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If there was one thing Robin didn't like when it came to school work, it was group projects. Not because she disliked others or working with them, far from that. But that was precisely the point: she preferred to hang out with others without constantly arguing about who was going to do what when. She'd seen too many friendships ruined by group projects gone wrong and didn't want to be the next one on that list.

Another thing Robin didn't like when it came to school was that teachers didn't care about whether or not she liked their assignments, and so the next group project had been announced that very morning. Yay. A presentation about the Space Race. Well, at least the topic was an interesting one. Apparently, that particular teacher didn't trust them to form groups and had already paired them all up. Robin took a quick look at the list to find her assigned partner. Emmett Reed. Well, that wasn't too bad. As far as she knew he was the class' quiet guy that teachers berated from time to time for "not working to his full potential". All in all, she couldn't say that she knew him, but he didn't strike her as a bully or someone who'd go out of his way to be difficult. So, once the class was finished, she walked up to him with a smile.

"Hi! Seems like we'll be working together for this one."

She may not like group projects, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to do her best to get along with her assigned partner.

"Yup, parents and my sister. And probably also her best friend, because they’re pretty much inseparable." At this point she was probably past ‘hanging out’ and well on her way towards ‘moving in’. Alright, slight exaggeration maybe. "What about you? Parents? Siblings? A dog? A pet otter?"

I wasn't aware otters made good pets. In fact he was pretty sure they didn't. Otherwise I might've been tempted to get one. But alas. Just me, my parents and my older brother. All pricks, to be sure, but that's not something you advertise to someone you've just met.

"Good, I have no idea, but I’m sure they’re used as pets somewhere." There were even people with pet alligators, so an otter didn’t seem too far-fetched. "Not sure where you could get one, though. And then there’s the matter of convincing your parents to keep it, or of hiding it well enough so they don’t notice it." As if she'd ever tried to smuggle a pet into her house.

I live in a pretty big house —a mansion according to some people— so I could hide a pet with ease. Hmm... hopefully that didn't sound too... braggy. Emmett would never deny his family was rich, but money came with a lot of judgement from outsiders. Stereotypes, assumptions, some generalized preconceived idea about how rich guys were all douches. To be fair, those were mostly right. His family certainly fit the mold perfectly. Still not something he'd want to be associated with.

"Alright, so what’s stopping you? Aside from figuring out where to find a pet otter, of course." Yes, she had heard what he’d said about living in a pretty big house, but it was all relative, really. Her own house was bigger than some of her friends’ flats and smaller than other people’s houses.

Emmett tilted his head. Well, who will take care of my pet otter while I go to Halloween parties ? After another solid 15 minutes of what could only be described at small talk, often interjected with Robin's directions, Emmett finally pulled up on her driveway. Residential neighborhood. Definitely no mansion. Alright, that'll be 15 dollars. Please recommend my taxi services to all your friends and family.

HRP:

"Jeez, you’re expensive!", she exclaimed in mock outrage. "Saving for college?" Since he clearly wasn’t planning to get a pet otter, or, apparently, any other kind of pet. Or maybe he was still paying off his car, which looked newer and more expensive than the Noel’s family car. She didn’t make any move to get out her wallet, though. "What time do you want to go to the party?"

How much time do you need to get ready ? Asked Emmett. He could go 'whenever', even though he had a tendency to show up late at events like this. Odds are no one notices you slip in if the party started an hour earlier. Emmett's family might enjoy the spotlight, but he himself was more partial to discretion if he had the option.

"About half an hour." More if she decided to shower, but once a day was enough. She just needed to change and redo her hair: she’d opted for a costume with a mask, which meant no make-up and considerably sped up party preparations. Which meant that she could take all the time she wanted and wouldn't need to rush to get ready.

Alright, well, I'll head home and drive back to pick you up once I'm ready too. We probably don't want to get there too early. No one will be there yet. And that means they'd have to help set things up. Emmett wasn't above lending a hand (as he had undoubtedly proved by driving Robin around) but he wasn't good friends with the hosts and having to be there for smalltalk seemed like it'd be awkward.

"Sounds like a plan." She wasn’t overly eager to get to the party before it really started either. She was sociable, true, but not to the point of seeking out possibly awkward situations. "See you then, and thanks for the lift!"

Boy, did he feel silly in his Batman costume. Who had convinced him this was a good idea again? When he had announced he wouldn't be dressing up for the Halloween party, his friends had been in an uproar. This discourse had somehow ended with him agreeing to dress like the grumpy comic book character. He had so many regrets. Who knew tights were so incredibly uncomfortable? Batman parked his batmobile in front of Robin's house (the irony just hit him) and honked briefly to signal his arrival. There's no way he'd go up to the front door and risk meeting her parents dressed like this.

