I'm gonna use this opportunity to remind you that there are only a few chapters left. Get ready for some angst! :D

Chapter Twenty: He Knew That She Was Lying

Two weeks passed, and eventually everybody settled back into the traditional routine. Rachel had been avoiding him and as a result, their group had begun to crack under the strain. Gar's crush on her made him extra snarky towards Dick, whilst Wally tried to calm things down. The awkwardness resumed, and the heir of Wayne Enterprises wished that his friendship with her didn't have to crumble so easily.

He sat in class, finishing off the last exercise. Yet again, Mr Light was the substitute teacher for his French class, perched on the front desk with a slight frown. Madame Rouge's absence had been the talk of the school, with most believing the rumor that she had fled to Paris with a talking gorilla to take over the world.

Dick on the other hand, had never heard anything so ridiculous before in his life.

"Are you finished with your work yet, Mr Grayson?" the older teacher sneered, and Dick found himself wishing that the school rules would temporarily disappear, just so he could hit the man standing opposite him square in the jaw. It was aggravating how every adult (Bruce especially) treated him with an air of patronization. Dick wasn't a three-year-old; he was practically an adult (there were only four months until his eighteenth birthday).

The seat beside him was empty due to his girlfriend having a doctor's appointment. He cast a quick glance at the space before adding the final accent on his letter, resting his pen against the table.

He guessed that Mr Light's personal life was under strain. The older teacher was checking his emails on his laptop and the pained expression revealed the nature of the messages. Dick watched him for a second, biting back a yawn. Mr Light looked up, scowling suddenly.

"Focus on your work Mr Grayson," the man instructed, crossing his arms.

There was a small titter of giggles that followed, and the boy's ears burnt with slight embarrassment. Dick turned his attention elsewhere, towards the rest of the students. Three quarters of the class were texting, using the big textbooks to hide their phones. Bette was painting her nails whilst Toni chewed bubblegum beside her. Jenny was redoing her lip gloss.

"Grayson." Mr Light hissed, glaring at the aforementioned boy intensely. "Last warning."

Dick had already finished all of the required work within the first ten minutes. Madame Rouge had always insisted on giving him and Kory the same questions that the rest of the class did, regardless of the fact that they both spoke fluent French. Flicking to an empty page in his notebook, he decided that he would work on the case.

It was constantly on the forefront of his mind. He'd sorted out all of the major details – equipment, culprits etc. – but one final point remained. He still hadn't worked out the motive behind Kitten's actions, and it continued to aggravate him. She wasn't the type of girl who was purely malicious. There were reasons behind her actions, ones that still hadn't become apparent.

The older teacher finally walked up to his desk with a cold expression. He dropped a folded note onto the table, accompanied with a small smirk. "Since you've already completed all of your work, you can deliver this note to the main office." Mr Light told him, and Dick shut his notebook. He didn't bother gracing the instructions with a reply. Instead he reluctantly trudged to the doorway, ignoring the urge to roll his eyes.

The hallways were empty, and he quickly found his way to the main office. As expected, Ms Hive was on the phone, but to his surprise, Amber was also sitting on one of the chairs. She was drenched in a caramel coloured liquid – from the smell, Dick guessed it was coffee – and there was some similar coloured sauce smeared on the bottom of her skirt. She'd been wearing a pale pink skirt and a white top, but both of them were covered in splotches.

Ms Hive looked up and gestured for him to wait five minutes, so moved to the seat beside Amber. She was looking downwards, soft strands of ginger hair sticking to the damp patches on her shoulder, but as soon as he sat down, her head tilted up.

"Hey," he greeted, slightly awkwardly.

Her eyes were red, the same colour that was sprinkled lightly on her nose. She visibly gulped, fingers twitching by her sides.

"Hi." she returned back, looking miserable.

"What…" he paused, trying to be as sensitive as possible. "Um, what happened?"

