For Arrowned, happy birthday!! And thank Sarafu too, as it was her idea to do this particular tale. I hope you like it!

To follow this story, you'd likely have to read the first two chapters of my story The More Things Change. This is Ethan's version of the first day of school from that universe.

Disclaimer: No one mentioned belongs to me.

-

Ethan's alarm went off at 6:03 in the morning, and no sooner had he blinked the sleep from his eyes than he was grinning with glee. He reached for the phone, half-buried in yesterday's dirty laundry, and dialed up George.

"Bro?"

"Today is going to be awesome, George. First day of the rest of your life."

"What? Bro, who is... Ethan?"

"Yup."

"It's six in the morning! Don't you sleep?"

"It's the first day of school," Ethan pointed out. He rifled through his closet and grabbed his favorite blue shirt for the bonus luck.

"Yeah, but school doesn't start for two hours."

Ethan was so excited he hardly thought that mattered. "Meet me at the shed outside the gym during mid-morning break," he said.

"Why, what's going on?"

"You'll see." Ethan smiled fondly at his laptop. "It'll be awesome."

-

Awesome though his aspirations were for the first day, the reality was slightly more snail-paced and snail-exciting. He had first period science, and although he was admittedly brilliant, heavy thinking that early in the morning seemed a bit harsh. There were two minutes left before the bell, and he settled onto his stool and tried to ignore the idiocy going on around him.

A poorly-constructed paper airplane sputtered through the sky, crash-landed, and skimmed the top of Ethan's head as it did so. "Hey, I'm sitting right here," chastised Ethan.

A stoner kid who'd been in one of Ethan's history classes last year stepped past, muttering a quick, "Sorry, man," as he picked his dented plane off the desktop. Ethan rolled his eyes at his excitable classmates. Throwing things and screeching about summer hookups? This sort of chaos was uninspired. It insulted the prankster core of him. He couldn't wait to blow their minds with his total genius.

The next table over, Cassidy Cornell was babbling excitedly. "We have two new teachers this year, Devin," she said, as though this was the most important thing he'd ever hear. "We need to do a piece, an investigative report so that the students have all the information they need."

Devin Del Valle nodded at her. "But Principal Randall's, you know, a principal..."

Cassidy held up her hand, effectively cutting him off. Ethan felt bad for the guy. He liked Devin, ever since he spot the guy lurking around the Detonation Man tournament last year. He was a nice guy, if a bit dim (or high), and Ethan didn't know why he spent any of his time with Cassidy, who, while hot, was crazy.

"You know," Kira Ford murmured calmly, never looking up from her notebook, "I heard Principal Randall used to be a prison guard."

Ethan had definitely never heard that rumor. Neither had Cassidy, for that matter, who swooped in on Kira. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, sure," said Kira loftily. "They fired her after she got into a fight with an inmate, though, so she came to work here." She flashed Cassidy a tight, feral grin. "Seems appropriate."

By now, Ethan was trying not to laugh. He was about ninety-seven percent sure that Kira was just screwing around, but Cassidy seemed oblivious to this fact. He had a new respect for the singer. Although her prank seemed to be backfiring as Cassidy continued to pepper her with questions. By the time the new teacher came in, Kira had flipped the switch to sullen, the volume of the room had reached an all-time high, and Cassidy was on the info warpath. But Dr. Oliver took it all in stride; the guy seemed almost cool, actually. Dinosaurs, while cool, were no match for computers as far as Ethan was concerned, but it was nice to know it wasn't just a pipe dream to be both a geek and awesome.

But Ethan had bigger fish to fry. The second the bell rang for the mid-morning break, he was meeting George outside of the shed. George wasn't exactly brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but he was a good lackey and could be an alibi if necessary. Besides, Ethan had to share his awesome with at least one person, right? If a tree fell in the woods...

"Okay, all clear," said Ethan, setting up on the workbench in the corner. He plugged his cord into the main switchboard. "Check this out: I wrote a program that generates a code so the sprinklers go at different times every day." He hit the button for execution and beamed triumphantly. "Cool, right?"

"Yeah, bro, if you're not stuck outside in it."

"You think I didn't memorize the schedule? I've got a contingency plan." Ethan wiggled his big umbrella.

"Won't they just figure out that you did it, then?"

"Hey, I was a Boy Scout. They'll just think I'm always prepared." Ethan wasn't really worried. He'd made sure his tracks were covered. He wanted this to live in infamy, sure, but he'd rather it be as a legend, a phantom, than overt. "Ethan James? Yeah, wasn't he the guy who..." Sure, they'd have their suspicions about his involvement, but they'd never be able to prove it. Innocent until proven guilty, right?

-

What Ethan hadn't figured into the equation was Principal Randall, who operated under the philosophy 'Guilty until proven guilty: sit down, truant.'

"Sit down, truant," the dominatrix snapped once the door had shut on her office. She clicked a pen and started writing up his form; never had a writing implement looked so sinister.

