Author's Note: So, it looks like I've decided to continue! Thanks for all the positive feedback you've given me. I really appreciate it. Anyway, I'd like to clarify: There will be a love triangle between Tony, Ziva, and Kate. Nothing too weird, though. Just thought I'd put it out there. Also, Abby's father is deaf, and so was her mother, in case you didn't know. And, I know that some people, (Kate, Cynthia, Jenny, Jethro) might NOT be the nicest right now. But that's high school. Hopefully you'll stick around to see the better sides of them :) Enjoy!
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore,
I want them to turn black
Abby bolted upright by the fourth line of her blaring alarm. Her stomach tingled. Great. The first day of school.
Let the torture begin, she thought. She unwillingly pulled herself out of bed and made her way downstairs.
'Good morning.' Mr. Scuito signaled.
'Good morning.' she signaled back. He frowned. Although he couldn't hear her voice, the way she was standing and signaling showed that something was definitely bothering her.
'Why so glum?'
'First day of school. No help from Mom anymore.'
'Relax, dear. You have Tim.'
'Yeah, but everybody thinks I'm dating him. And I'm not,' she signed frantically.
'Is that such a bad thing?'
'Well... No. But I'm not. It's just a rumor.'
'Go get dressed, Abby. I'm going for a run in a few minutes. Good luck.'
'Thanks, Daddy.'
With that, she grabbed her plate and shoveled every bit of food into her growling stomach. Mr. Scuito gave a small wave and jogged out the door.
Great, she thought to herself. She jugged down her glass of orange juice in a record five seconds, then raced upstairs to get ready.
"Where's my dang choker?" she muttered to herself. She raked her fingers through her hair and realized that she had yet to do it. So she pulled each half into limp pigtails and continued on her frantic search for her choker.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. "Argh!" she groaned. She opened up the text message.
Mrng, Abby. U left ur choker at my house. Sara tried 2 put it on the dog, lol. I'll bring it 2 u on the bus
-Tim
"That's where it went," she mumbled. Shrugging it off, she pulled down a black shirt and slithered into it. She pulled on a black and red checkered skirt and a pair of black high tops. Fumbling for her wristbands, she almost tripped on her cat, Lucifer.
"Oh, Lucy. Did Daddy not let you out?" she cooed to her black cat. Lucy meowed and rubbed her head against Abby's shirt. She chuckled.
"There you go." Abby set Lucy down on the carpet and walked into the bathroom.
"Where the hell is my lipstick?" she moaned. She couldn't have left that at Tim's. She hadn't even brought it with her. She checked the clock. The bus was going to be here in three minutes. She went into insanity overdrive. She left drawers and cabinet doors open. After what seemed like a million years, she found her blood red lipstick. Checking the clock again, she realized she wouldn't have time to put it on if she wanted to take the bus. She shoved her lipstick into her pocket and grabbed her black backpack. Today was certainly going to be an adventure.
"Wait! Wait, I'm here," Abby burst onto the bus breathlessly. There were only two other people on the bus: Tim, and another boy sitting behind him.
"Morning, Stanley," Abby smiled to the bus driver. Stanley nodded with a grin and pulled forward.
"Abby," Tim waved her choker at her as she took a seat next to him.
"Thanks Tim," she grinned, locking her choker behind her neck. He nodded and brushed the cat hair off her shoulders.
The boy behind him tapped Tim's shoulder.
"Hey," he said. Tim turned around.
"Um, hi. I'm Tim. Uh, Tim McGee," he replied awkwardly, not recognizing the other boy.
"Yeah, I know. You don't remember me? I'm Tony. Tony DiNozzo?"
"Oh, yeah! Yeah, Tony! I remember you now. You're the guy who set Dr. Mallard's table on fire last year," Tim remembered. Tony looked down sheepishly with a laugh.
"Yeah… Yeah, that was me. It's good to see a familiar face," he replied.
Tim grinned. "Well, this is my friend Abby Scuito," he gestured to Abby. She gave Tony a little wave.
"Hi. I kinda remember you," she smiled.
"Hi yourself," he chuckled. "I'm feeling the choker," he smiled, which to that Abby subconsciously brought her hand to it. "Do you guys know what classes you're taking?" he asked curiously as the bus stopped. Abby opened her mouth to speak, but she was stopped as Kate Todd took a seat next to Tony. She gave a small flip of her hair. Abby caught a whiff of some strong perfume. It smelled good, though.
"Hi… Tony," Kate smiled. Tony grinned mischievously.
"Hey there."
Kate seemed to register the fact that Abby and Tim were sitting there awkwardly.
"Oh, hi," she greeted dryly. "Gabby and Tom, right?"
"Um, no. Abby and Tim," Abby corrected. Kate smiled, falsely apologetic.
"Right. Sorry," she replied. She turned her attention back to Tony.
"You look familiar," she whispered coyly. He smirked.
"Really? And where have you seen me?"
She couldn't answer. Jenny was just pulling her away as she got onto the bus.
