eepyboi sunday

The program was underfunded, running on generous donations with little to no participation from Gotham Academy students. Most of the student body at Gotham could afford travel, but the students who were switching places with them couldn't, and the program was desperate to give less fortunate students a chance to travel. Bruce basically bribed the school by giving a big slum of money for the program and ensuring they met their exchange number quota by signing Tim up.

So here he was, living with his host family- the Foleys- for half a school year to ensure he could graduate with his class. Their son, Tucker Foley, was currently living with the Waynes for the same amount of time. He was the only one who signed up for the exchange program- whether that was because Casper High could only afford one slot or no one knew about it until it was too late, since the announcement was for Computer Science Enthusiasts, Tim didn't know.

He stood out at Casper High for being the shiny new thing, but no one here seemed aware of who he was. It made sense; Bruce is a celebrity in Gotham for all his charity and his scandalized nightlife; however, that hardly touched the lives of Amity Park's residents, so the people didn't care about him or know him very well. Thus they knew his children much less.

Now Tim didn't go out of his way to hide his connection to Bruce, or that he was wealthy; he was just so used to people already knowing that about him that it slipped his mind. Thus, his classmates at Casper High were under the impression he was from the same lower-middle class as they were and that he was a scholarship kid from Gotham Academy.

They also had no idea his parents had passed and that Bruce Wayne was his father.

In the first few weeks, everyone wanted to talk to him, but soon interest faded, and the school's long-standing cliques slowly iced him out once they decided whether he was one of them.

The A-listers (what a concept: the populars were so popular they gave themselves a nickname and no one thought it tacky) were the first to deem him unworthy. While Tim is great on a skateboard, he had no interest in football and saw no reason to flash his wealth, and that was enough to drop him. They attempted to bully him, but Tim shut that down real quick. He might not be allowed to fight in school (Bruce and Jason said it was an unfair advantage), but that didn't mean he was about to let them walk all over him.

The next to drop him were the skateboarders because Tim was used to traveling all over the city with his board, and found it odd that the small town only allowed them to board the tiny park with only three ramps and one bowl. He got a lot of warnings from the local police force for merely walking around with his board and grew tired of it. The skateboarders thought him too pretentious for complaining.

The next group to drop him was the basketball team, the soccer team, and even the swim team. Mostly because Tim has the same amount of interest in those sports as he did in football. Though he thought he had developed a kinship with Wes through thier shared enjoyment of conspiracy theories, it became clear that Wes only cared about ghosts and gave Tim judgmental looks when he broached the topic of aliens. He had no idea why; Superman is famously known as an alien alongside Martian Manhunter.

The pattern continued for the art kids, the theater kids, and the band geeks. Casper High wasn't big enough to have more cliques than that, which was rather sad. There were small groups of friends who didn't fit the stereotypical cliques, but it was rather forced to talk to them because they had known each other since kindergarten, and Tim always felt out of place when they invited him. They all seemed relieved when he left, and that stung a little.

By the end of the first month, the only people willing to speak to him was the only goth on campus, Samantha Manson, and her dorky friend, Danny Fenton. However, that was only on occasion because they too knew eachother for years, and breaching thier space felt awkward. Fenton also had a habit of wandering off for hours, doing who knows what, and seemed like a troubled kid, based on all the issues the staff had with him.

Tim wondered if Foley was also having a horrid time in Gotham. He doubted it, because if anything else, his siblings would throw the best welcome wagon anyone could ask for.

He still had three and a half more months to go, and Tim honestly thought he would go insane before it ended. He didn't even have his gear for heroing. Alfred had confiscated it, along with a lecture about balancing his work and private life. Only because it was the respected butler (and the real patriarch of the family) did Tim listen to take a break from Robin.

Tim almost wept with joy when the first ghost attack occurred. Gotham on a regular day was dangerous, but little sleepy Amity Park was so peaceful it set his teeth on edge. He hated how unaware everyone was, walking around without a care for thier surroundings or a hurry to get wherever they were going. Not to mention the friendliness that was socially expected here.

People stopped in the grocery aisle to chat for up to twenty minutes, even when they didn't like each other. Tim was just not used to the slow life, and he felt he came off as rude when he made excuses to end conversations as quickly as possible.

So yeah, he was happy when a ghost attacked the school and the blanket of fear and worry settled over the crowd. It might have been wrong of him, but it made him feel a little less homesick.

The ghost had attacked Casper High during lunch break. One lunch break, because the school was small enough that they could have all students eating at once regardless of grade.

Tim had been in the process of standing up and snapping instructions to the crowd of students when the local hero beat him to the punch. He hadn't even been aware that Amity Park had a local hero, but there he was, Phantom, in all his glory, fighting away the ghost.

In an impressive amount of time and little to no property damage- something not even Superman or Wonder Woman could boast- Phantom had the ghost defeated and locked away in a cylindrical device. By the time lunch ended, students resumed thier daily lives like nothing had happened.

They spoke about the incident as if it were a regular school fight, and Tim was once again thrown by how boring this stupid little town was.

"Are you alright?"

Tim was snapped out of his brooding by Sam, who took the seat next to him. This was the main reason he referred to her as Sam instead of Manson: it was the one class she didn't share with Fenotn, and thus had her complete attention.

It was one of the five elective options- gosh, only five electives for a whole high school. Tim should tell Bruce to send money to this place- and it wasn't the most popular.

Not that Tim could blame the other students for finding the photography class boring. They didn't even get to take pictures because the school decided to buy the football team new uniforms instead of getting cameras.