"Principal Randall, this isn't fair. You can't convict without a trial."

"I think you are unaware of the thickness of your file and the legacy you leave, Mr. James. Principal Walker perhaps went easy on you because he couldn't prove anything, but I think the evidence speaks for itself."

"This isn't fair..."

"I'm sure all the students you soaked this morning would disagree," she said smugly. "Be grateful it's only a week. Although..." Her eyes flashed dangerously, "I will be watching you, Mr. James. And rest assured, if you step out of line, I will be there to catch you, and your record will suffer for it. I'm sure Caltech doesn't want to catch wind of your transgressions."

Ethan swallowed hard as his visions of a software billionaire wunderkind evaporated before his eyes. "Uh, no."

"I thought not." Randall signed her name to the form with a flourish. "Dismissed. And don't let me see you in here again."

"No. I mean, no, ma'am."

-

By the time detention rolled around, Ethan was both terrified of and angry with the school's new administrator, and horrified at his own submissiveness in her office. He glanced over at his fellow detentionites: Kira "Randall was a prison guard" Ford and Conner "let me expose my wet crotch to the hallway" McKnight, who was sidling up to Mr. Reed and pleading unsuccessfully for freedom.

"You know, for a second there, I almost thought you were doing us a favor," said Ethan.

The look the jock gave him was practically withering. "I was doing myself a favor. I don't care what happens to you two, but I need to go to practice." Of course. Because who was Conner McKnight if someone not obsessed with balls? Ethan thought it over for a second and forced himself not to laugh.

"Like they're really going to kick their wonder boy off the team," muttered Kira. She seemed nonplussed by Conner's anger. "I've got stuff I have to do, too, you know."

"What, sit in your dark room and whine about how life sucks?" mocked Conner.

Maybe it was Ethan's renewed admiration for Kira following her stunt with Cassidy this morning, but he didn't think it was fair for Conner to pick on her. Kira was on the fringes, the sort of person who took a lot of crap from the popular kids. Ethan could understand. "The only one who sucks here is you," he told McKnight.

He'd been expecting... what, exactly, he didn't know... a sense of solidarity, maybe? But instead Kira gave him a narrow-eyed stare. "I don't need you to defend me, thanks." It sounded like she was putting him in the same category as the idiot.

"Defending you? Get over yourself. I'm just stating public opinion."

Conner smirked disbelievingly. "Please. The any time anyone uses the word 'suck' around me is right before they're about to-"

"Okay, that's enough," interjected Mr. Reed, swooping in before Conner could finish his thought. "Take your seats, everyone, let's not make this take any longer than it has to. Do some homework or something."

Conner stared. "Dude. It's the first day."

"Conner, please."

"Whatever, dude." He flounced into a chair by the window sullenly. Kira took one by the door. Ethan opted for neutral territory somewhere in the middle and pulled out his laptop. Might as well be productive.

He was in the middle of his Caltech application, trying to figure out how best to describe his deep, near-psychic connection with the inner workings of computers and not sound crazy, when Conner's voice cut into his train of thought. "You better not be doing something that's gonna get us another week of detention."

Not after Randall's latest round of threats, he thought. Still, what right did Conner have to say anything? "What I'm doing isn't any of your business."

"Probably playing some lame game."

"You'd know all about lame games, wouldn't you?" snapped Ethan.

"What was that?" asked Conner tightly, looking Ethan over with the distinct expression that he was sizing him up. Ethan was hardly afraid of soccer boy. He had height, but he probably punched like a girl. Not like some of his teammates. Ethan wouldn't go toe-to-toe with someone like Derrick Cole, but Conner he was pretty sure he could take.

"You heard me. You know, you think you're all that, but all you really do is kick a little ball around. Big deal."

"You so don't want to go there, dude."

Ethan smirked. "All I'm saying is that it doesn't take much brains."

"So maybe I'm not Mensa material," said Conner. Ethan's eyebrows lifted involuntarily; he was a bit surprised to hear that word coming out of McKnight's mouth. "At least I've got friends."

That was one insult too many. "I have friends," Ethan defended himself. Well, lackeys, maybe, but it wasn't like he spent all day alone in his room or anything. "Who do you think I am, Kira?"

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"

Conner he wasn't afraid of, but Kira was little and all that eye makeup sort of reminded him of a raccoon. A rabid one. All foamy and bite-y. "It just means that you're always alone," Ethan said quickly, noting it was the second time today he'd pansied out in front of a girl. Not that either Randall or Kira were exactly girls, or at least, not the way he usually knew girls to be. Still. "But I guess that's artist temperament," he added with a weak laugh.

"Oh, excuse me if I don't surround myself with boring losers or halfwit jocks."

"Who are you calling boring?"

"Who are you calling halfwit?"

"I'm calling you boring and you halfwit," she said, pointing at them unnecessarily. "Conner here is so empty-headed he can't manage to find his first period class-" Ethan snorted in spite of himself. "-and I've never seen you without that stupid laptop."

