So I decided to use my country's education system for Daphne's school. Sad that she quit elementary school, but here's her high school. :)
I added a little part about Delphinium at the end. A start of a new mystery~~
Enjoy! and have a day!
Chapter 18:
Daphne combed her hair and tied it into pigtails. Her choice of clothing was a t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. She put on her favorite sweater. She got everything ready inside her sling bag. Once she was certain, she got down to have her breakfast. Tiara, Mana, and her sister smiled at her.
"Your first day of high school…" Delphinium uttered as the girl sat down beside her.
"Yeah… I actually can't wait to learn simple stuff. Learning about other companies is hard…" Daphne replied, laughing.
The three laughed too. They ate their food. Delphinium looked through the mails that Mana had gotten for her. One of them caught her attention.
"Hmmm?" she hummed.
"What's up?" her sister asked.
"I've got an invitation…" Delphinium replied, looking at the invitation, "From Bruce Wayne…"
"What about?" Daphne asked, munching on her pancake.
Delphinium read it out loud, "It's a Welcome Home Party for Damian. It says that they are happy to announce the new addition to the family and also, it is to express their deepest apologies about the World Tech summit…"
Daphne muttered, "I see…"
"I think I should go, but if you don't want to go, I'll go alone," Delphinium said to her sister.
"I'll think about it," her younger sister smiled.
Delphinium nodded. She placed the invitation into her handbag. After breakfast, Daphne took her bike to school like always. Delphinium would take the cab to the office. She was in class 1-B that year. She greeted the guard. She noticed some familiar faces but ignored them. She headed straight to her class. Sitting down on her chosen seat, she sighed. The blonde girl who sat in front of her turned around, smiling at her.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I've been meaning to talk to you! My name's Shirley. We were in the same class before you quit school," she explained to Daphne.
Daphne gave out a nervous grin. "Shouldn't you be talking to the other girls? I mean, I'm not even popular…" she asked.
Shirley shook her head, explaining, "Nope. I've been watching you all this time and really want to be your friend. You seem easier to be approached than them. They judge people too much."
"I see that…" Daphne replied.
The teacher for the first period came in before they could continue their conversation. Shirley flashed out a smile at Daphne before proceeding to turn around.
"Hello, girls and boys. I will be your class teacher for the whole year. My name is Miss Briana," the scarlet haired woman said, smiling, "Well, we have a new student joining us at the very last minute."
She turned towards the door. All of the kids did the same thing, except Daphne who was not really interested in such occasion. It would be a great opportunity for her bullies to create stories about her and make the new kid hate her before she could even talk to him or her. The new student stepped into the class. The girls and boys started to whisper.
"Well, this is Damian Wayne," Miss Briana said.
Upon hearing the name, the orange haired girl quickly looked up. It was truly him, with his black turtleneck shirt and dark blue pants. The scowl was real at the very least. Daphne rubbed her eyes a few times to make sure it was Damian.
Damian spoke, "My name is Damian Wayne and as the name states, I am Bruce Wayne's son. I come from another country and father decided to take me in after getting to know me."
"That is nice, Damian," Miss Briana nodded to him, she schemed through the classroom, "Hmm…There are two empty seats."
"I'm sorry I'm late!" a voice was heard.
All eyes turned to the door. A brown haired boy stood there, catching his breath. He smiled guiltily towards the teacher.
"It is okay. You may take a seat," the teacher smiled to him, turning to Damian, "You too, Damian."
Damian stared straight at Daphne. The brown haired took the seat beside Daphne. She heaved a sigh of relief, glad that it wasn't Damian. As he walked, some girls and boys whispered bad things about Daphne. He ignored them. He raised a brow towards Daphne who flashed a small smile at him. She looked away after that. Damian sat down beside Shirley.
"Now, why don't we start with an introduction? I would like each and every one of you to stand up, tell us your name and which elementary school did come from before. You may add any other detail. Let's start with you," Miss Briana gestured towards the student who were sitting at the front and the far most corner.
Each student stood up and told what she asked. Some students added about what their parents do for a living. There was a total of 30 students. The brown haired boy stood up when it was his turn.
"Hi, everyone! The name's Max Jefferson. I was from Gotham Elementary. My family runs a restaurant around this part of town. Feel free to go and try out finest steak," he said.
He sat down after that. Since Daphne picked the last seat, she would be the last to introduce herself. When she stood up, all eyes were stabbing her. Max smiled at the girl, ensuring that it was going to be fine and Shirley did the same.
"Umm…hi. My name is Daphne. I won't mention my elementary school because I quit before I could finish up," Daphne explained.
