Okay, yeah. This is chapter two (obviously) and I actually got it up the same night I published the first chappie (go me!), so have fun with it.

I made a couple of typos in chapter one: Edmund "Dash" Wymark is Kid Flash. I left that out. And Gar is 5'2'', even though it says he's 5'3'' (Rae's 5'3'', not him).

Yeah. I can't believe Teen Titans is over (I wrote the first chapter last Wednesday, when Things Change hadn't aired yet. I worte this one later, but got 'em published hte same day)! It's so sad! Well, maybe not as sad as I'm making it sound. And the thing is, I haven't seem Homecomings Pts. 1 or 2, or the last episode. But I will make it my goal ot see them! Well, not a real goal like becoming a figure skater (which is more of a dream) or growing another couple of inches (another dream). So yeah. Enough babbling.

Chpt. 2: Life Proceeds

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." –Carolyn Mackler

The three girls didn't exactly take Gotham Prep by storm. In fact, Kori nearly broke a flip flop tripping over her own feet, Terra accused Kori of being an uptalker, and they got honked at by several times by cars on their way out of the campus. Well, Kori got honked at several times. But Raven and Terra had long ago noticed that the beauty of being around Kori was that whenever some guy honked or wolf-whistled at her, you could always pretend it was directed at you instead, which provided a decent boost in self-image.

Dinner was basically a forty-five minute period of reminiscing over past years (Past teachers, past crushes, and past stupid acts of Rob, Vick, and occasionally Gar), eager recollections of summer break adventures (Raven had a drastically anti-Raven story involving chasing her demented cat, Cosmo, down the street while wearing pajama pants and a bra) , and, of course, getting Gar caught up (mainly on gossip), while briefly touching on normal teenager subjects like extracurricular activities (Kori wanted to know whether or not to try out for the volleyball team, while Terra and Raven tried to get Gar to rejoin band.), music (Or, "Why in the world does Rob Grayson have 'My Humps' on his iPod"), and Star Wars (After a grueling period of interrogation and accusation, Vick admitted to being a, gasp, Star Wars nerd).

"Who ever would've guessed?" Rob was saying approximately three and a half minutes after the Star Wars Incident™. Vick had always been a jock, even back in the days of little league football at his elementary school up north in Seattle, Oregon when all the players do the entire game is run back and forth, accidentally knock the ball into the bleachers, wait for the ref to throw it back into the game, and repeat the process until someone finally does something and scores a touchdown.

"It isn't like I have all the posters and action figures in my room or anything," Vick said, defending himself to an extent. "I just like have all the movies." Rob was about to come back with some incredible insult, possibly having to do with Vick's mother, but he was interrupted (rudely in his mind) by the buzz of the school's PA system.

"Welcome back, Gotham Prep students, to another wonderful year at school!" The students groaned, and a few (like Rob) swore, at the voice of Assistant Principle Mamfunk, or the Manfunk to his biggest fans (also Rob). "I hope you all had a wonderful summer-" Which was officially Lie of the Year, considering that Assistant Principle Manfunk would sooner run naked in front of a live news camera while wearing a set of reindeer antlers with little jingle bells on his head than see his students gleeful and giddy from a fun filled summer. "- and are all ready to dive right back into your classes tomorrow morning. I would also like to mention that any student who has not received their schedule in the mail needs to pick it up in the main office immediately following dinner. And in addition to these announcements, I would like to say that any student caught stealing test answers from the office, drawing clothing of any sort on the pictures in our Health textbooks, or adorning Erik the Viking with a fake afro and/or jingle bell antlers, will be sentenced to work detail, detention, and possible expulsion. Goodbye."

As soon as the PA system clicked off, Kori turned to face Rob, a fire in her emerald eyes that rivaled that of a California wildfire.

"You stole test answers?" Her voice seem to be dripping poison.

"No! I didn't! I swear!" Rob backed down quickly, seeming to shrivel under Kori's gaze. Ah, yes. The one thing that could terrify Rob Grayson: Kori Anders, a hurricane force when angered even slightly.

