Title: Best Days Of My Life (Part Four)
Author: Me, of course ( SephirothFlame ) and Nicholas ( ChainedPhoenix )
Pairing(s): Hodges x Greg, Nick x Bobby, Jacqui x Grissom, Catherine x Warrick, Eric x Speed, Sara x Calleigh (plus many minor...)
Rating: PG13
Warnings: slash, language, hyper-active Frosh, Frosh-bashing
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) (CSI:Miami Crossover)
Disclaimer: We don't own CSI or anything else that looks familiar. HOWEVER, we do (kind of) own: Sasha, and the teachers: Gold, Holtz, and Taylor.
Sephiroth's Rants: This is probably the quickest update this fic has ever had... Any hoot, Nich and me were still bored, and thus continued to write. So yes, there is more ficcage, and a mildly annoyed Hodges does make an appearance!
Phoenix's Rants: The first day is officially over! -- We're currently unsure of whether the girl's outing after school deserves a place in the story. S'just clothes buying, y'all. Any h00t... Yeah, I think that just about covers it...
In which there is a demanding Catherine, 33 more Ryan Wolfe, and Greg wants to go clothes shopping...
Catherine resisted the urge to curse. There were three different Spanish teachers, and she somehow ended up being in class with Ecklie yet again. He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes, plopping down into the nearest chair, arms folded over her chest. He sat in the seat in front of her and Catherine knew he was doing it to spite her. What had she done to deserve this? Three classes with the other male were way to many for any girl to be expected to endure.
"Catherine!"
Snapped out of her angry ranting, she looked up to see Warrick enter the room, a sheepish grin on his face. The two had met in Forensics his freshman year, and had become somewhat friends. Not that it was surprising, most Forensics kids were friends, its just how things happened to work themselves out. Catherine called out a greeting to Warrick, and noticed he had a friend with him. Not someone she'd seen before.
"Hey, who's your friend?" Catherine asked, turning around to talk to them as they had taken the seats behind her.
"Nick," the other boy said, smiling.
"He's cool," Warrick smiled, "Want to know something weird?" Catherine nodded. "We've got the exact same schedule."
"What are the odds of that...?" Catherine frowned, and Warrick shrugged. "Come to think of it, what are the odds the three of us would end up in here together?" she asked, brushing her bangs from her face.
"Not very high," Nick frowned, "aren't there three Spanish teachers?"
"Yeah," Warrick said, nodding lightly, "Holtz, Gold and the one that teachers Latin as well."
"Hm..." Catherine frowned. Yeah, it was a little weird. Oh well, she wasn't gonna complain. It beat being stuck with just Ecklie all year.
"When's the bell ring?" Nick asked, glancing at his watch.
"Two, three minutes," Catherine grinned, "So quick, tell me about your day so far. Both of you."
"Hm... Well, Grandma almost made me late by forcing me to eat a huge breakfast..." Warrick explained, pausing to remember what it consisted of, "bacon, eggs, toast, some cereal... and home made OJ..."
"Ooh, that sounds good," Nick said, and Catherine had to agree.
"You've obviously never had his Grandmother's cooking," the senior smiled, "Good doesn't cut it."
"Now I'm hungry..." Nick said, smiling lightly.
"Okay, two minutes left, keep going 'Rick so I can hear from Nick," Catherine urged.
"It's not a big deal, Catherine, right?" Nick laughed lightly.
"Yes it is, now hush," Catherine mock-glared, causing Nick and Warrick to laugh.
"Nothing major really happened today... Except I hear Mia has a new boyfriend," Warrick shrugged, and Catherine nodded, murmuring, "I see..."
Catherine and Warrick looked at Nick expectantly.
"You were serious?" Nick questioned, slightly startled.
"Yes, I was, Nicky, now hurry up before the bell rings," Catherine scolded.
"Well... My sister got lost when she was bringing me to school," Nick thought aloud, trying to remember, "but I still got here early-ish. Then, that kid, Greg, knocked me over on accident outside of the building." Nick didn't mention the other boy. Thinking about it still made him blush. "Then some girl in my Bio class asked me out, and she got upset when I turned her down..." Catherine cast Warrick a look, inquiring on who the girl was.
"Sasha," Warrick said, and Nick nodded, because while he wasn't sure, that name sounded right.
"You've had a busy day so far..." Catherine noted, an amused smile on her face.
