"Wake up Colin, you'll be late." Selina said softly, shaking his shoulder. Colin turned over, pulling the pillow over his head.
"Five more minutes." Colin mumbled. Selina smiled and pulled the covers off him.
"No five more minutes." She said. She edged her fingers in Colin's armpit and instantly the boy started laughing.
"Okay, okay, I'm up." Colin batted her hand away, sitting up on his mattress.
"Then get dressed and have some breakfast before we have to leave." Selina half-ordered, standing up and leaving the room.
Colin quickly got dressed and fixed his hair in the bathroom. He shovelled down his breakfast and threw his bag over his shoulder.
"Forgetting something?" Selia asked, holding out a wad of pages.
"Yes," Colin said, taking the sheets from her and stuffing them in his bag. "My essay for English. Thanks."
"What would you do without me?" Selina teased, ruffling his hair.
"Still be in an orphanage." Colin replied. Selina smiled and gave him a hug. After what happened with Hush, Selina didn't hear about Colin and Scarecrow for a few weeks. As soon as she found out, Selina knew that she wanted to adopt him.
Her start in life hadn't been the best and after learning all about Colin's (who had an arguably worse start) sparked some maternal instinct in her which she thought had diminished completely.
(And having someone to hold and have hold you back made losing Bruce a bit easier.)
"We'd better be going." Selina said, grabbing her car keys. "Am I picking you up after school?" She asked, locking the apartment door behind her.
"I'm going over to Damian's so we can work on our joint history project." Colin said.
"Okay, just text me when you want to be picked up." Selina said, getting into the car and putting the key in. Colin slid into the seat next to her and stuffed his backpack by his feet. "What's your history project on?" She asked.
"Anything that happened in the 20th century." Colin replied, watching the tall apartment buildings go by the car. "We're doing about the underground crime in the 1920's."
"Oh I bet you two will love working on that together." Selina said, "All the gangs and speakeasies. Always reminded me of Gotham."
"I know. But they had cooler clothes back then." Colin said, a small smile on his face. Selina turned the radio on and the two listened to the morning news.
Selina pulled up outside the school and Colin hopped out, swinging his bag onto his back.
"Remember to send me a text if you need me." Selina said.
"I know mum, I'll see you later." Colin said, shutting the car door.
"I'll see you later Kitten. Oh look, there's Damian." Selina nodded over Colin's shoulder. She gave Colin a small wave and drove off. Colin turned around and walked up to Damian, who was leaning against a tree waiting for him.
"Hey," Colin greeted, smiling at his best friend. Damian nodded in response, looking partly pissed off and partly thoughtful. "What's wrong?"
"You're later than usual." Damian replied, his face quickly going blank.
"I overslept." Colin said, feeling a little bit defensive for some reason. Behind them, the first bell rang. "Come on, we've got English first." He said, walking alongside Damian to their first lesson.