"Are you sure?" Kori gave Rob another death glare, this one dying in ferocity, but still enough to make a T-Rex suck its thumb.

"Yes," answered Rob for a final time, with a note of finality. Satisfied with this answer, Kori finally backed off.

"Okay," she said, the bubbly, uptalker syndrome back in her voice. It was amazing how quickly Kori could go from being entirely enraged to completely content in under two seconds. It must have just been one of the many assets of being perfect. Kori could hold a grudge, but she could also forget one with the push of some button inside her mind.

"What about the other stuff?" asked Gar, his eyes curious.

"Oh, he did that stuff last year," replied Vick conversationally. Gar nodded in understanding. What an odd year this was shaping up to be.

It was 8:46 AM. Raven was in English class, and she would have gladly given her life savings and every hair on her head to be asleep.

Well, maybe not. Maybe just a couple of dollars. And one or two hairs.

"Parrish, Maya?"

"Here," said a Hispanic-looking girl at the front of the classroom. Her dark hair was twisted stylishly into a complicated bun, and there seemed to be enough clear lip gloss applied to her lips to sail a small yacht. Her stiletto heels were each as long as her hand, shiny French tips included. Raven's official object of dislike.

"Wymark, Edmund?" Apparently Ms. Anstett wasn't going in alphabetical order.

"It's Dash, not Edmund. I don't go by Edmund." The speaker this time was a boy directly to Raven's left, right behind Terra (unfortunately Ms. Anstett hadn't allowed her students to choose their own seat). He was normal height, possibly a bit taller than Raven herself, with reddish-brown hair and eyes the color of a Christmas tree, and those eyes were sending Raven a Look right this second. Terra caught a slight glimpse, maybe a hint of the heat radiating from Dash's smile, and sent Raven a look that said either "You sexy beast!" or "Lucky!". As soon as Terra turned away, Raven cast a glance in the direction of Gar's seat across the room. Gar was half-asleep (He wasn't a morning person), squinting in the blinding light from the classroom window, with no chance of having seen that Look from Dash.

Raven spent the remainder of the class paying false attention to Ms. Anstett, especially to her glitzy, magenta, square-framed glasses and the overly large hoops earrings emerging from the mass of bleach-blonde ringlets atop her head. The most annoying parts of Ms. Anstett's appearance were her pink cargo capris and her cropped jean jacket, complete with rhinestones. The capris seemed to be sneering at Raven (Was it Raven's imagination, or did those pockets look like eyes?), making fun of the Gotham Prep school uniform she was wearing. Raven glared down at her own attire: a white collared dress shirt, rolled up to the elbows (and thankfully not tucked in), a navy blue, pleated skirt (lower-thigh length), and (the worst, if not weirdest part) a matching ascot. Well, the ascot was interchangeable. A female student could wear either an ascot or a tie. For example, Terra had chosen to go in the direction of the tie today, while Raven had chosen an ascot. A blazer was optional, along with a sweater vest, and the good part of the deal was the line that said "Shoes and jewelry of choice".

Ms. Anstett finished her role call with "Capp, Bailey" (a short brunette girl with a lot of eyeliner) and "Felder, Heath" (a very tall boy whose hair resembled that of Napoleon Dynamite's, in a shade of dark brown). This was about the time that Raven looked up to see the class dismissing through the single door. It was actually a humorous sight, seeing twenty or so adolescents trying to fit through a space that was only two to three feet wide. Apparently, the sight was found by Ms. Anstett to be urgent to an extent, as she immediately hustled over to the door, saying "Now one at a time!".

"I think Gar's catching up on his beauty sleep," mentioned Terra, motioning over to the final addition to their trio. Sure enough, Gar was fast asleep on his desk. Terra laid a hand on Raven's shoulder, saying, "Watch and learn." With that, the blonde pulled a mechanical pencil out of her purse and tossed it in the direction of Gar. It didn't miss. In fact, it hit him square in the shoulder.

"That was my soap dish, and you know it!" Gar blurted out, bolting up from his desk. There was a flash, and Raven whirled around to see that Terra had even whipped out her trusty digital camera (whom she had named Elenora for reasons unknown) for the occasion.

