11A/N: Hey! Like for more other authors, this idea just popped into my head as I was staring at a blank document, so I'm just flowing with it :D From my position right now, I foresee a lot of fluff, some angst and drama, and a whole lot of loving. I'd just like to warn you right now that updates may not be very frequent, but I'll try my best!
I absolutely love reviews, it shows me that people are actually reading my story. I don't mind criticism, actually I like that people care enough to try and show me where to improve- so criticize ahead. Just take a second at the end of the chapter to tell me what you liked (or disliked) about the story, so that I can become better, and gain more energy to continue writing.
That's it for now. I probably won't post author's notes for every chapter, so see you the next time I do! Have a happy reading!
First day of school—yay!
Skinny jeans? Check. Hair gelled to perfection? Check. Eyes kohl-ed ever so subtly? Check. Smile? Fuck, no.
Jamie stared at himself in the mirror, something he'd been doing for the past hour, and sighed. Another first day in a new school—yippee! Where he would know absolutely no one and would be ogled at like an animal in a zoo. A fucking rainbow colored animal in a zoo. He pouted at his reflection before sighing again and heading out of his room. Halfway down the stairs, Jamie realized that he'd forgotten his bag and slumped back upstairs to get it.
By the time he entered the kitchen, his mother had cooked her traditional first day breakfast—chocolate chip pancakes. The subtle under text in that sentence was that he had undergone so many first days that there was actually a tradition. Rolling his eyes, he made his way to the table and sat down. Of course, as usual, it took his mother a couple of seconds before she saw him.
"Jamie! You're ready early today!" With a wide smile, she came forward and placed a big, and wet, kiss on his forehead. Irritated, Jamie pushed her away.
"Mother! I just spent an hour on that face. Don't ruin it!"
Rolling her eyes at her son's antics, Diana just gave him an indulgent smile and went back to the stove. Jamie scowled at her back and put his head on the table. He really wasn't in the mood for her cheerfulness—wasn't it all her fault that he had to go through this, again?
Still smiling, Diana brought a plate of pancakes to him and a bowl of whipped cream as well. Huffing, Jamie pulled the plate towards him and, for lack of a better term, dug in. He was halfway done when Diana spoke up.
"Want me to drive you to school?"
Jamie glanced at his mother, "No."
"Are you sure? Do you know how to get there?"
"See Mom, there's this thing called a GPS and I'm going to ask it to help me." Sarcasm overload.
"Well, if you insist. Do you have everything ready?"
"Yeah. I have to get my schedule once I get there. Other than that, I'm ready."
Diana nodded, "Okay. Text me if you need anything."
Jamie gave his mother a pointed look before returning his concentration to the plate. He needed the sugar if he was going to make it through the day. Five minutes later, he leaned back on the chair, full and satisfied. With a groan, he got off the chair and stretched. Diana glanced at him, but he ignored the look and leaned down to pick up his bag. He walked towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't worry about me. I'll make it through the day and however long we stay here. I always do, remember?"
She nodded with a gentle smile and Jamie gave her a slight wave before heading out of the house and to his car. He would be slightly, slightly meaning half an hour, early—but he didn't really mind that. From experience, he knew that it was better to get an idea of how the school ran before coming into contact with any of the students.
With that in mind, he entered the school's name, Saken High, into his GPS and started the car. Following the directions, he arrived at the school in five minutes and parked the car in the parking lot. Damn he hoped they didn't have the ridiculous 'popular student parking' that he should avoid.
Stalling in the car so that he wouldn't have to face the school, he looked to see how the campus looked like. It seemed pretty big—two storied building all around, quite a big parking lot and a decent field from what he could see. Obviously, he wasn't going to be interested in sports related activities, but it was good to know all the same.
Pulling down his mirror, Jamie checked his reflection one last time before getting out of the car. Finding the administration building was an easy task—it was the only one that looked alive at this time of the day. Jamie slowly made his way to the building and went in. Getting his schedule and a map of the school both didn't take a really long time, so he just spent the remaining time figuring out where his classes where and how he was going to get from one to another.
By the time he was done with that, there was some life to the school. Students had started coming in and with that came—great, Jamie thought—the STARES. Obviously, it was quite apparent that he was new.
