A/N Guess who is back to finally finish what he started. Another chapter that grew from just under 900 words to over 3,000 with an added scene to lead into the next chapter better. Hope you all enjoy!
The showers that the principal had given Beck the key for were awesome, and he hadn't encountered a single soul while he was there. He assumed it was for the more gender-neutral and transgender students the way that it was set up, there were six little rooms that contained a small bathroom complete with a shower, bathtub, and toilet. Sure, he would be like everyone else and have to have a shower caddy, but it made him feel right at home that there were these types of precautions given to ensure the happiness and safety of Barden's students. Even if he was doubting his decision before, his fears were slowly but surely all taken care of and he was just excited about the first day of classes to see if the academics were any better than Debonair's. He was sure they were, everything else was already glaringly better.
But, with the rumble in his stomach, all that Beck was caring about was the food at this school. He grabbed one of the blue trays that clearly laid in line with the school colors, surveying his options. A look of realization moved across his face when he recognized the dude in the hairnet that was working the punchline was none other than the headmaster. Was he seriously going to be everywhere? Beck put on his biggest fake smile as he moved to be served by the man, relieved that they had gone simple for the first day before classes. A ham sandwich with cheese sounded perfect after the day that he had. "There you go. Have a great apple and sandwich." The principal said, setting it down on Beck's tray. Beck nodded his head politely as he grabbed water and turned to find a place to sit, preferably a chair next to his sister so he could hear the gossip of her day. Of course, he got a bit sidetracked when he noticed Jesse, Benji, and Nicholas all sitting at a round table with more than enough chairs. A bit of anxiety raised in his chest as he wondered if he should go and try to sit with them, but he swallowed those nerves, clearing his throat and walking over.
"Hey, guys. Mind if I join?" He asked, standing over at Jesse, Benji, and Nicholas' table. They all shook their heads to show their indifference as he took a seat next to Jesse. "Thanks. So those soccer tryouts were pretty good eh? I mean, I clearly need some improvement, but I think I'll be able to make first string soon."
"Honestly, I was pretty surprised. Didn't know you had it in you, newbie." Jesse said with a small smile. It was clear that his roommate had put his best foot forward, and that was all anyone could do. Barden was a hard program to get into, and while there were quite a few second-stringers, there were even more guys that had gotten cut earlier on in the tryouts. Beck hadn't been one of them, and he saw potential there. Benji hadn't been the best before meeting Jesse, after all, and now they were both first-stringers.
"What can I say? I'm full of surprises." Beck said with a small smirk, but he was glad that it wasn't all in his head. "So, the Debonair game should be interesting." Debonair had always talked a big game about Barden, he wondered if the pure hatred was mutual. By the confused looks on the faces of the boys surrounding him, however, he wasn't sure where they stood.
"And why would that be interesting?" Benji asked, raising an eyebrow at the smaller boy. Not to be cocky, but Debonair wasn't necessarily a threat to the boys of Barden. The rivalry was, however, had been proven to be highly toxic due to the fighting between coaches and the boys always seemed to thrive off of it. But, Beck was new, he clearly knew nothing about it, so why would he be asking?
"I actually used to go there. Well, my sister and I." Nicholas's eyebrow perked at that one. He was sure that he would have recognized a soccer player from Debonair that was as small as Beck was, and for coming from Debonair he was quite good. He chose to say nothing, however, perhaps he was more of a club player. "She used to date that tool Bumper, the goalie." A look of recognition moved across the boys' faces before all three simultaneously began to laugh. Beck just gave them a blank stare, wondering what could possibly be so funny.
Jesse clearly caught that Beck was outside of the joke because he was able to compose himself after a few more seconds, catching his breath before he spoke. "I know him! I made him cry once during a game." Jesse pointed out, and it was Beck's turn to give Jesse a look of recognition.
"Wait. That was you?" Beck asked. He remembered that game like it was yesterday. Even he had to laugh when Bumper started crying after Jesse scored on him, screaming that it was unfair and the sun had gotten into his eyes. Barden won the game and everyone was so pissed off at Bumper for not being able to block the boy that he was a social outcast until the next scandal, a teacher sleeping with a student or something like that.
"Absolutely," Jesse said with one of those shit-eating grins that told you he wasn't sorry in the slightest that he had done so. It was probably his favorite game moment thus far.
"That was so funny! Props man." Beck said, holding out his fist as Jesse hit it with his own.
