Title: Stay Afloat
Chapter: 1/?
Author: metatrons_gurl
Summary: Pirates of the Caribbean gets modernized- again.
Pairings: J/E W/A
Feedback: Please? metatrons_gurl@yahoo.com Flames will be used to make me laugh.
Archival: Sparrow and Elizabeth, Jack and Elizabeth 4ever, DeppFanFiction, Fanfiction.net.Anybody else "Want, ASK, take, have."
Disclaimer: * Sighs * I don't own Jack, Lizzie, Will, Ana Maria, Mr. Swann, Ragetti, Barbossa, Gibbs, Grapple, Bill Turner, or the name 'Black Pearl', I don't own the characters they're based on, I own nothing save the plot..Actually I do own Mrs. Michelle Sparrow, John Sparrow, and 'Rat Bastard' Sparrow, they'll show up later. I own none of the songs. They belong to the awesome people of Good Charlotte, Evanescence, Disturbed, Shinedown, and my friend's cousin. Don't ask. I don't even own the title. It's from my friend's cousin.
A/N: I should never be allowed near Buffy or Pirates of the 21st Century: A Modernized Tale ever again. This is the result. There may be some Buffy references in here. FYI: This is set in the present. I don't know how the characters would act, so I'm guessing here. They will not be musically hopeless and that will come into play later. I know nothing of the British school system/s so this is set in the US. Also, if you decide to review please offer me suggestions on how to get the characters into character, they've been griping at me about it.
A/N 2: My beta FINALLY woke up and betaed these for me so I'm swapping out the unbetaed for the betaed. Tell me if you see the difference.
* Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep * 'I hate that alarm clock,' Elizabeth saw no point in having an alarm clock that went off at the wrong times and then wouldn't shut up until it was practically thrown across the room. She rolled out of bed and walked over to her closet. 'No. No. Maybe. No. No,' she went through her clothes until she found an outfit that she liked and that her 'friends' would approve of. She settled on her favorite jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue sweater. 'Why dress up? There's no one there to impress.'
It was true. There were no boys worth impressing, Will was the only really good looking one, and he was like a brother to her. Why try to impress your brother? It was the middle of term so there wouldn't be any new guys. And even if there were, there were no good looking ones.
Lizzie took a quick shower, got dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast. 'One Pop-Tart or two?' she teased herself. Josie and Kate would have a heart attack if she'd said that to them. They insisted on one mug of coffee, preferably from the Starbucks down the street, and one quarter of a bagel. Yes, a quarter. The 'harpies' as some called them would screech if the bagel was cut wrong or if the coffee was not exactly to their liking. They thought they were trendy, Lizzie thought they were annoying.
But she had no choice. If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. So she did. But she ate what she wanted, when she wanted.
Ana-Maria continuously wondered aloud how Lizzie could stand to be within a mile of them. Lizzie had let her know of two superb inventions: Walkmans and earplugs.
After eating her breakfast it was back upstairs to put on a light bit of make-up, then she was ready to go. Her father kissed her good-bye and told her to call him when she got there to make sure she was safe. Lizzie loved her dad, honestly, but he was a bit overprotective.
Lizzie got into her car and started it. Her new favorite CD, which Ana- Maria had been kind enough to burn for her, started up on the perfect song for the moment actually.
"Wake up tired Monday mornings suck"
Lizzie laughed out loud as she turned the corner.
Elizabeth turned onto the school's parking lot just as Evanescence's 'Lies' ended. Now she would be humming that song all day. As she climbed out of her car Lizzie heard Harpy 1 and Harpy 2.
"Bethy!" Harpy 1, also known as Kate, squealed. "You simply HAVE to come to this club with us on Fri!"
"Which club?" she asked, more to appease them than out of interest.
"Black Pearl!" they chorused.
"Duh! Beth-Beth!" Josie squawked. "There's this new band set to open and I've heard that they are DELISH!"
"Let me guess," Lizzie sighed. "The drummer's hot."
"No silly!" Harpy 2 flipped her hair and did her trademark 'as-if' look. "The guitarer or whatever it's called."
"Guitarist," Ana-Maria had arrived. The darker girl gave Lizzie a pointed look.
"Yeah," Harpy 1 chimed.
