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schrijverr · 5 months

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Growing Pains [Barbara's POV] 3

Chapter 3 out of 6

Barbara doesn't know who Robin is under the mask, Dick does. This causes some strange interactions as their friendship develops.

In this chapter, Dick seems to have developed a dislike for Barbara, who already has a Robin problem to worry about. Ugh, what a day.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: classism and bullying

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Chapter 3: Suddenly Shunned

Barbara can’t fucking stop thinking about Robin, the twat that has been making her life miserable ever since she met him lat night. He’s just infuriating and it’s even more infuriating that she can’t stop being infuriated about him.

God, that’s too much infuriated.

He doesn’t deserve the space in her brain. She can do much better than getting mad at some cocky kid that Batman just happened to pick up. She’s the bigger person. She’s more mature. She can shake it off.

But, god, is he annoying. Like, calling her a copycat? Really? She still isn’t really over it. She matched aesthetics, because it has a function and shows cohesion. Being cohesive is a big part in teamwork.

That Robin dick just doesn’t get it and he’s a prick and Barbara should just let it go, no matter how mad he makes her. She has school to focus on and she does need to focus. She can’t have her dad be suspicious because he grades dropped. Not to mention her scholarship.

So, she takes a deep breath and enters Mrs. Holland’s English class. She can just focus on reading some book or another and not think about Robin.

They don’t have a standard seating plan, but Barbara always tries to be in the back corner and most people let her sit there, since everyone kind of has their spot. And indeed her seat is empty this class as well.

However, she’s stopped in her approach by Dick, whose seat is the one in front of hers, where he has sat since his first day. Until now, they haven’t really spoken, since Barbara tries not associate, but their few interactions have been surface level friendly enough. Today, though… today he is giving her a glare.

Barbara has no clue what could have made him glare like that.

She goes over everything that happened, trying to find if she has done anything or if the media has spun something her dad said about the whole Tony Zucco thing. But nothing comes to mind. She lend him a pencil in history, gave him a little smile when they saw each other in the hall and even partnered up with him for that discussion in English class last time.

All in all, she’s been nothing but cordial to Dick, despite not befriending him and hasn’t had an interaction with him outside of school. No matter how indirectly.

Yet something must have ruffled his feathers, since his glare doesn’t let up the entire way to her seat, though he doesn’t go as far as to turn around in his seat to continue glaring. He does, however, huff and look away.

A part of her wants to demand what the hell his problem is, because it is clearly targeted. But she also doesn’t want to cause a scene or be dramatic, when it’s really nothing big or explicit.

The last thing she wants is for her classmates to notice her when she wants to keep a low profile. On top of that, she also doesn’t want to be an asshole to the grieving kid for seemingly no reason, especially since he’s becoming more and more popular.

Barbara had already expected his rise to the top of the social hierarchy before he’d even set foot in the school. Wasn’t hard to guess with his foster father and who his parents had been. Everyone saw it coming, honestly.

She, on the other hand, is not popular. But she doesn’t mind her place on the social ladder. It’s not like she’s all the way at the bottom or something. She doesn’t get bullied, she gets excluded, she’s invisible. And she’s learned to like it there.

It’s useful now too.

However, she finds that it’s incredibly easy for her to become visible now that one of the more popular kids has taken an interest in her. And not in a good way.

All throughout the day, Dick just keeps sending her these looks that she can’t figure out and it’s driving her nuts. He’ll look angry one time, calculating another, then be trying to explode her head with his eyes. And she hasn’t even done anything!

Others are joining in, mindlessly following Dick’s lead, because he’s the new hot shit in town, so he’s their new little leader until the shine wears off and they all go back to mindlessly following after Conrad. Or maybe Dick will take his place. Time will tell, she guesses.

At times like these, she really misses Pamela. Pamela wasn’t from the most well off family – though she was well off enough to afford Temblor and to be at Gotham Middle School Academy – but she wasn’t a part of the elite. So, they’d be able to share a look and giggle when the others were doing stupid shit.

But that’s gone now and Barbara is left to mourn a friendship that never got a chance to fully take off. She sometimes feels like her and Pamela could have been real friends. And it hurts.

She feels even more shunned than usual by her peers and she has no clue why. If she knew what was up, she’d be able to compartmentalize it and shove it away, but now the mystery just keeps gnawing on her and she feels backed up.

All because Dick Grayson has decided her presence is a slight upon today’s rare okay weather. It seems like he’s gotten used to his social standing real quick.

