I'd like to just talk about my story first... this chapter is kind of like an introductory chapter. The next chapter will be in "present" time, so the character's will be older, and that's how my story will continue!

Just thought I'd like you know beforehand.

:)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything that belongs to DC. I only own my OCs.

Leave Me Alone

Part One

Nina Howard was confused. She stared at the reflection of herself in the mirror, the make up plastered on her face like a mask. Usually, for these events, she never wore this much makeup. It felt awful on her face; unwanted. The event her family was invited to was a Wayne Foundation ball, taking place at Wayne Manor.

Looking away from the stranger in the mirror, Nina stood up, smoothing out her simple gown with her palms.

"Hold still Ni, you need some lipgloss." Bethany, Nina's older sister implied, smearing on a thick coat of red lipgloss. Nina simply made a distasteful face, and crossed her arms.

"Cut the attitude, this is for your future! You're meeting the boy of your dreams." Beth said enthusiastically, ruffling the curls in Nina's dark brown hair. Nina simply sighed, and rolled her eyes: I'm only twelve!

"I'm too young for this..." Nina said with sadness in her voice. "I want real romance, but I also want to be patient."

"Everyone wants real romance, but not everyone gets it." Beth informed, applying even more mascara to her already dark lashes. She looked at Nina's relfection in the vanity mirror and smirked.

"Look, you aren't the only one who's being put in a situation like this. Mom wants to set me up with Bruce Wayne!"

Nina almost choked on her breath.

"What?!"

Bethany, being only two years older than Nina, acted mature for her age. She treated Nina like a child to top it off. It annoyed Nina at times, but she knew she acted that way to protect Nina. Both their parents were never really the most supportive parents.

Blushing at the thought of Bruce Wayne, Beth spun around and smiled sheepishly.

"I know right, I was pretty shocked myself. He's a total hunk, but it's also kind of scary..." Beth wasn't exactly the most beautiful girl out there, but she was pretty. A simple pretty, with soft eyes, and a small pink pout. It was good enough to attract a bit of attention, but not as much attention as Nina.

Beth stared at her younger sister jealously. Nina was much more beautiful, inheriting full lips from her mother's side, and she had the same soft green eyes. Her eyes were framed with longer lashes, and her eyebrows were shaped sharply above her eyes.

Beth sighed, biting the inside of her lip a bit timidly. Her fingers played nervously with her pinned up hair as she searched for her heels, somewhere around her room.

Nina strapped on her strappy heels, and wobbled cautiously out into the hallway of the upstairs, followed closely behind Beth, who was a little more confident in walking in her own pair.

"Are you both ready?" Marianne—their mother—came from the stairs and eyed their gowns up and down. "You both look so lovely."

Beth giggled loudly, while Nina only smiled a little bit.

-s-

The Howard family arrived at Wayne Manor about half an hour into the start. An elderly gentleman greeted them and led them to the vast ballroom, handing both Mr. And Mrs. Howard a glass of expensive champagne. He smiled at both of the girls, who trailed cautiously behind their parents.

There were many people mingling together, a clap of laughter over there, and a loud mouthed business man over there. Nina swallowed thickly, peering around doubtfully as she tried to look for the boy of potential.

"Oh my god, you've gotta look... it's him!" Bethany grabbed onto Nina's arm excitedly, clenching at her arm. Nina spun around, stepping closer to Beth to get a better look.

"Him? Who? Bruce Wayne?"

"Shh! Shh..." Beth cried, guiding Nina's chin to where she would have to look. "Over there."

There he was. The Bruce Wayne. Nina watched him as he awkwardly shook hands with a larger woman in dazzling diamonds, and her husband in a pressed tuxedo, and a fancy bowtie.

Beside Nina, Beth sighed deeply. "Isn't he perfect?"

Nina simply stared. He really was, but there was this strange aura that surrounded him. It was hard for Nina to explain what it was, but he seemed very closed off.

Marianne and her husband, Edwin, walked up to the girls. "Beth, we must introduce you to Bruce!"

Beth looked at Nina nervously; then turned towards her mother, eager to meet the potential young boy. Bruce was about sixteen, which was perfect for Beth. A two years difference was just about right.

Marianne quickly dabbed away a fly away hair from Beth's updo, and adjusted the halter of her deep blue gown, smoothing up the material that wrapped itself around Beth's long neck.

"The Desmond family should arrive any moment, Nina. You'll be meeting their youngest son, Benjamin." Edwin told his daughter, smiling down at her proudly. He was happy about both of his daughter's potentially dating, and even marrying men with plenty of wealth. It secured both of their future's.

Nina barely broke a smile. She could care less of meeting this Benjamin. All she wanted was freedom, not to be condemned to some relationship with a boy she never even met!

Turning her head a bit, she noticed Bruce Wayne had his head tipped in her direction. He was eyeing her family carefully, looking a bit nervous. Did he know about having to meet with Beth? Nina bit her lip gently. Then his eyes flicked in Nina's direction, locking eye contact before Nina quickly spun around. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Looking up at her older sister, Beth had her eyes wide with anticipation. Nina felt a little bit of jealousy.

"I'm going to go introduce Beth to Bruce, Nina. Go and mingle with your father." Marianne said, with her hand on Nina's thin shoulder. Nina smiled, looking up at her father.

"I need some fresh air." Nina excused herself, weaving through the crowd towards a set of french doors partially open. She peered over her shoulder before exiting, her eyes skimming the crowd of partygoers briefly, before she locked eyes with Bruce again. He was turned fully in her direction, his hands driven deep into the pockets of his suit pants. A gentle smile played on his lips, and the glimmer of the chandeliers reflecting in his eyes tantilizing Nina.

