Dick Grayson didn't know wither to sigh in relief or groan in frustration. He was thankful the ride was over, as were most of the other passengers on the bus.

His parents, after being home schooled for most of his life, had decided it would be a good idea for him to get a, "Real education" as they put it.

If being sent half way across the country didn't aggravate him enough after arriving at the airport he had been stuck on a bus with a loudmouthed little brat, that hadn't shut up the entire three hour long bus ride, though it seemed more like an eternity to Dick.

He waited for the people in front of him to get out first, then shoved his way into the line as they exited the bus.

Speaking of the hellish imp, he was not two people ahead of him, annoying a girl in front of him with his endless chatter.

Dick noted that the girl was pretty cute; she had long golden hair that fell straight down her back, bright blue eyes that told him she too had traveled a lot as a kid, and wore a black t-shirt with the letter T on it.

They descended down the steps of the bus and onto the sidewalk, heading toward the entrance to the Titan Towers Hotel.

Once everybody was off the bus the driver who apparently had no desire to stay drove off, leaving them all alone. After a few seconds of staring around them and stretching out their legs the group proceeded to move along the walkway that led to the front doors.

Dick cursed to himself as he found the girl and himself the last in the group along with the kid.

He slowed his pace down a bit so that he walked behind them, unknowingly putting him in the perfect position to view the events that would unfold before him.

As the kid talked and talked to his unwilling victim he was unaware of the leg that shot out of what seemed like nowhere until he tripped over and fell flat on his face, giving the girl with the shirt with a T on it escape on ahead.

As he got closer Dick noticed that the leg had not come out of nowhere, but had been stuck out by a boy wearing a yellow shirt, and a bucket hat over his face to block out the sun.

"What's the big idea, ya crudmuncher!" The kid yelled at the boy lying on the side of the pathway between two benches, with a vending machine behind him.

The boy calmly stared at the kid using his thumb to lift up the rim of his hat out of his face.

"Obviously not you shorty." He replied flashing a grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear and swallow the entire lower portion of his face.

The kid grinded his teeth together in anger as the older boy had obviously struck a nerve with the height comment.

The boy watched with sharp eyes that looked like a reflection of the ocean itself, waiting to see what the lil guy would do.

Much to Dick's amazement the kid seemed to notice this as well, and instead of giving the other what he wanted by throwing a tantrum he merely walked away in a huff muttering things to himself that nobody could hear, but due to the dark look on his face they could probably guess the intention.

"Yo." The boy said in greeting.

Dick hesitated for a moment not exactly sure if he wanted to answer, then he mentally shrugged and replied rather stupidly, '"Hey."

The boy took off his hat as he propped himself up on his shoulders to reveal wild red hair. With his left hand he put his hat in his bag sitting on the far bench, while he stuck his right hand out toward Dick.

He instantly stuck out his own hand and the two boys shook.

"The names West, Wally West."

"Dick Grayson."

"About the kid," Wally started to explain, but Dick cut him off.

"Nobody would care, in fact I think they would congratulate you, the brat didn't shut up the entire time we were on the bus."

Wally frowned thoughtfully at this and replied, "Well he woke me up, so that's why I did it, but you can all shower me with your praises anyhow." He took a bow like he was accepting an Oscar or something.

Dick laughed. He already liked the guy.

Wally grunted as he got to his feet and slung his back over his shoulder, "Well it's almost time to check in." he said looking at his watch.

Dick nodded his head as the two friends headed for the entrance.

Jenny Diaz held up her hand from the chair she was sitting in as her name was called by the, Headmaster. "Headmaster" seriously? What century did the old dude think he was in? Jeez, she thought to herself. She looked next to her to see a girl with pale skin wild spiky black hair and red bangs sitting next to her staring into space. She wore a black gothic top and a red skirt over a pair of black jeans and black boots with big golden buckles.

Jenny nodded her head in approval of the girl's taste of clothes. She too had pale skin, but she had died her hair bubblegum pink and wore it in two pigtails, a maroon spaghetti strap top with the number thirteen on it, with simple blue jeans covering her favorite long black boots that zipped up on the sides. To top it all off she wore pink contacts with cat like irises that made people blink and look again.

Once the headmaster was finished reading off the list of names and had handed out everyone's room keys, Jenny turned to the girl and introduced herself.

"Hi, The names Jenny Diaz."

The other girl nodded her head and smiled, "Antonia Monetti, cool contacts by the way."

Jenny smiled back, "Thanks I like your hair."

"Hey after we all get settled in our rooms ya want to meet up later?"

"Sure how about we meet back here in about thirty minutes?"

The two girls smiled at each other again before heading up to their rooms.

Dick and Wally were sitting down in the lobby trying to think of what to do next when Wally had to suddenly duck to avoid being hit in the head by a football.

"Yo!, Whawazzat?" He said peering over the back of his chair to see what had nearly hit him.

"What? Dude I couldn't understand a single word you just said man." Dick laughed at his friend's reaction.

"Ha ha laugh all ya want Grayson." He glared, but then laughed himself.

"Hey sorry about that." A small boy about their age said sheepishly. He had short blonde hair and bright energetic green eyes. He wore a purple long sleeved shirt and blue jeans that looked a little too big for him and swallowed most of his feet.

"Told you not to throw the damn ball in the lobby Gar!" Another boy, much bigger than Gar, scolded the smaller boy as he walked over to them. He had dark skin and bulging muscles that seemed to want to rip through his faded grey shirt. He wore matching grey sweatpants and was bald as an egg.

"Sorry about that guys." The big guy apologized.

"Eh, no harm no foul." Dick said, "Right Wally?"

He looked over at Wally who wasn't paying any attention. Instead he was watching a girl across the lobby looking at brochures of events going on in the city. She had shoulder length black hair, with pale skin that contrast nicely with her black tank top that ended revealing her stomach and the tattoo of a raven on her lower back that was partially hidden by her jeans.

"Who's that?" He wasn't aware that the others were staring at him, or that he had said that last part out loud, so he was startled when Gar answered him.

"That Rachel Roth, why? Ya think she's cute?"

"Yeah." Wally replied blushing a little at the group of smiling faces that surrounded him.

"Hey, you guys want to join us? We were just going to get something to eat." The big guy asked. Wally looked at Dick, who answered,

"Sure we don't have anything else to do, let's go."

"Alright food! Gar declared rather noisily and several people looked over at them. "I hope they have some tofu or veggies." He added as an afterthought as they headed out to find somewhere they could chow down.