Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I've added Jason back! The next chapter is going to be really suspenseful and surprising. ;) I'm excited to start typing it up! Alright by my loves!
~Kisses, Rosexoxo
Chapter 16: Truth be told
Jason walked into his stepfather's office at home. He slammed the door angrily and Jim looked up from his desk in surprise.
"What the hell!" Jason yelled. "Why are you doing this!?"
Jim looked at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about. "Doing what?"
Jason slammed his hands on Jim's desk. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." He spat.
Jim put a finger to his chin in though. "Ah, you're talking about how I'm tracking every move that pretty redhead makes?"
Jason nodded grimly.
"Well, it's for your own good. I mean, I know you have feelings for her."
"That doesn't concern you! She's my friend and she never did anything to you!" Jason was clearly angry. He was happy his mom was back at the hospital so she couldn't hear them arguing.
"But it does, child. You see, if you get too attached, you'll disobey my orders." Jim now stood up and walked over to a bookcase as if inspecting any dust that might be on it. "And you know that won't turn out well."
"But all you want is to get rid of Batman and Robin. What does that have to do with her!?"
"It's obvious The redhead and Robin are in love." He laughed. "Funny, A tamaranian and a superhero."
Jason clenched his fists, anger and jealousy written all over his face. "Just leave her out of it."
Jim walked over to Jason, hands behind his back. "Hmph, you clearly don't know who I am."
Jason scoffed and smirked. "Oh, I know who you are." He paused. Then, "You're that asshole stepfather everyone hates. You're that guy who treats my mom like a princess and her son like a slave. You're," he bit his tongue, "Slade Wilson."
TT
Wednesday in the cafeteria, the group sat together chatting about the upcoming weekend. They all knew they hadn't hung out together for awhile and wanted to do something fun. Gar had suggested a sleepover at someone's house.
"I vote Richard's!" Wally yelled while raising his hand.
Richard gave him a weird look and shook his head. "I can't at my house. Bruce is having his girlfriend, Diana, stay with us. She's flying in from California tomorrow."
"Gayyyyyy." Wally said while munching on a carrot stick.
"What about Roy's!?" Said Gar.
"Nope," Roy shook his head, "Ollie is having an important cocktail party. But this sleepover is a good excuse to get away from it." He glanced over at Jade, who was busy talking to Jenny about something. It has almost been a week without Jade and he was still miserable.
"I vote Vic's house. He has woods in his backyard and we could play manhunt or slenderman." Announced Karen.
Wally rattled his fingers and said in a creepy voice, "Ooooooooooo! Good idea! That would be so much funnnn."
"I second that!" Adde Gar.
Vic leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I guess I could ask my folks about it. I don't see why not though."
"Woohoo! This is gonna be awesome!" Gar beamed. Rachel rolled her amethyst eyes and continued to read.
Meanwhile, Kori was at the front of the cafeteria at a booth handing out fliers for the upcoming Christmas Dance. It was less than three weeks away and as Freshman student council president, it was her job to hand out fliers at this lunch period.
Toni walked up to her and tossed her a bottle of water. "Hey love. You're lookin a bit depressed."
Kori took a sip of the water and thanked Toni. She then ran a hand through her hair. "Ehh. It's just school sucks and StuCo is driving me nuts..."
All of that was true. But what was really bugging her was the fact her and Richard act like everything is fine between them. And she liked it, it's just the fact that they told each other their biggest BIGGEST secrets and then she practically poured we feelings out for him after he asked about them only to find out he had her on mute the whole time. Everything was not fine! She like Richard. A lot.
"You going to Vic's Friday night?" Toni asked. "It'll loosen you up a bit."
Kori nodded and sighed. "Yeah. I guess. It'll be good for me."
Toni smiled and gestured for her to join the group for the rest of lunch. "C'mon Kor, eat something."
"I wish I could but I'm stuck at this booth."
Toni frowned and said, "That's alright mate, I'll see you later." She smiled and waved goodbye.
Kori smiled and waved back. "Man, she sure is something."
