The Project •On Hold•

🏹Chapter One🏹

Artemis Crock groaned and yanked her blanket over her head as her mother shook her awake.

"Baby Girl, you have to get up! Today is your first day of school, and you can't be late!"

"Go away, Paula!" Artemis rarely used her mother's first name unless she was really getting on her nerves.

Paula rolled her eyes, grabbing her daughter's blanket and yanking it out from under her. The blonde tumbled to the floor.

"Mom!" She exclaimed.

Paula shrugged. "I cannot have you late for your first day of school."

Artemis groaned again, getting back on her bed and sliding on her prosthetic leg. She didn't really care about the fake limb as much as she cared about her jacked up left one. She grabbed her arm crutches, and went off to the kitchen to see if she had enough granola bars left in the box to have a snack when she got back from school. She did.

She limped to the school bus stop. She hated riding the bus, but her mom didn't give her a choice. School buses were great way to subject yourself to a half hour or more of bullying. While she could easily beat the crap out of anyone who messed with her, she would try to restrain herself. At least she would after she got up her rebel reputation that she'd had at her old school, Gotham North. Those kids had quickly learned that crutches made perfect weapons.

When she got to the stop, only one other person was there, an African-American girl. She arched an eyebrow at Artemis. "Ok, you're new."

"You don't say," Artemis snapped back sarcastically.

The other girl laughed. "You're feisty, I'll definitely give you that. I'm Raquel Ervin." She stuck out her hand, without thinking about how Artemis had to yank on out of her crutch in order to shake back. Artemis appreciated that.

She shook Raquel's hand. "Artemis Crock. My mom and I just moved here from Gotham."

"That would explain the feistiness."

Artemis smirked. "As a crippled kid, I looked like a good target." She scoffed. "That is, until you tried to do anything and realized that I was smart enough to learn how to fight."

Raquel laughed again. "You've got spunk. And you appear to be of the loner type, same was me. Want me to show you the ropes? I'll try not to be biased."

"Ok," Artemis replied.

"So, Artemis, I love your shirt."

Artemis was wearing a tight black shirt with the words 'Me, sarcastic? Never.'. "Thanks," Artemis replied. "It's one of the only things I own that I like. I have two older sisters, all I own are hand-me-downs. And trust me, their styles are a bit more, uh, showy than mine."

Raquel winced. "Yikes."

"The crop tops, I like most of them. But the sheer amount of short skirts and short shorts is ridiculous. I have a prosthetic right leg, and a jacked up left one. So, you know..."

Raquel nodded. "Short pants don't look good on you."

"Exactly."

The bus got there. The girls got on board. At first, Raquel was worried about her new companion, but quickly realized that there was no reason to be. One kid hit Artemis in the back of the head with a crumpled piece of paper. She glared at him before flipping him off. When all he did was laugh, she smirked and hit him straight in the family jewels with crutch. The boy, Jerry, Raquel knew his name was, yelped loudly before turning bright red and muttering a "fuck you."

Artemis smiled at him. "And to you, sir." She turned back around.

Raquel nudged her. "Badass."

Artemis just smirked in reply.