Liv and Johnny made their way into the school grounds just as all the other students started to gather ahead of their first day back following the holidays. The sun tans were already fading, and the usual complaints about school beginning. Johnny watched as the few students who had cars started to arrive.

"Just think, in a few months that could be us." He commented.

"We do kind of have to get licences first." Liv reminded him.

"Speak for yourself." He replied, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet, opening it to show her his licence. "I took the test about a week ago. It arrived in the post this morning."

"You never told me about that!" She shrieked. "How did you...?"

"I have had a fair bit of practice driving remember?" He interrupted her. "It only took me a few lessons to get back into the swing of things."

"Well since you have a licence..."

"Liv, you know it wouldn't be legal for me to give you lessons." He interrupted her again. "Besides, I saw the state RJ came home in after your last lesson. I'd like to live through softmore year."

"I can't help it if it's taking me a little longer to get the hang of it than you." She moaned as she looked around all the students congregating. "Not all of us started driving when we were 13."

Just then, Fran pulled up near them in her car. She smiled as she saw them.

"Hey, how are things?" She asked them. "Are you looking forward to first period?"

"Personally I'm just having fun watching all the freshmen wandering around looking all terrified and lost." Johnny told her, gesturing to the new students. "It's like watching Animal Planet. You know half these kids are going to end up getting hazed by the seniors before the day is over."

"Well just remember to be kind." Fran told him. "It wasn't that long ago you were in their position. It's tough being on the bottom rung of the ladder."

"I've noticed all the teachers are coming in early." Johnny stated. "I guess you would like a hand unloading the car."

"Johnny, you read my mind." She replied. "Let me just get to my parking spot. Mr. Weaver wants the teachers to meet up before first period. He said he has some ideas for changes this year."

"Well he certainly made some good changes last year." Liv commented. "If he keeps up the good work, I'm sure this year will be great."

Just as Fran pulled away, Johnny noticed a little commotion beginning to take place by the steps. He couldn't see or hear much, but he could tell that someone was definitely getting some hassle from one of the seniors.

"Johnny, it's the first day." Liv reminded him. "Don't get into trouble."

"I'll be fine Liv." He told her, but as he arrived, he found that the situation had resolved itself. He could see that a freshman girl, wearing dark glasses and carrying a white cane was standing in front of a senior student who was holding a hand over his cheek. He had blood on his fingers from a wound on his cheek, and glared at her angrily.

"You little bitch, I'm going to..."

"You're going to do what? Beat up a blind girl?" She asked him sarcastically. The senior looked around at all his friends gathered, realising she was right about his situation. He couldn't do anything to her in response. There was no way he would get away with striking back against her; he'd be suspended for sure, possibly even expelled. She smiled at him. "Just remember what they say about sticks and stones. You called me a name, but just remember. I always carry a stick."

As the senior turned and left sheepishly with as much dignity as he could muster, Johnny and Liv came over, finding another guy talking to her.

"Well so much for trying to help." Johnny commented. "Is everything alright?"

"Don't worry; I'm used to idiots like that." The girl replied, placing the tip of her cane back on the ground. "People see the stick and think I'm a charity case or a victim."

"Well you sure showed him." Liv replied, a little impressed, reaching out a hand and taking her hand, shaking it. "I'm Olivia, but everyone calls me Liv."

"Julie, Julie Kitchner." She replied with a little smile. "The big lummox with the attitude's my goofy big brother."

"Fred." He introduced himself, shaking Johnny's hand and then Liv's. "We just transferred here; we were looking around for the headmasters' office."

"Well I can take you there." Liv volunteered. "Johnny, go and find Mrs. Martin, you said you'd help her remember?"

"Right, I nearly forgot about that." Johnny replied. "Well I'll probably catch you around. I'll see you first period Liv."

He kissed her quickly, before running off. Fred and Julie followed Liv as she started to take them towards the office.

"I take it he's your boyfriend." Julie surmised with a little smile. Liv just nodded in response.

"He is." She replied. "So what year are you going into?"

"I'm just starting freshman year." Julie informed her. "Despite his appearance, Fred's just going into softmore."

