Chapter 4 Treasure

It was the next day and Ryeanne and Lindsey were standing at Lindsey's locker to get her books out for her next few classes. Lindsey needed to ask Ryeanne about being partners with Damian. She just didn't want to come out and ask. She would begin a conversation casually then bring up Damian later.

"Don't you need to get your books, Ryeanne?" Lindsey asked.

"Nah, I'm good. Besides we barely use them anyway. And if we do need them the teachers will let us know in advance," she said.

"That's not how it worked at my old school," Lindsey whispered as she stuffed a book in her backpack.

"Well it's a good thing we're not at your old school," Ryeanne laughed. "What kind of school did you go to?"

"The kind where all the students didn't care about school and just wanted to get out of High School," Lindsey said.

"Isn't that all high schools?" Ryeanne laughed

"Hey, I have a question about this weird school. Do teachers usually assign seats and partners?" Lindsey asked.

"No, not usually," Ryeanne said. "Why did one of the teachers assign you a bad seat or something?"

"No. It's just my art teacher assigned partners for a week-long assignment," Lindsey explained. "I was put with Damian Way-"

"Nope, nope, nope. Stop right there," Ryeanne stopped. "Damian has been assigned partners before, some tried being his friend afterward, but none actually stayed with him. So those assigned with him just get the assignment done and that's it."

"Will he forget about working with me?" Lindsey asked.

"Hard to tell. He pretends he's never worked with anyone. He never looks twice at anyone. Damian Wayne is a douchebag through and through.

"And speaking of Damian Wayne," a voice said behind them, "he needs to finish his assignment of his portrait of you."

The two girls jaws dropped and turned around to find Damian Wayne holding his sketchbook, bag on his shoulder, uniform looking perfect and better on him than anyone else. He was looking at Lindsey with an expectant look on his face. Lindsey stared at him, mouth hanging open. She quickly looked at Ryeanne whose eyes were flittering between the two of them. She was expecting some help, but there was nothing coming out of her.

"Well I don't know how we're going to get it done unless we can meet in between classes and-"

"We have World History, Pre-Clac, English, and Physics together along with Art," Damian interrupted. "I can finish it during those classes. Most of the teachers aren't going to give us much work the first week, which will give us a lot of time to ourselves. We can finish it then."

They really had that many classes together? Why did he remember that? She didn't notice any of the other students in her classes except Ryeanne and the others sitting at the lunch table. Was he watching her throughout the day? Did he care about her in some strange way?

"Then maybe I can finish mine of you then," Lindsey said hopefully.

"Tt."

Damian's eyes never moved from Lindsey. His eyes darted around Lindsey's face and body.

Lindsey couldn't stop staring at him. For a quick second there was no one else in the hallway. It was only the two of them with their eyes connected to each other.

"I'm saying that's a yes," Ryeanne said as she clapped her hands together. Lindsey shifted her eyes to Ryeanne, but Damian kept his eyes on Lindsey. "It's kinda stalker-y that you know all that, Wayne. Were you like watching her yesterday, or something. Are you becoming a stalker, Wayne. Because you definitely need help."

Damian shifted his eyes to Ryeanne. "I noticed a new girl in a couple of my classes who I was then paired with. It's hard not to notice someone I don't recognize."

Ryeanne and Damian stared each other down. It wasn't like Damian and Lindsey's stare down. It was like they were fighting without even moving. Neither of them were backing down. Lindsey didn't understand what was going on. Damian was a six foot tall muscle-man/boy with darkness behind his light green eyes. Ryeanne was a skinny five foot five girl who could and would fight anyone. Lindsey guessed that Damian would swing first but Ryeanne would finish the fight and win.

Lindsey reached her hand into her locker and pulled out her sketchbook. She looked between the two of them.

"Let's head to World History," Lindsey spoke up. "The bell is going to ring soon, right?"

The two continued glaring at each other for a second more before Damian turned on his heel and walked to class.

