Chapter 24: The New Girl

Chris' POV

The most dreaded day for kids all over the states (except for nerds who have no life).

Waking up early, sitting through boring lectures, being forced to learn...

Seeing all of your friends again, making memories...

The first day of school.

My alarm goes off, and I slowly open my eyes. 6:15. No more sleeping in for me.

I just lie in my queen-sized bed and try my best to lose myself in the sound of the loud, annoying beeps of my alarm clock.

I can't wait to see all of my friends again, especially Tim. I also can't believe I'm in 8th grade. Before I know it, I'll be graduating and going onto high school.

I close my eyes, hoping to fall back asleep, but it doesn't work. I don't get up until I hear a knock on my door.

"Miss Christine. Get out of bed and get ready for school. Breakfast will be ready at 6:45."

I groan. I can't push myself up. I'm just. Too. Tired. Or as Alfred would say, lazy.

I look over the edge of my bed and stare at the floor. My brain is literally blank.

For some reason, I decide to roll right off the bed and hit the floor harder than I expected. A fairly loud thud rings through the room, and maybe it went out to the hallway.

Dammit. I forgot to turn off the alarm clock.

As I'm using the side of my bed to help me get up, I hear heavy footsteps get louder and louder. Suddenly, my door swings open. In the corner of my eye, I can see Bruce in his t-shirt and shorts, his hair slightly ruffled, looking panic-stricken.

"Chris what happened?!"

I didn't think he would've heard it all the way from his room...but he's Batman. I should've known he would've at least heard something. I'm brain dead at the moment.

"I just rolled off the bed." I say groggily. I pull myself all the way up and slam my hand on the alarm clock. Finally, that absurd beeping has stopped.

"Be careful next time." Funny. He thinks I rolled off the bed on accident. "Hurry up and get ready. You don't wanna be late for school." He closes the door as he leaves to go get ready for work.

If only mansions didn't have to be so far away from society, then I might get to wake up later. It takes around five minutes to cross the bridge to Gotham, and then another 25 minutes to actually get to Gotham Academy.

I stretch my back and I hear a small crack. Ah that felt good.

I walk over to the bathroom and do my business. Then I wash my hands, gargle some water, and splash water on my face. I turn off the faucet and look at my appearance. There are bags under my blue eyes and...that's really the only detail I can describe. My face doesn't get pale...how am I supposed to describe a face, especially mine? It's not like I'm an artist and I pay super close attention to stuff and use very fancy adjectives.

Let's see...my skin isn't too pale but isn't too tan. My eyes are blue...a nice shade of medium blue... My nose isn't long, but it isn't flat. It's just...a nose. I don't really know the face shapes, but my face isn't chubby or anything noticeable. My lips are small, not huge like Bratz lips. I've been told that when I have a blank face expression, my lower lip tends to stick out a little more than my upper lip, so I either look sad or slightly angry. I don't know how to feel about that...actually I don't really care. And I don't have a butt chin.

Bravo Christine. You're really great at this.

I'm not gonna waste time looking for every single detail on my face.

But what stands out the most to me when I look in the mirror is how my medium length, super dark brown (so dark that it looks black), straight hair looks shiny and not horrible. The ends of my hair go slightly outward, but it looks okay. My partition is on the left side of my face, and the hair on the right side of my face is tucked behind my ear.

Yeah, I'm ugly.

I walk out the door and start changing into my uniform that I left on my chair last night. As I put on my navy blue skirt, white polo, red tie, socks, and navy blue v-neck sweater, I recall a video that I watched last year in class. It was this experiment: there were a bunch of people, and they all had to go into this room with a curtain dividing it into two areas.

One at a time, they would sit in one area and on the other side of the curtain was an artist. He asked each person to describe their facial features and their hair. As the person was describing themself, the artist would be drawing a sketch based on the description. Then, he would ask the person to describe the person they met just earlier (one of the other participants). The artist would draw another sketch. They did that for every single participant. In the end, the put up the pictures in groups of two. The person would find their two pictures and see the difference between the picture made with their description, and the picture made with another person's description. The one created based on the other person's views would always look better than the one created by the person's views. It was supposed to teach us that everyone sees you differently from how you see yourself. So if you think you're ugly, someone else might think you're pretty.

Well no one, other than my family, has complimented me on my looks. I wish someone would... I push the thought aside.

After brushing my hair a bit, I walk out of my room and find myself standing in front of Autumn.

