DISCLAIMER: CBS own all rights to CSI but I own all rights to Lexxi Seymour, and the made up characters. I would give anything to own the lovely Mr Sanders…hint hint CBS.
A/N: This is a teen fic so the CSI characters and the extra characters I added are all seventeen years old.
SUMMARY: Lexxi Seymour is the new girl but she's already a 'Popular'. Greg Sanders is one of the 'Geeks' but when he's assigned to tutor Lexxi in science, he finds out that Lexxi used to be a 'Geek' before moving to Vegas. They start to make friends and Lexxi decides to try and make him popular but ends up hurting him instead. Can Lexxi make it up to Greg and what will the consequences of her actions be?
WARNING: Contains some swearing.
TITLE: Popularity Pains
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Chapter 1 – Of 'Dorks' and 'Populars'
The definition of popular is; 'regarded with favour, approval, or affection by people in general'. The definition of geek is; 'a peculiar or otherwise dislikeable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.'
Gregory Hojem Sanders was a 'Geek', overly intelligent with few close friends. He was constantly made fun of by the 'Populars' and teased by the 'Jocks' and the only people that would speak to him were the other 'Geeks'. He was a shy individual who rarely spoke up for himself, settling instead, on revising and studying. He was captain of the chess team which also didn't earn him any popularity points but he didn't care; he was proud to call himself captain. He came from a family of Norwegian descent; his grandparents on his mother's side had been tossed out of Norway when his grandfather had gotten his grandmother pregnant before they were married. They now lived in Vegas, in the same house as Greg and his parents. He was an only child and naturally his mother, Eleanor Sanders, was very protective of him. That was the main reason that he was captain of the chess team, she didn't allow him to play 'touch team sports' and if he so much as got a nosebleed, she tried to take him to hospital. Greg's father, David Sanders, was born and raised in California but had moved to Vegas with Eleanor when Greg was four years old. Now they lived in a three bed roomed, two-storey house with a garden, a driveway and a small swimming pool. They weren't a rich family but at the same time, they weren't poor. They were also very proud of their son, who had seemed like a godsend after the first three children they had had, passed away at the ages of three weeks, two months and 1 year.
Lexxi Graciana Seymour was a 'Popular', not the cleverest person in the school but one of the best dressed with lots of friends. She was also the newest girl at Vegas Academy but that didn't matter as she had been instantly taken in by the 'Populars' because of her long blonde hair, thin appearance and sparkly hazel eyes. Part of her job as a 'Popular' was to make fun of the 'Geeks' and although she sometimes felt a little sad at the way they were treated, she never felt any remorse at what she was doing. She came from a fairly wealthy family and lived in a five bed roomed, three-storey house with a front and back garden, a garage big enough to fit in four cars and a swimming pool. She was one of four children, having a sister and two brothers. Her younger brother, Macario, was fifteen, her older sister, Marisol, was nineteen and her oldest brother, Manuel, was twenty one. Manuel didn't live at home with them; he had his own apartment and was married with a wife called, Emily and a seven month old daughter called Ruby. Lexxi's mother, Esmeralda, was from Spain but had moved to Los Angeles when she had met Jason Seymour whilst vacationing in LA. Her grandparents on her mother's side still lived in Spain and her father's parent's lived in LA so she didn't see them very often but wrote letters and called them on the phone frequently. To her parent's she was a grown up, responsible young woman and for her seventeenth birthday they had bought her a car of her own so that she didn't have to borrow theirs all the time. They were always talking about how proud they were of all their children; little did they know that Lexxi wasn't a perfect, conscientious student at all.
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"Lexxi hurry up, you'll be late for school!" Esmeralda Seymour stood at the bottom of the second flight of stairs, shouting up to her youngest daughter.
Lexxi appeared at the top of the stairs, an annoyed look on her face. "Sorry mom but I can't find my bag."
"Well you won't, it's on the dining table where you left it last night." Her mother happily pointed out as she turned and headed down the other stairs and into the kitchen.
Lexxi followed behind her and walked into the dining room, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Sorry, I meant to take it upstairs last night but forgot."