Bethany and Marianne stopped short by Bruce. That broke the eye contact between Nina and him, causing Nina to break out of her small trance. She felt her heart fluttering in her chest once again, and a small blush creeping on the apples of her cheeks.

Out of curiousity, Beth turned her head in the direction Bruce was looking, but she never saw her younger sister and the spark that partially ignited.

-s-

He was standing out in the warm wind, staring out into the darkness of what was the grounds of Wayne Manor. Both of his arms were stiff by his sides; a cigarette dangled from his chapped lips.

He collected half used cigarettes, and carried them in a small metal chamber he kept in his pocket. The thought of other people's lips on the same nicotine stick thrilled him.

Blowing out a puff of smoke in front of his face, he didn't notice the girl standing a few feet away from him, on the stone steps, leading out to the beautiful gardens of the Manor grounds. Although, the sound of her sighing caught his attention.

Nina was lost in deep thought. Her cheeks were still warm from when Bruce smiled at her.

"Hello." He moved towards her, holding the cigarette between his two fingers gently. "Quite the night, hm?"

Nina jumped, looking up at him with a look of distaste. "You scared me."

He simply grinned—in fact—a very large grin.

"Okay. Don't apologize." Nina spoke sarcastically, looking away, and folding her arms across her chest, quite annoyed.

"I'm sorry." He was being serious about his apology, and Nina turned her head quickly towards him, nodding in appreciation.

"And I accept the apology..."

"I'm Jack." His voice was soft, almost gone with the sudden gust of warm wind.

"It's nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Nina."

"Nina..." He liked the way her name rolled off his tongue. "Lovely name." Another smile graced his face. He was actually good looking, despite the weirdness, Nina thought, smiling back at him gently.

"Thanks."

The cigarette suddenly tumbled from his fingers, onto the stone veranda. He took it out with his slightly muddy shoes, and blew out a remaining breath of smoke.

"Well, Nina. It was nice to meet you, but I better get going, my parents aren't exactly—hm...—lineant." His mouth twisted into another smile, emphasizing the last word with a slight smack of his lips. Nina swallowed thickly, and forced herself to look anything but nervous.

Jack took a couple of steps back, the last step he spun around, disappearing through the large french doors.

Nina followed him a few minutes later, eyeing the large ballroom. Where'd he go?

Swallowing thickly, Nina went on that night looking for this strange boy who went by the name of Jack.

It was like he never existed.

-s-

"There you are!" Beth pulled Nina a bit by her arm, and seemed to look a little flustered. "Oh my god, Nina. It was so awkward!" Beth continued to dive into the tiny details of how awkward her and Bruce's encounter was. They had nothing to talk about.

"You just met him, Beth. It'll take time, but I'm sure it'll be okay." Nina tried to reassure her older sister, but Bethany wouldn't get rid of the saddened frown on her face. She really looked disappointed.

"God, Ni. I thought he'd be just right." Beth shook her shoulders a little in aggravation, crossing her arms. "He's so hard to read too, it's almost as if he's not there some moments."

"Maybe he's still recovering from what happened to his parents..." Nina suggested, shrugging a bit. Honestly, she had no idea what else to say to her sister.

"You aren't helping..." Beth let out a sigh of exasperation, and stalked off into the crowd, grabbing a lone flute of champagne on an unoccupied stand before disappearing somewhere... Nina could care less.

"Your sister was nice." He stepped up beside her, hands still shoved into his pants pockets. Bruce Wayne stood there confidently.

"I'm sorry if she comes up a little too strong. She's just like that sometimes." Nina pointed out, looking at Bruce carefully. The look on his face was hard to read. He looked content, but saddened at the same time, like he wanted to be there, but at the same time, not.

A soft laugh rippled out of him, surprising Nina, and he turned his head a bit in her direction.

"You don't have to apologize for your sister's sake. She seems like a good person."

"She is." Nina simply said, tipping her head to stare off into the distance. Her thoughts wandered somewhere else briefly. "She really is..."

The Wayne Foundation ball went on for another couple of hours. Bruce had disappeared just after he spoke with Nina. He must have gone away to his section of the house, away from all of the fakes, and the phoneys that made up the Gotham aristocracy.

Aristocracy. What a word to use for these people.

Nina stood off to the side, her eyes slightly drooped from exhaustion. From being in her heels all night. As well as her exhaustion, she was relieved. The Desmond's hadn't showed up that evening, so she didn't have to deal with meeting Benjamin. That was literally the greatest gift of the night.

She was quite pleased with having to have met Bruce Wayne though. They conversed casually, but it came so naturally to talk to him. It was a pleasant experience.

"You ready?" Edwin came up to his youngest daughter, smiling at her gently. Nina stepped forwards, following her father towards Marianne and Bethany, who seemed to still be sulking.

The ride back to Old Gotham was relatively quiet. Beth had her head resting back against the seat, and Marianne was sleeping peacefully. Edwin clenched the steering wheel tightly, his eyes focused nervously on the road in front of him.

Just as Beth was slowly about to watch the world from her window, the sound of a blaring horn, and squealing tires brought her attention. She couldn't even scream when bright headlights illuminated the inside of the car, and a crash echoed in her ears. She didn't even scream when the car was thrown sideways, rolling into a ditch. Glass shattering, and the crunch of metal was a violent jumble of noise. How could this be happening.

Something wet was dripping down the side of Nina's face, and her body was numb, she couldn't even move.

Her vision was becoming unclear, and the sound of her sister hyperventilating beside her was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

-s-

I hope you enjoyed : ) I would also love if anyone could help me with the story? As in revising it maybe, and making it better. I would greatly appreciate any help!

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