Chapter Text
after months and months of begging, bruce had been allowed to go to a public school.
alfred had no idea why he wanted to go to one so badly, he already learned everything he had to know from lessons and homeschooling, but bruce wanted real teenage experiences, even though he didn't have any friends still, and he was a year into this education.
something else, though, was occuring recently. anytime bruce went to open his locker, envelopes would fall out of it, they were obviously not slipped through the gaps in the metal, someone who knew his code and had used it.
they weren't too serious, they were usually a pretty neutral card, the most recent one had a riddle inside of it, bruce already figured out the answer, it was really simple.
"if you have me, you want to share me, if you share me, you haven't got me. what am i?"
it was obviously a secret, just like the sender of these notes.
bruce would kept these stupid little notes and cards. he kept them in his backpack. he would always keep track of when they appeared, for instance they were always sitting in his locker early in the morning before classes started. they also would sometimes rarely appear after or during lunch.
as eager was bruce was to find out who this “secret admirer” was, he also didn’t quite know how he would handle the situation. he didn’t really have friends, he only talked to a few people, occasionally sitting at lunch with them but it wasn’t a regular thing.
he doubted these people who talked to him actually wanted to befriend him for reasons more than money. he was quite cold and usually brushed off anyone who interacted with him.
these cards really messed with bruce, how could someone possibly get enjoyment from any of this? but for some reason he looked forward to opening these cards and he would get disappointed on the days he didn’t receive one.
one day, bruce decided that he would come to school super early to see if anyone would be lurking about where he his locker was.
he had a few suspicions of who this person could be. the first one was this random kid who’s locker was right next to him. this kid barley acknowledged his existence however. so he drifted away from that thought.
the next suspect was this girl. she was pretty, her hair was dark brown and was cut medium length. she usually had eyeliner on, and always wore dm’s with the laces untied.
she would often walk past him in the hallways, in her group of friends, one girl with long, deep red hair, and another who wore lots of lipstick, and had pigtails in. she always smirked at him when she sauntered past him, while her friends continued to chat.
the only other subject he could imagine was a boy in his english class, with soft dark blonde hair, and spectacles that covered much of his face, bruce and him didn't talk naturally, but the guy often made an excuse to talk to him, asking him the date and for a pen when he clearly had one himself.
he assumed maybe that he wanted to be friends but the boy also never really made an effort to talk to him rather than that.
other than that, he was clueless, now the letters were appearing almost everyday, but this recent one was different.
it had a URL, which was strange, these letters were usually so random, but they had basic undertones to them, this was on another level.
as soon as he came home, he typed the URL into a search bar, which took him to a black homepage with green lettering in the middle, which faded into a basic chatlog that looked like the initial image.
he typed out,
'Hello?'
and waited for a reply.
a few minutes later a message appeared with a weird question mark symbol,
?: ‘Hey, you finally figured it out.’
bruce began typing quickly,
‘Um, yeah, I guess? I’m sorta confused here..’
he waited a moment before typing again.
‘Who are you..?’
the other person responded.
?: ‘That’s for me to know and for you to find out.’
‘Right, okay funny. But how exactly do I find out?’
Bruce asked, he started getting nervous. he felt a rush of anxiety fly over him.
?: ‘Ah, you’ll just have to wait..’
‘Seriously?? You can’t give me a hint.. or anything at all???’
?: Hmmmm.. I suppose I could.’
the person began typing than stopped.
?: ‘07/10.’
‘That’s it?’
?: ‘Think hard and wise pretty boy!’
?: ‘Good Bye. ;)’
bruce didn’t bother responding. he sat on his bed, trying to think what this could mean. ‘07/10… that was last week.’ he thought to himself.
all he remembered from that day was, he had a scheduled appointment for the dentist that he didn’t end up going to.
bruce also has an english essay that was due that day. the teacher was reminding people to put their names on it. while bruce was looking over his essay before handing it up, the kid with dark blonde hair and glasses came over,
“erm, do- do you have a pen I can borrow..? I forgot to put my name on my essay..” he stuttered, awkwardly smiling.
bruce was a bit taken back, considering he was seated at the other side of the classroom. he looked up at the noticeably taller boy, quickly studying his rather unique but appealing facial features before getting snapped back into reality.