"What was that?" Lindsey asked as soon as he was out of earshot.

"What was what?" Ryeanne asked. "What were you two doing? It was like intense eye sex. I thought you two were both going to start ripping each other's clothes off. I was ready to grab you and run Let's get to class."

Ryeanne started walking leaving her backpack on the floor next to Lindsey's locker. Lindsey closed her locker picked up her own bag and grabbed Ryeanne's. She adjusted her books in her arm to better grip the bags before running to catch up with her friend.

"Here." Lindsey handed the bag to Ryeanne.

"Oh, thanks." She slung the bag over her shoulder and continued walking.

"It looked like you were about to fight him. Did something happen between you two?" Lindsey asked shyly.

"Let's just say you're not the only person I've tried to befriend."

Had Ryeanne tried to become friends with Damian? It made the most sense how much she knew about him and his habits. Besides Ryeanne was the kind of person to want to be friends with anyone. She probably had her feelings hurt by him when she tried to befriend him. It makes complete sense.

The two entered their classroom together before the bell rang. Lindsey looked around for Damian. She found him sitting in the back corner. He had his phone out and was staring at it.

The two new friends went to their seats. Everyone around them was talking to those they knew.

Ryeanne turned in her seat to talk to Lindsey.

"You need to stop whatever is going on between you two," she said quietly.

"I don't know what you mean," Lindsey whispered back.

"There is something going on between you two," Ryeanne said as if it was obvious. "I know there is. No one has gotten him to talk outside of class. And he just walks up to you in the hallway. You just need to stop before you get hurt."

"What could Da-"

"Don't say his name," Ryeanne hissed underneath her breath. "He can hear or others around us could hear and you don't want you're interest in him to get out."

"Why not?"

"There's some girls part of the Elite think that just because their rich and he's rich, they're entitled to him and push those who they think are competition away from him. They would embarrass and shame them. You don't want anyone to know about the two of you and what happened in the hallway. And all because the Elite only want to marry the Elite and only the richest of the rich marry each other and since he's the richest, they think it'll happen one day."

"Do people just do what they're told by the rich kids?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah. And they pay the ones who don't listen the first time."

"That's wrong on so many levels."

"Yeah and there's nothing we can do about it," Ryeanne shrugged. "That's how America works. The rich get what they want and the poor are left in the mud."

The bell let out it's piercing screech. And students around the two friends groaned.

"Settle down students," the teacher said in a dreary voice. "We all don't want to be here. But today should be fairly simple as long as you do your work. I have a packet that has an article about the latest world news and questions about the article. Finish this and then you can do whatever you want. Within reason of course. I want you guys to become interested in todays news."

Lindsey turned to Damian who shifted his eyes to her and tilted his head slightly in a nodding motion. Of course he was right about how much work they were getting.

She turned back around as the teacher started passing out the papers.

"And yes, you can work in groups. And no, don't make too much noise. Some people want to do good on this assignment." The teacher stopped next to a boy and didn't hand him the paper. "And Mr. Hughes please no more of your B-S answers that you graced me with last year." He handed him the paper as the class laughed. "Mr. Wayne! If you would please get off of your phone, I'm sure that social media will be there when you get back after you finish your work. Phone away, please."

"Of course, Mr. Crawford. Dick is checking in before he goes undercover again," Damian said smoothly. "He wanted us to understand why he won't be answering us for a while."

Students all around started whispering. Ryeanne turned her head and whispered. "Dick Grayson, the celebrity of Gotham Academy. And poster boy for perfection. And apparently he's gotten even more attractive since he left."

"How is Mr. Grayson and Mr. Drake doing?" Mr. Crawford asked as he continued passing out papers.

"Well I haven't heard from Tim in a few months. And Dick is doing fine in Bludhaven. Being a cop is keeping him busy, especially since he's gone undercover."

"Good. Good," by this time he had finished passing out the packets. "Now everyone get to work. And be reasonable."

