This chapter was mostly written by lkhoward88 so credit goes to her not me. From now on this fic is going to be co-written between the two of us so please allow for any minor continuity errors whilst we find our feet. As ever, thank you for your replies.
Sam was woken from the dead of sleep by someone pulling the covers back from her bed, exposing her to the coldness of the air.
"If you don't get moving you'll never make it to school on time," the boy, who Sam recognized to be her brother, said.
"I'm getting a ride," Sam mumbled sleepily.
"With who?" Mark asked sharply, already feeling protective over Sam from the unnamed 'threat'.
"Jack O'Neill," Sam said as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "You can come too," she quickly added, hoping to quell his bad mood.
Thirty minutes later, Jack pulled up in front of the Carter house. Sam got in the passenger seat, leaving Mark to crawl in the back.
"Sam," he greeted her, "And you're Mark right? We have P.E. together, I think."
"Yeah, right."
"Ever thought about playing football?" Jack quickly asked, taking his eyes from the road for a second to look in the rear-view mirror at his other passenger.
"Uh… no. I'm not much for team sports. I like more of the individual stuff, like running or tennis," Mark claimed.
"That's too bad," Jack responded. "You've got a good arm and we need a new quarterback."
"Not interested," Mark insisted.
Sam listened to the two boys talk, whilst getting lost in her own thoughts. Yesterday had been really hectic, with trying to find her way around the new school and meeting new people, she was grateful to the two boys that had knocked all of her books out of her arms because it introduced her to Teal'c.
She wasn't quite sure about Teal'c he seemed way too nice for the big guy that he was, in fact if she had met him any other way, she probably would have went running in the other direction! But he seemed friendly and…might she admit it- 'Cool', to the point that for her first time, Sam wondered if she might actually be part of the in-crowd at this school.
"Sam," a voice called.
"What?" she asked slightly annoyed.
"Uh… we're here," Jack said, unsure of himself.
"Come on twerp, let's go," Mark instructed, flicking Sam on the side of her head. Sam swatted his hands away. Just because Mark was nearly eighteen, didn't mean he was any less of a child.
"I have practice after school today," Jack said, "So if you're still around, I'll give you a ride home- otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow. Unless you want to go to football practice…" Jack hedged looking directly at Mark as he spoke.
"Fat chance," Mark declared in a tone that indicated the topic was not up for discussion.
Jack held his hands up, although with the papers and books he had in them, it didn't have quite the desired effect. "Alright, I get the hint. No football for you!"
"See you later guys," Sam said and watched as her brother and Jack walked away. She could barely hear Jack ask, "What do you think about hockey?" as the boys walked out of earshot.
Sam turned around only to find Daniel standing right in front of her. "Daniel," she greeted the boy happily.
Daniel's arms were full of books, much like Jack's, only the books were much thicker. And there were more of them.
"Sam," Daniel responded, giving her a soft smile. "Where's your locker?" he asked.
"Across from my first period history class," Sam said, recalling yesterday's adventure as someone explained the weird number system of the lockers at this particular school- after she had spent ten minutes trying to get into a locker that belonged to someone else.
"Who do you have?" Daniel asked as he fell in step next to Sam as she led the way towards her locker.
"Smith for AP History," Sam said, ducking her head in embarrassment.
"Cool! I do too!" Daniel exclaimed.
"Really? My guidance counsellor told me that the AP classes were mostly for seniors and a few juniors," Sam recounted.
"Yeah, well English, history, and foreign languages are my thing. You won't see me in your science or math classes Sam," Daniel said gesturing towards the several books for those classes.
"I'll help you with science and math if you'll help me with French," Sam offered.
"Deal," Daniel agreed and then went silent as they approached Sam's locker.
Because Janet Fraiser was standing next to Sam's locker, waiting for her.
"Good morning Sam," Janet said happily.
"How did you know where my locker was?" Sam asked, slightly confused.
"I help in the guidance office," Janet explained. "And my locker is right next to yours. So did the first day of the new school year go okay?"
"Yeah, it was fine. Janet, do you know Daniel? He's in my history and French class," Sam said introducing the two.
"I think we had P.E. together last year," Janet admitted as she smiled at Daniel.
Daniel seemed to be at a loss for words, so he quickly mumbled, "I'll… uh save you a seat Sam," before disappearing into the classroom. Janet giggled.
"He's kinda cute in a shy, nerdy sorta way, you know? Anyways, I was wondering if you had plans for the Saturday? The homecoming dance is coming up, and I still haven't bought a dress. I can't find anything that isn't pink or purple in my size," Janet admitted, "And I'm sure you don't have a dress."
"Yeah but I'm the new girl. No one will want to take the new girl to homecoming, I'm not going to get asked," Sam stated.
"Trust me Sam, someone will ask you to go to homecoming," Janet stated. "So shopping on Saturday?"
"I'll have to check with my dad, but yeah that sounds like fun," Sam admitted, happy that she had found someone who wasn't a total girly girl or lacked a brain like most of the girls that she had been found herself being friends with at her previous schools.
"Good, I'll call you later to iron out all the details," Janet promised as she quickly rushed down the hall at the sound of the bell.
'Maybe this school will be better than the last few,' Sam thought as she ducked into her history class for the first time.