Thank you so much for your reviews, Shortyred! I'm so happy you like my story! Also, I totally agree; my chapters are pretty short; I'm working on making them longer though. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice! I only own my OC's! All rights go to their respective owners!

Gotham City

August 25th, 7:30 am.

Chapter 3: Day 1

"Jackie! It's time to get up; you need to get ready for school," her mother yelled from the kitchen.

The blonde-haired teen groaned as she slowly threw the covers off of her and sat up. Yawning, she stood and stretched her back. She put on her slippers and sulked over to the kitchen where her mother was most likely making breakfast for the two of them.

"Morning, Mom," Jackie greeted as she sat down at the table and rubbed her eyes while yawning again.

"Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?" Jennifer asked without turning away from the stove.

"I didn't," she replied as she looked over to her mother to see her flipping pancakes. "Pancakes again?"

"I just wanted to try a new recipe."

The teenager sighed. "What kind of pancakes?"

"I'm making chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream on top; it's Kyle's recipe."

Jackie raised a curious brow as she tried to think of a face to that name. "Kyle?"

"Yes, he's a friend of mine from work."

"Are you two close?" the teen asked.

"I guess," Jennifer replied and shrugged. "We sometimes go out to eat breakfast after work."

Jackie smiled. "Does he pay?"

"Yes, he does."

"For anything you get? Even if it's expensive?"

"I tried to tell him that I don't mind paying for myself, but he insists, so I let him."

"Aw," Jackie teased. "He likes you."

Her mother scoffed and brought a plate of pancakes over to the table. "No, he doesn't, sweetheart."

The teen smirked. "Mom, you just said that he pays for your meals, so he has to like you."

"He's just being a gentleman," Jennifer insisted and sat down. "Now eat; you have a big day today."

Jackie gave her a confused expression, causing her mother to chuckle. "Didn't you tell me you have, and I quote, 'A HUGE exam on the 15th?'" Jennifer asked in a mocking tone.

The seventeen year old groaned as she remembered that test, which she forgot to study for. "I'm totally going to bomb it," she muttered as she cut her pancakes in half with a butter knife.

"Don't think like that," her mother sternly spoke. "You're going to do great; you always do."

Jackie nodded in reply and ate a piece of pancake. Her eyes widened as she looked down at her pancakes and then to her mother. She swallowed and smiled. "These are amazing," she complimented. "Instead of Kyle giving you his recipes, you should just ask him to come and cook for us all the time!"

Jennifer chuckled and picked up her fork to start eating. "I'll make sure to tell him you said that," she responded. "So, have you made your decision?"

Jackie sighed and set her fork down. "That's why I couldn't sleep last night; I was up all night trying to make up my mind but couldn't."

Her mother nodded. "Don't worry, honey; I'm sure you have plenty of time to make up your mind," she assured.

"Yeah, I know," Jackie muttered and picked up her fork to continue eating.

After fifteen minutes, Jackie had finished eating and getting ready for school. She slipped on her jean jacket and walked over to the front door. "Mom! I'm leaving!" she yelled to her mother.

"Bye, honey! Have a great day!" Jennifer yelled back.

Jackie grabbed her backpack and rushed out the door, listening to her school supplies as well as her car keys jump up and down as she ran down the stairs of the apartment complex. She stopped once she reached the parking lot and fumbled in her backpack for her keys. Once she found them, she immediately unlocked her car, got in, and turned the keys in the ignition. She looked at the time to see that school started in ten minutes and groaned, knowing she was going to be late for first period.

After twenty minutes, she reached the school, Gotham Academy, and hurried over to her first period. Once she walked into class, she immediately got a lecture from her Science teacher and was given extra homework for the whole week. She nodded, not wanting to start an argument, and sat in her assigned seat, which was next to one of the most snobbiest girls, who constantly talked about how they were so rich that they didn't need a scholarship to be able to go to this school. Jackie knew that she should be insulted since she received a scholarship to come here last month for her amazing G.P.A and grades, but she was too tired to care today.

Three hours later, Jackie was sitting by herself on the bleachers next to the empty football field and eating lunch. She normally would be on her phone playing a game, but today she was writing down all the 'ups' and 'downs' to joining The Team. She was right in the middle of writing down all the 'downs' when a hand touched her shoulder. She yelped and turned around to see a boy she recognized from her PE class, but she couldn't remember his name.

"Whoops, sorry," he apologized and sat down next her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," she mumbled and turned her notebook over to reveal a drawing of a stormy night she drew a few days ago.

"Nice picture," he complimented, looking at her notebook. "Are you in art?"

"No, I'm not. I just sometimes doodle when I'm bored," she replied and started drawing another lightening bolt.

He nodded and grinned. "I'm Richard, but you can call me Dick."

"I'm Jackie," she introduced as she smiled at him.

He frowned instantly though. "Are you okay? You look exhausted."

"Oh, yeah," she replied and looked away from him as she pushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. "I didn't sleep last night."

"How come?" he asked as he turned a little bit to face her.

"Oh, I was just reading," she lied and felt her face heat up as she kept staring at the open space in front of her. She knew she was terrible at lying and hoped Dick couldn't see that.

"You were reading?" he questioned as he tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Yep, it was just such a good book," she claimed, hoping he'd drop the subject.

He hummed and shrugged. "Cool."

She sighed in relief inwardly and looked back at him once she felt her face stop heating up. "So, what grade are you in?"

