New Jersey was nothing like Hawaii. There is no palm trees, no beaches (great, which means no surfing), all they have is the stupid canned pineapple stuff, nothing like at home, and hardly any sunlight, just grey skies. Basically, this is Steve's idea of hell. Who would want to live somewhere where it's cold all the time? Aunt May's house smells nothing like home, either. Steve's mom used to make the house smell of vanilla, Steve's favorite scent, all the time. Man, he missed her. She was Steve's best friend. They basically did everything together when she wasn't working as a kindergarten teacher. Being the star quarterback you'd think Steve was the popular type but nope. He had one friend, Catherine, who is back in Hawaii. Not here. Steve still can't wrap his head around the fact that dad just sent them away, with just a pat on the back and "goodbye Steve". It's only been three months since mom's death and everything Steve's ever known is gone.
Soft, small footsteps break Steve out of his reverie. He immediately shoots out of bed and goes to the door of his new bedroom (it's so much different from the one back home. Boxes still filled the area.) "Mary?" Steve whispers as he opens the door and finds little 9 year old Mary standing in the doorway. He kneels down in front of her. "What're you doing up this late, kiddo?" Steve brushes a stray hair behind Mary's tiny little ear.
"I had a nightmare."
"It was the same one, wasn't it?" Mary shuffles her feet and nods.
She's been having the same nightmare ever since mom died. The first couple of weeks Steve would rock her to bed humming lullabies while dad was most likely out getting drunk, or in a bar fight. Their dad never seemed around after mom's death. It was like that was the last straw and he just couldn't take it anymore. Steve couldn't imagine what dad was feeling. He would always say mom was the love of his life.
Steve lets out a quiet sigh and grabs her hand. "How about you sleep in my bed with me tonight, huh? It's really big." Steve counts it as a victory when Mary's face shows a hint of a smile. She rushes forward and wraps her tiny little arms around her brother's neck, giving a sloppy kiss on Steve's cheek. "Love you Stevie."
Steve stands up and carries Mary back to his bed, edging the door closed with his foot. "Love you too, mare."
Steve woke to a warm weight on top of him and a light snoring in his ear. Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed the light had barely shown through the black, old-looking curtains. Damn, he needed to get those changed. Gently he eased himself out of the bed, careful of waking Mary and tip-toed outside of the room. Steve padded into the kitchen with only his boxers and a t-shirt on.
"Good morning, Steve. How'd you sleep?" Aunt May asked from where she was making eggs.
Steve made his way over to the stool and buried his head in his hands. "Okay, I guess. Mary had a nightmare and got scared so I let her sleep in my bed."
He heard silence and after a few moments looked up to see Aunt May frowning, with a sad look in her eyes. "It's so sad. It's just so much to take on for a 9 year old. Moving away from home..." The unspoken 'Losing her mother and having her father be a drunk who can't take care of his kids anymore so he sends them off to the mainland.' "The nightmares will probably go away eventually. She'll learn to cope."
"Yeah," Steve sighed. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked everywhere but at Aunt May. Steve silently begged for the subject to be dropped.
As if on cue, Aunt May clears her throat and pushes a plate of freshly cooked eyes and a glass of milk in front of Steve saying, "Eat up. It's your first day of school!"
Great. School. New people, new teachers, and new classes. Could it get any worse?
Steve dug into his meal, was in and out of the shower, and changed in 30 minutes. He trudged down the stairs to find Aunt May standing by the door with little Mary holding her hand, looking like she was about to fall over. Steve laughed quietly and walked over.
"I'll take her." Steve picked her up and settled Mary on his hip. Mary immediately laid her head on Steve's shoulder. "Still tired, huh, kiddo?"
"Normal people don't wake up this early," was the muffled reply.
Steve looked up at Aunt May, "She's not a morning person."
Aunt may shook her head laughing and walked out to the car, Steve following with Mary.
After spending 5 minutes trying to detach Mary from Steve's chest, he closed the door to the backseat of Aunt May's Silver Sedan and hopped in the front seat, buckling up his seatbelt. Steve turned around and already found Mary fast asleep in her car seat. Smiling slightly at how cute and peaceful she looked in her sleep Steve turned around and was ready to face the day. Hopefully.
