A/N: Hello everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted anything! Well this is a brand new AU (I'm hoping that stands for Alternate Universe) Fic!

Please enjoy!

Clear the Area

The sun glared menacingly through the open window, coaxing nine hung-over teenagers from their alcohol induced comas. It had been a night to remember, but with the amount of marijuana being passed around it was doubtful that anyone would be doing much remembering. From beneath a mountain of pillows and blankets a hand pushed through a faded blue comforter seeking fresh air as a zombie might push through the earth's surface for the first time of his afterlife.

"Cory," a sleep-thick voice inquired.

The hand dragged the heavy blue comforter away to reveal a mop of thick brown hair and closed eyes under which deep purple circles took up residence, all this belonging to a groggy, half dressed teenaged boy. He ran his hands over his face, hoping beyond hope that he could somehow rub away his exhaustion and perhaps some of the previous night.

"Cory," he mumbled again, a bit louder this time.

His hand groped around until he met with the smooth skin of a flat stomach but he had the feeling that it wasn't the one that he was looking for. There was something lacking from that skin. "Corrine?"

"S'not me, babe," a voice slurred from his other side.

Rolling around, his unfocused brown eyes fluttered open to meet with the nothingness that challenged him to duel every morning. He propped himself up on his elbows and turned towards the girl laying beside him. She smiled at him, her bottle green eyes catching the light like broken glass.

"What the hell did you do to me," he groaned, his lips curling into a half smile. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to push away the headache that was pounding behind his skull. He felt seasick.

"It's called Vodka, August," she said serenely, her voice a smoky rasp. "A lot of Vodka."

She stood to her feet, long, thin legs bare, adorned in no more that panties and a thin cami. She stumbled slightly, her head spinning laps around the sun. A smile spread across her fine featured face, nimble fingers massaging her scalp, rippling the gold-brown hair that fell to her hips.

"Oh, Aug, you really should have taken a hit of that MJ last night, it was a blast," she chuckled, twirling in a small circle before picking out a beaten path between hibernating bodies. She tousled his already mussed hair as she passed.

"You're going to die young if you keep this up," he muttered, listening as her slapping footsteps grew distant.

"I plan to, baby."

Auggie frowned at her response but more so at the nonchalance of her tone. She was content with her words and that disturbed him. He pushed up from the ground, taking a moment to steady his spinning head before taking tentative steps toward the short hallway, afraid of tripping over an unseen, half dazed lump of teenager. Plenty of times had he been to this house, but surely his knowledge was limited by a fog of intoxication. But he knew where the important places were; the bathroom, the kitchen, the small bedroom with the soft, quiet bed. Oh to be between sheets.

"Aha! I've found our stuff," she chirped cheerily.

He followed the ghost of her voice until his outreached hand met with the wall that led to the kitchen, all the while wondering how she could be so cheery after a night like last. Traipsing lightly, she took his arm and pulled him into the kitchen, her bright green eyes adding a shock of color to the white wash of early morning light. The sound of a barstool dragging across linoleum was enough to make Auggie wince, Cory laughed as she brought his hand to rest on the seat.

"So I really did you in this time, huh," she smirked as she dug around in the fridge. She was so hungry.

"Did you mean it," he asked lightly.

From the moment he said it, from the moment he opened his mouth, he wished that he hadn't said anything at all. An all consuming silence descended on the room. It lasted only for the briefest of moments, but it was long enough for him to hear her take a measured breath. She was throwing up her defenses, clearing the area of her emotions.

"How is it that you look so damn sexy the morning after," a deep voice said.

Corrine looked up to see a tall shirtless blonde with a washboard stomach. He smiled darkly at her through sleep heavy eyes, the memories of their previous night flashing behind his irises.

"Can't say the same for you, Conrad, you look like hell hit you in the face," Corrine smiled sweetly, running her fingers lightly over his stomach before flitting away.

Auggie rolled his eyes as the tall boy slapped him on the back and took the stool beside him. Corrine wasn't the usual catch for Conrad; she wasn't a cheerleader, she wasn't blonde, the most she did with her hair was brush it and she was smart as hell, yet the quarterback couldn't keep his filthy fingers off her. She drove boys wild and that drove August nuts.