"How long was I out?" asked Gar with a yawn, quickly coming to his senses.

"The whole class," replied Terra with a smirk and a pat on the back.

"The whole class?"

"Yes, Gar. The whole class."

"What is that!" Vick's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped faster than a collectable coin falling from the roof of Big Ben.

"Catfish." Kori spoke with such simplicity one may think she had been telling Vick what color her hair was. She didn't even question her friend's surprise. She just took her seat and began poking at the thing on her plate.

"That is not catfish," responded Vick with a shake of his head. Kori sighed.

"Well, it's trying to be catfish," the redhead said with a note of finality.

"So Rob," began Terra. Rob looked up from his plate where he was moving around something resembling an exotic vegetable mix, called Winter Vegetable Blend, according to the menu. "How was art?" Rob had, against his will, been placed in a reform pottery class, due to a large amount on campus crimes including, but not limited to, dressing Erik the Viking, the school's mascot statue, in a fake fro and jingle bell antlers. Today had been his first day of class, and his companions were eager to hear his recollection of the "End of Life as We Know It", as Rob had called it.

"Well, it wasn't horrible," he replied. "Mrs. Kakanni has this urn that she made during college, and it's kind of creepy. It's all these weird shades of green, and she named it Theodoro, and she's obsessed with 'his' safety. So when the fire alarm went off during class and we had to get outside, Mrs. Kakanni didn't realize it was only a drill, so we were going out the door, and she starts screaming, 'Theodoro! Theodoro!', and then she turns to us and screams, 'Someone get the pot! Don't forget the pot!'. It was priceless, especially since The Manfunk walked in at that moment to make sure that we knew where our fire exit is."

"Is that why I saw Esther Atkins carrying a big green urn across the football field during the drill?" asked Terra. Esther was one of her friends from past years, and a supposed delinquent as well. They all knew better, though. Esther was a rather taciturn brunette with asthma, who would never even consider making a pencil mark on the spine of a library book, much less doing something worthy of reform classes.

"Is Mrs. Kakanni the one with the zebra-print velour pant suit?" Gar wanted to know.

"Ooh," Vick commented eagerly. "I think she subbed in my seventh grade Pre-Algebra class once or twice. I failed all the quizzes on those days because her brightly colored pants were so distracting."

"That's the lady," said Rob with a certain amount of regret in his voice. "I find it rather surprising that she's a 'Mrs.'" His friends took a brief moment to consider this.

"Kori, what is that on your tray?" The silence was broken by Raven's voice, and a surprised squeal from Gar, who hadn't heard the violet-haired girl sit down beside him.

"Catfish," answered the redhead again, but with much less fervor than the first time. She was perceptibly beginning to doubt the authenticity of her lunch.

"Why do I have trouble believing that?" asked Raven, placing her lunch (a neat salad, a pickle slice, and a Styrofoam cup of iced tea) on the round table in front of her.

"So how's your day been, Rae?" asked Kori, changing the subject quickly.

"Well, a teacher told me my skirt was too short, Maya Parrish called me a punk thanks to my hair, and I was late to Biology, then slept through it." Raven took a bite of her pickle, ignoring the shocked look she was receiving from Gar.

"Did I miss out on some sort of personality switch?" he asked Raven, eyeing her suspiciously. "Last time I checked, you were the perfect student, minus the hair, and you wouldn't be caught dead in something shorter than knee-length! What happened?"

There was an array of giggles from Terra and Kori, and Vick sighed, leaving Gar with a confused visage and an unanswered question.

"I'm still Raven, if that's what you're asking," was the reply. "I haven't been replaced by a robot, alien, or anything like that. I am fully human." She said this second part in a hurried voice that seemed to say, "Here are all the answers to the questions you are about to ask." Gar turned away, defeated, causing Raven to ask.

"Gar," she said with a chuckle, trying to hold herself back from hugging him for being so adorable. "The only thing that's changed is that we're in high school now. It's different. Get used to it." She meant it teasingly, as if to make a statement, not an impression, but even as Gar left lunch with Raven and Terra, his backpack draped limply over one shoulder, the line rang over in his head.

