I don't own sky high or anything, usual disclaimers apply here too.
UPDATED!
Life's a show - Chapter one
Warren Peace opened the door of his home, glad to be back amongst his own things, somewhere he felt safe. Free from being hounded by "The Three", the strongest gang in prison. Warren had decided against taking protection from any man that called him princess. The three weeks he had spent in prison had felt like forever, but now that he was home, his situation didn't feel much better. He would go to school the next day, get all his missed assignments and try to catch up, but that wouldn't help.
He looked at the photo of Will he had by his bedside. Leaving him standing outside the prison hours earlier had been so hard. He had wanted more than anything to let Will hold him, to kiss him the way they used to and pretend the whole thing had never happened. But he couldn't. Will should have believed him, he should have given him a chance. But he didn't even try.
Warren lay down on top of his bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe he was wrong? He picked up his cell phone and dialed Will's number. After a few rings, Warren sighed and hung up.
"No." he thought "I can't talk to him now... But god I miss him."
He closed his eyes and, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, waited for the dawn.
-
The next day, Warren Peace stepped off of his school bus and surveyed the school. It seemed so strange that after all he head been through, the school was exactly the same. Life had gone on as if he had never been there, as if nothing had ever gone wrong. It was unnerving. Principal Powers waited for him at the gates.
"Welcome back Warren!" she greeted warmly "I was so glad to hear the good news."
"Yeah thanks." Warren said gruffly "All the help you gave me was really heartwarming"
"Warren. I realize you feel hard done by. You haven't had an easy time, but you really have to try to see it from our point of view."
"You know what?" He said "I really don't, I'm the one that was falsely imprisoned, abandoned by the only people I had every called friends... by the only man I had ever loved. I don't think I have to do anything."
She smiled grimly and smoothed down the wrinkles on her creme pant suit.
"You're right. Anyway, I just wanted you to know, we're holding a special assembly today. To explain your...circumstances. Not everyone knows what happened, a lot of people still think you are in prison. I imagine it may be a slight shock for some people"
"Nice."
"Yes. Well anyway, its before first period, so don't be late."
"Whatever."
Warren continued walking into the school, away from Principal Powers. Inside Warren was conflicted. He had always liked her, even though he was possibly one of the worst students at Sky High she had never treated him like a lost cause. But when he was convicted, where was she then? Warren walked over to his locker and banged it open, dismissing thoughts of Principal Powers.
Inside his locker made him smile, it was exactly the same, which was quite comforting to Warren. Inside, on the shelf were copies of his favorite books, The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey and 1984. He had longed for these books in prison, to read the hours away with his favorites. Lower down was a stack of CDs he would have to take home and listen to, The Smashing Pumpkins, Bjork and a host of others. Along the walls of the locker were posters of people he found attractive, including a big photo of Will. He pulled it down and put it in the back of his mad science text book, somewhere he was sure he wouldn't look. He smiled again, looking in his locker made him feel normal again, if only for a moment.
He closed the door of his locker and walked to the men's room. Nobody else was there. Warren walked over to the basin and stared at the image in the mirror, an image he had made sure he had ignored up until now. The person staring back at him seemed like someone else. His skin was pale, the bags under his eyes made him look a lot older than seventeen, the red streaks in his hair had faded to pink, something Warren vowed to change as soon as possible. The person in the mirror looked tired, and old. Warren stared for another second, before letting out a loud sob. Tears poured down his cheeks as he thought of the past few weeks and of what he had lost.
For the first time in forever, Warren was part of something. He had friends, he was in love and he was actually starting to do better at school. And then it all got ripped away, and for what? Because, yet again, of Barron Battle. Even after his death he was still messing up Warren's life.
Warren ran the cold tap and splashed his face with water. He shut of the tap, dried his face on hand towels and walked out the door, heading to the assembly hall. The door of the stall at the end opened, revealing a confused looking boy.
He stepped out of the stall and went to wash his hands. He too looked in the mirror, but smiled, he liked what he saw. His hair was styled perfectly, blonde, short and spiked at the back, with an extremely long fringe. His eyes were black as the night with so much make up, and his tight black jacket made his slender frame look even smaller. On his legs were tight black jeans, and big black boots covered his feet. He was an emo boy through and through, but he thought it looked hot.
"Oh my Warren Peace, what have you turned into?" He said to himself "You wait babe Parker's gonna sort you out"
-
The school settled down, filling the rows of the assembly hall, whispering excitedly to each other, wondering what new and exciting thing was being announced. Warren stepped in the back quietly and sat waiting. The last time an assembly like this had been called, it had lead to him hooking up with Will. Warren sighed.
"Hey there Peace." Said a voice. Warren looked up and was shocked for a second, the figure in front of him was handsome, to say the least. With his blonde hair and emo clothes. "I'm Parker."
"You know, Parker, I make it a habit to roast the people who bother me." Warren said gruffly, turning back to the front of the hall.
Parker sat down next to Warren.
"Yeah. But I figured you could use a friend."
"Really don't" Warren said.
"Ok..." Parker said slowly "Maybe you could use something else then?"
Warren turned and scowled at Parker. This guy, as handsome as he was, was getting a little annoying. He was far to sure of himself, and that bothered Warren.
"Like what?"
Parker slid his hand up Warren's thigh "Whatever you want babe'
Warren jerked back violently. It took all of his self control not to ignite his arms in rage.