Autumn's POV

I woke up before five. Even if I didn't get a good night sleep. Nightmares...again…

But I slept on the floor, I couldn't sleep on the bed, so I took a blanket and my fluffy jacket and slept on the floor using my jacket as my pillow, cause I didn't wanna get the pillows all dirty. The blanket I took is mine anyways, so I doubt Alfred would care.

I didn't wake up because I was excited for school, I hate it even if I have never experienced it. I stayed up until six because I wanted to avoid the nightmares.

I just sat at the corner of my room, staring at nothing, as the sun came up, until I heard a knock on my door. Alfred asked me to wake up, but I told him that I was already up, so yeah.

I took a shower, washed my disgusting pale face and dressed up. I put on that stupid uniform that makes me look like a perp.

Well, actually, I'm not a perp. Mister Wayne told me that he was gonna be the one to send me to school, but I told him that I was gonna take a scholarship instead. Obviously, I passed the scholarship. I really don't want to depend on Bruce Wayne's money to send me off to school.

So I fixed my hair, sort off. I just brushed it and put my hair on top of my shoulders. I put a hair tie on my wrist and a black and violet watch on my left wrist, my necklace, and then my blue blazer.

Well, I was wrong, I lasted at least a weak. He hasn't kicked me out...yet. But Mister Wayne hardly seems to pay attention to me now. But the rest (Except Jason and Alfred), they hate me.

Like right now, I stare into Christine's eyes, full of never ending hatred as she stares me down.

"Umm hi..." Why is she trying to talk to me. I know she hates me.

"Hi." Why am I continuing the conversation? Why didn't I just walk away?

She looks me from head to toe. "You look weird in a uniform. You should just go to a public school." There's no harshness in her voice, but her tone echoes with disgust.

"Why do you care?" I know why: she doesn't want to see me everyday. I just needed something to say so I could get away.

I side step and move away from her. I walk down the stairs, shouldering my black and violet backpack.

I look at my phone as I walk down the stairs, holding onto the railings. I smile at my wallpaper, that's my motivation to go to school.

I slip my phone in my pocket and continue to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Breakfast...and silence, good combination.

I eat the cereal without a word. Then once I finish the last spoon, I stand up and walk towards the door.

Jason left for his college, I don't know what Grayson does, so that leaves Bruce to drive me, Drake, Chris, and Dami off to Gotham Academy.

Drake and Chris are talking about something as we all walk out of the door and to the Mercedes.

I stare out the window, my bag on top of my lap. I lean on the door, as far away as possible from the others as they talk. I don't know what they're talking about, cause my mind has blocked everything out. To my ears, they're talking in gibberish.

I mumble to the window in different languages.

Translated from Latin: "Dang. I wonder how school will be like? Meh, I think I've heard and read a lot about school to know how it's like. Huh, grade 8..fun.

Translated from Lao: "They say the hardest part about going to school is the labels...I've heard about that. The stereotypes and all that crap."

Translated from Cebuano: "Whatever, I bet I'm gonna fail and drop out of Gotham Academy before the first month ends...no matter how much I've studied with Talia...I'm so gonna fail. Why? Because I'm a failure, that's why. Well, that's what dad said."

Translated from Bosnian: "Hehe, yeah, good old dad...I hated him! That butt! Yes, I use the word 'butt' now, it's a fun word to use...you got a problem with that?"

Suddenly, I feel pairs of different shades of blue eyes all on me. I don't look at them, I just stare out the window and keep my mouth shut.

The car stops.

"Good luck." Bruce kisses Christine's, Tim's, and Damian's foreheads, even though Damian is obviously against it. Drake opens the door and moves out of the car, followed by Dami. Carter gets out of the passenger seat.

I quickly move out of the car but Bruce manages to say. "Good luck to you too." He says almost coldly.

I hold the door and stare at him. "I don't believe in luck." I say even colder.

"It's an expression." He returns.

"Hmph, I still don't believe in it." I say and shut the door.

I turn around and start walking to the doors of the huge school. Lots of students walk in through the doors in groups or pairs. I can see Christine and her brothers running towards the door, desperate to get away from the car.

I just simply walk. I need to strategize my plan.

I look down at my shoes, keep my shoulders up, and a small frown on my face and I walk through the huge doors.

There are lots and lots of students, all in uniform. The place is loud and noisy, there's hardly enough room for me to move. They're all just talking, walking into classrooms.