"Holy shit!" She yelled out of nowhere. It was so sudden that both boys nearly fell off of their stools.

"What? What's wrong," Auggie asked, his brow furrowed as she threw, what he assumed to be, his clothes at him.

Though he was fully expecting her to announce that she had found a dead body in the cabinet or a hickey on her neck, he was not expecting these words to fly from her mouth:

"Fuck, Auggie! We're going to be late for school! Hurry up and get dressed!"

xXx

Anne Catherine Walker took the stairs two at a time, her heart racing with the usual excitement that came with starting at a new school. Most would shrivel in their beds, resisting the constant change that was the life of an Army Brat, but Annie embraced it. New situations were something that she handled well and she took pride in that.

"Good morning, Mother," she smiled brightly as she entered the kitchen, the smells of eggs and bacon whirling about her head.

"Oh sweetheart, you look beautiful, those jeans fit you just right," her mother smiled from her designated spot at the stove.

"Really," Annie said, wrinkling her nose in disbelief, "I thought they were a bit tight..."

"Is that such a bad thing," her mother question, her warm brown eyes meeting with her daughter's identical ones as she slid the plate of mouth watering breakfast food before her youngest child.

Annie rolled her eyes, throwing back her blonde hair as she dug into her food. She couldn't help but notice how empty the table seemed that morning, with her father at work and her sister Danielle at school in California, or at least Danielle said that's why she decided to stay but Annie knew it was more because of her boyfriend, Michael Brooks. She missed her family being together, the morning bustle and arguments, the dinner table talks, and weekend movies and game nights.

Looking around the kitchen, she realized how alien it all seemed. Then again, she wasn't sure where home was exactly, they had never stayed in one place for too long. Perhaps, she thought, she was the alien. Yes, that seemed more appropriate.

"Oh! Is that the time," she exclaimed around a mouthful of food. "I'm going to be late for school!"

Jumping from her seat, she haphazardly dumped her dishes in the sink and grabbed her backpack from the table. After giving her mother a hasty kiss on the cheek, she took a deep breath and went for the door.

"Sweetie," her mother called out to her. She turned to see her mom smiling teary eyed, knowing that next year her last daughter would be off to college in some foreign place, "Have a great first day, alright?"

"Of course, mom," Annie smiled, stepping out into unknown territory.

xXx

As soon as her foot crossed the threshold of New Trier Township High School, Annie Walker felt dizzy with excitement. The glass, brick, and metal structure was buzzing with life. Students crowded the halls hastily trying to get to classes while stopping to talk to their friends as teachers with keen eyes made sure everyone was on their best behavior.

She looked down for the fiftieth time at the locker number handwritten at the very top of her school map, 33. She smiled to her self, the number at her old school had been 33 and at that locker she had met him. But she didn't want to think of him at the moment. It would ruin her day.

As she rounded the corner that lead to the locker hall, a tall girl hit her shoulder so hard that they were forced to look at one another. Instead of apologizing, the girl gave Annie a smile and a green-eyed wink before disappearing into the crowd. Annie watched with jealous awe at the girl's elegant gait, her hair shimmering beneath the florescent lights like captured sunlight, her legs long and thin in low slung denim and black cowboy boots that looked as though she had walked the perimeter of Texas.

But it wasn't the girl's clothing that Annie envied, it was the confidence she adorned.

With a huff Annie turned back towards the hallway, only to smack painfully into a recently opened locker door.

"Ouch!" She yelped as her vision blurred from the injury to her nose.

"Oh Jesus," a voice said as a long fingered hand slammed the door shut, "I am so sorry! I didn't realize you were there!"

As she blinked her vision clear, Annie found herself face-to-face with a beautiful boy. His hair was a messy, sun kissed-brown, his warm amber eyes staring over her head. She turned briefly to find what he was looking at but there was nothing.

"Are you alright," he asked, clearly concerned.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," she smiled, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. He smiled, his eyes locking onto her mouth, it was then that she noticed the red/white cane that was propped against his shoulder. "Oh… I'm uh- I'm Annie Walker, by the way."

"I'm Auggie," he smiled, holding out his hand to shake, "Auggie Anderson."