Author's Note: I know this is a shocker, but I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. Go figure.


Die Luft der Freiheit Weht (The Winds of Freedom Blow)

CHAPTER TWO


With force, the lanky brunette slammed the pillow over her head and wished for the bliss of sleep to return. The clamor of the early morning routine from her family and the blaring of the alarm clock ensured that no such thing would happen. Groaning, she tried to swat the clock she kept on her bedside table to get the horrible sound to stop. When her hand hit the wood of the table rather than the appliance, she sat up in bed and blinked weary eyed, realizing the clock had been moved to the other side of the room. "Ma," she groaned, recognizing her mother's trademark move. Despite the loud sound filling the room, Jane contemplated just lounging in her bed forever, before she heard a shout from below. "JANIE GET UP AND TURN THAT THING OFF THIS INSTANT."

Sighing, she grabbed the pink, frilly decorative pillow her mother had insisted on buying from next to her on the bed. Squinting, she took aim and threw it across the room. It knocked the alarm clock off of the table, pulling the cord out of the wall and silencing the alarm. She smiled smugly. A moment of peace, and she didn't even need to get out of bed for it.

Loud steps sounded on the hardwood floor outside her room, before she heard a timid knock. Clearly not Tommy then. "What is it, Frankie?"

Almost apologetically, he peeked in. "Ma said to tell you she knows you didn't get out of bed. And that the alarm clock better not be broken because then you're buying the next one."

Jane sighed, running her hands over her face. "Alright, you relayed your message. I'm getting up." She made a show of stomping her feet for the first few steps, knowing the ceiling would shake in the kitchen where her mother was.

After using the bathroom, she threw open her dresser drawer, grabbing the first item in each pile: skirt, polo, sweater. Given the polos and sweaters could only be three different colors, all of which matched, Jane really could care less what the specific colors were. She'd be fine. Against school regulations, she pulled on her standard spandex beneath the skirt. After accidentally flashing a guy on the second day of school her freshman year, she determinedly broke regulation every day after that.

From a drawer below, she pulled out a random t-shirt and pair of shorts for practice, retrieving socks from a pile on the floor. Pulling together her field hockey gear, she glanced at her watch. "Shit," she swore; she only had seven minutes to the bus, and her backpack wasn't packed yet. She glanced at the school list that rested on a shelf of the bookcase, where trophies were interspersed with books, before deciding against the rush. It was the first day. None of her classes were really going to care if she didn't have her books.

Shoving a notebook, two pens, her summer homework for AP English and AP US History and her wallet into her backpack, she took the steps two at a time. By the time she walked into the kitchen, her backpack was firmly on her back, her gear bag for field hockey slung across her body. Leaning forward, she kissed her mother as she grabbed a piece of toast from the stack. Shouts of "be good this year" and "make us proud" were acknowledged with nods, as Jane shouted up the steps. "FRANKIE! TOMMY! Bus, now! I'm leaving in five… four… three…" The boys threw themselves down the stairs, grabbing toast and kissing their mother goodbye, before rushing out the door in front of Jane. She smiled to herself. They were idiots, her younger brothers, but adorable idiots.

Frankie and Tommy led the way down the street, and Jane followed, carefully inspecting them. Frankie was dressed in a St. Josephine's uniform as well, khakis and a yellow polo with a blue sweater over, prepared for his first day of freshman year, and Tommy had khakis with a black shirt and red sweater, the uniform of East Boston Catholic School, starting his eighth grade and thus last year there.

As the group reached the corner where the buses would arrive, Tommy grew quiet, a sure sign he was upset. Jane slugged him on the shoulder. "Hey little brother, what's the face for?" He just shrugged, and Jane took a shot in the dark. "Upset that Frankie's not going to the same school as you anymore?"

Frankie spoke up. "But you'll be with me next year! Jane will be all ancient and gone by then."

Jane glared, before Tommy spoke up in a timid voice. "I won't get into St. Joe's though."

