Stereotype THIS!
A/N- Modern day high school fic! I know this has been done several thousand times already! What can I say, I wrote it and I liked it so I'm going to post it! It's my first Newsies or slash fic. Yeah, I'm a newbie! Plus, it'll be the first story I've posted in almost two and a half years! Please be nice to me! I'm only a poor Jersey cheerleader who has no life!
Note- Blink's P.O.V! Blink/Mush slash! Modern day and stereotype-ness. Don't own Newsies. ::sighs:: I wish I did! Where's a shooting star when you need one?
Plus- Uber thanks to Layne-chan for editing this for me! You rock girlie!
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I'll be a senior when school starts up again in September and I've only learned one thing: stereotypes suck. No, I mean seriously suck. When you go to a high school and the only thing anyone cares about is "who's screwing who" or "who we're playing at the Varsity football game" or, my personal favorite, "who is that freak hanging out with?" how can you expect to learn anything?
Not that I'm complaining. Everyone knows you don't go to high school to learn!
I played football my freshmen year, so I guess you can say I'm a former prep. I stress the former. I didn't mind playing the sport or the popularity that came with it. It was great until the summer between my freshmen and sophomore year. I got into a freak car accident, which left me blind in one eye. I knew the second I opened my eyes and couldn't see clearly that my days of playing football were over. I didn't even bother trying out for the JV team the next year. All the guys I met during football deserted me. Pretty soon, nobody was talking to me at all. I became a loner, or at least that what's everyone else called me. That was my stereotype and I knew I could never get away from it.
That was, until I met him. It was the second half of sophomore year, and he switched into my web page design class. I know my jaw dropped when I first saw him. He was just adorable! He had the biggest smile on his face and went up to the teacher and said he had switched into this class. The teacher asked for him name and told him to pick a seat. He looked around. I noted that there was an empty seat on my side of me. The wall was on the other. I took the seat in the back corner of the room the first day of the school year. I knew nobody wanted to be around me, since I was a loner and it would ruin their reputations.
"Mind if I sit here?" His voice broke me away from my train of thought. I was too shocked to say anything. He just smiled and sat down, not caring whether I minded or not. He introduced himself as Mike, but said I could call him Mush if I wanted. I just said, "Blink" as a way of introduction and then stared back at my computer screen. I watched Mush out of the corner or my eye for the rest of the period.
Nicknames are popular in my school. Whether you are a prep, a punk, or a druggie, you have a nickname. It's just the way things work here. They started calling me Blink behind my back the first day of school sophomore year. I just took a liking to the name. It fit me and was better than nothing.
I slowly started falling in love with him that year. I had known I liked guys more than girls since 8th grade, but I just kept it to myself. He made me smile, which is something I hadn't done for months before I met him. I started talking to him and we started hanging out. We were in the same grade all this time and I had never met him before. He didn't play any sports or belong to any cliques; he just kinda hung out and surfed. He surfed during the summer and snowboarded during the winter.
Last summer we spent almost all of our time together. He taught me to surf and it was the most fun I'd had in a long time. Plus, I got to see him with his shirt off on a daily basis. The ocean was warm enough to go in without wetsuits, which made it even more fun! I wasn't disappointed! He told me that I was a great person and he asked why I didn't have any friends when he met me. I told him the story about how I used to play football and then got into the accident. He told me that he didn't think it should matter, that I was still a great person no matter what.
I was so close to telling him my feeling so many times that summer, but I never had the nerve to.
I was only in school for a week this year and there was already a home Varsity football game. I hadn't been to one in over a year, but Mush convinced me to go. I got my license over the summer and picked him up at seven to go to the game. We sat in silence for half of the ride there. I finally broke the uncomfortable quiet. "Mush, I'm scared. I haven't been to a football game since I was a freshmen! I'm not one of them anymore. I never felt the need to go to another game." He just grinned.
