-Becky Albright-

"You're a freak! A loser! No one cares about you!" My classmates taunt as they pushed my younger self around. "Ow! S-stop it! Leave me alone!" I stutter as I tried to defend myself. They laugh at my weak attempts to defend myself and push my fragile body back down to the snow covered asphalt. I quickly cover my head as I hit the cold Earth and as they start to kick my feeble frame. "Ugly twig! Babbling baby! Becky the Weakling!" They laughed. "Stop it! Y-you're hurting me!" I cried. "Aww, too bad. What are you going to do about it baby? Cry some more?" The leader laughs as they continue to kick me.

I continue to cry out for help as they continued to kick my already bruised body. Even though I knew crying out for help was going to be useless anyway, I still couldn't help but cry out in pain. If I was lucky and if anyone heard or spotted the incident, they would either walk away or stayed nearby to watch my torment. This happened almost everyday at school, and every time, none of my classmates were brave enough to stop them. Even as I continue to lay curled up on the asphalt in pain, I still hoped and prayed for someone to help me, but it's the same result every time. No one saves me. At least until today. "Becky?" A familiar male voice asks. I open my green eyes to the new presence of the familiar voice and turn my painful head around to find my bullies had disappeared as well as the familiar setting of my school's playground. All that remained around me was a black void. "W-what the?" I ask myself.

I stand back up with my small white cane and try to explore this odd new surrounding, but am stopped when the familiar voice yells my name, "Becky!" The male's voice is so powerful, that it starts to make my whole world shake. The shaking is so powerful that it causes me to fall back down with a scream until I hit the solid floor. My head hits the floor first and the last thing I see before I open my real eyes in reality, is a bright light in my darkened world.

I wake up with a jolt and jump up in my desk when someone shakes my shoulders. Through my messy red hair and dazed emerald eyes, I could see that it was my friend Benjamin who had just woken me up and that we were in our abnormal psychology class. Which I could easily tell, was vacant. "Ugh, I fell asleep again didn't I?" I groan while fixing my messy hair. Ben laughs at my lazy groan and helps pick up my stuff. "Yeah, you did. Professor Kruger didn't mind though. He understands what it's like to be going to college and raising a kid at the same time. So he let you sleep." Ben replies while handing me back my backpack. "Oh, that was nice of him, but how did he know that I have a kid? I rarely tell anyone about my personal life." I asked boggled while returning to my unstable feet.

"I don't know. Maybe Oliver told him or maybe he noticed your engagement ring. Either way though, he is a psychology teacher, he's bound to figure that out eventually." Ben shrugs. "Good point." I yawn in agreement. "Did I miss anything important in class?" I ask while walking with Ben out of into the hallway. "Nah Becky, we just reviewed for Friday's test. It's nothing to be worried about." Ben chuckles. "Well good! Because I don't know about you Ben, but I'm starving! I say we go find Jessica and eat lunch with her before our next period." I suggest with a smile as we turned into the cafeteria. "Good idea!" Ben smiles before running off to get in line. "Wait for me!" I laugh while trying to catch up with him.

~Time Skip~

We easily found Jessica after getting our lunches at our usual back lunch table. Since it's winter, we usually sat in the back corner of the cafeteria, instead of going outside like in the summer. We prefer to sit in the back since, all three of us are technically outcasts, and we all don't usually enjoy to be surrounded by others. So I guess it was all due to our pasts and our antisocial behaviors that led us to one another.

Ben is a red head just like me and was bullied by the same group I was. Both of us met each other back in sixth grade and have been friends ever since. The only thing different between us is our eye color, his are blue while mine are green. Jessica, on the other hand, I had met back in middle school and unlike me, was considered a goth/emo and placed in the outcast group just like Ben and I. Also just like Ben, Jessica has blue eyes and instead of red hair, hers was short and pitch black. Other than the three of us, there is only one other person who is in our little group, but at the moment, she didn't seem to be anywhere near our usual gathering spot.

"Becky! Ben! How are you guys?" Jessica squeals in excitement. "Just as happy as you are." Ben laughs before sitting down next to her. "What about you Becky?" Jessica asks as I set my textbooks down on the other side of her. "To be honest, I'm exhausted." I sigh before dramatically sitting down. Both Ben and Jessica laugh at my pathetic attempt at acting and it makes me smile. "Aw man, what is keeping you up so late?" Jessica chuckles as she takes a bite into her sandwich. "Little Katrina? Homework? Lover problems?" Jessica asks with a chuckle. "Katrina. She's starting to believe in monsters and is having night terrors about them in her closet or under her bed." I sigh with a yawn, "She got up alone three different times last night crying over the boogeyman, who she claims, was in her closet."

