Welcome to the Hellmouth, Part I
“Laurel? Oh, good, you’re awake.”
Laurel looked up from where she was brushing her hair to see her dad standing in her doorway. “Hey daddy, what’s up?” she asked.
“Could you wake your sister up for me, honey?” Quentin asked. “I’m almost late for work and waking up Sara can be a struggle.” Laurel sighed but nodded as she sat her hairbrush down; Quentin smiled and thanked her before walking out.
Everything involving Sara was a struggle these days. Roughly a year ago, for no real reason, she had begun starting fights and getting into trouble at school. This was a girl who had always had an A average and who had been the captain of the JV cheerleading team. She had managed to get herself expelled from their old school in Gotham and now here they were, all the way across the country with no friends or family and with their parents divorced.
Laurel tried really hard not to blame her sister for all her woes, but it was kinda her fault. She had burnt down the gym,for god’s sake.
Laurel sighed and checked in the mirror to make sure she was ready. She tugged her hair into a high ponytail and smiled, yep. She was definitely ready for her first day at a new school. She then left her room and headed to Sara’s. When she stepped inside, her expression morphed into a slight sneer.
Sara’s room was a mess; she hadn’t bothered to begin unpacking other than her blankets and pillows and a few articles of clothing. Laurel rolled her eyes, setting her hands on her hips. She didn’t know why she was surprised. Sara had always been a bit of a slob, even before she had fallen in with the wrong crowd. She walked over to the bed and poked the prone blonde.
Sara jumped out of bed and fell into a fighting position, her gleaming blue eyes wide and her blonde curls a wild disaster. Laurel narrowed her eyes. “Calm down, Sara,” she snapped. “I’m just here to wake you up so you’re not late for school.”
Sara’s expression fell and she sighed. “I really don’t want to go to a new school,” she said.
Laurel scowled. “Yeah, well, you should’ve thought of that before you burnt down part of our old school.” Sara shot a glare at her and Laurel sent one right back. She had the right to be pissed at her baby sister for fucking up so monumentally.
Sara growled. “Whatever, just get out of my room.”
Laurel restrained the rather strong urge to flip her off and instead only flipped her ponytail over her shoulders and walked away. Sara was infuriating and everytime Laurel had seen her since the incident, Laurel had been rather nasty to her. But she was just so angry!
She had been forced to leave all of her friends behind because Sara had no goddamn sense of restraint. She had been forced to say goodbye to Bruce, Selina, and Zinda right before her senior year and Sara hadn’t even seemed apologetic about it. She just didn’t seem to care and it pissed Laurel off.
Laurel shook her head and headed down to the kitchen. She needed to stop letting herself think like that and start accepting what had happened. Besides, Laurel had always been the friendly type and she had no doubt that she would easily make friends in this new place.
Quentin dropped Laurel and Sara off less than an hour later. Laurel immediately headed to the front office, all but ignoring her sister; Sara was silent as she followed behind her.
“Shit!” a male voice exclaimed and Laurel heard the somewhat familiar sound of Sara being knocked to her butt. Laurel spun around to see a conventionally attractive man with brown hair and a broad smile picking himself off the ground and helping Sara up.
“Sorry,” he said as she stood up.
A sly smile spread over Sara’s face and she ran her eyes up his form. “It’s no problem,” she said, licking her lips. The guy’s grin widened and he actually blushed a bit.
“Uh, I’m Carter. You must be the new girl I’ve heard so much about. A sophomore right?” he asked.
Sara nodded. “Yep,” she said, popping the p. “I’m Sara and - ”
“ - and we are going to be late,” Laurel interrupted. She was sneering and her arms were crossed over her chest. “Sara, we really should be getting to the office. Don’t want to be late to our meeting with the principle.”
Sara’s eyes narrowed dangerously and she sent Laurel a poisonous look. Laurel ignored her and Carter gaped between the two. “I could help you two find it,” he said, swallowing as Laurel turned her slitted eyes to him and began tapping her toe. “The principal’s office, I mean.”
“Why would you do that?” Laurel demanded. He shrugged helplessly and her look of contempt grew before she rolled her eyes. “You know what? Whatever. Please show us where it is.” She forced the cruel look to fade. He sent her a lost smile.
Sara grinned and wrapped her arms around his bicep. “Yes, please do show us where the principal’s is,” she purred.
Laurel scoffed at them but didn’t say anything.
Laurel was impatient as she sat through the principal and Sara talking about Sara’s past. When he dismissed them, she sent him a cool smile before heading to her locker, promising herself that she was going to ignore her sister for the rest of the day. She’d like to give off a good impression and forcing herself to be around Sara would only make her angry.
After dropping her backpack off at her locker, she headed to her English class.
The majority of the class was boring, until near the end when the teacher, Ms. Prince, told them to get out their books and look at page one-hundred and twelve. Laurel realized that she didn’t have her book and a pretty black girl next to her promptly offered to share hers with her. Laurel sent her a grateful smile and the two read the passage together.
When Ms. Prince released them at the end of class, the girl stood up and offered Laurel a kind smile. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Joanna.”
Laurel smiled back at her, brushing a few loose strands away from her face. “Laurel,” she said. “I’m the new kid.”
Joanna laughed. “Trust me, I know. Everyone’s been talking about you since you and your...sister?” Laurel nodded. “Your sister arrived this morning. We don’t have many mid-semester transfers, so you guys are big news.”
When Laurel stood up, the two walked out of the classroom together. “Really?” Laurel asked. “My old school had transfers all the time.”
Joanna’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s not a thing here,” she said. “Where are you from?”
“Born and raised in Gotham.”
Joanna made a face, causing Laurel to giggle. “Yikes,” she said. “You don’t get much more dangerous than Gotham.”
Laurel shrugged. “I mean,” she said, “I could have lived in Blüdhaven. Or Hub City.”
Joanna’s eyes widened and then she snickered. “That’s a good point,” she said.
Laurel beamed at her. She really, really liked this girl.