Sell you a Bridge chapter 13 (Patreon)

Class was fairly mundane, as per usual. The teacher Ms. Kaplan, was  as mentioned by Reggie, a bit of a stickler, and not just about  punctuality. I was informed upon arrival that she would tolerate no  nonsense or disruption. I didn't have my books yet so she had paired me  with a cheerful, pretty blonde girl named Annabel with a happy smile and  bright blue eyes. She put us off to the side so our talking wouldn't  disturb the others when she helped get me up to speed.

As  we sat down Annabel stuck leaned in to whisper conspiratorially "Sorry  about Kaplan, she can be a bit of a stick in the mud but she's a pretty  good teacher. She loves literature and she's really fair about her  grading. As long as you aren't disruptive she's actually pretty cool.  One kid would just come in here and read the whole period and she didn't  care at all." She stuck out a hand shyly, "Oh, sorry I'm Annabel  Powers, nice to meet you. You're one of the new kids right?" I must have  looked surprised because she giggled quietly "Don't be so surprised,  people starting mid year is odd, everyone on campus knows."

I  chuckled ruefully and scratched the back of my head "I'm Morgan  O'Malley and ouch, we were hoping to lay low for a while, not draw too  much attention. We have some catching up to do, this place is a bit more  advanced than our last school." I had zero interest in expanding my  social circle here. I had Artemis and Reggie seemed ok as a maybe friend  in the future, but his odd warning made me a bit reticent to reach out  to other people, I was hoping to cultivate a reputation as a struggling  academic so people would leave me alone while I was here.

Annabel's  face lit up "Oh, you should join our study group! You and your friend  would both be welcome. My friends and i try to help out any new students  or underclassmen who seem out of their depth. So many people around  here are cutthroat and only out for themselves. We believe that helping  others is it's own reward." She must have sensed my hesitation because  she put her hands up as if backing off "But no pressure, we know how  overwhelming a new place can be. Just get in touch if you want to take  me up on it, you and your friend Artemis seem like you have potential."

It  was a bit odd that she knew Artemis's name, but then again she did  mention we were big news so i kind of shrugged it off. Annabel, as it  turned out, was pretty damn smart, and an excellent teacher. I could see  why she had a study group, she seemed to intuitively grasp the way my  mind worked after talking to me and showed a surprising ability to steer  me to the right conclusion without just giving me the answer. She was  also charismatic and funny, with a sneaky sense of humor. I liked her.

Not  that I was going to join her little clique of study buddies or  anything, but we exchanged numbers when class was over and she offered  to show me to the cafeteria. As we walked I took in my  new...acquaintance. She was small, like under five feet, with pretty  china doll features and a button nose. She had bright cerulean blue eyes  and an athletic frame with long curly platinum blonde hair. I had to  admit the girl was gorgeous, and it was a bit of an ego trip she seemed  so focused on me.

When  we reached the cafeteria I caught sight of Artemis sitting at a table  in the back corner. Unlike most schools Gotham Academy had smaller  private tables for the students, with table cloths and everything. I  gave Annabel a grateful smile "Hey I see Arty over there, I'll see you  around ok? I have your number and I'll text you. I don't know about a  study group but I'm not against hitting the books with a new friend." I  could use a refresher course and she was cute. Maybe a study session  could turn into something more private.

Annabel  put a hand on my arm, squeezing my bicep a little as she pouted. "I  understand, no rush. I was hoping to get to know you a bit better.  Mysterious new guy comes in mid year. I'd love to hear that story. My  guess is either old money or political connections." She winked to let  me know she was joking. "I hope to hear from you soon though Morgan. I  enjoyed hanging out with you today." She leaned up and pecked me on the  cheek, having to stand on her tip toes to reach. I silently thanked my  muscle powder, no way a girl like that would have talked to me if I  wasn't ripped.

I  slide into the seat across from Artemis who smirked at me with a raised  eyebrow and pushed over a tray she must have snagged me, a pretty  decent looking burger and fries.. "Well don't you work fast. She was  pretty cute, how the hell did you manage to get that far in only an hour  of school and during class." Her tone was incredulous and a bit  impressed and I have to admit I felt pretty smug. Ripped or not Annabel  had definitely been interested in me as a person. She had all kinds of  questions about my life and seemed so fascinated by all my experiences.  It was weird for me to be someone's type, but I guess Annabel likes her  guys cut.

