A/N – Very long wait. I know and thank you for waiting, not that you had a choice. I hope that this version is better. I'm in the process of Chapter three and actually have two pages written.
Anything in between the dashes – right here – means that Sydney wrote in her book.
Remember: This is AU… Sydney and Vaughn are both 14 and are both in 9th grade (for now)
-These are my thoughts. Things I want to remember. Things that I want to know. Just… things. I can remember everything back to when I was eight. That was when my mom died. Then I can only remember certain things like, birthdays, parties and fun times. After my mom died, my father sorta tuned down on the father thing. He was always away on business and when he wasn't he'd be talking on the phone or working on papers.
He wasn't that bad. It's not like he forgot when it was my birthday, or when it was Christmas. Some of the best presents I got were from him. He never missed one.
But at times I'd love if he'd help me with my schoolwork. I know I could sure use it. Math, Science and French are going down, down, down hill.
I'm sure all kids hate their dads at some point… mine are just more often.-
Sydney put her pen down and looked over to Francie. Francie, her best friend, shifted slightly. Even though Sydney loved the library, Francie would rather be in a place that had noise.
France fingered the lunch room's "library pass" as she held onto the book Great Expectations in the other hand. A very boring book that everyone had to read in ninth grade. Luckily, Sydney had been advanced in English and had read it last year.
"Francie?" Sydney closed her notebook and turned o her friend.
"Syd, I gotta get through this chapter by next period or else I'm in deep shit." Francie didn't turn her head from the book.
"Francie, it's called 'home' work. As in home." Sydney laughed softly so she wouldn't disturb anyone.
"God, I hate this book." Francie closed it and slammed it on the table, smiling apologetically to the librarian. Francie then turned in her seat to face Sydney. "Does Pip ever find out who's giving all this money to him?"
Sydney smiled. "Haven't you guessed?" Standing up, Sydney pulled her books into her arms and left the library with Francie at her side.
"Miss. Havisham?" Francie asked as they walked to their lockers. Sydney smiled more and shook her head. "Mr. Jaggers?"
"No." Sydney stated as she turned the dial on her lock. "Think outside the box." They both laughed.
"Did you know that Kelsey came in wearing a t-shirt that said that yesterday?" Francie smiled and pulled books out of her own locker. "Mrs. Chery was laughing so hard…"
"She's always saying that damn phrase." Sydney and Francie kept talking as the bell rang and people crowded into the hallway.
-As much as I loved being with friends and seeing all my teachers who were so nice, I didn't like school. The idea of having to walk around and be taught is not appealing to me. I love to learn new things… but I don't always like being taught.-
Sydney waved as Francie went towards her English class and Sydney headed for Math. Suddenly she slammed into someone and her books fell, and so did his.
"Oh, God. Sorry, I was trying to find my way around…" The boy bent down and picked up her books, luckily the rest of the students had already gone to their classes. There were still some, but they weren't paying attention.
"It's okay, I wasn't looking either." Sydney bent down and started to pick up her books and handed him his.
He's what Francie would have called 'red'. They had code words for a guy's appearance. 'Red' just happened to stand for 'red hot'.
Tousled dark blonde hair that fell into his eyes a bit. Those eyes… the green sorta burned into you. His clothing was a normal teenagers clothing. Black jeans and a t-shirt that had Linkin Park written on it.
"You like Linkin Park?" Sydney said as she read the words off his shirt. It was the lyrics to Papercut.
"Yeah, they're the best." The boy faded off and looked at her. "Oh, I'm Michael Vaughn." Michael smiled softly. Another 'red' reason.
"I'm Sydney Bristow." Sydney looked him up and down quickly, not noticing that he was doing the same. "Crap, I better get to class. What room are you looking for?" Sydney pushed a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.
"Um…" Michael looked down at a piece of paper and read off the row. "Period seven… lunch… cafeteria A."
"Oh, the cafeteria is right down this hall, take a right and go down the stairs. You'll hear a lot of noise and see a lot of teens." Sydney smiled and held her books tighter.
"Thanks, Sydney." Michael started to walk away. "I'll see you again." He sounded sure of himself as he walked down the hall.
"You better believe it." Sydney watched him walk away. Loudly, the bell for class to start rang. Looking up, Sydney muttered. "Shit." As she started to race down the hallway.
-You gotta admit, guys are hard to find even when you're looking. I'm 14 years old and in my life I've had no boyfriends. Francie has had one boyfriend and she even said that it wasn't that great…but Michael? Now where are the cons in that?
