Daydream || Rick Tyler [DC's Stargirl]

• Chapter 12

During the first half of the school day, Molly felt a heavy weight in her chest. She couldn't stop thinking about her argument with Rick. Part of her felt like she should apologize to him, but another part of her didn't. He needed to hear the truth. Plus, he crossed the line by bringing up their parents. She had nothing to say to him so she didn't understand why she felt so bad.

By the time lunch arrived, she was ready to go home. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and watch Grey's Anatomy while studying. While trying to remember what she packed for lunch, she looked around to see if she could find Cameron anywhere. Then, her eyes widened when she saw Courtney at school, who she hadn't seen all day. She immediately rushed over to their table and sat down. When she looked over, she noticed that she unintentionally sat down next to Rick. The two of them looked at each other before turning back towards Courtney, who looked like she was trying not to burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked her.

Courtney looked up at Molly for a moment with her hands folded in her lap. Then, she looked back down at her lunch tray and answered, "I'm not Stargirl."

Molly, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick all looked at each other confused before Beth insisted, "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not, Beth," Courtney replied before continuing, "My dad wasn't... he isn't Starman. He was just some jerk."

Molly felt bad for Courtney, having completely forgot that her father showed up this morning. Courtney didn't deserve to have been treated badly by her father, but this has to be some sort of mistake.

"But my dad isn't Wildcat, and I am now," Yolanda pointed out to her.

Courtney just shook her head, "This is different, Yolanda."

"How?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah! I've never met the real Dr. Midnite, but now I'm the new one," Beth told her with a small smile, trying to cheer her up.

Courtney took a deep breath as her eyes began to water before replying, "Because the staff doesn't work for me anymore, okay? Because it knows I'm not Starman's daughter."

There was a pause between the five of them, unsure what to say. Then to Molly's surprise, Rick spoke up from beside her, "Courtney, the staff is stupid then."

"Yeah," Molly found herself agreeing with him, despite her being angry with him, "Just because you're not Starman's daughter doesn't mean you aren't Stargirl. I mean, the only reason I am Daydream is because my mother's powers were inherited to me. If they weren't, then anyone could've been Daydream. Rick's hourglass works for him because it's tied to his DNA, but the staff chose you. Not because of your family, but-"

"No," Courtney cut her off while shaking her head. Molly's mouth slowly closed as Courtney started to cry and stammer out, "I used the staff when I wasn't meant to, and now I know for sure. It was my fault that Henry and Joey died. I-I can't have anyone else get hurt because I thought I was... that I was someone I'm not."

Courtney just wiped her eyes quickly before starting to eat her food, ending their conversation. Molly couldn't even believe what she was hearing. Courtney was the one who convinced Molly to join the JSA. So she could get justice for her mother. Molly still had no leads on who killed her mother, but now she might never get them. As everyone around her started to eat, Molly stood up from the lunch table and walked out of the cafeteria before any of them could stop her.

Students around her scoffed in annoyance as she shoved through them to just get to the door. Luckily, the hallway was empty so people wouldn't see her taking deep breaths to try to calm down. She shook her hands at her sides before placing them on top of her head, trying to gather her thoughts.