A/N: Hey! This is my first Blacklist fic and it's a Keenler one. I have seen that there are some pretty popular high school Keenler fics out there right now that I and many others love but I have had this idea for a while and hope that it can give you all a different side of the characters as high schoolers. They're in boarding school in this one (a little inspiration came from the movie School Ties) and most of the main characters will be introduced by the end of the second chapter. The first chapter is mostly background on Ressler but also the beginning of the boarding school aspect of the story. Reviews are welcome. Enjoy!
Allen Ressler was once a white collar attorney. He defended bankers, politicians, and about any rich person that could get themselves in legal trouble. He worked at the headquarters of a large firm in Washington D.C. where he also lived in a beautiful Georgetown brownstone with his wife Amy and son Donald. Unfortunately for the Resslers, after a bad year, Allen was laid off from his job and could only obtain a legal occupation two hours from his current office. The job was at a small legal office in the middle of a rural Virginia farming town.
Moving was hard on Donald as he had to leave behind his only friends: his travel baseball team. He was an excellent baseball player and his parents were planning on sending him to the best high school for both academics and sports, possibly giving him the opportunity to get recruited to play baseball at the college level as well. The school being a private high school and a solid hour and a half drive from the Resslers' new home, Donald's dreams of playing more competitive baseball were all but crushed.
"Dad, this isn't fair," Donald whined as they packed the car with some essentials. It was a simple station wagon–their previous car being a company owned BMW that Allen had to return to the firm after he was laid off.
"I know kiddo, but sometimes we have to make the best of the worst," Allen responded, "Maybe you'll make some friends when you play baseball for your new school."
Donald pouted, but didn't make a sassy retort because he knew the move was hard on his parents as well. Donald was pretty smart for a thirteen year old and he tried to be sensitive to those he respected, especially during rough times. For most of his life Donald had it easy.
Donald started to go back in the house to get some final boxes as Allen went to grab the last few pieces of mail that they would receive at their home in DC.
"Hey Donnie, wait up!" Allen called out.
"I hate when he calls me that," Donald said under his breath as he turned around. "What is it?"
"You got a letter from that great boarding school that Jason went to," Allen said. Jason grew up around the corner from the Resslers and he was a total science geek who got into CalTech, but the boarding school he went to also had well-rounded academics and a impaticuraly good baseball team. Donald could never imagine playing for them.
Allen handed the letter to Donald whose eyes lit up as he read further and further down the piece of paper.
"They want me to play baseball for them!" Donald said with excitement.
"Yep, and on a full scholarship," Allen responded glancing up at Amy who came to see what all the fuss was about.
"The Chesapeake School wants me to play baseball for them!" Donald said as his chest puffed up.
"Oh honey that's great. We'd miss having you around though," Amy said.
"I think it's a great opportunity for you Donnie," his father told him.
By the end of the car ride to middle-of-nowhere Virginia, the Resslers decided to send their young son Donald to The Chesapeake School.
The majority of the students at the Chesapeake School were all sons and daughters of wealthy businessmen, politicians, and doctors. There were kids who had two parents that worked white collar jobs like that of Allen Ressler.
Donald's mom Amy was a school teacher and although Allen used to joke about her moral superiority, the two combined salaries certainly did not make enough money to send Donald to a private school like Chesapeake without a substantial scholarship, especially once the family moved out of DC.
Donald often felt out of place at the Chesapeake School when he would meet new students. Sometimes he had to throw in the fact that his father was a lawyer to get some traction in conversations.
The first time Donald felt that he did not have to be fake or throw in a fact about his life before his family moved, was when he met Aram Mojtabai. Donald was not impressed at first, but after working his way through wannabe Kennedys he realized it was a good thing that Aram was a little more awkward and different from the typical Chesapeake student.
"Hey Aram," Donald said as they sat next together for lunch during the third week of school.
"Hey Ressler," Aram responded.
"You know you can call me Donald, Aram. It ain't a great name, but you don't have to be all formal or anything," Donald said.
"Oh, some of those guys over there were calling you Ressler," Aram told him while pointing to a group of three tall and broad shouldered boys, "I thought if they were, maybe I should too."
Ressler recognized them from baseball and waved at them. The boys looked at each other and snickered like gossipy middle schoolers. Ressler frowned but didn't think much of it.
Although the Chesapeake Eagles did not begin their official season until the spring, the team got together and began causal practices and workouts led by the seniors. Ressler got to know some of the other boys, most of whom were much larger and stronger in their physicality than Ressler, although none of them could run faster. Ressler was one of the fastest runners on his travel baseball team back in DC. His ability to put the ball in play and eye for fly balls made him a valuable leadoff hitter and center fielder.
"So Ressler, you excited for criminology next?" Aram asked tentatively, bringing Ressler out of his baseball daydream.
"Yeah, that class is really interesting," Ressler responded. Both Ressler and Aram were interested in investigation and crime, making a class taught by the excellent teacher Raymond Reddington all the more worthwhile.
Before Aram could get another sentence out, the bell rang signifying the end of freshman lunch.
Aram and Ressler got up to throw their trash away and stack their trays on top of the garbage can. They went out the doors of the old school dining room with long tables and high ceilings made of carved brown wood.
"The food is so much better than I expected it to be," Aram said. Aram mentioned how much he liked the food about twice a week, but Ressler agreed too much to tell Aram he got the point.
"Yeah, especially 'cause it's free," Ressler said.
Aram was the only other student that Ressler met that attended Chesapeake on a full scholarship. He scored highly on some programming test and got scholarship offers from his pick of boarding schools. Aram's family was more well off than the Resslers, but he was planning on going to a public school before he received his test results.
The passing bell rang a few seconds before Aram and Ressler turned the corner toward Mr. Reddington's class. They both sighed knowing that they would either get their heads chewed off or be the target of Mr. Reddington's sarcasm for the entire period.
The door creaked open before Ressler and Aram scattered to their seats in the last row. Mr. Reddington waited for them to sit down before he started class.
"Donald, Aram, I prefer it when my students arrive to class on time, especially when we have a new student," Mr. Reddington said, his glare pointed at Ressler.
Ressler was confused more than embarrassed by Mr. Reddington's statement. New students were usually not allowed to start at boarding schools in between the beginning of freshman and junior year.
I would like you all to welcome "Elizabeth Scott," Mr. Reddington said as he waved his hand for a girl with shoulder length brown hair and blue timid eyes to join him at the front of the room.
"Lizzie here had to start a few weeks late, none of which is your concern," Mr. Reddington continued, "Now, without out any fuss let's begin today's lesson.
Lizzie walked back and sat in the empty seat between Ressler and Aram in the back of the room.
"Hi, I'm Donald, but you can call me by my last name, Ressler," he introduced himself, "It's a better name anyways."
Lizzie laughed.
"You can call me Liz," she said will a smile before turning her attention back to Mr. Reddington.
A/N: Okay, I know I didn't get a lot of characters or plot in, but you'll see most of them by the end of chapter two . Thank you for getting through this chapter and leave some reviews if you would like, they would be greatly appreciated! I'm going to try and upload two to three chapters a week so I would expect the next one on Tuesday or Wednesday.