Ch. 1 The First Day to the Rest of Your Life

"Nell! Sweetie, are you up? You don't want to be late for your first day!" my Mom yelled from the kitchen.

Why did I set my alarm when Mom was gunna wake me up early anyway? I lazily raised my hand to check the alarm clock on my nightstand. The clock read six o'clock - a whole half an hour before my alarm would have actually sounded. It was always like this the night before the first day of a new school year. I never get enough sleep because I would worry. I'd worry if my teachers were going to be nice or whether or not I'd have lunch with my friends. I'd mostly worry about things I couldn't control.

But this time was different. Today was my freshman year at Gotham High, and I've never felt more nervous in my life. I got out of bed and walked across the hall to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, put my hair up and made my way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Good morning, honey. Are you excited for your first day of high school?" Mom greeted, handing me a plate of eggs and sausages.

"Morning, Mom," I answered as I sat down and grabbed my fork. "I'm more nervous than excited."

"That's normal Nell, don't worry," Mom comforted. She then placed a glass of orange juice next to my plate. "Now eat up so you can get dressed."

I nodded in agreement as I lifted a forkful of scrambled eggs to my mouth. I made quick work of my breakfast, downed my juice and placed my dishes in the sink. I walked back to my room to figure out what to wear. I stared at my closet for what seemed like forever. I decided to play it safe and just wear jeans and a gray long sleeved shirt. The next time I looked at my alarm clock, it read six thirty. I had twenty-five minutes to get to the bus stop.

I slipped on my sneakers, grabbed my book bag and walked to my mom's room. She was getting ready for work at the diner. Mom was always sacrificing, whether it was waking up early to make me breakfast or working fifty hours a week to make sure we got by.

I shook the thought out of my head. I didn't need to tear up on my first day of school. I knocked on Mom's door. "Hey Mom, I'm gunna head out."

Mom walked over to me and brought me into a tight hug. She kissed my forehead and whispered, "I love you, Nell. Be good and have a great first day."

"I love you too Mom, and I'll try," I answered.

The bus ride to Gotham High wasn't too bad. Once all of the busses arrived, the teachers quickly herded the students into the school. Finding my homeroom was my first challenge of the day; it took a couple of wrong turns before I finally stumbled upon it. There wasn't anything special about the room. There was a chalkboard, a few corny posters, and a screen to use with a projector. The one thing that was interesting about the room was that it had the desks arranged in a circle. Most of the seats were already filled so I just slipped in and took one of the empty seats furthest from the door.

Once the late bell rang, I saw other kids in the hall running to make it to their homerooms. Just then, our teacher walked in and closed the door. He took a seat at his desk at the front of the room and looked at the circle of students before him. He quickly called out roll to make sure we were all in the right place.

Luckily, today was a half-day at school, so the day wouldn't have been as long as it normally would be. After lockers were handed out and everyone was situated, there were morning announcements and all that jazz. Then the bell rang, dismissing us to our first class. I took a few advanced classes so I could challenge myself. My first class of the day was my Honors English class, which was taught by my homeroom teacher. When everyone in my class arrived, the teacher took one of the seats at the top of the circle.

"Good morning class," our teacher greeted. "My name is Mr. Barton, and welcome to Freshman Honors English. I know that we're going to have a great year together."

Mr. Barton then handed out a syllabus and explained everything about the class. It seemed interesting; most of the stories we'd be studying involve epics, like The Iliad and Gilgamesh.

"Alright class, since a majority of the course is going to explore the world of heroes and myths, I thought you'd like a chance to tell me about yourselves." Mr. Barton then wrote a question on the board. Who's your hero?

Once everyone had a chance to think the question over, Mr. Barton went around the circle to hear our answers. Most people answered that their parents or the police were their heroes. There were even some kids who answered Superman.

When it was my turn, I turned to my classmates and teacher and answered proudly, "Batgirl."