Lizzie and Ana rolled their eyes and set off towards homeroom.
About halfway there, Lizzie collided with something, or rather someone. A very lost someone. As her books went flying, and a strong pair of arms reflexively grasped Lizzie's waist to break her fall.
"Ya alright there?" the 'someone' asked, slowly releasing his grip.
"I'm alright," Lizzie mumbled. Behind her she heard Kate whisper something about 'salty goodness'. Regaining her balance, Lizzie looked up at whoever it was. She didn't care who it was, they were rude! Running into- 'Rude? I meant cute.' She amended when she got a good look at him.
He was about a half foot taller than her, lean, tanned, with an angular face holding handsome features and dark eyes, his hair was dark and had a sort of 'Greg Sanders' look about him. That is to say that this overall amazing package's hair was spiked. He also had the beginnings of a goatee.
Lizzie smiled shyly, he gave her a lopsided smirk and asked, "Do you by any chance know where homeroom 419 is?"
There were two whispered 'damns' as Ana-Maria cleared her throat, Lizzie looked at her. "That's our homeroom," Ana-Maria sounded rather annoyed. "We were just heading there."
"D'you mind if I follow ya?"
"Not at all," Lizzie said before Ana could speak.
Mystery Guy touched his fingertips together in front of his chest and murmured 'thank you.' The five of them set off down the hall.
The Harpies broke away outside of 302. After air-kisses and 'see ya later's the remaining three continued on in silence. At least until the Harpies were well out of hearing range.
"Good God!" came the irritated masculine voice. "Are they ALWAYS like that?"
The poor boy had had to endure five minutes of the Harpies at their worst. Strangely enough the two girls had been dumb enough to ask everything from shoe size to favorite ice cream flavor yet hadn't asked his name.
"Yes, sadly," Lizzie told him.
"She means when they aren't drinking their seven ounce coffees and eating their quarter bagels," Ana put in. "So for all but twenty minutes a day they're like that."
His response was a soft chuckle. "So, they're Josie and Kate. Got that, but what are your names?"
"Ana-Maria Saldana," Ana said evenly. "And this," she gave Lizzie a light push. "Is 'Bethy', or 'Beth-Beth' as the Harpies call her. More commonly known as Elizabeth Swann."
Lizzie shot her a glare.
"Jack Sparrow," he stated by way of introduction.
Ana's jaw dropped. "You're the one who got that DWI a while back after you were caught drag-racing in that stolen car."
"One, I was not drunk. I'm always like that," sure enough, there was a definite swagger when he walked. "Two, it was not a drag-race. Well not quite, we were late to practice and decided to race each other there."
"You stole a car!"
"Borrowed!" he defended. "Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back."
Ana-Maria glared at him. Lizzie who had been watching the exchange as one does a tennis match, finally spoke. "Ana reads the newspaper avidly, so it's likely that not many others will recognize you, but just to be safe, Ana keep your mouth shut."
"Small town curse eh?" Jack questioned. Ana and Lizzie looked at each other then back at him, confused. "News gets around." He clarified.
They nodded.
"Damn," he growled. "Ok, this stays between us. Neither of you say anything to anyone, savvy?"
Again they nodded. By this time they had reached the door, they had about two minutes before the bell rang so they went inside.
Mrs. Johansson merely frowned, upset that they hadn't managed to get themselves killed over break and that she still had to baby-sit a class. The room's only other occupant got up and walked towards them.
"Lizzie," he said engulfing her in a quick hug.
"Will," she smiled at him.
Will turned towards Ana-Maria and suddenly looked nervous. "Hi, Ana." He mumbled.
"Hey Will," she returned just as nervous.
Jack cleared his throat. Will turned towards him, frowned, then looked toward Lizzie with a question in his eyes.
"Oh," Lizzie started. "Will, this is Jack Sparrow. Jack, this is Will Turner."
Neither of the guys knew what to make of the other. Will and Jack merely exchanged half-hearted glares until Will finally had to blink.
"Nice to meet you," Will put his hand out for Jack to shake. Jack hesitated, and then grasped his hand, shaking it cautiously.
They moved away and Will turned back to the girls. "Bloodthirsty Barbossa's still here," he sighed. "Saw him on the way in."
