Okay guys, so there is some … umm sexual content in the next three or so chapters, but no actual sex okay? So if you guys are really sensitive to that, just know that I did say that it was adult level reading material. So btw. But it's a really good chapter and is really important for the rest of the plot! So don't miss out!

Bethany POV

After school was the gymnastics tryout. I had completely forgotten about it. I actually didn't know that much about gymnastics, only the basics. The only cool thing I could do was jump off of a two story building: aka my old house. I never really liked to do flips in a fight because it always exerted too much energy, energy I could be using to fight. But Artemis was right. Gymnastics could definitely help me become more flexible and stronger.

Artemis and I got to the gym late and stretched while the other students chatted with each other in groups. Then we heard the door open and the chatting quieted down. Artemis and I didn't bother looking up because we were touching our toes at the moment. I decided I would just listen.

"Okay, kiddos! The tryout will begin. I'm Coach White, and this is my teacher assistant, Richard Grayson," My head snapped up to see Dick waving at the group of students who were all trying out.

"Well, that was unexpected," Artemis murmured next to me.

I nodded in agreement. I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. Then Dick looked right at us and smirked. I snapped my mouth shut and looked away. Why didn't he say he was going to be coaching, too? This was going to be so embarrassing.

The tryout didn't go that poorly. In fact, Artemis and I were the strongest ones there (I wonder why) and we were able to hold positions much longer than the other students. Of course, when it came to flexibility, I was much more flexible than Artemis, but she knew more moves than I did. I insisted it was because she had been training with the Team longer. I have only been training for a couple of days. Even Dick was being chill at the tryout. He immediately came to coach us and help us out.

"Dick, you didn't tell me you were the freaking coach's assistant!" I said as Artemis and I were doing handstands along the wall. Dick was standing in front of me, upside down from my view.

"Well, would it have mattered?"

I stuttered for words to express my confusion and my feelings.

"What she means to say is that she didn't know that you were that much of an overachiever," Artemis volunteered. Our arms were starting to shake a little because we had been doing a handstand for over a little more than 2 minutes. My head felt really heavy with all the blood that had moved to my head.

Dick gave out a snort and said, "One more minute on the wall for you, Artemis. As for you, Bethany. I think you can come down now. I'll show you how to properly come out of the handstand."

When I was done, A question popped to mind.

"Hey, Dick?"

"Yeah?" We were standing in front of Artemis, watching her suffer.

"How long have you been doing gymnastics for? I mean, you would have to be really good if you're the coach's assistant."

He was quiet for a long time, and I thought that I had said something wrong, but then he spoke quietly, "Since I was a child. I have been doing gymnastics for as long as I can remember."

I stayed quiet, thinking he was done.

Suddenly, he turned to me, serious, "Did you know I used to be part of a circus?"

"That's so cool! What did you do?"

"I did the trapeze. I remember that I loved the feeling of freedom when I was in the air. I loved the exhilaration of the flight. I loved my pare…" He trailed off, daydreaming.

"What happened? Why'd you quit?" I asked quietly. I was unsure if I should be asking these questions.

He paused and looked me right in the eye, his electric blue eyes not so electric anymore. They looked a little misty as he said, "I was hurt and broken."

I let the subject drop after that.

At the end, I was sweaty, my limbs felt rubbery, and I was exhausted. But nonetheless, I went the cave and washed up and then got ready to go to the stupid damn party.

I was standing outside of the cafe, watching the zipping cars race past me on the busy street. There were dozens of people waiting around, sitting on the outside chairs, or walking past in a rush to get to their destination. I had told Dick to meet me at the cafe at 7:30 before we went. He could pick me up there. I told him some lame excuse about needing to pick up some snacks of my own or something like that. What am I going to tell him when he notices that I've never told him where I live? What if Barbara or Rose want to hang out at my house and I'm like, "Oh sorry. No outsiders are allowed in the cave that I live in." Ugh, this was going to get so complicated in the future.

I was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. I had my dark hair in a simple french braid down my back and no makeup. I decided that I didn't really want to wear anything flashy or draw any attention. I wanted to stick to the shadows, so that was what I was going to do.

I saw a sleek, black BMW drive up in front of the cafe and Dick rolled down the passenger window, motioning me to come in. I looked down at my watch. It was 7:15. He was really early.

Once I was inside and buckled, we drove off.

"Wow, you're early," I said, trying to make small talk.

He just grumbled in response.

"I'm sorry to drag you into all this," I said solemnly. I really was. If I hadn't been laying on him today, then Kelli wouldn't have used him against me.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad I found out about all this. I didn't know that Kelli has been bothering you."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Do you like hanging out with Kelli?" Dick asked quietly.

I thought about it. It's not like I was trying to hang out with her to be popular. In fact, I always tried to avoid her. But Kelli had never really done anything wrong to me. In fact, she's always been nice to me and always tries to hang out with me. It was just me that never returned any of the favors.

"I don't know. She's nice to me and all, but something is just off about her. She's never really done anything wrong to me, it's just something in me never feels comfortable around her… I don't know how to explain it," I sighed. I really didn't know how to explain the feeling I got whenever she asked me to hang out.

