Spock didn't know how to feel. His mother said that it was okay to be nervous, it was his first day at a new school, but his Vulcan side told him it was illogical to be nervous.
Spock shivered and adjusted the ridiculous sweater his mother gave him. He would take it off but Earth was colder than Vulcan.
Spock knew it was only logical that as Ambassador to Earth Sarek and his family should live on Earth for a few years but that didn't mean he had to like it.
He took a deep breath and walked through the entrance. Spock had memorized the map and his class schedule he was sent when he was enrolled. However that didn't prepare him for the chaos that was Earth high school, even one as prestigious as Enterprise Academy.
Students were milling around the halls, some shouting, others standing close together whispering conspiratorially. A few larger males were throwing crumpled balls of paper at each other laughing. Spock sighed, stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way to where the off campus students lockers were located. Spock's locker was blocked by a dark skinned girl and a pale young boy conversing in a language unknown to Spock.
Must be a Terran dialect.
Hoping they knew Standard, Spock cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, could you possibly move. I need to get to my locker." Spock said pointedly looking at his locker behind them.
"Yeah sorry" The girl said, shuffling to the side and pulling the boy along with her. After Spock opened his locker with the code that had been in his enrollment package and grabbed out the PADD with his textbooks loaded on it, the girl spoke to him.
"So how come you're so far from Vulcan?" She asked.
"My father is the Ambassador to Earth." Spock replied.
"Ah. How are you liking it so far?" The girl asked.
"It's cold." Spock replied. The girl smiled.
"I'm sure you'll get used to it. My name is Nyota Uhura by the way." Offering Spock the Ta'al. The corner of Spock's mouth quirked upward and returned the gesture.
"Spock"
The young boy tapped Uhura on the shoulder.
"Da Pasha?"
Spock raised an eyebrow. Uhura saw it and looked mildly embarrassed. "I'm so rude. Spock this is Pavel Chekov."
The boy shyly looked at Spock, "Hallo." He said with a thick accent. Chekov looked back to Uhura and said, "Ny-ny ve should get going. Ve do not vant to be late for class."
"Oh you're right Pasha!" Uhura grabbed her bag off of the ground and turned to Spock. "It was nice to meet you, hope to see you around."
Spock nodded as they ran off, Chekov pulling Uhura as they weaved through the crowd. Spock sighed, stuffed his hands back into his pockets and maneuvered his way through the crowd to his first class. He paused just outside the door to his advanced mathematics class.
A tall dark haired boy with a scowl rudely pushed past Spock.
"Get out of the way hobgoblin." He said with a lilting drawl. Spock's forehead creased unsure how to respond.
"Len'rd!" Another dark haired boy admonished the first from the side of Spock.
"What? He was in the way." The first boy replied maneuvering to his seat.
The second boy sighed exasperatedly.
"I'm sorry, Len'rd isn't really a morning person. Yer new here aren't ya." The boy said with an unfamiliar accent that was different than the Chekov boy's. Spock nodded.
"Me name's Montgomery Scott, most of mah friends call me Scotty. That ray a sunshine is Len'rd McCoy, don't let his insults get tah ya. He mostly doesn't mean them." Scotty introduced. "What's yer name?"
"Spock"
"Nice tah meet ya Spock. Why don't ya sit with me and Len'rd, and ya can tell us more about yerself."
Spock was hesitant but in the end he followed Scotty over to the row of tables where Leonard was already sitting. Scotty sat down right next to the boy who seemed to have a scowl permanently etched on his features. Once Scotty sat down, Leonard slipped his hand into Scotty's, intertwining their fingers and laid his head on the other boy's shoulder, closing his eyes.
Spock's eyes widened at the sight of their intertwined fingers and he quickly looked away a faint green blush creeping on his features.
Scotty rolled his shoulders, dislodging Leonard's head from its comfortable resting place. He tried to lay his head back on Scotty's shoulder but the other boy rolled his shoulders again.
"Monty can you please stop." Leonard whined.
"No Len'rd. Ya were unnecessarily rude, thus that means yeh cannae use me as a pillow. Besides ya need tah be awake when class starts." Scotty replied a bit annoyed.
Leonard scowled but his expression softened when he realized Scotty hadn't dropped his hand like he usually did when he was truly mad.
