Title: Before Again
Chapter One (Prologue): CityVille School for Boys
Rating: T for now, but will likely change to M later on.
Summary: What can I possibly say that'll make this sound unique? My personal rendition of a PPGxRRB high school drama.
Notes: The Girls and Boys all have normal features, and do not have superpowers in this story. You can probably expect an update at least every two weeks, if not more frequently.
Disclaimer: Craige McCracken is god.
A/N: It was peer pressure that drove me to write this. That and the fact that everybody tries to write a high school drama and it almost always fails most epically. I hope this doesn't. Thanks especially to my ever-faithful 'beta reader', Kelsi Lynne.
xoxo -ml
Prologue: CityVille School for Boys
If you didn't count the constant detentions Butch earned because of his daily uniform code violations, or the fact that Boomer was constantly being pushed into the fountain in the courtyard by someone, or the hockey team that absolutely sucked without their star player who was out for three weeks due to a sprained wrist, CityVille School for Boys wasn't really all that bad.
"Hey Brick, toss me that pick, will ya?"
The Boys weren't the most popular kids in school. Far from it, actually. With such a small student body, it was pretty rare to be considered one of the "Elite" crew. But with an entirely male population, that wasn't really at the top of anyone's list. If anything was actually on anyone's list, it was probably something material, like getting laid, making money, or reaching the last level of their favourite video game. That was one of the plus sides to living at an all-boys' school. No drama, just dudes.
Brick raised an eyebrow but did as he'd been asked. "I'm surprised you're even playing, Butch." He flipped through another photograph from the stack in his hands and observed it for a moment before flipping to the next one. The two of them lounged on the short brick wall that surrounded a large circular fountain in the courtyard, lazily waiting for school to begin again.
Brick wasn't captain of the hockey team. He actually played second bench, and worked his butt off at every practice to become the first. He almost never got any time on the ice, and if he did, it was due to some complaints by the team's mothers.
Butch snorted. "What, I can't play a few cords without getting judged?" He lowered the pick to the strings and strummed a long, beautiful note.
Butch was definitely not the fastest swimmer. He just might have been —save for a select few— the worst. He didn't try very hard to keep his reputation. He didn't have to. His reasoning behind even joining the team in the first place was because he wanted to maintain his "manly figure" and it sure as Hell beat running laps all the time—as would be the requirement for football or basketball.
"No, he's right," Boomer agreed, making his usual entrance on wheels and kicking his board up into his arms when he'd stopped. He pushed his blue, rectangular-rimmed glasses up on his nose and smirked. "I was expecting you to have your face stuck in Mario Kart or something."
Boomer was a pretty good skateboarder, though. Despite his brothers' and peers' constant teases about how "gay" it was to do so, he didn't mind. He loved it. Just a day spent tearing up guard rails and dominating the sixteen steps to the bank was enough to keep him alive. His board was one of his most prized possessions, a fancy thirty-two inch Element with a silver-and-blue lightning bolt design on its deck and sparkling clear wheels. If Boomer wasn't riding his skateboard, he was carrying it under his arm, hugging it to his chest like a small child as he was now.
Butch's scowl grew only slightly wider as he mumbled, "I lost my DS charger again."
The light wind played with the boys' hair as they grouped together in the courtyard only minutes before the first bell rang. The three were dressed in the CSB traditional uniform, bland off-white button-downs and bright, multicoloured ties, to each his own preferred shade. They also sported pleated khakis and shiny black dress shoes, with the exception of Boomer, whose shoes were so scuffed up it was hard to believe he could see his reflection in them at one time. Boomer shoved his hands in his pockets and tapped his shoe absently against the cobblestone pavement to the beat of Butch's wayward tune.
"That's new," Brick grumbled into his photographs. He'd flicked through the last one and was now straightening the stack and shoving the lot back into their envelope. "Given how much time you spend with that thing, you shouldn't ever lose the charger."
The first day back after a long vacation was always the hardest day. So, Thanksgiving break hadn't exactly counted as "long", per se, but any extra amount of time allotted to get out of school was something, at least. Returning to school after a five-day weekend was Hell to pay, and it hurt worse and worse after every growing moment.
Butch's hand slipped and his electric barked out a sharp note. "Fuck," he muttered. He kicked the side of the wall underneath him with the heel of his untied shoe and clicked his tongue, repositioning the pick in his fingers.
Brick stood up from his perch on the wall and slung his backpack over his shoulder just as the first bell rang in their ears. Boomer tossed his board into his other arm and mimicked the action. Butch growled and placed his electric gingerly back into its case, locking it up tight and dragging his backpack after his brothers, who had already begun the Walk of Doom into the school.
Far too perky to be considered realistic, the office clerk yelped the end-of-the-day announcements one by shrill, earsplitting one over the loudspeaker.
