How Can We

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The next morning Artemis quickly left her apartment, careful not to wake up her sleeping mother. She didn't get any sleep herself, so she picked up some coffee on the way to school. If it weren't for caffeine, Artemis never would have made it through the last 3 years, let alone the past week.

She met with her friends in front of her locker today and stayed silent as they talked amongst themselves. Zatanna leaned over and started a conversation with the blonde. "I was thinking of organizing a trip to go to the movies this weekend for all of us, are you in?"

"Yeah, I could do with a nice distraction this weekend." She agreed.

"It's settled then! Let's make sure everyone else is on board."

Artemis and the rest of the group chatted for a few more minutes before the start of class. Kaldur told them all about his swim meet at the end of the week that he invited them all to. Since most of their friends were members of an athletic team, the rest came in support of others.

"By the way, let's meet up for a girl's treat after school today. I'm thinking ice cream." Raquel suggested.

"Good, I have a lot to tell all of you." Zee sighed.

"There, there Zee." Artemis patted her shoulder in sympathy, with just a hint of mockery.

"Don't you have a class to get to?"

"Don't we all." Richard commented pulling Zatanna in for a side-hug.

Artemis couldn't help but notice the slight blush on her friend's cheeks. That was definitely something she was going to bring up in their little ice cream meeting.

All the girls in the group go out about every two weeks to have some type of dessert and chat about things they couldn't with the guys. In other words, they would sit around eating ice cream and talking about their boy troubles.

The rest of the group would try their best of hang out as much as they could, but with a large group it became difficult as their schedules clashed. However, they made it a point to greet each other every morning and have a group activity planned at least once a month. Since all of Artemis' friends were wealthy, their options weren't limited.

******

Flash forward to the middle of the day to Artemis' physics class. This was by far her most challenging class. She made sure to take twice as many notes for this class and practically hang onto the teacher's words. If she zoned out for a second, she would be unable to comprehend the contents of the board.

Artemis walked in the class and took her normal seat towards the wall facing the door. Despite getting some of the highest grades in the school and being a scholarship student, she didn't want to be in class any longer than necessary.

She began to take out her textbook when the door opened followed by a loud set of whispers. Curious, Artemis looked up and saw the same red-haired guy from yesterday, the pompous jerk who winked at her.

She regretted her choice not to flip him off. He sat across from her diagonally, and immediately began to flirt with the girls sitting near them. Fortunately for the grumpy blonde, the teacher walked in and the mindless chatter died out.

"We have a new student here today. Wally, would you like to come up to the front of the class and introduce yourself?" In that moment, Artemis felt an ounce of pity for him.

Instead of being embarrassed, he stood up and revealed in the spotlight. "My name is Wally West and I moved here from Central City. And my number is 650-253-0000 in case any of you girls were wondering." He pointed directly at Artemis with a devious smile on her face.

"All right that's enough, take a seat Wally. Let's focus on today's lesson." The teacher turned around to write on the board, while Wally walked back to his seat.

She rolled her eyes at him as he smiled in her direction. Going with her instincts she flipped him off like she originally planned.

Artemis saw the way the girls fawned over him. She did admit he was easy on the eyes. She could see what they saw in his looks, he was cute. But his personality, that was another story. She barely knew him, yet there was enough evidence based on his actions for her to get a basic understanding of him.

So far, he seemed just like another pretentious and hormone crazed boy in Gotham Academy. As if the school needed one of those.

"Hey Blondie!" Wally whispered trying to get Artemis' attention. She turns around annoyed at him.

"What do you want?" She asked him harshly.

"We can start off with your name, I can't keep calling you Blondie."

"F*** off."

"Feisty."

By that point Artemis already turned around and started paying attention to the lecture. She couldn't afford to slack off, for multiple reasons.

******

Several periods later and Artemis was headed towards lunch, where her friends usually sat right in the middle of the cafeteria. Personally she hated the spot, it felt like all eyes were on them. Artemis was ready to sit down, take a small break and enjoy the mindless chatter her friends provided. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get some sleep.

Imagine her surprise when the same ginger who tried to flirt with her in Physics was sitting in her seat and laughing with her friends.

"Artemis! This is Wally, he's-"

"Yeah we've met." She gave him a quick glance before moving to sit next to Kaldur.

"So you're name is Artemis?" He asked here with an eyebrow raised.

"What's it to you, Wally?" She replied defensively. It was safe to say she didn't like him.

"I think I'm going to call you Arty." Wally declared with a satisfied and smug expression on his face.

"Don't."

"Moving on, this is Wally and we met in our computer science class." Dick explained. They've only known him for a few periods but they really hit it off. All of them except Artemis loved him, they found him hilarious and fun. She didn't see it.

She found him annoying and a nuisance. Not to mention that he kept calling her Arty, after she specifically told him not to.

"I'm going to the library." Artemis says getting up abruptly not even 10 minutes later. The whole room felt really crowded and she wanted some space. Just sitting across the table made her feel displaced.

She wanted to clear her head, and get away from all the prying eyes at the table.

"I'll see you guys later." She quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and left before Megan or Dick would offer to come with them. Artemis wanted to be alone.

"Is she alright?" Wally asked concerned.

"She's just a little tired." Connor answered him. He shared a look of concern with Megan. They were worried for her, even Wally who she's just met.

A/N: This was an Artemis-centric chapter. There would be more Wally in the next one.  In my original plans for this story I had alternating chapters focusing on Wally and Artemis, but changed it last minute. I want to do more things with other members of the team because I feel like I don't focus on them too much. The next chapter will be up in a few days. 

To those of you reading, thank you so much! I really appreciate your support. Remember to vote, comment and share this story if you liked it :)