It didn't help that it was the middle of the semester either.
Rolling his eyes, discreetly of course, at the behavior of the students, Jamie made his way to his first class. Biology, one of the only classes he was looking forward to. He entered the class and found, to his surprise, that there were already a few students there—two girls and a guy. Of the two girls, one was definitely an over achiever while the other was an average high school-er. The boy, on the other hand, Jamie couldn't immediately categorize.
Even though it was the first class of the day, the boy looked worn out and tired. And, surprisingly, his hair was wet as well. Like he'd just gotten out of the shower. Jamie frowned as he tried to figure that out, but a second later the teacher came in and he turned to focus on him.
This teacher was one of the younger ones, who looked like they had just gotten their degrees and were looking to change the world, so basically, ignorant and oblivious to the machinations of the world. Just great. Bet he would be enthusiastic as well. Jamie's fears weren't unfounded because a second later, the teacher noticed him and called him over with a broad smile on his face.
"Hello! You must be Mr. Parker."
"Yeah, I am. Jamie."
"Well, Jamie, my name is Dr. Thompsons. Welcome to Biology. Have you taken the class before?"
Dr.? That was interesting. "Yes. In my previous high school."
"Excellent," insert another broad smile, "How far have you gone?"
While Jamie was describing his previous syllabus to the teacher (or doctor), the rest of the class came in. From what Jamie could see, it looked to be a good mix of students—a couple of jocks, definitely a cheerleader, a drama student, a couple of goths, and a few of the normal ones as well. It wasn't very hard to decide whom to sit with.
A couple of seconds, and a few absentminded nods, later, Jamie went and stood right next to the boy he'd been curious about when he first came in.
"Hey. Can I sit next to you?"
The boy glanced up at him and Jamie took a moment to appreciate his cuteness before smiling sweetly and gesturing to the seat next to him.
"Yeah, sure," said the boy, a little unsurely.
"Jamie Parker." It was, after all, better to introduce oneself before being thought of as arrogant.
"Brandon McKinley. Are you new here?" Definitely a little more than just cute.
"Yeah, I just transferred."
"That must suck, middle of the school year and all." The smile Brandon gave was sweet and reassuring. He was going to like Brandon, Jamie was sure.
"Not very much. I'm used to it."
"Really?"
"My family moves a lot."
The guy seemed not to know how to continue, so Jamie saved him the trouble. "Why's your hair wet?"
"What?"
"I mean if you showered before coming to school, it wouldn't still be wet. So you must have wet it here. Why?"
The smile Brandon gave him turned amused, "That's… forget it. I'm on the swim team, and we have practice in the mornings, so I showered after that."
Ah, "It also explains why you look so tired."
Brandon raised his eyebrows, "Do I?" He sat up straight as if it would make him seem more active.
"A little bit." Jamie smiled, and Brandon grinned back. It seemed like he had made a new friend already. Just then the doctor called the class to attention and the two boys turned to the front of the class.
The class was semi fun. Thompsons certainly knew how to make the class interesting, for him if not for everybody else. Then again, he liked Biology in general, so…
After the class, Jamie silently got up. He knew pushing to make friends would only make it harder for himself, and so, he headed to the door, intent on making it to his Calculus class. Two steps out of the classroom, he was pleasantly surprised to hear Brandon call out to him.
"Hey, wait up!"
Jamie turned around, "Yeah?"
"So, I was wondering, do you want me to show you around or something?"
Jamie raised his eyebrows, "I'm pretty sure I can find my way to class. But, I don't mind having a friend here. Are you offering?"
Brandon looked at him weird, but said, "Yeah, sure. Where are you going next?"
"Calculus."
"Great, I'll drop you off there."
On the way there, they talked about inane things like how the classes here were, and how the social system was. Jamie figured he would never get a better time than this to ask what he wanted.
"How accepting are people here?"
Brandon looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I generally don't try to hide it, but I'm gay. So I was wondering how accepting people here were of that." There, it was out.
Brandon grinned. "Yeah, you're not hiding it. I pretty much figured from your clothes even if you don't really sound gay. But, in answer to you question, most people over here don't care. I'm gay, by the way."