"And tonight, the Varsity Hockey team will host a six o'clock game against the Fairlane Tigers, competing for the semi-finalist position. Good luck, boys!"
Brick pumped his fist silently in the air along with a few other boys from his team. He knew if he emoted, the teacher would surely write him up for being disrespectful during afternoon announcements. This was the team's one shot against those jerks, the Fairlane Tigers, to win the semi-finalist spot and make it to the playoffs. If they lost this game... well, it would be the end of an early season for the almighty CityVille Dragons. Brick just hoped to god Coach actually decided to put him in this time.
When the final bell rang to dismiss the class, the boys rocketed out of their seats and bolted out the doors, loosening their ties before they were even gone from the classroom. The brothers (minus one) re-corralled in their usual spot by the fountain in the courtyard, Brick beating Boomer there by half a second to steal his place on the wall.
"Butch in detention again?"
"Most likely."
Boomer whistled low and muttered something in broken French. "Typique..."
"Yeah, speaking of the fag life," Brick muttered, "You better not have one of those gay-ass French Club meetings tonight."
A secretive grin spread across Boomer's face and he blew the hair from his forehead. "Relax dude, I'll make it to your game. Corey and I already bought tickets."
"Great, you're bringing your love slave to my game, I can't wait."
"Hey, do you want me there or not?" He spun his board around in his hands. "I'm not even sure I want to go anymore. Rumour has it they got you playing left bench again."
Brick ran a hand through his short red locks. They wouldn't let him keep it very long—it was against school policy to grow it out any longer than to his eyebrows. Boomer barely abided that rule. He flipped his long golden hair to the side with the whip of his neck, and the girls went crazy. That is, whenever any girls were around, and that excluded his girlfriend.
"If you and your disgusting girlfriend made fucking posters for me again, I swear to god I'll—"
"What'd I say about insulting Corey?" Boomer growled.
"It's only allowed if it's true?" Brick quipped, leaning himself back to lay on the wall.
"I'm serious, Rouge," the blonde snarled, using his usual bothersome pet name for the eldest. "Quit talking shit or I'll beat your face in."
"I'd really love to see you try," Brick snorted under his breath. Luckily enough for him, the next moment happened to be one of those "speak of the devil" moments, and Boomer grinned widely as he pulled his girlfriend in for a tight embrace as she approached.
"Bonjour ma chérie," the boy cooed into her ear. Corey smiled and pecked him on the cheek.
Corey was a short, slim, bit-of-skirt kind of girl with short, choppy brunette hair and bright baby blue eyes that glistened in the sunlight. She wore the uniform for the counterpart school, CityVille School for Girls, a creamy white button-down with a pleated pink skirt, white knee-highs and brown Mary Janes. At present her shirt was coming untucked and she left it buttoned down to her breast, exposing a flimsy scrap of fabric she called her "under shirt".
Brick scoffed at the two disgusting lovebirds and turned his head to look upwards, watching the distant clouds tumble leisurely by in their endless blue sea of sky. He tuned out the sound of his brother's mindless mushy chit-chatter and directed his thoughts toward tonight's game. If they won, the team would head to the playoffs for the first time in Dragon history, kicking those good-for-nothing Tigers into their rightful place on the street. He knew he couldn't trust Butch or Boomer to use his precious Canon to take photographs of the game, but he figured it was worth a shot permitting Butch to fumble with his old Sony Single-Shot to at least get some kind of footage. After all, if Brick ended up scoring the winning goal for the team, he wanted somebody to believe it when he told them. He could picture it now— Brick Jojo is going in for the goal with only five seconds on the clock! He races down the ice, slides past four guys with ease, and in the last possible remaining second, number five slapshots the Dragons into instant—"
"Victory!" Butch's battle cry cut dangerously into Brick's little daydream. He opened his eyes to see his raven-haired brother standing before him, his fist clenched in the air. The corner of Brick's mouth turned up just slightly into a smile as he immediately recognized his brother in his usual stance.
"Thought you said you lost the charger for that thing?"
Butch's tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration. "Sandy had one in the lounge and she let me charge it during my study hour."
Brick did not even comment on the note that Butch called their English teacher "Sandy", or the fact that she just happened to have a charger for a Nintendo DS just lying around.
"I'm guessing she's the one who bailed you out so early, then," Boomer noted, his arm swung carelessly around his girlfriend's shoulders.
"Nah, Mr. Frentze's cool. He let me out early for good behaviour." He snickered.
Brick and Boomer raised an eyebrow at each other. "He fell asleep, didn't he?" Brick asked.
Butch looked up from his game long enough to waggle his eyebrows at them and respond "That he did, my good brother, that he did."