Scotty turned his attention to Spock.
"So Spock. What brings ya tah Enterprise Academy?"
"My father is the Vulcan ambassador to Earth and he was asked to live on Earth for a number of years. It was only logical that my mother and I relocate with him considering she is a human. As to being enrolled at Enterprise Academy, it was the only school that could challenge my intellect and tailored to my desire to join Starfleet." Spock replied, keeping his eyes averted from their joined hands.
Scotty nodded and was about to reply when the instructor walked into the classroom reading from a PADD.
"We're going to review last week's homework. McCoy wake up and untangle yourself from Mr. Scott, he may be your boyfriend but you can sleep and show him affection on your own time. Welcome to Enterprise Academy Mr. Spock, I'm under the impression you'll be able to keep up and if you get lost I'm sure Mr. Scott will be willing to help." The man said without lifting his head from the PADD.
It took Spock off guard but he appreciated the man's no nonsense attitude towards educating his students. He looked over to Leonard and Scotty, an eyebrow raised. Leonard was scowling as he sat up straight and dropped Scotty's hand. Scotty shot Spock a sheepish smile and shrugged before tapping on his PADD to bring up his finished homework.
xXx
At the end of class Scotty waved goodbye to Spock as Leonard dragged him down the hall. Spock went off in the opposite direction towards his life science lab. Once there he went straight inside, choosing an empty seat near the middle of the room.
A few minutes later a boy with tanned skin and dark hair tapped him on the shoulder. Spock looked up at the boy with a stern expression.
"Could you refrain from touching me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything, but you don't want to sit there. You'll be stuck with Hendorff as a lab partner and he's so abysmally clumsy we're lucky he hasn't blown the whole school up." The boy apologized. Spock nodded and gathered his things, not one to ignore a warning.
"Where would you suggest I sit?" Spock inquired.
The other boy smiled and jerked his head toward a different table. "Why don't you be my lab partner. I haven't found a suitable one yet and you seem like an okay guy."
Spock nodded and followed the other boy.
"My name is Hikaru Sulu by the way."
"Spock."
"Nice to meet you Spock; I would shake your hand but as you stated before you're not big on touching."
"Thank you. It is a Vulcan quirk: Touch telepathy. It is, what's the Earth term, awkward when someone accidently touches my bare skin."
"Man, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It is quite alright. You now know and it is logical to assume that you will not touch me without my expressed permission in the future."
Sulu nodded as their lab instructor entered the room.
As Spock understood it the lab period was twice as long as any of their other classes so as not to rush the students as they did their complex lab assignments.
Science and Medical students were in various science labs; Engineering students were in the quantum mechanics lab tinkering away at machinery similar to those on starships. Communications where in the communications lab learning how to operate sensitive frequencies and long range radios. Command and Security students were given the option to spend the lab period in the gym, the simulation room or join the other students in a lab of their choice.
Spock learned that Sulu was such a student; He wanted to be a pilot but his love for botany is what made him choose life science as his lab course.
When the lab was over and they were done cleaning up, Sulu turned to Spock.
"So lunch is next, since you're new why don't you sit with my friends and I."
"That would be acceptable" Spock replied.
They walked together to the cafeteria talking idly about the botanical life on Vulcan, Sulu mostly listening intently as Spock described his home planet.
"You gonna get any food?" Sulu asked as he moved towards the food line.
"No, I brought my own sustenance." Spock replied.
"Alright, the people I usually sit with are over there, just look for the dark haired guy with a permanent scowl." Sulu said pointing.
"Do you mean Mr. McCoy and Scott?" Spock inquired.
"You know Scotty and Bones?"
"Affirmative; we had advanced mathematics together."
Sulu nodded and proceeded in getting his lunch while Spock maneuvered to the table Scotty and Leonard were sitting at close to each other, eating their food.
Spock sat down across from the two boys and started pulling the meal his mother packed him out of his bag.
"Oh look it's the hobgoblin." Leonard muttered.
"Len'rd." Scotty reprimanded. "Good tah see ya again Spock. Dinnae mind Len'rd yeh can sit with us."
"Thank you, Mr. Sulu actually invited me to sit with your group."
