said, taking the seat right across from Tara. He popped open the salad and forked some in his mouth before gulping down half his water.
"Thirsty?" Tara asked before taking a bite out of her pizza. School food wasn't the greatest, she had to admit, but it was better then nothing. She was debating on whether or not to ask if maybe he could go to the mall with them sometime. Or the pizza place. 'Them' as in herself and a couple friends.
"Just a little" He laughed before eating the rest of his salad, record breaking time. It was habit from living with the other Titans that all but Raven ate like it was their last meal. He then brought the water back to his lips and took slow sips.
Tara stared. "Wow," she said. "I guess you're hungrier then I thought." She hadn't seen anyone but herself do that since… "You know, I used to be able to do that," she laughed a little. She took another bite of her pizza, a bit of a bigger bite this time. She opened the salad and took a forkful of it too. She set the fork down and gulped down more water.
Gar looked at Tara with a laughing face. Oh yeah, he remembered mizz piggy alright. She would clear their whole fridge in five minutes flat. It was always fun to cheer her on to beat Cyborg to the last waffle, or Robin. Who ever felt like taking on the champ. "Really? hmm... I can't see you eating like that, you're like a stick" He laughed "No offense." He had always wondered where all that food went, but then Terra used to be constantly moving too, she was always the hyper type.
Tara chuckled a bit. "It's okay. I get that all the time," she took another bite of pizza, and another bite of salad. "Especially when someone sees me eat like that for the first time. They look dumbfounded. I'm used to it though," she picked up the half empty water bottle and chugged the rest of it, tossing it into the garbage can that sat at the end of the table. Tara ate the rest of her pizza, and salad. "Well, lunch is an hour long. We've still got over half an hour," she told Gar. "So… what d'you wanna do? Usually we just go outside. But there's also basket ball in the gym. I never go down there though, 'because gym's next period anyways."
Gar chuckled then sipped from his water bottle again before lowering it so it was held at his chest. "I don't care, I'm just following you" He grinned then brought the water to his mouth and took another sip. It was hardly even a sip, more of a way to make sipping noises. He thought if lunch was this long maybe he would go check in with the others, and then run back here to meet up with Tara. Or just call them on his T-com in private. Because he would have to take his watch off, or shut it down before calling them. "I'm sure whatever you want to do will be fine with me. Unless you plan on going and talking with you're girl friends, I might rather stay out of that" He joked.
"Eh," Tara shrugged. "They're probably talking to some hot guy or something," she said. She hadn't meant it to sound as if she thought any of the guys were hot. In fact, she found them all to be rather… ugly. "Actually… I haven't seen them all day, really. But I don't have any classes with any of my friends, so it kinda doesn't surprise me," she said.
"Really? Dude, that stinks" Gar said, making mock sips at his water. He was just playing with it. "So what, you like just sit in class all day and listen to your teacher like your supposed to do instead of throwing spit wads? Torture man" He shook his head, clearly joking around again though.
Tara looked up at him when he said 'dude'. Was it just her, or did Gar kind of seem like… Nah. She quickly pushed the thought out of her head, forgetting it as she listened to him talk. She laughed again. "Yeah, torture. I bet it's the only reason I get good grades," she joked back. She looked over at the table behind her. And there were her friends. Why had they switched tables? She looked at all the kids. Oh well, it was overly crowded over there anyways. The two girls she was closest to in the group had been leaving her out a little more then usual lately. She kind of felt like the third wheel. She turned back to Gar.
"Whatcha looking at?" Gar asked, looking over at the table Tara had been eyeing. He recognized her two friends, how could he forget them? He couldn't. They had been the pain in his butt the other week.He looked back at Tara, to see if she was going to answer him. He wouldn't mind if she didn't, it wasn't much of his business. Just trying to strike up a conversation.
Tara shrugged. "Just them," Terra said, jerking her thumb back at the table. "Our table keeps getting more and more people. It's over crowded," she explained. Each table was only supposed to hold sixteen people. They had somehow fit four more people at the table, and personally Tara didn't like when that happened. They started getting up to leave. They tended to move around a lot at lunch. Usually they hung out outside after they finished eating.
