Chapter 10

I watch as the other students rush out to the front entrance. I do my best to keep up, but the fray of other students blocks most of my view of the on-goings outside. Even with my lack of sight, I can still hear the other students murmuring, as well as the sirens, and I can see the police car lights reflecting against the nearby street and buildings. I try to push my way further into the crowd when someone pulls me back,

"Hey, you don't need to go through them. It's on the news." it's Martin, holding up his cell phone.

The GNN feed shows from multiple angles a handcuffed Joey being carried away.

"I told you it was only a matter of time." he repeats, putting his phone away.

"...I know."

The next week went by in a blur. I tried going on with life as if nothing had happened. But whenever I went to hang out with Martin, I always felt like there was something wrong, something missing.

That doesn't mean I still haven't been going out as Batman, I've just been avoiding doing anything near school, maybe it should stay that way.

Rumors fly around about the school having its own personal Batman. People make fake cowles and masks. There's even a banner hanging on the main stairway saying, "Thank You Batman" with a bat-symbol underneath.

I walk into school on a Monday morning, tired as ever. I'd taken the weekend off to catch up on sleep, but it still wasn't helping.

The moment I walk into the building I'm bombarded by Martin,

"Hey Kat, you're not going to believe this, but we have two new transfer students from Gotham Academy!"

"Who?" I ask.

"Will and Talia Wayne, they're on the second floor, c'mon!"

He grabs my wrist and pulls me up the narrow staircase to the second floor.

"Hey Martin, I'm really tired, and, I'm kind of not in the mood to meet them right now." I confess, rubbing my eyes.

Martin stops in his tracks, "But…"

I sigh, "Fine."

"Yay!" he claps, as he grabs my wrist again.

The minute we climb up to the second floor we see a large crowd of students have gathered around the four way intersection. In the center are Will and Talia Wayne, both sporting expensive attire. Using his towering height and wimpy physique, Martin snakes his way through the crowd of students,

"Hey, remember me? Martin O' Connor, Gotham High Oracle, and this is my assistant Kat."

he introduces as he brings out his iPhone.

I raise my eyebrow, assistant?!

Will shakes his hand, "It's nice to see you again. I apologize for our behavior during our first meeting, we were all, very nervous."

"Will you be doing an article on us?" Talia asks.

"Well, I'm honestly just part of the welcome wagon, but I could do an interview with you guys and feature you in the Student Spotlight."

"Hey, can we ride in your limo?" a student yells out.

"Can we see your mansion?"

"Where's your butler?"

"How much did those shoes cost?"

Will chuckles, "All right everybody, settle down, there will be plenty of time for questions later. But right now, we need to know where Ms. Gonzalez's Spanish class is."

"Oh, I have that class right now, its on the third floor." I tell them. "You can follow me."

"Thanks." they reply in unison.

We walk down the second floor hallway to the main hallway, where the slowly inclining ramp to the third floor can be found.

"Why are the hallways in this school so nonsensical?" Talia asks.

I shrug, "The school's built on a bunch of hills, so the hallways, ramps, and stairs are built with the hills in mind." I pause a bit before asking, "So why'd you guys leave Gotham Academy?"

They both turn and look at each other, before turning back to look at me, and Talia speaks, "We found the education at Gotham Academy to be insufficient."

I raise my eyebrow, "But, I heard that Gotham Academy is the best school in Gotham County."

"Well, I'd say I'm liking Gotham High a lot." Will says, eyeing the pictures of past graduated classes as we pass them, "So much history! All the greats attended here, like my great-grandfather, but not my grandfather, no, he was raised as an assassi-"

Talia punches Will in the jaw which knocks him to the ground, "My little brother is quite the jokester."

Will easily picks himself up, rubbing his cheek, which has slightly reddened and is starting to puff out, "But in all seriousness, we've heard that the school has its own resident, 'Batman', that's true, right?"

I nod slowly, biting my lip, "Uh, yeah, I mean, I've never seen him personally."

Talia nods, "Well, tell us is you have any new information.

