The tires of the black Mercedes rolled fast, sprinkling water at every other car in the street.

"Faster, David." The dark haired girl, sitting in the passenger seat, commanded her driver, her eyes locked at the streets of Gotham.

A place she always feared, and yet now she lived in it.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The driver, also her bodyguard, nodded, staring at the mysterious girl in the backseat from the mirror. Every time he laid eyes on her, everything just stopped. She was gorgeous, and she knew it.

"I can see you gawking at me, David. Stop it." She huffed, crossing her arms. David nods, rolling up the partition.

The girl's position loosened up, as she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes, her position remaining still for seconds.

"I'm the Princess of Valencia, no one can hurt me. No one can, no one ca-" Her whisperings were abruptly ended as the car stopped.

The partition rolled down, and David huffs, his thin lips forming into a smile.

"Your Grace, we're here." He announces, getting out of the car, opening the passenger door.

The girl stepped out, the cold air hitting her. She thanked the heavens that she was currently wearing a coat. An immense building stood proudly before her. It reminded her of European Castles, like the one she lived in..

"This is it. Gotham Prep."

~

She stepped inside to be greeted by most of the staff.

She thanked herself, that she had already worn dark sunglasses. She hated to see people, it wasn't a fact. They all seemed peculiar.

She wore a simple cream colored dress, and by simple, it is extravagant, along with her mother's ring and necklace. She stood proudly in the middle of the entrance wearing black heels. She noticed a few students passing by behind the staff, whispering.

"Welcome, Your Highness. It is such an honor for us to have you here." A middle aged man walked by and greeted her, offering his hand, which she ignored blatantly.

"Show me my suite, please. This trip had me exhausted." She sighs, voice as icy as ever.

She took a quick glance across the room. Carpeted floors, high ceilings, chandeliers, trophies proudly standing inside glass displays; this school is quite prestigious.

The principal nodded awkwardly, guiding her to the elevator.

"Of course, Your Highne-"

"Don't call me that, please."

"Urm, yes, I mean, Miss Adelina Vanderbi-"

"Don't call me that either. Alina will do, Mr. Hamond."

The principal, Mr Hamond, stared at the Princess in pure shock. How did she acknowledge his name?

Alina walked into the elevator, followed by David and Hamond. The metal door closes, and Alina could only stand awkwardly.

"We have prepared a VVIP suite for you, it is the size of four normal dorms. We have been notified that you needed a suite with a lot of space."

Notified, huh? Alina thought, as the elevator door opens, on the floor 23, revealing a long hall covered in red carpet.

She notices, there was only two doors.

"Two VVIP suites?" David asks, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, the other one belongs to a very wealthy young man, one of our students, also in your grade, Your High-, er, Miss Vanderbilt." The Principal stutters, stepping out, leading the way.

He stopped in font of the door, opening it.

Alina stepped inside her suite. Nothing special, she thought.

A big living room, with a door leading to the gigantic bedroom, another door to the master bath, and another one for the private office.

The suite were already decorated as she liked it, grey and white walls along with furnitures by the colors cream and white.

Nothing she hadn't seen before.

~

After finally settling down, she walked out of her suite, wanting to explore a bit.

"I want to be alone." She glared at David, busy guarding her front door. He nods, going back into bodyguard mode.

There was another door in front of hers.

A tiny spark of curiosity appears inside her, wanting to know who else had the pleasure of staying on the same floor.

Her eyes wandered to the end of the hall, where a big glass door stood proudly. She walked over and pushed the door, to reveal a massive balcony, whom showed the magnificent sight of Gotham at night, with its countless skyscrapers.

"All to myself... and the boy living next to me." She gritted out the last part.

Alina is, well, a loner. She had never enjoyed anyone's company. Except her younger brother Michael, perhaps. But he was away, far away, in Valencia. A small yet powerful country residing in Europe.

She stood by the edge of the balcony, eyes taking in the buildings, the streets, everything.

"Nice to know there's finally a resident on VVIP Suite 1." A voice spoke, behind her, deep and husky.

Alina cursed herself before turning around, to face whoever had disturbed her small moment.

A tall, proud boy stood there, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall.

He was wearing a long black jacket, black boots and black pants.

All black.

Has to be one of those.. emotional teens, she thought.

Including his hair. A bit messy, yet also neat. She'd lie if she said it wasn't attractive.

She thought boys were a waste of time. They'd always end up breaking her heart. The question was, is he just another stuck up, player, rich boy?

He had green eyes, stormy, deep eyes. He was analyzing her, and she felt as if he was drilling into her soul.

"And nice to know I have such an enthusiastic neighbor." Alina replies, her usual sweet and salty smile plastered across her face.

The boy's expression did not budge, still serious and icy.

"Nice to meet you, Your Highness." The boy spoke again calmly, earning a scoff from her.

"Alina. And you are?"

"Damian. Damian Wayne."

"Nice to meet you, Damian Wayne."

"So are you going to leech every night in here? Because I usually attend this balcony at night. It became a routine of mine." He spoke again, walking towards her, leaning himself against the fence, admiring the city.

"Oh, don't worry. I find myself comfortable behind walls anyways." She plastered this time a genuine smile.

It was true. Ever since the incident, she preferred the safety of a home rather than being outside. Once upon a time, Alina was the craziest for outdoors.

"Sad, really." He comments dryly, sighing.

Something about her reminded him of his mother, Talia. It should have been a good thing, but no, it wasn't, ever since Talia tried to kill him, her own son.

He hadn't been fond of his mother ever since. She seemed like another heartless monster to him. And he'd seen loads of people like that.

And although he found himself with a very tiny heart, at least still had a heart. He still had a chance on loving someone.

And he did. Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Tim, the Teen Titans; they have earned a place in his heart. A big step for someone like him.

As he stared at Alina, one thing was sure.

She'd never, ever, win his heart.

____________________________

Whoops, here we go!

I want to thank every single one of you who read this very first chapter! I'm so excited for this book, I don't know why.

I usually find myself loathing fanfics, but I happen to be a massive Batman fan, so why not?

I started reading fanfics about Batman, and then my obsession for fanfics had begun.

Yay me!

Anyways, thank you for reading!

Love you all,
                       Sophia ⚜️