"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

-Lao Tzu

Chapter One: The Newcomers

"What's the point of doing this?" A vexed teenage asked with a growl. "This is just going to be a huge waste of my time!"

"Hush, now," a handsome man said, glaring at his son. "We're doing this for the sake of being kind neighbors. What's wrong with that?"

"Go give the new neighbors a fruit basket if you want to be kind. You don't have to invite them over for dinner!" The teenage boy slammed one of his fists onto the wooden table in the living room of their house, sighing.

"Conner, that is not the way you should be talking to your father!" Said a woman who had just walked toward the teenager. She placed a warm hand on his broad shoulder. "Try to behave," she told the boy with a small frown. Then, she merely walked over to the older man, whispered a few words in his ear, and left for the kitchen of their house.

"Hm," sighed Conner's father. "I never realized how moody teenagers can be. When I was your age, I wouldn't dare talk back to my parents."

"I'm not moody!" Conner yelled, moving his hands in different directions to make his point. "And I don't talk back either," he grumbled in a small voice.

"Well, if that's what you think, then fine. Now, try to act mature when our new neighbors come to eat dinner with us. Your mother had cooked her famous homemade pot roast with mashed potatoes, your favorite."

"Ugh, just call me when they arrive. I'll be in my room, Dad." With that, Conner fled for his room.

Conner knew he had anger issues. He also knew that he was a jerk to the people he loved the most, but he didn't give a damn. He was his own self - a unique individual. He didn't care about what people thought of him. Heck, he could be the most hated guy on the planet, and he wouldn't care. He was one of the most popular guys in his school, and he was the captain of his school's football team. In addition, he had the most fan girls at his school. He would receive plenty of mushy, meaningful love letters everyday at school, and he would throw them out like they were worthless. He knew this was wrong, but he didn't care.

"Ugh!" Conner yelled, slamming his hands against his forehead. He ran towards the bed of his room and fell on top of it. "This is going to be a huge waste of time," he admitted quietly to himself. "The new neighbors are probably going to be boring old people. Why should I spend my time having small talk with strangers? I could be out partying with my friend right now," Conner clenched his teeth. "Bull shit."

Conner stood up from his wooden bed, walked over to his blue bookshelf, picked up his iPod, then sat back down on his bed. He began searching through his lists of songs before he clicked on a song that he liked - "Perfect Weapon" by Black Veil Brides. He cringed at the sorrowful lyrics.

"We are breathing,

While you're sleeping, go!

And leave us alone,

The liars cheating,

Our hearts beating, go!

And now you're on your own.

Here's to your perfect weapon,

Crack bones with blind aggression,

Like birds whose wings are broken,

You live without direction.

Leave us alone!

You're on your own!"

Conner's deep trance caused by his music was interrupted by the sound of his father's angry voice. "Conner Kent, get down here right now! Our new neighbors are here!"

"I'm coming, Dad!" Conner yelled. With that, Conner pulled his headphones out of his ears and onto his bed, turned off his iPod, and ran towards his living room. His eyes became wide as he realized who his new neighbors were.

"Conner, this is John Jones and his niece, Megan Morse," said Conner's Amazon mother with a small smile. "Mr. Jones, Megan, this is Conner."

"Um, hello," said Conner as he shook the hand of the dark skinned man.

"Hello," Mr. Jones said with a smile.

Conner then turned to face Mr. Jones' niece, Megan. He was overwhelmed with the sight of the girl in front of him. From her auburn hair to her peach skin, she was the epiphany of beauty for him, but he would never dare tell anyone that. "Hey," he said, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other foot.

"Hi," said Megan with a shy smile. "I like your t-shirt," she admitted with rosy cheeks.

Conner felt his cheeks warm up with heat. He looked down at his black shirt and back at the girl, raising an eyebrow. He didn't find anything about his shirt to be special. It was just a plain, black shirt with a red "C" on it. What was there to like about that? "Yeah, that's not weird at all," he admitted as he crossed his hands against his chest.

Megan frowned.

"Shall we eat now?" Mrs. Kent asked, trying to avoid any awkwardness. "I made my specialty! Who's hungry for some awesome pot roast and mashed potatoes?"

"That sounds delicious," Mr. Jones said.

"Yes, it does. C'mon, you two!" Mr. Kent yelled at the two teenagers who were avoiding their gazes.

"Okay," said Megan, with a small smile plastered on her diamond-shaped face.

Soon, everyone was seated and eating their food. Laughter could be heard and happy faces could be seen. Everyone was enjoying their time except for one person, and this person was Conner Kent.

"Is something wrong, Son?" Mr. Kent asked, a serious look on his face.

"Nothing, Dad."

"Are you sure? You seem to be bothered by something," the handsome man admitted.

"I'm not," Conner gritted his teeth.

"I highly doubt that," his father said.

"Ugh!" Yelled Conner. He slammed both of his fists onto the table before he stood up, and ran to his room in frustration.

"Is he normally like that?" Megan asked, worried for Conner's well being.

"Usually, yes," the Amazon answered. "You can follow him if you would like. I'm afraid that boy needs some company."

Megan nodded. She ran after Conner, who appeared to be in his bedroom. Slowly, she took up the courage to knock on his door. "Conner, are you in there?"

"Don't come in," he said, covering his face with his hands.

"Why did you leave the table? Your parents are concerned," she admitted. Her eyebrows were pushed tight together in frustration.

" . . ."

"Conner, I really think you should come back to dinner," she said.

". . ."

"Please," she begged.

"You don't know me; get away!" Conner yelled. He heard a small weep, and he immediately felt bad. "Wait," he grumbled. "I'm sorry; come in."

"Okay," said Megan with teary eyes. She walked into the room, and sat down on the bed next to where Conner was sitting. "Your parents are concerned."

"I know," he admitted.

"What's wrong, then?" Said the girl, wiping away her tears.

"Nothing."

"I'm pretty sure it's not nothing," Megan stated as she awkwardly played with her hands.

Conner sighed. "You're right; it isn't. I'm just angry all the time and I don't know why! Hah, and why am I even telling you this? I don't even know you!"

Megan looked hurt. "You can get to know me, if you wanted. Oh, hello, Megan! Since we live next to each other, I'm pretty sure we'll be going to the same school and stuff." She smiled, hoping that she would be able to cheer him up.

His eyes locked onto hers, his face heated up. "Okay," he said.

"Yay!" She beamed. "So . . . Are we friends?"

"I guess," he smiled.

Disclaimers: First of all, I do not own Young Justice nor its characters. Secondly, I do not own the song "Perfect Weapon." It's by Black Veil Brides; they're a really, really good band. Look them up!

A/N: This chapter was a tad bit short. My bad. I plan to make this into a high school type of story, if you know what I mean. I wonder how Megan's first day of high school is going to be . . . Well, we'll find that out in the next chapter! Review if you love SuperMartian! :)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

3:28 P.M.

Darling Dani