Ages:
Damian - 16
Tim - 13
Jason - 11
Barbra - 10
Dick - 8
"Come on, Dickie, don't be scared." Tim cooed.
His newest brother nodded, very frightened to be starting school; for his English was still pitiful, for another, it was 2/3 of the way through the year, and he'd never attended an actual school
"Jason can help you find your class-"
"No way!" Jason moaned. "I don't wanna be seen with my dumb baby brother!"
"You're so immature." Tim scowled. "You two will meet Barbra at the front door, and she can help you find your class... if Jason is still acting like a two-year-old."
"Well you're acting like a one-year-old."
"SHUT- up. shut up." Damian cautioned. "Todd, you will help Richard find his class, it's his first day and he needs help. Timothy, will you just back up for a few minutes?" He ordered. "Anyway, we're here." He pulled the brake and leaned back in the driver's seat. Being aloud to use the car was supposed to be a privilege, not a chore.
"Bye Jay. Good luck at school today, Dick! First day of school, So exciting!"
As the door closed, Damian glared at him in the rear view mirror.
"He's going to hate it."
Tim sighed.
"Well, I know that, and you know that, but Dick doesn't know that. He's scared enough right now."
"So you're lying to him to make him trust in something that will likely break him."
"Look, maybe It'll work. It's better than telling him that school might hurt him." Tim answered, worrying on his brother's behalf.
"WILL Hurt him." Damian corrected.
"Shut up and drive me to school."
Jason slams the car door after them. It was pain just standing next to his kid brother at the front gate. God, what if someone saw him? Thankfully, he spied Barbra.
"Hey Babs."
"Hey -Oh hi, Dick." She noticed the young boy, clutching the back of Jason's backpack, terrified he might get lost in the swam of strangers.
Jason shook his backpack as his brother gripped it like a lifesaver. "Get. Off!"
"Okay, don't shake him!" The redheaded girl exclaimed.
"Right! Today is your first day of school,right, Dick? Are you exited?"
He gave a microscopic shrug.
"Awesome! Hey, let's find out what classroom you're in."
"Cool, you do that, I have better thinks to do."
"Jason, you suck. Come on Dick, let's go inside."
Barbra's friends crowded her quickly, and quickly noticed the adorable little boy none of them had seen there before.
Dick made very shy introductions, hiding half-behind the redhead.
Tween girls do not relent easily when excited, Barbra almost had to beat them off with a stick when the first bell want off, making Dick jump, and hold onto handfuls of her blazer.
Barbra took Dick to the office and reasoned that he was in Mrs. Florio's class.
Of course, when they got there, Barbra had to run to get to her own class.
Mrs. Florio didn't have a desk set up, so she did that first, while instructing Dick, in her honey-sweet, patronizing voice, to introduce himself to the class.
Words failed him. He just managed to utter;
"Hello, I'm Dick Grayson," When his brain desired that was enough English for the day.
Eventually, Mrs. Florio had the humanity to let him sit at his newly-set up desk.
Most of the school day was uneventful; the other students worked on their assignments. Dick was given a copy of the assignment, but he was pretty (very) far behind, and had trouble comprehending the text instructions.
He spent most of the day, getting distracted; staring out the window, Drawing, practicing writing, etc.
This was the first time since Bruce had taken him in that he'd ever been separated from his new family for more than a couple hours. Even when his brothers and Barbra were in school, He usually still had Bruce or Alfred nearby.
Considering all his confusion, separation anxiety, and ignorance of school etiquette, it was a wonder he didn't start freaking out and crying... until 1:40 pm.
Dick shyly stood up and began slinking towards the classroom door.
"Excuse me, Richard, where do you think your going?"
Fifty four eyes turned to watch him as he stood, small and scared in the door, he couldn't even make his vocal chords work, let alone think of the English words he was looking for.
"Do you have anything to say, Richard?"
Dick opened his mouth, and the words stuck in his throat. Eventually he managed a little English;
"Bathroom?"
"Well maybe you should sit down, put up your hand, and wait to be called on, like everyone else." Mrs. Florio had more than a hint of patronizing in her tone.
"oh." Dick's voice was very small and faint. He honestly didn't he was supposed to do that.
His feet barely worked from how nervous he was. He could feel everyone staring at him, whispering about him... He was lightheaded, his eyes were stinging and his cheeks were starting to burn hot pink.
The kids right behind him were giggling so loud he'd be able to understand what they're saying; that is, if his brain would slow down enough to understand English.
It seemed the entire world was staring at him, and whispering.
"Richard, do you want to ask something?" The teacher asked directly.
The boy seemed to shrink in size, shaking his head slightly, his eyes locked on his desk.
"Are you sure?" She asked in her patronizing voice, leaning forward over her desk.
He nodded a little, barely at all.
A hot tear drizzled down his face, the another, and another, and soon, Poor Dick was crying silently, hiding his face under his smear of black hair.
He just wanted to sink into the floor and never be seen again. Not only did he not understand anything, but he'd just been reprimanded by someone he didn't know, and was crying in front of a bunch of strangers.
The last hour and fifteen minutes of school dragged on like decade. He wished he'd never ended up in Gotham.
"Hey," Barbra was waiting at his class room door by the time he felt brave enough to stand up. "How was school?" She asked cautiously, but there was no need, Dick was shaking violently, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Guys, Hurry up!" Jason grunted. Standing around Dick's classroom was cramping his eleven-year-old style.
"Jason, he's crying." She spat.
"Dickie, are you okay? What happened?"
Barbra encouraged him to explain on the way to the pick-up spot.
After a little prying, he broke, sobbing, hiding his face in his jacket sleeve, trying to explain.
"English, Dickie." She reminded, as the boy tearfully tried to explain everything.
Eventually, Barbra got a clear(ish) idea of what happened. She glared down snooping students as they passed.
Finally, the car pulled up. Barbra, threw herself and the boy into the car, helping his into his car seat (most eight-year-olds didn't need car seats, but he was very short and lightweight). Jason waited a few seconds, looked both ways, and snagged up his bag, leaping into the car and slamming the door.
Thank God for tinted windows.
"Hey, D-" Tim turned in his seat and saw the carnage before him. "What happened? Barbra?!"
It was a tough ride; Dick was crying, Barbra was trying to explain what Dick had told her, Tim was freaking out, trying to calm hos brother, Jason pouted out the window, and Damian drove in utter silence.He told them.
The other brother's quickly realized why Dick was crying so hard; what a traumatizing first day of school!
When they arrived her at the manor, Tim helped Dick out of his car seat and half-carried him to his room. He sat with his little brother, listening to him cry.
"I don't want to go back!" It was the first comprehensive thing he'd said.
"I HATE school!" He screamed.
Tim just let him cry. He needed it.
"and everyone thinks I'm stupid, and scared-" He sobbed into his big brothers pant leg, unable finish the sentence.
"Dick, no one thinks that." Tim hushed. "No one will even remember this tomorrow!"
Tim was wrong.
They remembered it the next day..... and the next
Kids are brutal.
-I've been sitting on this idea for a while, would you guys like to see more?-