"They still haven't fired him?!" Ana exclaimed. "He hung Mike out the window because he couldn't answer a question!"
"'Bloodthirsty'?" Jack asked.
"The Lit teacher," Lizzie clarified. "Most of us swear he's a reincarnated pirate. He looks like one, talks like one, and is about as pleasant as Blackbeard."
"Damn!" Ana groaned. "I didn't finish Dorian Grey! He's gonna kill me."
"SparkNotes is a beautiful thing," Jack said calmly, handing over a sheaf of papers. Will and Lizzie looked at him quizzically. "Principal's a friend of mum's. Gave me a heads up on the course work."
As he finished that statement, Mrs. Johansson walked over and grabbed him by the arm just as the bell rang. As the rest of Homeroom 419 flooded in Lizzie, Will and Ana scrambled for seats at the back.
"Good morning people," Mrs. Johansson sounded like a frog when she talked, so she avoided it when possible. "We have a new addition to the homeroom," she pulled Jack forward, he tried not to wince, for being as old as she was the woman had an iron grip. "This is Jack Sparrow. Don't kill him." Introduction over, she released him to go find a seat, which he did, in the row in front of the trio.
* Ding*
The morning announcements were starting. "Good morning everyone and welcome back from holidays," said a bored voice. "There will be an assembly tomorrow morning so be sure to meet in the gym, not the homerooms. The cafeteria staff has prepared a treat for all of you for lunch," here there were several groans and a grimace from Mrs. Johansson. "Monsieur de la Roux's classes will not meet today as he fractured his ankle and could not make it in. It is suggested that his students go to the library to research the paper that is due next week-" The announcements continued on for about five minutes, causing many people to try to catch up on their beauty sleep. When they ended Mrs. Johansson got up, took roll and began to distribute the new semester's schedules.
'Pre-Cal, with Thompson, Economics, with Cardoyan, Chemistry, with Mitchell, World History, with Masbeth, French, with de la Roux, Phys Ed, with Jothon,' Jack ticked off the classes as he saw them. Seeing the next one he almost groaned. 'English Lit. Teacher, Barbossa.' He heard a few barely disguised groans and a mumbled 'I thought I asked for a transfer,' and figured that the trio behind him had the same teacher. He turned around and asked, "Barbossa?"
"Yes," Will sighed. "Today. Last period."
Jack quickly checked his schedule again, and grinned, "Well, we have the same class. Ought to be fun."
The day turned out to be all but fun. Pre-Cal was a nightmare; the teacher gave them a ton of homework due in two days. Economics was alright; just an orientation type class. The Chemistry teacher seemed scared of his shadow. The World History teacher tended to spit when he talked. The French teacher was out. Phys Ed had them running a mile and a half. After that it was time for English Lit.
Walking into the classroom, Jack could see why the man had been dubbed 'Bloodthirsty'. The room was decorated with images of medieval torture devices, some of them blueprints. The shades were drawn, causing the room to have an even more Gothic appearance. There was a young man sitting at the large cherry wood desk in the corner. Surely that wasn't this 'Bloodthirsty Barbossa' character?
The young man got up and walked to the front of the class as everyone took their seats.
"Good afternoon," said the same bored tone that had read the morning announcements. "I hope you haven't forgotten me. In case you have, let me refresh your memory. I am James Norrington, Mr. Barbossa's aide for the year. Mr. Barbossa had a conference and will be here shortly. Hopefully you all finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. If you need to look over something, do so now." He went back to the desk and sat down.
Will turned to Jack, "Be glad James is friendly. He usually intervenes before Barbossa gets too bad."
"Poor Mike," Lizzie said quietly, looking towards the seat farthest from the window, yet closest to the door. "James was out sick when Barbossa snapped."
Jack was about to say something to the effect of 'Really now, no one's THAT bad' when he was startled by the door slamming into the wall. Jack quickly turned back to face the front of the class. It was very good that he did, because at that time possibly the scariest teacher in the entire school system stormed into the room and began scanning the class.
"I hope ye've finished Dorian Gray," the man virtually growled, he really did sound like a pirate. "We're goin' ta be havin' a discussion on it. 'Twill be for a grade," as he finished his comments the man sneered, well, actually for him it might have been a smile.
"Let's begin," again the sneer. "What was the supreme conflict in the novel?"
