New Story! Whaaaaat!? Crazy right? I've actually been planning this one for a while now and I'm really excited about writing it now!

Basically, this is a combination of a bunch of other movies/books I've read and seen recently. You may recognize some parts, you may not. A few references are from Filipino movies and the rest probably from a book. But anyhoodle, I hope you enjoy the story!

Shout out to my sister who lives in Brazil, who helped me with the first chapter!

Chapter One

Staggering into the house, the seventeen year old not so silently shut the front door, not caring who he would wake up. This was the third night in a row that he had returned home, completely drunk. He was this close to leaving that God forsaken high school of his and just be on his own. No more parental figures breathing down his neck. No more teachers grilling up his personal business and complaining about how poor his grade point average was-which was not the best, but still not the worst. And most importantly, no more girls whining and clutching his arm, begging him to take them to prom.

He had always thought love was such a pointless topic. In his world, love was just something your parents told you about so you can look forward to growing up. You know, finding "the one", settling down and having your own family to restart that cycle. They never tell their kids that in reality, love was a disappointment. He's seen it first hand. His own parents had told him about this so called magical, intangible object, but their own marriage failed when he was ten years old.

He would stay up late at night, hearing them scream their heads off at each other and wondering what had gone wrong. He thought this was just a way to make sure both of them still cared for each other, after all why fight if you didn't care? That is until he watched his father take boxes out to his car, boxes of his things, then drive off. Imagine how a scared little boy witness his father exit his own life would feel times twenty. That's how he felt.

Eventually, he got over it. Sure it still hurt that he spent seven years of his life not having a male role model around to explain to him the…changes in life, but he lived didn't he?

Dragging his feet on the hardwood floor, he trudged up the stairs and into his room. Blindingly heading towards his bed, he wondered how his life ended up like this? An answer never came to him because as soon as his face came in contact with his pillow, everything went black.

The next morning he woke with a pounding headache. Worst hangover he's had in a while. Groaning, he sat up with the sun nearly destroying his vision.

As he slumped down the stairs, he heard a voice humming in the kitchen. His grandpa.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," the older man chuckled as he lifted his coffee mug from the kitchen counter. "Came in a little passed your bedtime, did we?"

"You know how it is, Gramps," the younger male yawned. "You only live once, right?"

His grandfather let out another light chuckle. "Son, don't even use that with me. My generation practically invented and destroyed that phrase. You kids these days think you are all so clever, trying to bring it back."

His grandfather was near the age of 70, but he never lost his youthful spirit. He would always talk about the "old days", you know, how much fun they had, all the simple aspects, etc.

"Your generation is nearly gone, Gramps." Seventeen years old and he was cocky as ever. "Us 'kids' are the future."

"Is the future filled with drunken parties and lets say…" he pulled out a neatly folded letter out of his back pocket. "A failing grade in English class? Seriously?"

With a sigh, the grandson sat down on top of the counter. "Eh, it's the trend these days."

"Yeah, and I suppose the attitude is trending also." He raised his eyebrow.

"C'mon, Gramps. These days you can't live through high school without telling a little white lie."

His grandfather scoffed. "Who knew you'd be just like him."

He looked at the older man with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Believe it or not, I knew this one kid back in my high school days. He was just like you. He thought he was a smart ass, just like you." Sipping his coffee, he eyed his grandson, scanning his appearance. Tall, blonde, well-built, and a smooth persona that reminded him so much of him. "Yup, definitely a spitting image. He even didn't think love was a real thing either."

"I don't think-"

"You know you talk in your sleep?" Gramps laughed to himself. "Pretty loudly, too."

"Well, Mom and Dad aren't exactly the best example of 'love', Gramps. Honestly, why even have that kind of thing? Everything is about money these days. Mom got the house. Dad got the car. I got a broken family."

His grandfather placed his mug down and sympathetically looked at the seventeen year old. "Life is hard, son. Love is just another part of it."

"Who are you talking about? One of your old buddies? Gramps, I've heard nearly every anecdote you've told." The younger male quickly changed the subject, wanting to avoid further discussion on it.

"Believe me, kid. You haven't heard this one. But I mean, if you don't want to hear it, I guess I can always tell it to your mom and also maybe mention that outstanding grade point average you've got." The gray-haired man smuggly smiled down at the paper in his hand.

There was a slight pause between the two when the teenager spoke. "What was the guy's name?"

… Broken Lyrics …

"C'mon, man!" A red-head dashed through the halls of Marino High School. "We're going to be late."

"Dude, since when did you care about being late?" The blonde laughed as he followed his frantic friend.

"Since Mr. Starr threatened me to put me in detention for the rest of my life. Eternal detention would not actually work out with my directing career." He replied.

"You could always be one of those at home directors."

"Nah, man. Not really my kind of style." The red-head eyed the clock. One minute left. Still speed walking, they were two feet from the threshold of the classroom. "Seriously, Aus-" Rinnnnggg.

"Mr. Moon. Mr. Wade. Cutting it a little too close, don't you think?" Mr. Starr raised his eyebrow at the two teenage boys.

Patting the teacher's shoulder, the blonde had a smirk on his face. "C'mon, Jimmy. We're here, aren't we? I say that's impressive enough."

Rolling his eyes, the older man sighed. "Take your seats, Moon. Wade."

Winking at a blushing girl, the blonde took his seat in the back of the class.

"Alright, class. Let's begin by checking last night's reading." Mr. Starr lifted his clipboard and looked up to find one of his students with a smug grin. "Let me guess."

"You don't have to check up on me, Jim. You already know I didn't read." The seventeen year old chuckled in his seat, taking out his phone.

"Thanks for making my job easier, Austin." He replied sarcastically, continuing to mark down the students.

Austin Moon clicked his tongue and nodded at his teacher.

After the period was over, the two gathered around Austin's locker, their usual meeting place before lunch.

"I swear, Mr. Starr's going to kill you." The red-head wiped off the dust from his camera lens. "He literally looked like he was going to slice off your head."

The blonde shook his head. "He's just bluffing. He knows he can't get rid of me that easily."

"You can't just keep on pissing off every teacher in the school."

"Dez," the other seventeen year old shut his locker. "What's the point of living life if you got to live by the rules set up by older, boring people?"

"You know, you're going to have to settle down one day."

He laughed in reply. "Right. Me. Settling down with a girl? You know me better than that, man. Love's a joke. Only a fool would let himself be wrapped around some girl's finger."

"Austin." Another voice joined them and Austin turned to see his…friend. They weren't exactly buddy-buddy, per say. They weren't exactly enemies, either.

"Gavin." He returned in the same tone. A business like tone. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm glad you asked. I need your help." The southern young man replied.

"You need to be a little more specific, Young." He scoffed. "What do you need? Test scores? Parking pass? Book report?"

"A girl."

Raising his eyebrow, Austin Moon took a moment to scan the guy in front of him. After the moment passed, he nearly bursts out laughing. "Dez, I think we've found the fool."

"I'm serious, Moon." Gavin rolled his eyes. "I know it's not exactly your area of expertise-"

"Whoa there, partner." Austin stopped him. "Nothing is not my area of expertise. I happen to be the expert of experts."

"Whatever you say. Are you gonna help me or not?"

The blonde eyed him again. "What girl has gotten you so whipped all of a sudden?"

"Ally Dawson."

Please bare with me. This is the first chapter and I always hate writing them because I don't want to give out too much right away. I'm super excited to write this and I hope it wont take me too long to update.

I will also be uploading this story to WattPad. Follow the account I co-own: ageisoverrated

reviews are helpful :)

xx