"Ciela!" Mom said with a big smile as she stared at my latest test, which had a big 89 sketched in the corner. "You just keep getting better and better! I'm so happy to see you improving."
"Yeah. It feels good to get good grades." I said.
Mom threw her arms around me, and I smiled and returned the hug.
"I'm going to put this up on the fridge!" Mom said.
"Mom, you don't really need to do that..." I cringed.
"I used to do this when you were younger."
"Yeah, in kindergarten whenever I came home with a hand turkey."
"Each one was better than the last." Mom stuck a smiley face magnet onto the test, right next to the 89%. "Looking at this will help motivate you to keep doing better."
"If you say so." I said. "Drop me off at school before you start crying."
"I'm not going to cry!"
"Not when I'm around." I laughed. Mom rolled her eyes and grabbed the car keys.
"Hey, Ciela!" I paused in surprise when the group of boys from my English class waved at me as I passed by. I smiled and waved.
As I brought my hand back down, a spring entered my step. I lifted my eyes and looked at the faces passing by me in the hallway. I noticed the posters taped to the walls, informing students of upcoming school events and inviting them to join clubs. I could finally match faces to the pairs of shoes that I recognized from all the time I traversed these halls with my eyes glued to the floor. It was like a whole new world that I had been missing out on.
I turned the corner and stopped at my locker so I could switch to my afternoon supplies before heading to the cafeteria. I raised my hand to enter my combination into the lock.
"Hey, there... Fattela."
I froze, my fingers an inch away from the lock. A moment ago, my mind was reminding itself of my locker combination, but now it was stuck in a loop of silence. My stomach double-knotted, and I was again conscious of my skin as it trembled.
"Aren't you going to turn around? I missed seeing your puffy little cheeks."
A hand grabbed my shoulder and whipped me around. I stumbled back and pressed my back against my locker and met a pair of familiar, soulless green eyes.
"J-Jane..." I gasped. "You're back..."
"Did you miss me?" Jane smirked, placing a hand on her bony hip and flicking a piece of curly black hair over her shoulder.
"I... thought you were..."
"Suspended? Yes, I was. Two weeks sure do go by fast. And it looks like they went straight to your hips."
I gulped and held my arms.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do, Fattela. I have a big list of topics to discuss. Have a good lunch." Jane turned on her heel and walked down the hallway. She paused and glanced back at me. "Steer clear of those nachos. We both know you've had enough of those."
When Jane was gone, I gasped in air and turned to my locker. I tried to enter in my combination, but I couldn't see the numbers through my bear paws, so I kept turning too far. After the third try, I opened my locker and was greeted with a small mirror taped to the inside of the door. I met eyes with my reflection for a brief second before they searched the rest of my face. My cheeks were as red and puffy as tomatoes. A clump of long, frizzy hair rested on my shoulder, and I swatted it back.
I had put this mirror up a few days ago. I took it down ever faster. I threw the mirror into a nearby trash can, closed my locker door, and shuffled down the hallway. I tugged at my extra-large t-shirt, hoping it could cover the rest of my body. My eyes returned to the floor.
A fist pounded against the other side of my door. I gasped and sat up in my bed.
"W-Who's there?" I said, pulling my blanket up to cover my body.
"Ciela, we've got trouble!" Beast Boy said. "There's a giant scorpion monster chasing a girl in the canyon!"
I gulped. "Okay... I'm coming." I climbed out of bed, strapped on my belt, and headed to the door. It opened, and Beast Boy was still there. I crossed my arms.
"Come on!" he said, and he jogged down the hallway.
We arrived at the cliffside of the canyon and looked down, where the girl was still running from the giant, black scorpion with multiple orange eyes. She leaped over a rock, and a second later, the scorpion struck it with its stringer and destroyed it. The scorpion trapped the girl in a dead end, right below us.
Robin opened his mouth to order us to go, but the ground rumbled. The girl's eyes glowed yellow, and the stone bridge next to Cyborg cracked off and floated in the air. The girl thrust her arms down, and the bridge collapsed on top of the scorpion's head, killing it instantly.
