Monday, August 2nd
4:03 o'clock in the evening
The Thrawne Residence
"Um, hello?" asked Haley with a shaky tone.
"Haley, it's me." Haley quietly sighed in relief upon hearing Damian's voice. "I need to know if you're free this weekend."
"Oh, yeah. I'm free. We could actually start after school on Friday."
Hale couldn't see, but Damian rolled his eyes with a sigh. He simply couldn't do Friday. You see, Grayson would be coming back and visiting for about a week and Alfred wanted everyone to enjoy dinner together before their nightly activities. "I can't do Friday. I have a family dinner."
"Oh, that's fine. We can just do Saturday and Sunday if that's okay with you."
"For this week, yes. I'm unsure for the rest of the year."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I have nothing planned for my entire life. So, just let me know when you're available?"
"That's the plan," said Damian. He was glad she wasn't persistent in coming over to the manor every day. The people he's had as partners in the past have tried to be his friend when he made it perfectly clear that it was just a limited partnership.
"Okay. Then goodnight." Haley didn't hang up, yet. She wanted to see if Damian was going to wish her goodnight. She had seen how he was with other people and just kind of hoped she could be an exception.
"Goodnight, Thrawne." Then he hung up. Pulling her phone away from her ear, Haley proceeded to save his phone number. She was grateful that nothing happened so far. But, she still hopes that he's still not watching her and that he wouldn't act if he saw her with Damian.
Haley shook her head, trying to get her mind off that, and continued with her routine. She undressed from her school uniform and put on comfy, cotton shorts and a loose tank top with a black sports bra.
Walking out of her room and straight into the bathroom, Haley began her nightly routine to remove her makeup, clean her face, and brush her hair. Simple self-care that made Haley feel amazing.
"Haley! Dinner!" Grabbing a scrunchie, Haley walked out and to the dining room to find a box of pizza on the table along with with a liter of Sprite.
"Oh! Pizza," said Haley happily. It was cheese pizza, Haley's favorite. Pulling a few slices on the opened lid of the box (to save herself from washing more dishes), and poured herself some Sprite into her cup. Once settled in her seat, Haley looked at her mom to thank her only to stop upon seeing a look on her face. "Mom, you okay?"
"Are you sure you don't have a chance with Damian?"
"Unbelievable!" Truly. But, Haley really should know better. When her mom wants to talk about something - especially Haley's crushes - she'll talk about it. "Listen, I don't know what to tell you, mom. It's just not going to happen."
"Oh, come on! Why not? And don't say because of. . . that reason." Asteria shivered at the thought.
Haley took in a breath before just shrugging her shoulders. "We're in different social classes, he probably has enough girls chasing after him, and we're just different."
"What makes you think that you're so different from each other? You said earlier that you hardly know him. So, why are you so certain?"
Haley starred at her mother with a worthy face for a "really?" meme. But still, her mother had a point. "Yeah, we don't. Still, that doesn't mean that once we learn more about each other that we're suddenly going to cling to one another like. . . like?" Haley screwed her face into concentration, trying to find the best term to use.
"Like a dog with a bone?"
Thinking about it, Haley nodded. "Yeah, like that. Look, I appreciate the pep talk, but really. Nothing is going to happen."
Asteria looked at her daughter with sad eyes. She knows Haley has a crush on Damian. She knows Haley would love to advance those feelings, but for the last year, Haley has been questioning everything she does and who she involves herself with. Though, Asteria hoped for her daughter to find something to anchor herself on.
Asteria rest her hand on top of Haley's that was resting on the table. "Just. . . don't push him away when he tries to form a relationship with you."
Haley could only nod, silently promising her mother.
*
Haley walked into Gotham Academy like she did the other day. Except for this time, she was now partners with Damian Wayne. To her, it didn't mean a world of difference - it was just another school project with a fellow student. However, that's not how Evangeline saw it. She saw it as a threat.
As Haley went to her locker and began taking books in and out, Evangeline glared from afar. She stood at her locker with Phoebe right beside her. Phoebe was on her phone, scrolling through media, and minding her own business.
"Look at her," said a venomous Evangeline. "Thinking that she could do nothing wrong. Well, she did when partnered with my man."
Phoebe looked up and examined Haley. "But, Damian isn't your man." Evangeline gave the stink which made Phoebe rethink. "Yet."
Evangeline repositioned her eyes onto Haley. Haley closed her locker and began making her way to her first class. Evangeline kept her eyes on her. "Still cannot believe that she's here for one minute and she's already partners with Damian. I've been here for years, waiting for him to just look in my direction and know I'm the one."
She pushed herself off of her locker, walking to her first class as well. Phoebe followed her. "I just really wish that she would go away."
"Maybe we should humiliate her in a way so that she won't return."
"No. No, that won't work. Not for me. I want something permanent. Something that will one-hundred percent guarantee her not coming back."
