Title: Best Days Of My Life (Part One)
Author: Me ( Makai Goddess Ookami ) and Phoenix-San (Chained Phoenix)
Pairing(s): Hodges x Greg, Nick x Bobby, Jacqui x Grissom, Catherine x Warrick (plus many minor...)
Rating: PG- PG13
Warnings: slash, language, hyper-active frosh (more may be added)
Summary: High School was a different experience for everyone, sometimes good, sometimes bad. This is an entanglement of their stories, woven together to make one larger one. (WAY AU)
Disclaimer: We don't own CSI or anything else that looks familiar. HOWEVER, we do (kind of) own: Caroline, Thomas Stone, and Benjamin Stoddert.
Sephiroth's Rants: Sorry I haven't posted anything in forever, I was just dying to get this up. Me and Phoenix-San spent about a month getting this all worked out, however, as sad as it is, we probably wont be able to update very often. We're lame like that. :( Anyways, we hope you enjoy...
Phoenix's Rants: This is AU, in case you didn't catch that... And yeah, we'll try and update as often as we can. This was made for fun, and while we really don't expect to go anywhere with it, it does have a plot. So, yeah... w00t... I hate fsking high school.
In which we find an old car, hyperactive Frosh, and making friends is easier then we think...
High school. It was a different story for everyone, students and teachers alike. It could be the best four years of your life, the worst for years of your life, or just a stepping stone into something greater. It didn't matter who you asked, every story was different. Every story dreamed to be told, even if most would live on in the heart of one for the rest of eternity. Too often do these stories die without anyone knowing, and that's probably how it would turn out for all the young students entering the building on their first (second for freshmen) day of school. Just standing there, one could experience the beginning of so many stories. The laughter and jokes, embraces from old friends, and the chatter of the clubs and classes being taken filled the school grounds, inside and out.
Yet, this isn't the story of any one person; it's the story of a group. Not a group of friends per-say, but a group of people drawn together in ways they can't explain. And yes, it begins with the first day of school.
X x X x X x X
David Hodges always hated walking to school, so he was overjoyed to get his parents old Plymouth Breeze, even if it was seven or eight years old. It was a good car, champagne in colour, and well taken care of. He didn't exactly want the particular car, but he wasn't going to turn it down. So he would do the reasonable thing and call his best friend and ask her if she wanted a ride to school. She would say yes, he had no doubt about that. She hated walking as much as he did, if not more. He smiled faintly in his bathroom mirror as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was a junior this year, first appearances weren't nearly as important.
There was no reason for him to rush, and he took his sweet time getting ready, eating day old doughnuts from the local KrispyKreme. He didn't look up when his parents entered the kitchen, and they paid him no mind either. No harm done, either way. Still at his own pace, he picked up his bag, throwing it into the backseat of the car, and went back inside and picked up the phone. He dialed Jacqui's number, and leaned against the wall as it rang, waiting for someone to answer.
"Hello?" a girl answered, she had a youngish sounding voice.
"Hey, Caroline, is Jacqui around?" David asked.
"Duh," Caroline answered.
"Well, go get her."
X x X x X x X
"Jaaacqui!" Caroline hollered, hopping off of the chair, laying the phone on the counter, "David's on the phone!"
"I'm right here, geez, don't yell," Jacqui Franco said, sipping a glass of orange juice, as she picked up the phone, "Hey."
"Jacqui," David said.
"David," Jacqui replied curtly.
"You want a ride?" He asked, and she knew he was smirking.
"What?" She asked, her mind blanching.
"I got the Plymouth," he stated, as if it was obvious. If he had been there she would have smacked him.
"Well, I'm waiting," Jacqui replied, her 'yes' to wanting a ride.
They hung up, there really wasn't anything left to say after that. Jacqui finished her drink, and laid the empty glass in the sink and yawned, before going and finishing getting ready for school. She finished getting dressed, kicking her sleeping pants and tank top into the corner and pulled on a pair of jeans and a black tee-shirt with the 'Queen' band logo on the back. She pulled up her hair and got shoes and socks on. By the time David got there, she had her bag and was walking out the door. Some call that impeccable timing; they called it knowing each other oh-so well. And they did, they'd been best friends since grade school.