Several hands shot up, Will and Lizzie's among the first.
Barbossa gave a long, suffering sigh, "Yes, Mr. Turner?"
"Good against evil," Will said shortly.
"Aye, Mr. Turner," Barbossa seemed put out. "That'll be one of 'em. But can anyone tell me why 'tis?"
Lizzie's hand went down, as did the others. Jack cursed himself, 'Idiot, you have a brain! Use it!' He cautiously put his hand up.
"Ye must be the new one," Barbossa sneered again. "What be yer name?"
"Jack Sparrow, sir," he smiled tightly.
"Ah," Barbossa relaxed slightly. "I'm guessin' yer not named after your father?" The mention of his father was enough to cause Jack to grimace. "No sir."
"Well, Mr. Sparrow, what do ye have to say?"
'Here we go,' Jack sighed. "The major conflict is good against evil because of two characters, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton."
"How so?"
"Lord Henry is rather like Satan or whatever anyone calls him. He taunts Dorian with his speech on beauty and remaining young. He also tells Dorian repeatedly that he can do anything he wants to and no one will care. Dorian sees Henry doing what he wants when he wants to and being happy, and he wants that life. His rant at the painting was essentially him selling his soul."
"And what of Hallward?"
Elizabeth's hand went up, she'd caught on to what he was saying.
"Yes Ms. Swann," Barbossa sounded angry now that people were answering.
"Basil is Dorian's conscience," she started slowly. "While Dorian is following Henry's example, Basil is there trying to steer him back on the path. Basil is worried when he hears of Dorian's reputation and confronts him about it. When Dorian shows him the painting he can't believe it, then he begs Dorian to repent. When Dorian kills him he was basically silencing his conscience in order to continue living his life without guilt."
"Very good," Barbossa admitted grudgingly. "Apparently Mr. Turner is no longer the only one with half a brain. I want a three page type-written analysis of the book as a conflict of Good vs. Evil. Ye may work in yer study groups if you like, but the paper will be done individually. Bring it in, oh, Monday."
"I'm not saying I wish any harm to the man," Jack commented as they left the class, "Just that I could happily sit by while someone knocks his head off."
Will chuckled, Ana-Maria laughed, and Lizzie shot him a glare that was negated by the smile on her face.
"Anyway," Lizzie said, still grinning. "Study group at my place? I can call out for pizza."
"When?" Will asked.
"Saturday good?" Ana-Maria questioned, when Lizzie called for pizza, they went all out, and Mr. Swann picked up the bill.
"Saturday's fine with me," Lizzie said. "How about you guys?" "Saturday's great," Will answered.
Jack, who was still trying to figure out if she was talking to him, simply nodded.
"Hey!" came a voice from behind them. "Lizzie! Will! Wait up!"
The group stopped and waited as a tall, scraggly looking blonde boy came up behind them.
"Hi, Mike," Lizzie greeted with a warm smile.
"You're Jack Sparrow," Mike said, turning to the boy in question.
"Yes," Jack answered warily, "And you are?"
"Mike Ragetti," the boy grinned. "I'm a friend of Lizzie's."
"Good to meet you."
"Lizzie," Ragetti said quietly. "Mick's really angry with you."
"I told him no two weeks ago," Lizzie sighed. "I'm telling him no again."
"Mick who?" Jack asked Will.
"Mick Grapple," Will told him. "Football quarterback, fulltime jerk. Asked Liz to go to the dance with him, she told him no."
"Oh," Jack said calmly. "Let me guess, the big strong star athlete wants to go to the dance, but he doesn't want to go alone, no, he wants to have the pretty, rich girl on his arm all night. After the dance he wants to make his move on her, if someone happens to have spiked the punch and things go too far, so be it."
"Yep," Ana broke in. "That seems like his plan. Problem is he's a very nasty drunk. Violent too."
Jack's expression darkened, "I know the type."
"Look," Lizzie was saying. "I've been talked into going to a club Friday night by the Harpies. If he shows up I'll talk to him there."
"Which club?" Ragetti questioned.
"Black Pearl," no one noticed Jack's frown, "There's usually a lot of people there and there's a new band so it'll be even more crowded. He wouldn't try anything there. So that's where I'll talk to him."
"Smart move," Jack mumbled.
