Chapter Text
Wally West’s eyes darted from floor to ceiling, as they took in each and every detail of his new school. It was finally the day he had been dreaming about, the day he finally started at Gotham Academy. He had just moved to Gotham from Central City, which he used to live in with his uncle Barry Allen, but, when he received a scholarship to the prestigious school in Gotham he couldn’t say no. So there he was, racing through the halls on his first day. He was so absorbed in the schedule in his hands, he didn’t notice the boy with the raven hair who was obsessed with the paper in his hands. In that moment, they collided, papers and textbooks went into the air and fluttered down like confetti. Wally, being the scholarly type that he was, looked at smaller boy, completely dumbfounded. “Shit, sorry”
The ravenette fell to the floor and grabbed his head, shaking it. “Oh hell” he looked up and before his mind could tell him to be quiet and just think, he was already speaking “Shit you’re hot” He realized what he had said and his cheeks begun to form a soft blush, he cleared his throat “Your skin. Your skin is hot, are you sick?” He was mentally kicking himself, His skin is hot? Really?
Wally knew that the boy definitely was not referring to his skin temperature, which made a smile grow and he winked “You’re hot too” He then turned his attention to the papers that were sprinkled all over the hallway floor. He begun to sort through the papers and he looked at the other boy, “I’m sorry for tackling you, I’m new and clearly wasn’t paying attention.. Clearly” He read a few papers then turned back to the boy. “I’m Wally. And you’re Richard?” He read the name at the top of a random paper, he cringed internally.
“Dick. That’s what all my friends call me. Dick Grayson” He smiled, taking the papers from Wally, as a new voice made itself known in the hallway
“What friends circus freak?” Dick shrunk as Tommy Anderson past the pair. Dick sighed a breath of relief as Tommy only made the singular comment and continued walking. At least he only said one thing. It could have been worse. Tommy Anderson never liked Dick, but if we are being honest here, nobody liked Dick Grayson. He had what everyone wanted. The richest man in gotham was his adoptive father. He went from being in a circus to being the heir to a billion dollar company practically overnight. Dick thought about the countless times Tommy had shoved him or tripped him or punched him. He knew the only reason Tommy didn’t stop longer was because of the new kid. Dick turned his attention back to Wally
“It’s fine, I just was lost in thought, as usual.” he had started sorting through the seemingly endless amount of papers scattered around the boys. Wally had stopped and watched as Tommy turned the corner, before turning his attention back to picking up papers.
“Hey Dick, can I ask you something?” Wally said in a quiet tone, Dick nodded before Wally continued “Who was that tool and why did he call you a.. ‘Circus freak’?” Wally finished the majority of the papers, he stood and offered a hand to Dick. Dick placed the papers back in his bag then accepted the extended hand.
“That, Wally, is a very very long story” He adjusted his uniform and the bell rung. He looked up and a frown formed on his lips “Ah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you late for class. Where are you headed? Maybe I can take you there?” He said moving his bag from his left shoulder to his right. Wally stood, pulling out his schedule.
“Oh don’t worry about me being late, I can just say I was lost, I’m heading to Honors Chemistry with Mrs. Dero. Room 413?” he looked at the schedule then back to Dick, who looked down at his own schedule and laughed.
“Well, you wouldn’t be lying saying you got lost. I’m actually in that class, and it’s the other way. Come on, I can show you a shortcut.” he shook his head and started walking. A smirk made its way onto Wally’s face as he ran his fingers through his now wild red hair. He takes a few long strides before slowing down to keep in pace with Dick.
“Must be my lucky day, getting an escort to class” His laugh was effortless, Dick couldn’t help but feel his lips tilting up into a small content smile. “But seriously, since we have this class together, you can begin the long, long story of the douchey guy.” Dick tensed slightly.
“Yeah.. about him, Tommy is actually in Chem with us so that should be fun. And, for your information, him calling me a circus freak isn’t entirely false, since i did grow up in a circus.” He kept walking and suddenly, the floor seemed very interesting to him, because he didn’t remove his eyes from it. His smile became forced as he tried to not think about that day.