"Not to break up this brodown, but is your sister hot?" Nicholas asked out of left field, and the question struck Beck as odd. Why would someone really think their sister was hot? He could say that she was pretty because she was, but hot? No, that was a very wrong thing to think of in terms of someone you shared a womb with. He tried not to be phased as he shrugged his shoulders. He glanced around the lunchroom, hopeful that she was somewhere that he could just point her out and not have to answer the question for himself. His eyes being drawn to her bright blonde hair as she surveyed her options with that cold, calculating stare that had shut down many a guy from asking her out. Target acquired, now to let the dorks make their own opinions.
"I don't know. That would be kind of weird for me to comment on. You guys tell me." He gave a small hand motion towards his sister, and as all three of the guys around him turned to look at her, he had to cringe slightly. he hadn't paid much attention to the outfit she was wearing before, but he was surely realizing it now. Black short shorts and a red tank top told him that she had already gone on her nightly run, and with the way the guys were ogling at her he knew they liked what they saw.
"Whoa," Jesse muttered, hoping that the girl's brother wouldn't hear him. Beck only smirked in understanding. Many brave men had fallen for Aubrey over the years. She was confident, beautiful, and athletic. Beck never knew why his little sister dated Bumper out of all of the options that she had to choose from. She had claimed that she was willing to give anyone a chance, but he still would never understand her thought process there. With that being said, though, Aubrey had always treated Bumper more as a friend than a boyfriend. She hadn't even thought twice about dumping the boy. Beck almost believed that Aubrey was looking for a way out of the relationship, and when Bumper said what he said to Beck, that was the last straw. She was protective over her brother, especially now. No one disrespected him like that, especially tools like Bumper Allen.
It took a few more seconds and a fake cough from Benji before the guys ceased their watching. "Incoming." The boy muttered, attempting to be inconspicuous but failing miserably. He nodded his head to a different part of the line, and right there was a head of fiery red hair that Beck was sure would haunt his dreams later on that night. Barden was proving to indeed be much smaller than he had originally thought.
"Whoa," Beck muttered under his breath as soon as she turned around. How was it she even looked better right now than she had when they had bumped headfirst into each other? "Office girl." He was still beating himself up a bit because he hadn't gotten her name during their brief encounter, but he was far too busy being embarrassed. The only thing more catching when she turned around than her hair were those baby blues that made his mouth go dry. And, as if in slow motion, light eyes met dark and his heart skipped a beat when she threw a small smile his way as she sat down with the friend he hadn't even realized had been next to her the whole time.
He hadn't been the only one to catch the small smile as he felt a sharp stab on his side and quickly turned to face Jesse. If looks could kill, the young male would indeed be dead as Jesse was shooting daggers at him. "Dude, back off." His roommate muttered in a warning tone, and Beck felt horrible automatically. He had to live with Jesse the whole year, so pissing the guy off was not his best idea.
"Oh uh... Sorry man. Is that your girlfriend?" He really didn't want to step on toes, but as soon as Benji and Nicholas erupted into laughter of their own he doubted that was the case.
Nicholas was the one that answered his burning question with a sarcastic comment that told him he was going to like the guy. "Oh, trust us, he wishes."
Benji composed himself just enough to chime in when he saw a confused look on Beck's face. Beck wanted to know the history there, and her name would also be a wonderful tidbit of information to know because even though she had been attempting to pay attention to her friend, she had snuck a glance or two at Beck. "She was dating this college guy, but he dumped her. I hear she's a total mess now, really vulnerable. Confidence, self-esteem is way down." Benji said quietly, nodding toward her. Beck looked over as his dark blue eyes met with her light blue eyes yet again.
"In man words, it's time to pounce!" Nicholas stated, standing up and high-fiving Benji. Seeing as he was born a female and had a sister, he was admittedly a bit uncomfortable as soon as they did so, shaking his head slightly.
"Come on guys, not cool," Beck spoke up, causing both Nick and Benji to exchange looks before they took their original seats. Jesse gave Beck a silent look of approval, not wanting to outright speak against his friends clearly, but he did silently agree that it was a bit horrid to talk about a girl in such a way. There was an awkward moment or two before Benji cleared his throat, again nodding his head towards the redhead. Beck wanted to comment about how they were making it quite obvious that they were talking about her, but curiosity killed the cat as he lifted his gaze to watch some preppy guy walking over to the table mystery girl sat at.
