Steve McGarrett hated New Jersey already. Of course, he hated pretty much everything right now, so his new home wasn't going to be any different.
It had been three months since his mom had died; three months of confusion and pain, three months of learning to deal with the fact Doris McGarrett wasn't going to be walking back through their front door in Hawaii, or pulling up outside Kukui High in her station waggon to collect him after football practice. Three months of watching as his father pulled away from himself and Mary Ann emotionally, until the point where John had decided it was time to send his kids away to the mainland to live with their aunt.
He'd sat them down, told them it was for their own good, that Aunt Deb had just moved from LA to a bigger house in New Jersey and it would be a good place for them to be while they finished school. Steve couldn't understand that, not for a second. In what universe was it better to pull a family apart after a tragedy like that?
But Steve didn't get a say, neither did Mary, and so one week before his sixteenth birthday they had been packed up and sent to Deb's. And now they had to start a new school and cope with all the change around them on top of everything else.
Mary's reaction to everything had been to stop talking entirely. Maybe she saw no point in saying things if she was never listened to, maybe she felt she had nothing of worth to contribute... all Steve knew is that she cried quietly in her room most nights, and refused to open up to anyone anymore.
So Steve hated New Jersey. He hated Howell High School and the area of Howell itself, and Point Pleasant Beach which was nothing like the beaches in Hawaii. He hated the city and the weather, and he had no intention of learning to like any of it. Ever.
What made things worse was that there wasn't really all that much to hate about any of it. Steve wanted a reason to dislike the place, but actually it wasn't all that bad... and somehow that made him more angry.
By the end of his first day at school he had already been asked to try out for the football team. Apparently they were having a bad year and were desperate for new blood, especially when that new blood came with a quarterback record like Steve's.
He was on the team within the week, and his new status immediately led to the kind of popularity he had enjoyed back in Hawaii. He couldn't work out whether he was annoyed with that fact or not, because a part of him still desperately wanted to dislike the place, so things were still confusing. But at least he could concentrate on the football now. If he threw himself into that, he could forget why he was there in the first place.
He sat with his new team mates at lunch on Friday and tried to let himself settle in and become part of the group, even as they acted like typical jocks and did nothing but chase girls and harass other students. Still, right then it was better to be part of the pack than on the outside, at least as far as Steve was concerned.
One of the cheerleaders was practically in his lap at that point, and she'd done nothing but flirt with him for two days straight. Whether she was too blind to see he wasn't interested, or determined to win the new quarterback over to feed her own ego, he wasn't sure. Either way, her advances weren't welcome, and he was doing his best to politely let her down.
Across the other side of the lunch room, Danny Williams ate his burger and rested his sneakers on the empty seat next to him. He had decided he was a loner by choice a while back, even though he knew it wasn't entirely true. There was no choice involved.
Whereas a lot of kids his age felt alone and had no real idea as to why, Danny knew the exact reasons that he was a social leper these days; he was an out-and-proud bisexual guy. It wasn't like he ran around proclaiming it to the grey New Jersey sky exactly, but his parents had always raised him to be truthful and honest, and so when the rumours had begun to go around that 'Danny Williams is a queer', rather than deny them like a lot of gay kids did he simply confirmed the accusations to the bullies' faces.
He'd been involved in more than his fair share of fights in the first few weeks but now, almost a year on, the majority of the neanderthal jocks tended to leave him alone. The thing was, Danny fought back, and that was no fun for them.
Bullies liked easy targets, nerds who they could steal lunch money off and stuff into lockers. That wasn't Danny. He was well-built, broad shouldered, and he was a scrapper. He boxed some evenings after school, could have been on the football team if he'd ever been so inclined, and was generally fit. So the bad guys gave him a wide berth... as did everyone else.
Fine, whatever, Danny was over it. High school was destined to be a lonely time for him, but he could deal with that – he had two sisters and a brother at home, so a bit of alone time during school hours was actually kind of welcome. That's what he told himself anyway. He had even advised Matty and Bridget not to hang out with their older brother if they saw him around school – he didn't want his younger siblings tarred with the same brush. Stella had already graduated two years before.