Her lower lip trembled slightly, and he immediately regretted the question. Dick hadn't meant to upset her, but he had been genuinely curious. She looked up at him, eyes darting towards the empty space where Ms Hive had previously been. He guessed it was probably something that he didn't want other people overhearing, specifically adults.

Amber revealed, "it was Kitten." Her tone had taken a bitterer tone, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice began to shake a little. "She…she thinks I'm gonna tell everybody the truth about the graffiti. Which, is really stupid because she knows that I –" she cut off her sentence, choking back a sob.

Dick's eyes widened and he instinctively put an arm on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. The fabric felt sticky between his fingers. Meanwhile, Amber used her own hands to rub at her eyes fiercely. Her nose was wrinkled, lips turned downwards as she cleared her throat and tried to compose herself.

"I hate her," she whispered. "I hate her so fucking much. She's the most manipulative person ever!" The ginger haired girl sounded worryingly angry, fists balling up by her sides. She sniffled loudly, almost snarling. "She pretends to be so perfect, when in reality, most of her relationships are based off of how many secrets she knows about you. She was one of the reasons why Tara transferred schools!"

Although he had barely interacted with her, he knew that Tara and Amber had both arrived from the same middle school, and had been extremely good friends until the former had left. He also knew that Tara had temporarily stopped being friends with Amber, due to her (then) forming friendship with Kitten and Kory. It became extremely obvious that Amber hadn't let go of her jealousy.

She sniffled once more, using her sleeve to wipe away any stray tears. Her anger became more apparent as she grit her teeth, before it collapsed into something more subdued. "I," she mumbled, "I don't even know why I did it."

He frowned, confusion swarming his mind. Dick waited for her elaborate, and for a few excruciatingly long seconds it didn't look like she would, but then she slumped against the chair. His hands dropped to his side whilst he stole a quick glance at their surroundings. Ms Hive was nowhere to be seen.

Hugging her own chest, Amber revealed, "Kitten told us all that Kory was sleeping with Sawyer."

He wasn't sure how to process that, although a little part of his chest tightened slightly. Kory had made it clear on several occasions that she had no interest in Kitten's boyfriend, and Dick was a good enough judge of character to know the truth. It sounded like another one of Kitten's lies, used to bring more sympathy and attention to herself.

Amber must have noticed the skepticism on his face, because she added, "him or some college boy. I don't really know. I-I didn't really pay attention to the details."

Hating how an image of Philip briefly flashed in his mind, he forced himself to stare at the wall instead. He was letting drops of his insecurity get in the way of the investigation. But even an amateur detective would have been able to notice the way the college boy had interacted with his girlfriend – the platonic touches that had made Kory's lips turn downwards. There was something off about that relationship, and he was trying to figure it out.

The motive had been revealed, but it only led to another set of questions. Rubbing the side of his arm, he watched as the last remaining tears drizzled down the side of her cheeks. She exhaled sharply, wiping away the water from her face.

"I really wish I'd never done it," the girl admitted softly, and he patted her shoulder comfortingly. Dick didn't believe that she had meant to hurt anybody – it was her low self-esteem that had allowed Kitten to manipulate her, using Amber's jealousy to fuel a personal vendetta against Kory.

He was about to reply, but then he noticed the other figure. Ms Hive had crept back into the room, armed with a couple of files and a stapler. She made eye contact with Dick, and he reluctantly passed her the note.

He'd already glanced at the contents on the trip to the office – it was a request for some documents. After a brief silence filled with scowls from the older woman, she turned to one of the filing cabinets and grabbed another series of files. Her skirt swished against the cabinet.

"Here," she said, passing him the file. Her lips stayed downwards, and he briefly wondered if that was just her natural expression.

He gave her a small smile as he clutched the file. "Thanks," he told her, trying to keep the boredom from seeping into his voice.