"I hate that guy," Jesse stated with a glare, shaking his head. So it wasn't just Beck that Jesse had a problem talking to her, it was literally any male with a pulse. Noted. The four boys watched as Tom took a seat uncomfortable close to Jesse's girl, who moved her chair slightly away as a sign of discomfort that he clearly didn't care about. Beck wasn't currently caring for the guy either. Tom noticed the looks that he was receiving and had to smirk as he picked up Chloe's sandwich, looking down at it.
"Did you know bologna is 38 percent hoof?" That was not the kind o pickup line that got to women, or at least Beck couldn't think of a single girl that would work on. Chloe let out an annoyed sigh as she had to glance at him to get her sandwich back.
"Thanks, Tom," he overheard the redhead say sarcastically, taking her sandwich back from Tom and looking over at her friend, rolling her eyes. Beck could tell this wasn't her usual temperament around most people. He assumed she saved the attitude and sarcasm for just the boy sitting next to her, or to anyone that would treat her like just another pretty face. Beck didn't feel right watching any longer, so he turned back to Jesse, giving him a small smirk.
"Looks like you got some competition," Beck said with a small laugh.
"It's just Tom," Jesse stated like it was a well-known fact.
"Total geek." Benji chorused. Beck shrugged, then zoned out as the guys kept talking about god knows what as his eyes again moved to the girl. He got lost in the mystery girl. She was beautiful, really. In that natural way. Her face was makeup-free. She really did have the perfect body, not that it was really his thing to be looking at for the first time. Clearly, she had felt his eyes on her because she looked from Tom to Beck and smiled at him. He returned the smile, unable to help himself. He wasn't really a smile person, he preferred to just smirk at anyone and everyone but hers was infectious. He then looked down, praying that Jesse didn't notice the small exchange between the two. The last thing that he wanted to do was piss off the guy the slept in the bed right next to his bed. Lord only knows what could happen to him. He was only brought back to Earth and out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his back.
"Hey got to run. Later Beck." Nicholas said as all the guys got up, walking out the door.
"All right, guys, catch up with you later." He said with a small wave to them before he turned back to his sandwich, fighting the want to glance one last time at the girl. He did not want to seem like a stalked on only his second time seeing her.
"So, who was that girl that you were making googly eyes at in the caf?" Aubrey asked her brother the next morning, not pulling any punches as they sat at a cafe that she had heard about from one of her new friends. Or, was it her roommate? He wasn't sure, but as he gripped the coffee cup in his hand he should have known that she was going to ask.
"Really? You aren't even going to ask me about soccer tryouts? I feel like there are more important things to be asking me about other than my nonexistent love life." He tried to think of a great rebuttal, but that was all that he could think of.
"Who said anything about a love life?" The blonde asked him with a pointed look and he already knew that he had put his foot into his mouth. She always seemed to bring it out of him, and he was sure that she did it on purpose.
He shot her a glare as he ran a hand through his hair. Resistance was futile and trying to change the subject would never work in a million years as she would continue to come back to it until he would give her an answer. His mother had always claimed that he was the most stubborn of the twins, but she had never seen Aubrey when she was interrogating her brother. Aubrey was the nice one, after all. "First, I hate it when you do this. Second, I don't know her name. And third, Jesse likes what's her name, and I like working on my music so I am going to stick to that. I'm not trying to make waves, just trying to fly under the radar." Aubrey's heart went out to her brother, it really did. She knew that he had a rough last year, and he had seen how it was a bit hard for him to fit in with the group he had been eating with the previous night. Beck was a bit rigid when first getting to know people, and some took that as him being cold. She just hoped they would give him a chance.
"You know, I have never agreed with the patriarchal term known as dibs." She commented, and while Beck silently agreed, Jesse seemed pretty serious about her. "But, your music is reason enough to only worry about that. And soccer, of course, get into that starting position where you belong."
"That is the plan, sister dearest." Beck pointed out as he turned his head, seeing Jesse, Nicholas, and Benji walk into the cafe. Jesse gave Beck a slight nod, but the other two relatively ignored him. "The other plan is to get them to at least think I'm a decent guy to hang out with." Not that he wanted to outwardly admit it, but he yearned to become someone that was just one of the boys, that would be invited to coffee or to eat or even lift weights and learn some new tricks. He wanted to be accepted, even though Aubrey was highly aware he'd never say it.
Aubrey gave the three boys a look, studying them. This wouldn't be all that hard, Beck would fit in seamlessly if he really tried, but she knew someone who could speed up the process. "I may not know how to do that, but we both know someone who might..." She gave him a look, and the mischievous look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. Classes started the next day, after all, it was better sooner than later.
