Title: Coming Out To Capeside

Summary: Jack's brother Tim never died, and his mother never went crazy. And still, he has to deal with the pressure of coming out to all of Capeside. Strong friendships ensue along the way.

Author: The infamous Yelak

A/N: Okay, I got chapter two up, and in this one Jack meets some people. Can you guess which ones? ;-D I want to thank all three of my reviewers for your kind words.

Sneak: My first reviewer -grin- Thank you so much. I hadn't realized I was making Jack wimpy, so please, forgive me. Hopefully I can make up for myself with this chapter. If not, tell me =D Thank you a lot.

Sheri ai Jakku: My second reviewer! Heh, thank you veerrrrryyyy much, and yes it is sad. I never ever liked Jack's dad, even after he tried being nice. Thankya.

WiccanWillow23: Thanks a lot! I hope you like the rest of my story too.

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"Jack, Mom says you have two minutes to wake up, get dressed, and get downstairs, or else," Andie said, hovering in the doorway of Jack's new room.

The McPhees had finally done it - they were now living in a somewhat elegant house in Capeside, Massachusetts, and the three children's first day of school in Capeside would begin in fifty-seven minutes.

"Unghrumph," was Jack's muffled reply, with his head pressed firmly into his pillow, and he had the best of intentions to keep it that way.

"You don't want to be late on your first day of school, do you? I mean, think of how much fun today will be!" Andie, who had obviously taken a dosage of happy pills that morning, pressed.

Fun? Jack thought. Fun? "I really doubt it," Jack sighed, but not into the pillow this time. Rising up on his elbows, he wiped his eyes and glanced blearily at his clock. He was about to make another half-wit remark to Andie, but she was gone before he could even open his mouth. With great force, he got out of bed, put on some clothes, and then went into the bathroom. After surveying himself for not even a second in the mirror on the wall, he went straight back to his bedroom and changed.

When he got downstairs, Tim and Andie were already at the kitchen table, chowing down on waffles, and Mrs. McPhee was just putting two onto his place. "Thanks Mom," he said gratefully, picking up his force.

Smiling, she gave him a quick kiss on the head, and then returned to her cooking.

"Where's Dad?" Tim asked through a mouthful, which caused syrup to dribble slowly down his chin. Snickering at Andie's grimace, he wiped it away with his paper towel, and then looked to his mother for an answer.

"He's gone to work already. It's his first day too, you know," she replied without looking over her shoulder.

After a few more minutes of eating in silence, Mrs. McPhee glanced at the clock on the stove, then turned and said, "It's about time you kids be going. Don't want you to be late." Andie excitedly jumped out of her chair and shoved her dirty dish into the sink, while Tim and Jack lagged a little.

"Okay, have a good day!" Mrs. McPhee called to her children, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

"We will!" Andie cheerfully answered.

"You driving?" Jack asked Tim, since he nor Andie didn't have their licenses but their older brother did.

"Yep."

"Shotgun," Jack and Andie immediately said in unison, but Tim, sensing some argument, said quickly, "I need shotgun for my equipment." Tim had met the team's football coach and the coach, after seeing only a couple minutes of a few of his recent games, had automatically put him on the team. He was to start practice that very day, right after school. So Jack and Andie got in the back, all arguments aside.

It took a little bit longer to get to then it probably should have, but Tim was driving based on some directions on a small sheet of paper. When they finally did get there, though, they didn't know what to do.

"Should we go to the office, you think?" Tim said, looking around the school and the students that had just arrived, crowding the hallways. Jack however, wasn't paying attention, but rather was watching the students. There weren't nearly as many here then there had been at his old school, which he took as a good sign. This was all a new start to him. A chance to make friends.

"Jack, going to come, or are you going to stand in the hallway all day?" Tim grinned, jerking Jack out of his reverie. He quickly followed him and Andie to the main office, where a kind looking woman was typing away at a computer.

"Can I help you?" the lady asked politely, smiling at the three.

"We're new," said Andie, not the least bit shy. "We haven't received our schedules yet or anything, so we're not sure where to go."

