Title: High School Daze 3/5
Author: Girl Who Writes
Feedback: is beloved if you feel so inclined.
Pairing: Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi
Word Count: 1981
Rating: M
Genre: Humour, Drama, Major AU.
Summary: New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.
Notes: I will warn everyone that I have never written a word of slash; this is my first and I'm very proud of this fic. I am completely unfamiliar with the American school system, so if anything seems odd, it is because I am Australian. Very tempting to call this The R.E.N.T in the manner of The O.C., but I resisted.
Special Thanks: This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!
Spoilers: Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.
Warnings: Language.
Disclaimer: Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.
Angel smiled to him self as he trotted along next to Collins. Tom Collins; it had an old-fashioned charm about it. Reminded him of his grandmother's stories about New York City 'back in the day', when ladies wore gloves and perfume came in spun glass bottles and everyone had a smile for everyone else. Angel loved hearing those stories.
"So…" Angel started, and mentally panicked. He couldn't think of anything to say! He'd never been flustered like this by another person before. Even his ex boyfriend hadn't left him lost for something to say.
"I have some advice for navigating the hallowed hallways of this fine educational institution," Collins' voice was a deep baritone, and it washed over Angel like a lifeline amongst the crowds of teenagers. "One, never sit to the back of the classroom if you intend to do something incriminating with your time; the teachers are trained to keep their eyes on the reprobates in the back. Two, never ask anyone from the English faculty to clarify something for you. They won't understand what you're asking. Three, don't say anything that could be considered controversial. Don't even think it, and you'll do fine."
"Controversial, huh?" They stopped outside of a nondescript classroom, with students already claiming seats.
"We're here to be educated into being the finest young automatons this state can offer, complete with inbuilt prejudice and hate towards anyone who thinks differently. The only reason this school isn't made up of all white Christians from respectable families is because it's illegal. Anything that doesn't fit into their little boxes doesn't exist." The playful tone Collins had started out with had changed to a jaded, bitter tone that made the words sound like ones he had spoken many times before. Angel didn't like the beaten look on Collins… Tom's face. He had to say something.
"Even you and I?" Shit, that slipped out. Angel contemplated taking his own life then and there at the way Collins laughed and nervously shuffled, and looked up at Angel with an unguarded look in his eyes.
"Even you and I."
Angel's mouth felt dry. He couldn't… he could… he was so going to…
"Wanna not exist with me at the movies tomorrow night?" Fuck. He said it. The world should end now and save him from whatever fallout him asking a guy at this fancy-ass school would cause.
Collins looked down at the boy before him, with the eyes he could spend the next two hours staring into, and the lips he just wanted to kiss in the hallway. He briefly imagined the scandal that it would cause – shock! A Senior guy kissing a Junior boy! Call the shrinks, they must be broken!
"Movies and dinner?" Collins realized he'd been silent too long and blurted it out in time to see the disappointed look on Angel's face recede into one that could only be described as ecstatic. Angel rifled around in his bag – a satchel, Collins noticed, with a bright rainbow painted on the front – and pulled out a biro, and pulled Collins' computer science book from his grip to scrawl inside the front cover.
"Call me," Angel handed Collins back the book and slipped into the classroom with a delighted grin on his face. It sounded so very Sweet-Valley-High, but he had just gotten his dream date! He definitely had to catch up with Mimi after class.
Collins somehow managed to stumble into the next building and into the computer science classroom without walking into anyone, doing a little dance or jumping up and down like a crazy person. He was grinning like a fool, but that was expected. Angel. It was like a mantra running through his head. He had a date on a Friday night!
Collins settled in front of a computer and made a mental note that when he finally got around to writing his memoirs, today was going to be immortalized in an entire chapter.
"Uh, excuse me." A tall, skinny girl stood before him, a pile of books and her timetable obscuring her face. "Is this S12Computer Science, Room T2?"
"Sure is," Collins watched as the girl dumped the books on the desk and took a seat next to him. "Thomas Collins. Transfer student?"
"Yes. I'm Joanne Jefferson," the girl shook his hand and tapped her password into the computer. "Not because of that school fire. My parents have become partners at the local law firm." She opened the textbook. "I'm from Seattle."
"Must be hard for you to transfer to a new state in the middle of your senior year," Collins commented, and swore that Joanne blushed a little.
"Uh… I think I needed the fresh start," Joanne shrugged; an uneasy air settled over her. "Tabula rasa, as they say. What chapters have you studied?"
Collins prided himself on being excellent at reading people, which is what tended to unnerve them the most. And he could tell that Joanne Jefferson was covering something up and that she tended to be the most comfortable discussing her school work. When the teacher arrived, a deadpan man with an intense coffee addiction, Joanne was focused one hundred percent on the class assignments. Whilst the rest of the class goofed off and surfed the Internet, Joanne was double checking all of her answers in the back of the textbook. The teacher even seemed slightly stunned when she handed in the assignment at the end of the lesson.