I  returned the smirk with one of my own. "Annabel Powers, we're in first  period together. She was helping out with my English class since I don't  have my books yet. She even invited us to her study group, though i  didn't accept. My student liaison mentioned the politics here were a bit  complicated. I figured it would be best to stay out of things in the  social scene for a while." Artemis was as cautious as me, she wouldn't  be any more interested in getting involved in that kind of thing than I  was.

She  smirked at the comment "How about perky little cheerleader types with  blonde curls and a cute little apple bottom? Annabel seems plenty social,  bet you'd wont be staying out of her." She shot me a wink and I flushed  a bit at my phrasing. Luckily Artemis wasn't too keen to rake me over  the coals because she let it go, answering my original question. "As for  the social scene I could see that. Bette was pretty adamant that it was  important to pick your friends. I was going to stay out of social stuff  too probably, but I was thinking about joining a sports team or  something. Try to get the full upper class high school experience."

I  just shrugged, that seemed like it wouldn't be too big a deal. "Well  you would do pretty well on the Archery team if they have one. They seem  like that kind of place, but somehow I doubt you want to get on  people's radar as a possible olympic athlete. Might I suggest something a  bit more generally physical. Something you would be great at but not  the be all end all, maybe track and field or something?" Becoming a  champion athlete at a school like Gotham Academy was way more attention  than Artemis would want, but she was in great shape. Aside from shot put  and other aim based activities she would excel at I bet should could  run pretty damn fast.

She  just rolled her eyes with a smile "A decision I'm sure has nothing at  all to do with the tiny shorts they make girls wear on track teams. But  you aren't wrong. I don't want my family situation coming out and being a  recognized archery expert would definitely be attention grabbing. I  don't mind working up a sweat, sure I'll go out for track and field.  Maybe I'll meet some cute boys there." She raked her eyes over me "The  pickings at Gotham North were pretty slim." I gasped in mock offense and  flicked a fry at her, which she effortlessly caught in her mouth with  another smirk. Damn expert combatant reflexes.

Seeing  her so excited about that made me kind of want to try out for a team  myself. I'd always really loved playing basketball but I'd also always  sucked at it. Maybe I could find some kind of become a pro level baller  email to learn the sport well enough to get on the Academy team. I'd  wanted to stay out of the social politics but there was something  intoxicating about the idea of being the one to get up in front of the  school and crush our enemies. That said it would have to wait. I had a  few ideas for my next use of powers already.

The  ninja thing was fun and the built in combat stuff would be useful  enough that I didn't need to do a bunch of martial arts lessons. My next  idea was probably some kind of computer coding seminar or learning a  new language. I'd have to go through my emails when I got home to find a  decent one. I had thirty four points now, proving my theory about the  points dispensing five and five at noon and midnight. I might need to  save for a bit more to get something good. I took my first bit of my  burger as Artemis filled me in on her first class.

Surprisingly  the food here was pretty good. They had fancy catering companies not  those mass produced school lunches Gotham North had. Though to be fair I  actually really enjoyed some of those. The cheap donuts in the plastic  packages were a particular favorite of mine. Still, it was nice to have  good options here, I noted the pizza and salad bar up there too but  Artemis had clearly just grabbed the first thing she found for us. I  appreciated the effort but I was going to show up early the next time so  I could try some other stuff they offered.

I  checked the time and realized between our conversation and eating lunch  was almost over. Lucky I was a fast eater because with five minutes  left some people might have had some trouble finishing a burger and  fries. I shoveled the food into my mouth as Artemis talked, occasionally  taking bites when I responded and therefore about even with me in terms  of food finished despite doing most of the talking. I finished my  burger with two minutes on the clock and pulled out my schedule "So,  what's your next class? I have chemistry with Chambers."

Artemis fished her own schedule out of her backpack to check "Looks like I have pre-calc with Kowalksi." I raised an eyebrow  at her and she flushed "So I'm a bit ahead in math classes. Don't make a  big deal about it. Proper long distance shooting requires math skills,  my dad always emphasized math classes believe it or not, I think he was  hoping I might take up sniping eventually." Unfortunately I did believe  that, Larry Crock was exactly the type of guy to push his daughter into a  school subject for his own long term gain.

We  made plans to meet up after school and both headed off to our  respective classes. I had chem with Reggie so at least I would know  someone there and I was looking forward to getting home to check my  emails. Add in hitting it off with a cute girl and my first day at  Gotham Academy was already going pretty damn well. I was excited to see  what would happen next. Now all I needed to do was figure out where the  hell my chem class was. I probably shouldn't have waited until the last  minute to leave the cafeteria.