After discussing and seeking advice about the reviews from my friends…
Note to all you Spitfire and Flinx lovers: I am doing the story the way I had originally planned it so if you want to keep reading, be my guest. If not, then as much as I appreciated your review, sorry, but I'm going with what I had planned out. And as much as I'd love for all of you to stick around and read, if you don't like the pairing, then leave. Simple as that. As my friends told me, I can't satisfy everyone therefore, I should write how I want to write.
Now, to answer the very few people that did not annoy me with Spitfire and/or Flinx requests.
The Reviewer: Haha, well, he's just really annoyed with the rumors spreading around.
TealCrystalCAT: Finally! Someone that doesn't mind the way I do the pairings. Lol, I appreciate this. Although, I will be doing pairings, just not blatant make-outs…maybe.
May: And when you read the pick-up lines, please try not to gag. Even Lefty herself is gagging from the pick-up lines…and she's the one that typed them up!
Lefty: Yeah, they're kinda corny so…bear with me. *cough* And I got my own kind of sick and twisted revenge on this one senior that "sexually harassed" me last year. *rubs hands evilly with a chuckle* On with the story!
Jump Harbor High
Senior Parking lot
7: 40 AM
The wheels on the blue bicycle continue to turn as Rachel pedals through the senior parking lot to the bike racks. She glimpses at the tennis courts to the right of the parking lot, spotting someone practicing. She ignores it and turns to the bike rack. As she locks it up, another person enters. Rachel sees blond hair and relaxes, just noticing that she had been tense this entire time. "'Sup Rachel," Artemis greets as Rachel stands up, her backpack on her shoulder and sketchpad held in her arm.
"Hi." Artemis finishes locking up the bike and the two stop, hearing two students pass by. Artemis stares at them with contempt in her eyes while Rachel tries to stay emotionless.
"Did you hear about it?"
"What?"
"About those two guys that got arrested last year for rape and murder."
"Oh those two…Lawrence Crock and Leo Marshall, was it?"
"Yeah, I heard their kids go to this school."
"No way! They might come after us as revenge! Who knows what they'll do…"
"Freshman…" Artemis scoffs, glaring at the two. Rachel spots ginger hair bobbing towards them.
Roy stands behind the two freshmen and taps them both on the shoulder before leaning forward with his hands on both their shoulders. "Hey! You may be freshmen, but I'm pretty sure you've heard of the new rule, yeah? Because they've promised detention for anyone talking about that incident. So shut your mouths and I won't tell the administration."
One of them turns around, her blond hair whipping about. Her dark blue eyes lowering and her lips turned upside down obviously shows her frowning. She has a pink headband underneath her pink barrette. She is wearing a pink tank that shows her midriff, possibly intentional, and a pink shirt that is a bit too short. It's pretty clear that she's intentionally screaming "Look at me! I'm a slut!" She grits her teeth and pokes Roy in the chest as Raven and Artemis walks out of the bike rack. "Who are you to tell me what to do? What are you, a cop? Take a load of this guy, Ellen!" She raises her hand and swings it towards Roy, but Artemis blocks her. "Oh! Look at this! It's one of the rapist's kid! Are you here to get revenge on me?"
Ellen Parks, a girl with long brunette hair and wearing a cheerleader outfit emblazoned with blue and gold, grabs the blond's arm and mutters, "Back off, Kitten! Do you really want to be suspended on your first day here?"
"They wouldn't dare suspend me! My daddy can sue the school if I wanted him to!"
"Oh yeah? For what?" Roy smirks, hoping she'll take the bait.
"Obviously for wrong suspension! You'll have no proof that I was talking about that incident!" she grins, folding her arms with her neon pink purse swinging. "It's not like you have a recorder, do you?" She stares at Roy's smirking face and her grin disappears slowly. "Wait…you didn't…?"
Roy produces a recorder, and Rachel can't help but have a small smile play on her lips. "As a matter of fact, I did, so back off before you force my hand."