"Do you want me to go in and show you around first or do you think you'll be alright finding the office?"
Steve looked outside the window and there was a big grey building with hundreds of teenagers, all dressed differently, and roaming around the school grounds. This school is way bigger the Kukui High.
"I think I'll be okay." Steve answered, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice.
Aunt May looked at him thoughtfully for a minute, "Okay. I'll be here to pick you up in this same exact spot when schools out."
Steve nodded and looked in the backseat to find Mary still asleep. Deciding not to bug her he turned back to Aunt May. "Tell her Stevie loves her when she wakes up."
Aunt May nods. "Stevie a nickname she made up for you?"
"Yeah. It's something special between us, Y'know? It makes her happy and I'd do anything to keep her happy."
Aunt May smiles knowingly and says, "Well you better hurry up." Steve unbuckles his seat belt and hops out of the car, trying to balance himself when he hits a patch of ice. Damn this New Jersey weather.
"Thanks Aunt May." Steve smiles up at her nervously.
"You'll do fine, Steve. You're a good kid; you'll make friends in no time."
Steve just nodded and waved goodbye as he walked up the steps into the high school. The halls filled with noises of hundreds and hundreds of teens talking a mile a minute. Trying to make his way through the cramped hallways Steve finally made it to the main office.
It was much quieter. A dark haired lady who looked about 50 sat at the main desk. "Are you the Steve McGarrett who May told us about?"
Steve nodded and shoved his hands in his pocket.
The dark haired lady just smiled, "I'll get you your schedule and we'll show you around to your classes once the bell rings. You can sit in one of the chairs over there." She stood up and pointed across the room where Steve turned to find a blonde haired boy sitting down. He crossed the room and sat two seats away from the boy. Dropping his hands in his lap, Steve sighed and waited.
"Y'know, Steve, anyone who didn't know would think you're about to enter the principal's office because you punched a kid out in the cafeteria."
Steve turned to find two blue eyes belonging to the blonde staring straight at him. There was a slight turn to his lips. Right when Steve was about to reply when a loud bell rang (Must be the bell for 1st period.)And as if on cue the dark haired lady walked back in the room with a two papers in her hand. "Okay, Steve-" She stopped and noticed Danny sitting two seats away. "Danny Williams. I thought I told you I didn't want to see you here again, seeing as the last time you were in trouble."
"Awe, I missed you though, Linda. I just couldn't go a day without seeing your beautiful face. You know what it does to me." The blonde, Danny, smiled adoringly up at the dark haired lady, Linda.
"Danny." Linda frowned, silently telling Danny to cut the act.
"Calm down. Mr. Brock called me down for some reason. He's got something for me to do in order to make up for some of the suspension I did during 2nd quarter." Linda continued to frown at Danny. "I'm not in trouble, I swear. I have changed, Y'know."
"You were suspended?" Steve interrupted. This Danny guy didn't look like someone who'd get into trouble. Then again, don't judge a book by its cover.
Danny turned his head towards to Steve and smirked, "Nothing you need to know about, big guy."
Linda shook her head and handed the papers to Steve. "Here's your schedule, sweetie. The classes should be easy to find. If you need help the principal can assign a student to help you out. Y'know gets a feel for the school so you don't feel so lost all the time."
Steve looked down at two papers.
A DAY:
1st: AP chemistry
2nd: Pre-Calculus
3rd: Drawing 3
4th: Physical Education
B DAY:
5th: World History
6th: Journalism
7th: AP English
8th: Study Hall
The schedule didn't look that bad. Steve was glad he could get into the some of the same classes he was in during the beginning of his junior year back at kukui high.
"Thanks Ma'am," Steve smiled slightly.
"No problem, sweetie. Let me know if you need any help."
Steve nodded and she retreated back to her desk. Still sitting down, Steve tapped his knee nervously. Finally facing his fear he got up and left the main office and headed down the hall to find his first class.