"Ninth. You?"

"Twelve."

"Oh, you're a senior. Are you eighteen?"

She smiled. "No, I turn eighteen next year."

"What day?"

"March 21st."

He smiled. "That's pretty close. Are you doing anything to celebrate?"

She shrugged. "My mom and I normally go out to eat, see a movie, go shopping, then call it a night."

"You're not having a party with your friends?" he asked, curiously.

Jackie's smiled dropped, and she looked down. She was so determined not to let anyone else hurt her again that she shut everyone out and closed her heart so no one could open her up again.

She looked back at him to see him looking at her with a saddened expression as if he read her thoughts. "You don't have any friends, do you?" he asked in a whisper.

She nodded and looked away again. "I'm really sorry, Jackie. I didn't mean to upset you," he whispered.

She shrugged and gave him a small smile. "It's okay. I just haven't found the right friends yet; that's all," she assured.

"Oh," he muttered and stood up when the bell rang. "Why don't we head to class."

Jackie nodded and stood up to follow him. Dick and her both didn't say anything until they reached the middle of the courtyard, which was where she said goodbye to him and started walking off until he grabbed her arm, and she looked back at him.

"Hey," he spoke. "Do you want to hang out sometime?"

She swallowed involuntarily as she stared at him. She was hoping he got the hint that she didn't want to be friends and wouldn't ask her to hang out because then she would have to turn him down, and he would be upset with her.

She sighed. "Well, I don't know," she muttered.

"We can go to the movies or the new arcade that just opened up, and I'll pay," he stated as he looked at her with a grin.

She sighed and looked away. Why was he looking at her like that? It would only make it harder for her to turn him down. She's done this so many times with so many people that it was getting harder to look someone in the eye and tell them to leave her alone. Although, she could avoid looking Dick in the eye and telling him to back off by saying that she would like to hang out. After all, one time wouldn't hurt, right? "Okay."

He grinned wider and let her go. "Awesome! We can exchange numbers in PE! See you later, Jackie!"

She watched as he ran off to the Science building, waving, and she waved back with a smile plastered onto her face. Once he was out of sight, she dropped her wave and smile as she headed over to the Math building.

After four hours, Jackie walked into her apartment, closing the front door behind her, and dropped her bag as she let out a groan. She heard the familiar jingle of her phone and pulled it out to see that Dick was texting her, asking her what day was good for her to hang out, for the third time in two hours. She sighed as she walked over to the dark green couch in the living room and let herself fall onto it.

"Jackie?" her mother asked, entering into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Letting myself sink into despair," she replied as she closed her eyes.

She heard her mother chuckle as she made her way over to her. "Oh, and why are you letting yourself 'sink into despair'?" Jennifer asked and sat down next to her.

"A kid at school asked me if he wanted to hang out, and I said yes," Jackie replied and rested her hands behind her head. "Now I don't think there's any hope that I'm getting out of it."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fun."

"I don't know if I'm ready, Mom."

She felt her mother place a hand on her arm. "How are you going to know if you're ready if you don't try?"

The teen sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but I'm still going to be cautious about him."

"Alright, hon."

Jackie opened her eyes when she felt her mom get off the couch and looked at her to see her wearing a blue blouse, jeans, and black flats. Also, her short brown hair was curled, and she was wearing jewelry, which she hasn't worn since the divorce. "Uh, Mom?" she asked and sat up.

"Yes, dear?" her mother replied, looking back at her daughter from the entryway of her bedroom.

"You're not in your pajamas," she stated, being careful not to upset her.

Jennifer looked down at her outfit then back at her daughter. "Oh, well, Kyle asked me to go to dinner with him, so I thought I should at least look presentable. What do you think? Good?"

The teenager smiled. "Beautiful."

Her mother smiled and grabbed her purse by the front door. "If you get hungry, there's a frozen pizza in the freezer. I won't be home until a little after ten, but if you want me to get some food for you on the way home just-"

"Mom, I'll be fine."

Jennifer sighed. "Okay. Just call me if you need something, alright?"

"Okay, Mom. Now go! Have fun!"

Her mother nodded and walked out the front door, locking it after she closed it. Jackie shook her head, smiling, and grabbed her backpack to take out her homework to get started on it.

Five hours later, the teenager finished what needed to be turned in tomorrow and looked at the clock to see it was nine in the evening. She sighed as she put away her homework and threw away the paper plate that used to hold her pizza. She walked over to her bathroom, quickly took a shower, then headed for her bed.

After a few hours, Jackie woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the front door. She got out of bed and groggily walked to her mother's bedroom to tell her she was answering the door, but when she looked inside, her mom's bed was still made and the room was dark. She blinked a few times, wondering why her mom wasn't home yet, but discarded the thought as another knock came to the door, and she walked up to it.

"Who is it?" she asked as she leaned her ear against the door to hear better.

"Ma'am, my name is Officer Jack Clinton. Please open the door," he replied.

She unlocked the door and opened it to be greeted by a man, who looked to be in his early thirties and was wearing an police uniform. "Good evening, ma'am," he greeted and took off his hat. "Are you Jackie Morris?"

She leaned onto the door to steady herself when she's noticed the man looking at her with a sorrowful expression. "Yes," she answered timidly.

He sighed. "I'm so sorry, ma'am, but there's been an accident."

Her eyes widened as one person came to mind. "Mom," she whispered.

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