"Robiiiiiin!" Her sister's voice shook the house, as if the honking wasn't enough to let Robin know that her lift was there. "Coming!", she replied just as loudly (their parents would probably be glad to have the house to themselves for a few hours). Soon, she was out of the house and stepping into the car. That's when she noticed that both of them had opted for completely black costumes, he as Batman and she as Zorro. "Hi! Guess they shouldn't count on us to bring color to the party?" A party she was looking forward to, if her smile was any indication.

Are you surprised—He looked at her, quickly deciphering who she got dressed as—Zoro ? Basically a latino Batman, really. Rich, masked avenger who signs his work with a signature Z? Sounded like a certain grumpy comic book character he knew. He was surprised. Surely most girls would use the opportunity to dress up as something barely legal. Or at least they'd use the opportunity to wear a frilly dress, no? Ah, what the hell did he know.

Yesss, he’d recognised her costume, which meant that it was good! The last thing she wanted was to be "unidentifiable guy in black with a cape, hat and mask". (Although, to be honest, that was a fairly accurate description of Zorro, so even that should count as recognising her costume.) Her mask didn’t cover her smile: "More like amused. I’d have to have had expectations to be surprised." And, let’s face it: she didn’t know Emmett enough to even begin to guess his costume. All she knew was that he was usually quiet in class, willing to start early on their group project and that he had his driver’s license. Not much to go on.

Which told him that she either didn't listen to rumors or was too busy chasing real ones to care about the usual highschool gossip. His family was well-known, but Emmett did not really care to be associated to his name unless it was convenient. He waited for Robin to get in, then drove to the party which thankfully seemed to have started a bit early. Time to put on the mask, I guess. He said with curbed enthusiasm.

She might have heard a few things about his family, but she had indeed not bothered to delve into any of them, because there were other, more interesting and relevant topics she wanted to chase. That, and, while finding out more about school policies or teachers’ backgrounds was fair game, researching a classmate in the same way just felt creepy to her. But back to the present and the masks. "Wow, you sure sound like you can't wait to put it on", she teased. Which prompted the question of why he’d chosen a costume with a mask if he didn’t like it.

I wasn't actually gonna dress as anything, he replied as he dutifully put on his mask. My friends forced me. No one put a gun to his head, of course, but peer pressure was pretty much the same as brute force for a teenager.

When she heard that his costume wasn’t his choice, Robin frowned a little under her own mask: "That sucks." No humor in her voice this time, only sympathy. "That they forced you to dress up, I mean, not that you weren’t gonna dress up." Just in case there was any ambiguity.

Alright, maybe he hadn't meant it that seriously. Emmett was surprised at her reaction. She didn't make light of it. So much so that he almost felt guilty for having mentioned it. He didn't want to give her the impression that he was being bullied (he really wasn't), nor that his friends were dicks (not all of them were). Eh, it's just a costume. Emmett stepped out of the car, looking back to double-check whether Robin was expecting him to open her car door too.

Yes, she had probably reacted a bit too strongly. A little-known side effect of snooping around investigating the school for the newspaper: she sometimes stumbled on very messed-up situations and now her alarm bells could be set off a bit too easily. So, she shrugged: "Well, the costume looks good at any rate." As far as any Halloween costume could look good rather than cartoonish.

He wasn't completely convinced Robin wasn't just being polite, but still decided to thank her for the compliment. Once inside, his friends (who recognized him with ease) greeted him, but not before their curious eyes tried to link him to the girl who walked in with him. Well, well, who's this lovely... err... cowboy ?

A cowboy. Well, Diego de la Vega (better known as Zorro) did have a ranch in California, where cows were bred. So, he wasn’t too far off. « Zorro, at your service. » She bowed with a flourish of her cape. Oh, she was going to have way too much fun with that cape.

Is that a cartoon character or something? Emmett's friend asked, before receiving his answer from another boy. It's from a TV show. Or a movie? Emmett was visibly (or perhaps not with the mask) relieved his friends were simply bickering about Robin's costume and where it came from, rather than what he had supposed they would argue about. His "she's just a girl I have a group project with" answer had been ready to clear up any misunderstandings.

"All of the above", Robin confirmed cheerfully, though she was a bit miffed that the famous swordsman she was posing as apparently wasn’t better known. Because, come on, he was no Batman, but surely he’d been around in pop culture long enough to at least be recognised?