*
Haley sat down in her English Literature class, again. Mondays and Tuesdays she had the same classes. She did what she did the other day and brought out her notebook and pencil as well as a pen. When she had everything, she relaxed in her chair. Haley's eyes landed on Damian as he walked into class. She offered him a small smile as he looked at her. He, too, offered a small smile before sitting down beside her.
The class went on like any other day; students dozing off, Mrs. Barnes doing her best to keep them interested, a few of the students were on their phones, and a few were paying attention. Haley was paying attention to what Mrs. Barnes was saying. Until she saw a note being set on her desk by Damian. Haley looked at Damian for a second to get a hint of why he was passing a note to her. He only looked from her to the note, telling her to read it. She looked down at the note and unfolded it to read it.
'You sounded scared on the phone last night. Why?' Haley looked back up at Damian before scribbling down an answer. She folded it back and then put it on Damian's desk. She looked forward, back at the front of the classroom, but she could see Damian reading the note in the corner of her eye. She then saw him write something down and, again, put the note on her desk. Haley looked down and read it.
'Who did you think I was?' She thought about whether or not she should tell him. A pro would be that she would have someone other than her mother to talk to about it. A con is that he won't believe her and make fun of her. However, that is very unlikely because who wouldn't believe someone when they say they're being stalked?
Knowing this conversation would be too much to take during class, she wrote down that she would explain during an off period or later tonight on call. With that written down, she handed the piece of paper back to Damian. Luckily, they hadn't been caught by Mrs. Barnes passing the note. Last year, someone did the same and Mrs. Barnes must have had a bad day because she looked like she was going to murder that poor kid. But, to be fair, he was talking about unholy things.
Damian read what she had written before looking at her with suspicious eyes. But, despite his personality, Damian tucked the note away and went back to paying attention to what Mrs. Barnes was teaching.
After what seemed like hours upon hours, lunchtime came around. Which meant that Damian was going to get answers. Like yesterday, the two sat together at a table with no one else.
"So, Thrawne, who did you think I was?" asked Damian.
Haley took a deep breath. She had been preparing herself to tell him everything; the photos, the weird phone calls, the letters. But when she tried to say something - anything - nothing came. So, she said what she could.
"My ex. I thought you were ex."
Damian could somewhat believe it, but there was something missing. Haley was holding back. "Did he. . . hurt you?"
Haley diverted her eyes away from Damian. "Uh, no. Not physical, anyway."
He nodded, relieved to know that it hadn't gotten physical. But still, that meant that her ex had hurt her emotionally. Damian hadn't realized it, but he cared for Haley. He had only met her yesterday. Yet, here he was caring for her. Maybe he was finally learning to care for others besides his family. Maybe he was trying to feel better for himself by helping this girl who was suffering more than he knew. Or, maybe, he was becoming like his father; caring for people he doesn't know. Whatever way, he cared. Even if it was just a little bit.
Haley had her hand on the table, not having touched her lunch at all, and her eyes unfocused from the world around her. Damian placed his hand upon hers, rubbing it with her palm. She didn't know why he was doing it, but she has glad about it.
Evangeline, however, wasn't. She was, yet again, watching them. She couldn't help it; she wanted to make sure Haley behaved herself. Evangeline blamed anything that was happening right now on Haley.
Phoebe, like usual, was on her phone. She was responding to tweets and watching funny animal videos. She smiled as she watched the golden retriever pop the balloon filled with confetti and look sadly at the camera. "Poor puppy."
Evangeline groaned. Phoebe immediately put her phone away, knowing this was going to need her full attention. "Can you believe this?" Evangeline questioned, gesturing to the two.
"No, I can't."
Evangeline scoffed. "She thinks that being his partner in a project is going to grant her everything that she could wish for."
Phoebe scrunched her face in confusion. "Damian's a genie?"
"No, you idiot. He just has a bunch of money that can practically get him any and everything."
Phoebe nodded, acting like she wasn't the one who asked the stupid question. Evangeline then remained quiet for the rest of the lunch period as she hatched a plan to end Haley. When the bell rang, Evangeline looked at Phoebe with utmost seriousness. "We're going to do some research about little miss Haley."
*
Damian was in the library of the manor, on his laptop writing essays that he already had due. The essays weren't due until the end of the month, but he wanted them done so he could focus on his Robin duties.
He seemed to lose track of time as he soon found himself done with every essay. Damian looked at the grandfather clock that resided beside the active fireplace; it was twelve minutes after six. He could start working on open cases while he waits for the sun to set for him to start patrol. Or he could communicate with Haley about their project. Deciding that solving crime was of more importance, Damian left the library and made his way to his room where he had last left his case files. The files sat on his desk in their vanilla folders. When Damian reached for them, a ding came from his phone. He groaned. Pulling out his phone, he saw a text message from Haley Thrawne. Opening his massage app, he read the text.