Chapter: 1/?
Author: metatrons_gurl
Summary: Pirates of the Caribbean gets modernized- again.
Pairings: J/E W/A
Feedback: Please? metatrons_gurl@yahoo.com Flames will be used to make me laugh.
Archival: Sparrow and Elizabeth, Jack and Elizabeth 4ever, DeppFanFiction, Fanfiction.net.Anybody else "Want, ASK, take, have."
Disclaimer: * Sighs * I don't own Jack, Lizzie, Will, Ana Maria, Mr. Swann, Ragetti, Barbossa, Gibbs, Grapple, Bill Turner, or the name 'Black Pearl', I don't own the characters they're based on, I own nothing save the plot..Actually I do own Mrs. Michelle Sparrow, John Sparrow, and 'Rat Bastard' Sparrow, they'll show up later. I own none of the songs. They belong to the awesome people of Good Charlotte, Evanescence, Disturbed, Shinedown, and my friend's cousin. Don't ask. I don't even own the title. It's from my friend's cousin.
A/N: I should never be allowed near Buffy or Pirates of the 21st Century: A Modernized Tale ever again. This is the result. There may be some Buffy references in here. FYI: This is set in the present. I don't know how the characters would act, so I'm guessing here. They will not be musically hopeless and that will come into play later. I know nothing of the British school system/s so this is set in the US. Also, if you decide to review please offer me suggestions on how to get the characters into character, they've been griping at me about it.
A/N 2: My beta FINALLY woke up and betaed these for me so I'm swapping out the unbetaed for the betaed. Tell me if you see the difference.
* Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep * 'I hate that alarm clock,' Elizabeth saw no point in having an alarm clock that went off at the wrong times and then wouldn't shut up until it was practically thrown across the room. She rolled out of bed and walked over to her closet. 'No. No. Maybe. No. No,' she went through her clothes until she found an outfit that she liked and that her 'friends' would approve of. She settled on her favorite jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue sweater. 'Why dress up? There's no one there to impress.'
It was true. There were no boys worth impressing, Will was the only really good looking one, and he was like a brother to her. Why try to impress your brother? It was the middle of term so there wouldn't be any new guys. And even if there were, there were no good looking ones.
Lizzie took a quick shower, got dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast. 'One Pop-Tart or two?' she teased herself. Josie and Kate would have a heart attack if she'd said that to them. They insisted on one mug of coffee, preferably from the Starbucks down the street, and one quarter of a bagel. Yes, a quarter. The 'harpies' as some called them would screech if the bagel was cut wrong or if the coffee was not exactly to their liking. They thought they were trendy, Lizzie thought they were annoying.
But she had no choice. If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. So she did. But she ate what she wanted, when she wanted.
Ana-Maria continuously wondered aloud how Lizzie could stand to be within a mile of them. Lizzie had let her know of two superb inventions: Walkmans and earplugs.
After eating her breakfast it was back upstairs to put on a light bit of make-up, then she was ready to go. Her father kissed her good-bye and told her to call him when she got there to make sure she was safe. Lizzie loved her dad, honestly, but he was a bit overprotective.
Lizzie got into her car and started it. Her new favorite CD, which Ana- Maria had been kind enough to burn for her, started up on the perfect song for the moment actually.
"Wake up tired Monday mornings suck"
Lizzie laughed out loud as she turned the corner.
Elizabeth turned onto the school's parking lot just as Evanescence's 'Lies' ended. Now she would be humming that song all day. As she climbed out of her car Lizzie heard Harpy 1 and Harpy 2.
"Bethy!" Harpy 1, also known as Kate, squealed. "You simply HAVE to come to this club with us on Fri!"
"Which club?" she asked, more to appease them than out of interest.
"Black Pearl!" they chorused.
"Duh! Beth-Beth!" Josie squawked. "There's this new band set to open and I've heard that they are DELISH!"
"Let me guess," Lizzie sighed. "The drummer's hot."
"No silly!" Harpy 2 flipped her hair and did her trademark 'as-if' look. "The guitarer or whatever it's called."
"Guitarist," Ana-Maria had arrived. The darker girl gave Lizzie a pointed look.
"Yeah," Harpy 1 chimed.
Lizzie and Ana rolled their eyes and set off towards homeroom.