I sigh as I hold the one strap of my backpack. I leave my bag hanging on one shoulder and I hold the one strap as I stare. I hold my necklace.

"I'm so dead." I look up. "Ma, if you're seeing this right now. Please help me. Help me to survive this wretched place they call school."

I start walking towards the grade 8 classroom, my classroom apparently.

I stand in the doorway and take a look around. The classroom is full of students, both girls and boys.

I can immediately see their some of their labels just by observing them, how they, sit, talk, smile, laugh, walk.

I see a group of quiet individuals, reading their school books by the teacher's table...the nerds, obviously, the ones with glasses and braces and frizzy or curly hair.

By the edge of the room are the bullies or also known as the jerks, can be either girls or boys, the tough looking but not necessarily big and strong looking students. There are bullies who bully verbally and some physically. I can't really pinpoint all of the bullies, but that group over there are obviously the bullies.

Then the geeks. They're huddled up together. They've got eyeglasses and freckles. That's all I can say.

The jocks or the athletes. Huh, they're not really doing much but sitting on the tables and talking.

I know I'm being kind of stereotypical with the way I'm describing how they look, but seriously, that's what they look like. As I look around again, I notice some people who are hanging with certain groups but don't really fit the stereotypes...good for them.

"Get out of the way!" I turn around and find a girl with quite high heels on her black shoes, and a handbag from Marks and Spencers. She has shiny lips, obviously, she used some lipgloss, and she has a bit of blush on. Her nails are painted red and the tips are white. Her hair is blond, long and straight. Her skirt is obviously shorter than the dress code allows it to be and she has clean neat high socks.

She has a stupid scowl on her face. She has her hand on her hip as she gives me that certain stare from head to toe. That's what they call a b**** stare.

"I said get out of my way! Oh my gosh!" She says with an obviously fake British accent. I just blankly stare at her, holding my bag.

"Who are you, anyways, to get in my way?!" Her voice sounds annoyingly 'mean' and Britishly fake. I've spent enough time with Alfred to know that her accent is F-A-K-E.

"You're the new student, aren't you?"

She leans in and points at me. "Well, since you're new here, I'll let it pass, for now. When I tell you to get out of my way, get out of my way! Or I'll tell the principal!"

Lastly, those annoying 'dogs' who are the 'teacher's pet' during class but when out of class, is not surprisingly a spoiled rich popular mean girl. They're a different type of bully. The ones who usually bully verbally or online.

She pushes me out of the way and walks in through the door with her head held high. She walks to this other group of people that she obviously belongs to.

I sigh and shake my head. Some of these popular girls are nice, smart and pretty, some are fake, some are cheerleaders, and most are just plain conceited.

But hey, who am I to stereotype these people, right? I mean, sure at school, they're this and that, but outside of school, you'd never really know who they actually are and what they're going through. So I shouldn't stereotype these people anymore.

But one thing's for sure, all the kids in Gotham Academy are rich snobs, nice or not nice, they're all rich snobs, some are scholars who actually worked hard to get in, but there are only very few that get in cause they're...poor, or plainly just not rich enough.

But all these people are rich goddamned snobs, and I hate snobs…

These people always ask for what they want and then waste it. Have they ever wondered if one day, they'll just lose everything in a blink of an eye? These people aren't thankful for what they have, they're lucky they have something. They have a very expensive school, clothes, parents that pay for everything, yet they complain. What about the other people out there? The people that have no one for them to look after, the people that hardly have anything to eat, the people that are forced to steal every so often.

When these rich snobs go shopping for the things they want, have they ever wondered how it was like to not even be able or rich enough to even enter a mall?

When they don't finish their dinner, have they ever asked the question, 'when will be my next meal'?

I sigh and walk in through the doorway, the classroom gets noisier. There's a huge long line of windows at one side of the classroom with the view of trees and the front of the building, there's a long whiteboard with an unlimited supply of dry erase markers, two aircons, and a teacher's desk. There are tables everywhere. Most of them are taken though.

I start walking towards the table nearest to the window, passing by a guy that's about to walk out the door. We nearly collide.

As I start walking I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around. Facing a boy with light brown shaggy hair, luscious red lips and gray eyes. I can see the blood rising up on his cheeks as he stares at me, with his hand up, as if he just touched something soft.

"I...I like your hair." He staggers and I raise an eyebrow.

"Good to know." I say sarcastically and turn around. I quickly walk towards the table that I was heading towards earlier.

