John Shepard squeezed the hand of his twin sister, Jane, as they stared at the waiting school bus picking up the students of the prestigious Citadel Academy. Other students were already boarding, but the Shepard twins remained fixed to the spot. Despite years of having been the more aggressive and protective of the two, John knew HE was far more frightened of the bus than his sister was.
John was a few inches taller than his sister, with extremely short cropped auburn hair and dark green eyes. His eyes were more sunken than his sisters, and the bridge of his nose was flatter. He had a small scar going up from his forehead from an accident with his father's omni-tool as a kid.
Jane by contrast had green eyes and red hair, though she shared her brother's fair skin, angular jaw, and rounded chin. A small scar showed from underneath her left eyebrow, the result of a very bad day back in the beginning of eighth grade.
Jane looked to her brother, her elder by a mere two minutes. She was a little nervous for her first day of high school (and not just any high school, but one of the most esteemed and exclusive high schools in the galaxy.), but John was clearly terrified.
They couldn't just stand around at the bus stop forever though, and John clearly wasn't going to snap out of it anytime soon. so Jane took it upon herself to get them moving.
"Ready?" she asked him.
He let out a shaky breath she realized he must have been holding. Still uncertain, he nodded.
"Let's do this," he said, his old confidence returning.
She gave his hand one more reassuring squeeze, and then released her grip. She adjusted her N7 hoodie their father had bought her, John pulled his jacket tight, and the two boarded the bus.
The bus was crowded, full of kids of numerous different ages and species. Because they'd been late to board, there were no seats left that would allow the twins to sit together. They exchanged a glance.
Since birth, the twins had done everything together. They slept in the same room, they'd gone to the same schools, had all the same friends, shared the same hobbies. They were inseparable; the constant in each other lives with their parents careers requiring frequent relocation.
"It'll be fine," Jane said, as much to herself as her brother. He nodded, and the twins separated.
Jane walked down the aisle, looking for an open seat. She found a turian boy sitting alone staring out the window, dressed in blue and black and fiddling with some kind of device in his taloned hands.
"Can I sit here?" she asked him, trying to suppress her nervousness.
The turian barely glanced in her direction.
"Hn?" he mumbled, extremely distracted. "Yeah. Sure."
He scooted to the side slightly to make room for her, and then turned his attention to the small device in his hand.
Jane sat, carefully not to accidentally bump the turian. She sat, and what felt to her like an awkward silence settled in between her and her seat neighbor as the bus began moving. She tried to distract herself, hoping not to stare. But eventually, she gave in.
She'd never seen a turian up close before, and now here one was sitting next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked him over from fringe to talon to toe. She remembered when she'd first seen a turian in a vid, she'd been terrified, thought they looked like monsters. Long since passed those adolescent fears, she found them actually quite cool to look at. The fringe, the talons, the metallic plates and sharp angled mandibles all made them look fierce, predatory, and more than a little badass.
Her eyes fell on the small device the turian was fiddling with.
"Watch'ya got there?" she asked him, trying to start conversation.
He looked up, noticing her for the first time. He gave her a sideways look and his mandibles clicked. Jane saw him look her over, much the same way she had him. She had no idea how to read turian facial expression (could they even make facial expressions?), but he looked unimpressed.
"It's a targeting visor," he explained. "My father gave it to me, since I officially join the service next year."
She nodded, and the silence returned. But Jane was not one to give up easily. Even as the turian dismissed the conversation as over and returned to his work, she persisted.
"So what are you doing with it?" she asked him.
The turian boy let out an exasperated sigh. His frustration with his visor pulled him back in.
"The damn thing's not working right," he said. "I think it's miscalibrated or something. I can't fix it."
Now Jane's curiosity and competitive nature got the better of her. She reached over to grab the visor from his hand, and he reflexive recoiled at the slightest touch. She met his eyes, smiling.
"Relax," she said, her hand slowly gripping the deactivated visor. "I won't break it."
Reluctantly, the turian released his grip on the visor, giving the human girl free reign with his visor. Jane held it up, examining it. She looked to device, the owner, and back again. She fiddled with the controls on it, her tongue poking out slightly as she grew focused.
Finally, the visor blipped to life, the digital lens glowing blue. Jane gave a satisfied smirk and the turian's eyes widened. Jane raised the visor up, placing it on the turian's face and adjusting it until it was secure. Her fingers brushed the fringe of his head and the plates of his face as she slowly pulled her hand away. She was only slow in pulling away in case the visor fell off and she had to catch it, but something about the click of the turian's mandibles made Jane suspect he had gotten a different impression.
"How's that?" she asked him.
He stared into space for a few brief moments, mouth slightly agape. Finally, he cleared his throat, producing a deep clanging effect in doing so, and spoke.
"It... it's perfect!" he said, shocked. "How did you do that?"
Jane shrugged. "I'm pretty good with tech."
The turian nodded, and sat back in the seat.
"Thanks," he said. "I'm Garrus, by the way. Garrus Vakarian."
Jane gave a tentative smile. "Jane Shepard."
Kaidan Alenko was anxious to get off the bus. The guy sitting next to him made him feel a little uneasy, what with the black and red N7 jacket, the extremely short cropped hair, and that subtle fire in his eyes that said he was dangerous.
Neither of them said a word to each other the entire bus ride, and Kaidan was just fine with that. They finally reached Citadel Academy, and the bus came to a halt. The students flowed out, and Kaidan was glad to lose his seat mate in the ensuing crowd.
He was still entering the school, walking and minding his own business. And then he heard it.
"Hey! Cut it out!"