Haley Thrawne
Hey, I have a list of potential books we could do for the project. I'm going to send it to you, okay?
6:17 p.m.
Damian Wayne
Yes, that's fine.
6:17 p.m.
Haley frowned reading the message. It was like he was giving her permission to send the list. She just shook it off, however, and sent the list.
Haley Thrawne
Haley Thrawne has shared a document with you.
There you go. Just let me know which one you want to do.
6:18 p.m.
It was Damian's turn to frown at her text message. Did she not care which book they did? Or, what? Either way, he had a feeling that she might have a book that she'd like to do.
Damian Wayne
Okay. I will.
6:19 p.m.
*
Evangeline had her coffee sitting beside her laptop as she did the most thorough research in her life. Phoebe was beside her doing the same, just at a slower rate. They were, as Evangeline had planned, searching for any dirt on Haley; anything to make her whimper.
Evangeline bit her cheek when she, yet again, came up with nothing. She opened another tab and searched for anything else that could lead to Haley's past. Still, nothing.
She slammed her hands on the table that they sat at. Phoebe jumped in her seat from fright.
"I can't find anything on this bitch! What about you?!"
"Uh, nothing suspicious. Just an aesthetically pleasing Instagram account."
Evangeline slightly calmed herself down. "Let me see."
It really was an aesthetically pleasing account; the posts looked like a photo collage with amazing lighting and angles. From this account, they can conclude that Haley was a cheerleader at her old high school, wasn't in a relationship, and overall had a great life. So, why did she move here? Evangeline was trying to figure that out when Phoebe spoke up.
"She really is pretty."
Evangeline gave her the stink eye making Phoebe swallow deeply. "Okay, is there anything that can tell us what she's hiding?"
Phoebe examined the account a little bit more. "No. Though, it does look like she hasn't posted anything for about a year."
"Why?"
"I don't know. The last post she made was with one person, Chloe Moore."
"Can we talk to her?"
"Give me a second," said Phoebe. She clicked on the tag connecting Chloe to the post and was taken to her account. Chloe was still active and posting every week. Phoebe clicked on her laptop to bring herself to Instagram messages with Chloe Moore. "Do you want to text or call her?"
Evangeline thought for a moment. "Call her; we'll probably get more from that."
Phoebe, who was a little unsure about this, clicked the call button. She turned the sound all the way up on her laptop, listening as the dial tone rang and rang. It stopped and then a voice rang from the laptop.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is this Chloe Moore?" asked Evangeline.
"Who else?" said an annoyed voice.
Evangeline chuckled a bit. "Good. Well, I'm a concerned person of a dear friend. You may know her - Haley Thrawne."
There was a long pause, causing the two girls to look at each other in suspense.
"Look, stop contacting me. I don't ever want to hear about that no-good friend again."
"Wait! Can you tell us-" Evangeline didn't get to finish asking her question before Chloe hung up and blocked Phoebe on the app. Evangeline scowled in displeasure. "That was rude."
"Why did Chloe say that Haley was a 'no-good friend'?"
Evangeline smiled at her friend's observation. "Well, maybe that's why Haley moved to this horrible city. We just have to find out what it was."
"But, we've been doing that for the last hour or so. We haven't found anything."
"Well," said Evangeline, smirking, "I do have a special someone who is really good at investigating matters, privately." Phoebe knew what she was talking about. Her parents had private investigators on call whenever they need dirt on other people. "Come on. We need to meet him down in the parking lot."
The Sanchez Family lived in a grand apartment complex where they owned both of the two highest floors. The only way to enter their home was through the elevator. They made their way to that said elevator and pressed the button for the underground parking lots.
"Did you text him?" Evangeline nodded in confirmation. There were moments of silence between them as the elevator continued to go down. Phoebe looked at the floors being counted down in red numbers. "So, what's the plan when we learn her secret?"
"That'll be decided when we know what it is."
"How's that important? Won't we just spread the news and tell everyone?"
"Phoe, I love you." Evangeline had an unsettling, sweet smile. "But different types of secrets have different types of ways of how they should be dealt with. If it's embarrassing, then everyone at school will know. If it's a dark and life-changing secret, everyone in the world will know."
Phoebe didn't understand Evangeline right now. Whenever Evangeline has had a rival, it never went to this extreme. If they couldn't find any dirt on someone (which was rare), they would just spread a nasty and false rumor about them. Never had she used her family's private investigators. Because of that, Phoebe knew that Evangeline really wanted Haley gone. Phoebe quietly looked at Evangeline as she continued to use her seemly innocent smile. She had a bad feeling about this.
*small author note
I know it's been a bit. I've had a few busy weeks. But, I do hope you guys like this chapter. It's not as long as chapter one, but it's 3/4 as long (the first chapter was a little over four thousand word long, this is about three thousand).