It's different. Get used to it, she had said, but in Gar's head, her voice seemed to say, I'm different. Get used to it. And she was. Raven was different. Was Gar different? He didn't look much different, if that counted as an answer. Same height (almost), same hair, same goofy grin and annoying clownish visage. Yep, same old Gar. Impervious to change, always laughing, never serious.

It's different. Get used to it.

I'm different. Get used to it.

I'm different.

Yes, as a matter of fact you are. And I can't seem to change.

"Mr. Grayson, I hope you enjoyed your nap."

It happened just like that. One moment Rob was fast asleep on his desk, having a bizarre dream that Vick was trying to paint him yellow, and Kori was a mermaid, and the next he was begin woken up by the annoyingly polite voice of Mrs. Hall, his Algebra teacher.

The prospect of afternoon detention on Tuesday in Room 115 was actually calming to Rob in a sense. It reminded him of the carefree feeling he had carried all throughout his freshman year. Detention had been a regular happening in his agenda, and, apparently, things were back to normal. Kori won't like this, Rob told himself, but the fun part about not caring what your grades and intellectual status are is that you can brush away premonitions like this one with the flick of a wrist. It was as simple as that.

"Man," Vick said quietly, leaning over Rob's desk. "You'd better watch it. Mrs. Hall is a bat. She won't deal with you sleeping through every class period, dude."

"It's not my fault Mrs. Hall's room is so warm and cozy," Rob was about to say when the bell rang. The bells at Gotham Prep were not normal bells. They were more like blaring sirens, lasting for up to thirty seconds at a time. Thought processes became near to impossible during this time, and even the most collected student could lose their nerve.

"Rob? Is that you?" As loud and blaring as the bell was, the voice of Katherine Moth was worse. Far worse. Like nails scratching on a chalkboard. Like a million forks being drawn across china plates.

No, it's this that Kori won't like, Rob corrected himself mentally as Katherine (Kitten to her closest friends) approached him, a wildly happy smile plastered on her perfect blonde head. Rob recalled and spoke a phrase he had said plenty of times in his freshman year: "I'm taken, Katherine."

"Gosh, Rob, you're such a tease!" Katherine's grin was as wide as the Mrs. Hall's hips, if not wider, and a lot uglier. "Taken? By whom?"

Rob had long ago trained himself to say "A girl I met over the summer." and when asked her name, he would always answer, "Alicia."(No nonsense, not too dull, not outrageous, as Terra had put it). Yet this time, Rob felt a tug inside his frame, like the beginnings of a heartache. The name "Alicia" was forming at his lips, but wouldn't come all the way out.

"Come on, baby?" flirted Katherine. "Who is she?" Now she was making Rob sick.

The next noise that came from Rob's lips was not his own. Well, he did say it, but not with the intention to.

"Kori Anders."

That was what he said, just before turning on one heel and walking away.

It was Monday evening, right around sunset, as Gar was resting uncharacteristically on the big window seat in the guys' dorm common room, with his head pressed against the glass, that the question came. He knew, and had known, that it would come sooner or later, and he had guessed sooner. Little did her know that he was right.

It was completely in character that the question would come from Raven, who had a knack for asking out-of-the-blue questions that could be considered nosy. It was ironic that Gar happened to be deep in thought about his grandmother when Raven walked into the common room. It was just plain weird that she was in there to begin with. But she was, and spotting Gar, came to sit beside him. He knew she was there; She didn't have to say anything. She just sat down beside him and looked him out the window, never meeting his gaze, but showing a certain amount of sympathy all the same.

"How did your grandmother die?" There was the question. It struck Gar in the heart like an arrow, and proceeded to burrow deeper, knocking out a few veins and causing several internal bleeding fits along the way.

The silence that followed was a bit unnerving. Raven turned her head, and Gar looked at her, his gaze following the flow of her hair, the gentle edge of her cheek, the small downward curve of her thin mouth. Her mouth was his favorite feature. So small and insignificant, but showing the most beautiful smile and perfect teeth when urged to be happy.