“That is so cool! Not Tommy being in our class, that is actually going to suck. But, the circus!” Wally had done a lot of things, but he had never been to the circus. The thought of it made him giddy, so giddy he didn’t notice the forced smile or sadness radiating from dick. He continued, “Dude, I’ve never been to the circus, is it fun? I bet it’s fun.” he sighs and looks over to Dick, waiting for a response.
“Yeah. It’s amazing. Bright lights, full of sounds, people everywhere. You are never alone. It’s like a big family..” he swallowed hard and was thankful for the approaching class. He stopped outside the closed room. “Here we are” he opened the door and Mrs. Dero had already started attendance.
“Lookie who is late, charity case and the new toy for daddy” Tommy sneered as Dick walked quickly past the teacher and went straight for one of the 2 empty desks in the back corner of the room by the windows. Wally had handed his schedule to the teacher, who verified that Wally was where he needed to be. Wally made a mental note to ask Dick about Tommy’s comment. The teacher spoke up.
“Class, welcome your new peer, Wallace West” Wally cringed
“Wally. Wally West.” he scanned over the room as the class muttered greetings.
“Okay, I’ll note that,” she wrote it on the seating chart and pointed to the empty desk “You can sit there, by Mr. Grayson.” Wally took his schedule back and made his way back to the empty seat by dick, Mrs. Dero returned to the attendance and wally focused his attention on dick, who was doodling on his notebook.
“What did Tommy mean by ‘charity case and the new toy for daddy?’” he whispered as Dick clicked his pen and sighed.
Dick lowered his head and took a deep breath before turning to Wally, “I… look There’s a reason people aren’t friends with me.. This school is filled to the brim with rich kids and i’m not. Well, technically i am but it isn't my money, I wasn’t born into wealth, i just had ‘good luck’ when Bruce adopted me. And besides, in case you didn’t notice, this class is for sophomores, i'm a freshman. Which makes me a perfect candidate for bullies. If you want a good social standing at Gotham Academy, you might want to not talk to me. The rumor mill will suck you in.”
Wally sat, staring at Dick with a very confused expression, “I’m only here on a scholarship for track, that’s the reason I transferred. Gotham’s track team is the best in the country.” he smiled “Besides, why would I care about social standing? When highschool ends, none of that will matter, you know?” the teacher finished attendance and begun notes. The boys stole quick glances at the other, while jotting down every word the teacher spoke. She took a small break for the students to work on bookwork for a little and Dick turned to Wally, who was writing the questions down in his notebook.
“Are you serious? You don’t care? Wally, the people in this school will rip you apart for just sitting in the same vicinity as me. Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be serious. I already have a target on my back, since I’m not rich and I didn’t have to try out and I’m already on the track team. I’m sure Dick.” He smiled, reassuringly as the teacher spoke up.
“Since Mr. West is new and Mr. Grayson doesn’t have a lab partner, you two will be partners for the rest of the year.” Mrs. Dero finished her lesson and the kids all went to stand by the door, Dick and Wally went over to the lab and Dick showed him around. They made small talk and Dick shuffled his feet.
“So, Wally, do you have any plans tonight? I was just thinking maybe you could come over for dinner? Since your new.” He spoke with a sense of excitement, he had been at Gotham for a long time and nobody had bothered to befriend him.
“I was just thinking maybe you could come over for dinner because I have a huge gay crush on you.” Tommy said in an overly feminine voice, “Just because he is stuck being your partner doesn’t mean you two are friends. You don’t have friends. You don’t even have a real family.” His voice turned to venom and Dick shrunk.
“I actually have plans tonight.I have to finish unpacking.” He turned to Dick who nodded, disappointed. “But I’m free tomorrow night if that’s okay?” He completely ignored Tommy and his posse who were all watching them, until Tommy snickered at the boys.
“Awww, look at the two little fags. Just don’t get him killed like your family freak.” Tommy laughed and his friends started to chime in.
“Splat goes the Graysons” Tommy gave Dick a small push, his friends joined in. Wally was completely shell shocked, not knowing what to do. “Maybe it should’ve been you Grayson.”
Dick started feeling overwhelmed, he hated being anything other than whelmed. The room begun to blacken as his chest tightened. He tried to ignore the boys but it was no use. The memories flooded his mind and he began to panic. Dick could practically hear the rope snapping and he tried to push the scene far from his mind, as he darted out of the room.