"Don't worry about it, have you got everything?" Lexxi nodded but Esmeralda went through her checklist anyway. "Science folder?"
"Yep, it's in my bag." She smiled at her mother.
"Maths folder?"
"In my locker at school."
"Lunch?" Lexxi picked up the brown, paper bag and held it up in front of her mother. "Car keys?" Sticking her other hand into her pocket, Lexxi pulled out a set of car keys. "Ok then, have a nice day…have you said goodbye to your father yet?" Lexxi shook her head. "Well you'd better tell him now, he's working late tonight and you might not see him when he gets home." Her father worked as a surgeon so he often worked strange and demanding shifts as opposed to her mother who was a community pharmacist.
"Ok, I'll tell him on the way out." Esmeralda smiled and nodded then Lexxi leaned over and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you later madre." With that she left the room and walked into the lounge to find her father reading the newspaper. "Dad?"
"Yes dear?" He continued reading but looked up when she didn't answer. "Lexxi?"
"Hmm?" She snapped out of her trance and looked down at him. "Sorry, umm…I'm off to school so have a nice day."
"I will sweetheart, you too…be careful." She smiled and nodded then kissed him on the cheek and left the house.
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"Gregory Hojem Sanders, would you hurry up and get down here!" Eleanor shouted up to her only son. He appeared at the top of the stairs with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, a comb in one hand and a pot of hair gel in the other. "Hurry up, you'll miss the bus." He nodded and went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready as she rolled her eyes and walked into the open plan kitchen/dining room. "I swear that boy is always on the last minute."
"Hmm, he definitely takes after my dad; he was always on the last minute." Eleanor nodded and started to put Greg's lunch in a bag for him, writing his name on the front in her cursive handwriting.
"He certainly does but saying that, you're always on the last minute too. At least if he misses the bus, one of us can take him." Eleanor and David owned their own restaurant and although it didn't bring in as much money as careers in medicine did, it brought them happiness and enough money to get by.
"Hmm, at this rate I think one of us is gonna have to." She smiled at her husband as he continued reading his newspaper.
Five minutes later, Greg walked into the kitchen and laughed when his mother sighed. "Gregory, do you have to spike I up like that?" She rolled her eyes and moved towards him, intending to smooth his hair down.
"Mom, it took me ages to stick it up, don't flatten it." He complained as he dodged his mother's hands.
Eventually she gave up and looked at her husband. "Definitely takes after you." Her husband lowered his newspaper and she laughed when she realised that, like Greg, David's hair was also partially spiked. "You'd better go; you'll miss the bus and don't forget, you're Grandma and Grandpa get back on Thursday."
Greg nodded and walked into the dining room to retrieve his bag. He slung it over his shoulder and walked back into the kitchen then kissed his mother on the cheek and smiled. "See you later mom."
"Yes, see you tonight. Have you got your door keys, we don't want you getting locked out?"
He shook his head. "No, they're in the bowl near the door; I'll get 'em on my way out."
She nodded and handed him the paper bag. "Ok, have a nice day."
"I will. See you later dad."
His father looked up from his newspaper and smiled. "See you tonight son." Greg smiled and headed out of the kitchen and out of the front door, picking his keys up as he left.
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"Stupid, goddamn locker." Greg cursed under his breath, desperately trying to open his locker to get his stuff out in time for class. He turned the dial and tried to open it but it was stuck fast. He looked around, trying to be discrete about the situation but his face fell even more when he saw the popular kids stood near the fountain. "Wonderful, can today get any worse?" As soon as he had finished asking that, his locker door swung open and papers went flying in all directions…just as the 'Populars' walked past.
"Aww, look at the little 'Geek' dropping all his stuff." Clarissa laughed and kicked some of the papers out of his way as he knelt down and tried to grab them.
"You're such a loser Gary." Marissa smirked at him then smiled at her sister. Marissa and Clarissa were the richest kids in school; they were also the bitchiest kids in school.
"My name's Greg." He looked up at them then regretted his statement and looked down at the floor again.
"Like we care." They both giggled and kicked some more of his papers, sending his maths homework down the hall.
"Oh, hey dork…you want some help?" Lexxi looked down at him and he smiled, not picking up on her sarcasm.
