Disclaimer: While I do enjoy taking characters from popular television shows (and not-so popular occasionally) and twisting their lives, it certainly doesn't mean that I own them. If you don't recognize the character, however, either you don't watch the show enough or they belong to me. Word.

Brian Cassidy: The High School Years

Chapter 1

"All right, who needs a ride whose name is not Brian Cassidy because he lives exactly on the opposite side of the middle of nowhere?" The sentence was spoken very quickly and loudly by a teenage girl who stood in the center of a crowd of students, holding car keys over her head.

"Me!" The answer resounded in the small area as three of her friends called out.

"Hey!" Another protested, looking slightly hurt. "What if I need a ride?"

The first speaker turned to him.

"Well then you'd be getting it from someone else. And do you?"

"Well no, but-"

"And that, Brian, is why you shouldn't open your mouth." An average-height brown haired boy slung an arm across Brian's shoulders. "The chicks'll always school ya."

"So true." One of the girls who claimed to need a ride nodded knowingly. "You should know that by now."

"Yeah, that's right, I'm a real dope, aren't I?" Brian narrowed his eyes playfully. "Stupid Brian, always being a moron, right?"

"Precisely." The rest of the group chimed, used to the act. "And that's why you'll never amount to anything."

It was silent for all of two seconds before everyone burst out laughing.

"All right, let's get a move on." Sara, the one with the keys, suggested, a smile still playing on her lips. "Some of us have places to be."

"Oh yeah? Like where?" The boy still attached to Brian teased. "In front of your TV?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis and I have a date at three. So, if we could hurry this along...?"

"Hm, I think I might just join you..." One of the boys, Julian, drawled.

"Don't you, like, have a boyfriend?" Krysta swatted at him playfully.

"You mean the one that was absent today and therefore left me deprived all day of his hotness? Yes, I do."

Sara rolled her eyes.

"Ooh, I'm so telling Carson you said that!" she yelped, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"You would not!" Julian gasped in mock horror.

"Oh yes I would! Now, can we please get a move on here? I refuse to miss the standard opening quip just because you people refuse to get your pretty little asses in gear."

"Of course, Sara. We wouldn't want you to miss that." The sarcasm that dripped from the words was apparent to all, but still playful.

"All right, then. Let's go!" Sara made her way through a crowd of people standing in front of the door and pushed out to her car, followed by Krysta, Mark, and Julian. Brian was left standing there, alone, a smile playing on his lips.