Kaidan instinctively turned to see what was going on. As other students milled past into the school, a boy leaning on one crutch groped for his other crutch, which was held just out of reach by a young but still beefy krogan with still forming grey forehead plates. The krogan was laughing, tauntingly holding the crutch high and out of reach.
Kaidan was suddenly furious, all thoughts of getting to class abandoned. If there was one thing Alenko hated, it was bullies. He stormed right up to the krogan, fuming.
"Hey!" Kaidan said, getting the krogan's attention. The victimized boy stopped his fruitless attempts to regain his second crutch, and the adolescent krogan turned to face Kaidan, a devilish grin slowly spreading across his wide face. Kaidan felt some of his courage disappear as his eyes saw the equivalent of biceps which were about as big around as his head.
Steeling himself, Kaidan confronted him. "Leave him alone."
The kid who'd had his crutch stolen stared with eyes wide and mouth agape as the krogan and Kaidan stared each other down.
"What are you going to do if I don't," the krogan asked, "Human?" The krogan added the word "human" on, saying it as if it were an insult.
When Kaidan didn't immediately respond, the krogan shoved him back and hurled the crutch back at his original victim. It struck the boy in the chest, knocking him off balance and eventually crashing to the floor.
"Ow…" he groaned.
The krogan laughed at the two sprawled humans, clearly enjoying the sight of their misery. He made a show of pretending to dust off the white armor he wore, looking at the humans with contempt.
"You humans are all alike," he said smiling. "Talk big, but when push comes to shove, you go soft."
"Hey!" a new voice interrupted.
The krogan turned, and Kaidan looked up to see the boy who'd sat next to him during the bus ride. The boy with the N7 jacket fearlessly approached the krogan, fists clenched. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
"Out of my face," the krogan retorted, shoving the boy hard. Kaidan actually heard the impact, and cringed as the boy staggered back. Surprisingly though, the boy did not fall, and glared at the krogan who was walking away.
"Hey!" the boy repeated, stalking toward the krogan. The krogan turned around, surprised the human had come back for more. "You forgot something!"
And then Kaidan watched the boy headbutt the krogan on the still forming head plates, actually staggering the behemoth. He followed by delivered a right hook that made the krogan stumble backward, and a final kick which knocked the massive alien juvenile onto his back.
"Next time," the boy said, seething, "Pick on someone your own size."
And then the boy stalked off, headed to class, his movements angry and radiating a challenge that no one dare take.
The krogan got up to his feet, dusted himself off for real this time, and stomped off, muttering to himself about "stupid, smelly primates,".
Kaidan got up, and assisted the disabled boy in doing so as well.
The boy adjusted himself on his crutches. "That jerk…" he muttered. "Why would they even let krogan into this school?"
"They're probably trying not to be racist," Kaidan figured.
"Yeah well if I see a vorcha trying to steal my lunch, I am out," the kid complained. "Stupid krogan…"
"You know, not all krogan are bad," Kaidan said. "Some of them are even kind of…civilized."
"Yeah," the boy scoffed sarcastically. "And sometimes starhips can talk. Thanks for everything man, see you around."
The boy hobbled off on his crutches. Before he could go completely out of earshot, Kaidan called out. "It's Kaidan, by the way."
The boy stopped, looked back over his shoulder. "Jeff Moreau," he introduced, and then resumed hobbling away. As he did, he added over his shoulder, "Most people call me Joker!"
Kaidan watched the boy disappear into the crowd. "Joker, huh?" He shrugged, and followed the flow of students into the school.
"I don't want to," Ashley repeated as her mother drove her to school.
"Ashley…" the elder Williams woman began.
"I'm serious, I don't want to!" she repeated. "Why did we have to move to the Citadel? Why couldn't I have just stay back home, lived with Sam and her parents? You know, so I could go to high school with my friends."
Her mother shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, Ashley. You'll just have to try and make new friends."
Ashley crossed her arms and glared out the window. "Yeah, sure. School full of aliens, I'll make tons of friends," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Probably be kissing turians by the end of the month."
"Quit being so dramatic," her mother chided. "We'll visit Earth over the summer, you can go on back during every break. Stay in touch with your friends, try to make new ones. It'll be fine."
"I should just run off with the first guy who can get me back to Earth," Ashley said, ignoring her mother's advice.
"And you know what your father would say about that," her mother reminded.
Ashley did her best impression of her father's voice, though it wasn't a very good one. "'Go on ahead, I'll pack your damn bags for you!'."
Ashley sighed, just the memory of her father's words curbing her anger. "I miss home, Mom," she said, in a much more gentle voice this time.
Her mother sighed as well as she pulled up to Citadel Academy. "This is home now Ashley. This is home."
Ashley nodded sullenly, and slid out of the skycar. She walked towards the entrance to the school as her mother said a quick goodbye and flew off. Ashley stopped and turned to watch the car go, and then she was alone. Steeling herself for what she figured was going to be the worst day of her life, she entered the building.
Two thousand words and yet another idea has been born. Sorry. After a (brain meltingly long) Mass Effect marathon (both gaming and fanfic reading) I HAD to write something for this fandom. And well…this idea came to me.
To any fans of my other stories, I am not abandoning them (Well, at least not Jacob Jackson or Miguel O'Hara). Just warming up the old keyboard and getting back into the swing of things. I'm going to have a very writing filled summer.
Anyway, onto this story itself. I couldn't decide between male shepard and femshep, so I went with both. It works. Garrus, Ashley, Kaidan, and Joker have all been introduced, hopefully in a satisfactory way.
There were subtle references to the game sprinkled throughout, in hopes they would be appreciated. For now this storyline will stick to more basic high school ordeals, though later on I may transition into a more action storyline. Who knows. Depends on how long I can keep this baby afloat.
At any rate…how'd I do?