Scotty nodded and went back to eating. Spock was a little surprised when Uhura and Chekov suddenly appeared next to him and sat down.
"I see Nyota and the kid are joining us, as well." McCoy said grumpily.
"Ah laddie good tah see ya outside a the quantum mechanics lab."
"Da. Eet is nice to see you vhen ve do not have to keep our attention on our hands."
"I see we've gained some new table mates beside Spock." Sulu said as he sat down next to Scotty across from Chekov.
"'Karu!" Chekov exclaimed.
"Hey Pasha, so how has your latest experiment turned out?" Sulu asked the boy, who immediately launched into an explanation of his findings.
"So Nyota what brings ya tah our table today?" Scotty asked.
"I thought Spock would like to spend lunch with a friendly face instead of Kirk and Mr. Grumpy Gills there."
Scotty giggled at Uhura's nickname for McCoy and Leonard scowled even harder.
"Speaking of Kirk, where is your illustrious leader" Uhura asked.
At that moment a tall blonde boy sat down in the chair next to McCoy exclaiming excitedly, "Bones! They had chili cheese fries!"
"I saw Jim, however I choose not to have a heart attack by the time I'm 25." McCoy replied spearing a piece of steamed broccoli on his fork, and waved it in front of the blonde boy's face before eating it.
The blonde boy scrunched up his face when the vegetable got near it and relaxed when it moved away.
"Ask and ye shall receive." Uhura said to the air.
"Uhura good to see you! Still not going to tell me your name." The blonde asked animatedly.
"Kirk, every time you ask is one less time I'll take mercy on you." Uhura answered.
The blonde pouted until he heard Spock huff at the exchange.
"Whoa, Bones who's this?"
"Transfer student from Vulcan."
"Hi! My names James Kirk, everyone calls me Jim." The blonde said politely holding out his hand.
"Spock." The Vulcan replied not setting down his utensils as he continued to eat his lunch.
"Okaaaaay" Jim said retracting his hand. He went to eating his chili cheese fries with his hands, which made Spock's eyes widen.
"So what are you doing so far from Vulcan?" Jim asked with a mouth full of food. Leonard smacked Jim on the backside of his head.
"OW! What was that for?" Jim exclaimed after swallowing his food and rubbed at the spot where his friend had hit him.
"Swallow before you speak. Didn't your mother raise you better?" Leonard reprimanded.
"Yes, as a matter of fact she did. I just choose to ignore it." Jim replied.
"Well then I'm telling Winona about this." Leonard stated. Jim's expression grew horrified.
"Oh please Bones don't. That is one thing you do not want to do. Do you really want to see me sit through another lecture about manners?" Jim pleaded.
"Yes they're quite hilarious actually." Leonard replied with a smirk.
"No wonder my mom likes you." Jim muttered, before going back to eating his chili cheese fries.
"And use a fork." Leonard said finally as he went back to eating his own food, being drawn in to the conversation Uhura and Scotty were holding.
"Yes mother" Jim sneered while picking up his fork and eating his food. After a few moments he swallowed and directed his attention to Spock who had been watching the exchange with interest.
"So why are you on Earth? Vulcan's kick you off the planet?" Jim asked.
Spock narrowed his eyes at the blonde.
"No" Spock replied shortly.
"Well then what brings you to our rock in space?"
"That's hardly an accurate description of Earth." Spock replied.
Jim let out an exasperated sigh threw his hands up dramatically. This drew the attention of the rest of the table. Spock barely heard Leonard whisper to Scotty "I kinda like him", which made the other boy giggle and press a kiss to his cheek.
"Work with me here. Why are you on Earth?" Jim asked exasperatedly.
"If you must know, my father is the Vulcan ambassador to Earth and was asked to live here for several years." Spock replied matter of factly.
"Yeah but that doesn't answer why you're here. Why didn't you just stay on Vulcan with your mother?" Jim asked.
"I'm here because it was the logical thing to do." Spock side stepped.
"Yeah but why was it logical?" Jim pressed.
"Kirk will you stop being nosey." Uhura interjected.
"What, I'm just trying to get to know the guy." Jim defended.
"No what you're being is nosey." Uhura replied.
"Fine, to prove to you all my mother did teach me manners I will stop." Jim said. The blonde went back to eating his food a sour expression on his face.
