Uh oh. Back so soon. Hi, loves! Um, this is something completely different from me. I've never written a high school AU, but the brief conversation Juice and Olivia had in ch62 of Come With Me Tonight got me interested. So here we are.

If you've read that story you'll recognize Olivia Gable, my OC from there, and if you haven't...that's cool, too, bc it's not like there's anything you'd need to know since this is an AU off of that. :)

Check out the end notes for a little more information/clarification on some points. And enjoy!


cut a tape of my favorite songs
said what i can't face to face
i hoped that you would share all my thoughts
we are young and unimpressed by all you'd recognize
Better Than Ezra, "Rewind"

The worst thing about moving to California wasn't adjusting to everything: the weather, the sunshine, the fucking space. The way people talked, all loose and easy. The slower pace, like all that sunshine made you kinda lazy and addled. And the food. Avocado in fucking everything, but he kinda liked avocado anyway. Not that he'd admit it.

No, what Juice Ortiz hated most about his mom's sudden and random desire to pick up and move cross-country was that she'd done it a third of the way through the semester. Now he was not only the new kid, he was the middle-of-the-year new kid. There was no worse position to be in.

This was a chance, though. Back in Queens he'd had a rep as a kinda geek loser kid. He got into trouble a lot, and he'd do people's homework for the right price. (Lie: he would hack into a database of old papers and shit he'd found and steal homework for people, but they didn't know that.) But here, in Charming, maybe he had a chance to make a new name for himself.

He'd grown over the summer and filled out, but that hadn't mattered to the assholes back in Queens. They still treated him like the shrimpy Puerto Rican kid on free lunch who didn't have a dad. Out here his mom had gotten a decent job and it looked like they wouldn't even need to be on welfare. Food stamps, maybe, but he could deal with that—and maybe only temporarily until he could find something to help supplement their income.

It was November of his junior year, two weeks before Thanksgiving, and for the first time in as long as he could remember he thought maybe things might go okay for them. Yeah, he fuckin' hated coming into school in the middle, but maybe he could use that to his advantage, too.

The guidance counselor was a harried-looking woman in her mid-fifties, and she gave Juice a rundown of his classes and the school itself in a voice so fast and breathless he caught maybe one word in twenty. Finally she waved down a student and hoisted Juice off onto him.

"Harry will help you," she said. "Won't you, dear?"

"Um, sure," he said, nonplussed.

She patted his arm and flitted away, leaving them to stand awkwardly in the middle of the hall.

"You new?" he said.

"Yup. First day."

He nodded slowly. "Where you been the first part of the year?"

Juice offered a smirk and a shrug. "Ya know. Juvie."

The guy—tall, skinny, and in need of a haircut— was obviously impressed. "Right on." He offered a high five and asked him for his class schedule. "Come on. I got some of this same shit. I can show you where the metal shop is. Oh, you got auto, too?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm kinda into cars."

"Me too," he said. "I'm Opie. Nobody calls me Harry, so pretend you didn't hear that shit."

"Opie. Like from Mayberry?"

"Yeah, I guess. I was real short when I was younger, and my dad thought it was funny."

"Huh." Juice could relate to that. "Juice," he said. "Ortiz."

"Cool. Where were you before juvie?"

"Queens. My mom got a job out here so we moved kinda last minute."

"Sucks, man. That's a long way."

He hitched a shoulder and tugged the strap of his backpack a little higher. "Better weather in California anyway."

"Fuck yeah," he said with a grin. "Oh, hey." He waved down the hall to a blond kid and a dark-haired girl. They were holding hands, and when they saw him they both grinned.

"Jax, Tara, you met the new guy yet?" Opie said when they were closer.

"There's a new guy?" the girl said with a smirk. She eyed Juice up and down and her smile deepened. "Tara Knowles. Welcome to Charming."

"Juice Ortiz. Thanks. You guys juniors too?"

"Yup," the blond said. "You?"

"Same," he said. Back in Queens he'd usually been mistaken for younger, both because of his size and because his late birthday (July) usually made him one of the youngest people in his class. But his growth spurt had helped, and they just nodded like it was nothing.

"Jax Teller, man. Nice to meet you."

They slapped hands and Juice grinned. "Yeah, man. You too."

"Juice and his mom moved here from Queens. He was in juvie first part of the year," Opie explained.

Jax and Tara shared a look, and Jax tried to hide a grin. "Wow, bro. Hardcore."