"I look older than I am." Fred commented, putting his arm around his sister. "It's all the stress of having this little brat as a sister."

"Well I'm sure you're going to love it here." Liv assured them. "I'll show you around."

Over in Storm Chargers, Gabby was finishing talking to a customer about a helmet, while Rad was opening some boxes, checking the delivery that had arrived when Charity arrived, coming in the door with a large paper bag on her lap. Rad looked up from the delivery as he saw her, smiling.

"Hey, what's up?" He called out, seeing his co-worker arrive.

"Hi, sorry I was a little late." She replied as she came over to the counter, putting the paper bag on the counter. "Some guy parked in the spot Gabby reserved for me, so it took ages to get out the car."

"Dude, that sucks." He remarked.

"Yeah, people don't realise there are disabled parking zones for a reason." She muttered as she picked up a box and a packing knife, cutting open the tape. "A lot of people only see a parking spot ten feet closer to their destination and decide to save themselves a few precious seconds."

Gabby had just finished ringing up the sale of the helmet, placing it in the bag, before coming over.

"How's the delivery looking?" Gabby asked them. Rad just shrugged.

"It looks like most of it is here." He replied with a shrug. "It's mostly magazines and clothing..."

"Yeah, unfortunately we'll probably be getting another couple of large deliveries." Gabby responded. "There's a big triathlon event coming into town in a couple of weeks. I wanted to be prepared for some major sales."

Charity looked around as a car engine fired up, and she looked a little annoyed as she realised the customer Gabby had just dealt with had been in the parking spot that had been marked out for her. Rad seemed to notice this and get a little annoyed too.

"Can you believe the nerve of that jerk?" He asked her. "He parks in a disabled parking spot to go into an action sports shop?"

"It's like I said, some people are just inconsiderate." Charity replied, taking a stack of magazines onto her lap and making her way to the rack to begin stocking it.

"You know, I really don't think it'll need all three of us to re-stock." Rad commented. "There's no one in the store boss. Maybe you'd like to hit the track and try out those modifications I made."

"I'm your boss, I'm meant to be setting you an example." Gabby replied in a small laugh as she opened another box, finding t-shirts inside. "I don't really think I can exactly go running off to the track any time I feel like it."

"Come on Gabby, all the kids are back at school, it really doesn't take all three of us to mind the store." Charity told her. "Take a long break. Come back with the lunch in a couple of hours."

"Well I guess I have been looking forward to seeing if the bike runs as good as you claim." She said with a little smirk. "How does everyone feel about a KFC bucket?"

"That sounds pretty good." Charity replied. "We should have this done by the time you get back."

Back at the school, the first period was well underway. Fred and Liv were standing behind the safety line, watching the car racing around the course far faster than intended. Fred smiled as he saw the car being expertly swerved around a tight bend, missing every single cone.

"You weren't exaggerating when you said Johnny was good." Fred complimented him. "I think he's teaching the instructor a few things."

"He's just showing off." Liv muttered as he pulled up to the line, before reverse parking in between two cars. The other kids gave him a small applause as he got out of the car, closing the door behind him. The instructor appeared to almost be relieved as he got out of the passenger door.

"Alright, who's the next to volunteer?" He asked them. Fred took off his leather jacket and handed it to Johnny.

"I guess I could always give it a shot." Fred replied. "I might not tear up the course like Lewis Hamilton here, but I think I can put on a respectful showing for myself."

"Show us what you've got." The instructor replied, gesturing to the driver's door. Fred got in, giving Johnny a little smile as he did so. Liv just rolled her eyes.

"What is it with guys and competition?" She asked him.

"Trust me; this isn't going to be a competition." Johnny replied confidently as Fred pulled away, narrowly missing the first cone. "This is just for fun."

Coming up to lunch time, RJ was preparing some ingredients in the kitchen for the lunchtime rush when Donny showed up. RJ smiled as he saw him come in.

"I don't normally get orders like this from the school." He commented, picking up a large stack of boxes, checking the order. "Five meat supremes, two Soyrific Safari, three Tofu Supremes and four Thrilla Gorillas, and because the order was so large, I threw in four portions of garlic bread on the house."