Really? "Really? I usually have a pretty good gaydar."
Brandon glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, "Yeah, though I'm not really obvious about it."
"No, you're not."
Brandon gave him a small smile and continued, "We're a pretty good portion of the population. About two dozen or so of us, and well spread as well."
"Two dozen? That's… a lot." More than he had ever seen in one school yet.
Brandon nodded, "Yeah. It's not like we're really close or anything, but I do know of every one."
By that time, they had reached Jamie's next class, so Brandon stopped in front of him and said, "Well, this is it. If you want company or something during lunch, just find me."
"Great, I may just take you up on that." Smiling, Jamie waved bye to Brandon and entered his Calculus class. God, he hoped it would be interesting.
Close to two hours later, Jamie entered the cafeteria with no small amount of trepidation. Other than Brandon, he hadn't found anyone else he could even remotely stand. It seemed like Saken High was like any other high school, it just had a slightly more varied population than others.
Rolling his eyes at the sight of the obvious cliques at the tables, Jamie looked around in search of Brandon. Thankfully, he found him almost immediately surrounded by a bunch of other guys. Walking towards them, Jamie let his eyes study them appreciatively. From the looks of it, most of them were well toned, and quite hot. Jamie smiled slightly at the sight of one guy leaning over the table, reaching for something. God they had arses!
He was sighing longingly at a tall, blonde and ridiculously hot dude on his way to Brandon's table after he got a tray of food when he got shoved from behind. It wasn't a gentle shove either; some idiot plummeted into him, sending him crashing to the floor. With his tray. Awesome. Jamie caught himself before he completely fell and glared angrily at the back of whomever had shoved him. Not that it mattered, as the idiot was hurrying towards the line without even a glance back. Bastard.
Swearing under his breath, Jamie picked up his tray, trying to salvage as much of his food as he could. Scowling, Jamie stomped over to Brandon's table and placed (slammed) his tray on the table next to Brandon. The boy looked at him in surprise but Jamie paid him no attention as he ripped open the packaging of his sandwich and started gobbling it.
"You okay?" Brandon asked unsurely.
"No. Some bastard just pushed me down for absolutely no fucking reason."
Brandon's frowned, "Really? What happened?"
"No clue, I was just minding my own business when some dude just slammed past me. The lunch isn't even that good." What was he in such a hurry for?
Jamie decided, two seconds later, that showing his possibly new friends his tantrums on his very first day here was not a good idea. So, he looked up and said, "He just riled me up. I feel better now. Umm, am I still invited here?"
Brandon rolled his eyes, "Of course you are." Grinning, he really seemed to like doing that, he turned to the rest of the table and said, "Hey guys, this is Jamie. He's new here."
Jamie resisted rolling his eyes at the generic introduction, and duly smiled at everybody they chorused their welcome. Brandon took it upon himself to introduce all his friends individually and Jamie amused himself by noticing some fact about each person as they were introduces so that he would remember their names later.
Like Charlene, who was obviously in some kind of pep squad, and Julie, who wasn't wearing any underwear. And Damon, who was slightly distracted, something wholly to do with his erection and the girl standing pushed up against him. The girl in question was Amanda, someone who didn't have a problem with her hands down a boy's pants in public. Jamie was sure he would like her.
Brandon had just finished rattling of all their names when a new guy joined the table and sat down opposite Jamie. Brandon turned to him with a big smile and said, "And finally, this is Luke. He's on the team with me."
Jamie looked up, and scowled. It wasn't going to be hard to remember this guy's name. Eyes flashing, Jamie said, "Interesting. I didn't know you were in the 'let's shove random people around' team as well, Brandon."
Brandon choked and the others stopped their own conversations to listen in.
"What?"
"Nothing, just that this idiot is the guy who pushed me in his haste to get lunch." Jamie glanced down to see that the idiot's tray and saw that he hadn't gotten anything special at all. What was he hurrying for, anyway? The idiot in question just sat there staring at him half amused, half surprised. It was only when Jamie paused his incredibly justified anger that he realized something. Something he really should have noticed before. This dude, Luke whatever, was an absolute fucking god! Short brown hair with natural highlights, green eyes, high cheekbones, lips that were gorgeous—fucking heavenly all round.