"Then this should be fun for you Blink! Varsity games are always a lot of fun! Nobody cares about anything other than who has the damn football! It gets hectic and crazy and insane! This is what high school's all about!" He laughed a little and then grinned an even wider smile. "You shouldn't let what people stereotype you as bother you Blink." I almost drove through the red light. Whoa! Timeout! What?! Where did that come from?! I didn't care what other people stereotyped me as, did I? No, of course I didn't! Okay, fine. Maybe I did. I cared a lot.
Mush noted the look on my face and started to explain. "I can tell you care about what other people think. You may not admit to yourself that you do, but I know that somewhere in your heart you care a lot more than you'll let onto! Ever since I've met you, you've always brought up the fact that you used to be a prep and now you think you're considered a loner. It doesn't matter what the rest of the school stereotypes you as! It shouldn't matter if they think you're a stoner or a freak! Is that why you haven't been to a football game? Were you afraid about what other people would say if they saw you there?" Oh boy, that hit the nail on the head!
"Yeah, I guess you're right, like always. I guess I haven't been to a football game because I was worried about what the guys I used to play with would say to me. I guess I shouldn't care that I'm stereotyped as a loner or a freak." I looked at him and I felt my heart stop. He was so beautiful. I love him so much! I wish I could tell him that.
"Promise me from now on you won't care what other people think about you! Promise that you'll forget about our school's useless stereotypes and just go enjoy your life?!"
"I promise." He grinned and put his hand over mine. I jumped, which made him pull his hand away. Oh man! Why'd I have to jump like that?! Talk about ruining the moment!
We pulled into the school parking lot, bought our tickets, and walked to the field. There were so many people there! Groups of people! There were so many different kinds of people there, it was surprising! Mush grabbed my hand and led me to the bleachers where we sat down. The band started to play and the cheerleaders started to dance. Looks like the game has already started!
At the end of the first quarter, we were winning 13 to nothing after scoring two touchdowns and missing one extra point. We went to go get something to eat. We were both hungry and knew that we would win this game anyway. Fifteen minutes away from the action wouldn't kill us!
As we were waiting in line, I reached into my pocket and realized that I'd left my money in the car. Mush said he would come with me to go and get it. We left the line and walked out into the parking lot. We both reached for the door at the same time and our hands brushed. We both blushed. I felt like I had to say it now, with nobody around in the middle of a parking lot. I opened my mouth to start when I heard the school's fight song from a distance. The second quarter must have started and we must have already scored another touchdown. This would be the perfect time. Nobody in their right mind would be out in the parking lot to see us. I took a deep breath and finally worked up the courage to talk.
"Mush." He looked at me. "Um, I was thinking about what you said earlier about stereotypes and all that. I know they shouldn't matter as much as I think they do. You spoke like you really cared about me and it made me work up the courage to tell you what I've wanted to for a long time. I'm in love with you. I have been ever since I saw you walk into web page design sophomore year. I know you'll think I'm even more of a freak…" I stopped when I felt his mouth on mine. My eyes widened and then closed. We separated to breathe and I looked into his gorgeous brown eyes. They mirrored mine with affection.
"I love you too." And with those four simple words, I felt like my life was complete.
Ever since that night, Mush and I have been dating. So now it's the summer between junior and senior year of high school and I have already met the love of my life. The whole school knows about us, but neither one of us care. They call us rude names and we're both stereotyped as "Fag Freaks." Like Mush said, stereotypes should mean nothing. I took his advice. It doesn't bother me what they call us or what they think about us. All I know is that I'm happy. And the worst thing about it is that I almost didn't talk to him because of the stupid stereotypes our school has put on us!
So a note to all of you people who giggle and gossip and put people down: Stereotype THIS!
Ending Note- It wasn't TOO bad, was it? So what the idea was unoriginal, I tried. You can review if you want. I like good reviews! ::grins:: But, if you didn't like it, you can tell me what I need to do different. Er…constructive criticism! I can only get better because they don't come much worse than this…