Dianna's New Secret Life

By noon Anna’s second wind had finally kicked in. After calling Lucius and cancelling their appointment, seeing as she was no longer going to have to stalk Batman around Gotham, she decided to go on a jog. Slipping back into her workout clothes, Anna headed for the stairs. It was a long task, but she was proud of herself once she finally made it into the lobby. Memories flooded back to her when Bruce had first moved them into the complex just six months before. One morning after taking the stairs down Anna had been bombarded by news reporters and paparazzi people. Seeing as back then she had been on crutched she couldn’t just slip back up the stairs, and she had been on her way out to hang out with her friend Jennifer.

Bruce had had to call the cops while Anna screamed at him for ruining her life (though she had only been pretending to hate him). She knew now that even though people knew Bruce was her father, it didn’t change the fact that she would always be pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Unfortunate as this realization was for Anna, she was much happier pretending to hate Bruce, opposed to actually hating him.

Rounding the block, she had to zigzag around crowds of pedestrians gathering outside the new location of The Rose Café. Since Bruce Wayne and Anna had started frequenting there for the past year the café had become quite popular, helping it to move to a much larger location just around the block from the Wayne family apartment. Anna didn’t complain though, as now she could stop by there and get take out on her way home.

After jogging for another hour, she had to stop for a break, as her right leg began to ache. Even though her bones were healed they still gave her problems on occasion. After rubbing at her shin for a minute, Anna stood back up and continued her jog, this time heading home. With every step of her right leg the throbbing increased, but she just pushed past it. She knew pain was going to be a regular part of her life now that she was training with Bruce, and she had to get used to that fact and learn to live with it.

Half way back to her new home, Anna decided to take a new route to avoid the crowds on the street. She slipped down a side alley that went parallel to the main street. As she jogged down the aroma of delicious Italian food wafted from the back of one of the buildings, a dumpster full of boxes pushed up against the wall. It wasn’t til she got closer that she noticed the young children huddled around the back of the building passing around one of the boxes from the dumpster. As she called out to get their attention the children bolted, looks of utter panic plastered on their faces.

“Hey!” Anna yelled after them. In the next seconds Anna found herself chasing down the kids, the oldest of them appeared to be only ten years of age. “Wait!” She had to give up the chase after a block or so as the pain flaring from her shin became unbearable. Anna was forced to limp the rest of the way back to the apartment. As she approached the entrance to the building she was delighted to see Jen and their new friend Jake. He was a new student to their school, coming from a prominent family of doctor’s.

“Anna, are you okay?!” Jen exclaimed running over to meet her friend. Jake followed behind, a look of concern on his face.

“I thought your leg was healed up,” Jake said. Leaning on the two of them Anna limped over to the steps of the building and sat down.

“It is, but if I run on it too much it starts to hurt,” Anna explained.

“Why were you running then?” Jen scolded her.

Anna just laugh, “Gosh, I never get away with anything now. Sorry mom, I’ll be a good girl and stay home now okay?” Jen elbowed her good in the ribs before helping Anna back to her feet. The two friends hobbled up the steps with Jake in tow. After a long ride on the elevator they all went for the living room area. Anna flopped down on a chair, folding her legs onto her lap, while Jake and Jen took the love seat. Alfred came in a few seconds later with an ice pack for Anna’s leg.

“I have told you time and time again, don’t over work your leg,” Alfred scolded her. “Even the doctor warned you about this. Now, do you need any of your pain medication, Mistress?” Alfred emphasized the last word, cause Anna to scowl.

“No Alfred,” she answered.

“Alright then, if any of you has need of me, I will be in the pantry,” and with that he walked away.

Jake smirked. It was funny to think that only three months ago he had been a complete stranger to the friends. His parents had just moved here from a foreign country, his father was a world renowned surgeon who traveled frequently. Jake and his sibling were always having to move from place to place with their parents. Luckily for Jake, he was turn 18 in a few months and had chosen to stay in Gotham, especially after he had become smitten with Jen.

“So, did you get your class schedule for next school year?” Jen asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be taking all the courses that are required of me to graduate school, along with a few college courses,” Anna said with a sigh.

“Me too,” Jake said. “Seeing as this is my final year and I only have three classes I have to take I decided to go with a half day schedule and take some courses at the local college just down the street from my apartment. Might as well get a head start on the credits I’ll need before I can get into med school.”