She climbed into the front seat, and gave him an eye over, before nodding her approval. Not that she could do much about his wardrobe now, but he didn't look half bad in the dark blue jeans and black oxford. She'd long since noticed he had a thing for long sleeves. They talked about little nothings that had happened since they'd last seen each other two days before, and she looked through his CDs. Nothing exciting really. Queen, The Eagles, The Who, Elton John, Bon Jovi... Savage Garden? She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Some things were best left unsaid.
"You got your schedule?" Jacqui asked as David handed it too her off the top of the dash. He had known she was going to ask. "Lesse, what have we got here?" Her voice trailed off as she read it, and marked the classes they had together on both. It had been a habit of hers since middle school. After checking once again, to see if she missed anything she said, "We have Aquatics, Forensics, English and Health together. Hmm... not bad, that's half the schedule."
"I know, I can count too," David smirked.
"I would hit you, but you're driving..." Jacqui retorted.
They arrived at the school and got out, slowly walking towards the building.
"That means half a day without you?" David asked after a moment, information sinking in, smirking, "Finally!"
Jacqui was going to punch him in the arm, but was startled by a blonde freshman running in front of her, startling her backwards into another male, this one Asian looking.
"Sorry!" He said, laughing, before chasing after the blonde, "GREG!" He shouted.
"Freshmen," David practically sneered, before looking over her quickly, "You okay?" Jacqui gave him a look that screamed 'what do you think?' and he nodded. "Well, okay, off to first hour."
X x X x X x X
"GREG!" Archie Johnson called after the blonde, finally catching up to him, half tackling him as they fell to the ground together, laughing.
"Get off!" Greg half squeaked, pushing Archie off of him as they lay in the grass, not caring about the weird looks they were getting from the other students.
The two sat up, still lounging on the grass, back to back as they watched people around them. True, they were incredibly childish for their age, but it didn't really bother them. They were having fun, and that's all that really mattered. Archie leaned against Greg and closed his eyes, sighing happily. They had only known each other for about half a year and had grown to be best friends. Greg had moved in from New York and was always telling him about it. Not that Archie was complaining, he had spent most of his life in Seattle.
He pushed his glasses up his nose again, and listened to the throng of people as Greg started talking about the clubs he wanted to join, and what classes he was looking foreword too, and what classes he wasn't. It was nice listening to the blonde babble, and he wouldn't change that for anything. They were best friends, that's how it was supposed to be.
"Hey, Greg," Archie said, turning around so the two were no longer back to back, "How do you think it's going to be? I mean, we have no classes together."
"Ugh, don't remind me…" Greg moaned, flopping onto his back to stare up at the other male, "It's going to be so bad... Maybe we'll have lunch together or something?"
"I hope," Archie replied, poking Greg's side, "You still owe me $13.45 from buying you lunches back in eighth grade..."
"About that..." Greg half laughed, standing up and stepping back.
"What?" Archie asked, eyes narrowed.
"Later!" He laughed, taking off again.
"GREG!" Archie yelled, standing and taking off after him, "GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME MY MONEY!"
Archie was faster then Greg, and would have easily caught up with him if he had really wanted too. Right now it was all about having fun. At least, it would have been if Greg hadn't looked over his shoulder and crashed into an older dark haired male, sending them both toppling to the ground. Archie caught up, stopping at the two males' sides, trying to laugh and catch his breath at the same time. Greg rolled off the male, deciding to lay there for a moment and Archie helped the taller male up.
"Sorry..." Greg called from his spot on the ground.
"Don't worry about it," the male said, his Texan accent catching their attention, half laughing as he dusted his clothes off, "I needed that wake up call…"
Greg sat up, looking at Archie, who then helped him stand up. "It's kind of my fault," Archie said quickly, looking truly apologetic, "I was-"
"Hey, like I said, don't worry about it..." The male said, ruffling Archie's hair.
They both blinked, and looked away. The older male smiled apologetically, and excused himself as he left for class. Archie ran a hand through his hair, fixing it, ignoring the betrayed look Greg was giving him.
"You know if you were staring at him any harder, you'd burn a hole through his head," Archie half snapped.
"I wasn't staring!" Greg snapped, "And anyway, what was with you, acting like you'd just met The President of the United States!"
"The President isn't as cute," Archie muttered, but Greg didn't notice.
He cast a sideways glance at the front doors in time to see the Texan male slip in, after holding it open for another girl. Yeah, he was cuter then the President of the United States.