Ryeanne quickly turned around. "We're obviously going to work together. So what's this article about?"

As soon as Damian stopped talking to the teacher his charming demeanor faded back to the cold disposition he was known for. To be honest he wasn't texting his adopted brother, he was making a list of things he noticed about Lindsey. He had decided to make this list when he got back home after his excursion yesterday. He's listed how when the teacher handed out papers she said a quiet, 'Thank you.' Or how when a boy - who Damian had decided he wanted to murder - in the class looked at her she gave them a smile. Or how when she was thinking she bit the inside of her cheek.

Everything about her was fascinating to Damian. There was nothing Damian didn't want to know. But he knew he was only scratching the surface. He was looking on the outside, but he didn't know what was in her mind or her heart.

He quickly started on his packet so he could spend more time with this girl. He wanted to finish the packet before her so he would be ready to work on his portrait.

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"Well, the seat next to him is empty so I guess he got Felix to scram. You best go finish your portraits," Ryeanne said. They had finished their packet.

"You don't mind, right?" Lindsey asked as she gathered her things. "I don't want to leave you alone of you're not okay with it."

"It's fine, I'm a big girl. And I have a phone which has social media," Ryeanne said as she pulled out her phone and started waving it around.

"Okay," Lindsey said with a smile. She stood up while grabbing her things and turned to the back corner of the room. Damian already had his sketchbook open and on his desk.

As Lindsey started walking toward Damian the room got more quiet. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. It was an odd feeling, especially since she wasn't used to it. She sat in the desk next to him. The room had gone completely silent. Damian hadn't turned to look at her yet. She continued to gaze at him, waiting for him to notice her.

"Get out your sketchbook so we can finish this project," Damian said finally. He hadn't looked at her, but he knew she was there.

The whole room let out a sigh. Chatter and laughter once again filled the room. Lindsey reached for her sketchbook and opened it to her portrait of Damian. It was probably one of her better portraits, probably because he was so still a lot of the time. She remember she did a portrait of her parents, which is now in her personal portfolio, it wasn't that good since they kept moving closer to each other, or tickling each other causing movement. She had gotten mad at them, and finished the drawing based off pictures.

"It was weird how everyone got quiet, wasn't it?" Lindsey asked as they once again began their drawing.

"Not really," Damian muttered.

"You didn't find it weird?"

"They were wondering what you were doing. They were also waiting for my reaction. They were probably disappointed when they realized it was for a project that you came up to me."

"That's right, you're usually a jerk to everyone," Lindsey smirked.

"Most people wouldn't say it along those lines, they would usually use a bit of profanity, but yes."

"I'm not most people. I don't think profanity needs to be used in every sentence. I only use it when I can't think of a better word. And I think 'jerk' is a perfectly fine word to describe you a good portion of the time."

"Tt."

They continued on their portraits in silence. It wasn't awkward, it was nice, unlike yesterday during their actual art class. The two of them would look at each other every few seconds to make sure the details were correct. This continued for a few moments before Damian whispered underneath his breath, "Fuck."

Lindsey heard and looked up. He was furiously erasing at the paper.

"What? What happened?"

"Would you mind switching me seats? The lighting is wrong from yesterday and I want to make sure this is perfect."

"Sure," Lindsey said standing up. He stood up to and they were face to face. They moved around each other awkwardly as they tried moving on the same side. They repeated the process until Damian grabbed her shoulders and spun them around.

"There," he said as he sat down and once again started on his drawing. Lindsey stared at him some more before returning to her drawing.

By the end of class they both just needed the fine details in their drawings.

"So we're getting together in Pre-Calc to finish, right?" Lindsey asked.

"Yes. I'll see you then," Damian said. He stood up and walked out of the class with his bag swung over his shoulder and sketchbook under his arm.

Lindsey walked over to Ryeanne who was waiting by the door for her.

"Well that wasn't as intense as the hallway," Ryeanne said. The two went into the hallway to walk to their next class.