Her response was another grimace and he only sighed quietly, realizing that it was his cue to leave. He cast another look at Amber and smiled reassuringly; she copied his actions with (thankfully) dry eyes. He moved quickly into the hallway, remembering that there was still thirty minutes of class left for him to endure.

The morning passed quickly, but there was a lingering feeling in his gut that there was a part of the story he was still missing. The temptation to ask Amber was almost overbearing, but she had seemed to disappear from the school. He assumed that she'd been sent home to get changed, but the timing was all wrong and she should have been in his Spanish class by then.

Placing his US History textbook into his locker, he turned just to see his best friend race towards him. Wally grinned, reminiscent of an excited puppy, before leaning against the lockers.

"Artemis finally agreed to having a date with the Wall-mister," he smirked, hands in his pockets.

Dick almost laughed behind his hand at the situation. "She actually agreed?" he asked, slightly skeptical.

Wally faltered. "I mean, um, I think she did. She said "we'll see," which is basically girl talk for 'yeah,' isn't it?"

"I'm not sure it is," the black-haired boy, pointed out, hiding his smirk.

"Yeah, well she gave me her number so she can't back out now," Wally concluded, smugly. Dick didn't have the heart to point out the flaws in the runner's argument, so he just nodded and grabbed his chemistry textbook instead.

Shutting the locker door, he was met by unknown hands tapping against his shoulder. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of his gorgeous girlfriend, resting against the wall. She grinned at him before leaning forward and kissing him hard. Her arms looped themselves around his shoulder, pulling them even closer towards another.

They were interrupted by the sound of the third member of their group clearing his throat, and muttering something about hormonal teenagers. Dick had half a mind of reminding Wally how disgusting him and Jenny had previously been, groping one another during lunch break and using pet names to address each other.

Instead, he let go, cheeks flushed as he waited for the blood to reach his head again. "Sorry," he mumbled to Wally, before looking back at her. "Hey," he greeted softly, scratching the back of his neck with one hand.

"Hi," she responded, readjusting her ponytail which had become messy after he'd accidentally tugged a couple of strands out.

"How was your doctor's appointment?" he asked, fingers tangled with hers.

She tilted her head and the corners of her lips quirked upwards. "It was fine; just a routine check-up. Did I miss anything special?"

He considered revealing the details of his conversation with Amber, but then decided to wait until Wally had gone. There was far too much information that had been collected, and trying to explain the whole situation to him would take too long. It was a discussion they needed to have in private – especially since he had a bad feeling about the motive.

Ignoring the need to kiss her again, he played with the soft strands of her hair. "Not much." Lowering his voice, he continued, "I talked to Amber though."

Her expression became more serious, mouth parting to reveal straight teeth, eyes widening slightly. The bottom of her lashes had clumped together, and there was a stray eyelash on the corner of her eye which he removed. He pressed his lips against her cheek. "I'll tell you about it later, promise."

The redhead cleared his throat once more, and Dick shot him a dirty look. Kory stifled a giggle, the grip on his hand loosening a little.

"You've met Artemis before, right?" Wally asked, hopeful.

She bit the corner of her lip, lip gloss smearing slightly. "I have World History with her. I don't really talk to her much."

Dick predicted the direction of the conversation, minutes before the question was asked.

"Could you ask her something for me?" Wally continued, and it was obvious from the way his girlfriend winced that she had caught on to the issue at hand. She paused for a moment, and Dick squeezed her hand.

"Of course," she smiled, and he was temporarily distracted by how pretty she looked. The rest of the conversation was a little hazy, but he could tell from the way Wally obnoxiously fist-pumped the air and from Kory's lovely laugh that she had agreed to find out what Artemis truly thought of him.

The bell rang, reminding him that he needed to get to class. He had Chemistry next, and Kory's Biology class was only a couple of rooms away. They walked at a leisurely pace, weaving in-and-out of the thinning crowd. The redhead beside him was unusually quiet, and he noted that she was deeply absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Kor?" he asked, waiting for her to hum in response. "Are you alright?"