About halfway there, Lizzie collided with something, or rather someone. A very lost someone. As her books went flying, and a strong pair of arms reflexively grasped Lizzie's waist to break her fall.
"Ya alright there?" the 'someone' asked, slowly releasing his grip.
"I'm alright," Lizzie mumbled. Behind her she heard Kate whisper something about 'salty goodness'. Regaining her balance, Lizzie looked up at whoever it was. She didn't care who it was, they were rude! Running into- 'Rude? I meant cute.' She amended when she got a good look at him.
He was about a half foot taller than her, lean, tanned, with an angular face holding handsome features and dark eyes, his hair was dark and had a sort of 'Greg Sanders' look about him. That is to say that this overall amazing package's hair was spiked. He also had the beginnings of a goatee.
Lizzie smiled shyly, he gave her a lopsided smirk and asked, "Do you by any chance know where homeroom 419 is?"
There were two whispered 'damns' as Ana-Maria cleared her throat, Lizzie looked at her. "That's our homeroom," Ana-Maria sounded rather annoyed. "We were just heading there."
"D'you mind if I follow ya?"
"Not at all," Lizzie said before Ana could speak.
Mystery Guy touched his fingertips together in front of his chest and murmured 'thank you.' The five of them set off down the hall.
The Harpies broke away outside of 302. After air-kisses and 'see ya later's the remaining three continued on in silence. At least until the Harpies were well out of hearing range.
"Good God!" came the irritated masculine voice. "Are they ALWAYS like that?"
The poor boy had had to endure five minutes of the Harpies at their worst. Strangely enough the two girls had been dumb enough to ask everything from shoe size to favorite ice cream flavor yet hadn't asked his name.
"Yes, sadly," Lizzie told him.
"She means when they aren't drinking their seven ounce coffees and eating their quarter bagels," Ana put in. "So for all but twenty minutes a day they're like that."
His response was a soft chuckle. "So, they're Josie and Kate. Got that, but what are your names?"
"Ana-Maria Saldana," Ana said evenly. "And this," she gave Lizzie a light push. "Is 'Bethy', or 'Beth-Beth' as the Harpies call her. More commonly known as Elizabeth Swann."
Lizzie shot her a glare.
"Jack Sparrow," he stated by way of introduction.
Ana's jaw dropped. "You're the one who got that DWI a while back after you were caught drag-racing in that stolen car."
"One, I was not drunk. I'm always like that," sure enough, there was a definite swagger when he walked. "Two, it was not a drag-race. Well not quite, we were late to practice and decided to race each other there."
"You stole a car!"
"Borrowed!" he defended. "Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back."
Ana-Maria glared at him. Lizzie who had been watching the exchange as one does a tennis match, finally spoke. "Ana reads the newspaper avidly, so it's likely that not many others will recognize you, but just to be safe, Ana keep your mouth shut."
"Small town curse eh?" Jack questioned. Ana and Lizzie looked at each other then back at him, confused. "News gets around." He clarified.
They nodded.
"Damn," he growled. "Ok, this stays between us. Neither of you say anything to anyone, savvy?"
Again they nodded. By this time they had reached the door, they had about two minutes before the bell rang so they went inside.
Mrs. Johansson merely frowned, upset that they hadn't managed to get themselves killed over break and that she still had to baby-sit a class. The room's only other occupant got up and walked towards them.
"Lizzie," he said engulfing her in a quick hug.
"Will," she smiled at him.
Will turned towards Ana-Maria and suddenly looked nervous. "Hi, Ana." He mumbled.
"Hey Will," she returned just as nervous.
Jack cleared his throat. Will turned towards him, frowned, then looked toward Lizzie with a question in his eyes.
"Oh," Lizzie started. "Will, this is Jack Sparrow. Jack, this is Will Turner."
Neither of the guys knew what to make of the other. Will and Jack merely exchanged half-hearted glares until Will finally had to blink.
"Nice to meet you," Will put his hand out for Jack to shake. Jack hesitated, and then grasped his hand, shaking it cautiously.
They moved away and Will turned back to the girls. "Bloodthirsty Barbossa's still here," he sighed. "Saw him on the way in."
"They still haven't fired him?!" Ana exclaimed. "He hung Mike out the window because he couldn't answer a question!"