I shrug, "Yeah, sure." but then I think, "Hey, if Will's your younger brother, why do you guys have the same class?"

Talia lets out an annoyed sigh, "He's skipped a few grades. He's three years my junior and yet he's the same grade as me. Its humiliating."

"But hey, it means I get to be in all the same classes as you sis!" Will announces, bouncing around her.

"Shush! I refuse to let you get in the way of my goals and career, let alone let you upstage me." Talia retorts, grabbing him by the head to hold him still.

Will blows a raspberry at her, "You're just jealous that I have way more friends than you."

"Shut up!" Talia shouts, throwing Will headfirst into a wall.

Will's head makes a staggering hole in the plaster of the school wall, sending old chipped pieces of paint flying everywhere.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" I shout, running to him.

Talia shrugs, "He'll live, he always does."

Will gets up, shaking the flakes of chipped paint out of his brown hair, "Yeah, I'm okay. Hey, the walls in this school are pretty weak, we should probably be more careful."

That's it? Not even an "owe"? Man, this guy must be made of steel.

Will hops back up without a scratch and continues walking, an uplifting bounce in his step. He and Talia continue walking and talking as if nothing had happened. I shrug and follow them, I guess this must be normal for them.

"So did you guys have a lot of friends at Gotham Academy?" I ask.

Talia replies, "No, we were much more focused on our stu-"

"Of course we did! There's Harrison, Aleric, Ottie, Geneva, and a bunch more." Will blurts out.

I nod, "Oh, Harrison Cobblepot? He was at the Debate Decathlon too, right?"

"Yeah, he's my good friend, you should meet him sometime." Will tells me.

"What about swimmer boy?" Talia asks.

Will smiles, "Oh yeah, Aleric is a good friend as well, and Ottie and Geneva are also good friends. We just...have a lot of good friends."

Talia rolls her eyes, "They're yourgood friends, not mine."

We arrive at Ms. Gonzalez's class just as the bell rings, "Senora Gonzalez, son dos estudiantes nueva."I tell the teacher.

"Esta bien. Buenos dias chicos, como te llamas?" Ms. Gonzalez asks.

"Me llamo William. Te llama Talia." Will introduces himself and his sister.

"Hey, there are two seats by me, if you guys want them." I offer.

They walk over and take the two seats by me. Just as the late bell rings, Frank comes running in, his thin cross strap backpack flapping behind him.

"Wheew! Just made it!" he cheers, throwing his fists in the air.

"Sit down, Frank." the teacher coldly tells him.

Ms. Gonzalez, clearly not in the mood to deal with us right now, has us working in our workbook for the entire class.

"You guys are still learning basic vocabulary?" Will asks, flipping through his shiny new workbook.

I nod, "Uhm...well, yeah. It's a second language, it takes longer to learn.".

Talia rolls her eyes, "Maybe I'll take a third language to pass the time. What other languages does this school offer?"

"Well, there's Mandarin." I tell them.

"And?"

I pause, "...and Mandarin."

"Hey, that sounds fun!" Will interjects.

"I already speak Mandarin." Talia yawns.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Frank inching his desk closer to us, leaning over in our direction, "Hey, new guys! Where're you guys from?"

"Gotham Academy for the Significantly Gifted." Talia curtly tells him.

"Cool, that's that boarding school out in the woods, right?"

"Mhm, but we were just day students. We're Gotham City natives after all." Will replies.

"Why'd you guys leave?"

Will shrugs, "We just, didn't really like it there."

I raise my eyebrow. Why are they being so vague?

Frank looks over at Talia, who's quickly jotting things down in her workbook.

"Hey." he greets, lifting himself out of his chair and slowly walking over behind her.

...really? Isn't he going out with Tara?

"What's your name?" he asks, his voice becoming syrupy and lower.

Will has officially buried his face in his book, his face a bright red, and is somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"Talia Wayne, and you?"

"Frank. But my friends call me Frankie."

I roll my eyes, "No they don't."

Franks spins around, "Jealous?"

I smile, "Hardly."

"Silencio chicos!"Ms. Gonzalez yells out at us from her desk.