I put my bag down and take a seat. I'm about to just stare out the window when the same guy walks to me, his face no longer red, but tan-ish.

"Hey…" He tries to act cool. Ah, here's what they call the 'cool hot kid.'

Ugh! Autumn stop stereotyping! What right do you have to judge and label other people just by the way they act or look?!

I mentally punch my face. But in reality, I keep a bored emotionless face.

"You're probably new here, so let me introduce myself." He puts his hands on my desk and stares into my eyes. "I'm Luke."

Ahh, Luke...such a cute name...it reminds me of that book...and my fandom...too bad the character named Luke had to die to save the world before he turned evil.

"Luke Snyder. And yours is?" He says smiling with his teeth showing.

I keep on my boring face…

"None of your damn business." His smile disappears as if he's expecting for his smile to suddenly blind me or hypnotize me.

"Oh, so you're playing hard to get huh? I'm cool with that." His smile turns into a smirk.

I nearly choke on bile. Is he flirting with me!?

"I'm twelve."

"I'm thriteen, it's perfect!" He says.

"No, it means, that you disgust me."

He smirks. "So that means…" he's trying to decode the 'code' in my words. But there is no code.

"It means what it means. You. Disgust. Me. You're way too young to get a girlfriend."

"Too young? I've had like three!"

"Gross." I nod my head.

"Come on! Just go on one date with me. I'll guarantee you'll enjoy it." He wiggles his eyebrows and I hold down the bile in my throat.

I shake my head. "No way. Over my dead body. Besides, I just met you."

"Seriously! What do I have to do to get you to like me?!" He asks, touching my hand.

I pull my hand away and stand up, my chair making that squeaking sound. I walk towards him. He's a bit taller than me. But I know my eyes and face are intimidating.

"You want me to like you?" I gesture to me then to him. "Then stay away from me." I point to him, as he walks backwards.

"Don't talk to me, don't go near me, don't ever touch me or my hair, don't look at me, and don't even think about talking to me ever again." His back hits a table and I stand in front of him, glaring at him.

"Then. Maybe...just maybe, I could possibly, to a very small degree, I could like you. Somehow." I smile and cock my head.

I turn around, my hair swaying and I walk towards the table and sit down. I put my elbow on the table and my face on my hand and stare out the window.

I hear a low whistle. I can hear him whisper to his friend. "Is it weird that I think that that was hot?" He asks.

I grunt and roll my eyes. First day and a gross guy starts to flirt with me. Yuck. I don't even understand what he sees in me. I mean, who would like a girl like me?

I stare at the people walking and the cars driving by, the other tall buildings standing.

Translated from Roman: "Poor fools, they're not aware that someday they'll die all because The Batman was too afraid to finally end the war between good and evil, to serve the justice Gotham needs, and to control crime once and for all. What kind of a vigilante claims that he's cleaning up Gotham, when he's still hasn't burned the trash that litters these streets?"

I mumble, looking at the mothers, the fathers and the children down there.

Damian's POV

Why did Cross have to be in the same grade as me? Why couldn't she be in Carter's class...

I'm sitting towards the back of the classroom next to my only friend. He's actually an imbecile, but somehow we became "friends."

He's talking about something but I'm not listening. Instead, I'm staring at Snyder who just tried to make a move on Cross. That boy is disgusting. I wish Cross would beat him to a pulp instead of threaten him.

The class quieted down a bit when Cross stood. Now that the scene has ended, everyone is talking amongst themselves until our teacher gets here.

Damn I hate school.

I tune into my friend again. "...and then I threw a grenade and killed the zombies inside! Who's that?" He says, gesturing to Cross.

She's just staring out the window, mumbling to herself.

"The new kid?"

"Yea."

"Don't know. Don't care."

"She's kinda pretty, setting aside her mean face."

"I guess." I'm starting to tune out again. I don't need another imbecile liking Cross.

"She's not as pretty as your sister, but she's pretty."

I look over at him and glare at him. I don't need people talking about Carter either.

He gets the memo.

"We should go talk to her."

"Why the hell should we do that, Daly?" I don't need this right now. Can't people just leave me alone?

"Fine, nevermind. And how many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Scott."

I just keep staring at him.

This is going to be the worst day of my life.

Chris' POV

I have my blue and grey backpack over my right shoulder. I never really bother putting both straps over my shoulders.

Freshman year...this'll be interesting.