Frankie and Jane exchanged looks. To be honest, they were a little worried about that as well. St. Josephine's had a program designed to give high achieving students in Catholic schools around Boston the opportunity to excel in a prep school environment. A test was administered in eighth grade to all the Boston Catholic school children, and the top five scorers were awarded a four-year scholarship to St. Joe's. Jane had come in top of her class her year. Nobody was sure of how Frankie would do, but Jane helped him study and as always, he followed in Jane's footsteps, scoring fourth best in the city and earning a spot of his own. Neither knew whether Tommy could achieve the same results, as he hadn't shown the same dedication in school as his siblings – and they knew that the tuition of St. Josephine's was too much for their parents to pay on their own.

Jane reassured her brother, a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. If you want to get in, we'll help you study. I remember my test, and I should hope – given it was not even a year ago – this idiot," she pointed at Frankie, "remembers his." Frankie's "Hey!" of protest was ignored as Jane continued. "Nobody else has that advantage. If you want to get in, we'll work on it. Okay?" Tommy looked to his brother, who nodded at him, before looking at Jane and nodding as well. "Meanwhile, remember, you get to be top of the pack at EBCS this year!"

Frankie smiled, "The glory days. You guys won't top our exit prank."

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

The argument continued for a few more volleys before Jane cut in. "Enough! This is stupid." She paused. "Because we all know my year's was the best."

A lively debate began, before Tommy's bus arrived. "Give them hell!" Jane called after him, before leaning back against the pole of the street sign, staring down the street for their bus. She checked her phone. "Goddamn bus is always late," she muttered. "First day of school and Billy can't even get here on time." Frankie smiled. "What are you smiling at?"

"I never knew the bus was always late." He smiled. "Now I do." Jane shook her head at him. Sometimes the depth of Frankie's emotions impressed her – he possessed a sensitivity that she did not harbor. His voice cut into her thoughts. "Is that our bus?" he said as he pointed down the street.

"Yes!" Jane grabbed her gear bag. "Let's do this. Senior year. Fuck yes." Frankie chuckled. "Laugh all you want, bro, but I'm gonna torture you this year. I'm a senior. You're a little widdle froshie. It's kind of my job."

When the bus finally stopped and the doors open, she took the steps two at a time, clapping the bus driver on the back good-naturedly. "Billy! Nice of you to finally show up!"

The man chuckled and yelled at her retreating figure. "Shut up Rizzoli and sit your ass down!" When he saw Frankie ascending the stairs, he pretended to clutch his heart. "Dear god there's another one?!"

Jane shouted forward. "That's Frankie, my kid brother. He's nicer than me." Frankie nodded solemnly at the bus driver. "But you've got four years with him!"

"God help us," Billy said, as he shut the doors and pulled away from the curb.

Jane progressed to the back, swaying with the movement of the bus, exchanging greetings with people as she went. The final row – her row – was empty as always, and she swung in, dropping her gear bag on the floor and swinging her legs up and onto the seat as she lounged against the window, closing her eyes for a brief moment and soaking up the early morning sun. Diana peered over the seat, noticed Jane's closed eyes, and smiled – before flicking her friend's ear sharply. Jane shot up like a rocket. "OW! Jesus fuck, that hurt!" Diana shrugged. "You could, you know, say hi like a normal person one of these days."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Hey, Di." She shut her eyes, and then peeked one open when she realized her friend was still staring. "What?"

"Summer? Classes? Sports? Romance? Gonna give me any updates at all?"

"I saw you two days ago! And we talked for three hours. My life has been really exciting since then. I'm still taking the same classes, I'm still doing field hockey, and – oh yeah, I met someone and fell in love in two days. Because that's so me." Jane sighed. "Life's the same, Di. I'm not keeping anything from you. I just don't have anything to share."