"Come on, Katy-cat. Sit with us," Jenny smiled sweetly, referring to herself and Cynthia.
"Oh… Okay," she replied reluctantly. "See you later, Tony." She stood up quickly and followed the two to the back of the bus.
"What was that about?" Abby chuckled. Tim shrugged with a smile. Tony frowned.
"For your information, I happen to like her," he muttered. Tim turned to look at him.
"You're kidding. Caitlin Todd? Everybody knows she's one of the worst bitches on campus. Well, along with Jenny Shepard and Cynthia Sumner," he added.
"I know. She's kinda cute, though," he said wistfully. Abby laughed as the bus came to a final stop.
"Well, we're here," Abby said grimly. Tony and Tim nodded simultaneously.
"Yep. Let's go," Tony mumbled. The three stepped off the bus.
"Who's your homeroom teacher?" Tim asked Tony as they made their way into the building. "We've got Mrs. Clark."
"Really? Me too," he replied, a small smile on his face.
Now, it wasn't that he didn't have friends. He had plenty of those. It was just always nice to make more.
On the other side of campus, Jenny's hand was tightly clasped in Jethro's. "I'm so glad we have most of our classes together," she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked.
"Me too, Jen. You have any classes with Cynthia?" he asked. She nodded.
"Yeah, a couple. We have the same lunch as those sophomore losers though," she groaned. Jethro frowned.
"Who're you referring to?" he asked, genuinely confused. She looked up at him dubiously.
"Scuito, McGee, and DiNozzo," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Jen, they're a grade below us. How could you possibly know who they are?" he asked in disbelief. She shot him a look as they took their seats.
"Mom's the VP of the school, remember?" she reminded him. He nodded like, 'right', and pulled out a pencil.
"There's supposed to be this new girl, too. She's from Afghanistan or something," Jenny started as if it were a bad thing.
"Israel, Jen. She's from Israel," he corrected her.
"How did you know?"
"You told me last week. Twice."
"Right. Sorry," she replied, playing with the gum in her mouth and twirling her pencil in the air.
In the next room, Jimmy's hands were sweating. His first day wasn't going so well. Within the first fifteen minutes, he had been 'accidentally' tripped, stepped on, pushed, and shoved. He knew it was only going to get worse. He took his seat with a huge sigh.
In the next seat over, a pretty Asian girl eyed him. "Rough morning?" she guessed.
He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea. Anyway, I'm Jimmy Palmer," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out. Giggling a bit at his gesture, she took it and smiled.
"I'm Michelle Lee. You look kinda familiar. What middle school did you go to?" she inquired curiously. He pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Um, I went to St. Andrew's Middle School for Boys. So, we wouldn't know each other," he laughed. She smiled.
"Good point. Oh, here comes the teacher," she tapped his shoulder, and they became quiet.
-12:15 p.m., Passing period to Lunch-
"Hey Tim! Over here," Tony waved his hand. Tim made his way to the end of the hall, where Tony was. "Where's Abby?"
"She'll be out of Science in a second," Tim replied as the two walked to the Science lab. Just as they arrived, Abby came flying out of the room.
"Oh thank God. I finally got away from Caitlin Todd," she gasped, throwing herself into Tim's arms.
Tony frowned and pointed to the two of them. "Are you two, uh… You know?"
"Oh, no, no, no. We've just been best friends since Kindergarten," Tim assured him. Tony grinned.
"Wow. Okay, well, you guys wanna head to lunch?" Tony offered. Abby and Tim both nodded and wormed their way through the throng of students in the hall.
As the trio approached the cafeteria line, Jenny groaned.
"Ugh. Jethro, here they come," she muttered. He frowned.
"Where?"
"Over there," she pointed. The three lined up behind them.
"Hi there," Jenny flashed a fake smile.
"Uh, hi," Abby mumbled softly. Jenny frowned.
"You have a little something," she informed Abby, pointing to her lips and eyes. Abby looked up at her.
"Wait, what? I-I… That's my makeup," she replied, embarrassed. Jenny winced.
"Oh, sweetie." Jenny's crooned with sugary-sweet poison. "Everybody has the right to be ugly. You just abuse the privilege," she smirked. With a flip of her fiery red hair, she took her tray and Jethro by the arm, and walked off.
"Geez," Abby muttered, tears stinging her eyes.
"That was rude," Tim sent a glare in Jenny's direction. As the three left the line, a girl with wild, curly brown hair nearly slammed straight into Tony. She accidentally hit him in the gut with one of her books as it slipped out of her hand.
The three could easily see the fear in her chocolate colored eyes.
"My apologies," she said quickly, obviously worried that Tony was going to make some sort of dunce out of her in front of everybody.
Much to her surprise, Tony gave her a warm smile.
"It's okay. No problem," he assured her. She avoided eye contact, but the smile on her face was clear. "I'm Tony."
"I am Ziva David," she replied. Tony tugged a few books loose from her grasp.
