The Daughter Of The Joker

One Last Time

The next morning I was filled with anxiety I couldn't seem to get rid of. Aunt Rinelle had calmed down but every time she looked at my hair I could see little flames of both anger and mourning. I was happy to not have to deal with her anger head-on anymore. Uncle Grayson went to work with a solemn nod and then I went to school.

The bus ride was uneventful. I listened to music and stared out of my window cautiously. He could be out there watching me. That was a terrifying thought. I looked so much like him, yet I seemed to be as far from him as you could get. I couldn't believe he was my father, I refused to accept that as fact.

School passed by much of the same way. The only thing that seemed to be different was the hushed voices as I walked to my locker. Whenever I looked to someone that was staring at me they quickly walked away and avoided all possible eye contact. That's obviously not incredibly strange but you're used to getting bullied its common practice to find people staring with a smirk or mischievous laughter down the halls. But they weren't laughing now, they weren't even smirking. Do they know my dark secret?

All of the stares started to make sense when Sydney approached me. Her red fiery hair bounded down the hallway as fast as I had ever seen her go before and before I knew it she was standing in front of me with a beaming smile that told me she either had too much caffeine or had been in on the newest gossip Gotham High had to offer. It turned out to be the latter.

"You'll never guess what I just heard Brendan Wayne talk about!" Her eyes lit up with excitement as her grin widened (if that was even possible).

"You know I couldn't care less about the Wayne boys, they are just like all of the other rich snobs in the city" I rolled my eyes at her.

"He was talking about you! He was talking to a whole group of people about how you are advocating on how Joker is just misunderstood and he thinks it's like, super cool so he wants to ask you to Winterfest!" She hopped up and down while squealing.

Winterfest is a school formal held every February in honor of basketball season starting. I never really understood why we need to have three school formals every year but it wasn't up for me to decide I guess.

I stopped to think about Brendan Wayne. He was tall and fairly cute. He's an athlete and I'm a pre-calculus sophomore, I've seen enough movies to know that could never work out. Nerds and athletes never get along, especially in this case.

"He's probably only wanting to ask me out to make fun of me" I sighed and slammed my locker shut. "You know what the Wayne boys are like" I looked at her pointedly. Sydney huffed but stayed silent as we walked to our next class.

As we walked into U.S. History I could see the usual gossip going on in the corner as I heard little whispers of what Brendan Wayne was speculated to have been planning. I rolled my eyes and sat in my seat as Mr. Hemwall started his lecture on the assassination of JFK. Halfway through class, I got the bathroom pass and left. I was tired of the giggling and pointing fingers.

I went to my locker and then slowly walked down to the bathroom on the first floor. As I walked I thought about the strange man that was supposedly my father. I wondered what he was like. He was nice enough to help me that night. He said he wouldn't kill me because he refuses to kill kids. So he can't be all that bad, right? I gripped the porcelain bathroom sink as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I should help him. Maybe I could make him come to the good side.

"One last time" I whispered to myself.

One. Last. Time.

I'm in - JQ