"So what? I've never seen you without that stupid guitar. If we're defining boring as being constantly accessorized, then take a look in the mirror."

Kira looked more affronted by this than anything else he'd said so far. "I'm an artist, thank you very much. This is how I express myself."

"And what do you think I'm doing with the computer?"

Actually, she seemed at a loss. "I don't know, solitaire?"

"You think the school's main computer got hacked into by solitaire?"

"You got my guitar all wet!"

"Oh, boo hoo," muttered Conner. "Are you guys even listening to yourselves? You sound stupid."

"Oh shut up," Ethan and Kira said in unison.

There was a rattle-slam that got all three students' attention as Mr. Reed hit his aspirin bottle against his desk. "Kids, please. Just go to your corners, okay?"

Conner slumped back into his chair. Kira made a huffing sound and yanked her notebook closer. Ethan went back to his application essay and reread the last sentences he'd written before interruption: As computer club president, I often have the opportunity to display my incredible leadership skills. Computers, I believe, are a very important tool in forming a community and keeping everyone together. Ethan rolled his eyes. The best part of the computer was choosing precisely who was in his community. He tried to imagine talking to these idiots every day online; Kira would probably have away messages filled with bad song lyrics, and he'd be shocked if someone like Conner could ever master anything like punctuation. Thank God for the 'net. When this day was over (okay, this week), he could go back to pretending that people like McKnight and Ford didn't exist.

"Would you stop that already?" Conner yelled.

Ethan looked up sharply, about to ask just what he was expected to stop, but Conner's glare was focused on Kira.

"Stop what?" she asked.

"Humming. You're driving me crazy."

Honestly, Ethan hadn't even noticed. He'd been in the zone. A place Conner seemed determined to take him out of. He highlighted the phrase "vital to our nation's future" on the screen and deleted it, desperate to remain focused on the task at hand.

"Short drive," said Kira darkly.

"Funny," was the answer.

Ethan groaned. Was it possible they were getting louder? "Would the both of you shut up? I'm trying to concentrate here."

Before either of them could fire back with something pseudo-witty, Mr. Reed sighed deeply. "Guys, I think Principal Randall is gone for the day. I know we have a half-hour left, but I'm sending you home early, okay?"

Ethan couldn't help it, letting out a little whoop of relief. He saved his file, closed his laptop, and slid it neatly back into his bag. He wasn't even going to bother shutting it off. Another second in this room, this building, was going to destroy his soul. He needed to go home and blow up some spaceships or something. Still, he couldn't help the sadistic urge that made him stop in the doorway, blocking everyone else's exit, and smile perkily at his fellow students. "See you all tomorrow," he said with a grin and a wave.

Kira knocked his shoulder back as he passed. "Oh, whatever."

"You're a ray of sunshine, Miss Ford," he called after her. "I can't wait to spend more glorious hours at your side."

Conner just looked at him pityingly. "Dude."

But Ethan didn't really care. He could taste freedom, and it was pretty sweet. He found George waiting on the front steps. "Bro! I'm so sorry, bro, I should've come and told Randall you were with me..."

Ethan was too tired to be upset. Besides, the groveling wasn't bad. "It's all right," he forgave generously. "Commandant Randall would've gotten me anyway. She's really good."

"You're not mad, bro?"

"Nah. We're cool."

George, good old stupid George, collapsed in relief. "That's great to hear. I mean, Randall scares the pants off me."

"You and everyone else in this school," Ethan said, but this was a subject he was content to drop altogether. It had been a hell of a day. "Hey, wanna go to Hayley's or something?" There was one place he knew he'd never have to worry about seeing Conner or Kira. He clapped George on the shoulder with a winning smile. "I think someone owes me a smoothie for not getting my back."

"I thought you said you weren't mad."

"I didn't say I wasn't thirsty."

"Yeah, okay," said George. The boys headed down the front drive. "Wanna know what you missed at today's meeting?"

"Sure," said Ethan distractedly. Kira was standing at the bus stop, clutching her guitar case and steadfastly ignoring some chattering freshman girls. Their squealing nonsense amplified considerably when Conner McKnight's stupid red car rolled past. He honked his horn and waved at them like he was some kind of superstar. Bile rose in Ethan's throat. An entire week with these people. He was practically a saint.

"...then Randy started talking about something to do with Mozilla?, and Tracy basically flipped out on him and practically started making out with Internet Explorer, but you know her, she won't try anything new, she still has the same desktop she got back in freshman year... Bro, are you even listening?"

"What?"

"Why are you staring at that singer chick?"

"No reason. We had detention together. She's just as irritating as you'd expect her to be."

George shrugged. "I don't know, man, I always thought she was kinda hot."

"She's obnoxious," said Ethan dismissively. "Her and McKnight both. It was like my own private hell." He shook his head, trying to erase the day from memory. "So anyway, what were you saying about Tracy?" It was time to focus again. He vowed to never waste another thought on those two ever again.