"No big. Baby jail," he said with studied nonchalance.

"I was gonna show him the way to the metal shop. You comin'?" Opie said to Jax.

Another look passed between him and his girl. She laughed and kissed him. "Go have fun with your toys, Teller. I got bio."

"Study hard, baby. I'll see you later."

"Uh huh," she said. "Tell Ollie I said hey."

Jax patted her ass as she walked away, and she tossed a wink over her shoulder. They stood for a moment and watched her go before he said, "C'mon. Shop's down here."

"Who's Ollie?" Juice said as they walked.

Opie and Jax glanced at each other over his head—they were both taller than he was, but Jax not by much—and neither said anything. Finally Opie shook his head. "Ollie can give you the tour. You got free period next, right?"

"Yeah. That a new kid thing, or everybody get it?"

"Only people with decent grades," Jax said with a scowl. "Ope and me got fuckin' English. Might just skip."

"Fuck no, man," Opie said. "I skip again my dad's gonna kill me."

Jax snorted. "If Presbo calls my mom I'm fucked," he said in reference to Mr. Presbolowski, the principal.

"Sounds like good reasons not to skip," Juice said.

"Fuck yeah," Opie said. "My dad I could handle—mostly—but his mom's scary as shit."

They stopped at a scarred metal door with the word "Shop" welded onto it, the letters made up of a variety of different objects and metals. Opie handed Juice his schedule. "We're right down there," he said and nodded. "We'll see you after, yeah? For actual class."

"Sure, man. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Jax said. They started away, but Juice stopped them.

"Uh," he said, "which one's Ollie?"

"Oh." Jax opened the door and looked around. He spotted a small, slight figure across the room. "Over there. Short kid with the welding torch."

"Cool." He stepped into the shop and felt instantly soothed by the familiar smell of hot metal. Behind him the door shut, and he didn't hear Jax and Opie's good-natured snickers.

He approached the welder warily and waited until he paused and stepped back to study his work. It was a sculpture. Sort of. Maybe? Juice wasn't sure. It looked like a jumble of metal to him, but sort of…not. It was weird. And cool.

"Um, hey?" he said, uncertainly.

He glanced up and lifted the visor on the helmet.

Juice blinked. He was definitely a she: big green eyes, freckles across her nose and cheeks, full mouth. A strand of blondish-red hair straggled down the side of her neck. She lifted her brows at his surprised face.

"Can I help you?" she said.

"Uh. I think I got the wrong person. Jax and Opie said I should look for Ollie."

She snorted out a laugh and flicked the torch off. Put it aside and stripped off her gloves before she got rid of the helmet. "They were fuckin' with you, dude. I'm Ollie. It's short for Olivia."

"Oh." His mouth quirked. "Makes sense, I guess."

She unzipped the jumpsuit she wore and shrugged out of the top before tying the arms around her waist so it wouldn't slip off. Underneath she had on a Pearl Jam t-shirt, and her hair was pulled back in a bun near the nape of her neck. She had dark eyeliner around her light green eyes, and it had smudged in the heat.

She was pretty. Not drop-dead gorgeous, but with that bright hair and her strong features, she made you want to look twice.

She rubbed at her cheek. "I gotta remember not to wear eye makeup on metal days." She held out her hand and he blinked at it.

"You're new, right? They sent you for the tour? Let me see your schedule."

"Right. Yeah." He handed it to her, and she studied it with an amused tilt to her mouth. "I'm Juice Ortiz, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," she said without looking up. "You're in metal and auto. Cool. Me too. I guess Jax and Opie told you they are, also."

"Uh huh." He paused. "You, uh—" He started to ask her about being a girl in shop, but at the last minute he changed his mind. "I met Tara, too."

"Not surprised. She and Jax are practically grafted at the hip."

He made a low noise.

"Come on," she said. "There's not much to see, but I can at least show you the basics. You're lucky you have free period now. If they'd pulled this shit in actual class it would've been a lot worse."

"They do this a lot?"

"Well, I mean. We don't get many new kids, but for some reason it tickles them." She shrugged. "They're dipshits, but they didn't mean anything by it."

He fell in behind her as she walked, surprised by how fast her short legs ate up the ground. He had maybe five inches on her, and it was a refreshing feeling to look that far down at a girl. She gestured as she talked, pointing out various tool chests, materials, and general supplies. He took it all in, making careful mental note of everything she said, and after a moment they reached a door in the back wall.