I've had my share of crushes… and I've even known people who have had crushes on me, but it never lasts long enough. They're just crushes.-
"Sydney! Dinner!" Theresa called from the kitchen.
"I'm coming!" Sydney called back. Theresa was Sydney's 'nanny'. She never really did anything besides cook. And her cooking wasn't all that good. Sydney hated her.
"Where's dad?" Sydney asked as she walked into the kitchen. Smelling the food, she cringed slightly as she sat down.
"He has to work late." Theresa told her. Same thing over and over again.
"Again?" Sydney complained. Her father was always at work. Sydney muttered. "What kinda bull is that?"
"Watch your mouth." Theresa sat down across from her.
"What? All I said was 'bull', as in male cow." Sydney said. It was easy to be a smart ass around Theresa. Eating silently, Sydney's mind started to wander. It wandered to school, her friends, parties, dances… and then to Michael. "I'm done." Sydney stated. She cleaned off her plate, threw it in the dishwasher and headed to her room.
A few minutes later, Theresa called from the living room. "Sydney! Francie is on the phone!"
Sydney had been lying on her bed, so she rolled onto her stomach and reached for her phone. "Francie?"
"Hey, you would not believe the new guy." Francie was going to say something else, but Sydney cut her off.
"Yes I would… Michael Vaughn…" Sydney's voice trailed.
"Yeah, I haven't met him though, but I heard that he's cute." Sydney could tell Francie was smiling and laughing on the other end.
"Oh, he is… 'red' Francie." Sydney laughed as Francie gave a gasp. "I mean, I only talked to him for a minute, but he seems sweet and he is very cute."
They gossiped for another half an hour, until Theresa stood in the doorway, her arms folded over her chest.
"Francie, I gotta go." Sydney rolled over so Theresa wouldn't here. "The Dot is back." She listened to Francie laugh and then hung up the phone.
The Dot was name that Francie had made up for Theresa. One day Theresa had worn a red polka dotted dress. Francie had been over that day and when she and Sydney had escaped to her room, they burst out laughing and Francie laughed out. "Oh no, attack of The Dot." And the name stuck.
-The Dot… how can I describe her… she acts as if she doesn't want to be here, which I'm sure she doesn't. I don't understand why dad even hired her, or why he doesn't fire her. I stay home alone all the time when she can't come here and he's at work. I've even stayed alone for two days, and nights when she was sick and dad was away. I hate her.
My mom was so much better. She died when I was eight in a car crash. All I know is that mom and dad were on their way home from the movies and a car swerved and crashed into them. Both cars went off the bridge and into the water. Dad was lucky to get his seatbelt undone, but he couldn't get to mom.-
Sydney and Francie sat in their Earth Science class, both of them stared at the clock, waiting for the second hand to get to the twelve.
When the bell rang, they raced out of there.
"We really need to study for next weeks test." Francie threw all her books in her locker. They had gym next, so they didn't need books.
"Damn it, my locker won't open." Sydney pulled on her locker hard. Turning the dial, she tried the combination again, but it wouldn't budge.
"Here, let me try." Francie spun it and pulled, nothing. "Crap, where'd you get this thing…" Francie tried again. Nothing again.
Sydney spun it one more time. Carefully she turned it right until she landed on the 15, then she turned it to the left twice and stopped on 5. Slowly she turned the dial right to the 20. She crossed her other hands fingers and pulled. It popped open nicely.
"You can't be serious that you will have to do that every time that damn thing doesn't open." Francie complained as Sydney threw her books in her locker. "Get a new one."
"No." Sydney stated as she closed the lock. "Come on, we still have to get changed for Gym."
-Francie and I have been best friends since fourth grade. People say that friends become friends because of their common likes. Well, with me and Francie, we met because of our differences. She needed help in English, writing essays, and I needed help with Math. I'm good at English, she's great at Math. Yes, we do have a lot of things in common. We both love boys and love to go to the mall and look at them ::laughing right now::, we both have fun with her older brother David, I'll get to him later, and we both have a lot of classes together and hate them all.-
Sydney and Francie were talking and laughing as they entered the gym.
"Everyone, sit on the bleachers so we can take attendance!" Mr. Nac called out, but Sydney and Francie had already sat in their spots.
Attendance was taken quickly, but the two teachers, Mr. Nac and Mr. Santos, seemed to be waiting for something.