Everybody had little physical indications when they were lying. Kory was naturally honest and more open with her emotions, and it was usually easier to tell whether or not she was telling the truth. Her nose wrinkled ever-so-slightly, the most obvious sign that she was about to lie. He paused in anticipation.

Her smile gave no suggestions of ill intent – wide and gorgeous. "I'm fine, don't worry," she reassured, but the first letters were partially obscured by her native accent and he knew that she was lying. He didn't press the matter, but he squeezed her hand and hoped that she would find a solution to whatever problem she had.

Stopping outside of the classroom, Dick's clasped her shoulders, fingers burying into her low ponytail. His lips touched hers, parting whilst her arms found themselves around his neck. He let go seconds later before giving into temptation and kissing her once more, and then another, until the sound of the second bell tore him away. Mr Chang wasn't particularly fond of him, and if he arrived any later, he was going to end up with a detention.

"I'll see you at lunch?" he asked, and she nodded, waving.

"So then she comes up to me, giving all of these Miss Trunchbull vibes and passes out a handout of the email I sent her. Turns out I'd accidentally sent her the link to a website about looking after slugs! She didn't appreciate it and gave me detention for two days because of my late homework," Gar groaned, taking a bite of stale pizza.

Dick fought the urge to laugh at the absurdness of the story, but Gar's antics were the most entertaining thing he'd heard all week. Instead, he let out a small chuckle and disguised it as a cough when the blond sent him a dirty look. Biting into his apple, Gar was the embodiment of defeat, with thin lips pressed into a grimace and eyes drooping downwards. The events of his story had only happened five minutes ago, and he was definitely annoyed.

Kory arrived seconds later. She kissed her boyfriend's cheek and took her seat beside him. Minutes later, her fingers were intertwined tightly against his, resting on the top of her thigh. He couldn't help casting a small glance at her, eyebrows furrowing as his mind desperately tried to work out the reasoning.

She was naturally affectionate, and their relationship had always been filled with intimate actions, even before they had officially started dating. But the past week had brought a hurricane of moments, and he knew that something had changed. She was constantly kissing him, and each kiss ended with a guilty look on her face. Their conversations had become much shorter, and there were days where it seemed like she didn't want to be around him.

There was something wrong, and he was trying to figure it out.

"Vic!" Kory suddenly called out, waving. "Come sit with us!"

Looking upwards, he spotted the large figure of the football player coming towards them, holding a tray of (what he guessed was chicken and rice) and a bottle of water. Dick knew that there had been a couple of issues between the jocks of the football team, after a prank on a sophomore had gone slightly wrong, and the usual table where the team sat was currently empty.

Vic grinned, relieved, taking a seat beside Gar. Rachel had to squish to the left to accommodate the extra person, causing her to nudge into Wally. Dick took a bite of his apple and there was a moment of silence before Gar suddenly piped up, with the enthusiasm of a Golden Retriever.

"Dude, did you know there's a vegan restaurant that just opened up last Saturday?" he asked. "They apparently do the best smoothies in all of America – according to their slogan anyway. I don't really know if it's true but we could all check it out this Friday," he suggested, turning to look at everybody on the table.

Dick did the same and noticed that Rachel didn't look very interested. Wally was finishing off some Calculus homework, but from his expression, the dark-haired boy could work out that he approved of the idea. Vic was smirking at Kory; his girlfriend was trying to sneakily take a cherry tomato from under his nose, using Gar's conversation as a distraction.

She kissed his cheek as soon as he turned to face her, popping it in her mouth and giving him a brazen smile. He tried to keep a straight face, but her grin was infectious as she leant towards him, and his left arm found itself around her shoulders.

"We could go there," Vic pointed out, "but there's also a new Texas grill that's just opened. I've heard that it sells the best BBQ ribs in the whole city." He teased Gar, allowing Dick to realise just how good friends they were. The guilt crept in a little – he'd never properly spoken to the football player, and yet all of his friends – including Kory – were on great terms with him.