"Sure, that'd be nice." They all laughed again and he looked up confused.
"Tough luck loser." She flicked her hair and turned to face Clarissa and Marissa. "Come on girls, let's get to class. See you later dork." With that she headed to class with Clarissa and Marissa trailing behind her and Greg sitting on the floor, sighing into his hands.
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Later that afternoon, Lexxi was sitting in Science class; purposely kicking Greg's chair to get on his nerves. "So, you going out with the boyfriend tonight?" She whispered to Clarissa so that the teacher wouldn't catch them.
"Which one?" She giggled and Lexxi smiled.
"The basketball captain, Nick Stokes." Clarissa nodded.
"Yeah, we're goin to the cinema."
"Ooo, so what you gonna watch?"
"Like it matters, we aren't gonna be doing much watching." Lexxi looked at her confused and Clarissa smirked. "We sit at the back for a reason." Lexxi giggled and Clarissa grinned.
Greg however, couldn't take it anymore and turned around and glared. "Would you two shut up, some of us are trying to listen." Lexxi raised her eyebrows and Greg swallowed hard. "Umm…you know, I mean if you want to." He quickly turned around again and tried to pay attention to the teacher, attempting to block out Clarissa and Lexxi who were still laughing and whispering about their boyfriends. Lexxi was going out with Brent Matthews, the captain of the football team and Marissa was dating Warrick Brown.
"Ok, I'm going to hand back your science tests from last week and I have to say that some of them are absolutely appalling." Miss Darby started to walk around the lab, handing back the papers. "Greg, excellent as usual." She handed him the test and he thanked her, ignoring Lexxi and Clarissa's snide comments about him being the teachers pet. She handed out a few more then walked back to Lexxi and Clarissa. "Clarissa, you just scraped an E; you need to study more." She looked through the papers and handed Lexxi hers. "Miss Seymour, you failed…I'd like a word with you after class." Lexxi sighed and nodded as Miss Darby handed out the rest of the tests.
When class was finished, Lexxi waited behind; promising to meet Clarissa and Marissa in the school garden when she had finished. "Miss Darby, you wanted to talk to me?"
Miss Darby looked at her and smiled. "Lexxi, I think you're a bright girl." Lexxi nodded slowly, not seeing where she was going with this. "If you don't study, you won't pass your exams and if you don't pass your exams, you won't get a good job. Now I know that boyfriends and socialising seem important now but at the end of the day, they won't get you a career."
"I know that Miss, really I do." She looked at Miss Darby sadly.
"Listen Lexxi, if your grades don't improve…I'm going to have to call your parents and tell them that you're failing." Miss Darby was a fair teacher and Lexxi was grateful that she had given her a second chance.
"Miss Darby, I promise that I'll improve; I'll work harder just please…please don't call my mom and dad." She begged Miss Darby to let her prove she was telling the truth.
"Ok, you do better on the next test and I won't call them but if your grades don't improve…I'll have no choice." Lexxi nodded and vowed to do better then left the room and headed for the garden to meet her boyfriend and best friends.
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"Hey babe, you ok?" She nodded and sat down next to Brent who immediately wrapped an arm around her. "So what did Darby want?"
"Doesn't matter, wasn't important." She leaned against him and stared into space, trying to convince herself that she would go home and study tonight.
"Ok, if you say so." He looked at her, concerned when she didn't respond. "Lexxi?" She snapped out of her trance and looked at him expectantly. "You sure you're ok?"
"Yeah, sorry I guess I just…zoned out." Truth was, she was thinking about what would happen if her parents found out. They were always talking about how proud of her they were, not to mention the fact that both of her parents used science in their day to day lives.
"Fair enough. You out tonight?" She looked at him, torn between keeping her promise to Miss Darby and looking cool in front of everyone else.
"Umm…I don't know."
"Come on, you have to."
"I…umm…"
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A/N: Well here you go folks, chapter one if finished. Will Lexxi do the right thing or will she risk letting her parents down. Pretty, pretty please review to find out. Constructive criticism always welcomed and flames are saved to make me toasty in winter. Thanks for reading and chapter 2 will be up soon.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
- Albert Einstein