"What the hell was that?" Warren whispered harshly "You do know I was just released from prison, and then broke up with my lover... and also... I'm very unstable."
Parker smiled, he could tell by Warren's reaction that he was flustered.
"Ok hotspot. But if you change your mind, or ya need a little rough and tumble, hit me up ok?" Parker said, and before Warren could reply, he was gone.
Warren sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was confused. On the one hand, a really hot and kinda exciting guy was hitting on him, but on the other hand, he had only just finished with Will. Will was the only man Warren had ever loved, or had ever been even attracted to. He screwed up his nose and balled his hands.
"Why does everything have to be so confusing?" He thought "Why can't I just be happy or content with myself"
Warren's thoughts were interrupted by a blinding white light. Principal Powers emerged on stage, ready to make her announcement.
"Welcome students." She greeted warmly "I don't want to keep you all here all day, but I do have something very important to tell you."
A quiet murmur went though the students. Principal Powers held up a hand to silence it.
"We were all very upset by the tragedy that struck us recently, with the passing of our good friend, Ethan."
Warren hung his head. Even though he had been cleared, and Ange Fletcher had been arrested, he blamed himself. If only he had done something more, instead of stand there in shock, or fear. Warren knew even though he didn't murder Ethan, he didn't do enough to help him. Warren didn't think about Ethan much, it hurt him too much to even try. He had liked Ethan a lot.
"And I know you have all heard that Warren Peace is to blame."
Warren looked up in shock as a hiss went through the crowd at the sound of his name, many students called out remarks about him, followed by jeering by the others. Principal Powers silenced it yet again,
"However, due to recent discoveries by the Maxville Police Department, Super Crime Sector, they found, Warren was in fact not to blame."
The crowd burst into speech at once, excitedly discussing this with their neighbors. This time principal Powers let it run.
"Warren did not kill Ethan. The real killer has been found, and dealt with. And, in light of this new knowledge, Warren will be rejoining us at Sky High as of today. If I hear that anyone is bothering him about this tragedy, to which he was a witness, they will be suspended immediately. Is that understood?"
-
Warren escaped the crowd quickly, disappearing behind one of the buildings, in the teachers parking lot. He leaned up against one of the walls and lit a cigarette with his finger. He put it to his lips and took a drag. He sighed as he blew the smoke out and closed his eyes.
That had been way too intense for Warren. He knew that this wouldn't be the end of his troubles, but he also knew he could handle himself around the other students.
"Warren?"
It was Will. Warren opened his eyes slowly and frowned at Will, ready to play the part of angry ex and forcing him to ignore the excited feeling in the pit of his stomach. Will look different somehow. A little older, a little less excited and upbeat, but still as handsome as ever,
'What do you want Stronghold?"
"I wanted to give you this." He said, holding out Warren's jacket. Warren took it and slipped it on, covering his bare shoulders. Wearing a vest was perhaps not the best idea when you didn't have your jacket.
"Thanks." Warren said gruffly and took another puff of his cigarette. He offered it to Will, who, to Warren's suprise, accepted.
"What?" Will asked with mock suprise "You don't think I can be bad?"
"Oh no. I remember." Warren said. He instantly regretted it "Will. What are you doing here?"
"What?" Will asked as he passed back Warrens cigarette 'What do you mean?"
"I mean you can't just come here, give me my jacket and pretend like nothing had ever happened. Did you think that we could just pick up where we left off? Cuz honestly I don't know if I'm the same guy anymore... or how I feel about us."
"Warren..."
"We're broken up. Done. This is the part where we ignore each other."
"I don't want to."
"But I do." Warren stubbed out his cigarette " I can't trust you Will. You didn't beleive me, you didn't try. You didn't trust me. I loved you Will. More than I have ever loved anyone."
Warrens words were getting stuck in his throat, tears falling down his face. Will put his hand on Warren's chest.
"I'm sorry."
Warren heated up his chest, burning Will's hand. Will jerked away, shocked.
"Save it. Go back to Layla, or find some new bad boy to make your pet project, find someone else to fix." Warren said.
"Warren please... just give me a chance..."
"And what kind of chance did you give me?" Warren growled "You know... Before I met you, I could handle the fact that everyone hated me, that everyone thought I was a psycho like my dad... but you...you gave me hope, you gave me a reason to live. It's like you picked me out of hell and then when it came time to trust me, you just dropped me back. You just gave me everything and then took it all away again."
They stood silently for a moment, Warren's words hanging in te air.
"I just... I don't know how to come back from that..." Warren said as he turned and walked away, throwing his cigarette onto the grass.
A;N Hey. So...lots of crazyness in my life right now, and I'm a little lost on my current fic, partly cuz of the actual lack of writing anything, and also cuz I accidentally deleted a bunch of files and have no idea where I am anymore. I have had very, very, very limited access to the internet, but hopefully now I have a way to update more regularly...so Im gonna be editing the first few chapters of this fic, cuz I know it didnt go the way I wanted it to, and pretty much everyone didnt like it, but it was good in my head I swear! So, after I have gotten rid of all the horribly badly written parts in here, hopefully I will be back in the sky high swing of things and will be able to write more and finish my current fic, then I might try something else. Let warren and will rest for a bit maybe...
BTW, the last part of this chapter is my favourite of everything I have written, and I feel like what I have added has made it better. I'm just really proud of this exchange between warren and will and I hope you all like it as much as I do.
Love ya's, Dylan Stratus (31/3/08)