"How did you end up in Advanced Biology? I thought you said you were dumb." The now beach waved Iris asked him as they walked the halls of Lescon.
"Animals have always been a passion of mine as I grew up surrounded by them." He briskly answered. For an unofficial tour guide to the school, she had been almost too keen on getting to know him.
"Likewise. I have Calculus next and it's with that boring Ms. Jenkins." She grumbled, flashing him a look at her printed out schedule. Shoving the slip of paper into her jean pocket, it felt almost unusual to see someone else who would change up their look every week. It was only three days ago when Iris still had slicked mermaid fishtail braids and drank out of an over—sweetened Starbucks. Now, she was into 'Farm Girl Chic', something she claimed a varsity gotten her into.
"Well I'll see you later?" He asked, his voice went up a bit as a result of pure anxiousness.
"Sure. Just remember to meet me by the field this afternoon. Me and the girls sit there every week to watch the football players." Iris smiled at his responsive nod. Sauntering down the hall, her plaid clad body was swallowed by the hoard of frenzied students.
Garfield felt unsure. Standing outside of what he presumed to be one of the Science labs, he watched laughing students slowly trickle in. After fixing his bright red polo shirt collar and adjusting the silver pearl strung onto the tagged necklace, his heart thumped wildly against his chest as he entered.
This class was nothing like the last. Unlike the days he spent chatting in homeroom and English, the class was pin drop silent with the exception of chairs scraping against the floor. Few of the students was enveloped in teaspoon thick novellas whereas the others were filling in homework sheets they already received.
His nose picked up a hazy coconut scent—probably from shampoo—laced within the pungent smell of sanitizer. Garfield was a hundred percent sure someone had been scrubbing the black countertops beforehand as the smell began to strengthen the furor there he went into the room.
Army green walls were embodied with oak wood shelves that housed textbooks of all shapes and sizes. They encircled the room and stopped by the two connected eyewash stations along with a long sink. A smart board was partnered with a musky desk, looking similar to a young teen next to his grandfather.
Randomized desk patterns covered the larger portion of the room, about twelve twin desks. Most were already taken by early birds and small piles of folders.
The incredibly large smart board had a sketched out map on it, conveniently labeling all the seats with initials. Garfield let out a sigh in relief as he spotted the scrawled letters 'GML' next to a 'SN'. Venturing between the narrow walkways of the tables, he pulled out a chair next to a few notebooks and a single pen.
Learning his lesson from the first, Garfield decided not to tune into other's private conversations like radio stations as there was in fact an abbreviation called 'too much information'.
Thirty seconds later, a gang of boys situated on the desk connected to his. It was fine up until their loud talking began to take action into his ear drums. Their shrill cheers and stomping felt like daggers in Garfield's head. He fought against speaking up to them as his mouth always seemed to have a troublemaking mind of it's own.
It was uncanny for him to feel this way. Appointed as the unofficial charmer off the group, his teammates always talked about how easy it was for him to approach people. Whether they were at a restaurant or even a beach, count on Beast Boy to get them a free meal or an appraising complement from a stranger.
Cyborg blamed it on his eyes. The same aspiring puppy eyes he'd used to get free hot dogs from vendors without them questioning why a green bulldog was begging them for food. Robin said it was the way he stood. Beast Boy, being the most adaptable one in the group, had the abilities of a octopus. Able to change posture, not necessarily colour, he could easily switch between the look of a sweet young man to a 'smoking' piece of meat.
Not his words but of a drunken teen girl they ran into outside of a coastal bar.
Starfire pointed out his voice. Not necessarily a voice of a chorusing angel but one of an innocent one. He was underestimated as a fellow Titan so people near him seemed to more delicate and cautious, excluding the reporters. She quoted on how casual yet polite he spoke. 'His harmonious voice has just the right amount of formality to be deemed posh but just the right amount of friendliness to be not.'
Whenever asked himself, Beast Boy would simply shrug and reply 'Not only chicks dig the ears.'
Fortunately for him, he didn't need to intervene as all conversations were put on an immediate pause. The attention of students directed to Ms Giver—Garfield read the name from the card on her desk— who begun to scrawl on the date on the lit up smart board.
From the groans the students were giving, something told him that it was going to be a long day.
"Victor Stone, Victor Stone to the office"
"What did you get in there for?" Garfield nudged his best friend in the arm, "Let me guess, you played cat noises on the gym teacher's Bluetooth speakers?"
"Nope." Victor said plainly, not taking an eye off from his paper.
"You glued all the meter sticks to door frames, didn't you."
"Guess again, Logan."
"I got it!" Pulling Victor closer to him, he whispered gently into his ear, "I bet you dumped powdered gelatine into the drinking fountains."
"Where do you keep getting this nonsense?" Victor exclaimed, pushing Garfield away. The blond simply shrugged it off with a dopey smile. "If you have to know, I was in the office to discuss prior education with the principal."
"Why? Weren't you smart enough?" The pair pushed open the fire glass doors, entering into a sunlit corridor.