"What do your parents do, Daphne?" Miss Briana asked, smiling sweetly.
"Umm…they died two years ago, but my sister is taking over our company. We own a pharmaceutical company…" the girl replied, playing with her hand.
"I see. Thank you, Daphne," the teacher said.
After that, most of the teachers that came in only asked them to do the same thing. They had most of the time free since it was only the first day. Daphne busied herself with a book and Max was writing something. Damian was surrounded by girls and boys who wanted to get to know him. Shirley was irritated by it.
"So, what is it like living with Bruce Wayne?" a boy asked.
"Have you ever gone to his office?" a girl asked.
"What do you like to do during your free time?" another girl asked.
"Do you like video games?" a boy asked.
"He doesn't look like that type, Tom," a girl said and laughed at Tom's question.
"I guess…he looks smart," Tom, the one asking about video games, replied and scratched his head.
Damian raised a brow. "Excuse me for a second," he muttered.
Everyone paused. He stood up and turned to Daphne who was busy reading a story book. Max glanced up at the girl and then, stared at Damian. The boy practically ignored him, waiting for Daphne to respond. She could feel people glaring. She glanced up at Damian. He was looking at her. She closed her book and sighed.
"Do you…need something?" she asked him.
"Show me around the school. I assume it's almost recessed time," Damian requested.
"I can show you around school!" a different girl exclaimed.
"Me too!" the one beside her, also a girl, said.
Damian titled his head a bit. Max and Shirley stared at the two back and forth. They turned to each other. Daphne blinked a few times before giving in. She stood up and grabbed some books.
"What are those for?" Damian asked.
"Since I'm showing you around, I can stop by at the library. I want to donate these books," Daphne explained.
Damian counted the books: five. He said, "Let me carry them."
The orange haired turned to him, shook her head and replied, "I'll carry them myself, but thanks anyway, Mas…I mean, thanks. Just thanks…"
She gestured to the door. Damian went ahead and waited for her there. Some girls were glaring at her and some were whispering. There were 18 girls in her class, excluding her and only one was not glaring at her. Max and Shirley started talking to each other. They had mischievous smirks on their faces.
"Are they always like that?" Damian asked as they walked.
"Maybe…I don't really know. This is my first day here. Maybe you're just too good looking," Daphne said bluntly.
"You think I'm good looking?" the black haired asked.
The girl turned to look at him. "Good figure, strong arms, an exact same face as the young Bruce Wayne… Who wouldn't?" she replied calmly.
Damian stopped and blurted, "You don't see anything wrong about what you just said?"
"Not really…" the girl said. She gestured to her right and said, "This hall has three Science Labs and a Computer Lab. Across the hall are other classes."
They kept on walking. Daphne didn't do her job half-heartedly but it just seemed that way because she was still shocked to see him.
"Well, we're at the library now. Do you want to look inside?" she asked him.
Damian nodded. He walked in with her. The librarian recognized Daphne because she visited the school a week before. The girl placed the books she would like to donate. She introduced Damian to the librarian as well. Then, she went to put the books on their shelves.
"So, how did you convince Master Bruce to let you enroll here?" she asked as she placed the first book.
They went further into the library. Damian handed Daphne the second book. He held on to the other three.
"Well…I only said I need to talk to you. It was Pennyworth's idea…" Damian said, thinking for a moment before shaking his head.
Curious, Daphne raised a brow. "Is there more to the story?"
The boy shook his head. He helped her with the third book since she couldn't reach the shelf. Some girls in the library were watching them, but they didn't care as much as her classmates did. Daphne led Damian to a section of the shelf that she thought he would love.
"So, they just let you enroll here? Did you choose that class because you know I am in it?" she asked as they exited the library.
The boy rapidly shook his head. "It was just a coincidence."
She brought him to the cafeteria and outside of it which was the yard where the kids hang out with their friends. She stared.
"I don't like coming out here. It's an exception today. I have to show every part of the school to you," she explained, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Are you…" before Damian could ask anything, Daphne's phone rang.
She answered as it was her sister. "Yo, Sis? Can you come over to the office after this?"
"Sure. What's up?" Daphne asked.
"Well, some of these people from a company wanted to speak to you instead… Can you at least convince them that we mean well?" Delphinium requested.
"I will…as soon as I'm done showing Master Damian around…" the girl muttered.
There was a pause before her sister asked, "Damian is there? Can I talk to him?"
Daphne handed the phone to him. "My sister," was all she said.
He took it without asking anything. As he spoke, Daphne waited beside him. He told her that it would take a while. She decided to go to the toilet. She told him to stay in the yard and he nodded.