"She fell," Gar finally replied, forcing back pent up emotion. It was time to give an answer. He had spent so long hiding from what really happened, trying to tell himself that Trudy Logan had never existed. He had spent nearly a year and a half sneaking around the wall, instead of out in the open. He was afraid of the truth.

"How?" Raven continued. Her voice was softer then when she asked the initial question.

"Down the stairs," Gar said, wishing that was enough, yet knowing Raven wanted more. He might as well finish what he started. "Me and Temperance were outside, goofing off. We were supposed to be doing chores, but since it was our first day back from school, Granny let us have a little grace period." Gar saw something change in Raven's expression as he paused briefly, like maybe she didn't want to hear the sad ending. She had met Gar's grandmother once in the sixth grade, at an award ceremony. Trudy Logan had helped get a stain (courtesy of Terra) out of Raven's shirt.

"Mine and Temperance's rooms were the only rooms upstairs, and we always brought down our own laundry, since we knew that Granny had trouble with stairs. But we never even thought to help her with that." This was the hard part. The big finish. Gar could feel himself slipping away from the ominous wall of protection as the words came out.

"We were coming inside to get something to drink, and we saw Granny through the big picture window in the kitchen. She was coming down with an overflowing laundry basket on her hip. She waved to us, and when she did, a T-shirt fell out of the basket. She reached out to catch it, and lost her balance. That's when it happened. I heard Temperance scream, and we both took off running. Granny wasn't moving. She had hit her head on the end table at the bottom of the stairs. I grabbed the phone, and Temperance started sobbing. Then the ambulance came, and I was trying so hard not to cry, because I didn't want Temperance to think that I wasn't strong enough to take care of her."

That was it. The whole story. Gar felt his lungs fill up with air. He expected his eyes to fill up as well, but they didn't. Not this time.

The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, it was refreshing. Gar didn't make eyes contact with Raven. Instead, he sat there, unmoving, his eyes fixed out the window. For several minutes, he thought that Raven was doing the same thing, her eyes fixed on some point outside, but when he finally turned his head, with a long sigh, Gar saw that Raven was gazing at none other than him.

"I know that 'sorry' doesn't cut it," she said at last. "But I want you to know that whatever sort of sympathy would make you feel better, I'd put everything I have into showing it."

Gar knew somehow that Raven would go out of her way to make him feel better. She was a girl to stick to her promises. But deep inside, he knew that she already had. He was no longer creeping along the edge. Now, he was out in the open, feeling the sun on his face. The view was better here. And as he searched for a thank you strong enough for Raven, Gar noticed a pale hand lying across his own. No words were needed, and he knew that now.

Tuesday came as quickly as Monday had left, and with it came a horrible prospect: rain, rain, and more rain.

It was the kind of day where most of the rain has already come, during the night, but everything is wet enough to where your pants get all soaked and heavy around the bottoms, and the school floors are dirty with tracked-in mud and water.

Kori had worn her New Balance tennis shoes with her school uniform today, so her feet didn't get an unneeded mud bath. Yet as she trekked into her third period study hall, Kori was already leaving muddy footprints on the tile floors, and she could feel her toes squishing around in water, after she'd accidentally planted one foot in a puddle on the way to American Government.

She took her usual seat in the far left row, next to the window, and promptly pulled out her homework planner to check and see her choice of study hall activities. With a teacher like Mrs. Garner, studying was truly the only safe thing to do.

It was at this moment that Kori noticed a few giggle coming from the other side of the room. Oh, perfect. Katherine and her entourage. Kori fumed inwardly upon remembering several occasions during her four previous years at Gotham Prep upon which she had been subject to Katherine's taunting and crude remarks. And now, as it appeared, Kori might have to go through yet another one of those dreaded occasions, since the group of three was now headed in her direction. Oh goody. First insult of the year.