He finished his lunch and dumped the contents of his tray in the trash, turning and heading for the door. Unfortunately the only path out of the lunchroom was past the two tables filled with football jocks and cheerleaders. He tried to do so as quickly as possible, but as he passed through one of the guys suddenly stood up, tipping a redhead cheerleader out of his lap and stepping right into Danny's path.
The two of them collided, and Danny groaned internally as he knew what was coming next. Several of the jock's buddies rose to their feet and squared their shoulders, always looking to challenge whatever prey they could find and show off in front of the girls. Neanderthals.
Danny took a deep, weary breath and looked up into the face of the quarterback he'd walked into, preparing himself for the challenge, the insult, the physical show of dominance that always came with this situation. He knew it would be worse here, because this guy was new to the school and would be looking to establish his ranking amongst his fellow students.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry."
Danny blinked at the taller boy, not quite registering what was happening. "Huh?"
Steve smiled apologetically at the blonde kid in front of him. "Sorry man, didn't mean to get in your way." Wow, the guy had such striking pale blue eyes that Steve was thrown for a moment.
Danny was stunned. A football jock, a quarterback, someone who could basically rule the school if he tried hard enough... and he was apologising?
"I uh... That's okay," he stuttered, still confused.
One of the other guys grabbed Danny's t-shirt, twisting it up in his fist and hauling him slightly to the side. "What the fuck you think you're doing, queer?" he spat, "Don't fucking touch any of us!"
He shoved the blonde backwards a step, releasing him.
"Get the fuck out of here, fag!" another shouted from behind him.
"Hey, guys it was my fault," Steve insisted, horrified by the abuse being hurled at the poor boy who he'd walked into.
"Don't defend him, Steve," Bryce put a hand on his arm, "You don't wanna let the gay boy think you like him."
The others were jeering at Danny, and he was balling his fists and preparing for a fight. This was how it usually went down if there were a group of them. Alone or in pairs, it wasn't worth it for them to take him on, but pack mentality made the imbeciles practically immortal in their minds.
"You want me to leave, I'll do it gladly. Just get the fuck outta my way," he growled.
None of the guys backed off, some of them even stepping forward, but then the tall quarterback – Steve, they'd called him – sidestepped and made a path for him.
"Here, man," he jerked his head, gesturing for Danny to leave. He even put his hand on the team captain's chest when Bryce tried to get in Danny's way again.
He took his chance and bolted while he could, glancing back at the group as he escaped and hoped the guy didn't get too much shit for letting him go. The hail of insults that flew his way were enough to encourage his departure.
"What the fuck, Steve?" Bryce elbowed the brunette in the ribs a little too hard, "You seriously gonna let that pipsqueak go?"
"He didn't do anything wrong," Steve insisted, "No point in making an issue out of nothing."
Bryce rolled his eyes, and the rest of the guys grumbled as they sat themselves back down. They'd obviously been spoiling for a fight, and Steve couldn't understand the need for the team to flex their muscles every chance they got. The team at Kukui High were never like this, but then again Jersey just felt about the furthest from Island spirit you could get.
He looked towards the doorway where the blonde had disappeared and felt guilty for getting him into trouble. He hoped the kid was okay.
Outside, Danny was leaning against the wall in the quad and trying to calm himself down. Hearing the homophobic shit that came out of those clowns' mouths made him so angry, and he just wanted to lash out right now, but he had to contain his resentment at least until after school. Then he could unleash his temper on the equipment at the gym where he went boxing and avoid getting himself into trouble, use the weekend to get himself back in line.
Instead he focused on the unexpected kindness of the new quarterback; Super Jock to the rescue. He didn't know much about the guy, except he was in the same grade as Danny and was a transfer in from another state. Oh, and now he'd seen him up close he had realised he was cute as hell.
He didn't seem to be like the other football jocks, and that in itself was intriguing. It was a shame Danny wouldn't get a chance to get to know this Steve kid – the guy would undoubtedly fall in line with the boys he hung out with sooner or later.
Danny headed off to his next class when the bell rang, trying to force the image of that kind smile from his head.