I keep walking down the hallway that's filled with frantic kids until I reach my classroom. I haven't seen any of my friends yet.

School...the only thing I like about it is the memories you make with your friends. Everything else sucks.

I look around me and see only familiar faces. No new kids. For a private school that costs a lot of money, there's a lot of kids in my class. Even though my class is divided into "cliques," I guess you could say, they aren't really traditional cliques. Actually, I think groups is a better word. In one cluster of desks, some nerds are sitting together. Some fit the stereotype, but others look like average people. I'm a nerd, but I'm not a full-on one.

Next to the windows are the populars. The jocks and the girly girls are always together, so I just call them the populars. Most of the girls in that group are snobbish and mean, but once in a while I find out that one of them is nicer than they seem. Myla is a "popular," but she's one of my friends. She doesn't hang out with my group, but she's not mean to me, like Karina is.

Actually, those are the only traditional groups that I see around my class. Everyone else is mixed between groups. In one group of friends, there's a nerd, a geek, two populars, and someone who doesn't exactly have a category.

How I see it, there's only two kinds of people in my class: the populars, the ones who stick to their group and only their group, and everyone else.

I scan the room and find my group of friends laughing as usual. No one in our group is classified in only one clique. We actually don't like to use the clique terms. We use good 'ol adjectives.

Laurel Fray is smart, loves reading, wears glasses...she's starting to sound like a nerd but she really isn't, but she is smart. She's a tomboy and doesn't care for shopping and gossip and whatever girly girls do. She can be funny and acting silly, but she's usually serious. I really don't mind. She's mostly silly around us anyway.

Tim Hayden is athletic. It's almost like he can play every single sport. He prefers basketball and football (in middle school we have flag football), but he also plays volleyball. He doesn't do it often, but I've seen him play tennis before, and I'm pretty sure he's done other sports. He does Kumon even though he's smart. I'd say he's the main funny person in our group. Also, he and I are very competitive against each other. He's also my crush...

Tyler Reel is athletic as well. He plays basketball, football, and volleyball, but he specializes in soccer. He's very mischievous and is always making inappropriate jokes. He loves to tease everybody, and he and Laurel always find something to tease me about. Also, he's the shortest guy in the group. He's funny, and he and Tim are close friends.

Luke Moore plays basketball, volleyball, and especially football. He's smart, but not as smart as Laurel, Tim, and I (I'm not trying to be mean or anything I'm just stating facts). He's a comic book geek just like his brother. Laurel, Tyler, and Sarah all say that he likes me, and I agree. But I only see him as a friend.

Matt Moore plays the same sports as his twin brother, Luke, but he prefers basketball. They aren't identical twins, so Luke is skinnier than Matt (that's all I'm gonna say about his size). He's inappropriate. Not super inappropriate just funny inappropriate. He's a comic book geek. He's as smart as Luke, although he would argue that he's smarter. He has crushes on Taylor Swift and Elsa (we had a good laugh about that one). Everyone ships him with our friend Sarah, and it annoys them both so much it's hilarious.

Sarah Osten has another group she hangs out with more than us, but I still consider her part of the group. She's the girliest among me, Laurel, and her. This is how I see it: Sarah is more girly, Laurel is more of a tomboy, and I'm right in the middle. She's also a comic book nerd, but not as serious as Matt and Luke. She also likes to sing and sometimes act.

And then there's me. Christine Wayne (everyone leaves out Grayson because it's too long). I'm a nerd just because I'm smart. Very competitive. I only play volleyball. None of my friends know this, but I've been reading some of my brothers' comic books, and I love them. I also try to avoid socializing and socializing events when possible. I can be funny if I want to, but I'm usually the one laughing instead of the one making the joke. I love to sing, just not in public. As I said, I am half tomboy and half girly girl. And I can be very crazy.

I don't know why I just described my closest friends in my head...

These aren't my only friends. I've got some friends in upper and lower grades, along with some others in my class. But yea...

Wow. For a girl who hates socializing and talking to random people, I have a good amount of friends...

I walk over to them and they fill me in on what they were laughing about. Tyler just made an inappropriate joke from something Luke said.

We just start talking about random things until the bell rings and we all take seats. School has officially begun.

Autumn's POV

"Good morning class, I will be your adviser." She writes down her name on the board after she puts down her things on the desk. "I am Ms. Karla Weldy." She looks around the class.

