Another Stupid High School Romance

Chapter Three: A Mind On Fire

"I'm.... Late.... Again" Dick rubbed his temples with his index finger and thumb and hoped that maybe by shielding his face he could vanish, like when he becomes the boy wonder and pretends that Dick Grayson doesn't even exist. "Hey man, I'm always late to class. C'mon," the red head said nodding his head towards the door and beginning to walk "What class you got now?" "Uh... English. Room 105." Dick walked almost cautiously now, wondering what cheesy teen movie trope would happen next "Woah no way! Me too". Whoop, there it is. "Really? I've never really seen you in there... N-no offence or anything!" Wally chuckled softly and let another warm grin spread to his cheeks as he pushed the front door to the building open. "None taken. I usually hide at the back of the room and sleep. Early mornings aren't really my thing." "Oh, I hear ya", a slight distance in his voice as he thought back to his morning of desperately wishing Alfred had a snooze button. "...Hey I never actually caught your name, Mr. Late-Again" A smirk greeted his lips as if he said the most clever phrase in the history of clever phrases. "Heh. I'm Dick." "...Last name?" "Grayson. Why?" "I knew you looked familiar", cheered the red head enthusiastically, "I've seen you on TV. You're Bruce Wayne's kid." Right as Wally victoriously grinned as if he just cracked the code to unlocking the secrets of the universe, a teacher, (Dick recognized her but he was in never in one of her classes, he thinks she's a math teacher or something) swung around the corner and glared at them furiously. "You two. Get to class. Now." "Well," started the red head with a soft grin "you heard the lady. But I'll catch up with you later Grayson." He said picking up his walking speed and lifted his hand in a vague goodbye. "See ya." Dick called after him, words echoed hopelessly in the direction of the mysterious boy, he couldn't tell if he heard or not.

Dick clicked his pen a few times with absent minded boredom before he clued in on how irritating the sound might be to others. The only thing they were doing in class was reading Hamlet and going into excruciating detail translating it from Shakespearean English to modern day slang. Dick had already read Hamlet so everything they were discussing was the definition of mind-numbing. His mind began to stir with thoughts of that boy from earlier, Wally. Thoughts are wonderful things, you can think whatever you and want not a single person would have to know. Absolutely no harm done. Wally. How did he catch you so fast, you didn't even see him when you were running. It's like he just appeared out of thin air. Maybe he was magic. Or some sort of weird guardian angel. Dick considered the possibility of him still dreaming, causing the unsound logic to go unnoticed. How had he not seen him around the school. Thinking back to it he might have seen him hanging around Roy a few times. Makes sense though, they're both kinda brash redheads. God, his hair was just blazing orange. Maybe he dyes it to get that unnaturally bright colour. He imagined seeing him with black roots fading from the vibrant dye. A bursting flame against a foundation of charcoal and dying ember. His personality burst with fire as well. Confident, cocky, so smooth it was almost scripted. You don't just flawlessly catch someone with ease and immediately have the perfect line to match. This kid's gotta be sharp as a tack with a lightning fast wit to match. Dick considered the possibility of him being one of those weird geniuses. Bad with tests and books, brilliant when they can use their knowledge in their own way. He certainly didn't seem to enthralled to be in English class... Dick decided to pretend to stretch his back and half turn to look at Wally. Dick was all the way on the right side of the classroom in the middle of his row, while Wally was probably tucked away in the back left corner. He strategically sat up and turned to stretch his "aching back" and glanced over at the boy with the waves of ginger hair spilling onto his arms, which were laid out on his desk. They were folded in such a way to create a nook for his face to rest in, concealing him completely. He was wearing what looked like a black t shirt over a white long sleeve and some navy blue jeans. Dick swiftly returned to his original position as if nothing happened and his mind stirred with the mental image he just captured. He tried to recall the boy's face as much as possible. Round cheeks with a chiseled jaw that contrasted his energy filled, starry eyes perfectly. He hated to admit it, but the boy was pretty handsome. He seemed nice too, kind of full of himself but also funny and charming. Like the kinda guy who's an asshole around his friends but a sweetheart when he's alone. Wally West... Dick felt like his mind was being filled with smoke from the boys swirling flames of hair. The searing heat of him, even in mental form, was enough to cause Dick's cheeks to become dusted with colour. Thoughts never did hurt anyone, but perhaps they were best thought when alone.