A/N: Hey guys. An idea just struck me to mix Jo and Laurie, of the 19th century with twentieth century... stuff, mainly probably the late 2000's or the early 2010's. Hope y'all like it! :)
An alarm clock was ringing. A tall, disheveled-looking girl grunted in her deep sleep, which was disrupted by the irksome alarm clock. It was her first day of high school, and she already hated it. She set the clock on snooze and rubbed her eyes. She stretched her long limbs and yawned. She checked the clock. 6:30 AM. Good, she thought, I have at least about an hour or so to prepare before school starts. She groggily made her bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning," Marmee greeted Jo. "So, are you excited for your first day of high school? Oh, my little girl is already growing up." Then Marmee pulled her into a hug. A rather uncomfortable one at that, Jo deemed.
"I'm not even looking forward to it, Mom. Do you realize how much hormonal teenagers there're gonna be? And the girls, don't forget the girls! I bet those chicks—"
"Jo, enough with your slang!" Meg scolded. "It's boyish and besides, it's not polite. I don't think anyone – a girl for that matter – would like being called a 'chick'."
Jo just rolled her eyes at her older sister's pesky chastisements and sat down to help herself to a steaming mug of hot chocolate and some pancakes.
Beth and Amy, the two youngest March sisters, ran downstairs, excited looks on their faces. Amy and surprisingly Beth were chatting excitedly about a subject unknown to the older women in the family.
"What are you two excited about?" Jo asked her two little sisters.
Amy broke away from her conversation with Beth for a while and said, "Oh, we're just excited about middle school—"
Meg and Jo exchanged glances, incredulous looks on their faces, and burst out laughing.
After wiping a fake tear, Jo said to her puzzled younger sisters, "Excited? About middle school? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day. Middle school is practically hell—" at this she received a stern look from both Marmee and Meg for her use of slang, both of which she ignored, "And you'll regret even entering the building. I bet your perspectives on middle school would be changed entirely when you're done with the day."
It was now Amy and Beth's turn to exchange glances. This Meg noticed.
"Oh, girls, Jo is just merely making an exaggeration," Meg paused to give her rambunctious sister another austere look. "I bet that she just disliked the ways of the school, but you're different individuals, so I don't think you should be scared at all."
Now Beth and Amy let out a sigh of relief, and Amy glared at her older sister Jo for pressuring and scaring her unnecessarily.
Hannah came rushing in from the kitchen to warn the girls of the sparse time already running out. "C'mon girls, yoo all hef only aboot half an hour left!"
All four girls looked up at the clock and grew frantic, but then became relieved for they lived considerably near the schools. After they had readied themselves, they went down the stairs as Jo called after her mother.
"MOM! THE SCHOOL BUS IS HERE!" Jo shouted.
"Don't shout, Jo. These walls aren't the thickest and it's early in the morning; you'll wake up the neighbors." Meg berated.
Jo gave her a nonchalant shrug and said, "Whatever."
Marmee came rushing down the stairs and glanced at her watch, but her face had a satisfied look on her face at knowing she was not the cause for her children's tardiness — not that her children were late.
"Beth, Amy, get in the car — I'll drive you to school." Marmee paused to kiss both older girls on the cheeks (both Meg and Jo looked uncomfortable, and glanced at the windows of the school bus to check if anyone had seen the embarrassing act of a mother's love for her children) and ran to the car to insert the car key in the keyhole to rev up the engine.
"Come on, Jo, let's get in before we get the other students late. Besides, I don't think it's the best way to make friends." Meg lightly joked, beckoning her sister, who had rapidly grew sober. Meg frowned upon this. "Jo, what's the matter? Are you feeling alright?"
"No, it's just that I feel … apprehensive about today. It's my first day of high school after all." Jo replied.
"Oh, don't worry. I felt like that last year, only to find that everyone — well almost everyone was friendly and all welcomed me." Meg reassured Jo, who gave her a grateful smile for the minor pep talk and followed her up the steps of the bus.
Meg had gone to sit with her friends, leaving Jo to hopelessly scout for a seat. At length she found a spare one next to a tall boy with curly, brown hair.
"Hey, mind if I sit with you?" Jo asked the boy.
"Oh, 'course not." The boy replied and patted the seat next to him. Jo forgot about her listlessness earlier that morning and seated next to him, her dismal thoughts of high school changed to more jaunty ones because of the welcoming and chummy act of the boy.
"Thanks," Jo mumbled.
The boy suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, I'm Laurie. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Jo looked up in mild surprise but dismissed it absently and said, "Oh, I'm Jo. Well, actually, my real name's Josephine, but I think it's lame. Who names their daughter 'Josephine' in the twentieth century?"
The boy, Laurie, chuckled at her quirky notion. He observed her disposition and her appearance (cargo pants, a black cap turned backwards that was too big, slightly short, dark brown hair, big brown eyes, etc.) and thought she and he would make good friends.
"Well, who calls their son 'Laurie'?" Laurie said, and smiled as Jo snorted.
The awkward silence came back again.
"So, are you excited for your first day of high school?" Laurie asked.
Jo looked at him first and then said, "You kidding? I'm practically dreading it. You?"
"Nah, not really. Just waitin' for summer."
Jo laughed in agreement and said, "Me too."
Jo and Laurie chattered happily for the rest of the bus ride to their new school, oblivious to Meg who had glanced in Jo's direction to check on her, only to have a knowing smile creep on her face.
A/N: Hehe. If you've enjoyed it, please give me a review — I'd really appreciate it! If you feel like there's an area I need to improve in, please, also review. But don't all-out give me trash talk. :)