"La bonté," Boomer murmured, turning his nose to nuzzle Corey's. He used the tip of her nose to push his glasses back onto his nose, and it was an absolutely sickening sight.
"Everything you say sounds like some kind of fancy restaurant food," Butch said with a laugh.
"I don't think I would eat anything that sounded like 'Booty'," Corey commented. Boomer shot her a look and she winked smugly.
"Speaking of food and booty," Brick interceded before things could get nasty, "I'm hungry. Let's hit up the Food Court and pick up some chicken and chicks."
"Now you're speaking my language, bro," Butch grinned.
Brick swung his legs over the edge of the wall and hopped up, loudly cracking his back. Corey made a sick face at the action, burying her face into Boomer's chest. The four of them meandered toward the Food Court as Corey reminded Boomer that he better not be picking up chicks or chicken, because she was of course a vegetarian, and it would be rude to eat meat in front of her ("I can't wait to sink my teeth into that juicy, salty, fried chicken," Butch emphasized purposely, earning himself a glare from both Corey and her boyfriend).
The four snagged their usual corner booth in the back, Butch sliding into the middle without once looking up and Brick scooting down after him.
"Corey and I'll get the food, what d'you guys want to drink?" Boomer's arm locked around Corey's waist and she nodded.
"Mountain Dew," Butch said without hesitation.
"Get me a Coke."
Boomer nodded, remembering their orders and went to stand in line for the pop machine. Corey fidgeted at his side, glancing around the co-ed Food Court for someone that she knew.
"You're next, babe," Corey said quickly, shoving him into his place in line.
Boomer sighed audibly as he placed the orders for two fried chicken meals and two Greek salads. When the orders were up, he carried three trays ("I'm not touching that disgusting meat!" said you-know-who) to the table along with their drinks.
"Hey, chêrie," Boomer said to her as they moved to sit down, "mind grabbing us some napkins?"
The girl scowled, shooting him a glare. "I told you not to call me that," she muttered as she stalked away. Boomer sighed, sitting down and horking down a bite of Butch's chicken before Corey could reprimand him about it.
"Damn, what crawled up her ass and died?" Butch asked, finally putting down the DS to grab some food. He snatched his own chicken and began stuffing his face with the good stuff, pausing only a moment to allow a contented moan to escape his lips.
Boomer just shrugged, watching Brick pick a piece of lettuce out of his French fries. "She's like that sometimes," he admitted.
"Sometimes?" the redheaded brother snorted. "More like all the time."
"She's got a good heart though, right?" Boomer asked them absentmindedly, observing his girlfriend from across the court as she waited impatiently for the worker to refill the napkin dispenser.
Neither of his brothers responded straightaway, both too preoccupied with their chicken meals. After a moment or so, Brick paused for a second to chew and worded his answer hesitantly.
"If you say so, Boom."
Corey returned a few seconds later with a stack of napkins and a scowl on her face, complaining about the rudeness of the workers at the Food Court. Boomer tried his best to at least pretend to listen to her rant, but it was nothing he hadn't heard before, really.
"All these workers are high school kids," Butch muttered, his voice finally snapping Boomer back to reality. "They're all dicks to begin with."
"Would you please not talk about such obscenities while I'm eating?" Corey begged, jerking a hand towards her meal.
Butch snorted and shrugged, finished with his meal and now turning his attention back to his DS.
Brick groaned and buried his face in his hands. Corey would've been unconscious on the ground by now if she wasn't Boomer's girlfriend.
"Man, where are the attractive girls today?" he whined, casting a look across the room where there were no—count em!—no cute girls whatsoever.
"I found one," Boomer smiled, poking Corey on the nose with the tip of his finger.
Butch gagged and Brick rolled his eyes.
Corey crinkled her nose and swatted his hand away, focusing on a tiny packet of almonds in her hands. "Baby, stop, I'm trying to read the calorie count on these."
Boomer blew air out onto his forehead again and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
Brick took a sip of his Coke, then made a face at the taste.
"Dammit, Boomer, this is Diet!"
Boomer blinked and Corey shrugged. "Oops?" she squeaked, taking a sip of her own iced tea.
The table came in harsh contact with Brick's forehead and he groaned again.
"Is he okay?" Corey whispered loudly.
"Probably," Boomer responded softly, a chuckle in his voice. "He's just really stressed about the game tonight."
"Yes!" Butch exclaimed rather loudly. "I finally beat World Six! Suck on that, Bowser!"
Corey clicked her tongue and took another sip of her iced tea, sucking the very last of the beverage out of the cup with a loud slurp!
Brick's allowed his head to rise up slightly, only to fall back harshly down against the table again.
Now before you ask; YES, the girls will be in this story, just not yet. Review for an Everlasting Gobstopper! :D