Two-Sided (Batman fan fiction, Completed)

Chapter eight

Gemma woke up the next morning to a loud ringing noise. Alfred must have set the alarm. But why would he- THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Ok, well it technically wasn't the first day of school, but it was for Gemma. It was the start of a new semester and all the students were coming back from winter break.

Gemma jolted up and hopped out of bed. She pulled out a black skirt and white button down shirt and slipped into them. Uniform. Oh joy. Gemma pulled off her red tie and black vest from a hanger and put them on, too. Gemma paused for a second, mentally trying to remember where her knee highs were. She eventually gave up (after tearing the room apart searching for them) and went looking for Alfred instead.

"Alfred?" Gemma called.

"What do you need?" Tim's head popped out from a door.

Gemma jumped a bit, before replying, "I can't find my knee highs. Any idea where they are?"

Tim looked down at Gemma's sockless feet and noticed thick, white puckered skin snaking its way up her leg. The scar ran from around her ankle to her skirt, and probably higher. Tim thought to himself, wondering why he had never noticed it. Oh, right. He had only seen Gemma in jeans and her pajamas, both of which covered the raised skin.

Gemma gave Tim a curious look. Suddenly, she tried to cover the scar.

"What hap-" Tim tried.

"Nothing." Gemma cut him off. "Maybe I'll tell you later."

Tim thought for a second more about the large, curious scar before leading Gemma down to the laundry room.

"Here ya go." Tim handed Gemma the socks.

"Thanks." Gemma said, walking off back to her room.

Gemma slipped on the knee highs and her shoes and looked in the mirror. The uniform had already made Gemma's list of things she strongly disliked.

Gemma pinned her dark blonde bangs out of her face and let the rest of her wavy hair fall down her shoulders.

"Gemma! Alfred made muffins, want some?" Tim stuck his head through Gemma's door.

"What the hell, Tim? Stop popping in everywhere!" Gemma laughed.

He was like a ninja. An attractive ninja.

"Wait. What? Hell no." Gemma thought to herself. 

Gemma walked out and met Tim at the door.Tim had on the boys' uniform Gotham Academy required; khaki pants, white shirt, red tie, a navy blazer.

Gemma and Tim walked down to the kitchen where the smell of sweet muffins filled the air.

"Good morning Master Tim, Miss Gemma." Alfred greeted them. "We have poppy seed muffins and blueberry this morning."

Gemma grabbed a poppy seed muffin and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Tim unwrapped his blueberry muffin and sat down.

Nervously eating her breakfast, Gemma started thinking. What if she isn't smart enough? What if she has no friends? What if something bad happens? Gemma tried to calm herself down by thinking about how proud her father, Aunt Selina, and Uncle Jonathan would be of her. Maybe this would be a good thing for her.

After breakfast, Alfred drove Tim and Gemma down to Gotham Academy. The prestigious school was one of the oldest in the city and took students in grades 6-12. Tim and Gemma would both be in 8th grade together in the historic school.

Alfred stopped the car, and Gemma got her first good look at her new school. She had been expecting the school to be big, but this was huge. The ancient stone walls were intimidating to Gemma as were all the people greeting each other.

Tim hopped out of the car and opened the door for Gemma. Heart racing, Gemma stepped out of the car and immidiatly felt panic rising in her chest. What had she been thinking?

Tim noticed how worried Gemma looked.

"Gemma, you're going to be fine. It's really not that bad. It looks a little intimidating at first, but everyone's really nice. Dick and Barbara actually went here when they were kids."

"Ok. If you say so." Gemma replied.

Mustering up all her courage, Gemma followed Tim into the school. Gemma walked up to the front office.

"Umm.. Hi, my name's Gemma Dent, I'm new." Gemma explained to the lady at the front office.

Without looking up, she handed Gemma her schedule with the locker number written on the paper.

Tim waited with Gemma and he helped her find her locker. While walking down the halls, a girl with short, choppy black hair came up tot them. She was small, but she seemed strong. 

"Tim has a girlfriend?" A calm voice asked curiously. 

Gemma felt color rise to her cheeks. Tim laughed nervously and looked away.

"Cass, this is Gemma. Gemma, this is Cass." Tim smiled a bit.

Cass smiled and shook Gemma's hand. 

"There's no need to be nervous." Cass read Gemma's body language. "It should not be a challenging school for you."

Gemma nodded nervously, despite what Cass had said. 

"Can I see your schedule?" Tim asked. 

Gemma handed it over and Tim read it over silently. 

"We have 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th together." He said happily. 

The bell rang and Cass waved. 

"Lunch?"

Tim nodded and they headed off to class.