"Koma, arise!" Kory Anders ripped off the covers off of her sister. "We are tardy!"
"Oh, for God's sakes, Kory," Koma Anders let out a muffled grown in her pillow. "Five more minutes."
"It has been two hours!" Kory yelled, applying blush in the hollow of her cheekbone, letting out an exasperated sigh when she realized how uneven it was. "This is why you don't throw a party the day before school!"
Koma groaned. "Yell at me one more time and I'll rip your throat out."
Kory gave her sister one last, pointed look and then took her schoolbag and swung it over her shoulder. Nose in the air, she left her hungover sister on the bed. She ran downstairs, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. Her host family, while very nice, were scared off the first time they tried to wake up Koma for school. Since then, Kory put her faith in her alarm clock.
She twirled her car keys around her finger and jumped into her sister's convertible. Let Koma get a carpool from one of her friends, rather than having her drive hungover.
Going over the speeding limit just a little bit, she pulled into Jump City High's parking lot into the space that was reserved for Koma.
Well, when she says "reserved".
Checking her watch, it was 12:15. Lunch was about to end. She walked into the cafeteria, her eyes searching for Donna Troy. Finding the familiar curly ponytail, she let out a relieved sigh and made her way to her.
"Sweet party, Koma!" a senior she didn't know winked at her.
"You have mistaken me for my sister." Kory replied quietly, but the boy already passed her.
Letting out a quiet sigh, she pulled out the chair across of Donna and sat down.
"Good afternoon, friend," Kory greeted Donna.
"Kory," Donna looked at her with worried eyes. "Why weren't you in English today?"
Kory sighed, "The party that Koma thr-"
The bell rang suddenly, causing Donna to pick up her binder and textbook. "I really wanna hear what happened, Kor, but I have to make it to History and ask Ms. Hawley about my Greek Mythology essay. We'll talk after school, okay?"
Kory barely heard her. She nodded, giving her a small smile and watching her black hair swing side to side as she left. She stayed at the table for a few moments, watching others push in their chairs and grab their bags. She noticed Jade Nguyen smirk wickedly at an angry Roy Harper. She was laughing at whatever he was saying, although he was turning beet red and shaking his head.
On the other side of the cafeteria was Dick Grayson and Wally West, leaned against the wall. Katherine Van Cleer was practically throwing herself at Dick. If he was reciprocating any feelings at all, Kory couldn't tell. Dick always wore black shades, and the teachers had gotten so used to it that no one asks him to take them off anymore.
Katherine blew him a kiss, causing Wally to gag over dramatically, and the three of them went in their separate ways. Kory checked her watch and gasped. She was late, again, for physical education.
Running to the large gym, she smiled nervously at Coach Oatway and entered the changing room. She wasn't very close to many girls in the class, (there were so few) but being an international student, she had to take physical education to fill in some credits.
She unlocked her gym locker, and pulled out her bag. Kory had no trouble stripping down completely into a brand-new sports bra.
"Jesus Ch-" Katherine started, zipping up her pink hoodie. "She's at it again."
Kory rotated and looked at her with innocent green eyes. Katherine winced and looked down, turning red.
"Oh, don't be such a prude, Katherine," Karen started, tightening the laces on her yellow Nike runners. "It's her body."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "And I don't want to see it."
"Yeah, well, none of us want to see your face and yet you don't see us complaining." Rosabelle Melendez shot back hotly. Karen whooped and high-fived her. Kory smiled at them gratefully.
Katherine huffed and grabbed her water bottle, swinging the door behind her.
"Come on, Kory," Karen warned her, quickly checking her reflection in the mirror. "Coach Oatway is gonna make us run extra laps if we don't hurry up."
"I shall be there immediately!" replied Kory, opening the door for Rosabelle and leaving the change room behind.
Joseph Wilson regrets a lot of things, and taking band class was one of them.
When the counselor handed back his updated timetable, he repressed a groan. Dance was full, and he didn't want to be stuck doing lights and costumes for his third play in a row. He wanted to sing, he wanted to act, he wanted to dance.
But when he entered the music room, he was glad to see at least one person he knew there; Malcolm Duncan, Karen's boyfriend since freshman year.
Ms. Harlow welcomed Joey with open arms, literally, and walked him to the bass.
"Here you go, Joseph," Ms. Harlow started. "Your father tells me you're very gifted at the guitar. Of course, you can pick any other instrument, er, that works just for you."
He let out a soft sigh and took out his paper and pen.
Mute people can play woodwind instruments.
Ms. Harlow's big blue eyes widened. "Oh, no, no, of course! I knew that, I only meant, since it's your first year in concert band, that you might pick something that you're familiar with."
Joseph nodded, eager to get her to stop talking to him.
"Don't worry, Ms. Harlow, I can show him the ropes." Mal cut in, giving a Jericho a small smile. He put his arm over the blonde boy's shoulder and walked him through the instruments.
"Over there are your flutes, now stay away from them. They can cut you down with a look. They're the overachievers, the ones that took band to fill in more credits and not for the general love of music." Mal instructed, avoiding eye contact with a girl who Joey recognized as one of Jade's friends. She glared at them.
Chuckling nervously, Mal brought him to percussion.
"Now, these are probably the greatest people you will ever meet, besides the brass players," Mal pointed to the back of the music room. "Toni is the lead drummer back there."
She winked at Joseph, tapping her drumsticks. He grinned.
"And yeah," Mal started. "That's all. I think you'll fit in just fine."
Joseph smiled. His father had basically pressured him into taking Band, knowing his gift with acoustic guitar would make it easier for him. As if. He still had to pick an instrument. Most of the percussion were stoners, including Toni, and he didn't have very strong lungs, which basically took him out of the brass section. And he didn't want to sit up front with the woodwinds, where Ms. Harlow would glance at him ever so often.
Sighing, he succumbed to the xylophone, way in the back, where he at least had one friend, but could remain perpetually invisible.