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. I was able to make a few new friends in my classes, so today wasn't a total disaster. I felt my pocket vibrate and realized that I got a text message.

Wanna go to the mall after school? – Lizzie

Since it was a half-day, I didn't see the harm in stopping by the mall after school. I texted Lizzie back and told her that I would meet her at her bus. I walked onto her bus and noticed Lizzie with her headphones in, her blond hair bouncing as her head nodded to the beat. Once Lizzie noticed me she scooted over and patted the spot next to her.

"I asked Shannon if she could drive us, and she said sure," Lizzie greeted with a smile. Lizzie and I have been best friends for years. I met Lizzie, along with our other friends Tyler and Vincent, at the hospital a few years ago when Batgirl was hurt.

"Sounds great!" I yelled in mock enthusiasm. Lizzie nudged my shoulder, and she went on about her first day at school.

We made it to Lizzie's bus stop in no time, and we saw her sister Shannon waiting in her car. Shannon went to college at Gotham University. She didn't have class today so she was more than happy to drive us. She asked us about our day and Lizzie kept going on and on about her classes. I rolled my eyes at the retelling of her story.

It didn't take long for us to get to the mall. Once inside, we went straight for the food court, which was our usual meeting place. I recognized Tyler, who was waving at us to come over to his table. When we got closer to the table, I noticed that Tyler was already munching on a burrito.

"Hiya, Tyler," I greeted, taking a seat next to him. Tyler could only answer with a wave, or else some burrito would have spilled out.

"Geez, are you ever not eating?" Lizzie teased as she tousled Tyler's chestnut hair.

Tyler gulped down before answering. "Hey c'mon Liz, I got hungry since we didn't have lunch today. Besides, I got you and Nell one too!"

He nudged the tray that held two unclaimed burritos, offering them to us. A smile crept onto my face in acceptance of the free chow.

Lizzie also grabbed hers and unwrapped it, taking a satisfied bite. In the middle of her chews she asked Tyler, "So, where's Vince?"

Tyler and I sighed at her question. It was always like this. If Vince weren't with us, Lizzie would ask about him and vice versa. It was as if the two of them thought they were being discreet about their feelings for each other. Tyler and I weren't blind; we knew what was going on.

"I think he had to go home and help his mom out or something," Tyler answered, scratching the back of his head. "He texted me to tell you guys that he couldn't make it."

"Did he say anything else?" Lizzie interrogated, taking another bite of her burrito.

Tyler raised an eyebrow as he grabbed a napkin and wiped his hands. He then reached into his pocket, retrieved his cell phone and handed it to Lizzie. She read the messaged and I swear, the entire food court could hear the squeal that left her lips.

"Holy crap Lizzie, was it that good of a message?" I asked. I was slouching in my chair in an attempt to hide my face from the stares of surrounding strangers.

"Uh huh," Lizzie nodded dreamily. A rosy blush spread across pale skin, and her sapphire eyes filled with excitement. "Vince said I was beautiful."

Vince wasn't lying either. Lizzie was definitely pretty. She was the type of girl that didn't need to spend hours applying make-up every morning. She didn't care about how the girls in the magazines looked. All she cared about was being happy with who she was. That's what Vince liked most about her. Whenever Vince and I hung out together, he'd constantly talk about Lizzie. It was borderline annoying.

"Sooooo, what are you going to do about it, lover girl?" Tyler asked.

Lizzie's blush deepened, "I'm not sure. What do you think I should do, Nell?"

"Wait, why are you asking me?" I coughed, almost choking on my food. "You're the one who's actually had a boyfriend!"

"But Vince's different! He's one of my best friends. I just don't wanna mess it up," Lizzie sighed.

I was about to answer Lizzie before my eyes caught two people walking into the food court. One of them was a blond woman wearing a purple shirt with jeans. It looked like she could be in college. She was with a miserable looking boy who seemed to be around our age. He was wearing a black jacket that revealed a white shirt underneath and a pair of dark jeans. Oddly enough, both of them looked familiar. After staring off into space for a few seconds I realized that the boy was Bruce! I only saw him a couple of times since we met, and I never saw him around school.