Finally, the door to the gym opened and Michael walked in. "Sorry, I kinda got lost." He smiled shyly as he handed a piece of paper to Mr. Santos.
"Ok, you're in Mr. Nac's class, that side." Mr. Santos pointed to near where Sydney was sitting. Sydney and Francie were also in Mr. Nac's class.
"Syd." Michael smiled and sat down next to her, on her right side.
Francie, who was on her left, looked Michael over. "So, you're Michael… the new kid?"
"Yeah, hi." Michael smiled at Francie.
"Guys, were gonna get into a boys against girls game." Mr. Nac told the two classes. "I want all guys on the right end of the gym and all girls on the left."
Sydney smiled at Michael as she and Francie headed to the left. "Good luck." She whispered.
"I don't need it." Michael smiled at her and she saw a twinkle in his eyes.
Laughing, Sydney followed Francie.
A few minutes later, the two teams were playing. There were two more guys then girls, so Mr. Santos was playing on the girl's team.
"Sydney, over here!" Francie jumped up and down, she was only open because no one bothered to block her. Francie had always admitted at being terrible at sports, but that also gave her an advantage to get the ball down the court… even if it was just by throwing and catching which is what she was good at.
Sydney threw the ball the Francie, who caught it and quickly threw it to the nearest girl, which resulted in a score for the girls. 2 – 1 in favor of the girls.
After the ball got thrown into the game, Sydney stood there for a minute, just watching. "A little competitive aren't they?" Sydney jumped when someone talked to her. She heard a guy laughing so she spun around and hit him on the shoulder.
"You freaked me out." Sydney laughed as Michael dodged another hit.
-I don't love sports, but they seem to take my mind off anything that would be bothering me. Even if something isn't bothering me, they're still fun. Even better when you have someone with you, playing and having fun.-
During the middle of the basketball game Sydney and Michael had ended up next to each other again, but this time they were both going for the ball that had been thrown.
Sydney stopped and was gonna let him have the ball, but he tripped on his shoelace and they both fell down, Michael on top of Sydney.
Laughing hysterically, they almost didn't hear Mr. Santos ask if they were okay. Michael helped Sydney up, but she clung to his shoulder.
"My ankle hurts." Sydney put her weight on it, but it stung a little. "I think it hit a little too hard." She put her hand on Michael's shoulder as she tried to walk.
"Maybe you should go to the nurse and put ice on it." Michael suggested as they walked toward Mr. Nac.
"Going to the nurse, Syd?" Mr. Nac smiled and opened the door as Michael led Sydney out. "Second time this week and it's only Wednesday."
Michael laughed when they got a little farther from the gym. "You get hurt a lot?" She was leaning on him, with her hand still on his shoulder.
"Hey, I'm good at sports, I just… I'm a spaz." Sydney and Michael laughed as she limped slightly down the hall.
"You're not a spaz… you just gotta be careful." Michael put his arm around her, to hold her up.
"Thanks." Sydney smiled at him softly.
He smiled back. "It's my pleasure…." He trailed off and smiled at her. "Sorry about the ankle."
"It's okay." Sydney laughed and leaned on him more. "I'm glad I got out of gym."
"Yeah… I guess…" Michael laughed as they entered the nurse's office.
"Hello Sydney." Mrs. Strauss smiled sweetly at them. "What happened today?"
"Basketball…" Sydney answered her and sat on one of the chairs. The bell rang just then, but Michael could be late for Science. He was a whiz in it already.
"Basketball? What sprained your ankle?" Mrs. Strauss went to the back and took out an ice pack and handed it to Sydney.
"I sorta did." Michael admitted shyly. "We were both running for the ball and we sorta fell."
"Oh…" She nodded and looked at the clock. "Well, shouldn't you get to class?"
"Oh… yeah." Michael nodded, but then looked down. "I'm still in my gym clothes."
"Just go to Mr. Nac or Mr. Santos and they'll unlock the locker room for you." Before Michael could leave, Sydney called. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure…" Michael stood in the doorway, waiting.
"Ask one of them or a girl to get my clothes… I left my lock open." Sydney smiled at him and he melted.
"Sure…"
At the end of the day, Michael met Sydney at her locker. Slinging her backpack over his own shoulder, he held the two books he needed himself.
He walked her home that day.
A/N – The authors note that I was going to put here is in chapter two… lol… go read it and then read the A/N