In Another Life... by PersianFreak
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. Please don't sue.
Rating: M
Spoilers: None
A/N: Alright, so this is an all-human, alternate-universe fic. Also, the characters are not necessarily the ones you know and love from the book or the show, so please don't expect that. Anyways, please let me know what you think; if reviews I will assume that nobody likes it and therefore, I won't post again!
PS I knoooo~oow I should be working in OMDB, or NC, or something that will possibly help me get into university, but I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry 3
***************************************
Sookie navigated her way through the crowd, ducking as that asshole Chow threw a football at whoever happened to be behind her. She paused long enough to give him a dirty glare and the finger (causing him to snicker) before turning to open her locker. She dumped her American History textbook on the shelf and grabbed her Calculus one, slammed the door shut and hurried towards the south wing of West Shreveport High School. She managed to make it with four minutes to spare, to nobody's surprise: Sookie had the business of going from classroom to classroom timed down to the second and usually managed to be there in time to grab a seat front and center, arrange her notebook and pens on the desk, settle herself down on the chair and smile a brilliant I'm-your-best-student-so-don't-even-try-to-deny-it smile at the teacher, just as the other students began trickling in.
"You really are a suck-up, you know that?" Amelia grumbled, dumping her stuff on the desk next to Sookie's.
"You might have mentioned that once or twice." Sookie grinned at her best friend just as Eric Northman walked into the class and her eyes flicked over to him.
"Eric and Sookie, sitting in a tree..." Amelia sung under her breath and Sookie had the opportunity to backhand her shoulder before the bell rang and Mr. Rayburn got up from his desk to do attendance.
"Sit down and shuddup," He ordered, and Sookie had to hide a smile; her teacher's attitude was the reason why she loved Calculus so much.
"Branton."
"Here."
"Cockburn."
Muffled giggling, then "Here."
Rayburn shook his head and continued, "Corbett."
"Yep."
"Daniels"
"Yo."
"Fick..." A folded up piece of paper landed on Sookie's desk and she glanced up to make sure Rayburn hadn't noticed before she unfolded it and read the note: Ur coming to my party, right? Sookie looked up and nodded at Amelia, mouthing "Of course." and smiling in response to Amelia's grin.
"Northman."
"Yes, sir." Eric's voice was tinged with amusement, and Sookie allowed herself to turn and look at him, slouched in his seat in the very back row, tapping his pen on his textbook. He caught Sookie's eye and nodded his head in acknowledgement, and Sookie nodded in response.
"Stackhouse."
"Present." She snapped her head towards the front and ignored the way Amelia was glaring at her.
"Alright, now hands up if you actually did the homework last night." Rayburn glanced around the room, "Did you really, Northman?"
"Yes, sir. I've been getting tutored."
"I didn't realize watching Skinemax was considered tutoring." Rayburn commented and the class laughed, Eric smiling good-naturedly as the lesson began.
***
The Northmans moved into the massive colonial next door when Sookie was five years old. It took all of two days for Eric to wander casually over to Sookie and ask her if he could ride her tricycle while his dad watched from the living room window. It took another two days before Sookie finally agreed, and three more days before they were best friends. When Eric managed to scratch the shiny red paint of the tricycle several weeks later, Sookie broke the head off of his plastic G.I. Joe and didn't speak to him for an entire afternoon. When Eric blew her off and humiliated her in front of his football buddies eleven years later, Sookie didn't speak to him for sixteen months. It took a week of them bumping into each other while going for a run before they gave up and started running together. So, by the time senior year began, they were once again on speaking terms; almost-friends, but not quite.
***
"I don't understand you," Amelia complained as they made their way out towards the courtyard for lunch, "You spent the last two years saying he was a douchebag and that you didn't want anything to do with him, but suddenly you're tutoring him twice a week."
Sookie sighed and put down her stuff on their usual table, "I told you, we started talking this summer. He is still kind of a dick, but I'm just helping him with school shit; I'm not his best friend again."
"No, you're just the girl he wants to fuck."
"He doesn't want to fuck me," Sookie glared at her friend, "More importantly, I don't want to fuck him."
"Not that he isn't gorgeous," Amelia admitted, making Sookie laugh.
"What are we talking about?" Asked Arlene as she settled herself beside Sookie.
"We're talking about how Eric wants to jump Sookie's bones," Amelia quipped before Sookie could respond.
Arlene clapped her hand delightedly, "Ooooh, girl, he is sexy."
"Is not!" Tara snapped, throwing herself unto the bench beside Amelia.
"What's wrong with you?" Sookie frowned, stirring her ketchup with a fry.
"My fool cousin came out of the closet last night," Tara grumbled. Amelia and Arlene muttered "About time!" in unison, earning themselves identical glares from Tara and Sookie.
"What happened?" Sookie asked.
