せいねんかさねてきたらず
Seinen kasanete kitarazu
The prime of your life does not come twice.
A/N: Well! Finally an update. I had no idea where I wanted to go with this story, but I figured that I may as well try and we'll find out. ;)
Disclaimer: What you see here is the byproduct of Cartoon Network and a rampant imagination.
oOoOoOo
-The Lunchroom 2pm-
Raven Roth closes her eyes.
When will the madness end?
"Garfield Mark Logan, I do not ever want to see you anywhere near my personal belongings again. Am I understood?" she grits out.
The mischievous boy smiles sheepishly at the dark girl before slinking away, rubber rat toy in tow.
Raven shakes her head, but manages a small smile. The little trickster was annoying sometimes, but he meant no harm and he had a big heart. Like the little brother she never had.
Sometimes she wonders if she's too mean to him.
Naah, she thinks. Can't ruin the image of party pooper I already have. That would really encourage him.
So she shoulders her plain black messenger bag and makes her way to the gymnasium for the weekly pep rally.
-Jump Gymnasium 2:15pm-
"Aaaaaalright, everybody! Lemme hear ya, Jump High!"
A collective roar rings throughout the gym, the stomping on bleachers adding to the mass chaos.
Raven rubs the bridge of her nose, trying to make the pounding in her head go away. Victor glances sympathetically at his childhood friend and pulls her into a one armed hug before beginning to rub her neck lightly. Raven closes her eyes and silently begs for the insanity to end.
Who invented these things anyway?
Just a plain waste of time.
Usually, Vic would be down there on the court with the sports teams (basketball, football, baseball, lacrosse, track, the works), but today was a special occasion.
"Gimme a J!"
Raven opens her eyes to see Garfield on the court, leading the crowd in a "pep" cheer.
How he got this job, she has no idea, but it kind of suits him.
"Gimme a U!"
Raven closes her eyes again. She hears the beep of a digital camera.
Star's taking pictures for her scrapbook again.
Though, Raven has to admit, she has a good knack for it, and it was sort of nice to have a visual for everyone to look back on all their years of friendship.
"Gimme an M!"
Speaking of which, Raven suddenly realizes that she hasn't seen Richard at all today.
That sounds pretty bad, considering they're all pretty close friends, but today hasn't exactly been a breeze of a day. First was a pop quiz in first period Chemistry, then was the prep test in AP English, and after that, Garfield had needed help with Algebra so she got excused from Calculus to tutor him (they were only finishing their projects; Raven's had been finished since last Thursday), and then it was just class after class of busyness, projects and insane amounts of classwork. Of course. Raven had purposefully registered for all the challenging classes at the beginning of the year, after all.
"Gimme a P!"
Plus the fact that she and Richard didn't have any classes in common.
They were the same age, but signing up for all the super advanced classes would do that. Not that her friends aren't smart. But Raven's always been one to try to push herself past her limits academically.
"What's that spell?!"
There's a chorus of "JUMP!" as the bleachers shake with kids jumping along to the cheer.
"One more time!"
More shouting, more jumping, more noise and shaking.
"Who are we?!"
"Titans!"
"I said, WHO ARE WE!?"
"TITANS!"
It's a wonder these bleachers are still standing.
"Aaalright, Jump High! That's the spirit! Now let's give it up for the one, the only, the very best and greatest, Papa Wilson!"
The cheering continues as a slim man in a suit with an eyepatch and salt and pepper hair makes his way to the middle of the court.
Taking the mic from Garfield, he raises a hand to silence his pupils.
"Thank you, Mister Logan, for the overwhelmingly flattering introduction. Although, if anyone calls me Papa Wilson in the halls, you will be staying after hours for some fun, quiet deskwork."
The crowd laughs at his threat of detention, knowing full well that he would do it, and wondering what sort of miserable fate poor Garfield has ahead.
"Well, today, we are gathered here to not simply celebrate our greatness as a successful and efficient school…"
Cheers all around.
They really believe in themselves. How inspiring, Raven thinks as she suppresses rolling her eyes.
"But to take on a challenge."
Mr. Wilson pauses to let his words sink in. Or just for dramatic effect. Who knows.
"The Hive Academy has proposed a contest of sorts, which the city has now endorsed. A community project. The rules are simple. The school that can best serve Jump City and effect a good and productive change, for the improvement of our city and all of our lives, that school not only gets the fame and recognition of having done such a deed, but will receive a check of one hundred thousand dollars towards the improvement of the school and its facilities."
There is an awed silence before he finally says, "I'm serious."
Students erupt in loud cheers and screams. That's like a new laptop! That's like a hundred new laptops! Yeah!
Papa Wilson smiles.
"The contest will begin officially next Monday. As an even greater incentive, the student that can organize the most successful and efficient team will receive a new laptop, and the team will receive a two hundred dollar check. Things to ponder, children. I expect great things from you, and I know you will not disappoint. And with that, you are dismissed."
And the Titans are left with a challenge in their laps.