Race was frantically searching through the contents at the bottom of his locker, shoving aside scraps of loose leaf and old Starburst wrappers. He knew he was wasting time. His chemistry homework simply wasn't there and all the searching in the world wasn't going to make it appear before the bell rang. When he finally made an appearance in the classroom his chemistry teacher simply handed Race a detention slip and he headed toward Room 101, resigned to his fate.

Mr. Treadway had apparently drawn the short straw in the teacher's lounge that day and had been assigned to look after detention that afternoon. Race signed in and slumped into a seat in the back corner, hoping to avoid contact with the other miserable looking students.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Race looked up to find Sean Conlon standing in front of him with a scowl on his perfect face. Well, perfect in Race's opinion. The fact that Race's heart didn't leap out of his chest and go running around the room was a point in his favor, at least he thought so.

"W-What?" Race managed to stammer and instantly wished the floor would open and swallow him whole.

"Move, fucker," Sean told him. He pointed at the ink drawings scrawled across the surface of the desk. "This is my seat."

Race wasn't sure what to think of the fact that Sean had been to detention so often that he actually had an assigned seat, even if it was self-assigned. He had always been aware of the fact that Sean spent most of his time in in-school suspension, or out of school suspension, or off at the juvenile facility. But it was kind of tragic to actually be there to see it in person.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Conlon?" Mr. Treadway interrupted.

"No problem," Race spoke up as he gathered his belongings and shifted one seat over.

"Bitch," Sean muttered as he flopped down into the newly vacant seat and threw his feet up onto the chair in front of him.

Race nearly bit his tongue in half trying to avoid saying something he knew he'd regret. Instead, he flipped open his chemistry text and started over on the homework that had been due earlier that day. Since he'd already completed the assignment it shouldn't have been that difficult but Race stared at the same question for a full two minutes. Being within two feet of Sean put him on edge in a way he hadn't experienced before. When he finally put pen to paper it took another few minutes before he stopped zoning out enough to realize Sean was talking to him.

"What?"

"You're doing it wrong," Sean explained with a glance at Race's paper.

Race took a breath and scowled. "Attend a lot of science classes in juvey, do you?"

Sean blinked once but the expression on his face didn't change. "It has teeth."

Race hooked his arm around his paper and hunched forward in an attempt to block Sean's view. "If you don't mind, I'd actually like to pass this class."

"Fuck you then," Sean told him. There was no malice in his voice as he leaned back and closed his eyes, apparently intending to sleep his way through the rest of the afternoon.

Race held his head in his hands and debated just handing the paper over. It wasn't like he could get any work done anyway with Sean sitting right next to him. The only thing that Race could seem to focus on was how badly he wished he could have started the whole conversation over.


The cold from the stone steps began to seep through Race's jeans and he stared toward the entrance to the school's driveway with an irritable expression. Stupid Alex, he told himself as he checked his phone for the umpteenth time. He debated calling his parents but figured if they didn't already know about his detention, then it wouldn't hurt to try and avoid telling them. The student parking lot was practically empty and Race watched with amusement as his old lab partner, David, straggled along behind Jack and Sarah on their way toward Jack's car. David had always reminded Race of an overgrown puppy, eagerly lapping up any leftovers (girls, advice, etc) Jack bothered to toss his way.

"Hey, fucker." Race felt his stomach simultaneously drop and leap up into his throat as he heard Sean's voice behind him.

Race did his best to try and sound nonchalant but was only able to squeak out a weak, "Hey."

There was the sound of cellophane ripping as Sean unwrapped a new pack of cigarettes and tapped the box against his palm. Race stared down at the scuffed oxblood Docs Sean wore and tried his best not to follow the sight up from Sean's ratty jeans to the punk tshirt he always wore.

"You need a ride or something?" Race looked up to see Sean's piercing stare. Over time Race had been able to fool himself into thinking he could ignore Sean but he'd never been able to get over the effect Sean's eyes had on him. Race had heard Sean's blue eyes described just about every way possible but none of those descriptions came close in Race's opinion.

"No, thanks. I'm waiting on a friend," Race answered finally. Sean turned to walk away and Race swallowed the lump in his throat. He picked his bag up off the ground and slung it over his shoulder before catching up to Sean. "Hold on. Guess she ain't gonna show."

Sean shrugged ambivalently and led Race toward a beat up car that, to Race, looked like it was made up of more duct tape, JB Weld, and epoxy than anything else. Still, it was a car and that was a hell of a lot more than Race had.

If anyone had asked Race that morning where he thought he'd be that afternoon, he would have never said sitting inside Sean Conlon's car. The interior really didn't give any clue to Sean's personality. There were a few empty cigarette packets and some discarded Red Bull cans but nothing personal or intimate. Race grinned to himself as he figured maybe the backseat would have more clues given Sean's reputation.

"So, where we going?" Sean asked, interrupting Race's train of thought.

"Um, Charlton Road. You know it?"

"Ritzy," Sean scoffed bitingly. He flipped his lighter open and lit the cigarette that dangled from his lips. He blew a stream of smoke out the window and Race was suddenly very inclined to take up smoking. He rubbed his palms against his jeans and stared out the window as Sean drove out of the parking lot.

Race rubbed his neck in the uncomfortable silence. "You got any music?"

Sean pointed at the space in the console that was empty except for a jumble of wires hanging out. "Some asshole stole the radio."

Race cringed in embarrassment. How could he not notice the radio was missing? He blamed his oversight to the fact that he was trying his best not to become absorbed by watching Sean's fingers wrapped around the gear shift.

"So, did you, like, buy this car yourself?"

"Yeah. Don't have rich-ass parents to buy me shit like most of you fuckers."

"I don't have a car," Race answered defensively. Sean sent him a withering look and Race blushed at his outburst.

"You drive stick?" Sean asked after a minute.

Race considered the possibility that there was some kind of innuendo in that question but he was honestly still perplexed by Sean. He went with the most basic answer. "Never learned."

Sean smirked. "What kind of girl are you?"

"I never went to white trash driving school," Race shot back. He was getting more flustered by the minute.

Sean reached over and placed Race's hand on the gear shift. "I'll teach you."

Race instantly pulled his hand back into his lap with a knee-jerk reaction and his heart beating in his throat. He regretted pulling away like that but Sean didn't seem insulted.

"I-it's this one," Race managed to tell Sean as the car pulled closer to his house. He sat for a second in the silence and fiddled with the strap on his bookbag. "Sean, I…um."

"Oh, here," Sean interrupted as he pulled a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Race.

As he unfolded it Race saw Sean had completed the chemistry homework with the seemingly correct answers. At the bottom was a 7 digit number signed 'Spot' underneath.

"Spot?" Race asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why Spot?"

The corners of Sean's mouth turned up as he looked at Race. "You'll find out."


OK, please be kind :-) I'm new to writing slash pieces :-) I apologize if anyone thinks I ruined Sprace or just totally missed the mark - I really just wanted to write and this is what turned up - I honestly think my muse is messing with me ;-) As always reviews are welcome and appreciated! Thank you for reading!