"Oh fun. Who wants to sit so close when eating I dunno. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" He laughed then looked around. "Wanna go outside or something?" He asked, an evil little prank idea blooming in his mind.
Tara only shrugged. She grinned when he asked to go outside. "Yeah, sure," she said, standing up from her seat at the table. She started walking to the doors that led out of the school. "Oh yeah," she said, remembering the snack bar line. "We also have a snack bar. Just more sugary, junk food, snack type stuff," she informed Gar.
"Cool" Gar said, though not paying much attention. The prankster looked around and grinned, he grabbed some kid's burger off his plate when he wasn't looking and chucked it at the biggest guy he could see. He had been scanning the room, making notes of what food was where so he knew what to go for.
The large boy, probably near six foot stood up, looking really... really mad. No, he was beyond mad. The hamburgers ketchup and mustered was like grease to the bun that slid off his head and onto the floor, though the rest of the stuff stayed on his red haired head.
Gar kept a straight face, he had too. Or else he was sure to be first to be blamed.
Tara tried not to laugh and grabbed Gar by his wrist, pulling him outside in a casual way so the kid wouldn't think they'd done anything. Once outside though, she let go of his wrist, and started cracking up. "I can't believe you did that!" she said to him with a laughing grin on her face.
Gar was taken by surprise when Tara took his wrist and pulled him outside, he was going to stay and watch the fire works. Though when they where outside he let a huge laughing smile sweep over his face. "Believe it, couldn't help myself. It's like a second nature to do that" He laughed..
Tara laughed a bit more. "Really?" she asked, laughter still filling her voice. "Sorry, I couldn't help but laugh. We can go back in and check up no what's going on," she offered. Half of her was betting food fight, the other half betting that kid was yelling at someone.
Gar stood there for a minute, just smiling at Tara. He loved her laugh, that's why he loved to make her laugh. It had been too long since they could do this... even if she didn't know it was him. He snapped out of the trance and then looked inside the window on the door and saw the giant teen boy going around yelling his threats of hurting someone if no one fessed up.
Tara looked through the window too. She started laughing. "Man, someone's on their death bed today," she laughed. "So… do you always do stuff like that?" she asked, looking back over at him.
"That really depends. If the 'prey' is good enough then I am a wanted man" Gar joked before backing away from the door and opening the other door next to it so Tara didn't have to move out of the way "Coming?" He asked, holding it open for her with a grin.
Tara smiled and nodded her head. She walked in and listened to the kid yell at other students. In a way, she felt like cracking up. But, then again she just wanted stare with raised eyebrow. She glanced back at Gar, still grinning.
Gar came in after Tara, grinning himself from the ticked off kid walking around in a rage. He let the door shut on its own and watched till the red headed kid settled down and sat back down, though still mad.
Devon looked over at Tara, a teasing smirk up her face. She got up from her seat after telling the others she would be right back. "Hey Tara" She called, walking over. "Where did you go?" She asked after stopping on Tara's left, since Gar was on her right.
"Hey Devon. Nowhere really," Tara said, looking over at Devon. "Just outside for a bit. You know, get some fresh air," she shrugged her shoulders a little bit. She glanced at Gar, then looked back at Devon.
Devon raised her eye brow "Right, so you and him just went outside for some fresh air eh?" She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, and then shifted her weight to her left leg. "C'mon, what did you two really do? No wait, you don't have to tell me" She teased.
Gar stayed quiet, though he felt a slight blush creep up his face.
Tara's mouth dropped slightly. "Excuse me?" she said in a slightly offended tone. "We didn't do anything! We just went outside for fresh air," her face was starting to warm up, and she had no doubt she was blushing quite a bit.
"C'mon Tara, I'm just teasing... even if it's true" Devon laughed slightly and nudged Tara's arm with her elbow before walking back over to the others, probably to tell the Melody or Mallory. Then some one else would over here and then rumors... ooo high school was so much fun.
"Well... she's uhh... nice" Gar tried to joke, but it came out as more of stutters. His face had gone full out in a blush.
Okay guys, I thought it was fair to tell you that I have never in my whole life gone to school. I'm home schooled, so if school is a little off... -gets on knees- FORGIVE ME! -- Tianimalz