The Newest Wayne [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2~meeting Bruce Wayne

The morning flew by without much trouble. Damian and I kept stealing glances during classes. When our science teacher, Mr. Jaina, told us to choose partners for an upcoming project, Damian made a beeline towards me. He looked up at me, "Do you want to be my partner, Carter?" 

The question caught me off-guard, no one had ever really chosen me for anything. "Yeah, sure." I said eagerly. Mr. Jaina called for us to get to work, Damian guided me to a lab table at the back of the room. He kept his eyes forward, as if he were protecting me from something.

We sat at the lab table and got to work. He opened up his notebook with his notes on the project, which were unsurprisingly written in a very formal way, especially compared to my lengthy scribbles and bullet points. We shared a glance before I leaned into the microscope, closing one eye, which made my contact move uncomfortably. "Keep both eyes open, Mr. Jaina instructed for us to do that." 

I poked my head up and squinted at him. "Then why don't you try to focus this thing?" 

Before we could start bickering, the bell rang and everyone filed out of the room to go to lunch. Ethan elbowed me on the way down, which just made me roll my eyes and continue on. I was excited for Damian to tell me what he'd found on Ethan and his family. I decided to make a pit-stop in the girls' bathroom so I could take off my contacts, I got into the nearest stall, ignoring the awful smell, and pulled out a small makeup mirror. I hadn't bothered with washing my hands, I didn't need to, I hadn't touched anything too dirty, and it was a hassle. I took off my contacts and put them in the case that I had in the pocket of my jeans, then filled it with contact solution. 

I huffed, knowing what was up next. I made my way out of the bathroom, and it was either an insane stroke of terrible luck or an insane stroke of careful planning. Ethan and his friends, plus a few other students that I didn't recognize were standing outside of the girls' room. I ran my fingers through my coffee-colored hair, my mismatched eyes grazing over every inch of my surroundings. There was no one around except for us. I quickly counted them, there were seven. Most of them were guys from my grade, but two of them were girls who looked like they were either juniors or seniors. 

"What do you want, Ethan?" I took a step back, getting ready to bolt into the bathroom if it was needed. I had dealt with bullying, sure, but something about the way that they were looking at me set off every possible alarm in my head. 

"I want to take out the trash," he said, smirking, which earned him a few loud cackles from his group of friends. 

"The trash being me?" I asked slowly, reaching into my pocket, making sure that I had my phone on hand. My heart was in my stomach, my knees felt weak. I was cornered, surrounded. 

"That's right." He revealed his metal baseball bat from behind his back. My legs nearly buckled at the sight of it. I had to leave as fast as possible, I took off to the left and sprinted past one of the girls. I made my way down the stairs and got close to the cafeteria, my feet nearly slid out from under me as I made my way across a freshly-mopped floor. 

I stumbled into the cafeteria. I heard someone behind me yell out the word "freak", which was how I knew that at least one of them had followed me. I sat down next to Damian, Ethan wouldn't mess with him again. 

"What's going on?" His green eyes narrowed. 

I breathlessly tried to explain what had happened in the hallway, "I...I was in the bathroom and I walked out and....and Ethan and his friend's cornered me and I...I ran away." 

"He won't come over here, and if he does, I wish him luck against me." He sneered. I exhaled for a moment, Ethan glared at me and sat down elsewhere. 

Once I had collected myself, I asked him, "So, what's this dirt you have on him?" 

"Ethan Smythe stole his father's car and drove down a freeway, then crashed it into a telephone pole. Supposedly his father, James Smythe, punished him by not letting him use any technology-the so-called bigshot has no phone, no computer, no tablet, no internet access at all- not to mention the fact that his mother was so angry at him that she got the school involved, so now he's not even allowed to drive when he's older. His mother cheated on his father, if you really want to be harsh." 

"Geez, Damian." I chuckled in shock. 

"Why don't you come to my house at the end of the day today? I want you to meet my family." The slight smirk on his face made me slightly uncomfortable, but I just couldn't say no. I was so happy, no one had ever invited me over unless they were punking me. 

"Sounds good." 

We went on talking and laughing. It made me forget the fact that I hadn't eaten all day, including in that moment. I skipped breakfast, although that was the usual for me, and Ethan cornered me before I could get to my locker and grab my lunch. Damian didn't seem to notice, though. 

The end of the day came, and as promised, I ended up going to the Wayne manor. I got into Gotham High on a scholarship, so I had never even seen a place like that. 

"You must be Avery, Damian's told me about you." Damian's father, Bruce, looked at me. I had no contacts on, which made me anxious. When he turned to face me and saw my eyes, just for a moment, I saw an awkward look of panic on his face. Then he smiled down at me. "Are you wearing contacts?" 

"No, actually. I was born this way." I took a small step backwards, towards the door, just in case.

Alfred, the butler, must have sensed my nervousness. "I think it's beautiful." He said as he walked out. 

"Th-thank you." I sputtered, though he was in the other room, so he couldn't hear me.  

Dick Grayson walked into the room to greet me. "Woah, Damian met someone and didn't murder them? That's a shock." He smirked. Damian rolled his eyes. 

"My name is Avery." I said awkwardly. 

"Dick." He said. He didn't seem to notice my eyes. 

"Avery, I need to ask, do your parents know you're here?" Bruce's eyes narrowed. Dick's eyes got big as he stared at Bruce. 

"My foster Mom is okay with me being out of the house. I don't even need to ask." I assured him. It was partially true, the old Spanish woman that fostered me, Mrs. Lopez, hardly knew me. She'd forget my name daily, I didn't even bother asking. 

"Can you call her, just so I know she's okay with it?" 

"Sure thing." I hesitated, then pulled out my phone and called her. I instantly heard her say something along the lines of 'useless child' before she realized I had picked up. 

After she yelled at me so loudly that my phone shook, using a steady stream of curse words, she asked me what I wanted. I explained the situation, and all she said was "Sure." before she hung up. 

Bruce looked annoyed at the way Mrs. Lopez talked to me, so did Dick. Damian clicked his teeth. 

"She's okay with it." I said quietly, trying to dissolve the awkwardness. 

Dick and Bruce looked at each other before Damian grabbed me by the wrist and practically dragged me upstairs. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were in foster care?" He said frantically. 

"You never asked. I didn't see a reason to." I shrugged. 

"My father will probably try to adopt you." He said plainly. 

"What?" 

"You're right, he won't just try. He'll most likely adopt you. That's what he's known for."