"'Bloodthirsty'?" Jack asked.
"The Lit teacher," Lizzie clarified. "Most of us swear he's a reincarnated pirate. He looks like one, talks like one, and is about as pleasant as Blackbeard."
"Damn!" Ana groaned. "I didn't finish Dorian Grey! He's gonna kill me."
"SparkNotes is a beautiful thing," Jack said calmly, handing over a sheaf of papers. Will and Lizzie looked at him quizzically. "Principal's a friend of mum's. Gave me a heads up on the course work."
As he finished that statement, Mrs. Johansson walked over and grabbed him by the arm just as the bell rang. As the rest of Homeroom 419 flooded in Lizzie, Will and Ana scrambled for seats at the back.
"Good morning people," Mrs. Johansson sounded like a frog when she talked, so she avoided it when possible. "We have a new addition to the homeroom," she pulled Jack forward, he tried not to wince, for being as old as she was the woman had an iron grip. "This is Jack Sparrow. Don't kill him." Introduction over, she released him to go find a seat, which he did, in the row in front of the trio.
* Ding*
The morning announcements were starting. "Good morning everyone and welcome back from holidays," said a bored voice. "There will be an assembly tomorrow morning so be sure to meet in the gym, not the homerooms. The cafeteria staff has prepared a treat for all of you for lunch," here there were several groans and a grimace from Mrs. Johansson. "Monsieur de la Roux's classes will not meet today as he fractured his ankle and could not make it in. It is suggested that his students go to the library to research the paper that is due next week-" The announcements continued on for about five minutes, causing many people to try to catch up on their beauty sleep. When they ended Mrs. Johansson got up, took roll and began to distribute the new semester's schedules.
'Pre-Cal, with Thompson, Economics, with Cardoyan, Chemistry, with Mitchell, World History, with Masbeth, French, with de la Roux, Phys Ed, with Jothon,' Jack ticked off the classes as he saw them. Seeing the next one he almost groaned. 'English Lit. Teacher, Barbossa.' He heard a few barely disguised groans and a mumbled 'I thought I asked for a transfer,' and figured that the trio behind him had the same teacher. He turned around and asked, "Barbossa?"
"Yes," Will sighed. "Today. Last period."
Jack quickly checked his schedule again, and grinned, "Well, we have the same class. Ought to be fun."
The day turned out to be all but fun. Pre-Cal was a nightmare; the teacher gave them a ton of homework due in two days. Economics was alright; just an orientation type class. The Chemistry teacher seemed scared of his shadow. The World History teacher tended to spit when he talked. The French teacher was out. Phys Ed had them running a mile and a half. After that it was time for English Lit.
Walking into the classroom, Jack could see why the man had been dubbed 'Bloodthirsty'. The room was decorated with images of medieval torture devices, some of them blueprints. The shades were drawn, causing the room to have an even more Gothic appearance. There was a young man sitting at the large cherry wood desk in the corner. Surely that wasn't this 'Bloodthirsty Barbossa' character?
The young man got up and walked to the front of the class as everyone took their seats.
"Good afternoon," said the same bored tone that had read the morning announcements. "I hope you haven't forgotten me. In case you have, let me refresh your memory. I am James Norrington, Mr. Barbossa's aide for the year. Mr. Barbossa had a conference and will be here shortly. Hopefully you all finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. If you need to look over something, do so now." He went back to the desk and sat down.
Will turned to Jack, "Be glad James is friendly. He usually intervenes before Barbossa gets too bad."
"Poor Mike," Lizzie said quietly, looking towards the seat farthest from the window, yet closest to the door. "James was out sick when Barbossa snapped."
Jack was about to say something to the effect of 'Really now, no one's THAT bad' when he was startled by the door slamming into the wall. Jack quickly turned back to face the front of the class. It was very good that he did, because at that time possibly the scariest teacher in the entire school system stormed into the room and began scanning the class.
"I hope ye've finished Dorian Gray," the man virtually growled, he really did sound like a pirate. "We're goin' ta be havin' a discussion on it. 'Twill be for a grade," as he finished his comments the man sneered, well, actually for him it might have been a smile.
"Let's begin," again the sneer. "What was the supreme conflict in the novel?"