"Before we begin, do we have any new students here?" She looks around the classroom. All the students turn to me.

"There!" The girl that I encountered earlier points to me. "She's a newbie! She's the only newbie, Ms. Karla!" She says. Wow, feeling close to the adviser?

Ms. Weldy nods and smiles at the blonde. "Thank you, Mackenzie." She says with a small bright smile on her face.

She looks at me, still with that smile. "Please stand up and introduce yourself."

I stand up and start to shake a bit. All those eyes on me. It's...scary…

"I'm Autumn Cross." I say softly.

Ms. Weldy leans forward. "Excuse me?"

I can hear whispers all around me, as those eyes glare at my back.

"My name is Autumn Cross." I say louder.

The adviser nods and smiles. "Do you have anything to share about yourself?"

I'm about to say 'no' when she asks me another question. "What's your favorite color?"

A short awkward silence, before I answer truthfully…"Black or red."

"Oh, red, that seems like a nice color."

I shake my head. "No, you don't understand, I mean, blood red."

"Oh, I see." She says politely. "Um...what about your parents? Who are your parents? What are their jobs?"

My eyes slightly widen. "Erm…" More whispers. "I choose not to answer that pointless question." I sit back down as everyone stares at me.

"Okay... So anyways…" Her voice starts to become distant. I look to my right. The girl named Mackenzie is glaring right at me with her beady bright blue eyes.

She smiles. "So Autumn. Why didn't you chose to answer that question?" I stay silent and blankly stare at her. "Is it because they're jobs are gross?" She cocks her head and bats her eyelashes.

"Is it because you're embarrassed of them? Or do they hate you? Is that why you don't want to talk to them?" She says soft enough for me and a few people around me to hear.

Her eyes brighten even more as she gasps. "Oh I know! They're dead, aren't they!?" She says smiling. I grind my teeth and clench my fists. "That's why you're a scholar! Cause mommy and daddy aren't there to pay your tuition!" She says brightly.

I can hear sniggering and whispers around me.

I look down and turn around, facing the window again...no longer paying attention to the sniggering or the mumbling of these other people that I shouldn't even care about.

"Pay attention, class!" Ms. Weldy scolds.

I only stare out the window. I really wish to punch her face out...but I can't.

I sigh. I think I hate her...that popular girl...she mentioned my parents...I never met my birth mom, my foster mom...she was the best...but in the end, both my moms died. My dad wasn't my favorite person in the world, and he still isn't even though now he's gone, but he was still...something.

I blink my eyes. Autumn! Let's think about something else!

After school, I'm gonna go buy a skateboard and take off this horrid uniform and put on long sleeves and jeans and a pair of cheap but strong sneakers. Yeah, a skateboard, then I'll go practice playing my guitar, then I'll go read a good book or maybe watch a movie on my laptop, or maybe I'll write a poem or something, maybe I'll sing along with one of my favorite songs!

Or...maybe...I can go and re-read my beautiful collection of my favorite comics! No, wait! I'll just finish season three of Walking Dead! Hehe...so...gory...wait! I also wanna finish season two of Attack On Titan! Or read Homestuck! Or maybe...I can write a short story...or read short and sad stories online…(yeah, I like really depressing stories, I like being sad...it's better than being happy or angry.)

Huh! I know! I can multitask! I can do all these things right after the other or at the same time! While listening to music and staring at pictures of awesome cars and my favorite characters...that are guys...that are really hot...hehe...

Or...maybe...I can just sit on the bed in the dark and stare at the wall...nah! I'm not gonna waste the rest of my afternoon staring at nothing! I'm a busy person! Sort of…

I can still feel those damn eyes on my back but I don't bother to turn around...I'm too lazy to turn around and glare.

What else can I consider doing? Well, not socializing with the Waynes, not going out of the room and showing my face to them, yeah, anything but talking to the Waynes. Maybe I can go for a walk around the park after school.

When school ends it will be like three o' clock...yay, time. Here's my plan…

Go to the manor, change, leave the manor, walk around Gotham, buy a skateboard, use the skateboard in that skate park in Crime Alley that I know about because I'm a curious cat. Then, stay there and practice for like two hours, go back to the manor at like, four, then use my guitar and then watch two episodes of Walking Dead and like three episodes of Attack On Titan.

Eat dinner, then go lock myself up in a room...probably play Ace Attorney on my iPad mini, that I bought months ago with my money.