"Whoa." Beast Boy said. "I guess she wasn't in trouble after all."
"She was leading it into a trap." Cyborg said. "Who is she?"
The Titans looked at me, and I gulped and took a step back. The girl summoned a rock pillar that lifted her into the air and to the cliffside where we were. She hopped off and dusted herself. She had long, bleach blonde hair, blue eyes, and she wore a black crop top over a gray long-sleeved shirt, blue shorts, and brown tennis shoes.
"Hey, what's up?" the girl said. She looked at the Titans' dumbfounded expressions. "What, do I have something on my face?"
Robin cleared his throat and held his hand out to the girl. "I'm Robin."
"I know who you are. You're the Teen Titans! It's awesome to meet you! I'm Terra." the girl said, turning Robin's handshake into a series of fist bumps.
"Then I guess introductions aren't really necessary."
Terra set her eyes on me. "Actually, I don't know who that is." she said.
I shrunk back. "Um... I'm no one, really."
I looked away, ignoring the looks the other Titans shared with each other.
"This is Ciela. She's the newest member of the team." Robin said, resting a hand on my shoulder. I tensed, which he noticed, and he lowered his voice. "Ciela, are you okay?"
"I... I'm sorry." I mumbled and removed his hand from my shoulder. "I need to head back."
I pushed past the other Titans, feeling their stares burning the back of my head.
Once they accept Terra into the group, they'll hardly notice me anymore. I understand... Anyone would.
I sat on my bed in my room, staring at my guns while I transformed them back and forth between double pistols and bazooka sniper rifle. As the night came, I stood up and glanced out my window. Down by the rocks, I saw Beast Boy and Terra sitting side-by-side at the edge of the water. Beast Boy said something, and Terra's hair shot up like a cat's as the rock Beast Boy sat on lifted out underneath him, knocking him onto his back. The rock landed in the water, creating a big splash that soaked Beast Boy. I closed my curtains.
There was a knock at my door. "Ciela?" Robin's muffled voice called from the other side.
I set my bazooka on my bed and walked to the door. It slid open.
"Is everything okay?" Robin said. "You've been avoiding us all day."
"I wasn't needed." I said, crossing my arms.
Robin raised his eyebrows. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it's true." I turned away. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."
When the door was a couple of inches from closing, Robin stuck his arm into the door and halted it.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he said.
"Good night." I palmed the button installed next to the door, closing it completely. I turned off the lights and leaned against the wall.
The next morning, we gathered onto the training grounds. We watched Cyborg take his turn. He sprinted across the smooth dirt ground, dodging the metal fist-shaped pillars and sprung out of the ground. Robin, who sat at the control panel, activated the laser turrets. Cyborg stumbled through the field of energy as the turrets followed him. When he cleared that area, a row of stone guillotine-like obstacle walls appeared. Cyborg sprinted through, rolling out of the way before the walls came down. More turrets appeared, this time shooting discs. Cyborg summoned his cannon arm and shot down the discs.
Beast Boy, Starfire, and Terra cheered for him, and Robin and Raven stood over the control panel. I stood a couple of feet away from the panel with my arms crossed.
"Booyah!" Cyborg cried as he check his finished time. "New course record!"
"Well, yeah. You're the first one to do the course." Raven said.
"Ciela, you're up!" Robin said. I climbed down the rocky ramp and onto the training grounds. "We'll start off with shooting practice, and then close combat. You ready?"
"I guess." I said.
"Countdown initiating." The clock counted down from ten seconds.
I took a deep breath and pulled out a pistol. When the countdown reached zero, there was a shrill chime. More disc-throwing turrets appeared, but they pointed to the sky instead of at me. It started off with each turret shooting a disc one by one, waiting until I shot one down before another appeared. After a while, more discs appeared simultaneously, and I pulled out my second pistol.