"The old man wanted to see whether or not I needed to stay back an extra year."
"I see." He swore he just heard someone screaming his name. The two best friends peered over to see a bouncing plaid clad girl surrounded by a familiar gang Garfield ran into on the first day. His mind lit up as he remembered what she had said earlier that day. "Come on dude, I want you to meet some chicks I ran into on Tuesday."
Victor followed his beckoning friend, hopping directly off the 4 foot balcony-like walkway. His converse landed, cushioned by flush green grass. He could feel his red eye twitching underneath the hologram, processing the wild texture and chemical smell into his brain. Looking off to the side, his suspicions were correct. They were currently standing on a football field, one filled with incoming players.
"Garfield," the girl said, a smile taking over her face, "you made it! I was wondering if you were as forgetful."
He brushed out his hair nervously, making his way closer to the huddle of girls. "Yeah, I almost missed you guys there."
"Who's your friend?" One of the girls asked, pointing at Victor. The six girls, half wearing varsity badge jackets, gazed at him cautiously. In response, the buff man lowered himself onto a knee to their eye level.
"This is Victor. He's my bro." Elbowing him in the rib, Victor noticed one of the girls was unlike the rest.
"Well Garfield and Victor, would you care to sit? The team should be back any moment now for a ten minute water break and I don't want you to get trampled." Iris gawked at Victor's build before correcting herself. "More so Garfield rather Victor."
The group was fairly loud. Two of the girls in the back were in the middle of discussing the newspaper editorial so they caused enough commotion in the background. But that wasn't what distracted Victor.
He quirked an eye at another pair of girls, exchanging in small talk to the right of the bleachers. They both seemed too familiar, one's pink hair and another's insecticide themed outfit ringing a bell in his memory. If their whimsical attire wasn't a dead giveaway, the two were both donning each a yellow and pink pearl respectively in their left ear lobe.
"Nine o'clock," he muttered as he elbowed Garfield in the bicep, "don't those ladies seem familiar to you." Garfield responded by turning their way.
"I smell the fermented scent of peach cobbler and a hint of hair dye under all that leather and chewed bubblegum." He pondered before turning back to staring at the whizzing ball.
Victor scooted closer to the target, examining them closely. Their attention seemed to be focused on the field, at one of the players. Speaking of players, there was no coach in their line of sight, just a dozen of worn down athletes drilling across the faux grass. "Never deemed you to be the one to like redheads, Karen." Victor pointed at one of the leaner boys in the center, a messy mop of dark red hair under his beaten helmet.
"Oh no, it's not me with the obsession over gingers." Karen put up Her hands in defence. She wasn't all surprised unlike the bright pastel girl beside her who flinched. "Jo over here can't stand the thought of some other girl hanging off Wally. She's on babysitting duty if you will."
"Jo? What, is it like some kind of nickname for Joey?" Victor flicked Jo's bangs away from her face, revealing humane grey eyes.
Jo clacked her teeth into the old gum. "Joséphine, my great aunt's name. It was only appropriate for our coordinating alias theme we got going on." She placed a heel over her leg before continuing. "Victor sounds techno-nerdy, Karen is the know-it-all, Wally is dorky, Richard down by the west wing is posh, Kori is foreign enough to sound like a nickname and Garfield shares his name with an orange fat cat." Garfield grimaced, not taking an eye off the training. "Need I say more?"
"Why not Jade? It sounds eerie and spiritualist is enough."
" 'Cause that Chesire chick took that name already. Besides, I don't do rock names." Jo crossed her arms across her chest, crinkling pieces of the loose leather strapped across her shoulders.
"I saw you preparing to put a curse on Jade, Jo." Karen rolled her eyes at the nuisance. "And she's not the only villain who's head over heels for a hero, Little Miss West."
"I'm an antihero, not a villain."
"Bigs words for such a little brain, huh?" Karen looked back at the field. "So you gonna tell them about your thing between you and Flash?"
"Oh, I've got to hear this!" Garfield scooted closer towards them, licking his lips menacingly. He couldn't help but not wait to get his hands on this!
Jo shifted uncomfortable, gnawing her gum onto her front teeth. "It's nothing, we're just getting a bit closer, that's all."
The sound of metal frying could be heard in the distance. The football players and watchers looked around alertedly.
Squinting his eyes, Victor froze up as he spotted a faint cloud of grime in the distance. "Over there!" He shouted, pointing his hand. Garfield took no time to wait and ran off to the scene of action, whereas the rest followed quickly after him, curious of what's to come.
The battlefield was situated near the parking lot, thankfully not many cars were brutally damaged. Garfield connected the powdery cloud and the distinct smell of smoke, concluding with an explosion. But as soon as a beam of pure light soared above his head, he changed his mind.
Dr Light!
Before I am asked, yes I do usually update frequently. I had this chapter written two months ago but never found enough time to edit. Next chapter will come in a few days, after all schools almost out!
-Catisa~Orsilla