The next thing I knew, Tyler waved his hand in front of me. "Earth to Nell…"

I quickly snapped out of my trance and shook my head. I pointed towards Bruce and said, "I think I know that boy."

"Him?" Lizzie asked. "He looks kinda cute. Who's that with him? His girlfriend?"

"I don't think so. I think she's just a friend," I speculated.

"Um guys, don't you know who that is?" Tyler asked.

Lizzie shook her head causing Tyler to sigh. "That's Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's youngest son. Don't you guys ever watch the news?"

"Nope," Lizzie and I answered together.

"Nell, go talk to him," Lizzie encouraged with a wink.

I think I will. I stood up and made my way over to the pair. They were waiting for their burgers, and I overheard some of their conversation.

"Why do you keep insisting that I eat this filth?" he asked, looking at the burger that was being prepared.

"Y'know Damian, one day you'll thank me for showing you how it feels to be a real kid," answered his partner. So his name's really Damian?

"And ingesting a greasy burger is part of being a kid?"

"Yup yup," his friend nodded.

Once they were finished talking, I tapped Damian on the shoulder. "Bruce, is that you?"

I noticed that he turned rigid as soon as his false name left my lips. When he turned around, his scowl was replaced with a wide-eyed and confused look. His friend tried to hide the smile that spread across her face.

"Um, hi Nell?" Damian answered.

"So you do remember me Bruce or is it really Damian Wayne?" I accused. Damian looked a little nervous, but all his friend did was laugh.

"Oh, that's our order. Why don't I give you kids some space and go look for a table," she said, patting Damian on the head as she left.

"What are you doing here?" Damian asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm here with my friends when I noticed you," I answered.

"Erm, well I guess you know who I am?" Damian asked.

"Duh," I sassed. "Why'd you lie to me all those years ago?"

"Ugh, I just didn't want to be recognized," Damian shrugged. He was as stiff as ever.

"Well I guess I get it. You are kinda famous, right?" I answered, folding my arms over my chest. "So, who were you with just now?"

"My friend, Stephanie."

"She seems nice." I was failing at my attempt at small talk. Could this get any more awkward?

"tt. She's annoying," Damian spat. "She drags me everywhere I don't want to go."

"She's kinda like your big sister then?" I laughed. I noticed Damian's face softened ever so slightly.

"I suppose she is at times," Damian shrugged. "Anyway, I think your friends are waiting for you."

I turned around to see that Lizzie and Tyler were staring at us. Ugh, talk about discreet guys. "Yeah, looks like it."

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Nell." Damian then turned to meet up with Stephanie.

"Wait!" I yelled as I grabbed Damian's wrist. I grabbed a pen from the burger joint's counter and quickly scribbled my number on Damian's palm, blowing on it to dry the ink. "Here's my number. Text me sometime."

"Erm, sure." Damian mumbled, and I could see his cheeks redden.

Realizing what I just did, I turned around and walked as quickly as I could to our table. As soon as I sat down, Lizzie gave me two thumbs up and Tyler was laughing so hard his face turned scarlet.

"Nell, did you just give Damian Wayne your number?" Tyler wheezed between laughing fits.

I blushed, "I didn't have time to think it through, okay."

"Go Nell! Hey, maybe we can finally double?" Lizzie teased.

"Calm down, Lizzie. He's still here!" I shushed. "And you aren't even going out with Vince!"

Lizzie dismissed me with a wave of her hand. "Details baby, details. I can't believe you actually gave him your number, Nell. Way to put yourself out there! AND he's a Wayne! You sure shoot high."

"It's not like that!" I spat as I threw my hands up. "I met him when I was ten, and I always wondered what happened to him. I just wanted to be able to keep in touch."

"Keep telling yourself that sweetie."