Not that Jamie cared.
Much.
"Luke pushed you? He usually isn't like that. Are you, Luke?" Brandon looked pointedly at his friend, before the idiot/god answered.
"Not usually, no." Suddenly, his face transformed into a rueful smile and he said, "But today was chocolate pudding day and I wanted to get one before they all ran out. I don't really remember pushing you, though." He even sounded like a god.
"Which would explain why you wouldn't even look back to apologize. Not that I'm expecting one or anything."
Two seconds later, he finally got it, "Well, I'm sorry if it means anything right now. Did I hurt you?"
"Just ruined half my lunch." Jamie looked pointedly down at his plate where his own chocolate pudding had spilt out and was currently inedible. Luke winced slightly and bit his lip. More in amusement than anything, Jamie assumed.
"Sorry?"
"Apology accepted as I don't have the mania of pudding that you apparently seem to."
"Yeah, all right then." Luke glanced at Brandon as if to ask him what the hell Jamie was doing here before grinning and going back to his lunch. Jamie considered provoking him just to hear his voice again but he was interrupted when his phone rang.
Jamie looked at the caller ID, rolled his eyes, and answered, "It really hasn't even been half a day yet, mother. I am completely fine and have not been harmed in any way, shape, or form. Unless you count psychologically as my daily second dose of chocolate was taken away from me." Jamie smiled at Luke this time to show that he didn't mean anything by it, before continuing, "Not that a bar of chocolate or a bowl of ice cream wont fix that."
He paused as he waited for Diana to reply. "Yeah, I have the key. Do you really think I'm not that jaded?" He could see both Brandon and Luke quirk their eyebrows at that and just rolled his eyes at them in reply.
"Of course. I'll see you when I see you." At that, Jamie hung up and turned to look at them.
"Yes?" he inquired politely.
"Who was that, your mom?" Brandon asked.
Jamie rolled his eyes, "Yeah. I called her mother, didn't I?"
Brandon let out a little chuckle at himself and said, "Yeah, you did. The way you talked to her confused me, though."
"You mean how the love was just pouring out?" This time, even Luke joined in the laughter. Jamie glanced up at him, god, he was beautiful. How had he not noticed it before?
"You're very frank, aren't you?" Brandon asked.
Not really. But Jamie just shrugged, "Most of the time, yes. Is it a problem?"
"No," Brandon as quick to reply, "Not at all. It was just an observation."
Jamie just hmm'd and continued eating his lunch. He had gym two periods after this, so he wanted the energy. Brandon and Luke left him alone for the rest of lunch and started a conversation between them. From what Jamie could understand, they were both best friends. They had a good dynamic between them. The rest of the people on their table had private conversations going on as well, so Jamie was content to eat his lunch in peace. Of course, that was not to last.
Five minutes after he finished his food, there was a commotion in the dining hall. Jamie glanced up to see a big guy (definitely a jock) push a smaller boy onto a table. The poor kid stumbled and slammed on to the table but didn't retaliate in any way. He just hung his head and stood up again. Seeing that, the jock stomped towards him and clenched his shirt. He pulled the kid towards him and shouted something in his year. Of course, shouted implied that it could be heard all the way to Jamie's table.
"Who the fuck do you think you are, asshole! You think you can get away with it!"
The kid mumbled something back, but it was too soft for Jamie to hear. The jock snarled at the kid and threw him down again. By this time, a crowd had gathered around the duo. They were neither cheering nor trying to stop the assault (and that was what it was), it looked like they were waiting for a teacher to come and stop the fight.
"Is that Jason?" Brandon asked Luke.
"Yeah. The kid must have pissed him off."
"Not that that takes much."
Luke nodded and looked to Brandon. After a second, he said, "Brandon, where's the new kid?"
Eyes wide and confused, Brandon turned to where Jamie had been a second ago. The area was empty. Just then, the heard another voice (other than Jason's) join the fight.
"So, Jason I take it?" Brandon and Luke both whipped around to see Jamie standing right next to the duo, leaning against a table. With his arms crossed like they were, it looked like he was just starting a casual conversation or something.
Luke and Brandon hurried closer to see what was happening. How had Jamie gotten there so fast?
