An Inaudible Irritation

17. Beginnings

After winter break, a new semester of school began. That meant new classes, new assignments, and new faces. 

Raven was honestly surprised when she saw Damian first thing in the morning. They were the only ones inside the cold gymnasium. It was fifteen minutes before class started, and Damian was sitting on the bleachers, already dressed in his uniform. His attention was fixed on the phone in his hands.

In a rushing manner, Raven went to the girls locker room to change into her uniform, hoping that she was unnoticed by him.

When she was finished changing and successfully tied her hair up into a ponytail, she packed her bags up and placed them into her assigned locker. A few girls started to come inside as well and did the same while she was leaving.

There were few students in the gymnasium, all either stretching or chatting with friends. Raven met Damian's stare and she flashed him a quick smile while waving her hand.

Damian's cheeks turned a shade of crimson before he averted his gaze from her. Raven raised an eyebrow at the response before getting startled by the coach blowing his whistle. Once he had everyone's attention, he lined them up and began calling out names.

"Suren Darga," the coach called. Raven pressed her lips together at the name. That wouldn't be good.

"Present," the said boy called back.

The coach seemed to write something on his paper before moving on. "Maya Ducard."

The girl sprinted from the locker room in a hurry, lining up beside Raven once she made it to the group of kids.

"Here," Maya responded after catching her breath as her eyes darted around the large room nervously. When she met Damian's gaze, his eyes widened. She had her short dark hair pulled back into French braids, and she was wearing their school uniform. She was a student.

The coach moved on to the other students before coming to Raven's name. "Rachel Roth."

"Here," Raven called back.

"Damian Wayne," the coach called before glancing around the room. When his eyes landed on Damian, he checked his name off and put away the clipboard.

After calling roll, the coach made the students do warm-ups before starting their first athletic assignment; running the mile.

Damian hadn't even made it a full lap around the track before he lost his balance and plummeted into the synthetic rubber beneath him. Angrily, his gaze went up to see that Suren had run into him from behind.

"Watch where you're going, imbecile!" Damian shouted.

Suren raised his eyebrows at the remark before glaring down at the shorter boy. Quickly, he got to his feet and grabbed Damian by the collar of his shirt.

"Who do you think you're calling-" Suren started as he raised a close fist, but he was cut off as a small hand grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him backward. Suren didn't even glance behind him before elbowing them in the face.

Maya groaned as she reached her hand up to cover her mouth, an annoyed expression making its way to her face when she recognized the metallic taste of blood. He busted her lip.

"Shit, sorry!" Suren started with a worried look as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I didn't know you were a girl-"

Maya cut him off by swinging a closed fist across his face. Damian's eyes remained wide in shock as he watched the scene.

Students began crowding around the three as it continued. Once Suren decided to leave her alone, Maya extended her hand out towards Damian, offering to help him up.

Before Damian could take her offer, the female assistant coach grabbed her by the shoulder. Maya looked at her with a nervous expression as she was led off the football field.

Damian quickly got to his feet and met Raven's surprised gaze before the coach made everyone continue their run.

—

After gym class came second period, which was different for both Damian and Raven. She had Creative Writing, while he had Advanced Art.

When that class ended, it was time for lunch. To Raven's surprise, Maya returned to the cafeteria. Her uniform stood out compared to the rest, as she wore a lot of yellow accessories. Her lower lip was also swollen.

"What did they give you?" Raven asked once she approached the other girl.

Maya handed her the paper tucked away in her lunchbox. Raven's eyes traced over the words before responding.

"Only a day? That's not bad," Raven said and handed her the paper back.

"What's the usual punishment?" Maya questioned as she followed Raven to the table where Damian sat.

"Damian over here got three days for fighting the same boy," Raven informed her as they sat down. Damian shifted his attention from the sketch he was working on to the two girls across from him.

Maya eyed the piece of paper underneath his pencil. Her eyes widened in astonishment. "That's so good," she commented before snatching the book from his grip and gazing at the very detailed sketch of a dog. She noticed Damian's confusion and pondered how to talk to him since she didn't know sign language.

"Can you tell him I like his art?" Maya whispered to Raven. The question caught her off guard at first, but she complied.

Raven turned to Damian and used her hands to sign, "She says that she likes your art."

Damian's expression softened before meeting Maya's watchful gaze. "Thank you," he hesitantly responded.

Raven watched the two, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

—

When lunch ended, Raven dreaded her next class. Algebra was definitely the worst subject. At least, to her it was.

Not on it did she hate math, but the teacher didn't help her cause either. He was so monotone that Raven nearly dozed off while he was speaking, and it was only the first day of class.

Damian threw a small ball of paper at her, causing her to jolt up before her head hit the desk. Raven shot him a glare before returning the piece of paper in the same manner.

When that class finally ended, they both went to Theatre Arts.

Their teacher was very enthusiastic. It was impossible to snooze in her class. To start off her class, she made the students gather in a circle and play games so that they could warm up to one another.

The rest of the class was spent doing these team exercises, until finally the school day was over. Once they were dismissed, Damian went home and Raven went to work, accompanied by Maya.

—

As Damian worked on a sketch in his notebook at his desk, the sight of his phone constantly lighting up caught his attention.

After putting down the pencil, he got up and retrieved his phone from his bed. His eyes widened as he read the many spam messages from Raven. The one that was sent last stood out most.

[Please answer, Robin. We need you. Maya is missing.]