Nick opened his mouth to reply, but the bell rang. The teacher suddenly appeared at the front of the room, and everyone turned to pay attention to her as she rapidly started to speak in Spanish. Catherine caught a few words, like "school", "class" and "late". She leaned back in her seat, arms folded over her chest again as she struggled to keep up with what the teacher was saying. After another minute or two, the teacher paused, and took a deep breathe.
"Okay, how many of you understood what I said completely?" The teacher asked.
No hands were raised.
"Who got the gist of what I was saying?" The teacher asked, this time smiling.
Most of the hands in the class went up.
"And the rest of you had no clue?"
Murmurs of agreement. The teacher sighed.
"Okay, boys and girls, this is going to be a long year..."
X x X x X x X
Ryan was hating this. Not overly so, but just a little bit. Halfway into the class the teacher broke them into groups of two in an attempt for everyone to get to know one another. So far, he succeeded in writing his name down on his paper, and having a staring contest with his partner. The other boy, Asian, didn't seem to mind so much that they were sitting there. It looked like he was using the time to think. Something was different about the male from when they first met in Health.
"So we should- "
"Weren't you wearing-"
Ryan stopped, and so did the other boy. Weakly, the Asian smiled, and Ryan smiled softly in return. Sure, he could do this no problem.
"You first," the other boy said.
"Weren't you wearing something different earlier today?" Ryan asked, and the Asian boy turned pink and laughed slightly.
"I fell into the pool during aquatics..."
"Oh, okay," Ryan nodded. That made sense. "Your turn."
"We should start this project... We've got... ten minutes left." he said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Okay," Ryan sighed, "Name?"
"Archie Johnson," the other boy said, "R...Ryan..." He paused and looked at Ryan, who nodded.
"Ryan Wolfe," he smiled, "Right, Archie, your birthday...?"
"December 14th, you?"
"August 25th," Ryan replied.
"Hey, that's coming up soon," Archie blinked, looking at Ryan, "You gonna have a party, Ry?"
"Probably not," Ryan replied, "Fav -?"
"Why not?" Archie blinked.
"I don't like parties."
"Oh."
Archie stared at Ryan in silence for a moment, and Ryan resisted the urge to squirm under the other's gaze.
"Do you want to hang out with me and my friend Greg after school?" Archie asked after a moment, throwing Ryan off.
"Wha...what?"
"We were going to go to my place and play video games," Archie explained, shrugging.
Ryan smiled, somewhat nervously.
"I've got to get home after school," Ryan said slowly, "My mom doesn't like me being out when she's not at home..."
"That's weird logic," Archie pointed out, and Ryan tensed up slightly, and he quickly apologized. "Sorry, Ry. It's just... When my parent's or big sister aren't home, I'm supposed to be at Greg's so if I get hurt..."
Ryan understood that. He tried to point it out to his parents once, but he didn't exactly spend enough time with people outside of his family for it to really make a difference. He would have hung out with Archie (and Greg, was it?) if his mom would let him.
"Sorry," Archie repeated.
"It's not like it's a big deal," Ryan replied, smiling gently, and Archie smiled as well.
"So, on with this stupid assignment," Archie sighed, over-dramatically, and Ryan laughed lightly, nodding. "So, where were you born?"
X x X x X x X
Today was a good day. Calleigh had decided that by Break, and so far, nothing happened for her opinion of that to change. Which was good. Of course all of that happened before she had gone to Drama class, or "Intro to Theatre" as the teacher kept reminding. It was Drama, either way. Besides, she was just there for the art credit. (Art itself was near impossible to get into unless you were one of the firsts to sign up). So, with class halfway over, everyone was in the Freshman commons (directly outside the Drama room) in a large circle playing the Name/Mimic Game.
"Hi, I'm Calleigh Duquense," she smiled, curtsying slightly, and everyone copied her, except one male she knew would never curtsy even if his life depended on it. The girl next to him thwacked him upside the back of his head for not copying.
"Hi, I'm Sofia Curtis," the girl next to Calleigh said, lifting her hand in a mock wave. Everyone copied, including the obstinate one.
Calleigh listened quietly, trying to remember everyone's name. Ooh, some of the stuff they were doing was fun. One girl twirled, another stuck a ninja like pose, and a boy accidentally tripped over his shoelaces. Greg, if she remembered his name correctly. Cute little freshman. Full of spirit. The male next to Greg didn't move.