“Ugh, I’m just glad that I have a few more years to decide on what I want to be,” Jen groaned as she leaned back into her boyfriend. He gave her an affectionate hug. Anna just shook her head. It’s funny how some people can be the best of friends, but be completely different in many areas. Jen was very much a romantic at heart, but Anna didn’t see the point in all the lovey dovey stuff.

“What do you think Anna?” Jake asked.

“About what?” Anna responded.

“What do you want to do after you’re done with school? I mean, seeing as you could practically graduate this year too,” he stated.

“Honestly, I really haven’t thought too hard on it yet,” Anna contemplated. “Good thing I’m planning on graduated with the class of my age. We have more time to figure our lives out Jen!” The girls had a laugh at poor Jake’s expense.

“Yeah, lucky for you guys,” Jake smiled.

“Oh, I never did ask why you guys were here when I got back from my jog,” Anna said.

“What, we can’t just come over and visit?” Jen pouted. Anna just rolled her eyes at her friend, and received a stuck out tongue from her best friend. For the next few hours the friends just talked back and forth about different events that had transpired the last month of school. By the end of the conversation the friends decided to head to the bowling alley just six blocks down.

Luckily for Anna by the time they started down the stair way of the apartment building her shin was feeling a hundred percent better. Despite the humidity and heat, it was a nice walk over to the bowling alley, the sun was now starting to set in the western sky. The usual busy streets of the city were now thinning out making it a more comfortable stroll. The neon sign of the bowling alley came into view after ten minutes, a light crowd gathered outside, most of them standing outside for a smoke break while others just stood around, obviously waiting for someone. After getting inside Jennifer ran off to find the groups favorite bowling balls, Jake went to the shoe counter to rent their bowling shoes, and Anna went over to the front desk and paid for a lane near the other end.

“You’re usual missy?” Ed the manager asked as he took her debit card.

“Yeah, I doubt we’ll need the gutter guards this time though, Jake’s finally getting the hang of it,” Anna smirked. Ed just rolled his eyes with a bemused smile tugging at the corn of his mouth.

“Ok, just remember, no throwing the ball into the air, I’ve been having problems with birthday groups comin’ in and ruinin’ my lanes,” Ed warned nodding towards a rather large group of preteens goofing off, slipping around in their bowling shoes.

“Of course,” Anna said before joining her friends down on lane 21.

“Ready to get your butt kicked,” Jen exclaimed as Anna approached.

“Are you talking to me?” Anna asked. “Because, if memory serves, I’m the one who has won every round.”

“Actually, if memory serves me correctly, I remember stomping you the first few times,” Jennifer reminded Anna.

“Seriously,” Anna laughed, “that doesn’t count. I was hobbling around on a still mending leg.”

“A win is a win my dear,” Jennifer gloated. Anna looked to Jake for some support.

“Hey, I am not going to be the one to get between this,” he stated, hands up in surrender.

“Seriously, you’ve only been dating for a month and he’s already whipped?” Anna asked Jen amazed. Jake’s facial expression became a mixture of disbelief and betrayal. The girls burst out laughing, Jake standing their trying to defend himself but not able to find the words.

“Poor Jake,” Jen laughed. “How can you stand us?”

“Oh trust me, I’ve dealt with worse,” Jake teased. After a few more minutes of teasing back and forth the friends started up their game. After winning two rounds Anna offered to buy dinner.

Turning back in their equipment they headed down the block looking for a decent place to eat.

“Mmmmm, that pizza smells good wherever it’s coming from,” Jake pointed out. Following their noses, they finally found a very crowded pizza joint and grabbed a few slices of pie. Taking a bite, the hot grease from the pepperoni rolled down Anna’s chin while she fought with a long string of cheese that refused to break. The sauce was just perfectly balanced between spicy and sweet.

“Ooooohh, my mouth is so happy right now,” Jen moaned as she slowly chewed on her mouth full. Anna nearly choked on her pizza while Jake nearly shot his out his nose. “Really guys, you’re so terrible.” They just laughed at Jen as she blew them off and went right on back to eating her pizza, moaning and rolling her eyes just to mess with them.

It was well past dark before Anna waved her friends goodbye as she walking back to the apartment. she was about to enter the build just as her phone went off, the ringtone “I Hate Everything About You” by Three Days Grace blaring out.

“Hey Bruce,” Anna answered without even looking at the collar I.D.

“Hope you enjoyed your day out, cause we’re gonna have a long night tonight,” he said. “Get in the car.” And with that she turned and climbed into the silver Lamborghini.