"This is sort of—like a break area. Sometimes the fumes get too much, so if you need a breather, come in here. If you get caught outside without a pass it's detention. They'll think you're smoking or gettin' high or some shit."

She waved him inside, and he followed her through the door and into a small, surprisingly clean space with a sprung brown sofa, a Coke machine, and a small table and chairs jammed into one corner.

"You can stay in here as long as you want, but don't, like, take advantage of it. Mr. Collins is cool, but he's not a pushover."

"Yeah, okay," he said as he looked around. There were photos taped over every square inch of wall space, and he stepped closer to study them.

"Student projects," she said. She pointed at one. "Mine. Entered it in the expo last year."

It was another sculpture, kinda similar to the one she'd been working on. This one made more sense, though. It still didn't make anything, not exactly, but it…it reminded him of stuff. He couldn't say what, but he thought maybe that was the point. He didn't say any of that out loud, because it felt completely stupid, so he just nodded.

"Cool," he said.

She handed him his schedule with a brief smile. "Where you from, Ortiz? Not Cali."

"Nah. Queens. New York."

"Long way from home," she said.

"Yup." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and rocked back on his heels. "So you and Opie. You're a thing?"

Her head tilted. "What would give you that idea?"

"I don't know. Jax and Tara—"

"Are Jax and Tara. No, Opie and I aren't together. We're friends. Jax and Ope are like platonic soul mates or some shit, and Tara and I have been best friends since second grade, and Tara and Jax—"

"Are practically grafted at the hip," he said.

"Uh huh. So, I mean. Sort of inevitable I'd be friends with Ope and Jax, too." Her mouth moved in a wicked little curve. "What about you, Ortiz? You got some sweet young thing pinin' for you back in Queens?"

Somehow he managed not to choke. It wouldn't do the new rep he was trying to build any favors if he floundered now. Instead he flashed a cocky smirk and gave an easy shrug. "One or two, I guess."

She laughed, but there wasn't any meanness or mocking in it. "Good for you," she said. "I'm sure the ladies of SanWa South look forward to getting to know you a little better."

"Like you?" he said, eyeing her up and down.

"Sorry, tiger, I'm not exactly on the market. Good try, though. Decent style and execution, and extra points for effort. I mean, I'm not even looking cute right now."

He would argue with that, but he figured she'd just laugh. He wondered who she was going out with, if not Opie. He couldn't imagine she was the type of girl who would date some dumb jock. She seemed too…blunt, maybe.

He lifted his brows in a shrug and smiled at her. "Worth a try," he said.

"Uh huh," she said. "Listen, I need to get back to work. Make yourself comfortable, but you can't use any of the equipment until Mr. Collins clears you. He's really adamant about safety, so don't fuck with him about it."

"Works for me. Really don't wanna saw my arm off or some shit."

"Smart, Ortiz," she said with a quick laugh. "I think you're gonna fit in here just fine."


They had lucked out that year, and the four of them had lunch together for the first time in their high school career. When Olivia got through the line and joined them at their usual table, Jax and Tara were already there, his arm draped lazily over her shoulders. Opie was right behind Olivia, and she scooted into the booth to make room.

Tara grabbed the carton of milk from Olivia's tray and Olivia stole a fry from Opie. He scowled and took her pudding cup, but she'd bought it for him anyway. They all raided the small Tupperware thing of cookies Jax had brought. His mom, they agreed, was the best cook of all their parents—not that that was saying much in Opie and Tara's case, but Olivia's dad at least put in the effort.

"We still on for Saturday?" Tara said to her as they ate. It was the first words any of them had spoken, but they'd been friends so long they didn't really need actual spoken language to communicate anymore.

They had plans to hit the mall in Stockton even though neither of them really had the money to buy anything. It was just an excuse to get out of Charming for the day. "Yup," she said. "I talked my dad into giving us a ride."

Tara rolled her eyes. "We can take the Cutlass, Ollie."

She hesitated, but after a moment she nodded. "Yeah, that's cool. He'll be relieved he's off the hook."

The other three shared a look as Olivia bent her head to eat. It had been four years since her mom's death in a car accident, but she still didn't trust any drivers besides herself or her dad. She'd probably get over it one day, but it didn't look like it'd be any time soon.

"So," Olivia said with a smile, "I met the new guy."