"Instincts? Are your instincts telling you that something is wrong with her?" Dick asked. I noticed that his voice was suddenly deeper and he sounded much more serious. His voice… it suddenly sounded familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Yeah, something like that. I don't know. Whenever she asks me to hang out with her, I suddenly get this dreading feeling in my stomach and I have a bad feeling," I said softly. Then I realized how stupid that sounded. No one would understand what I was saying but the Team. They knew all about instincts, and I'm just talking to a kid that goes to my school. He probably thinks I'm crazy.

"I see," Dick murmured, more to himself. He looked deep in thought, so I decided not to talk.

We arrived a few seconds later at this huge house with a lot of cars parked in front of it. There were cars lined up on both sides of the street and the semi circle driveway leading up the house was filled with cars. No one could drive through, the place was too packed with cars. Some were even bold enough to park on the grass of the semicircle. One word came to mind: mansion. The place was definitely a party house, and all the lights were lit, creating a glow around the house itself. Once I opened the window, I could hear the thrum of a bass and it seemed like the whole house was bouncing to the beat of the music. Dick had to stop at the beginning of the long driveway to the house because there was no more room for him to get closer. I opened the door.

"Forget what I said earlier. It was stupid. I was probably just rambling," I said to him before climbing out of the low car. I looked back down into the car, ready to say thank you. Dick was frowning, like he was disappointed or upset.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" He asked. Concern was etched everywhere on his face. It made me feel guilty about going, but I kept telling myself that I was doing this so that Dick could stay out of it.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," I said, giving him my best fake smile. I shut the door before he could protest and started walking slowly up the driveway. I heard his car rumble in reverse and then all of a sudden, I saw his car move through the grass next to me and stop. The car jolted into park and the door opened and slammed shut.

I turned around, arms crossed, narrowing my eyes at a nearing Dick.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I still have a bad feeling about this. Like you said, instincts. My instincts are telling me that I need to be here. I'm having a really bad feeling about this," He said. He was completely serious. There was no more cheerfulness or playfulness in his voice.

Something was boiling up in me.

"Do you not trust me? It's just a fucking party. I can freaking take care of myself!" I said, almost shouting. I don't know why, but I was getting kind of angry. I was going to this stupid party to get him out of Kelli's attention. Now he was trying to follow me into the damn party, and that would only make Kelli take more of an interest in him.

"Bethany, I'm just trying to help! Something's going to happen! I know it, I can feel it!" He exclaimed. I could hear the desperation in his voice. He was trying to get me to understand. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"Dick, I've been trying to keep you out of this mess with Kelli, and now you're just getting more involved. Thanks for dropping me off, but I can take care of myself from here," I said. Then I added a little more quietly, "I'm stronger than you think."

"It's not about strength, Bethany!" He called after me because I was already speed-walking away from him, "It's about experience, which you don't -"

I ran into something hard. I stepped back, rubbing my nose and looked up at… Oh, God. Mike was standing right in front of my, a sloppy grin on his face. I could smell the alcohol coming off of him in waves, and his eyes looked lazy, but they widened when they saw me. I took another step backwards, in disgust.

"Well, what do you know? I ran into the girl I've been looking for this whole night!" His words were slightly slurred. Then he looked at Dick, who was far behind me and had an angry look on his face. His palms were clenching and unclenching, like he wasn't sure what to do. Mike jabbed a finger in Dick's direction, his finger was wavering in the air unsteadily as he said, "Is this guy bothering you, honey? Come on, I'll make you forget about him."

Before I could process what that meant, Mike had already crossed over to me in one giant stride while I was still looking at Dick. I suddenly felt a pair of burly hands grab my butt and press me hard to him. I inhaled the smell of overpowering alcohol. I tried to move my hands away, but they were crushed in between Mike's chest and mine. I was forcefully being molded into him. He squeezed and grabbed my butt harshly over and over again, and pressed me further into him. I was hyperaware of his hardness through his pants.

I squirmed in desperation to get away and eventually kicked him in the shins. When he backed away in surprise, I punched him square in the face, making him stagger back, one hand holding a bloody nose, his other hand waving in front of him, trying to get me away. I grabbed his flailing hand and expertly flipped him over my shoulder, hearing a satisfying, heavy thud as Mike hit the pavement. He groaned and slowly shifted in pain.

Immediately, Dick was next to me and held my face in both of his palms, his eyes searching mine for anything.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice was frantic, "Sorry! I should have stopped him, I should have been there."

I pulled away from his grasp, although there were still tingles from where his hands were.

"I told you I could take care of myself," I said firmly. And then I marched away, towards the house.

Yay! I told you it wasn't too bad. Stay traught okay? I'm going on my school trip for five days, after that I have a really long chapter next. I have it already written and I may just post it later tonight to give you guys something extra to read while I'm gone, so stay on the lookout! Sorry, I won't be able to post for 5 days :( And tell me what you guys think of the new cover! I need feedback!