Ugh, Barbara already has enough going on in her life with Robin trying to take her spot, she can’t use additional stress at school. She needs to keep her grades high enough to keep her dad happy and her scholarship in place. He wants the best education for her. She couldn’t care less. Being Batgirl is more important than doing well in English.

Still, not needing something, doesn’t mean it’s not there. So, she feels everyone’s eyes on her, making her more shy, more withdrawn. She has always escaped into her own head, using fantasy’s to cope. Starting all the way back when her mom died.

It’s not really working this day, though.

Like her Robin problem, her Dick problem keeps pulling her attention to the world. She just can’t figure him out and confusion must be visible on her face whenever their eyes meet. Though she is reluctant to do so, eye contact invites confrontation.

Not that Dick seems to be planning any sort of confrontation. He’s just… looking, like he’s studying her. It’s weird.

And it’s just her too, not just a weird quirk that has come out now that he seems more like himself and less like the grieving shell that joined them. She doesn’t know what pulled him out of that slump and she isn’t sure she’s grateful for it either. He doesn’t deserve to be stuck grieving forever, but she could’ve done without his staring.

Specifically his staring at her. To everyone else he’s super nice. Despite what it seemed like he’s a social person under there, easily creating a rapport with most of their classmates. It almost gives her a little whiplash, but she knows what the blanket of grief can do to you.

Naturally, this means that Dick challenges her notion of him during lunch. Where Barbara is sitting even more by herself than usual with more chairs between her and the next person.

It’s lonely and Barbara is hyper aware of the whispers and looks. So, she immediately hears Conrad’s unsubtle voice ask Dick: “Did Miss Scholarship do anything to you?”

Barbara hates it whenever anyone refers to her like that and she clenches her fingers around her utensils as she waits for the inevitable mockery and laughter.

It doesn’t come.

She looks up to see Dick frown in confusion as if he hadn’t realized he’s been glaring daggers at her all day, or like Daphne puts it: “Yeah, you’ve been mean mugging her all day.”

Dick’s face rapidly goes through a series of expressions that Barbara can’t all make out or place, but she definitely sees some confusion, then apprehension, before she sees disgust. Then Dick snaps at his newfound friends: “No, what the hell is wrong with you.”

Now, Barbara is not the only one who is confused by Dick and instead everyone is looking at him with surprise. There really isn’t another reason why he might have been glaring, she realizes, which makes his suddenly violent reaction to the question quite odd.

It seems that Dick realizes the outburst doesn’t fit with his persona, because he slaps on a smile that looks surprisingly real in the circumstances and says: “I mean, no, why would I have a problem with her? I just have a headache.”

That feels like one big lie and Barbara’s suspicion is tickled. That first reaction was his real one, she’s sure of that. Dick is playing at something, but she can’t figure out what he would be playing at. Another infuriating thing on top of many others.

However, it seems that her curiosity is the only one that is piqued, because Conrad says: “Whatever, man,” and turns to another conversation.

And like that, the status quo is returned as people follow Conrad again, like they’ve done for their entire time here. Dick gets left in the dust, the shine starting to wear off on the new kid.

For a second, Dick seems very lonely, sitting at that table surrounded by the other rich kids. Despite the Wayne wealth that he is now a part off, he looks very out of place and Barbara is reminded that a month or so ago, Dick Grayson was a circus performer, not a ward of a billionaire CEO.

She wonders how he ended up there at that table. How he even ended up at the Wayne estate in the first place. There is more to Dick than meets the eye and if she didn’t have the Robin mystery/nuisance to solve, she’s sure she would have put her claws into this instead.

Still, despite compartmentalizing it and shoving it away, she can’t help but study Dick closely and curiously for a second longer.

In that second, Dick – of course – looks her way, locking eyes with her. His eyes aren’t glaring like they’ve done all day, instead they look a little lost. Very expressive, those eyes, Barbara thinks, before remembering the power they hold.

Just because he isn’t a massive asshole, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have social power. He can still make her life difficult and it’s already difficult enough. So, she quickly looks away.

Time will have to tell whether or not Dick can grow to fit in with the other rich kids or if he will flounder. But Barbara isn’t going to give him attention while he figures himself out. She wants to be invisible at school. Just keep her head down and make her dad proud.

Batgirl can handle an infuriating problem that keeps nagging at her brain and won’t be compartmentalized. Barbara on the other hand, has enough problems as it is. She’s not going to make Dick another one of them. Hopefully the shine will wear off on her too.

#rr writing #batman #barbara gordon #barbara gordon is batgirl #batgirl #robin #robin dc #dick grayson #dick grayson is robin #dick grayson and barbara gordon #robin and batgirl #dc #dc comics #growing pains au #bruce wayne #early days batman

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