He had been horrified that the entire class was spent studying photography techniques from a textbook printed in the 90s and watching videos on how to take pictures. The teacher didn't even teach that much; he just told people to fill out worksheets and let the class to thier own devices most of the time. It was mind-numbingly boring.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighs, lifting his chin from where it was resting on his fist. Tim had been glaring out the window at Amity Park's clear blue skies and chirping birds. He couldn't even hear traffic because the streets were empty. It was the middle of a workday, and apparently that meant the majority of Amity Park was busy, because they were that small.

"Ghosts can be scary the first time you see them," Sam comforts, obviously misunderstanding his mood. "Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not." The entire attack had nothing on the big names from Gotham. Heck, even a regular dispute about overly charged coffee was far more terrifying than the blob that attacked earlier.

Sam hums, obviously not believing him, but the goth doesn't push the issue. She pulls out her textbook, the old thing obviously seen better days, and a notebook. As soon as she turns to a fresh page, Sam dives into doodling, even when the teacher clears his throat and gives a half-assed lecture on lighting settings.

Tim immediately zones out, turning his attention back to the window, even if there is nothing of interest there. There is nothing of interest in this whole town.

"Don't worry, ghosts usually only attack once a week," Sam mutters on his left. Not low enough, because an upperclassman turns around in his seat with a sneer. Another thing about this school. There weren't enough students to fill an entire class, so they mixed grades for electives; either that was because they had no choice or they needed enough students to keep the class was anyone's guess.

"Aw, is Tiny Tim scared of a ghost?" He mocks, to the scattered chuckles of his tablemates.

Tim blinks slowly. "I'm sorry, Tiny Tim? As in the Christmas Carol? That's the name you're using to make fun of me with?"

A girl laughs like Tim is actually devastated by this, and Sam bristles at his side. Before his friendly acquaintance- because they aren't friends. Not really. They only chat in class- can snap Tim continues. "Seriously? That's the best you can do? Dude, I didn't think it was possible to be bad at making fun of people. I mean, that's so pathetic. I just feel bad for you. How can you be a failure at being a bully?"

The upperclassmate's mean smile flatters at Tim's honest pity for him, and the other students seem unsure how to proceed. It wasn't the reaction they were expecting.

One gathers his wits enough to sneer, "We weren't the ones almost shitting ourselves before Phantom saved the day!"

"Didn't you run during the attack? I'm pretty sure you were the one screaming while running to the student parking lot." Tim considers the boy, trying to remember if he was the one who tripped over a bench or was the guy who hit his face on his window while searching for his keys. These people had terrible procedures for danger. Did they seriously not have any drills in place for ghost attacks? He felt like they should have, given how apparently common ghost attacks were.

"Well-! What were you doing during the attack?" One girl jumps in, placing her hand on the sputtering boy's arm. He thinks they're dating, but he's unsure. Everyone was so touchy here; Tim had to remind everyone to stay out of his bubble. That had caused a lot of his potential friends to stop talking to him.

"I was eating a sandwich." Tim shrugs. "It was peanut butter and jelly. By the time I realized we were being attacked, Phantom was already there. Good hero, by the way. Efficient."

"You expect me to believe you were unbothered by a ghost attack?" She scoffs, but thier conversation must have been loud because someone from the back of the room shouts.

"He was! I got it on video. I left my camera set up the minute the ghost showed up." One of the newspaper guys strides over with a tablet displaying the feed. Tim doesn't know his name, but he was pretty sure the school newspaper only had three members and was relatively low on the school social ladder. This guy was recently moving up because he recorded attacks and edited them. Wes showed him a few. "See?"

And there among the screaming and panicked crowd, sitting literally in the middle of it all was Tim, chewing on his sandwich. It wasn't like he didn't notice the danger- the ghost had picked up the table next to him to fling at Phantom, but Tim had merely slid down the bench while pushing his meal with him and continued eating. He had originally been sitting on the spot where the two picnic tables were met, so it wasn't too much of a hassle to move.

He looked utterly bored in the video, like the attack was interrupting his meal rather than being a danger to his life. At one point, he had picked up his water bottle and sandwich above his head because Phantom had been flung across the tabletop, and it would have knocked his food to the ground otherwise.

The group of upperclassmates grew uneasy by the video, and even Tim was surprised by his own behavior. He hadn't realized how blank his neutral expression was or how little he batted an eye at danger. In Gotham, this wouldn't have stood out too much; if anything, people would think him rather mature for not reacting.

But in Amity Park?

Well....Tim wasn't surprised that by the next class period whispers of him being a sociopath started spreading. He was a little hurt that Sam seemed hesitant to sit near him and found it rather rude of Fenton to start following him around. Wes made it clear he thought Tim was a ghost upfront, but Wes said that about everybody, so Tim didn't take it to heart.

Apparently, Fenton was the son of the local ghost hunters, and Tim's lack of reaction to danger meant he was in cahoots with a ghost in some way. Even his host family seemed weary of him at dinner time because gossip in small towns traveled fast, and honestly?

It was hilarious.

Tim could explain why he was like that, but he had literally nothing else to do. He decided he was going to be as vague and as odd as possible to see how long it would take for them to try to prove he was a ghost. He already was super cagey about his life in Gotham (not on purpose; his small talk from big cities was different from thier small-town small talk), and no one could find him on social media because the Waynes' PR team had locked that up tight. Bruce didn't want what happened to Dick to happen to the rest of them.

Tim still remembers the countdown to Dick's eighteenth birthday before Bruce finally ruined the ones running it. He was practically a ghost online unless you knew what and how to find him, which none of these people could do. Apparently, that was enough to doubt that he was human.