"Jeez, kids I tell ya." Ben laughs. "Oh shut it Ben. You men don't know the half of it." Jessica chuckles while lightly punching him in the shoulder. "Ow!" Ben whines. "Oh stop it you two, you both act like children as it is." I laugh. "Are you saying that you're more mature than us two?" Jessica gasps in a dramatic way. "No she isn't, all three of you are immature as it is." A familiar female voice interrupts behind me. All three of us turn and look behind me to see our last missing group member, Parker. Parker is our little intelligent rebel in our group, but unlike Jessica, she starts trouble just for fun. Also unlike the rest of us, Parker has a normal image. Parker usual wears the top trends, has long brown hair, and dark brown eyes, but she's no where near popular. She would have been considered a popular girl, but due to her reputation, she landed a spot within our little group. "Parker! Where have you been?" Ben asks while motioning her to sit down. Parker nods and lightly smiles to Ben's offer, before taking a seat down next to me.

"Well, I would have been here earlier if it hadn't been for my stupid AP psychology teacher." Parker sighs as she takes a sip of my soda. "Professor Kruger?" I ask. "No, I have Professor Crane. He just wouldn't shut up about me not being intelligent enough for his class and that I should have taken Kruger's." Parker sighs frustrated. We all look at her confused and mad, whoever this new professor thought he was, he sure sounded like a complete asshole. Parker quickly detects our confusion and anger and sighs even more. "It's alright, I can defend myself guys." Parker lightly smiles. "It's not just that Parker, we all thought there was only one psychology professor. So who's this new jackass?" Jessica asks fuming. Other than myself, Parker is also a very close friend to Jessica's and if anyone hurt one of us, the offender knew he had Jessica coming for them. And trust me, when I first met Jessica, on the playground back in middle school, she had witnessed one of the many times I was being bullied and ended up breaking one of the bully's arms when she interfered. After that day, no one else messed with her or me again and we became good friends.

"It's alright Jessica, I'm perfectly fine. But since you really want to know about him so badly. He's that one tall, skinny, creepy guy in the suit by the cash registers." Parker explains while motioning with her head towards the registers. In unison, all three of us turn and look towards the registers to see this supposed Professor Crane checking out his lunch. The man was indeed tall and skinny. He looked to be about 6' 2", which was just intimidating enough alone. The man also had brown hair, icy blue eyes, brown rimmed glasses, and completely matched Parker's description with the suit and all.

"I've seen that dude before!" Ben whispers, "I've seen him slunk around the halls after hours with a silver brief case and I've heard he locks himself away in the chemistry labs when everyone's gone! He's in there for hours at a time!" "That's really creepy Ben, are you sure you're not confusing him for someone else or a ghost story?" I ask with a chuckle. The two other girls giggle at my intended joke, but Ben glares back at me in a serious matter. "No I'm serious, I've seen him before, and does he not resemble Parker's description of this supposed Professor Crane?" Ben asks in a very serious tone. "He does, but that doesn't mean that those stories are also just rumors. Plus we shouldn't even be talking about him and staring at him at the same time when we are just few feet away from him! I really don't want to get caught and then have to go explain to him why we were staring. This Professor Crane is already creepy enough from this distance alone." I reply with a shiver.

As if this supposed Professor Crane heard us talking about him, he turns around after paying for his lunch and immediately spots us staring at him. "Oh shit." Parker whispers under her breath as the man glared back at us. "Well, great job guys, I told you we were going to get caught." I sigh as I start to stand up with my cane and grab my items. "Wait, where are you going?" Jessica asks on edge. "I'm going to go introduce myself." I reply as I start to walk over to the glaring man. "Becky, I don't think that such a good idea." Parker calls out. I ignore her loud comment and approach the upset Professor Crane. Someone had to be brave enough to explain themselves and stand up for what was right, right?

"Hello, Professor Crane is it?" I ask. "Yes, now what do you want?" The Professor asks rudely. I am caught off guard at his impolite mannerism, but dismiss it since he had every right to be upset at us for talking about him behind his back. "I wanted to apologize for both my friend's and my own rude behavior. We didn't know about there being another psychology teacher here and we were curious about who you were. I'm sorry if we upsetted you Professor Crane." I reply honestly.

