Young Justice highschool

3

Wally pov: 

Zee Dick and I were waiting in Dick's living room waiting for Artemis to come, we waited there for hours and she never showed. I was so pissed I mean there was no way she had a busier night than us three but we still managed to get there on time. She didn't even text I mean how rude is that girl? 

"SHE ALWAYS DOES THIS," Zee yelled.

"I mean we'll have plans and I'll be there waiting and she won't even tell me why she couldn't go she just gets really quiet for a few days then acts like nothing ever happened it's so annoying,"  She ranted and Dick and I nodded in an understanding way, soon Zee left and I decided to just crash at Dicks. 

I woke up to Dick shaking me violently yelling that we were leaving in 10 minutes, I jumped up and quickly took a shower, and stumbled out of the door pulling my shirt on. We arrived at school and ran to English, we walked in right on time Dick and I took our seats and I looked up to see Zee sitting alone. I looked around looking for Artemis but she was nowhere to be found about a half-hour into class the door creaked open and Artemis shuffled in. She had her head down and was walking really weirdly. 

"Artemis you're late," Ms. Wilson stated. The statement was followed by silence and the girl that was once strong, confident, and fearless was now small frail, and weak. 

"Well aren't you going to give me a reason why you were late," Ms. Wilson questioned, Artemis looked up and stared her right in the eyes. I was taken aback by the state of the girl. Her right cheekbone was black and blue and slightly swollen she had bruises all over her neck and her lip was split. Her eyes were all glassy and her cheeks tear-stained, she shuffled over to an empty table away from anyone and Ms. Wilson continued the lesson. I couldn't take my eyes off her she looked like death hair falling in her eye's she had her sweater pulled over her hands and she was sitting weirdly so that her back wasn't touching the seat but her stomach wasn't crunched. 

"Alright class get into your groups and work on your projects, I know I said this would be an out-of-school assignment but something came up and I need to go, a substitute will be in here soon, be good." She said as she grabbed her things and ran out flustered, Zee came down to our table and took a seat and then Artemis shuffled over and gently sat down.

"Are you ok?" Zee asked brushing hair off Artemis's face so she could see what happened, Artemis looked away rejecting her help. 

"Ok well let's just get what we were supposed to do last night done," Dick said looking at Artemis on the last part. We all began working and Artemis didn't say a thing looking down the whole time which was very unlike her. We went down the list and through the questions which Artemis didn't answer. 

"Ok did anyone take any family trips this summer?" I asked, Dick told us about his multiple trips and Zee wrote everything down.

"What about you Artemis did your family go on any trips?" I asked, silence.

"What's something fun you and your family did?" I asked, silence. I mean come on we just needed something about her family to finish the project. I was starting to get annoyed. 

"Artemis we just need to know one thing about your family to finish can you just tell us and stop being a brat," I yelled at her annoyed. She looked up at me anger apparent in her flustered face her eyes glaring daggers at me. 

"We went camping, my dad, mom, sister, and I. We made smores by the fire and went canoeing my mom taught me and my sister how to make friendship bracelets and my dad taught us how to fish." Artemis replied in a raspy voice a smile playing on her lips which soon turned to sadness and she got up and left the room. 

Artemis pov:

I walked as fast as I could to the nearest faculty bathroom and locked the door, my backpack fell to the ground as the hot tears yet again poured out. I curled in a ball thinking of the old memory, of how happy we were we used to camp every year until things went, wrong. More tears came when I thought of my latest camping experience Laurence and I crouched in a tent eating squirrel and training for two weeks until the chance arrived to take out the target. He shot him twice through the vast distance filled with trees once in the head once in the neck that's all it took for the rich foe hunter to fall. He was on a business exertion but crossed the wrong people, Laurence said there could be no evidence and left me to dismantle the body, and discard it thinking about it made me launch to the toilet throwing up anything left in my stomach, which wasn't much. The hot vile throw-up made my bruised neck ache and burn, I heard a knock at the door and slowly got up with the help of the handicapped bar. I washed my mouth out and whipped my tears looking at myself in the mirror, ugh. I opened the door to reveal a red-haired boy with sparkling green eyes, Zee and Dick then appeared behind him and I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed it wasn't just him. Zee rushed in asking a million questioned while checking my cuts and bruises I was in a daze and couldn't quite seem to pry my eyes off the deep emerald ones.

I snapped myself out of the trance collecting my belongings.

"I'm not feeling the greatest I think I'm gonna head home," I stated hoping they would let me go without protest.

"I'll walk you if that's ok." Wally stammered out green eyes once again locking on grey.

"I'd like that," I replied with a smile, I don't know what compelled me to agree but for some reason, I just wanted to spend more time with him. Until it hit me that Wally could not see where I lived I'm sure he lives in a three-story house with a perfect little ginger family who has family dinners every Sunday, meanwhile, I live in an apartment building that could be easily mistaken for an abandoned meth lab and basically live by myself.