"Hodges..." his female counterpart warned, darkly.
"Hodges," he said simply, rolling his eyes.
"David Hodges," Greg corrected, shoving the older male lightly, earning a light thump against the top of his head. If Greg minded, he didn't say it.
"Heya, everybody, Catherine Willows," she smiled childishly, striking a pose. Hodges didn't copy, but Greg did, giggling madly.
The rest of the circle went through without a hitch, and the teacher had everyone sit, and they willingly did. Calleigh couldn't help but notice how close Hodges was to Greg. She quirked an eyebrow but said nothing. She'd mention it to Speed later. Speed wouldn't necessarily believe her, but he listened to her ranting, which was always a good thing.
"Okay," the teacher smiled, Mrs. Taylor, if Calleigh remembered correctly, "Now we are going to go in a circle and see who's names we remember. Remembering names is a very important part of Theatre. So, starting with... This young lady, lets go!"
They said the names aloud, Calleigh only missing one or two as the circle went around. Everyone remembered Greg's. He was too adorable, how could one not? Some people even remembered Hodges', which didn't really amaze Calleigh for some reason. The circle finished again, and the teacher paused to write something on her clipboard.
"Okay then," Mrs. Taylor said, checking her board, "We are finished for the day."
People cheered, and Mrs. Taylor laughed, before telling them to keep it down (there were still classes in progress, after all).
"Okay, as long as you can keep it quiet, feel free to socialize, but head back into the classroom first," Mrs. Taylor smiled, and everyone forced themselves to their feet and into the drama room.
Calleigh went over to talk with Catherine, and Sofia followed quietly, not really having anything better to do. Hodges and Greg were with Catherine too, but that was more so because Greg wouldn't leave him and Catherine was talking to Greg. They looked up when Calleigh approached, and she smiled a friendly smile. Greg and Catherine smiled in return, and Hodges rolled his eyes.
"Hey, Catherine," Calleigh greeted, sitting on top of one of the desks, "Greg, right?"
"Yeah!" Greg grinned, plopping down in the desk Catherine was sitting on, both of them facing Calleigh. "Calleigh, right? And Sofia?"
"You bet," Sofia smiled.
"Yup," Calleigh grinned, holding her hand up for a high five, and Greg slapped his hand against hers. "Woohoo!"
"How much longer till I can get away from you people?" Hodges asked, his head thumping against the desk lightly. Greg looked over at him, and ruffled his hair lightly. "Hey, no touching." Greg stuck his tongue out.
"So, Catherine, you and Jacqui still up for after school?"
"You bet," Catherine grinned, "I've already done my school shopping though."
"It won't hurt to try things on," Calleigh pointed out.
"True," Catherine nodded, startled when Sofia sneezed.
The other girl muttered a quick "sorry" and smiled softly, before leaning against a desk, content with just listening.
"So... You've got your car, right?" Calleigh asked, and Catherine nodded, "So much fun..." She grinned.
"I want to come..." Greg said, frowning, and the two girls looked at him startled.
"Ignore him, he's an idiot," Hodges said.
"You want to watch us try on clothes we can't possibly afford for an untold amount of hours?" Catherine asked, quirking an eyebrow. Greg shrugged. "You are something else, kid."
"So I'm told," Greg replied.
"I have no problem with you coming, but you'd be bored out of your wits," the senior blonde explained, and Greg shrugged again.
"Me and Archie were just going to play Guitar Hero," the Frosh explained.
"That sounds like fun, actually," Sofia cut in.
"Well, if your friend, Archie, right?" Greg nodded, "and Jacqui don't mind, I don't see why not... You really, honestly will be bored..."
"Clothes are fun," Greg shrugged again.
"Ooh, maybe we can put him in a skirt," Calleigh thought aloud, and Catherine and Sofia laughed.
"Eh..." Greg blinked, turning pink.
"Will you wear a skirt?" Catherine asked, folding her arms.
Greg looked at Hodges for help, who only gave him a 'you got yourself into this one' look.
"Only... if you don't take... pictures..." Greg murmured, and the girls laughed again.
"Well, at least he has his priorities in order," Calleigh grinned.
"So that's a yes?" Greg asked, excited.
"That's a maybe," Catherine corrected.
"Damn..."
TBC...