“oh, mhm.” he gently picked up his black pen from the desk and handing it to the peculiar person hovering over him.
the blonde just placed his paper on bruce’s desk and began writing his name and the date at the top of his paper.
the date on the paper which was 07/10.
his handwriting was rather odd and was hard to read but it read,
Edward Nashton
the teen picked up his paper, gesturing for bruce to take back his pen. bruce shook his head, “you can keep it, I have more.” edward smiled, “thank you!” He said enthusiastically but tried to cover up his excitement.
of course, this was a bit of a stretch, did edward really value that exchange that much? the thought made him feel embarrassed.
he had to find out more, but now, he had homework to do. he closed his laptop and got out his work, it didn't take him that long, usually, but this time he was distracted.
it made him feel childish, blushing and smiling on his bed at the idea of having a secret admirer, but the thought still held him by the neck, he almost hoped it was the one from his english class, there was something more to him that didn't meet the eye, bruce could tell.
he tried to put away his silly thoughts and focus on his homework. he kept scribbling at the side of his page and creating fake scenarios in his head.
as hard as he tried, he couldn’t get that nerdy little blonde kid out of his head. he started freaking out, remembering how long he had stared at him before, ‘it couldn’t have been that long right?’ panicked thoughts occupied his mind while he started to get flustered, he had only asked for a pen and bruce just stared at him for what he remembers now was a long time, it was utterly embarrassing.
the next day at school, he got there two hours earlier, and hung around near his locker for the entire time, and yet, nobody was there to slip a note in. it baffled him, surely this wasn’t that much of an organised affair, but clearly there was thought behind this, that was remarkably charming, especially considering how timid and reclusive his #1 suspect was.
he rushed home after school and opened the URL once again, typing slowly as he thought out his next message, he didn’t care to sound desperate, just very blunt, and mild, he was almost excited.
‘I need to confirm my suspicions, do you have any more hints?’
?: Somebody’s clingy, I like it ;))
as they continued typing, bruce shoved his face into his bedsheets, so much for subtlety.
?: Do you realllllyyyy need another hint?
bruce eagerly looked up to see their message, responding to it right away.
‘please, yes i do.’
?: hmm, ok. give me two seconds i need to think of something LOL.
bruce couldn’t help but chuckle, whoever this person was seemed like they were lighthearted.
‘alr have fun.’
?: will do bae ;)
two painfully long minutes later, the person still hadn’t said anything else.
‘are you almost done??’
the other person started typing immediately.
?: almost jeezeee these are hard to come up with
?: why, are you hoping i’m someone in particular?
bruce gulped, that caught him off guard, i mean, he hadn’t fully considered it, but maybe he did hope that it was edward.
‘maybe.’
the person started typing again, then stopped, then sent a message.
?: and who would that be???
he smirked.
‘that’s for me to know, and you to find out.’
?: aw stop, using my lines against me, i’m flattered.
bruce was full on grinning at his laptop now, butterflies in his stomach at the conversation.
‘so why did you write me all those cards?’
?: i think it’s obvious by now
‘you… want to use me for my money?’
?: what?! no, i wouldn’t use you like that.
bruce meant for this to come off as a joke but he secretly prayed this wasn’t some sort of scam.
‘really?’
bruce asked. he re-read the other’s message carefully, realising what else he had said, taking it in a rather odd way.
‘wait- how would you use me then!?’
?: hm.
?: oh shit, i didn’t mean to send that..
‘excuse me??’
message deleted
?: anyways, do you want a hint or not?
bruce bit his lip, knowing that whoever this was definitely had some rather strange thoughts.
‘yeah, right go ahead.’
?: how about you ask me a yes or no?
‘sure thing’
he thought about it carefully, he knew this would give away who he really hoped that this was.
‘do we have english together?’
?: :)
?: :))))
?: yes
bruce nearly screamed. he grabbed his pillow like a little kid, blushing like crazy. ‘no way, no way, no way!’ bruce thought.
he got so carried away he nearly forgot to respond.