"I'll help you with those," he smiled. She nodded her thanks and turned to Abby and Tim.
"Hello," she greeted politely.
"Hi there. I'm Abby Scuito, and this is Tim McGee," she pointed to herself, then Tim. Ziva nodded.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," she replied to them. McGee studied her features.
"You have a great accent. Israel?" he guessed. Ziva looked impressed.
"Yes," she smiled. The four then realized that they were standing in the middle of the walkway.
"Come sit with us," Abby immediately invited, grabbing Ziva's wrist. It was ice cold. Ziva's first instinct was to pull away.
Relax, Ziva. You are not in Israel any longer. You are here in high school now. It is okay.
So Ziva didn't pull away. Instead, she allowed Abby to lead her through the cafeteria and to a table in the very back, where they couldn't possibly be noticed.
As they were walking, Cynthia Sumner stuck her foot out in a classic trip move at Ziva's expense. The Israeli immediately went flying into the ground, spilling milk on her sweater and getting peanut butter in her hair.
"Oh my God… I'm so sorry!" Cynthia winced. Ziva swallowed back her tears. The entire cafeteria, including Jenny and Kate, were laughing.
"How could you do that?" Abby piped up, fuming at Cynthia. The older girl shrugged.
"Sorry. I don't have a high tolerance for terrorists," she smirked smugly. Abby gasped, and before she knew it, her hand connected with Cynthia's face in a burning slap.
"Nobody talks about my friends like that. So why don't you shut the hell up before I make you get your next period through your nose?" Abby threatened fiercely. Jenny stood up and pushed Abby away from Cynthia, causing Abby to lunge forward. As she raised her arm to smack Jenny just as hard as she did Cynthia, Tony and Tim each took hold of one of Abby's arms.
"Abby! Relax," Tim held her back. Abby took a deep breath and stared daggers at Jenny.
"Bitch," she spat at the older redhead. Jethro stood up and frowned at the sophomores.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Just stay away from us," he demanded. Abby tossed her tray onto an empty table and dragged Ziva out of the cafeteria.
"I am so sorry about that. Please ignore them," Abby warned Ziva. Ziva's eyes were burning.
"Thank you for standing up for me, Abby," she whispered softly as they stopped at Abby's locker.
"No problem. Like I said, nobody talks about my friends like that," she repeated, pulling a black T-shirt out of her locker. "I had a spare," she explained to Ziva as they entered the girls' bathroom.
"Here," Abby stuck the shirt out to Ziva. Ziva accepted it graciously and went into a stall to change.
"Thank you so much, Abby. How could I repay you?" Ziva asked genuinely once she came out. Abby gave her a dubious look.
"Come on, Ziva. What're friends for?" Abby shrugged. Ziva smiled as the two exited the bathroom.
"Hey, you guys okay?" Tim asked concernedly. Abby nodded.
Suddenly, they heard a loud voice from the other end of the hall.
Giving a defeated look and a shrug, Tony walked down the hall of lockers to find a muscular freshman holding a small, scrawny boy against the wall. An Asian girl was standing next to them, looking distressed.
"I thought I told you not to talk to my girlfriend," the muscular boy growled.
"R-R-Ryan, I'm sorry. I was just asking her what the homework was!" the curly-haired boy squeaked.
"Hey, hey, hey," Tony butted in. The Asian girl looked frightened.
"Get outta here," Muscles growled. Tony grabbed Muscles by the collar. It was kind of an ironic sight, really.
"Tony, I suggest you not do that," Tim warned quietly. Tony shot him a look.
"Get off," Tony muttered dangerously. The other boy was frightened off by Tony's look. He reluctantly set the scrawny boy down and gestured to the Asian girl. She flashed an apologetic look towards the smaller boy and followed Muscles out of the hall.
"Hey, you okay?" Tony looked down at the boy. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge.
"Uh, y-yeah. I guess. Um, thanks a lot," he muttered.
Tony patted him on the back. "No problem, kid. What's your name?"
"Uh, Jimmy Palmer," he replied nervously.
"I'm Tony DiNozzo. This is Abby, Tim, and Ziva. You a freshman?"
"Hi guys," Jimmy acknowledged the other four sophomores. Turning his attention back to Tony, "Yeah."
"You kinda look like Harry Potter," Abby grinned. Jimmy blushed, automatically making Abby feel bad.
"I'm sorry," she replied, wincing.
Jimmy laughed. "It's okay. Well, I better get to class. Thanks, again, Tony," he thanked, walking away.
"That was so good of you, Tony," Ziva said genuinely. Tony looked into her eyes, forgetting that Tim and Abby were standing right there.
"Thank you, Ziva," he said, meaningful enough to make her look down.
To the side, Abby nudged Tim's ribs. He laughed silently and looked on. Tony and Ziva would look really great together. Tim wished that one day, he could be just as lucky as them.
Author's Note: So? You like? Once again, let me know if I should continue. :) Thanks guys.