"Come on, Kitten! Just back off!"
Kitten swats her friend's hand away and points at Roy. "I'll get my revenge soon enough! Just watch your back, you carrot top! And you!" She points at Artemis, but glances at Rachel with an insane glare in her eyes. "You better watch your back! The minute you try and do something, I'm gonna tell my daddy to get you arrested!" She shoves Ellen away and stomps through the gate, her pink boots clacking against the floor.
Ellen turns to Roy and the girls with sadness in her eyes. "S-sorry. Kitten's pretty bitchy in the morning…"
"She seems to be someone that would be bitchy 24/7…" Artemis mutters as she slides her emerald bag onto her shoulder. "Doesn't matter. We'll put up with her." Artemis walks past Ellen and pats her on the shoulder. "Just keep that Kitten away from Rachel …She can do whatever she wants to me, but she's not hurting my friend," Artemis whispers threateningly. "She'll regret it if she does…" Ellen tenses as Artemis walks to Rachel with a cheerful smile. "Let's go in! We've wasted enough time here! I'm pretty sure Kory's here waiting for us already."
Roy brushes past Ellen and follows the girls to their lockers, which are right next to each other and by one of the 300 building doors. "You know, you don't have to put up with this. I could just go and show the tape to the principal right now. It'll be a lesson to the rest of the freshmen," Roy begins as Artemis opens her locker. She pulls out her Vietnamese 2 book and English Literature book as Rachel pulls out her French 2 and Algebra 2/Trigonometry book.
Artemis slams her locker and stares at Roy with annoyance in her eyes. "Just quit it, Roy. That girl's just bitchy. There's no need to send her to the office. She's not gonna learn her lesson any time soon. Besides, our Welcome Back Assembly is scheduled for next Friday and I heard they'll be discussing about this stuff."
"But…"
Rachel interrupts the two with an even louder slam to her locker, causing Roy to flinch. "It's ok, Roy. We'll be fine. You don't have to worry about us so much. Don't you need to go to your locker?" Roy backs off reluctantly, but before he leaves, he places something in Artemis's hand.
"If you need to, just take the tape straight to the office." With that, he heads across the quad to his locker as Artemis stares at the tape in her hand.
"Are you going to hold on to it?" Rachel asks as they begin walking to the two blue tables between the 200 and 400 buildings.
"Probably. I don't like using things like this as insurance since they remind me of him, but we might end up regretting it if I get rid of this…" The two continue their conversation as they ignore the judgmental stares surrounding them.
Richard, Victor, and Wally get out of Bruce's black Toyota Rav4, waving goodbye to him. As Bruce drives off, Richard spots Roy going in with Artemis and Rachel. "It's funny how he just charged straight out and defended them while we were still in the car," Wally comments, scratching his head.
"I bet you they'll be going out by the end of this month," Victor mutters as he adjusts his duffel bag's strap one last time as they walk in. "I gotta go to the weight room. Our coach wants to talk to us about something, so see ya." He waves and heads off to the weight room while Wally and Richard walk through the 300 building.
"I hate how he keeps talking about those two getting together. What about me? I have needs too!" Wally exclaims, getting a few glances.
"What? Don't tell me you're in love with Artemis," Richard asks, beginning to grin.
Wally immediately slaps his hand onto Richard's mouth, and he glances around to see if anyone's paying attention. When he realizes that it's clear, he removes his hand and whispers to Richard, "Well…I've been mulling it over…I'm not really sure, to be honest…"
"Stammering, a clear sign that you like her," Richard teases, folding his arms. They exit through one of the doors and they head to their lockers, which is in the row right next to the door. Richard has a middle locker while Wally's top locker is diagonally to the right of Richard.
"I don't know…I just keep thinking about her…" he mutters as he pulls out his Vietnamese 2 and Chemistry book. "I mean…I have half of my classes with her! It's gotta mean something!"