Opie and Jax burst out laughing and Tara scowled. "Did you do the thing?"

"We totally did the thing," Jax said.

"God, you'd think that'd get old," Tara said with a roll of her eyes.

"Fuck no," said Opie. "It's classic. What'd he do?" he said to Olivia.

"Not much. Thought he had the wrong person, but after that he took it mostly in stride." She hesitated and picked at her pizza. "He kind of hit on me."

"Shit," said Jax. "Kid works fast."

"You don't even look cute today," Opie said, something that earned him a kick under the table from Tara. "Ow. I mean. Not as cute as you look some days."

"Fuck you, Winston," she said, unfazed. "Just because I don't push your buttons doesn't mean other guys don't think I'm adorable as shit."

"Yeah, with that mouth you're like a fuckin' cupcake," he said.

"You never complained about my mouth before," she said, sweetly, and he cracked up even as he blushed furiously.

She hadn't lied when she'd told Juice she and Opie weren't a thing: they weren't, but they had been once. Mostly because, like Juice had pointed out, it seemed to line up so perfectly…but ultimately they'd decided they weren't at all right for each other romantically speaking, and now they pretty much just gave each other shit about it at every opportunity.

"I wish you two'd just fuck and get it over with," Jax said.

Their friends hadn't given up hope, however.

"Sorry, Teller. Not gonna happen." She took the last cookie, and when Opie complained she broke it in half and gave him the bigger piece.

"Olivia is currently experimenting, Jax," Tara said. "You know that."

He grunted. "How is Mr. Prom King?"

She frowned. "He wasn't Prom King, Jax, he was—"

"Homecoming King," Opie said. "Yeah, we know. And?"

"And he's fine." She shifted in her seat. She really didn't want to talk about TJ right now. "How about you, Ope? Things okay with Donna?"

He glowered and stabbed at his mashed potatoes with way more violence than they deserved.

"They're off again," Jax said, sotto voce.

Opie glared at him, and Olivia gave his arm a sympathetic pat. "Sorry, bud. I'm sure she'll come around to your singular charms in time."

"It'd help if he didn't smell like a muskox," Jax said.

She leaned closer and sniffed him. "No more muskox-ier than usual."

"I can't smell him at all," Tara said with a grin.

"You guys should take this act on the road," Opie muttered.

"Douche alert," Jax said under his breath.

Olivia turned her head with an annoyed frown, and sure enough TJ Flanary was approaching their table. "Quit being an asshole, Jackson," she said.

"There you are, Olivia," TJ said, an irritated line between his sandy blond brows. "I thought we were having lunch together."

Her mouth fell open. "Um. We were?"

"Yeah? Because I have free period now?" He crossed his arms over his pink Izod polo shirt and glared down his nose at her. "You forgot."

"Nooo…I just…I didn't see you, so I thought you had to study or something."

"Pull up a chair, TJ," Tara said with the too-sweet smile TJ didn't know her well enough to recognize as dangerous. "We'd love for you to join us."

He made a face that he didn't bother to try to hide. "No thanks. Olivia?"

She elbowed Opie until, with a reluctant sigh, he slid out of the booth. TJ caught sight of her tray and his frown deepened.

"That's your lunch?" he said, looking at her pizza and tots like they were crawling with roaches.

"Looks like," she said.

"Throw that shit away. I'll buy you a salad."

She muffled a sigh. "Great," she said. "Sounds yummy."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Jax muttered as they moved out of earshot. "What the fuck is she thinking?"

"No idea," Tara said. "I think it might have something to do with her dad. He's been comin' down on her really hard lately, about her grades and her friends and everything."

"Us?" Opie said.

"We're her friends, Ope," Jax said, dryly.

"He doesn't like her getting close to the club," Tara said. "He thinks SAMCRO's bad news."

"That why she quit at TM?" Jax said.

Up until a month ago Olivia had had an after school job at his family's garage. She was good with the cars, a better mechanic than Jax, really, and since he wanted more time to spend with Tara anyway, he'd been happy to give her his hours. Now she was gone and he was back there slaving away. His mom was happy because she'd had to pay Ollie; as her kid, Jax worked for free.

"Yup," Tara said. "Pretty sure. Anyway, I think she's only dating him because her dad thinks he's 'neat-o keen,'" she said with exaggerated air quotes. She rolled her eyes. "I seriously doubt he's seen him treat her like that."