"Ribs?" The blond asked, wrinkling his nose and sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Why would you wanna eat ribs? Ew!"

"I don't know, man," Vic replied, "there's something delicious about BBQ ribs slathered in sauce, served with a plate of fries."

Gar reenacted retching, and the table dissolved into laughter. Wally looked up, a half-smile tugging on his lips, before he scowled again, and dropped his pen on the table.

"Hey, Kory," he asked, in the exact type of tone that alerted everyone that he was going to ask her a favor. "You've done the calculus homework, right?" He stretched out the last word, batting his eyelashes.

Dick's girlfriend nodded, offering, "do you want me to get it from my locker for you?"

Wally nodded, "I promise it's only the last three questions!"

As soon as Kory stood up, Dick copied her. "I need to get something from my locker, too," he insisted, ignoring the amused looks from the rest of his friends. He knew that it sounded like a lame excuse, and it was far from the truth, but he had a perfectly valid reason to want to talk with her in private, away from prying ears.

In a voice reminiscent of a stage whisper, Vic asked, "is he always obsessed with his girlfriend?" It was all in good nature, and Dick jokingly scowled at the boy.

Gar was the second half of the act, putting down his piece of pizza to give his own commentary. "You should've seen him before they got together. 'Oh Kory, I'll walk you to every single class! Let's go to my fancy house for a study session, even though both of us already know all of the material!'" His dramatic attempt at impersonating Dick caused even Rachel's lips to curve upwards in entertainment.

"Come to my fancy ball Kory!" Wally added, "Here, share my lunch as well!"

Vic caught eyes with Dick, and then his smirk became even bigger. "He's all embarrassed," he pointed out.

Instinctively crossing his arms over his chest and ignoring the heat emitting from his face, the object of their teasing claimed, "I'm not!"

The redhead tugged his arm. "I thought he was sweet," she remarked, before she embraced him and pressed her lips against his own. Head reeling from the shock, it took a couple of seconds for him to return her affection and actually kiss her.

His friends didn't exist for a couple of seconds, until Gar cried out, "Dude eww! You guys are practically groping each other!"

"I didn't think I could go through lunch without seeing that." Rachel added sarcastically as they pulled apart. For a horrible moment, her expression was empty, before the tiniest glimmer of a smile appeared on her face. Dick knew that their relationship wasn't going to magically become stronger again, but it was a reassuring start.

As soon as they were back into the empty hallway, he kissed her against the lockers, much more comfortable with the fact that they didn't have an audience. Her eyes were wide as she broke away, gripping his shoulders for support.

"We should probably go and get our things, Dick," she giggled, as he nibbled on the corner of her lips. "Dick," she repeated again, except it was more breathless and on the verge of a moan. He had to bite back a smug smile.

"I don't know," he winked, before kissing her neck, "I'm pretty comfortable where I am."
This time, her smile was more seductive. "Are you, hmm?" Kory flirted, arching her back so that he could kiss her neck better. His lips brushed against the side of her neck, before moving up back to kiss her properly. Her fingers were already tangled in his hair, yanking it slightly. She was giggling softly, and he could taste her vanilla-flavoured lip gloss against his tongue. Her lips parted, and he only kissed her harder.

They were interrupted by the sound of an exaggerated cough, and his cheeks flamed. He prayed it was just a random student – preferably a freshman who would mysteriously transfer out of school the next day. Anybody who wouldn't recognize him or wouldn't be able to tell anybody else he knew.

It was worse. It was Mr Light, holding one of those extremely agitated looks that were comical in television but terrifying in real life. Kory was already straightening out her skirt, and Dick ran a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to stop his hand from automatically scratching his neck in embarrassment.