"So why is it important that she doesn't hear us?" he asked Delphinium.
"Why are you at her school?" Delphinium asked.
"I'm a student here as of today. It was Pennyworth's idea," Damian sighed.
"Hmm…tell me more," the girl demanded.
"He said I could keep an eye on her while I'm at it. Is she always bullied?" Damian asked.
"Yes, most of the time…even at our old school…" he heard her sigh.
Damian suddenly heard a loud thud. He hung up and followed the sound. He caught sight of Daphne, cornered to the lockers and surrounded by three girls. He identified them and knew that they were from the same class as him and Daphne.
"Why is he sticking to you?" the one in the middle asked.
"You're not even welcomed here," the one to her right said.
Standing up, the girl brushed off the dust on her clothes. She turned to them and said, "It just happens because I was sitting behind him. I'm just showing him around as a fellow classmate."
"I see… Then, I'm expecting to see you far away from him starting tomorrow or you know what'll happen…" the middle one said.
They left her there. Daphne sighed, looking down. Damian came up to her to give her phone back. She placed them inside her pocket. They went back to class without a word. Damian took his seat. In an instant, he was again surrounded by the people who wished to get to know him. Shirley turned around to speak with Daphne.
"Did you show him the whole school?" Shirley asked.
"No. I haven't shown him the fields yet and also the court…" Daphne sighed.
"I'll take it from here. The girls seem to hate you," Max spoke up.
Daphne turned to him and then, to Shirley. "Why are you guys being nice to me?" she asked
"Well, I've been meaning to be your friend…and Max here is my best friend," the blonde explained.
"I see…" Daphne muttered, smiling, "Thanks, you two."
They started talking about their family's business after that. Shirley is the daughter of a tech company that is globally successful. She showed them her cell phone which came from her own company. Max said that if they ever come to his restaurant, he would give them some discounts. They started to laugh at Max's jokes after that. Meanwhile, Damian's ears were twitching as he heard Daphne's innocent laugh. He was jealous.
School ended early that day, and Daphne was glad. She picked up her books. Then, she hurried to her bike to get to the office. Once she was there, the workers greeted her and told her where to find Delphinium. Her sister was having her lunch in Daphne's office. She jumped at her little sister when she saw her.
"Thank goodness you're here!" she screamed happily.
"Where are the people exactly?" Daphne asked.
"They'll be back soon. Have you eaten?" Delphinium asked.
"No…I couldn't eat. Too much on my mind," the younger Aldrin replied.
Delphinium nodded. She went back to eating her food. Daphne sat on the chair in front of her desk. She stared at her phone as she waited for her sister to finish her lunch. Delphinium knew something was up.
"What's wrong? Anything happened at school?" she asked.
Sighing, Daphne replied, "Yeah… The girls hate me because Master Damian keeps on bugging me…"
"He must be the most popular boy in your grade now," Delphinium remarked.
"Yes, he is," Daphne groaned.
The people they were waiting for had gathered in the meeting room. Delphinium accompanied her sister. She left her there.
Meanwhile, back at the Wayne Manor, Damian was having lunch with his father. Silence filled their surroundings. Bruce knew that Damian had something to say, but he didn't want to ask. He could guess that it was about Daphne. He did take a few glances at his son as he ate, though. Alfred came to refill their drinks.
"How was school, Master Damian?" he asked the boy.
Damian swallowed his food and stared. "It was okay. I'm in her class."
Bruce looked up at him. The boy didn't say anything else.
"Was she okay with it?" he decided to ask.
"We didn't get to talk much…" Damian replied.
"How is she, young sir?" Alfred asked, concerned.
The boy replied, "Still bullied…but she has friends, two at the very least. They seem to make her laugh."
"That's good then. Did you tell her about the party?" Bruce asked, chewing on his food.
He shook his head. "She didn't expect to see me, so I didn't ask much."
"I hope she and her sister could make it. I have some things to discuss with Delphinium," Bruce muttered.
"Indeed, sir. I miss the little girl a lot," Alfred spoke up.
Delphinium didn't go home until it was late that night. She wasn't scared because she was used to it. After all, she was trained by Deathstroke. However, that night, she felt like someone was watching her.
"Show yourself!" she demanded, but now reply came.
She hurried her pace to a bus stop, hoping a cab would stop by. After a few minutes of waiting, she could feel eyes were one her. She called Tiara to pick her up in the family car. Once she was back, she rushed to her study. She switched on all of her screens, eyeing the ones that were place around her office building.
Nothing.
She couldn't get anything. She was expecting at least a shadow of the person watching her, but nothing. She sighed, sinking into her chair.
"What is going on…?" she muttered.