"Okay," the woman replied, "last name then first name, please; oldest to youngest." She was poised at her computer, but listening closely for the information.

"McPhee, Timothy," Tim spoke up, and she entered that into her computer. Within seconds his schedule was printing.

"Your first class is in room 214," she said. Nodding, he gave his younger siblings an encouraging smile, and then disappeared into the hall, which was now was desolate except for a few tardy stragglers.

"McPhee, Jack," Jack said slowly, and the woman entered that into her computer as well, and quickly handed his schedule to him.

He barely had time to even give it a glance-over, let alone study it, before she told him, "Room 348," and just about whisked him out the door.

"Three-forty-eight, three-forty-eight . . ." he muttered to himself, not knowing where to even start. Well, let's see . . . he thought. Down that hallway are the one-hundred's, two-hundred's over there, and I see the four-hundred's . . . but where are the three-hundred's?! Cocking his head slightly, Jack looked all about for the three-hundred's. He saw no sign of them.

He was about to finally give up and go back in the office for directions, when a blonde-haired boy looked over at him, and said, "Lost?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, blushing a bit. "I'm - I'm new."

"I know," the boy replied, to Jack's wonderment. When he saw the look on Jack's face, he chuckled slightly and explained, "Not many people around here. Everyone knows if there's a new kid." Slightly embarrassed, Jack nodded, but was relieved when the boy went on. "Where you trying to get to?"

His eyes slid down to his schedule, and he hastily answered, "Room 348."

"Good luck," the boy smirked, then added, "Follow me." Jack gratefully obeyed. Along the way, the boy said, "My name's Dawson Leery, by the way."

"Jack McPhee."

"The football player?" Dawson raised an eyebrow, automatically recognizing the last name.

"The football player's little brother," Jack corrected him, his cheeks reddening a bit. Dawson nodded understandingly.

"Where you from?" Dawson inquired as they continued to walk.

"Rhode Island," answered Jack, and was a bit relieved and a bit nervous to see that they had reached Room 348. "Well, thanks."

"Anytime," Dawson replied, and before Jack could say anything else he was gone. Well, at least he seemed pretty nice, he thought. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and rapped on the door.

It didn't take long for the door to swing open, and a male teacher glowered before him. "Who're you?" the teacher asked, and Jack could see the whole class was looking at him.

Blushing a bit, he responded, "Jack McPhee. I - well, I'm new . . ."

"Ah. Well, come on in, I won't bite. Name's Mr. Wagner, I teach World History. Go ahead and take a seat behind Joey Potter, in the blue shirt." He made room for Jack to come in, and Jack glanced about for a boy in a blue shirt. He saw none.

When he continued to stand there stupidly for a few seconds, Joey made a little flourish of her hand, and Jack looked at her. She was, indeed, wearing a blue shirt, but - Joey? Silently, he sat behind her, relieved when she flashed him a sweet smile, despite the other kids' snickers. She was beautiful, he'd noticed that first thing. Not exactly the 'God-I-want-to-do-her' beautiful, but the kind of beautiful that came natural.

The rest of the class went smoothly, and Jack was a bit disappointed to see it end. There was a class he was sure he could excel at. As he gathered what few supplies he had thought to bring, Joey turned around and smiled at him. "So, how was your first class at Capeside?" she asked, and Jack smiled back.

"Oddly good. Jack McPhee," he replied, extending a hand.

"Joey Potter." She shook it warmly. "So, Jack McPhee, have any plans for tonight?"

He looked a little taken aback. "Uh, um, well, no . . ."

"Then you should definitely stop by the Ice House. I mean, I can introduce you to some people and everything," Joey said, grinning and wiping a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "If you want, that is."

"Ice House?"

"Restaurant. I work there," she explained.

"Oh, well, sounds great," he said, a bit shyly. She laughed quietly.

"Do you know where your next class is?" she asked, as they both walked, together, out into the crowded hallway and mass of students.

"No, but I do know it's Room 318."

"Ah, Peterson. Well, good luck with that class. It's down this hallway, to the left, and third door on the right."