"I would remind you on the school's policy about public displays of affection," Mr Light retorted, "but I doubt you'll listen. This is a warning, Mr Grayson. I don't want to see this sort of behaviour again, otherwise you'll be spending your lunchtimes organizing the physics cupboard." His words were stern and threatening. "And you, Miss Andrews. I thought you would try to disprove the comments made about you."

Kory's mouth opened, but Dick was the first to speak. "Hey!" he called out, fists already clenched by his sides. "You have no right to talk her like that–"

"–I can call the principal if you would like," the teacher threatened, obviously finding some sort of twisted enjoyment in the situation. "I'm sure he would be more than interested in what you were about to say."

Shaking his head, Dick didn't say anything else. There wasn't much he could do, but fume silently. He hated the level of corruption at this school.

Kory's cheeks were stained red, mirroring the colour of her hair and she stared at the ground. He waited for the miserable man to walk away before moving towards her. She bit her lip before laughing softly.

"We should really go and get our things now," she told him. He nodded, and they walked in silence.

As soon as they reached her locker, his hands linked with hers. She leant against the lockers, a position eerily similar to the one they had been in moments ago, but instead of kissing her, he focused on the way her green eyes looked back at him. Tucking back a strand of her hair, he asked, "you're not doing anything next Saturday evening are you?"

"I'm not," she assured him. "Why?"

"I'm taking you out," Dick told her. He loved the way the smile formed on her face, as she tilted her head and played with his hands. His girlfriend was the most gorgeous girl on the planet, and her smile was definitely worth going to a (slightly snobbish) fancy restaurant. Mr Light's warning was beginning to fade in his head, so he kissed her once more.

And there it was again. The tiny flash of guilt that clouded her expressions and caused him to drop his hands from her waist. It was a flicker, nothing dramatic, and yet it reminded him that there was something wrong.

She opened her bag, and a little piece of paper fluttered out, landing on the ground. It was a blurry photo, but he could make out bright red curls and an unknown figure standing beside. Kory picked it up, and her eyes widened. Her lips pressed together as she muttered inaudible words. Her whole body seemed to freeze up.

And then she jerked into motion, scrunching the picture up before he could properly look at it, and tossing it in her bag. He frowned, trying to understand what was happening, what would prompt such an odd reaction.

Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, he casually asked, "what was that?"

"Nothing," she replied, pulling out her calculus textbook.

It was obvious she was lying.

He paused, softly holding her wrists. His girlfriend was obvious distressed, and he didn't want to press the matter any further. "Kor," he said.

"It was nothing," Kory insisted. Her voice had become sharp and unnecessarily harsh. She softened considerably, after he rubbed little circles over her fingertips. "Dick, don't worry about it."

Beginning to walk towards the cafeteria, he had to increase his speed to walk beside her. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, eyes narrowed, heels slapping against the floor. She seemed to have a death grip on her bag, and her nails made thin marks on the leather.

"Um," she started hesitantly, "what did you and Amber talk about?"

His mind sprang into action, trying to connect the dots. "Kitten's motive," he responded, relaxing as her pace decreased and her movements began to seem more calm, more natural. "She," he faltered, but continued to speak, moving around the matter as delicately as he could, "she said something about you and Sawyer?"

Kory rolled her eyes. "Was it something about me sleeping with him?"

It was the way she said it, that really reminded him how ridiculous the whole scenario was. He grinned. They were approaching the cafeteria doors, and he needed to ask. "yeah…but it was also something about you and a college guy?"

She gave herself away by a tiny, involuntary flinch. "Really?"

He held the door for her, waiting for her to continue. But she didn't. She turned away from him after giving him one of her signature guilty looks (one that he was beginning to get used to receiving), and arrived at their table. She passed her homework to Wally, pointing out one of the errors he had made on question four. She laughed at one of Gar's jokes, and chatted to Vic about football, and even recommended Rachel a book.

Kory hadn't answered the question, and he wasn't sure what that meant.