"I thought it would be an idea to give the staff a little treat." He told him. "You know, it boosts morale a little for the start of the new term. I've also just told them I'm planning to implement a few more changes this year, but I'm sure you'll hear all about it from Liv."

"I'm sure I will." RJ replied with a little smile. "If the changes you made last year are anything to go by, I'm sure it'll make things interesting."

"I really hope so." He said with a smile. "Let's just say that there'll be a lot more extracurricular activities this year if everything goes well."

"I look forward to seeing what happens." RJ replied, handing over his order. "Enjoy the pizza."

"I'm sure we will." Donny assured him.

Back at the school, the kids were making their way to the canteen as lunch time came around. Johnny and Liv saw Julie in the queue, and came over with her brother.

"Would you like me to tell you what's there?" Johnny asked her. Julie just shook her head.

"My sense of smell is really good, I probably have a better idea what's on offer than you do." She replied. "For instance, I can tell you that the chef's been a little light on the spices with the curry."

"You can tell that?" Liv asked her. Johnny looked a little curiously and took in a deep sniff himself. Given his experience cooking, normally he had a really good idea what was in a dish by the aromas. He smiled a little as he realised she was right.

"She's good." Johnny complimented her. "It's not often someone beats me to the punch when it comes to identifying the ingredients in food."

"He's a great chef." Liv told them. "Dad owns the local pizza place. Johnny works in the kitchen all the time."

"I love the work." Johnny told them. "I was kind of hoping to go into the business myself one day."

"It sounds like a plan." Fred replied as he took a couple of hot dogs and put them on his tray. "I'm still not sure what I want to do after school."

"Well it's not like there's any great hurry. I know I'm still keeping my options open." Liv commented. "So how was your morning Julie?"

"It was...interesting." She commented. "I had Mrs. Martin's class first period, that was kind of interesting. Then we had history. Dr. Jennings was standing in for the regular teacher."

"He takes a bit of getting used to." Johnny laughed as they paid for their dinner and took a seat. "Do you remember when he was taking us through the duel scene in Romeo and Juliet and he was swinging that foil around?"

"How could I forget?" Liv laughed in response. "The entire front row of the class was terrified."

"No wonder if the teacher was swinging a sword around." Fred remarked as he pulled out his schedule. "Anyway, I've got a great afternoon ahead. I'm in shop class all afternoon."

"Johnny, aren't you in shop?" Liv asked him. "I took drama instead, but Johnny took shop."

"Yeah, I'm in shop." Johnny replied with a smile. "I'm really looking forward to it. Now I have my licence, I can concentrate on my project car..."

"You're building a set of wheels?" Fred asked him.

"I have a project car in the shop." He informed him. "It's a bit of a bucket right now, but I've got big plans to turn it into a monster."

"Boys and their cars." Liv groaned as Julie just shook her head. "I'll never know why they find them so fascinating."

"Somehow I doubt you'll be objecting when I get it running smoothly and can drive us places." Johnny replied.

"Listen, I don't have a project yet, and money's a little tight." Fred commented. "It's just us and mom at home. Would you mind if we teamed up and made it a joint project?"

"Not in the slightest." Johnny replied, shaking his hand. "It'll be good to have a second pair of hands working on it."

"So what do we have to work on?" Fred asked him.

"It's a Ford Firebird." He replied, pulling out a sheet of paper. "I had a few ideas of some of the customisations I would have liked to do, but if both of us work on it, I think we could make it a reality."

Fred let out a low whistle as he looked at the rough sketches Johnny had come up with.

"This looks like a pretty mean piece of machinery." He commented. Johnny just smiled at him.

"With these modifications, the damn thing should be just short of a rocket ship." Johnny assured him. "I know we haven't started yet, but I already came up with a name for it. I like to call it The Fury."

"The Fury?" Liv teased him. "That's the name you're giving it?"

"Somehow I didn't think 'the fluffy bunny' exactly fit the image I was going for." Johnny replied.

"The Fury. I like it." Fred replied with a smile. "When do we start?"