I notice his glare soften to my honest apology, but return cold as soon as it appeared. "It's Dr. Crane and thank you for your pitiful attempt of an apology, now if you'll excuse me." Dr. Crane replies emotionless before pushing past me. When he pushes past me after saying those rude words, I couldn't help, but feel a spark of anger ignite within me. I don't know why, but I think it was the way he spoke and behaved around me that reminded me of my bullies. With a quick turn of my heel, I turn around and followed him with fuming anger. "I think it's time someone puts this professor or 'doctor' in his place." I hiss under my breath as I followed him deeper into the hallways of Gotham University.

-Professor Crane-

After that little encounter at the cafeteria, I headed back to my classroom, where I expected to be alone. Little did I realize, that the same polite girl who had just apologized to me, was now following right behind me with fuming anger. Still blinded by her enclosing distance, I attempt to open my classroom door, but am stopped when a sudden white cane smacks the door shut to capture my undivided attention. "Professor Crane," The girl hisses under her breath, "As a warning, I highly recommend you start shaping up and treat your students the way you wish to be treated. Otherwise, you might as well prepare yourself for the worst people this school has to offer."

I feel a small smile tug onto my lips to her little threat as I turned to face this unnamed female student student. She was quite brave I'll give her that. Not many students approach me with such confident behavior. Most either cower to my presence or shiver if they even have to speak with me. Her friend, Parker, is one of those many people in fact. I just find it so strange that a girl of her stature to approach me with such confidence. It makes me wonder what this girl's fears are and what she was hiding behind that confident smile. "Hello? Professor Crane? Did you even hear me?" The girl asks annoyed.

I quickly shake myself out of my trance and bring my attention back to the student, she seemed to have grown impatient and uncomfortable with my silent glare. "Sorry, was that a threat? I just couldn't seem to take you seriously with your cane and all." I reply with a cold chuckle. My mean comeback seems to hurt her and she removes her cane from the door in an unnerving way, it seems that I had hit a powerful nerve. As she starts to ramble about how much of a rude person I am, I take the time to study her body language a little more closely. Other than her noticeable disability with her legs and her long, messy red hair, she seemed to be quite bright and pretty. I easily dismiss my emotions though when my eyes catch the glance of a glimmer. It came from a ring, an engagement ring to be more exact. Other than the diamond ring that caught my eye, I happen to see her holding two heavy textbooks in her left hand. An advance psychology and law textbook. This did indeed confirmed my suspicions that she was intelligent, but also raised more questions about her level of education on psychology and what degree she was pursing.

"You're in advance psychology?" I interrupt with curiosity. The girl stops rambling and her scowl deepens. "No, I'm not. Were you even-" "Then why do you have an advance psychology textbook?" I ask interrupting her again. She scoffs in frustration to my questions, which makes me silently chuckle, I could tell that I was really getting on this girl's nerves. "Professor Kruger sees me advancing in psychology and gave me this textbook instead of the normal text for abnormal psychology. What does this have to do with-" "Do you see yourself advancing in psychology?" I ask by interrupting her a third time.

I was honestly curious if she was willing to tackle a psychology degree then she would have to pass my class. And if she did want to pursue that degree, I would be making sure to fail her, but instead she gave me a very disappointing reply. "No, I rather be pursing a law degree instead of a useless psych degree. Also, quit dodging my-" "Why law? What do you see in that that is way more important than a degree in psychology?" I interrupt while approaching her closer in a more threatening manner. I felt quite insulted to her description of a psychology degree being useless to be honest. It seems that not only was I getting on her nerves, but she was getting on mine too. And neither of us seem to be backing down any time soon. Surprisingly, She doesn't even cower to my threatening demeanor like I had expected, and instead glares back in pure hatred and annoyance. "That's it I'm done talking to you. This isn't a damn interview and every time I try to speak, you interrupt me. You just aren't worth my time." The girl hisses before pushing past me.

I chuckle as I turn around to see where she was going, I still wasn't finished talking to her, but by the time I had turned around, she was already too far out of reach for me to stop her. Instead, I watched as she walked down the remainder of the hallway with the clicks of her cane and with a positive strive to her every step as if she was proud of herself for confronting me. "Hmm, quite an interesting girl. I wish I had gotten her name." I thought as I watched her turn right down another hallway before she completely disappeared. "Hmph, no matter. This school isn't too big, I bet we'll see each other again in due time. In the meantime however, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for her and continue onward with my plans for tonight." I thought as I entered my empty classroom. If only I had known that it would have been much sooner than I expected that we'd meet again and that she was about to become my greatest enemy.