I hate this fucking school.

That had been Raven Reyes' first thought as she joined her classmates for the first period class. Leaving her bag carelessly on the floor, she sat on the last row and put her feet on the table. Hoping to get at least five minutes of rest before the teacher came, she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She hoped that the history teacher was either nice, good at teaching or at least hot. The sound of a bag dropping next to her made her open her eyes with annoyance. A blonde girl sighed and looked at the newcomer, muttering a soft 'hello' with a smile. Of course, the girl didn't know her. In fact, no one in the school knew Raven, having just been transferred. One month after the start of the school year, but enough to make her drown into a well of unusual academic anxiety. Essays, group projects, even simple math homework. It all had hit her hard the first day she had put a foot on the high school. Two days later and still struggling with her homework, she attended to her first class.

It was strange, suddenly studying in this kind of school. Raven came from the poorest neighborhood of the city, far away from the school. Not even in her dreams she would have thought she'd end up attending Chancellor Kane High School. Not that she liked it, but the place was everything her old high schools were not. That morning she had walked through the school and studied the paintings on the walls. Of course, her classmates were used to the paintings on the corridors and the uniforms. or the way everyone seemed to judge everyone else. Mostly the ones with darker skin, she had noticed.

It didn't surprise her, to be honest. Every year the prestigious school gave five scolarships to 'less privileged students'. Raven knew the principal seemed to think it meant black and south American descendants. People said racism had disappeared, that it didn't exist anymore. And still, this lie was obvious for her. People were cliquish, even if they didn't want to admit it. The blonde, blue-eyed caucasian girls all sat together, the jocks did the same. The basketball team, consisting of mainly tall, dark-skinned boys, sat on another table. The most diverse groups were the usually thought as outcasts. The maths, chemistry and engineering clubs put all racial barriers down. And this last one felt like home for Raven. Because it was because her natural ability in mechanics that had got her the scholarship. If she played the 'I attended Chancellor Kane High School' card well, she would end up in a decent college.

"Are you Raven Reyes?" she heard someone ask next to her, face turning to look at the blonde girl that had just spoken. Blue eyes stared at her with curiosity, waiting for an answer. Somehow, the girl seemed to be one of the privileged white girls, but maybe for once Raven was wrong. She did not know, and she did not speak. She just gave a nod. "Oh, good. You're in my biology class, my m— the teacher asked me to give you the homework you need to do." the girl told with a smile, handing her a list of all the exercises and readings they had done in the month she had missed. Again, she would have to spend all her free time doing homework. Great. "I'm Clarke, by the way."

"Hi." the brunette spoke, taking the list and eyeing it before tossing it inside her bag. Either this Clarke girl was a straight A student or she had somehow got the teacher's favoritism. Raven hoped that it was the first, her mind was already imagining different scenarios. And he didn't need more teachers wanting her to do small favors to improve her grades. If I fail again, I will fail. But I am not getting on my knees for a grade. She sighed, leaning backwards on the chair. "So Clarke, huh?"

"Yeah." the blonde smiled and offered the girl her hand, blue eyes meeting brown. Raven took her hand, shaking it before turning to look at the man that entered through the door. Tall, with dark skin and short black hair, he looked more humbler and nice than the rest of adults in that school. "Thelonious Jaha," Clarke explained. "He's our history teacher."

Unable to stand any more airheaded blondes looking at her with disgust, Raven couldn't wait to get home. It seemed her presence bothered the students around her, or at least the most cliquish ones. Maybe it was the red jacket she wore on top of the uniform, old and worn out. Maybe it was her Mexican descendance, obvious in her skin tone. Whatever it was, these bimbos were getting on her nerves. By the time the classes finished she was about to kick someone. Furious, she walked back home, regretting not having brought her bike.

Her house was small, placed in the working class neighborhood. When she finally got there, an hour later, the place was as empty as she expected. Her mother wasn't there, of course. She never was. Raven didn't need to wonder about where she was though. The girl knew pretty well that her mother was somewhere buying drugs. It had been like that for too many years, it never changed. Always the same routine, with the woman never coming home and the girl always being alone. At first the nights had been hard, the house feeling too empty, but in the end she had started liking it. She loved being free to do whatever she wanted to. She had a house to herself, to decorate as she wanted. Or as she could, considering her slight income. Working as a mechanic in a garage near the house, she earned enough to live and pay the rent. But she liked her life, she wouldn't complain out loud.

Days passed, Raven being too busy to lie down for even a minute. She worked hard to cross out the many tasks on her homework list, making sure it never grew bigger. She was not a straight A student, but that didn't mean she was going to let herself fail her senior year. At least not academically. She had to admit, she had always been quite a troublemaker in her past schools. Sometimes she had started a fight, sometimes only ended in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the end, it always looked like she was the one causing the trouble. And of course, Chancellor Kane High School would not be any different. The first time she got in trouble in the new school was two days ago.

"Hey!" she yelled as she ran through the grass of the building's yard. Infuriated, heer eyes were fixed on the boy that kicked her bike with his foot, trying to knock it down. Pushing him away from her appreciated transport, she made him stumble backwards. At first she had thought she was one of the school jocks, but soon realized that he did not look like one at all. Wearing a black jacket over his uniform and looking unkempt, he was more like an outcast. "What the fuck are you doing, fuckboy?"

"Your bike is in my spot." he told her, standing up. He had long hair, his facial expression would probably intimidate anyone but her. He moved closer and pushed her, irating Raven. Within seconds Raven was punched and being punched, her lip starting to swallow. She would be all black and blue when this ended, but she would make sure the boy ended worse. Not much time passed until the two students were surrounded by a crowd yelling and cheering for them. "Bitch." he insulted her from time to time, finally pushing her to the ground and kicking her stomach hard.

"Fuck!" she groaned, closing her eyes in pain. One kick, she felt something crack on her face. Another, and her nose was broken, blood all over her uniform. Managing to stand up, trying to keep balance, she smiled. It was her turn, now that the guy seemed to be already tired. "My turn, fuckboy" she grinned, moving closer and punching him repeatedly. One, two, three times. She mentally counted, keeping the pace as her father had taught her. She had learned to fight at a young age, encouraged by her father. But it hadn't been until the man's death when she hadn't mastered boxing. She had had to get her mother from her drug dealer's house too many times. She delivered two kicks, one to his crotch and the other on his stomach, making him fall. She grinned, he was crawling away from her in fear. "Have you had enough, fuckboy?" she asked over the startling, sudden silence. Brown eyes widened, she was probably going to be in trouble. Principal Griffin is behind me, isn't she?

"Murphy, go see the nurse. Raven Reyes... Meet me at my office. Now."