"Yeah, how do you know?" Jason asked.
Jamie shrugged, "Wasn't hard, you're pretty famous after all."
"Oh." Like the jock he was, Jason was staring dumbly at Jamie, still holding the kid.
"What'd he do to you?" Jamie gestured to the kid.
"He pushed past me! Just like that! I lost my pudding." From the look on Jason's face, that was a very bad thing indeed.
"There seems to be a lot of that around here." Jamie remarked dryly.
"What?"
"Nothing. From what I can understand, he ruined your pudding and now you're beating him up. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Interesting. Now, stop it." Jamie accompanied the order with a smile, so the dumb jock (cliché intended) didn't get it for a second. Or two.
"What?" Did the guy not have anything else to say?
"I said—ooh, wait, let me rephrase that. Will you please let go of that kid?"
Jason blinked, but didn't let of the poor kid, who was whimpering by now. "Who are you?"
"Jamie Parker. But that doesn't really matter now. What does though, is that you let go of him so that we can resume lunch with some semblance of normality before—"
"Mr. Parker! Mr. Martin!"
"—that happens." Jamie finished.
A teacher (Vice Principal?) strode over to them and stopped right in front of Jason. "What's going on here?" he thundered, not that he really had to seeing as he was the center of attention. Luke and Brandon glanced at each other before turning to stare at Jamie. For his part, the blonde didn't seem to be the slightest bit ruffled, just irritated. Which Brandon assumed was a common expression for him.
It seemed like Jason wasn't going to answer, but the way he was still holding the boy was answer enough, really. Surprisingly though, Jamie didn't open his mouth at all. Even though Brandon had only known Jamie for a couple of hours, he could see that the guy always spoke his mind, didn't mind being rude, but never purposely hurt anyone either. Which was a weird combination. But now, Jamie just looked on to the scene as if it was a movie. He was still leaning on the table, and the relaxed pose was out of place in the tense atmosphere.
"Well," Vice Principal Lerone barked when no one answered, "It looks like we'll have to take this to my office. Follow me."
At this, Jamie looked up. This was the first time he had bothered looking at the man, and the look on his face screamed boredom and slight irritation. "I as well?" he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Parker. Were you or were you not involved in this altercation as well?" For some reason, Lerone was blaming Jamie with absolutely no prior provocation. It seemed like he knew Jamie was a part of the fight, and that was all he needed to include him in the punishment.
"What'd Jamie do to Lerone?" Brandon hissed to Luke.
"I don't know. But it definitely looks like Lerone hates him."
"Yeah."
They turned back to the scene in time to hear Jamie say, "I would say that depends on your point of view. But it isn't hard to see what your point of view is, so I'm not going to bother actually answering that. My question is—who are you?"
"What?" The crowd tittered at the expression on Lerone's face.
Jamie sighed, "It's quite a simple question. Who are you? What, umm, right do you have to order me around? And what exactly is your position here that allows you to state that we should take this matter to your office? Not that you actually know what's going on here anyway."
Lerone gaped while the rest of the crowd gasped. Luke just sighed, "How did I know he was going to say something like that?"
At Brandon's shrug, he continued, "I mean, I've known him for all of twenty minutes. Seriously, god, that kid should learn to shut up."
Brandon nodded absentmindedly, but was more focused on the scene. Lerone had regained his composure and looked to be getting very angry.
"The Vice Principal. And what right do you have to behave like this?" he really looked mad. And slightly humiliated.
"Well, being a citizen of this country gives me the right to ask you that question. And I would ask you what part of my behavior is in question right now, but I can guess." He straightened up and hooked his thumbs in this jean pockets, they were tight enough that his thumbs were the only things that could get in.
"Well," he said pleasantly, "Lead the way, Vice Principal."
Lerone looked furious, but he couldn't say anything to the expectant expression on Jamie's face. Pursing his lips, he led the way out of the cafeteria and the three boys followed. Jason, looking slightly calmer, the kid looking like he was scared oh his shadow and Jamie. Who looked like he found this distinctly amusing.
There had been gone for a few seconds before Luke muttered, "What the fuck just happened?"
"I don't know, man. I don't know."