From the outside, Jane realized her friendship with Di made no sense. The girl was bubbly and optimistic, eager to share feelings and experiences. A star athlete – a forward for the varsity soccer team – Diana had figured out how to channel her girly side as well. She straightened her hair and wore makeup, and on the weekends, she could be found in a dress. Jane, on the other hand – she was outgoing, but in a sarcastic 'one of the gang' type of way – trading cracks rather than stories, punching rather than flirting coyly. She didn't understand the value of spending precious minutes that could be spent sleeping getting 'pretty' when she was just going to sweat it away in practice.

Despite their differences, though, they understood each other. They valued family and loyalty above all else. They helped each other with academics, stood up for one another, and were one half of a kickass relay team come indoor track season – nobody could compete with the speed of a Di/Jane baton transfer. They weren't best friends; Jane never understood the concept, treating all her friends with the same steadfast loyalty and devotion, and Diana's childhood best friend, who had since moved to New York, still held the title. But they were close, which is why when Diana shoved Jane's legs off of the seat so that she could slide in next to Jane, Jane didn't bitch her out and instead pulled her gear bag under her legs to give Diana more room.

Her friend spoke. "Okay, FINE. Nothing's new. Whatever. Wanna ask me if I have news then?"

Jane smiled and raised her eyebrow, realizing what Diana was getting at. "So, who's the guy?"

"I hate how you do that. But… it's Mark."

"Tell me it's not the Mark I'm thinking of."

Diana had the good sense to look a little ashamed. "So what if it is?"

"WHAT? You're dating that jerk!? You know what he keeps in his locker, right? And that he's not smart enough for you?" Mark, a lackluster student, was a fan of 'liquid courage', as he so poetically called the bottle of vodka he stashed in his locker. Last year, Jane broke into his locker just so she could smash the bottle on the sidewalk outside. Mark had tried to punch her over it, but she had blocked the blow, twisted his hand behind his back, and growled into his ear that one day, he'd be grateful for her actions, before walking away.

She realized Diana had been speaking. "I know you don't like him, but he's really changed! He's not drinking anymore. And he's smarter than we thought, it's just the teachers just have it out for him. Come on, Jane." She grabbed her friend's arm. "I like him. I need you to be okay with this."

Jane looked at Di's earnest face, and sighed. "Alright." In her head, she began to plan the perfect way to threaten Mark with bodily harm if he ever hurt Diana. "Alright, I'll try to be nice. I guess."

Diana smiled, before pulling Jane to her feet. "Cheer up! We're seniors, and we're here."

Despite her annoyance at her friend's news, Jane couldn't help but smile as she walked down the aisle of the bus, winking at Billy as she disembarked and stepped out in front of St. Josephine's. Following Diana as she weaved through the crowd, her grin didn't fade.

The first day of school excitement was infectious.


Author's Note: I was overwhelmed, touched and excited by the number of reviews and follows I got on this story (and no negative ones!). As my own little expression of gratitude, I put aside cover letters for a bit and wrote this chapter instead. :) To the Guest reviewer who said they didn't know of any other high school AUs, I wish I could claim to be the first. I'm definitely not. If you PM me or review off of Guest, I'd be happy to send you some of my favorite ones to check out.

I realized that I had a couple more things I wanted to say about this story too: 1) I know Jane grew up in Revere, which is a suburb, but I wanted her to grow up in the city proper. Revere is closest to East Boston, which is also where some Italian American families live if they're not in the (more expensive now) North End, so hence East Boston for her. 2) This has modern day technology like computers and phones, despite the fact that in 1993-1994 they wouldn't have had them. The fact is I like being able to send texts in my stories and use Wikipedia, okay? (It's also what I know, so I'm just trying to write what I know.) 3) Has anyone managed to figure out the age differences between the siblings in the Rizzoli family? Or, for that matter, between Maura and Jane? I tried to do a search on it and nothing came up, so I just kind of selected my own ages. Whoops.

YAY review please if it strikes your fancy! Thank you again. I won't always update this quickly, but I just had to as a thank you. :)