Artemis & Apollo

Chapter Thirteen

This chapter is for BatMac. I told her that there would be Spitfire, and so here it is. (Sorry for the late update. I've been doing what I do best, procrastinating.)

Artemis sat on the cave's couch, watching static with Superboy. "Hey," A voice said. Wally plopped down next to her. "Mind if I take a seat?"

"Doesn't matter what I say, you're already sitting down." Artemis said.

"True, true. Whatcha been up to? You look exhausted."

"I stayed up til, like, three this morning. Watching a bunch of old movies with my boyfriend and his parents was so not a good idea."

"You have a boyfriend?" Wally asked, surprised.

Artemis laughed. "You don't have to look so surprised. And yes, I do, we've been dating for a year."

"Wow," Wally said. The only time that I've had a relationship that lasted more than a few months was with this girl named Linda. We dated from the summer before eighth grade until June, when I found out that she'd been cheating on me."

"Well, that sucks."

"Yeah."

"My first boyfriend cheated on me, too. Not that we were together long. Plus, he was just trying to use me, so I was actually kind of glad to be rid of him. Same thing with my second boyfriend, minus the cheating bit."

"Wow."

"Yeah. My brothers did not take it kindly."

"How not kindly?"

"Both of my deadbeat boyfriends landed in the hospital. First was in for a month. Second was in for two. Second one also went to jail for two months for harassment."

"Well, A) you might need to choose your bfs a bit more carefully, B) good thing that you have protective brothers."

"No kidding. I probably wouldn't have gotten out of that second relationship without them."

"So, you've had three boyfriends, huh?" 

"Four, actually. The third one ended because we decided to go back to just being friends."

"Bet that was icy."

"Not really. But that's likely because Apollo and I've been best friends with him since forever."

"That probably does help. So, Apollo recently broke up with his girlfriend of three years?"

"Yeah," Artemis said sadly. 

"Why so sad about it?"

"Because 1) they were ADORABLE, 2) his ex, Emily, has been my very best friend since kindergarten, and they had crushes on each other that ENTIRE time, 3) they might have broken up because of secret that I told Em not to tell Polly about."

"Must've been a bad secret if they broke up because of it. If you don't mind me asking, what was it?" Artemis stiffened. "Of course, if you do mind, you don't have to tell me!" Wally added quickly.

Artemis relaxed. "It-it's ok." Superboy groaned and got off a nearby chair, heading over to Megan, who was calling him. "I-" She stoped talking, unable to continue. But, she really wanted him to know. "Don't tell," She said. Wally nodded. Artemis slowly pulled up the sleeve of her hoodie, revealing her scars.

Wally gasped. "Oh, Artemis," He said. 

Artemis sighed. "I know."

"Why?"

"Lots of reasons. My dad was part of the reason. I get bullied a lot, that's another reason. My depression also adds to the problem."

"I'm amazed that you get bullied. You're awesome. I mean, sure, we argue a lot, but that doesn't mean that I don't think that you're awesome. I would've thought that if either of you Nguyen-Crock kids got bullied, it would be Apollo, cuz he's bi. I mean, I don't care about that kind of thing, but I know that a lot of people do."

"Yeah. It just happens that he's super popular and friendly, and I'm caustic and introverted, so I'm the one that people don't like. I'm also labeled as a loser because I have depression, anxiety, and PTSD."

"Why PTSD?"

"My dad... he's not a good person. He's been in and out of prison my whole life. He also hates me. I'm sure that that combination makes it clear to you why I have PTSD. And it's also yet another reason that I cut and have depression."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, it happens."

"I guess that it does."

Artemis' phone suddenly rang. She picked it up, talking in Vietnamese. When she finally hung up, she said,  "Sorry Wally, I've gotta go. Apollo pulled a muscle in  his arm at football practice.  Luckily, it should be healed up by the time games start, but he's annoyed."

"I forgot that he plays football."

Artemis laughed. "He's a really stereotypical popular boy. He and Emily force me to join the cheerleading team every year. Emily's on  it and doesn't understand why I don't like it. Sure, the stuff is cool, and fun. But I hate most of the other girls. They're the main culprits of my getting bullied. They hate me. Something about Apollo being to busy having to put up with me to go to parties and hang out with them and their boyfriends. They regularly tell me that I'm making my depression and stuff up for attention, and they tell everybody else that, too. They know that I'm not; they just really, really hate me."

"That really sucks."

Artemis shrugged. "Everyone except a handful of people hate me. That's the way that it's always been. And I'm ok with that. The only people that I need to like me are those who deserve me. I have trouble remembering that, though."

 "Well, I'll tell you something: you don't need anyone to like you, because no one deserves you."

She smiled. "Thanks Wally."

"No problem," He said with a smile. "Now, go check on your brother."

Artemis nodded and left, flashing Wally a smile over her shoulder before zetaing away.