"Whatever. I heard Roy has two classes with her too so you better watch your back. And just to let you know, I'm rooting for you, man. Now, I gotta go and report to my class," he says, holding his English and Spanish 2 books. "Later." He pats Wally on the back and heads to the 200 building.
Wally sighs, closing his locker as he leaves. His best friend makes it seem like such a joke when he doesn't even know the truth. Love is so complicated sometimes. He likes…no, maybe even loves Artemis enough to possibly walk to the ends of the Earth for her. His thoughts are interrupted when he bumps into someone. "Whoops. Sorry," he apologizes, looking at the person.
She has waist-length brown hair with pink highlights. Her eyes seem pink, but it could possibly be contacts. She has a blue sweater on that says "Angels Basketball" and blue shorts on to go with her basketball shoes. Wally spots some pink blush on her cheeks and he can't help but notice how pale she looks…like a vampire, even. She shifts her dark duffel bag for a moment before replying, "Nah, it's fine. I wasn't paying attention either." She walks past him without another word and he can't help but stare after her as she walks through one of the doors of the 300 building.
He scratches his head again, wondering if he just fell in love with another girl. He sighs wistfully and turns back around, heading to the 200 building. Maybe he can ask Richard about who that girl was…
With the occasional echoing slam emitting in the locker room, Jackson emerges from one of the shower stalls with a tower wrapped around his neck. He grabs a part of it to wipe his hair when he spots his coach talking to one of the PE teachers, Mr. Reily. His coach, Coach Mel, is a pretty lax man when it's not practice or a match. Coach Mel has shaggy, dirty-blonde hair to go with a scraggly beard. He has board shorts on and has a blue sweater on with the words "Water Polo" on the front. Jackson puts his towel back into his duffel bag and carries it to his athletics locker, shoving it in and turning towards Coach Mel and Mr. Reily.
"What's up, Jackson?" Coach Mel waves to his star swimmer and Jackson can't help but walk over. "Ready for practice later? I heard Richard Grayson plans to join."
"Where did you hear about that?"
"His pops called me for information just now and I was asking Reily some info about this Grayson kid. You got any info on him?"
"Richard is athletic and some may call him a bit cocky, but I find him a trustworthy person to be put on the team. He is dedicated to things that interest him so if Water Polo and Swim aren't his type of sport, he will most likely leave so we won't worry about him dragging down the team. But that was last year; he possibly could have changed his mind. I would recommend him for our JV team at least since he does not know the rules for Water Polo."
"Hmmm," Coach Mel contemplates, rubbing his beard in thought. "Well, we'll have tryouts after school in the shallow pool while you guys practice in the deep pool. And shouldn't you get to your locker soon, Michael Phelps?"
Jackson smirks; Coach Mel would name him after the Olympic 8-gold medalist swimmer. He shrugs and begins, "I suppose I should. Until later, Coach." He waves at the two teachers and walks out the locker room. He turns right, heading to the 300 building when he runs into Tula. "Tula? I thought you had a 0 period class?"
"Since it was our first day back, they just let us go early. It's much easier this way so we can spend some time together before we have to separate."
"But we have 3 classes with each other."
"Yeah, but we'll be busy so we won't have much time with each other. Now stop protesting so we can keep enjoying the moment," Tula insists, her head leaning on Jackson's tattooed arm. He smiles as the two walk to their lockers.
Kory unconsciously stands on her toes as she twists her lock around before her locker swings open. She grabs her French 2 book and then stacks her Algebra 2/Trig book on top. She puts away the notebooks she had bought for her other classes and closes her locker just as a jock appears next to her...again. Oh wait; it's the same jock that always shows up at her locker in the morning. She huffs annoyingly and turns to him. "What do you want, Vinh?"
