Chapter 3

As I run through the deserted streets and alleyways, I quickly pat my pocket to check if I still have the sample. Yep, still there. After several blocks, I scamper to a stop and throw my back against an alleyway wall to catch my breath, certain that they haven't followed me. What the hell was that? Some different form of JV? The effects and the color were certainly different. I check my watch. One A.M.?! Auntie Jennie will be home soon!

I'm forced to take the bus in my costume, since I left my backpack on the roof of the building across the street from Cornerstone. As I swipe my bus pass and take a seat towards the back of the completely empty bus, I see someone try to enter the bus, but the driver quickly closes the door and speeds off, lurching me out of my seat.

"Who was that?!" I ask the driver, regaining my posture and returning myself to my seat.

"Some weirdo in a Joker mask. Since there have always been incidents of people in Joker masks committing crimes, the city made it law to refuse them service. He your friend or something?" he asks.

I shake my head, "No."

At the sound of my voice, I see the driver do a double take before speaking again , "Oh, well, um, what are you doing out here so late young lady?"

He must have not realized I'm a girl. While my body is somewhat masculine, my voice is very feminine, which is why I try to avoid conversation in the suit,

"I'm…heading home…from a costume party."

"In the middle of February? It must have been freezing out there."

"Yeah. It was."

I bit my lip, was the guy in the clown mask one of the thugs? Had one of them been following me after all? And if so, is he still following me now? No, that can't be, he'd had to have followed me on foot, if he had been in a car, he'd of caught up to me a long time ago. I don't know, maybe its just a coincidence, maybe he was the one really coming from a costume party and I'm just being paranoid. I slouch back into the bus seat, and close my eyes for a brief moment of rest.

I arrive back at my aunt's house to see that the car is already in the driveway. Shoot, can't use the front door. I sneak around back to the backyard. There, I climb up the drainpipe to my window. The drain is slippery from the ice and snow, and my hands chill upon touching it. After two attempts which end in me falling onto the (thankfully) soft weed-ridden grasses in the backyard, I'm able to swing myself through the window in my room which I keep purposefully open. The room is dark, and the cold wind whips through the open window. I shut the window and change. I hide the sample under my dresser, pack the soaked costume into a plastic bag to be washed tomorrow and jump into bed to fall asleep.

"I don't care, why should she have to stay here?" I can hear Auntie Jennie's voice in the hall.

Is she talking to my parents? I get out of bed, and tiptoe to the top of the stairway leading to my room. I clutch onto the railing and lean in to listen,

"It's been half a year already! How long does it take to come to an agreement?!" she shouts in a hushed tone into a handset.

I sigh, nothing's changed, again. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother anymore, I might as well just stay here until I go away to college. And I'll be going far, far away…

"She's still a child who needs attention, and I can't give that kind of attention when I'm working all day…well at least you or Alyson could come visit her more often…no she hasn't come to visit her…"

I bite my lip, tears beginning to brim at the tip of my eyelids. I get up from the railing and go back into my room. I slam myself back onto the bed and smother myself into my pillow. I shouldn't have listened in on that conversation in the first place, the news is always the same. And of course if I ask Auntie Jennie she'll just say they're "making progress" and I just need to be patient. Patient, I've been patient, but when will I get the payoff?

I arrive at school exhausted and sleep deprived. The cup of coffee I made along with my breakfast is helping somewhat, but by lunchtime, I've crashed. Thank goodness I don't have cheerleading practice until after school, and I'd have enough time to go to Cornerstone for a quick cup of coffee. My head throbs and I'm walking with a slight limp that could be from, well, anyone of the various poundings I took last night as I walk up to the library to eat my lunch. I see that the school dance committee has started to put up posters and banners advertising the Valentine's Day dance next week. I shrug it off, at Gotham High, you didn't go to the dance unless you have a date and/or partner, and I've been single my whole life. I know that Frank and Tara will be going together, and Sydney and the rest of the cheerleading squad will be getting dates. Now that I think about it, I'm probably the only one on the cheerleading team that's never been on a date. Guess it's never been high on my priorities. But who knows? Maybe junior or senior year I'll meet someone. When I enter the library, the first person that catches my eye is Martin, wearing his thin square framed glasses, staring intently at a computer screen. I walk over to him, and sit down with the salad and bagel I got from the cafeteria,

"What's up?" he asks, turning away from his computer briefly.

"No lunch practice today." I tell him, opening up the plastic casing of my salad.

Martin rolls his eyes, "No offense, but how can you associate yourself with them? I mean, the cheerleaders are all sluts. Except for you of course! I mean, like, the rest of them."

I shrug, "They're not sluts, they're just…outgoing. They like being around other people, and I guess guys find that attractive."

"I can think of a few more things in them they find attractive." Martin scoffs.

"You're just jealous because you can't get a date with one of them." Joey jokes, walking in with a bag of apple slices.

Martin shrugs, returning his attention back to his computer, "I think I have a little more dignity than that. Besides, it's not like you could either."

Joey looks over at Martin's computer screen and takes out his own thick, rounder, Harry Potter styled glasses, "Whatcha doing?"

"Sifting through school security footage."

Joey raises an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Since I'm now head of student IT, I have access to the school security footage. And since we've been having a weird graffiti problem, I'm looking through the night and weekend footage to try to catch the guy."

I put down my salad, "Since when were you head IT?"

"Last month. The old head transferred to Gotham Academy and I was next in line."

"Well congrats Martin." I tell him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey, someone's showing up on the camera!" Joey hastily points, nearly knocking over the screen.

I save the screen from falling just in time for us to see on the black and white vision of the camera in the bottom left corner, a figure could be seen entering the building, the doors simply parting for him. He wore a spiffy button down dress shirt and vest, slacks, and Converse, with a black mask and bowler hat obscuring his face.

"Who's that?" Joey asks.

Martin adjusts his glasses and leans closer to the computer screen, "That has to be…I mean…its hard to tell without color, but…the bowler hat…"

"You have an idea who this might be?" I ask, noticing the figure's slightly shorter stature.

"Not the person, but the persona he's using. The Riddler."

"You mean like that Batman villain on the TV show?" Joey asks, sounding somewhat unconvinced.

Martin nods, "Yep, because he's wearing the Riddler's signature bowler hat, the graffiti he leaves behind are all green question marks, and the same green question marks appeared as the changed cover photo when the school's site was hacked. His hacking skills explain how he gets into the school undetected."

"All of the doors are electronic now?" I ask, looking over to the library entrance and seeing the small white wire snaking around and through the door.

"Mhm. The school finished installing the last of the controls over winter break, so its fully functional now. But the system, while efficient, is super cheap, and there're all kinds of loopholes and whatnot in the system. No wonder the Riddler was able to get in. Even I could tighten up security a bit just from what I've learned from being an IT."

"So…you've tightened the system, right? He can't get in now?" Joey asks with a tone of worry.

Martin shakes his head, "No, even I can't fully upgrade the system without way more time. I just linked my phone to the system so that when he does hack in, I'll get an alert."

Martin shuts down his computer as the warning bell rings, "What class do you guys have now?"

"Pre-Calculus. My teacher says that if I play my cards right, I'll be able to take an accelerated college course senior year." Joey tells us triumphantly, strolling confidently and holding his head high.

"Smartass." I tease coyly, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not the one in Forensic Sciences. Who's the smartass now?" Joey teases back, sticking out his tongue.

Martin shakes his head and plants his face in his left palm, "Oh you guys."