Robin scurried out of the staff building, moving quickly across campus, trying to distance himself from the building. He didn't regret his actions, not at all: he'd done something like this in the past. The key, he'd decided, was to not think about it. And that was what he decided to do as he ran into Starfire and Raven, entering campus from, apparently, a shopping trip. Starfire balanced at least three boxes of shoes in her hands, while Raven held a modest bag of new books.
"Robin!" Star called, trying to wave her hands. Raven, somehow with a genuine smile on her face, waved instead.
"It looks like you guys were busy," Robin said, jogging over to them.
"There's this totally awesome strip mall within walking distance of here!" The redhead squealed. "It's got a DSW and a discount book store!"
'Wait, walking distance? How far is that?" Robin raised an eyebrow at the two girls.
"Almost a mile and a half!" Star said, jumping up in the air excitedly and managing to drop a shoebox directly on top of Raven's head. The english major seemed to shrink down even further, her grin replaced temporarily with a seething look.
Robin picked up the box and handed it to Star, the tall student giggling at him.
"How was arithmetic?" Raven asked quietly, cocking her head at Robin as if sensing he was in distress.
"Eh, fine. I knew all the information anyway."
"Then why don't you skip class? They don't keep track anyway," Starfire tried to tell him. Robin shrugged, the headmaster's words echoing in his head. He kept track. And so did Robin.
"Well do you take lunch breaks at least?" Star continued, lost in her own world. "You should join the group for lunch!"
"Isn't it lunch now?" Robin asked.
"Would you look at the time!" Star exclaimed excitedly, and with a subtle nod to Raven, the two girls had trapped him, arm in arm, taking him off campus, Star balancing all of her boxes of shoes on the side of Robin's head.
The boy was escorted a block away from campus where a popular little lunch place stood, always packed with college kids on their off hours.
"Star! Raven! Robin! Over here!" Robin turned his head toward Beast Boy who was waving frantically, sitting at the biggest table in the restaurant with Cy and Rose at his side.
"Geeze, Star, do you need any more shoes?" Victor joked, standing to help her put all the shoeboxes down by her chair.
"Well not anymore!" She exclaimed. "I got at least five really good pairs!"
"And the rest of them?" Rose asked.
"Eh, they're okay."
"That's not what she said in the store!" Raven spoke up, making the entire table burst out laughing.
Robin looked over at Rose, directly across the table from him. She was the newest to the group aside from Robin himself, and there was a lot he didn't know about her. Her hair was dyed a bright bubblegum pink but her roots were a pure white, making Robin wonder if white really was her natural hair color. Her face was round but always had a stony serious expression, the exact opposite of her colorful hair. It made Robin wonder when this impossibly serious girl ever lightened up enough to think pink dye was a good idea. She was pretty but she seemed different than the rest of the group. She certainly wasn't as tall and radiant as Starfire or as emotional and deep as Raven, but still she added something to the group, something homey and welcoming.
Robin sunk back in his chair, sighing contentedly. He tried to relax around these five, all almost completely ignoring him. It was strange to Robin. They weren't expecting anything out of him, just letting him be himself.
Getting all of the group together lead to a lively lunch. The waitress recognizing the huge group and bringing over a huge pizza without needing to take their order, gaining a huge cheer from the group. As one they lifted pizza slices into the air.
"A toast!" Cy cheered.
"Toast!" They all echoed.
"To skipping next hour!" Robin's eyes went wide.
"What!"