Vinh Santana, the captain of Varsity Football and a senior this year, looks at Kory with a seductive smirk on his face. Vinh is also a playboy, known to have at least 5 girlfriends per month. Word has it that his numbers have increased to 10 every 2 weeks. There are very few girls that haven't fallen under his "seductive spell" and those are the ones that he intends to win over. Kory Anders is just one of them. "Oh, I was just wondering if you have a map." He pauses, waiting for her to answer. When she doesn't, he continues, "Because I just got lost in the forest of your heart."
He reaches out to her, but she shoves him away. Before she can say anything, a monotonous voice speaks up from behind him. "You better find a map for Antarctica."
He chuckles, not even looking at the figure behind him. "And why should I? I'm lost in the forest of Love."
"Because, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to Antarctica if you don't back off from Kory." His eye twitches and he turns around just as water sprays onto his face. The water also splashes onto his Letterman jacket, which drips onto his jeans. He shakes his head, letting the droplets splash around. Kory automatically covers her ears; she just knows some girls nearby are going to start screaming in fangirl-like frenzy.
He grabs Rachel's shirt and brings her up to his level. "What the fuck were you trying to do there?" She stares calmly into his rage-filled eyes and brings up her water bottle.
"You looked like you needed a shower. You sounded dirty and you looked like you had a lot of heat emanating from your body. Unless you don't want me to pour the rest of this down your head, I suggest you back off," Rachel threatens. He growls before letting her go.
"Fine. I'll leave you guys alone…for now. Just because you fought off your dad and his gang doesn't mean that you get to just do whatever you want!" Vinh insults, stomping away.
Kory lets out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "Thank you, Rachel. But that was risky…after all, his teammates might have been nearby. They could have attacked you."
"It doesn't matter. I'll just fight off whoever I have to. Besides, he's the one that was about to sexually harass you so this is merely self-defense."
"Yes, but there are witnesses around here that will most likely cover for Vinh rather than you, considering how he's more famous than you are."
"I don't care. What's one more incident to blemish my record? Trust me; he won't pursue this unless we personally insult him or his beloved football team. And we all know that neither I nor Artemis is going to do that since Connor is our friend. Even if his captain is a total ass."
"Agreed." Kory looks around. "Where is Artemis?"
"She wanted to go to class first so I just let her go. We have the same teacher for Algebra 2/Trig so we'll be fine. Besides, it's only 7:45. I don't know why she'd leave right now."
"It might have something to do with Wally," Richard suggests, appearing behind Rachel and leaning onto her shoulder. Rachel's eyes immediately look downwards, hiding her blush. Kory spots this involuntary action and removes Richard's arm.
"Please, Richard. Give her some respect. She clearly doesn't want any contact for a while."
"Oops, my bad," Richard states, backing off. The blush on Raven's face slowly disappears and after a few calming breaths, she looks around. She frowns, seeing Vinh return with ten of his teammates. "Oh, what's the captain of the football doing here?" Richard shuffles past the girls and stands in front of Vinh. "And what do we, some lowly sophomores, owe to the pleasure of meeting the Captain of the Football team?" Richard asks, a hint of mockery leaking into his tone. Rachel can't help but smirk; only she would notice something like that.
"Out of the way, Grayson. I've got a bone to pick with Vampire over there," Vinh growls, his eyes glaring at Rachel. She crosses her arms and puts on her best poker face, daring him to make a move.
"Yeah, well, she's my friend. What makes you think I'm just gonna let you-" Vinh interrupts Richard by shoving him harshly to the side, making him collide with the lockers. People begin glancing over in their direction, but Vinh doesn't care. The more embarrassment towards the vampire, the better is what he believes.
"I said out of the way, acrobat!" He stomps towards Kory, wrapping his arm around Kory, but she out-maneuvers him and darts beside Rachel. "Come on; why you keep fighting the love?" Rachel steps towards him, standing up to her tallest height but she's still not quite at Vinh's height. "What, Vampire? Man, I thought vampires were taller. How tall are you, anyways? 4 feet and 11?"
