BATGIRL Book One: New Hero of Burnside

Prologue: Just Being Myself

(In a social media video online, Barbara's face appeared on the screen. She waved to the camera.)

Barbara: "Hey, there! Barbara Gordon, here! This is my first video about me, so I hope I get likes or comments. Okay, here we go. About my normal life, it's actually pretty good at first, but then things get mixed up in the end. Pretty strange, right? I could agree. What is my age you ask? Well, I just turned sixteen and people say that I'm supposed to be in high school, but I already graduated from that and moved on to Burnside College University of Technology. Quite a huge mouthful, huh? Try saying that fast without stuttering. Heh. I should probably abbreviate it to BCUT. There. Isn't that much better than saying the entire thing? Now, what I do in BCUT, I basically clean monitors and computer screens. Boooorrrring. I know what you guys are thinking. Barbara, why are you cleaning computers, when they are so much more things you can do. Yeah, I'm getting to that part. I also do online research about this website called hooq. Now, what is hooq? It's basically about meeting new people, socialize and stuff like that. I usually be on there when I'm on my lunch break. Keep that a secret. Anyway, that's probably not the only reason I'm talking to you about me. You know just erase all this from your head and let me start off in the beginning when I graduated high school, so we can take it from there." (She clears her throat.)

Barbara: (Narrates) "Alright, a few years back, say about two years ago, I graduated from Burnside High School and it was during the summer." (The graduation took place in a stadium indoors. The people were cheering when the seniors came up and the announcer were calling out their names as they were getting their diplomas and certificates.)

Announcer: "Barbara Gordon." (The people were screaming and clapping. Jim Gordon was standing up in the crowd, clapping and tearing up.)

Jim: "That's my girl, right there!" (A woman tapped on his shoulder.)

Woman: "Congratulations on your daughter!"

Jim: "Thank you!" (The woman smiled and Jim went to see his daughter outside.)

Jim: "Congrats on your graduation, sweetheart." (Barbara turned around and saw her dad smiling with tears coming down his cheeks.)

Barbara: "Dad!" (She jumped in his arms and Jim rubbed her smooth red hair.)

Jim: "I'm so proud of you, Barb. If only your mother were still here, she would've been happy to see you graduated." (Barbara started to cry as well.)

Barbara: "I miss her."

Jim: "I know you do, I just wish she never left."

Barbara: (Sniffled) "Me too." (She lets her dad go and wiped her tears away.)

Jim: (Clears his throat) "So, college student. What do you want to do?" (Barbara laughed and thought about it.)

Barbara: "Umm...I kind of in a burger mood as my reward." (Jim smiled at that and chuckled.)

Jim: "I knew you were going to say that. Pauli's Diner or closer?"

Barbara: "Pauli's Diner, dad. You know I love their burgers."

Jim: "And you know I love their chicken salads. You do realize that it's located on Miagani Island and Grand Avenue. It's a long drive from here."

Barbara: "I know that. So, let's go. I'm starving." (She gave him the sad eyes and Jim rolled his eyes.)

Jim: "Okay, we're going. There's no reason to be so dramatic." (He walked towards the car and Barbara followed behind him, grinning.)

Barbara: "Works everytime." (Jim started the car and Barbara puts in her headphones and started to listen to pop music while on road. She looked out the window and saw so many cars driving past them. A few minutes later, Jim's car stopped because there were traffic held up all the way to Pauli's Diner as they were trying to find a way to park at the parking lot.)