"We should slash the tires on that douchey little BMW he drives," Opie said.

"Shit like that is exactly why Mr. Gable thinks we're a bad influence," said Tara.

"You're the bad influence, babe," Jax said. "I was a great kid until I started hangin' out with you."

"Please," she said. The first bell rang and they gathered their trays. "See you after?" she said to Jax.

Sometime over the summer she'd decided she wanted to go to college, and a good one, so suddenly she was in a bunch of Honors classes while he and Opie still goofed off in all their basic shit. He had PE next, and she had Spanish III. Opie was off to history, his least favorite.

Jax dropped a kiss on the top of Tara's head and grinned at her. "Sounds good. If you see Ollie, make sure to tell her how much we like her new boyfriend."

"Real Prince motherfuckin' Charming," Opie said.

"Go to class, morons."

She hurried down the hall to her locker and dug out her Spanish book. All of this would be solved if Ollie and Opie would just give it another try. It had been a weird time last year, with Opie's parents' divorce and everything. Yeah, Opie's dad was in the club, and Opie would probably end up there, but there were way worse things than being Opie Winston's old lady.

Like dating TJ Flanary, for one.


Juice had passed Opie and Jax on his way into the cafeteria, and they had greeted each other with nods and complex handshakes that they'd somehow perfected after only a few hours' acquaintance. Juice had laughed with them in metal shop earlier about the whole Ollie/Olivia thing, and he could tell he'd earned points with them over it. It was clear from the way other kids eyed them that they were Somebodies around here, juniors or not.

"You got lunch this period?" Jax said.

"Looks like it."

"Killer. We just got through. Avoid the tacos, man. They were meatloaf yesterday."

Juice made a face. "Yeah, thanks."

"Later, bro," Opie said and clapped him on the back.

They parted ways and Juice paused a moment to study the cafeteria. Back in Queens he usually ate in the computer room, but he was sick of that bullshit. There was a group of guys he recognized from shop, so after he went through the line he dropped his tray at their table and sat down.

Conversation stopped and they looked at him.

"New guy," one of them said with a sneer, "what the fuck you think you're doin'?"

"Having lunch," Juice said.

"Not here you're not," the guy said and rose to his feet.

The kid next to him grabbed his arm and tugged him back into his seat. "He hangs with Teller and Winston," he said. "You saw 'em back in shop. Them and their bitch."

Juice's brow furrowed. "Probably wouldn't be great if Winston and Teller heard you were talkin' about their friend like that."

"What the fuck you know about it, new kid?" he first guy said.

Juice shrugged a shoulder. "I know she's Tara Knowles' best friend, and Tara and Jax are practically grafted at the hip. I also know she used to go out with Opie."

The last bit was a stab in the dark, but during class today he'd noticed something about the way they interacted; they might not be dating now, but he got the sense they knew each other a little better than just platonic buddies.

There was a long silence. Juice waited. Finally the guy shrugged.

"Whatever, man. Sit here if you want. Free goddamn country."

Juice smirked and went back to his pizza. Looked like he'd been right: Jax Teller and Opie Winston were heavies at SanWa South, even as juniors, and somehow Juice had fallen in with them.

His new rep was already halfway made, and he hadn't even done a fuckin' thing.


Welp. Here we go again. This story is going to be COMPLETELY different, tonally, than Come With Me Tonight, largely bc I have no desire to write so much angst again so soon.

A couple things to keep in mind: I haven't taken the SoA crew as we know it and just plunked them into high school. I'm basically doing a flashback-type scenario, so everyone is pretty much the age they would have been when Jax, Tara, and Ope were teenagers. Which means this takes place in the 90s. I've adjusted a little for age: made Juice younger so that he's the same age, and actually made them all a bit younger so that this could take place in the late 90s since I wanted easy access to computers and the internet.

Um, obvs it's an AU. So I know this isn't how Juice came to Charming or anything. :) And I've changed Olivia's backstory, too, so that it fits in better with this AU; keen-eyed readers will recall that before she went on the run her name was Audra Munro. I honestly thought that was too damn confusing, so she's Olivia Gable here, as though the other name didn't exist. Also notice the rating: while the first several chapters it'll mostly be for language, it'll be for some other things on down the road.

Just a request, lovely readers, that if this is piquing your interests and you'd like to read more, reviews always help get my Muse fired up. :)