TT
After school, Karen, Kori, Jade, Jenny, Rachel, and Toni decided to go out and eat at the new pizza parlor. Kori had told the girls how good it was and they took her word for it. Now, they all sat at a table waiting for their medium cheese and medium pepperoni pizzas to arrive.
Kori would always remember this pizza parlor as the place where her and Richard finally confessed their secrets. It wasn't exactly the best memory but it wasn't the worst and she really wished she could tell her girlfriends about Tamaran. Why couldn't she? Oh, right. Because she was afraid they'd think differently about her.
"Hey Kori, what's wrong?" Asked Karen. "You look sad."
Kori looked up and saw that they were all staring at her. She hardly realized she'd outcastes herself away from their conversations. "Oh I'm fine! Just a little..tired."
They looked at her and Rachel, who had her nose in a book, said, "You're a really bad liar."
'Gosh dang it Rachel.' Kori thought. She always wondered how Rachel could always somehow tell when she was lying.
"Kori! Tell us what's wrong.." Jade urged.
Kori sighed and defeat and knew she couldn't win this battle. "Well...a few days ago, Richard asked me if I had feelings for him."
They all squealed in excitement, except for Rachel, and Kori held her hand up signaling she wasn't finished. "I didn't even reply though...I wanted too but I just froze!" She sighed yet again and the girls' excitement died down. "Then, after he left my house I called him and told him how I really felt...how I really did like him..even love..."
Karen and Jade were practically jumping out of their chairs. "Omg!" Karen beamed. "What did he say!?"
"I found out I was on mute when I said all of that." She finished.
Once again, their excitement turned to pouting. It was no secret that the girls knew about Kori's long time crush on Richard. They were her best friends, how could they not know? Plus, they've been waiting for what seems like ages, for them to finally get together.
"You should talk to him about it soon, love." Toni said.
"But I'm afraid he won't feel the same way...maybe.." Memories of her kissing him the night he was Robin came rushing back to her head. He seemed to enjoy the kiss, maybe her did like her back..
"Girl, why would he ask you that if he didn't feel the same way!" Exclaimed Karen.
"Well...I don't know. Because its Richard Grayson! He could practically get any girl he wants!"
"But he wants you! We all know it Kori. We see the way you two act around each other." Jenny added.
Kori was about to protest until Rachel cut in. "How do you know for sure if you were in mute?"
Kori pondered this thought for a moment and realized that she wasn't for sure. Rachel went on, "Maybe he's just as afraid as you are. Even though he's the one who asked the question, maybe he froze the way you did when you told him how you really felt."
It all made some sort if sense. Kori twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "I'm going to talk to him about it soon." She finally said.
"Good and then you can tell us about all of it!" Karen said happily.
Kori laughed and rolled her eyes. She was lucky to have such good friends.
TT
While Kori was walking home, she pondered the though of Richard an her dating. It brought a smile to her face and she blushed red. She was about five minutes away from her house when she heard someone running behind her.
She turned around and saw Jason clad in gym shorts and no shirt. He had ear buds in and his toned chest glistened with sweat. He stopped when he saw her.
"I thought the red hair looked familiar." He said as he took out his ear phones.
"Jason! I feel likes it's been forever since I've seen you!" She said.
He looked at the sky and breathed heavily. It seemed he was hardcore running. Kori couldn't help but stare at his steel six pack.
"Uhh yeah. I've been...busy."he walked around her and took out his iPod to switch the song.
Kori crossed her hands together in front of her. "Yeah, I can tell."
There was a long moment of silence and Jason wished so badly he could talk to her but he knew Jim aka Slade was tracking her every move. He'd get his ass chewed out about this later on.
"Listen, I got to go. I'll see ya around Kori." He placed his headphones back in his ears and began running up the neighborhood.
Kori watched as he ran. She wondered about him sometimes and pondered the thought of what he does when he's not at school. She often thought maybe he had a rough life at home but who knows. As of right now, he was just a figure that kept getting smaller and smaller until he was gone, gone, gone.
