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And there he was, off again—avoiding her for the fourth day in a row. She heaved an irritated sigh as she watched the retreating back of her best friend, Dick Grayson. What the heck is his deal? she wondered.
She had wanted to ask him if he’d like to go to the cave together, but now it seemed like he wasn’t even planning to stand near her, let alone talk. Artemis didn’t know what she’d done to deserve this kind of treatment from him. Had she ruined her friendship with the one guy she trusted with her life?
"Artemis! Artemis! Crock Pot!"
The blonde spun around, ready to unleash her fury on whoever had dared to use that nickname. She hated it. Why did she get stuck with such a horrible moniker? But her anger evaporated the moment her eyes landed on her other best friend, Bette Kane.
"Betty Crocker, I fucking hate that nickname," Artemis snapped.
"Shut up, Crock Pot. I’ll stop when you stop bringing up that stupid-ass nickname," Bette shot back, grinning as she saw Artemis’s face twist into a scowl. She slung an arm around Artemis’s neck and leaned in close to her ear. "Word on the street is Reid Blackwood asked you out to prom."
Artemis gave her a sharp look. How the hell had that gotten out? "Yeah, so?" she deadpanned.
"Artemis, Artemis, oh Artemis," Bette said, exasperated. "You’re going to prom with the Archery Captain? You said you wouldn’t go out with a guy like him." Her tone dropped lower. "You know how much I hate that guy."
This was exactly why Artemis had told Reid to keep it a secret. But, of course, it was inevitable that word would get out when other people had been around. "Well," she began, scrambling for an explanation, "he’s not that bad."
Bette gave her an are you serious? look. "You’re either hallucinating or desperate! There are other guys who’d ask you, y’know! We’ve got to make prom the best night ever, not get stuck with that jerk."
Artemis opened her mouth to retort but found herself at a loss for words. She hadn’t given much thought to her prom date. When Reid Blackwood, the Archery Captain, had asked her out, she’d automatically said yes. It was like her mind had gone on autopilot, and now she was left wondering if something was wrong with her.
She knew Reid was a jerk, and she had no idea why she’d agreed to go to the dance with him. She also knew how much Bette despised him, and the guilt was eating at her. Damn it!
It felt like her week was being ruined by every stupid decision she made. First, for reasons she couldn’t explain, she’d agreed to go to prom with Reid. Then Dick started avoiding her, refusing to come within two feet of her as if she’d done something wrong. And now Bette was berating her for agreeing to go out with Reid.
Artemis clicked her tongue, wondering how Reid would react if she told him she didn’t want him to take her to prom anymore. After all, Bette was right. This was their last year at Gotham Academy, and they needed to make prom night unforgettable.
"Fine. I’ll tell him I can’t go with him anymore, okay?" she said, forcing a smile as she saw Bette’s satisfied expression.
"Good. Now go find another date!" Bette slapped her on the back before heading off to her student council meeting.
.
A few hours later, Artemis finally arrived at the cave. She planned to corner Robin and demand to know why he’d been avoiding her. She hated the feeling of being ignored. But her plan fell apart when Black Canary announced that he was feeling sick and wouldn’t be coming.
The news left her feeling sick, angry, and exhausted. She took out all her pent-up frustration on Superboy during training, almost breaking her wrist in the process. Canary had to halt the session.
"I’m fine," Artemis insisted, glaring at her mentor. She clenched her fist tightly, ignoring the throbbing pain in her wrist.
One look from Canary to Connor was all it took for the latter to scoop Artemis up and carry her over his shoulder. Of course, she didn’t go quietly. There was kicking, punching, and repeated assurances that she was fine.
She was fine.
She was fine.
But the look on Connor’s face told her otherwise. All she wanted to do now was crawl into a hole and disappear.
Honestly, she wasn’t fine. She hadn’t realized how much Dick’s absence was affecting her. And she hated the feeling of being ignored.
A few minutes later, Connor finished checking her wrist. It wasn’t broken, but he wrapped it in a bandage just in case. He left after Artemis assured him she was fine and that he should go back to the others.
Artemis lay back on the hospital bed, lifting her bandaged wrist and staring at the ugly brown wrap. She turned her head, gazing at the stark white walls of the med bay. It was so cliché. Why couldn’t they be blue, like his electric-blue eyes?
Great. Now she was thinking about him again, when just minutes ago all she’d wanted to do was pummel him for ignoring her. She racked her brain, trying to figure out if she’d done something to ruin their friendship.
But her mind came up blank.
Artemis sat up, deciding she wanted to go home and distract herself. As she stood, the door slid open, revealing the last person she wanted to talk to.
