How Can We

Chapter One

Chapter One

Goodbyes are one of the toughest things to say, to go through and to experience. More often than not, it's hard to put the flowing river of emotions into words. This is what wally West felt at the moment. The 17 year old red head was at a loss of words to say goodbye to his family, friends and home in Central City.

He was leaving behind his Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry, both of which had a special place in his heart, his friends, and the only home he knew all his life.

The teen was on his way to a better life, or so his parents told hi. His dad got a promotion, and was relocated to Gotham City. They were getting a bigger house and sending their only son to the prestigious Gotham Academy because they could afford to give him a better education. Wally, on the other hand, was not so convinced about the move. All he knew about Gotham was that it was a crime-ridden city despite the police's best efforts.

If he was given the choice, he wouldn't have moved at all, content with his life. But at last, the choice wasn't up to him and he had no other choice but to pack up and move on. Instead of sulking around and being miserable the entire time, he decided he was going to make the best of the move.

It proved to be much harder than he thought, but not impossible. No matter what, Wally was determined to make a good start at Gotham Academy.

Wally stood in front of the mirror looking at his reflection. He loosened the red tie and rolled up the sleeves of his navy blazer. He was ready to break some hearts.

*******

The sound of a blaring alarm clock woke Artemis up, as it did every morning. She rolled over and slammed her hand against the snooze button, hoping for another five minutes of sleep. She had trouble sleeping. Again.

And to top it all off, she had to go to school on less than 5 hours of sleep. It was no wonder she was grumpy in the morning. The last thing she wanted to do was head to Gotham Academy and deal with the insufferable people there for another 8 hours.

Still, she got up and changed into her uniform and rode the bus to school. Any absence would be a risk for the school to take away her scholarship. She had to work her way for that scholarship, unlike all those rich kids whose parents just wrote a check.

Artemis walked through the doors with her head held high, glaring at anyone who came too close to her. It was baffling to some that she even had friends considering how reserved she was, especially friends who were the popular kids in school.

They were all grouped together for a science experiment. At first Artemis hated all of them, not even giving them a chance. She didn't want anything to do with them other than the help with their project, but their wormed their way into her lives and proved her wrong about them. They clung onto her and one day, she reached back, starting a new and blossoming friendship.

That didn't mean she tolerated anyone else outside of their group of friends. Her friends understood her boundaries and learned to stop pressuring her about why she was so defensive. She learned to open them to them on her own.

Artemis walked straight to her locker, wanting the day to get a move on already. Zatanna walked up cheerfully to Artemis, her black hair flowing behind her effortlessly. "Did you hear? There's a new student starting today!" She told her blonde friend excitingly.

"Why is that something of importance to me?" Artemis asked unenthused. She put in her combination for the locker, and immediately began taking her books out of it.

"Artemis are you ok?" Her friend asked concerned.

"Yeah, just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night, I'll just catch up on some later on, maybe in the library." She tried to brush it off nonchalantly, but it was the third time that week she got less than normal amount of sleep.

"You would tell me if things were getting bad right?"

"Of course Zee, but I'm fine." She gave her a short half smile. "Where's everyone else?" She asked changing the subject quickly.

"Connor said to meet them by his locker." Zatanna said. Artemis turned her out as she babbled on about the new student. The blonde took that time to let her mind wander about why she was losing so much sleep.

"Hey guys!" Zatanna greeted everyone, reaching forward to give all of them a hug. Artemis just waved, before leaning against the locker and closing her eyes to rest for a brief moment.

"Hey Art, still not sleeping well?" Richard, 'Dick' asked her knowingly.

"Yeah, just a lot of school work lately." She told him adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder. They both knew it was a lie.

"You have a free period second, why don't you go to the library. I'll come with you and wake up in time for third." He offered.

"You are a lifesaver." She says leaning her head against his shoulder.

"What are friends for?" He asked resting his head on top of her. Artemis was not an affectionate person, so when she showed tenderness, they knew it was genuine. Out of their group of friends, she was the closest with Dick. He was her best friend.

"Come on guys, here comes the new guy. I heard he was hot." Zatanna says calling everyone's attention.

"Here he comes!" Megan exclaimed. Connor moved closer to her on instinct. Wally walked in looking very confident and pleased with himself. He strode in, looked right at Artemis and winked at her. She rolled her eyes at him, resisting the urge to flip him off. 

A/N: Here is the first chapter! All of the chapters will be around this length, and I'm still unsure about my updating schedule, at the very least it would be once a week, but I'm hoping for more than that. 

I'm really excited to start this story, and I hope you guys enjoyed this! Remember to vote, comment and share this story. I want to hear your feedback :)