Fifty destroyed discs later, the turrets disappeared, and three catapults emerged. One launched a boulder at me. I gasped and ran away. The rock landed a few feet behind me and the impact knocked me to the ground. I winced and scrambled back to my feet. Another rock tumbled towards me, and I sprinted out of the way. I headed to a ledge and perched myself there. I switched to my bazooka sniper rifle and dropped onto my stomach. All three catapults launched rocks at me. I took another deep breath, aimed through my eye scope, and counterattacked. The lasers hit the rocks and caused them to explode into pieces that scattered across the training grounds.
"Way to go, Ciela!" Beast Boy cried.
"Yes! You are doing splendid!" Starfire chimed.
The catapults submerged back into the rocks, and I stood up. I heard crumbling behind me, and I turned and saw a slab of rock opening up a hole. A humanoid robot emerged from the hole and threw a punch at me. I gasped and stumbled back. I lost my footing and tumbled over the ledge and to the ground, landing on my back. I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me. The robot jumped down from the ledge, and I rolled out of the way. Its heavy landing left dents in the ground right where I once was. It turned to me, and its eyes slowly flashed red. I crawled back, the small pebbles digging into my palms and legs as I tried to scoot away. Its blinking red eyes felt like taunting.
"You thought you could escape me? You thought you could get rid of me? I knew you belonged in a school for stupid people, but I didn't know you could graduate as valedictorian. Typical Fattela..."
I hyperventilated as my eyes shook. The robot pulled its arm back and formed a fist. I turned away and shut my eyes.
There was a cracking thump as the fist met something other than me. I opened my eyes and looked up. Starfire stood in front of me, her hand gripping the fist of the robot as she fought back. With a grunt, she reared up her other fist and punched the robot in the chest, launching it into the air. Starfire thrust out her hand and shot a starbolt at the robot. It exploded, and I shielded myself from the falling pieces of burning metal and wires.
"Are you all right?" Starfire turned around and crouched down. She took my arm and lifted me back to my feet.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I should've dodged that punch. Of course I would mess up. I'm so stupid!" I said.
Starfire searched my face while hers displayed concern. The black gems on her silver armor flashed green, and my communicator buzzed.
"Trouble?" Cyborg said.
"Let's go check it out." Robin said.
Starfire glanced back at me, and I hurried past her and into the Tower.
Slade's face stretched across the window-sized TV sent chills down my spine.
"Who's that guy?" Terra said.
"That's Slade. He's a really bad guy." Beast Boy said.
"I've tracked down his location." Robin said, turning to us. "Titans, move out!"
The Titans filed out of the room. I sat down on the couch and folded my arms.
"Aren't you coming?" Beast Boy said, and I thought he was talking to Terra. That is, until a few seconds of silence later before Beast Boy called, "Ciela?"
"Um... I'm gonna stay here. You guys can take care of this without me." I said.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded, keeping my back turned to him.
"Is there anything that we should know?"
"I..." I gripped my arms. "I don't know."
I felt the confusion and surprise radiate off Beast Boy, then a few moments later, his footsteps trailed out of the room and the door closed.
After my butt grew numb from sitting on the couch, I returned to my bedroom. I unbuckled my belt and tossed it onto my bed.
They should be back sometime soon. I thought. The Titans went to a diamond cave to stop a fleet of Slade's robot commandos from robbing the place. While they were there, Terra's powers would cause Beast Boy to be swept underneath a rock avalanche, and she would run away. She would come into contact with Slade for the first time. Slade sympathizes with Terra, assuring her that he'd be able to help her far better than the Titans would and he tries to make her doubt her friends. Even after the Titans warned Terra about how dangerous Slade was, she still chose his side and ignored the people who actually cared about her.
I walked to my curtains and opened them. I looked down by the rocks and saw Terra sprinting to the edge. With a backpack strapped on, she broke off a boulder that carried her away from the Tower. A few moments later, Beast Boy arrived at the broken ledge and picked up something. Robin approached him.
See? They care about Terra because she's important.
They... they care about me, too...
Eventually they'll have to take out the trash.
I dug my fingers into my hair and shook my head vigorously.
Get out of my head!
Go ahead. I'd like to see you try.
My vision faded to black.