"Hey, Arty!" Wally greeted, munching on a bag of Lays Barbecue chips. "Just checking up on you. You seem kinda down. Everything okay?" His tone was sincere, though the chip-munching made it hard to take him seriously.
The blonde sneered. "Wouldn’t you like to know?"
"Aww, c’mon, Arty. We’re best friends, right? Best friends care for each other," Wally said cheerfully, oblivious to her glare. "No matter how hard you glare, I’m not choking on these chips tonight."
Artemis rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. Eventually, she told him everything—from Reid asking her out ("Wait, who’s Reid?" "The Archery Captain." "…Pfft. Seriously? OW!") to Dick avoiding her. She hadn’t seen him much lately, neither at school nor at the cave. It was unusual not to have the little troll around. And then there was Bette, telling her to ditch her date and find a new one.
Artemis let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She waited for Wally to finish his chips—Honey Barbecue? Hadn’t he been eating regular Barbecue earlier?
"I think—" munch "that Dick—" munch, munch "wanted to take you to prom!"
Artemis furrowed her brows in confusion. All she could think about was how awkward it would be to dance with him, given their height difference. She forced a chuckle. "You’re not serious. I mean, Dick’s a little too short."
Wally raised an eyebrow as if to say, Are you high? "Uh, what are you talking about? Dick’s taller than you, Arty."
The blonde opened her mouth to argue—Dick was four inches shorter, and she was five-foot-two—but then it hit her like a ton of bricks. She groaned, realizing she’d been so fixated on the image of him as the "little midget" that she’d completely ignored how much he’d grown over the years.
Artemis muttered curses under her breath, slamming her locker shut. She nearly had a heart attack when a cheery voice greeted her.
She scowled at the "little midget." "Don’t scare me like that!"
Dick cackled. "I can’t help it. I love your reactions," he said with a cheeky grin that made her want to wipe it off his face.
"What do you want, Dick?" she asked, cutting straight to the point.
His grin faltered, replaced by an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Artemis, do you want to go to prom with me?"
Artemis blinked once, twice, three times before biting her lower lip. She couldn’t believe he was being so serious about this. Then her lips quirked into a small smile. "I’m sorry, Dick. I just don’t want to go to prom this year. It’s too much of a hassle."
His face fell, and he pouted. "Oh. I… really wanted to take you, though."
She almost felt bad for him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Someday, when you outgrow me, ask me to prom."
Artemis covered her face with her hands. What had she done? No wonder Dick was avoiding her! How could she have forgotten? Two years ago, he’d been a little midget, and now—Fuck. She had to fix this.
.
When Artemis arrived at Gotham Academy the next morning, she headed straight to the archery field. She spotted Reid and called him over.
"Artemis, hey, what’s up?"
"Um, how do I say this? I can’t go to prom with you anymore."
"Oh. Okay. No problem."
She blinked. Wow. That was easier than she’d expected. "Ah, okay. I’ll catch you later!" She flashed him a quick smile before hurrying off.
One of Reid’s friends approached him. "You’re not mad she’s ditching you for another guy?"
"After that creep threatened me last night about taking care of her at prom? I’m good."
.
Artemis grinned mischievously as she spotted Dick by the lockers. She crept up behind him, though she was pretty sure he’d already noticed her. He wasn’t Batman’s protégé for nothing.
As he closed his locker, she caught him by the shoulder, squeezing it tightly. She found herself momentarily mesmerized by his electric-blue eyes, realizing how much she’d missed seeing them every day.
"Dick, I know why you’ve been avoiding me. You had me thinking I’d ruined our friendship by doing something stupid, and I’m sorry."
Dick blinked in confusion. "’Mis, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong."
Artemis sighed, wondering if she should repeat the words she’d said to him two years ago. "Yes, I did. I told you to take me to prom when you outgrew me, right?"
"Isn’t Reid Blackwood taking you?" he asked, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
The blonde smiled. "I canceled on him, actually. So, would you maybe—"
Before she could finish, Dick dropped to one knee, holding out a bouquet of flowers. "Go to prom with me?"
Artemis felt the heat rise to her cheeks as the surrounding students stopped to gawk. "Yes!" she exclaimed, accepting the bouquet.
"Damn it, Dick, if I knew you were going to be this dramatic, I’d have confronted you after school!" she hissed, though she couldn’t hide her grin. "It looked like you were proposing!"
"Maybe you’ll end up my wife someday," he mused as they walked down the foyer together.
"You’ll have to date me first, Boy Wonder."