Uhura smiled and turned to Spock.
"So what classes are you in?"
"Advanced Mathematics, life sciences, xenolinguistics, quantum physics, and something called career course." Spock replied.
"Ah yeah; Career course is a class period for us to get cursory training in the field of our choice. For example me and Pasha are in the same class because I want to be a pilot and he wants to be a navigator." Sulu answered from across the table.
Spock nodded in understanding.
"If you have xenolinguistics right after lunch we'll be in the same class. Also I think Pasha and Scotty will be in your quantum physics class if memory serves me." Uhura informed.
"Aye, Uhura is right." Scotty nodded in confirmation.
Spock knitted his eyebrows in confusion as to why Scotty was calling Uhura by her surname. Jim saw this and sighed.
"They're all in on the conspiracy to not tell me her first name." The blonde informed.
"Then I too shall conform to this unorthodox social convention." Spock replied.
"Nooo and here I thought you'd be the one to make the slip" Jim whined. Uhura had a smug smirk on her face.
"If it is Miss Uhura's wish for you to not know her name then I shall comply with said wish."
"Just Uhura, Spock. Miss makes me feel older than what I really am." Uhura corrected. Spock nodded, and saw an unusual smile flit across Jim's features in his peripheral vision. As quickly as it appeared it had gone. The table went back to casual conversation with them occasionally asking Spock about his life.
When the end of the lunch period grew nearer Uhura offered to show Spock to their next class to which he accepted.
"So Uhura" Spock started.
"Please Spock, Nyota when Kirk isn't around." Uhura countered.
"Alright Nyota" Spock amended. "I'm not familiar with most of the Terran dialects and was wondering what language it is that you and Mr. Chekov converse in."
"Oh, well Pasha and I are speaking Russian. It's Pasha's native language."
"And I'm assuming Pasha is a diminutive of Pavel?"
"Yes it is, although he only seems to let me and Hikaru use that nickname. I think it's because it's what his mother calls him." Spock nodded happy that an unknown was solved.
The rest of the school day was a blur of classes and conversation with his newfound friends. Spock enjoyed his quantum physics class with Scotty and Chekov, finding comfort the logic the other boy and child genius exhibited. He was barely surprised to walk out of the class with the two to see Leonard McCoy scowling at the door from across the hall. Spock was starting to gather that Scotty and McCoy were rarely out of the others presence. This aspect of human relationships intrigued Spock.
He continued to ponder this observation as he walked to his last class of the day. Not knowing what to expect from the class he sat near the back as opposed to his usual spot near the front or middle. He was surprised when just before the bell rang Jim Kirk sat down heavily beside him.
"Hey Spock, how's it going?"
"I did not know you were a science student." Spock replied instead of answering. Everything he had observed about Kirk had told Spock the blonde would be more interested in Command or Security.
"Oh no, I'm not" Jim replied. "Apparently I'm the only one in this institution crazy enough to want to be a Captain of a starship. So instead of create a class of one, they have me float. They said a captain should have a passing knowledge of every position on a starship. Between you and me I think it's because I was kicked out of the pilots and navigators class at the beginning of the year."
"And who are they?" Spock asked.
"Principal Admiral Archer and Career Counselor Lieutenant Commander Pike" Jim answered. "I think it was mostly Pike's idea, he's friends with my dad and tends to look after me to make sure I don't get into too much trouble."
Spock learned that Kirk was the talkative sort but mostly talked about himself. During the class Spock learned that Jim was the child of two Starfleet officers who taught at the Academy and had an older brother named Sam who's a biology student at University of California.
The class ended and the school day with it. Jim departed Spock's company in the hall with a big smile and wave, saying "See ya tomorrow!"
Spock walked in the door to his Earth home and his mother immediately came to greet him.
"Welcome home sweetie. How was your first day of school?" Amanda asked with a smile.
"It was engaging." Spock stated as he took off his sweater.
"That's good, did you make any friends?"
"I suppose I have." Spock said with mild surprise. On Vulcan he had never been welcomed by beings his age like he had been welcomed by this group of humans.
"That's wonderful sweetie." His mother said smiling and affectionately smoothing down a hair that had stuck up when he had taken off his sweater.