"Got it. Thanks, Joey." As he followed her directions, he couldn't believe how nice she'd been. He wasn't romantically interested in her, but she had to be one-of-a-kind . . . he wasn't sure what he'd do if all the girls in Capeside were like that.

As if answering his question, a loud and obnoxious girl pushed past Jack at the moment, saying loudly, "Move people!" A blonde, sort of wild looking girl was following her, giggling slightly.

"Abby Morgan," came a voice behind Jack, making him jump slightly. It was Dawson, the boy he'd met earlier. Jack refocused his eyes on the girl who he now knew as Abby, but didn't reply. "The devil of Capeside," Dawson continued. Jack laughed slightly.

"Well, I got to get to class. Bye," Dawson said, right when Jack was about to ask who the blonde was. Sighing, he closed his mouth and headed into the classroom 318. An older gentleman, slightly mean looking, was in the front of the class, whom Jack classified as Mr. Peterson.

Jack sat down in an empty seat, looking around the classroom. Not many people were talking. Maybe it's because of Peterson . . . Jack thought silently. He did look strict.

"Sit down, class, and take out your assignments. I will be around to collect them," Mr. Peterson began, and the class fell silent.

That is, until the door swung open and a brown-haired boy walked in, making excuses loudly. "Sorry I'm late Mr. Peterson, but see, a teacher dropped her things in the hallway and I just had to help her pick them up, you see, because I felt so bad -"

"Sit down, Mr. Witter." Pacey took an empty seat to Jack's right, and flashed him a marvelous grin, and it seemed to be contagious because Jack himself soon had one matching.

"You've come to class unprepared and empty-handed, I assume," Mr. Peterson said, in Jack's thoughts unfairly, when he reached Pacey.

"Well, I can't disappoint my favorite teacher. As always, your assumptions are one-hundred percent correct." Pacey ended his sarcastic sentence with a flourish of his hand, and Jack's face was split in half by a grin.

"New student?" Mr. Peterson turned to Jack, and his grin faded.

"Uh, yes . . ." Jack hesitated, wondering whether or not to add sir to his sentence. It looked as thought Peterson were expecting it.

"Very well then, I will let you off the hook this one time only." Blinking, Jack couldn't help but wonder if he was kidding. Let him off the hook? Had he really been expecting Jack to have it completed?

Before he could open his mouth to respond, Mr. Peterson was at the front of the room, droning on about poetry and famous poets. Now, if Jack had had any other seat in the classroom, he probably would have been bored out of his mind. But he wasn't. Why? Because, simply, Pacey was sitting next to him, and making hilarious jokes, cracks, and even faces. It took all he had to stop himself from bursting out laughing. Especially when Mr. Peterson became the butts of his jokes.

After class was over, Pacey seemed to be in a hurry, and left the class right away. Jack was disappointed - he hadn't caught the other's first name. He knew him only as 'Mr. Witter', but he didn't worry. He was sure to see him again.

The rest of the school day went quickly, and even though Jack ate lunch with Andie alone, he was actually satisfied with the way the day turned out. After school, he and Andie walked home together, because Tim was at football practice.

"How was your first day of school, Little Brother?" Andie asked, grinning.

"Oddly good, Little Sister," he replied, grinning back. "I met a couple of people, you know, and they all seemed pretty nice."

"Same here. In fact, I got invited by a boy I met - Pacey, though I'm not sure what his last name is - to meet him at this restaurant today." Andie was smiling, and Jack was too, happy for his sister, even though he didn't know who this Pacey fellow was.

"You did?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "The Icehouse?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I got invited too."

"Oh. Well, guess our crowd'll be the same," Andie laughed, punching her brother slightly in the arm.

"Yeah. Too bad you're not as interesting as me." Jack laughed along with her, and then took off as he said that, to his home. He couldn't wait to get to the Icehouse.

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A/N: Okay, so chapter two is up and it's waaaaaay longer than my first chapter, which may be a good thing, unless it sucks. Either way, TELL ME! Please =D I'll give you cheese! And I love reviewers. Really, I do. Next chapter will revolve around the Icehouse. And Jack slowly beginning to realize. Yes. Now, review. =)