X x X x X x X
Nick Stokes didn't know what he had expected when he moved to Las Vegas, but this definitely wasn't it. Benjamin Stoddert High was normal enough, he supposed. At least, in any case, it looked decent. The halls were clean, and everything was nice and spacious. And the few faces he had seen had been kind ones. He cast a look at his schedule again, and nibbled on his lower lip. Gym class, first thing in the morning. He was now positive that someone up there hated him.
He looked out one of the large windows but didn't see the Asian boy and his friend arguing anymore. He fought the urge to blush. He had no idea why he ruffled the small male's hair, but he was regretting it now. It was obviously a very stupid thing to do. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Still, if nothing else he was a cute kid, and he doubted he'd ever see him again. He looked like one of the frosh, not that you could really tell these days with kid geniuses. Still, Nick got the feeling the kid was a frosh.
He remembered the way to the gym, which was a good thing. Orientation hadn't been such a bad thing after all, because, hey, he could still find his classes. The halls were long and locker lined, purple and gray, the school colours, with students chattering all over. He'd applied to late in the year to receive a locker, and by the gods he hoped he wouldn't get too many books the size of China. Last years English book could be used to kill someone. Hah. He'd gotten a concussion from one, but that was a different story.
The gym doors were propped open, and he walked through them, to the far purple bleachers, plopping down near a sign that read "Mr. Towns – Team Sports". A couple of boys around him talked animatedly, and he listened for a little bit. He noticed two males arguing about something, and turned to watch them, forgetting it was a rude thing to do. A blonde, curly haired boy stared at him blankly, waving loosely, and his companion, a tall African American, smirked and gestured for Nick to join them.
"I'm Warrick Brown," the male replied, smiling, "and this is Bobby Dawson."
"It's nice to meet you, Warrick, Bobby," Nick smiled his best charming smile, causing Bobby to turn a faint shade of red, "I'm Nick Stokes."
"You're accent!" Bobby replied chipperly, blush gone, "You're Texan!"
"Yeah, you too," Nick replied, hearing the similar accent in his new companion.
"Why don't we have a woohoo for accent party?" Warrick joked, rolling his eyes.
Bobby punched his friend lightly in the arm, and Warrick mock hit him back. The two were laughing lightly, and Nick couldn't help but laugh back. They seemed friendly enough, which was always a good thing, and their liveliness was almost contagious.
"You knew here?" Warrick asked, glancing up at Nick. "I've never seen you around."
"Yeah, just moved here from Texas a month ago," Nick replied.
"So... You like it here, so far?" Bobby asked, looking up from his book-bag in which he was rooting around for something in.
"It's not bad," Nick shrugged, "Kind of lively."
"Kind of?" Warrick asked, sharing a look with Bobby, "Wait till Football kicks off, things will get so much more lively... For everyone who's trying out this year, we're going to pulverize Thomas Stone..."
Nick couldn't help but laugh, and Bobby joined him. Warrick looked so serious, and they stopped laughing. Obviously he took his sports seriously.
"You're only so uptight because you lost so many bets last year..." Bobby scolded.
"No! Well, kind of," Warrick admitted, then turned to Nick, "We're superior to Stone in every way except boys sports. It's like they're feeding them steroids or something..."
"Or something," Bobby noted, nodding.
The blonde stopped rooting through his bag when he noticed a blonde across the floor, and waved. Nick followed his glance and noticed the blonde boy who knocked him down. Talk about coincidence. They boy almost bounded up to see them, a wide smirk on his face as he plopped down between Nick and Bobby, and the two began talking quickly. Nick raised an eyebrow and Warrick shrugged. The blonde didn't seem to notice the other two.
"Nick, Warrick, this is my neighbor, Greg," Bobby introduced him, "He's one of the frosh this year."
"Yo!" Greg said chipperly, smirking, but his smile faded the moment he saw Nick. "YOU! I'msosorry,Ireallydidn'tmeantoknockyouover.IswearI'llbemorecarefulfromnowon!"
Nick laughed, and waved away the apology. "I told you already, it's okay..."
"Okay, ladies, listen up!" A voice called, carrying through out the gym, "This is Team Sports for Boys and I am Mr. Towns. Anyone who is not supposed to be here, leave now. No one? Okay, I'll begin with roll..."
TBC…
Sephiroth: Oh! Do we know if Cath-eh has a maiden name? Oo if not, if we said Catherine Braun, would you not kill us...? Oh, right, Please Review! It's not so hard!