Author's note-This is my first story so critique is always useful! All the things about Moriarty's family are as close to accurate as I could manage—there is very little information about his childhood so I had to make up most of it.
The first day at school is always scary. Switching into a new school in the middle of the year, knowing absolutely no one, well that was almost enough to make Jim Moriarty pass out cold right there in front of the shiny Oakland Secondary School sign.
Of course, he hadn't wanted to move, but in the end there was no other option. Although no one had been able to prove that little Carl Power's death was more than an accidental tragedy, dark rumors circled the small town, even after four years. The Moriarty's, once so respected, were treated as a curse, a danger to avoid at all costs. Though it didn't bother Jim, or, at least, he said it didn't, Mrs. Moriarty struggled under the constant suspicion. She all but begged Jim's father to move, completely uprooting the only life the family knew, and leaving behind Jim's only brother, James, who was already grown up and living on his own.
Now, comfortably situated in their new home of Arundel, the little family was back to normal. Or as close to "normal" as they could ever be again. Despite constant assurances from his parents that they "didn't believe a word about Carl Powers", Jim knew his mother and father had their own suspicions, tucked away under fake smiles and cheery greetings. Their constant caution around him, as if he were a bomb set to explode any moment, drove him insane. Starting school, though terrifying, offered Jim a brief respite from his parents, one that he eagerly accepted.
Sucking in a deep breath of chilly December air, Jim strode past the sign and into the brick school. Arundel being a relatively small town, newcomers were noticed almost immediately, and as soon as he stepped inside the building Jim could feel a hundred pairs of eyes locking on him, trying to place him in a stereotype, to categorize him. Well. Jim would give them no help there. With a wry smile, he locked off all emotion from his face, assuming a dead and totally unreadable expression. Moving confidently past the other teenagers, Jim quickly found his first class and took a seat in the almost deserted room. Soon, other students began to trickle in, chattering with their friends and giving Jim sidelong glances when they thought he wasn't looking. Most gravitated towards the back of the classroom, or the far left, or anywhere, really, as long as it wasn't near Jim. He didn't mind this. Jim enjoyed solitude.
"Hi!" A cheery voice from his left startled Jim, and he whirled around, dropping for a moment his carefully crafted façade of confidence. Sitting in the desk right next to him sat a fifteen year old girl with brown, curly hair and freckles dotting her rosy complexion. She smiled at him, a sweet, simple thing that made her green eyes light up. Jim could only stare at her in shock.
"I'm Beth." The girl continued, unphased by Jim's lack of response. "You must be new here, right? Nice to meet you!" By now, Jim had collected himself. He looked Beth over again, analyzing her. She wasn't what you would call 'hot' so much as she was pretty in an almost childlike way. Pretty and innocent. Harmless, Jim concluded. He smiled back at her.
"I'm Jim Moriarty." He replied. "And yes, I'm new here. Nice to meet you too." Beth seemed pleased by this response, and settled back into her seat. A moment later, however, her eyebrows shot up, as if she had just remembered something.
"Wait, Moriarty? Did you used to live in Battle?" The name of his hometown sent a shiver of apprehension down Jim's spine, and he nodded warily. Beth's smile stretched wider; she seemed positively delighted at this piece of news. "I remember you!" She cried triumphantly, leaning forward in her desk. "Jim! Of course! I used to live right next to you, remember? You and me and Carl, we all used to play together when we were little."
A memory clicked in Jim's head, and images flooded his mind of a young girl in a sweet summer dress running around her front lawn, chatting excitedly with Jim, reading on her front porch. How could he have forgotten? "Oh yeah, I remember!"
"How are you? How is everyone back there? How's Carl, do you remember him? Carl Powers?" The fateful name threw Jim off only for a second, carrying with it unwanted emotions he thought he had buried a long time ago. Allowing an appropriate amount of sadness to trickle into his face, he looked up at Beth, speaking as though it was a great struggle.
"Carl…drowned. You know how much he loved swimming, and he went off to some meet in London and just…never came back. He's been dead for a few years now."
Beth's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and her mouth formed an 'O' of shock. "I'm so sorry…" She started, but Jim waved her off.
"No, it's okay. You didn't know." He gave her a half-hearted smile to show there were no hard feelings. Beth seemed satisfied with this, giving him a tight nod and a smile back.
"Well, it's great to see you again." She said, her cheery persona diminished but not gone. "If you need any help with anything, be sure to let me know!"
"I will, don't worry." Jim replied. As he met Beth's green-eyed gaze, Jim made a silent vow to himself. As long he lived in Arundel, he would not let this girl out of his sight. She was the only thing connecting him to his past, the rumors he had tried so hard to escape. He thought about his earlier evaluation of her—harmless. Mentally, he slowly scratched that out and filled in instead, "Dangerous—to be eliminated."