"Why did he look so surprised?" Joanne asked Collins as they left class.
"We never hand anything in on time," Collins shrugged. "Generally we just hand him a wad of papers at the end of term, and hope we've covered all the assignments."
Joanne blinked. "Really?"
"Really. Graham won't ever mark you down for something being handed in late, especially if you need some downtime," Collins guided Joanne in the direction of their final class for the day.
"Wow," was all Joanne managed. "My old school was kind of strict with our time management."
"Well, at this school, when the teachers yell, the students yell back. Or some of us do," Collins took a seat next to Joanne for their next class, Legal Studies. "Most of them stare slack jawed at the front of the room, reaffirming my prediction that they will, one day, become mindless corporate drones offering free refills at Starbucks while you and I go off to lead the free world."
Joanne laughed, starting to relax. "Sounds good to me."
Collins flashed her a bright smile that was completely inspired by the events of that afternoon. "Me too."
---
"Mimi-chica!" Angel stood in his kitchen, the phone propped between his ear and shoulder as he examined the contents of the fridge. His grandmother had gone off to her weekly bridge game, and left Angel alone to fend for himself that night.
"I'm here. What's up? Ooh, how did everything go with Collins?"
"We're going out tomorrow night."
Angel winced and almost dropped the phone as Mimi squealed. "Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm so happy for you, Angel!"
"What the hell was I even thinking?" Angel shut the fridge door and began to bash his head against it.
"You saw a guy you fell head over heels for and you grabbed opportunity by the balls," Mimi said matter-of-factly.
"Mimi Marquez!"
"It's true though!"
"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
Both of them began to laugh. "So, where are you going?"
"Movies and dinner," Angel resumed his hunt for food.
"This is so exciting!" In her own kitchen, Mimi hopped up onto the counter, swinging her legs against the cabinets. "What are you going to wear? Oh, what movie are you going to see? "
"I was thinking about the black jeans I got last week in the city?"
"The ones you put sequins on the belt loops?"
"Yeah. Not too…?"
"What, gay?"
"Mimi, I'm serious. Collins warned me that people here aren't particularly accepting of anyone different."
"Angel, they aren't particularly accepting on our side of town, either. The black jeans with that blue t shirt of yours, and I can lend you that denim jacket I've got."
"Will it fit me?"
"It will, I'll bring it to school tomorrow. Promise me something, Angel."
"Anything, Mimi-chica."
"Don't panic. Don't think about this too much. Make yourself something to eat, do you homework and relax."
"How am I meant to relax!"
"Yoga? I don't know! Agh, Mom wants to use the phone. I'll see you tomorrow, Angel."
"Love you Mimi."
"Love you more."
Angel hung up the phone and sighed before pulling out the ingredients for a toasted sandwich. And there was most of a tub of cherry ice cream left, and there was a Friends marathon starting on T.V. in half an hour.
He was not going to think about his date tomorrow night, especially not that the date in question, a Mister Thomas Collins, was like the most perfect person on the face of the planet. Intellectual and mouth wateringly hot. It was like someone had made him to order!
As Angel watched his dinner cook, a huge smile spread across his face, and he clapped his hands and jumped around the kitchen in a bizarre, happy dance.
"Angelo!" His grandmother appeared in the kitchen door, placing her purse on the table and taking off her coat. "What on earth are you doing in my kitchen?"
"Dinner, Nana."
"And dancing, it seems." Hazel kissed her grandson on his cheek and moved to switch the kettle on. "What has my Angel so happy? His new school? I worried for you and Mimi all day."
"I had an amazing day," Angel hopped up on the counter.
"Really? And little Mimi survived?" Hazel chuckled to herself. Mimi may have been a head shorter than Angel, but it had always been Mimi protecting Angel, since they met in grade school.
"I think so, I forgot to ask," Angel said guiltily.
"Really?" Hazel looked up. "And what, pray tell, inspired this bought of forgetfulness?"
"I met someone."
"Someone?"
"His name is Tom Collins," Angel admitted. His grandmother had never had any trouble with her grandson's sexual identity and had even gone so far as to suggest Angel go out with one of Mimi's brothers when they were in the room. The mere memory of those incidents still made Angel's stomach churn.
"Tom Collins," Hazel repeated; a smile on her face.
"We're going out to a movie and dinner tomorrow night," Angel said.
"Ah. Well, I'm glad your day proved as wonderful as I prayed it would, my dearest. I am going to head off to bed, now. Don't forget to let the cats in before you go to bed."
"I won't."
"Sweet dreams, my Angel."
"Oh, they will be," Angel grinned wickedly at his grandmother, and Hazel laughed, heading upstairs.