"I don't know why you think it would be," Lindsey said. "We were staring at our sketchbooks and only glancing up when we needed to look at each others faces so we could continue on our portraits.

"So you two are going to be getting together in Pre-Calc and finishing up right?" Ryeanne asked.

"Yeah, hope you don't mind that I'm ditching you again."

"It's no big deal, Noah is in that class, so I'll just hang out with him. Besides you need to do what you need to get away from him."

Lindsey nodded but in reality, she saw nothing wrong with Damian Wayne. Sure he was a little too straightforward. And a little bit of a jerk. But behind all that, he seemed like an okay guy. Not to mention he was extremely handsome and muscular. But Ryeanne and the others knew about Damian and his habits longer than she has, so it was probably best to listen to them.

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The rest of the day went by quickly for Lindsey. She had finished her portrait during Pre-Calc and Damian finished in English. He explained it was because he wanted to make sure the portrait was as exact as possible.

Now the two of them were sitting next to each other in their Art Class.

"I hope you have finished or are nearly finished your portraits," Miss Blakeman said. "This next assignment is going to be a bit more personal. I want you to draw a picture of your partner's most prized possession. It could be a dog, a necklace, anything that they would do anything to keep. You could take a picture of it and send it to them, or you could go over to their house and they could draw it there. I don't care how it's done, I just want to see what each of my students care about most. You can talk amongst yourselves and decide what you are going to do."

Damian and Lindsey sat in silence for a while.

Lindsey finally broke the silence, "So what's you most treasure possession?"

"I'm trying to figure that out," he said. He was silent for another minute or two before speaking again. "My treasured possession would be my Grandfather's sword."

"A sword?" Lindsey asked.

"It's been a family heirloom. It was made hundreds of years ago by an the best blacksmith my ancestors could find," Damian explained. "After Grandfather and Mother died, it was brought into my possession. There's not another sword like it in the world. It's hanging up in my room at the Manor."

"Okay," Lindsey said. "Should I come over after school and I can sketch it out or would you rather send a picture of it to me?"

"I think you could come over, there are a lot of little details that may not transfer well over a picture. Pennyworth is out of town with Father, I came here on my motorcycle. Would it be okay if you ride back with me?" Damian said.

"M-motorcycle?" Lindsey stuttered. If she was being honest with herself, she was terrified of the metal death machines. How they looked like they could tip over at any second. How the only thing blocking you from death was a helmet.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, no. It's just I've never been on a motorcycle before," Lindsey lied, making it sound like it was no big deal.

Damian smirked at the fear she had of the bike. He had learned to ride one from Dick when he was around more often. The Wayne children would sometimes have races when they were all together on the Bikes. It had to be some of the best memories he had with his adoptive siblings.

"It's not too bad, you might like it," Damian said. He was hoping she would like it, that way she would want to ride with him more often. "What about you?"

"What?"

"What's your possession that you treasure?"

"Oh! My parents wedding rings."

"Cute. I have a feeling you don't have them with you right now?"

"No. They're at home in my room. I do have a picture of them though." Lindsey pulled out her phone and scrolled through the pictures.

She finally found it and showed it to Damian. They were both gold and had the same pattern on them, but her mother's was thinner and had a square diamond on it.

"May I?" Damian asked reaching for the phone.

"Go ahead," Lindsey said. Damian took the phone from her. He looked closer at the rings, zooming the photo in and out of the picture.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Damian said as he turned to his sketchbook and started on the picture.

"Can I use my phone to text my grandparents to let them know I don't need the driver to pick me up?" Lindsey asked. If she wanted to go over to Damian's she couldn't have the driver coming and not returning home without her, unless she wanted to police to get involved.

Damian shoved the phone back to Lindsey. She sent a quick text to her Grandmother let her know about the situation. She handed the phone back to Damian and he got his things ready and started on his drawing.

The rest of class, the two sat in silence. And for once, Lindsey was okay with it.