Several hands shot up, Will and Lizzie's among the first.
Barbossa gave a long, suffering sigh, "Yes, Mr. Turner?"
"Good against evil," Will said shortly.
"Aye, Mr. Turner," Barbossa seemed put out. "That'll be one of 'em. But can anyone tell me why 'tis?"
Lizzie's hand went down, as did the others. Jack cursed himself, 'Idiot, you have a brain! Use it!' He cautiously put his hand up.
"Ye must be the new one," Barbossa sneered again. "What be yer name?"
"Jack Sparrow, sir," he smiled tightly.
"Ah," Barbossa relaxed slightly. "I'm guessin' yer not named after your father?" The mention of his father was enough to cause Jack to grimace. "No sir."
"Well, Mr. Sparrow, what do ye have to say?"
'Here we go,' Jack sighed. "The major conflict is good against evil because of two characters, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton."
"How so?"
"Lord Henry is rather like Satan or whatever anyone calls him. He taunts Dorian with his speech on beauty and remaining young. He also tells Dorian repeatedly that he can do anything he wants to and no one will care. Dorian sees Henry doing what he wants when he wants to and being happy, and he wants that life. His rant at the painting was essentially him selling his soul."
"And what of Hallward?"
Elizabeth's hand went up, she'd caught on to what he was saying.
"Yes Ms. Swann," Barbossa sounded angry now that people were answering.
"Basil is Dorian's conscience," she started slowly. "While Dorian is following Henry's example, Basil is there trying to steer him back on the path. Basil is worried when he hears of Dorian's reputation and confronts him about it. When Dorian shows him the painting he can't believe it, then he begs Dorian to repent. When Dorian kills him he was basically silencing his conscience in order to continue living his life without guilt."
"Very good," Barbossa admitted grudgingly. "Apparently Mr. Turner is no longer the only one with half a brain. I want a three page type-written analysis of the book as a conflict of Good vs. Evil. Ye may work in yer study groups if you like, but the paper will be done individually. Bring it in, oh, Monday."
"I'm not saying I wish any harm to the man," Jack commented as they left the class, "Just that I could happily sit by while someone knocks his head off."
Will chuckled, Ana-Maria laughed, and Lizzie shot him a glare that was negated by the smile on her face.
"Anyway," Lizzie said, still grinning. "Study group at my place? I can call out for pizza."
"When?" Will asked.
"Saturday good?" Ana-Maria questioned, when Lizzie called for pizza, they went all out, and Mr. Swann picked up the bill.
"Saturday's fine with me," Lizzie said. "How about you guys?" "Saturday's great," Will answered.
Jack, who was still trying to figure out if she was talking to him, simply nodded.
"Hey!" came a voice from behind them. "Lizzie! Will! Wait up!"
The group stopped and waited as a tall, scraggly looking blonde boy came up behind them.
"Hi, Mike," Lizzie greeted with a warm smile.
"You're Jack Sparrow," Mike said, turning to the boy in question.
"Yes," Jack answered warily, "And you are?"
"Mike Ragetti," the boy grinned. "I'm a friend of Lizzie's."
"Good to meet you."
"Lizzie," Ragetti said quietly. "Mick's really angry with you."
"I told him no two weeks ago," Lizzie sighed. "I'm telling him no again."
"Mick who?" Jack asked Will.
"Mick Grapple," Will told him. "Football quarterback, fulltime jerk. Asked Liz to go to the dance with him, she told him no."
"Oh," Jack said calmly. "Let me guess, the big strong star athlete wants to go to the dance, but he doesn't want to go alone, no, he wants to have the pretty, rich girl on his arm all night. After the dance he wants to make his move on her, if someone happens to have spiked the punch and things go too far, so be it."
"Yep," Ana broke in. "That seems like his plan. Problem is he's a very nasty drunk. Violent too."
Jack's expression darkened, "I know the type."
"Look," Lizzie was saying. "I've been talked into going to a club Friday night by the Harpies. If he shows up I'll talk to him there."
"Which club?" Ragetti questioned.
"Black Pearl," no one noticed Jack's frown, "There's usually a lot of people there and there's a new band so it'll be even more crowded. He wouldn't try anything there. So that's where I'll talk to him."
"Smart move," Jack mumbled.