****Break****

Ahh, lunch...well I don't know what to say about it except that it's really noisy and crowded.

I put my food down on an empty table by the wall and sit down in silence. I stare at the cafeteria. Damn it's crowded, too noisy. If I could just blow this cramped place up, I would and I would laugh as it blows up...but sadly, I can't do that.

I look around the cafeteria. I can see Drake with a few of his friends as they talk, Carter with a whole group of friends laughing and talking loudly, Dami is sitting with his only friend who's blabbering about stuff while Damian just sits there staring at his food.

They all have their own friends...I sit here alone, holding my recycled notebook and my favorite pen.

I'm alone, and I like it that way. I don't plan on making any friends at all, as long as I'm living in Wayne Manor, just until I get kicked out.

I have many layers here at school.

I'll either be a bit rude to flirts, quiet to the noisy mean populars, silent and shy to everyone else.

My head is always down and my shoulders tense, and my mouth stitched together. I make sure to avoid anyone and make sure that they don't touch me at all. I'll be that quiet weird loner who coops up with her notebook and has no friends at all throughout the year. Cause, that shy kid, that's me…that's my original layer with other people that I'm uncomfortable with.

That kid...the shy low-self esteemed kid...that's me...the quiet type, but rude to people that flirt with her...but puts up with the people who are annoying and mean but are not flirting with her.

LIke with the populars, I'll be silent and shy unless the jocks start to flirt with me (although I doubt that would ever happen, in a bajillion years.) I'll be unlikable, and shy, and sometimes rude and mean...because that's who I am.

I'm afraid to even look at others, to talk to them and walk up to them and tap them on the shoulder...no one knows that side of me...but that girl...is one of my strongest layers.

I'm an onion. WIth many layers. I am surrounded by a lot of blankets because I wanna be hidden all the time and I'm afraid for anyone else to open me up and judge my taste, I can be really cold and I can tell you that I don't care about you, I can be really intense and I can make you cry once you take those blankets out, but once you get to know me more, you find out that I do care and that I'm not that cold on the inside.

I open my notebook and take out my pen. I stick a straw in my juice box and drink it as I write a short story. I silently laugh at some of the gory parts and I shudder at the flirting parts that I'm writing. I grin at the sad and depressing parts that include death in this very short story.

I write rapidly. I let go of my pen and then quickly shake my hand, then pick up my pen again as I finish my juice box.

Then someone sits in front of me. I look up, not facing my head up. "H...hi…" he says...is he a nerd or is he a geek?

"Can my friends and I sit here with you?"

I hold my juice box and shake it, finding out that it's empty. I shoot it in the trash can. "We...we just don't have anywhere else to sit." He says and I look behind him. A group of nerds are like, six feet away from him, smiling.

"We...we really don't wanna sit by the dumpster today. We'll sit with you...you won't even notice we're here."

I take the apple on my tray. "Yeah o...okay. I'm...I'm...done anyways." I stand up and take my tray.

I'm about to walk out when he stops me. "Actually, we were hoping, you would sit with us." He says.

I bow my head and brush my hair towards my side as I hold my tray and apple. "Uh, sorry, I...I can't…" I'm being shy again, not rude. He's not flirting anyways, he's just politely asking me if he can sit on this table.

I raise my head a bit and give him a slight smile as I take my notebook. "You guys can sit here though." I tell him and I can see that disappointed look on his face.

"Well, can you at least tell me that you're my friend?"

I look back down. "Um...no...no...I...I don't have any friends...and I also...I also don't want any friends...sorry." I say and I turn around and walk towards the cafeteria doors. Sensing his disappointment.

I raise my head and keep an emotionless face with a more confident posture. It's not like anyone's watching me. I bite my apple as I hold onto my notebook.

By the time I get to the doors by the trash can, my apple's gone. I open the door and shoot the seed of the apple behind me, I know that it hits the trashcan once I hear a rocking thud, so I don't look back. Because I can suddenly feel a bunch of eyes on my back.

Tim's POV

I wonder what we'll be doing in Geometry today. In every single class, we were forced to say something we did over the summer as we made sure we had everything we needed for high school. The first part of class usually went something like this:

Hello everyone. My name is (whatever their name was). Let's do some introductions so I can learn your names.

The teacher would point at us one by one asking us what our name is, what our favorite subject is, and something what we did over the summer. I'm reluctant to admit that the entire time I started thinking like Damian. "This is ridiculous. We are not children. Let's break free of this prison and do something fun."

