Yes. It has been almost two years. I'm sorry. Hey! No knife throwing! I swear, fangirls can be batshit crazy sometimes... I think I'm getting my inspiration back, so yeah. Just read. Actually, re-read the first chapter. Cause it's been forever.

KTHXBAI

Saturday rolled around quickly, and Artemis soon found herself walking to detention.

At least she didn't have to wear that stupid-ass uniform. She jumped into a puddle, soaking the cuffs of her faded jeans and dampening her converse. Rounding the corner, she sighed.

The school looked even more evil than usual against the pale, dreary background weather. As she slowly dragged her feet up the school steps, she prayed that the detention monitor would be Miss Lance. She was Artemis' history teacher, and she was the most badass, hard-core, rough-around-the-edges teacher in all of America. Artemis adored her. Lance was most likely the only teacher at Gotham Academy who remotely liked Artemis. Said she reminded her of herself when she was young. Artemis took that as a compliment.

The doors made a blood-curdling squeak as Artemis flung them open. It smelled like new pencils and dusty textbooks, eau de school. Gross.

Her footsteps echoed the vacant, unlit hallways in an eerie sort of way. The west wing was always the creepiest. A legend had been passed around about how a kid had been raped and killed in the basement, and every year on Halloween you can still hear the cries of the girl.

It was bullshit, and everyone knew it, but hey. It made school a bit more interesting.

The detention room was always room 104, the science lab. The old, crusty Mr. Grande had retired last year (thankfully), and some guy named Mr. Allen had taken the slot. She swung open the door, the faint smell of lingering chemicals from the previous day still in the air. Three columns of lab stations stretched to the back of the room with four islands in each. She sunk into her usual seat, second row, second station back.

She glanced at the clock. It was covered with a sign that read Time will pass. Will you? The blonde rolled her eyes. Right next to it was a sad cat poster with the words Hang in there! and an orange tabby cat hanging off of a tree branch. A map of Skyrim was above the whiteboard, along with a quote from Zoolander. A lamp made entirely of spoons sat on his desk, next to a picture of a pretty red-head that Artemis assumed was his wife. Below that, facing outward for the class to see, was a piece of paper saying: My emergency grader is Helen Waite. If you think your assignment needs to be graded immediately, go to Helen Waite.

But Artemis' favorite decoration would have to be the poster covering the window that said:

When you wish upon a star

You're a few million light-years late

That star is dead

Just like your dreams

She smiled when she read it. Mr. Allen was a new teacher this year, so no one really knew who he was, but she liked this guy's style.

The gray outside light filtered in from the dusty curtains. She picked at a scab on her arm.

The door swung open, and two tough-looking black guys sauntered in, taking two seats in the back of the room. They acknowledged Artemis with an upward nose which she returned. They were detention regulars. Bill and Carl? Bob and Chaz? She always forgot their names.

Following them, there was Lauren. Lauren was pale and had close-cropped, jet-black hair. A lip ring and gages took their rightful places on her lip and ears. She was usually in for smoking weed in the girls locker room. Her and Artemis didn't really talk, but shared a bond between bored looks and gun-gestures to their heads as the detention hours ticked by.

Four more people entered the lab; two white guys, a tiny brunette and a quiet redhead.

They sat in bored silence as the eight of them waited for the monitor to arrive.

Artemis sighed, converse propped up on one of the sink nozzles of the lab in front of her as she Gingerbread nervously adjust her pink skirt.

The classroom door finally swung open, and who everyone assumed was Mr. Allen strode in. He was a tall guy, kind-of beanpole-ish with sandy blonde hair, in his late twenties/early thirties. He was wearing a warm-up suit, so he was either a weird perv or the track coach. He stood in front of the whiteboard, hands on hips. Eight pairs of eyes stared expectantly at him, observing.

Allen made eye contact with Artemis. "Oi, Blondie. Feet off the desk."

She sighed and begrudgingly obeyed.

He leaned against the whiteboard. "Alright, detentionites. I'm Mr. Allen. I would give you the speech about good behavior, but to be honest, I don't really care what you guys did, because I'm sure you didn't kill anyone." He raised his eyebrows at Gingerbread. "Right?"

She nodded, eyes wide and blushing.

"Hey, loosen up, kid," he teased her with a smile. Artemis had a good feeling about this guy. He swung down into his desk chair, feet propped up on top of a chemistry book, surveying the eight faces before him. "So. I assume you guys usually just sit here and think about your wrongdoings, right?"

They nodded.

He nodded. "Sounds fair. But here's the problem. I have tryouts for track and field today, so that's not gonna work. What do you think we should do, Wayans brothers?"

