Just Drabbles

Chapter 5: Acquainting him through her art

Disclaimer: Must we go through this? sigh Fine. The Teen Titans aren't mine. Just these chapter plots.

It was a crisp, clear fall Friday afternoon as the students from Jump City High spilled out onto the school's yard and split apart; each heading toward their own method of transportation, be it walking, their car or that sunshine yellow school bus.

New student Kori Anders; a senior transfer student from Steel City awaited her turn to board the bus. Needless to say her first day at J.C.H. certainly had been interesting. The dispositions of the teachers had been fairly decent, with the exception of the history teacher. Kori was surprised that his drill sergeant attitude hadn't won him a position as the physical education teacher or football coach.

Kori shifted her large sketchbook in her arms as she thought back to her classmates. Some of the girls tried to lure her into their cliques, other girls just wanted to have a conversation, like Jennifer and Tara; they just wanted to know Kori, not what designer made her clothes or what she thought of Tiffany's new blonde on blonde highlights. Not that there necessarily was a Tiffany, but the name did seem cliquey enough to Kori.

After Kori had shown her bus pass to the driver, she scanned the seating area and mentally groaned. The only available seats were next to the school player Xavier Redd and the seemingly shy school loner, Richard Grayson. Her mind began screaming at her, commanding her to sit next to Richard, but her heart feared that he would rebuff her with merely a glare; albeit through his dark sunglasses, but it would still be chilling.

"Would you hurry it up?" A whiny voice that could only belong to head cheerleader Caitlyn Moth cried. "I am like, so not wearing my comfy heels."

Sighing, Kori began walking toward the two seats each of the boys occupied. Xavier looked up and a slow smirk made its way across his face as he blatantly looked Kori up and down. He patted his lap, "Special seat for a special lady."

Kori tried not to roll her eyes. "Why couldn't I just sit on the floor? Or better yet, get tied to the front of the bus like a figurehead on the ships of those pirate movies."

She struggled to get her lips to form the appropriate words when she felt a warm hand wrap firmly around her wrist and pulled her down into a seat. Kori turned her head and found herself looking into the sunglasses that belonged to Richard. "Th-thank-you," she whispered.

"It was nothing," he replied as he turned to face the window.

Meanwhile Caitlyn had dropped gracefully onto Xavier's lap, wrapped her spray tanned arms around his neck and began chatting away. In the midst of her incessant babble, Xavier looked over at Kori, winked and said, "Offer stands anytime Cutie." Kori suppressed the urge to gag as she rolled her eyes and looked away.

Kori decided to focus on the boy sitting next to her. The artist within her was fascinated by the way the sun hit his profile and cast a mysterious and intriguing shadow onto the window. His silhouette looked serious and brooding; but was outlined by a thin stream of light. Kori smiled. "A dark angel," she thought. Her inner artist was also intrigued by Richard's hair. To simply say "it was long, thick black hair" would have made even Shakespeare fall asleep in his chair.

Richard's hair was a mess so to speak; of thick obsidian locks that fell in front of his sunglasses. Shoulder-length and shaggy, it held the appearance of being raked through nervously or someone just couldn't care less about looks. Kori wasn't sure if she should believe the former or the latter. It did hold the appearance of, "stay away." Pretty much what Richard's expression was trying to convey. Kori fought to suppress a sigh as her fingers itched to run themselves through his silky tresses. Kori jolted at that last thought. "Be serious, Kori!" She scolded herself. "He was just being polite. Richard probably couldn't be bothered if you wanted to make conversation."

Biting her lip dejectedly at that thought, Kori opened the leather-covered sketchbook that was seated on her lap and began sketching away.

Richard sighed, annoyed. Why was the school located deep in the heart of the suburbs, when everyone lived in the city? That was a rhetorical question mind you.

The bus ride felt interminable. Richard turned to study the new student he had "rescued" from Xavier. He remembered that her name was Kori Anders and she sat across the room from him in Art History, a class Bruce had "suggested" Richard take.

Kori had long scarlet hair that spilled past her shoulders and halted just above her waist. Her hair slid into his view preventing him from seeing her eyes. But he did notice that her skin was tan when his hidden eyes fell onto her lengthy supermodel legs. Blushing slightly, he moved his eyes toward the object she was bent over. It was a sketchbook; that much he could tell, yet those tresses of flaming red hair were hiding the subject just like her eyes.