"5'5"," she retorts, crossing her arms across her chest. She instinctively ducks as Vinh's fist flies towards her, but Kory, not used to such confrontations, is hit. She clutches her right arm in pain as Vinh recoils as if he was hit, rather than Kory.
"Oh shit! I didn't mean it, Kory! I-I'm sorr-" Before he can finish his sentence, a fist collides with his nose and he staggers back a few steps. He covers his nose, feeling the warm, scarlet liquid leaking out of his nose.
"Get the fuck out of here…before I hurt something more precious than your nose," Rachel threatens, a devilish tone creeping in as she glares at him with anger.
Vinh takes a few steps backwards and turns to his teammates. "What are you idiots waiting for?! Get her! I don't want her to ever do this again! Make her regret fighting the football captain!" Before the football players can reach her, 7 teenagers show up out of nowhere and immediately surround them. Vinh smirks and moves in front of his "followers" and stands at his full height in front of Connor. "Oh, it's the Varsity rookie! What're you doing here, Kent?"
Connor ignores him and just continues staring straight ahead, which unnerves Vinh. Richard, having been helped by Connor, is standing to the side next to Garfield. They're currently staring down two of the jocks while Roy and Wally are opposite. Jackson and Victor are blocking the means of escape for any jocks that might have changed their mind on the "ambush" on Rachel. "I can't believe the captain of the Football team has to call a group of his friends to go and confront one mere sophomore!" Victor mocks, crossing his arms over his chest. Jackson drops his duffel bag down, preparing for a fight by cracking his knuckles and intimidating some of the jocks with his glare. Garfield and Richard glare at the jocks while Wally and Roy are poised to tackle anyone that will try to fight back.
"He must pretty damn weak to rely on his teammates! I mean, Rachel here managed to hurt him twice and he couldn't lay a single blow on her! Instead, he got the girl he wanted to date!" Wally jokes to Roy.
Roy smirks, taking the hint. "Hear that, ladies? Vinh Santana is a guy that can't even fight someone on their own! And she's a girl to boot! He even injured the girl he was trying to hook up with! Do you really want a man that would do that?" The boys start laughing and Rachel spots Vinh's eyebrow twitching and gritting his teeth. She can't help but smirk; in a school that's been distancing her from them, she still has friends that clearly care for her.
Vinh tries to find an opening and barrels his way towards Jackson and Victor. Right before he can pass them, two blows smash into his gut as he flies off of his feet into his jock squad. They catch him before he can fall and Victor steps toward Vinh, grabbing him by his Letterman jacket. "If I see you bothering my friend again, you're gonna be replaced by someone for Captain. And I know that inflated ego of yours won't be able to take that," Victor growls, thrusting him back to his teammates and backs away to stand by Jackson.
"I'm surprised you're helping this guy, Mal," Connor speaks up, glaring at his friend, Mal Duncan.
"He just told me to follow me; I didn't know he wanted us to fight Rachel," Mal explains, shoving his way to Connor.
"What a load of crap. Just stay away from me," Connor grunts, shoving Mal away. Mal takes a few steps back with betrayal written all over his face, but Rachel can't be fooled. Mal obviously had no intentions of hanging out with Connor after he's been seen defending her. Most people that are friends with Artemis or Rachel are usually branded "outsiders".
"Let's just get the fuck out of here!" Tony, another athlete, yells, and attempts to shove his way past Wally and Roy. His attempts are stopped when Roy grabs him by the shoulder and swings him back around, thrusting him towards his teammates. Vinh growls, looking around at his surroundings.
"This isn't over!" he declares and brushes past Jackson and Victor. The athletes with him shuffle pass with sullen looks. They know they can't do anything to Connor or Victor since their skills are up to par, if not better, with Vinh. Jackson is protected by Coach Mel while Roy, Richard, and Garfield can fight off any opposition that comes their way. After all, they spar on their free time. Rachel and Kory walk towards the 7-man army as they begin to leave.
"Thanks for the help," Rachel acknowledges, nodding towards Victor and Connor in particular. "How did you guys know?"