"Ummm, love the tennis shoes, Anders," said Katherine with a tone of false admiration, "subtly" showing off her black stiletto boots ("subtly", as in sitting down in the desk beside Kori and kicking up her heels so that Kori had to scoot over in order not to be kicked and possibly bruised). It was sickening how Katherine was the only natural blonde in her group. Ginger and Emily were both brunettes, gone bleach blonde, as if being brunette were some disease, curable only by way of a bottle of bleach and a perfect replica of the Ashlee Simpson haircut. Kori felt as though she might be sick all over the front of Katherine's C-cup chest.

"So, Kori," began Katherine, her voice seeming to drip with a more saccharine version of the Slumber Party Voice™, as Kori called it. It was the voice that girls always used when playing Truth or Dare. "What's this I hear about you and Rob getting together at last?"

Kori nearly choked on thin air. Her emerald eyes glanced nervously to the door, and to Rob's usual seat, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Wha… What are you…" Kori stuttered with no avail. Katherine just laughed openly, a hideous noise like jingle bells on drugs.

"So he was lying?" Katherine looked falsely stunned for a short moment, before bursting into more heinous laughter. Kori felt dizzy, as though she might fall over and die any second.

Before Kori could register any of her thought, Katherine and her cronies were gone, back to their side of the room, and had been replaced by none other than Rob and Vick.

"Hey, Kori!" said Vick, slinging his backpack down beside his usual desk in front of Kori. Rob took the seat to Kori's immediate right. Before his backside had even touched the plastic of the chair, Kori was on him like a pack of wolves.

"Can you guess what Katherine Moth just came up and said to me?" Rob's eyes got all narrow, as though he was looking to pick a fight with Katherine for insulting his (girl)friend, yet again.

"What?" Vick asked for Rob, since the intended recipient of the question was unresponsive.

Kori turned to Rob, her eyes a mix between furious and inquisitive. "She said that a rumor has been going out that we," she wiggled her fingers between her and Rob, "Are going out."

Oh, crap, thought Rob, remembering back to yesterday in Algebra. The ominous Katherine fiasco. Yes, Rob. "Oh crap" indeed.

"Kori, I promise I have no idea why I said that," replied Rob, trying his best to end this quickly. However, Kori seemed to be feeling persistent.

"Why did you say anything at all?" That fire was back in Kori's eyes. She wasn't taking this very well, Rob decided.

"Kori," Rob said in an attempt to calm the redhead. "I'm sorry. Okay? Sorry." He spoke in a babyish tone, simply for the sake of safety. He didn't want to accidentally use an accusatory tone and end up strung from the flagpole by the skin on his forehead, or anything like that.

Kori opened her mouth, as if to make a comment or a rude comeback, but quickly closed it with a girlish snap. She wanted to argue, but Rob's apology had been so humble that she couldn't help but admire his sweetness. Boys are so adorable when they're sorry, Kori thought to herself as Rob wallowed in something suspiciously resembling self-loathing. Vick was just confused, with a capital "C".

"Aw, c'mon, you two!" he exploded in near-hysteria. "You pine over each other on a daily basis! You stare lustfully across rooms filled with people! You flirt openly in public! And now you don't want people to think you're together? They already think that anyways!"

"They do?" Kori responded in a tiny voice.

"Duh! Look in a mirror!"

Kori and Rob took a moment to consider this as Vick went into another rant.

"And don't tell me ya'll don't want to be together," he warned. "Because you do!"

"We do?" It was Rob's turn to be confused.

"Yes!" Vick was on a roll. When he was angry, he was angry. "So why aren't you!"

"Who says we're not?" challenged Rob, getting a loud gasp out of Kori.

"I do!"' replied Vick.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Wanna bet?"

"How much?"

"Ten bucks, sucker!"

With that, Rob turned to Kori. "Kori Marie Anders," he began, getting into a proposal pose. "Will you go out with me?" Kori nodded happily with a girlish giggle, and Rob smirked at Vick.

"You owe me ten bucks."

Well, there's chapter two. Don't expect chapter three soon, seeing as I haven't even started writing it, and now I need a plot rather than random happenigs. I've set the characters enough.

So I hope I'll get chapter three up soon, but don't count on it. Well, bye!

-Giz