Ch. 1~A new friend

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Gotham Academy, a place for students who either have a lot of money or a lot of brains can attend. I'm one of these students, my name is Avery Carter. I transferred here from Gotham High, and I won't lie, being surrounded by bratty rich kids completely sucks. They don't understand how it feels, to have someone look down on you. They think I'm a freak, just because I don't look like them. 

I remember being on my way to fourth period, when my classmate, Damian Wayne stopped me. I had never spoken to him, I doubted he'd even looked at me. Students funneled out of the classroom as Damian grabbed my arm, "You forgot your pen. Word of advice: don't let Martinez borrow it, he won't give it back."

"Th-thanks," I stammered, taking my pen from his hand, "I owe you one." 

It took me off-guard, the fact that he was even speaking to me. I ran a hand through my straight brown hair, revealing my eyes. I wasn't wearing contacts, so my heterochromia was clear as day. One brown eye, one blue eye. I instantly realized what I had done and covered my face again. 

"So you're the one that Smythe was talking about, in the cafeteria yesterday?" He tilted his head at me, although he was smiling. 

"Smythe? Like Ethan Smythe?" I was immediately furious. Ethan was one of my biggest bullies, he always gave me an insane amount of trouble. He was the only person in that school that was capable of making me cry. 

"Yes, that's who I meant. He called you 'ugly'," He huffed out the word like it was an insult to Ethan, not me, "though I don't see it. If anyone's ugly, it's him." He smirked. 

I giggled as we started to walk to our next classes. "You're Damian Wayne, right?" I tilted my head to him, so that I was still looking him in the eyes. 

"Right. I'm sorry but..." he said awkwardly, "I don't know who you are." 

"It's fine. I'm Avery, Avery Carter." I put my hair back over my face as we went into a more crowded hallway. I put my head down when I noticed Ethan in my peripheral vision. We walked in silence, before I felt someone lightly tug at the back of my shirt.

I yelped a little when that tug turned to a yank, and I was fell right onto the floor. I looked up, and there was Ethan standing over me. He nudged me with his foot, laughing the whole time. His group of friends-or, as I like to call them, his minions-were cackling like hyenas. I had learned to just shut up and take it by this point, maybe they'd leave me alone eventually. I didn't want there to be any more trouble than there had to be, so I shut my mouth and just lay down on the ground. 

"How does it feel, huh?" He nudged me again with the toe of his shoe. "It must suck, being where you belong.

I wasn't expecting Damian to even react to it, but he did. I heard him growl under his breath. "Watch yourself, Smythe." He warned, getting into a surprisingly masterful position, like he was ready to fight. 

"Or what?" This time, instead of nudging me, he kicked me with all of his strength, which sent me sliding across the floor. I hit someone's feet, most likely Damian's. It was at this point that I realized that everyone in the halls were staring at us, staring at me. The entire hallway was dead quiet, not even the lockers dared to squeak. 

Damian didn't waste any more time talking. I heard a punching sound, like skin on skin. I fumbled to my feet, but it was too late by then. Damian and Ethan were already shoving each other around. This wasn't the worst of it, Ethan and his friends had thrown rocks at me and at one point Ethan pulled my shirt down and exposed my bra to everyone in the room during a school dance. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran between them and tried to intervene. "Damian, you don't have to bother defending me." I stood in-between them, not bothering to take sides. 

"Well, clearly you can't do it yourself. Get out of here, I'll handle this." He moved past me and grabbed a fistful of Ethan's shirt and pinned him against the locker. 

"Are...are you sure?" I hesitated. 

"Positive." He  said, and I swear I saw him smile at Ethan.

Next morning

I had to thank Damian for defending me the day before. We were waiting for our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Black, to let us into the classroom. I took a look at myself in the camera of my phone, making sure that I was wearing my contacts, so both of my eyes were brown. Then I walked over to him, he perked up at the sight of me. "I...I just really wanted to thank you, for what you did yesterday. No one's ever done anything like that for me."

"It's fine, he had it coming. Although, Grayson and my father weren't so happy when they found out I had gotten into a fight during the school day." He chuckled. 

"Who's Grayson?" I laughed with him. 

"My brother," he scratched the back of his head, "he's older." 

"I figured." I could see Mrs. Black making her way over, and I couldn't help but stare at her. She was a heavy old lady with white hair, and she had a lopsided way of walking which always made me crack a smile.

"You look different today, Carter." He noted, staring at me. 

"I-I'm wearing contacts. That's probably it. Ethan and his gang tend to leave me alone when I'm wearing them." I admitted, making a vague motion with my hands. 

"You're really willing to change yourself for a reason like that?" He tilted his head, crossing his arms. 

There was a brief silence. I didn't know how to answer that. I could've told the truth and said 'yes', but then he'd ask why and he may get defensive again. If I had said 'no', it would be a blatant lie. I shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, combing my hands through my hair. 

"That was a rhetorical question, y'know." Damian said awkwardly. 

"Oh..." I felt my face turn red. 

His green eyes seemed to come alive at that moment. "On a better note: I found a dirt on the Smythe family. Definitely some good material, if you ever need comebacks. My father helped me last night to find some." He smirked, glancing at Mrs. Black as she opened up the door. 

"Thanks. I'll see you at lunch, unless you have other plans." 

He agreed to sit with me before he made his way into the classroom. All I heard were loud giggles and small talk. As usual, nobody talked to me, so I sat down and started to do my homework from the night before.


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