"Connor and I were in the Varsity Football meeting when Vinh barged into the room. He grabbed a few of his guys and we, suspecting that it might have something to do with you and/or Kory, rushed over here. On the way, we ran into Gar and Jackson so we told them to follow us. Roy and Wally saw the four of us and followed. We arrived just as Vinh shoved Richard to the side," Victor explained.
"Well, you guys sure time your appearances pretty damn well. It's amazing how you stopped them before Vinh did something stupid." Kory can just hear her muttering, "Or before I did something regrettable…"
Right at that moment, Artemis shows up and wraps her arm around Rachel's shoulder. "So, what'd I miss, guys?"
"Too many things to list," Roy jokes, noticing that Wally is hiding a blush. "We should probably get to class. The bell's gonna ring soon."
They all agree and Rachel waits for Kory before the duo heads to French 2. Jackson and Victor gather their Chemistry books and walk back to the 300 building with Artemis and Wally going to their Vietnamese 2 class. Garfield, Connor, Richard, and Roy have classes in the 200 building while Megan will be heading to the 200 building as well. Rachel takes a deep breath and Kory pats her on the back. "It will be fine. Do not worry so much, Rachel."
Rachel sighs and mutters, "Here's to hoping…" The duo enters their class, officially beginning the first day of their sophomore year.
Lefty: How I managed to survive Hell Week is beyond me…Anyways, here are everyone's schedules. You have no idea how hard it is to analyze each schedule over and over to see which person matches who. It was especially hard since I had to manipulate it a bit to begin my couple work. Alrighty, enough with me ranting. Here are their schedules:
Richard Grayson Grade 10 ID #: 2501589
1. English and Literature Honors
2. Spanish 2
3. Chemistry
4. World History Honors
5. Pre-Calculus
6. Water Polo/Basketball
Wally West Grade 10 ID #:4989596
1. Vietnamese 2p
2. Chemistry
3. English and Literature Honors
4. World History
5. Algebra 2
6. Health
Garfield Logan Grade 10 ID #:5318969
1. World History
2. Geometry
3. Spanish 2
4. Chemistry
5. PE
6. English and Literature
Victor Stone Grade 10 ID #: 15376828
1. Chemistry
2. Spanish 2
3. Algebra 2/Trigonometry
4. English and Literature Honors
5. World History Honors
6. Football/Basketball
Jackson Hyde Grade 10 ID #: 1928373
1. Chemistry
2. Pre-Calculus
3. World History Honors
4. Spanish 2
5. English and Literature Honors
6. Water Polo
Roy Harper Grade 10 ID #: 9738246
1. Spanish 2
2. English and Literature Honors
3. Chemistry
4. World History
5. Algebra 2
6. PE
Connor Kent Grade 10 ID #: 5748371
1. Algebra 2
2. World History
3. Spanish 2
4. English and Literature
5. Chemistry
6. Football/Basketball
Megan Morse Grade 10 ID #: 6758493
0. Chemistry
1. Algebra 2/Trigonometry
2. AP Euro
3. French 1
4. English and Literature Honors
5. Intro to Art
6. Cheerleading
Raven Roth Grade 10: ID # 1355893
1. French 2
2. Algebra 2/Trigonometry
3. Chemistry
4. World History
5. English and Literature
6. PE
Kory Anders Grade 10: # 2005708
1. French 2
2. Algebra 2/Trigonometry
3. Chemistry
4. English and Literature
5. PE
6. World History Honors
Artemis Crock Grade 10 ID #:1937582
1. Vietnamese 2P
2. English and Literature
3. Chemistry
4. World History
5. Algebra 2
6. PE
The IDS are just random numbers I mashed together. If I get complaints about my pairings in the future, I'll block anonymous reviewers and leave the reviewing to those with accounts. Also, this is only their 1st semester schedules, the 2nd semester may or may not change their schedules so for now, you're only seeing their 1st semester schedules.
