Other chapter I promised. I feel confident about this chapter, but tell me what you guys think!

I checked my schedule, then smacked myself in the face. Lunch time.

I walked to the cafeteria, trying to fight my way through the massive crowd that was beginning to form. Reaching the front of the line, I grabbed a hamburger off the counter and forced my way towards the door. Matt was behind me, looking confused, "The guys are over that way."

"I know, Matt," I told him, stepping back to dodge a careless junior, "But I've got plans for today. I'll catch you later!"

He nodded and waved as I stepped out into the fresh air. I could breathe now. Unwrapping my lunch, I couldn't see Talia anywhere, so I sat down on a bench near the stairs, chewing on the burger while I waited for her to arrive. I was there for a few minutes when I felt someone's presence behind me.

"There you are."

I turned to look where the words came from, and I saw Talia standing there. I stood up, tossing the last piece of burger into my mouth, "I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up."

"Got caught up in the crowd," she walked to the other side of the bench, "Ready to go?" she asked in a steely voice.

"Not very friendly," I noted, standing up and tossing my wrapper in a nearby trash can, "Lead the way."

We started our tour at the old penitentiary. This was where the dorms and cafeteria were. She gave me a quick walk around, but that was really it. She'd probably guessed that I'd explored it already.

Talia didn't really say much. She motioned to the sign and walked inside. She wouldn't even look back to see if I was keeping up with her quick pace. Good thing it wasn't Oswald she was leading on a tour then.

Right across the way was the old medical facility - the offices were over here. Offices for teachers to work without students bothering them, the internal workings of the school, and the breakroom. Most of what I figured out about the building came from the signs on the doors. It was obvious she knew her way around, but was purposefully staying quiet, let me soak it all in myself. Probably not because she thought I could - probably because she didn't like me. It wasn't hard to pick that up.

Next was the physical education area. I'd been here before, which was a good thing, because she barely walked through the room, cold as ever. Geez.

I stopped for a second to grab a quick drink at a water fountain, then turned around to see Coach Wilson standing there, "You're with 'er today, mate?" he asked me.

I nodded, "Yeah."

"I suggest you watch out for her - when she's mad, she's nasty as she acts. And if you even think about getting involved with her - well, let's say her father can be a very dangerous person. It's obvious he's taken a liking to you already, but his favor can be a precarious position."

I nodded to him, "Thanks."

"Don't think I'm just being nice t'ya, mate. I'm scared of both her and her father. It's just outta common courtesy," he stepped aside, "Now go hurry up. I wouldn't be falling too far behind if I were you."

Looking around, I saw that she was already long gone, and hurried up after her.

By the time I caught up, she was almost to the Botanical Gardens. I'd heard about this place before... it was originally just a place for the Arkham staff to plant and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables, but after it became a school it was filled with all sorts of rare and exotic plants. For research they said. There was a rumor going around that they were being used to make experimental drugs by Professor Strange, but I doubted it. How stupid was that?

Finally, we reached the old Arkham Mansion. Sitting on the east side of campus, it loomed over the rest of the dwarfish buildings. This was where most of the classes were held. We walked up and down a few halls, past the auditorium, and finally reached the end of our tour: the library.

This room was magnificent. Stretching high and with multiple levels of books, this would've been a bookworm's haven. Looking around, I saw books one every subject. It was pretty dead though - beginning of the year I guess. The librarian was reading some magazine as I passed and the only other people were a group sitting at a bunch of tables across the room. That was where Talia stopped. As I got closer, I realized what it was that they were doing: they were playing chess. I watched them play for a moment, and started to realize that some of them were really good. I sat down at a table, and watched as pawn was sacrificed to take rook, and one player got in a queen-king fork.

After a few minutes, I heard a voice behind me, "They're the best in the school."

I swiveled around quickly and met the face of Mr. Ghul, grinning, "Most of them came over with me from A. Scott High back in Coast City. My best students," he gestured to a nearby, empty board, "Care to play?"

A half an hour later, we were both intensely focusing on the game. He'd taken my queen's pawn for first blood, but I'd taken revenge by nabbing the same knight that started it. He lost his queen to my bishop, but it was obvious he didn't need it to take mine. At this point, the game was almost done. I had aboth knights and my king. He had his king, a pawn, and a rook. I was unable to stop him from promoting that pawn, and within two moves he had me in mate.

I stuck out my hand, "Good game."

He took it and shook, "Very well played, young man. You play chess often?"

"My bu - er, friend and I played it a lot before I came here. I got pretty good I guess."

He laughed, "Yes you did. How would you like to come join us tomorrow?" he extended his other hand, which was holding a small slip of paper, "Maybe you'll join us."

I looked down at the card, "League of Assassins" it read in stylized text, "Ranked #1 in the state ten years running. Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the library."

"Maybe I will."

R&R and I'll see you guys next chapter!