The Newest Wayne [COMPLETED]

Chapter 6~A Fresh Start

I looked myself in the bathroom mirror. I had forgotten how good it felt not to be afraid of everything under the sun, including myself. I adjusted my ponytail, tightening it. I turned to the door and walked out before making my way back to class, where I was unfortunately, or fortunately, seated directly between Ethan and Kevin, one of his best friends.

"She's so ugly." Ethan whispered, eyes going wide in what seemed to be amusement.

"I know, right!" Kevin laughed.

"Ethan, your eyes are so far apart I could mistake you for a cow. You wear the same damn tie every single day and somehow it's only gotten uglier, and I'm ugly. Sure." I said, voice laced with sarcasm. I heard Damian cackle from his seat a couple rows behind me, along with a couple other students giggling, urging me to continue. We opened our shared google document and started to have a conversation on there, making fun of Ethan.

"Woah, the freak has guts? I didn't see that coming." Kevin laughed.

"Kevin, do you have something to say to the class?" Mr. Jaina looked at him.

"No." He frowned.

"Then shut it." He stated, earning more giggling from the class.

The bell rang and it was time to make our way to the cafeteria. Ethan and Kevin stopped me in the hallway, something that was happening less and less. Damian stopped in his tracks and decided to stand near me before he went to his locker.

"What the hell was that?" Ethan used a tone that used to intimidate me, but now it almost seemed hollow, like it was nothing. I wondered how I was so afraid of him when he was nothing but a speck to me by this point.

"Hilarious." Damian murmured. I elbowed him lightly.

Kevin snarled at me. "You think you're funny?"

"No, I think I've got common sense." I started. "I have worked hard, without having parents from day one I have gotten into a prestigious high-school all on my own, no help from anyone, while your ass was being paid for. If anyone deserves respect out of the three of us, it's me." I stared him in the eyes.

Damian nodded in approval, smirking.

"We don't 'respect' freakshows." Ethan snapped, pushing me. I kept my feet under me, though. I had gained a lot more strength after training with Bruce.

"I don't need your respect." I gritted my teeth. "I respect me, that's all I need."

"You look like a dog, Avery." Ethan looked me up and down.

"And you two look like the hyenas from 'The Lion King', and you're just as stupid. What's your point?"

Kevin wordlessly came at me, angrily going in to punch me across the face. I almost ran away out of instinct, but I still had enough time to kick him in the shin before he actually hit me, making him flop forward. Ethan gave me a horrified look before running off. I couldn't help but smirk proudly before I grabbed Damian's arm and took him sprinting away from the scene before either of us had to take the blame. Kevin and Ethan had a lot of terrible qualities, but they weren't 'snitches'.

Damian and I sat together at lunch, laughing about what had happened. It felt like a weight was on my shoulders all my life, slowly getting heavier and heavier, but after moving in with the Waynes, it felt like I was able to drop the weight and take a rest. I couldn't stop smiling like a madwoman the whole day.

"I'm guessing it went well." Dick raised an eyebrow at me, eyeing the smile on my face.

"Yeah," I chuckled to myself, "it did."

"Did you kick his ass?" Jason leaned against the counter.

"Language, dude." Dick reminded him.

"Your first name is Dick." Jason shot back.

"Well, not really. I mean I kicked his friend in the leg and he went running." I shrugged.

"Ha! Coward!" Tim laughed.

"Chaos..." Alfred pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jason snorted with laughter, Dick leaned on him so he could laugh along and not trip over his own feet.

"Nice work, Carter." Damian shook his head, with a grin so wide his face seemed to be splitting in half.

—-
"You....want to cut your hair off?" Bruce asked, not bothering to hide his confusion.

"Yeah." I nodded, shifting from foot to foot. I tried to adjust my hair, which was still bunched up from the ponytail, but it stayed glued together.

"I'm fine with it," he said plainly, "it won't sacrifice your identity, since you wear a cowl when you're patrolling."

"Really?" I asked, a shadow of excitement creeping into my voice.

"Yup."
-A week later-
I ran my fingers through my new pixie-cut, trying to get used to the new haircut. Dick seemed to enjoy it, too. Damian had given me a halfhearted, "You look good, Carter." It was the most friendly thing he could muster, and I knew it, so I didn't push it. Jason didn't say anything on it, neither had Tim. 

Cass, on the other hand, made a note to drown me with affection over it. 

She kept repeatedly running her fingers through my hair, smiling at me, for months. She would tell me that it looked good every chance she got, and Jason would cackle whenever I got embarrassed. 

On this particular night, I was in my room, notebook open, brainstorming ideas. I had been writing stories since I was old enough to pick up a pencil, but I was having some trouble. I decided to color-code my ideas like I did with my school work. Dialogue was in red, characters were in black, plot points were in blue, title ideas were in pink, and everything else was in purple. I was so glad that I had so many pens. 

I was jotting down a character name in black with my red pen between my teeth, getting ready to write the next thing as quickly as I could. I was still embarrassed of my writing abilities, which was why I had such a heart attack when I noticed Dick walk into the room. I jolted, which, because I was on the edge of the bed, sent me toppling forward. 

"Jesus Christ, we really let you go on patrol?" Dick shook his head, chuckling. 

"Blame Bruce for that one." I muttered, pulling myself up. 

"Doing homework?" He raised an eyebrow. 

"Uhhh..." 

Dick looked over at my notebook, and he tried to hide his excitement when he started talking; "Alfred just made dinner. C'mon." He made a motion with his head, beckoning me downstairs. 

When we got to the table, he loudly yelled. "Guess what Avery was doing upstairs! I didn't know you wrote stories, Kid!"