Richard was contemplating whether or not he should take the book from her when she looked up. Her jade eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise and slight mortification. Her cheeks became tinted with pink as she stammered, "O-oh…I…" She swung her head forward and clutched her sketchbook to her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Smirking slightly, at her embarrassment and covering up the thought of her looking cute, Richard gingerly wrested the book from her hands. He looked down at the drawing a raised his eyebrows at what he saw. He was the subject. The silver frame of the bus's window served as her border. A brilliant sunset with hues of reds, oranges, pinks and yellows filled in the background as shadows of darker shades danced about in an irregular pattern. Richard himself had been drawn in charcoal from the torso down; his figure folded comfortably onto the seat. Richard's hair had been drawn in pencil, long and shaggy. The silver color stood out nicely against both the sunset and charcoal in Richard's opinion.

Without Kori's permission, Richard continued flipping through her sketchbook. One picture was a rendition of the famous painting Monet's garden. The thickness of the oil paint coupled with the thousands of dashes and dabs Kori used to create this piece left the paper crinkly when Richard flipped the page. The next picture was of a dark, haunted forest. Trees were drawn in black and various shades of purple. The branches were long, gnarled and grotesque. The shadows they threw highlighted by an eerie yellow moon would send chills down anyone's spine. When Richard flipped the page, he noticed that Kori had written on the back in flowering script, "Happy 18th Birthday Rachel!!"

The third picture had a lighter tone, albeit a few dark colors were still used. This drawing had been done in an anime style. A girl was standing on a stage; her huge eyes were a bright turquoise, her hair in chunky layers streaked red and black was done up in pigtails. She was clad in a black tube top, a red pleated skirt that fell inches above her knees, black fishnets and combat boots. The anime girl was surrounded by spotlights of yellow, green and magenta; making her skin appear multi-colored. A sparkling silver guitar was slung in front of her. It clashed with the clothing, but that fact just made it another focal point, bringing out the girl away from the stage as if she were about to pop off the paper. A microphone was held casually by black fingerless gloved hands.

Smirking a bit, Richard flipped the page to check for a dedication. In that same script, Kori had scrawled, "To the best brother ever. Here's your dream girl! Sorry she's only two dimensional! Just kidding! I know she's out there somewhere. Luvs ya! Kori."

The fourth picture startled Richard. The subject was a woman. She wore a lavender kimono that was decorated with intricate, delicate-looking flowers. The woman's long black hair flowed about her, indicating the blue background surrounding her was water. The woman's skin was the same genuine, flawless tan as Kori's yet her eyes were closed. From one angle, the expression drawn on her face looked to be tranquil. Yet from another angle she appeared to be pained.

Richard's hidden eyes travelled down to her folded hands. Underneath her hands, the kimono changed to a deeper color; the same done to the water. Both had been stained by streams of red. Blood.

Richard frowned. From what he had seen through her pictures, Kori was a cheerful, life-loving girl who cared deeply about her friends. Yet with the last picture he had to wonder; did Kori suffer from sort of tragedy? What compelled her to draw such a heartrending picture like this? Wanting to hear the truth from her, Richard turned to the girl sitting next to him and placed a hand on her arm. Jumping, Kori turned to Richard. Pasting a smile on her face she asked, "Yes?"

Not used to having a conversation with anyone other than his father; let alone a girl who didn't throw herself at him, Richard had a hard time trying to find his voice. "A-are you…I-is everythi…" Shaking his head at his stammering, Richard said while pointing to the drawing, "Why did you draw this?"

Kori's smile faded. "The lady in this drawing is, er, was my…my mother." Her eyes became transfixed on the decorated sheaf. "She died when I was ten. A-as you can see…" Kori trailed off and brushed her hand over her mother's face. "She was shot." At the word "shot," Kori's voice cracked and tears began to slide down her face.

Staying silent, Richard drew her close and began to wipe her tears. Impulsively he kissed the top of her head and tightened his grip. As to why he had let down his barriers so easily; that was something he'd have to puzzle out at another date and time.

After a few minutes of holding the weeping girl, Richard spoke, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

More silence passed.

"I'm Richard Grayson by the way." She looked up at him and pulled off his sunglasses. Penetrating sapphire eyes stared into expressive liquid emeralds. "I am Kori Anders."

Smiling gently at each other they both said, "I know."

I liked this one. It wasn't so bad. But I'm going to warn you, I've been scolded in the past for writing descriptively because it didn't leave enough room for the imagination. Buzz off. Don't scold me for doing something I like to do. Major thanks go to Eve Royal for help with Richard and to my cyber sister for keeping me sane. And Je veux le dire merci beaucoup à ma sœur de l'ordinateur. ; )

Review please!