Blake and Corey shrugged. "Leave?" Corey suggested, earning a snigger from Blake.

Mr. Allen sighed. "I wish, kid. But no. So, since I'm going to be trying out people for the team, you guys can just chill on the bleachers. Sound fair?"

They all shrugged, indifferent.

He gave a thumbs up. "Cool."

Artemis was lying flat on her back across the middle of the bleachers. The others were strewn randomly across the away bleachers across the field. She smirked when she noticed Lauren smoking a cigarette near a garbage can. Typical.

They had been outside for a half hour, and it was fuckin' cold out. The girl stared up. Grayish clouds rolled across the sky, and she pulled her arms into her hoodie to conserve warmth. Damn Gotham and its bipolar weather.

She rolled over onto her stomach, propping her head up with a hand. So far, no excitement had been really going on with the track tryouts. She peered over to the starting line, where Allen was talking to a group of about eighteen guys sprawled out in front of him on the turf.

"So that's what track is basically about. Any questions? No? Alright." He scratched his head observing the teenage guys in front of him. "You, you, you, you, you, and you. Up on the starting line." He turned to the rest of the group. "You guys can just chill on the sidelines for now."

Artemis watched with mild interest as five guys pushed themselves up, stretching. They weren't stunningly attractive, but Artemis noticed lean runner's muscles. She recognized almost all of them. They were all douche bags, popular and jock-ish, Glitter Heel Gang material. But the guy in the outermost lane was new.

She pushed herself into a sitting position to get a better look. He was a ginger, all freckles and red hair. He looked about junior-age, maybe senior. He was probably a new kid.

Welcome to hell, she thought.

Allen stood at the edge of the starting lane. "We ready guys?" Earning a few nods, he took his whistle out of his pocket. "Alright, one mile. Show me what you've got. Runners, take your marks."

As soon as he blew the whistle, they were off. Artemis watched as they sprinted around the first corner, arms pumping. They were all pretty good, and Allen seemed impressed. Her interest piqued when she noticed Ginger and lane four. They were neck-in-neck, sprinting at the exact same speed. Ginger seemed not to notice, but the tall brunette next to him seemed pissed.

Brian VanDerBeen. Artemis remembered him from her trig class last year. Kind-of a jerk, dumb as a rock. He had called her Tinkerbell last year, and she had been about ready to punch his lights out.

Ginger had been pressing on, ignoring Brian and the dirty looks, when suddenly Brian side-stepped in front of him.

It all happened in slow motion, or so it seemed. Ginger stumbled, and his leg twisted beneath him as he flew into the turf, full-speed. A graceful swan dive, and Artemis winced just watching it. Brian continued on, not looking back.

Ginger rolled over onto his back, face contorted in pain and blood seeping out of nasty-looking scrapes. Artemis watched in mild amusement he turned to look ahead at Brian, glaring.

He rolled into a sitting position as Allen jogged over. Artemis couldn't hear what they said, but Allen helped bleeding ginger up and they walked/ limped toward the bleachers Artemis was currently occupying.

Artemis sighed, staring at the clouds in the sky now that the excitement was over. She wished Grayson and Zatanna were here. Although that would mean they would've had to done something to break the rules.

She thought for a moment, and her mouth curved into a smile as she thought of her goody-two-shoes friends misbehaving. Knowing Grayson, his detention would be for a prank, some stupid shit like taking every copy of Moby Dick that Mrs. Shay owned and putting an apostrophe s so they all read Moby's Dick.

Zatanna's would be for lying too many times about having her period so she could get out of swimming in gym class. Something stupid that every girl does.

"Hey! Blondie!"

She was snapped out of her daze. Allen was looking up at her. "C'mere for a sec."

Artemis sighed, wondering what she did wrong this time as she climbed down the squeaky metal steps. She skipped the last one and landed on the reddish track with a soft thud.

"You mind taking Wally here to my classroom and getting him cleaned up?" He gestured to Mystery Ginger. "I wanna get these tryouts over soon, and it looks like you're the only one here not high," he said, looking toward the home bleachers at the other detention prisoners. Lauren was passing around a blunt, and they were giggling. Other gingerbread was sitting alone in the corner, daydreaming.

Artemis raised her eyebrows at the bleeding ginger. "I guess, but-"

Allen grinned. "Great. First-aid kit is in the bottom drawer on the left in my desk."

He walked away, calling a thanks over his shoulder.

She looked at the wounded runner before her.

Artemis sighed. Wonderful.

I know, it was just a filler. But I'm working on chapter 3, and there will be hurt!pissy! Wally and unamused!pissy! Artemis.

I want to change the title of this story, but I need ideas. Leave them in the comments?

Review if you wanna!