But don't get me wrong, I love school.

Suddenly the teacher would point at me. "Your turn!"

"My name is Tim Drake. My favorite subject is..." That's a hard one. I just said the first subject I could think of. "Biology. And over the summer..." What am I supposed to say? I developed a crush on a girl, my brother came home, I have a sister that I hate having around even though she's my crush, I had many near-death experiences, my brother was in Arkham, etc. "I...(insert excuse here)" My summer event was different almost every time someone asked me that question.

"Thank you Tim." Then he/she would go to the next person.

Now it's lunchtime. Even though we're highschoolers, we still are in a close vicinity with middle school.

I just looked to my left and saw Autumn leaving a table along with the nerd sitting there. He looks really disappointed. Poor guy.

My friends and I are walking to the nearest empty table when I notice Chris and her friends sitting in a nearby table. She's sitting next to two of her friends: Laurel and Tim. Laurel is engaged in a conversation involving the entire table...well the entire table except Chris and Tim. Chris starts laughing and Tim starts saying something to her, an annoyed look on his face. My face grows hot at the sight of those two.

"Hey, I'll be right back I have to go do something." I place my tray on the table and slowly walk over to Chris' table, careful to make sure she doesn't notice me, or any of her friends notice me. As I come closer to them, I can hear what they're talking about.

"Just admit it! I defeated you fair and square at that game!"

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because I find it funny that you can't accept that a girl beat you at something, especially since I've beaten you at so many things."

"I can accept that a girl beat me. What I can't accept is that you are the one who's always beating me."

"Aww Tim, this is your life now. You are destined to do great things, and I am destined to always do things better than you."

"That's not true, I'm better than you at sports." He has a proud look on his face.

"Ok I'll admit to that. But I bet I could beat you at volleyball." A smirk forms.

"Oh really?" He has a look of disbelief on his face.

"Your team versus my team. Girls versus boys." She leans forward.

"You're on." He leans forward, their narrowed eyes and smirks only inches away from each other.

I've had enough. I rush over there and place a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"Chris, Dad called. He's got a problem." I whisper into her ear.

Chris' eyes widen. Then they shrink back to their normal size and she looks at me, a suspicious look in her eyes.

"Wait, did he call you using your phone or the school phone?"

"School phone."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Because I just came back from the school office."

"No you didn't. You were with your group of friends just a minute ago." She turns and points at my table. "See they're waiting for you. You'd better eat or Alfred will spoonfeed you when we get home until you've eaten so much you're gonna explode and send guts and blood and bones flying everywhere. Then Alfred would be forced to clean all that mess up, although he'd probably force all of us to help."

Laurel, who had started listening to the conversation, turns to Chris. "That's harsh."

"Like you haven't said worse." She turns to Laurel. Laurel shrugs, a smirk on her face, then continues eating.

Chris turns back to me. "I hang out with you everyday at home. Can you leave me with my friends for just 7 hours?"

"Alright see you later." Now she gets the whole day with the other Tim. The one she calls "Tim, the friend," even though I know she doesn't see him as just a friend.

I turn around and I'm about to walk back to my table when a hand grabs onto my arm. I turn my head and Chris has a strong grip on my arm. I can feel my face turning hot. Why is my face turning hot? Stop it face. Stop it...

"Before I forget, how are things going with Tiffany?" She looks serious, but I can tell she's trying not to smile.

"Tiffany? Oh um things weren't really working out."

"Good." Then she pulls me down so that I am at her level. She leans closer to my ear. "Well, what about the new girl?" She whispers.

I can feel myself blushing as I quickly stand up to my full height, which isn't very tall. Chris' smirk is mocking me.

"Have a good rest of the day, Chris. You too Tim." I say quickly and I turn around and walk back to my table.

Why is Chris setting me up with Autumn?

I thought she hated that girl. Maybe she's doing it just to mess with me. At least she's not messing with my head like Autumn. My sister would never do that. What was so embarrassing was the fact that she knew I was jealous of her relationship with Tim H. Well, not relationship, more like closeness. Chris and I talk occasionally, but they aren't really full conversations like she has with Dick and Damian. I wish we could talk more...just talk.

A/N: If you want to see the video that Chris talked about, here is the link:

watch?v=litXW91UauE

So for some reason when I copy and paste the link it doesn't wanna cooperate so just go to YouTube and search up Dove Real Beauty Sketches.