"His mom kicked him out of the house, called my mom, and then they spent two hours complaining about how their kids didn't turn out the way they had wanted, and that they hoped it wasn't too late for the Lord to save us all."
"What is Lafayette going to do?" Arlene asked, washing down her birth control pill with a swig of Sprite.
Tara shrugged, biting into an apple, "I dunno. He came to my window last night and I gave him money and food, but he needs to find a job."
"That blows, dude," Amelia commented, "Is he at school today?"
"Yeah, somewhere." Tara nodded, then glanced up behind me, her brows furrowing in disapproval.
"Hey," Eric put a hand on Sookie's shoulder and she turned.
"What's up?"
He glanced around at the three other girls before looking back down at Sookie, "Okay if I come over tonight? Are you free?"
"Yeah, for sure!" Sookie smiled at him.
"Want a ride home?"
"That'd be great, thanks."
"No problem. See you later, then."
"See ya." Sookie turned back to her friends, "What?"
"He wants in your pants," The three announced in harmony.
***
"Alright, do you want to take a break?" Sookie asked, standing up to stretch her legs.
"Sure," Eric closed his textbook and sat back on the couch, his eyes flicking down to her breasts for a second before jumping back up to her face. Sookie rolled her eyes and walked over to the fridge in the adjoining kitchen, rummaging around for a snack.
"Hi guys!"
"Hi mom!" Sookie called, sticking her head out from behind the fridge door.
"Hey, Mrs. Stackhouse," Eric got up from the couch and took the groceries from Sookie's mother, smiling charmingly at her. Sookie's mother was an older version of her, Eric thought: same smile, same eyes, and same hot bod.
"Thanks," Mrs. Stackhouse smiled gratefully at him. "What are you guys working on? Bio?"
"Calculus," Sookie gave up on the fridge and grabbed a box of cereal from the top of the fridge. "You want some?" She held out the box to Eric and he smirked, grabbing the box of Count Chocula from her.
"I think it's time to pick a new favourite cereal, Sook," He stuffed a handful into his mouth, "Lucky Charms, maybe."
"I like Count Chocula," Sookie grabbed the box back from him, "Don't knock the Count! Besides, I've loved Count Chocula since I was seven."
"That is exactly my point," Eric settled himself in one of the high chairs besides the island in the kitchen and took the box back from Sookie; she tried to get it back and failed.
"Alright, you two," Mrs. Stackhouse, having put all the groceries away, emerged from the pantry. "Break over. Get back to work."
"Yes, ma'am," Eric inclined his head and hopped out of the chair. Actually, not so much "hopped" as "slid", seeing as how Eric was 6'4".
"You're such a suck-up," Sookie hissed and Eric shot her an innocent look, popping the last of the cereal into his mouth and following her back into the living room.
"So, what happened to Will?" Eric asked, careful to sound nonchalant as he flipped through his textbook.
"We broke up," Sookie matched his tone.
Eric seemed surprised by that, "I thought you guys were happy; perfect for each other and all."
"He's a good friend," She shrugged, "But dating was a bad idea and he knows it. What happened to Pam?" She figures if he can ask a personal question, then she can ask one. Sookie isn't quite comfortable with this new Eric; the Eric that she grew up with was comfortable, and it took her a while to get over the natural instinct in her that made her want to tell him things and hang out with him. Going on runs was different because no actual conversation was required, and they could both concentrate on the beat of their strides and their breaths synchronizing. She had offered to tutor him when they had stopped in the middle of their run to drink some water one day over the summer, and he had accepted, much to her surprise. Now he came over once or twice a week and Sookie would help him with whatever he needed help with. "Are you ignoring me?" She asked when he didn't respond.
"No," Eric looked up, "Nothing happened with Pam, that was the problem. She wanted the quarterback for the cliché, so that she could say she was the cheerleading captain and her boyfriend was the football star, but that was it."
"Well, that's cheerleaders for ya." Sookie muttered, smirking a little.
"You used to be a cheerleader." Eric points out.
" 'Used to' being the operative phrase here," Sookie retorts, "I got tired of the drama. Besides, I don't have the time.
"It's a busy life, being the overachiever."
"Am not!"
"Right."
"Work!" She tapped angrily at the worksheet in front of him and he sighed, pulling his notebook closer. "Are you going to Amelia's tomorrow night?" Sookie asked a while later, still watching him solve the problems.
"I think so," He muttered absently.
"Cool."
"You?"
"Are you kidding me; Amelia would throttle me if I didn't go help her clean up afterwards."
Eric chuckled, "Good point. It was probably a mistake, inviting half the senior class."
"Oh, well, not my party," She shrugged, amusement painting her features.
"No, you just have to clean up." She laughed at him and he returned to calculus, occasionally making mistakes and requiring her help, and this went on until dinner time when, despite Sookie's mother offer that Eric stay for dinner, he left.
"See you tomorrow." Eric called over his shoulder as he crossed the Stackhouses' lawn.
"See ya."
