The next couple of chapters will introduce the major side characters that will mainly interact with the Masons. Keep in mind that the next couple of chapters will be on the first day. It kind of flows together...or not. Eh, either way; sorry for the lateness of the new chapter.

Chapter Two: The Boys (and Girls) are Back in Town

Veronica Mason leaned against the pillar that was at the bottom of the stairs. She was pulling at the yellow polo shirt; not liking how it fit. It clung to her skin; making her feel very self-conscious. The beige skirt was not to her liking as well; the cut was just above her knee. She would have preferred the length to be past her knees. She sighed as she waited with Gabe.

Gabe on the other hand was sitting cross-legged on top of the pillar. He looked like the uniform didn't bother him. He could pull off a polo shirt, but why purple? He finished the outfit in a pair of desert camo pants and Chuck Taylor hi-tops. He had his drumsticks out and was drumming them on the concrete of the pillar.

Ronnie sighed again. Gabe glanced at her annoyed and continued to keep a rhythm on the concrete. He had taken to his Dad's drum set like a duck to water. He had been practicing for the better part of the last two years. He felt that his skills on the drums were getting better each day. Ronnie on the other hand was beyond annoyed. She grabbed the sticks from her brother.

"Will you stop?" Ronnie growled, pointing the sticks at him. "You are so annoying!"

Gabe quickly took the sticks back and put them behind his back. He glared at her.

"You dragged my ass out of bed at six this morning; knowing damn well that the doors don't unlock until seven-thirty." He took out the thermos of coffee that he made and took a drink. "You're lucky that I didn't flatten you."

She put her hands on her hips. "Oh really?"

Gabe nodded. "Really half-pint." He put the thermos away and played with the drumsticks again. She glared at him again. "Knock it off Ronnie. I'm not in the mood. You know that on foot; it takes about twenty minutes to get here. By car it takes five or less. I don't need your shit about wanting to get here early. You're nervous."

Veronica was about to retort when Gabe placed his hands on her shoulders and forced to her sit down on the steps.

"Quit being twitchy about this." Gabe took his place back on the pillar. "You will be fine. We'll compare schedules and go from there. You need to relax otherwise you'll have an ulcer before you turn twenty."

They sat in relative silence for a few minutes until a tricked-out pickup pulled in front of the school. Gabe grinned at the truck. Ronnie looked at him with curiosity. Gabe motioned towards the truck as he left his perch. Ronnie followed behind her brother. They stopped at the passenger window and watched it roll down.

Gabe smiled. "Hey Uncle Jay!"

Ronnie looked at the passenger. "Uncle Jay? What are you doing here?"

Jay Hogart smiled at his best friends' kids. "What up kids?" He looked at Gabe. "What are you doing here so early?"

Gabe glanced at his sister. "Someone decided to wake me up at six to make sure she would get her stuff ready for the first day."

"Nobody likes a suck up." Spoke the voice from the driver's side. The door opened and out stepped the driver. Gabe smiled while Ronnie groaned. Antony "Tony" Hogart stepped out of the truck. Tony was Jay and Manny's oldest child. He looked similar to his father with longer hair that was jet black. He pulled the hair back in a ponytail and grabbed the silver ball cap off of the dashboard. He was sporting a red polo with a black windbreaker over it, beige khakis and Jordan sneakers. He walked over to the sidewalk and exchanged pleasantries with Gabe.

"You're a little fish in a big lake now midget." Tony smirked at Ronnie. She rolled her eyes and sneered at him.

A bookbag was tossed over to the sidewalk from the bed. A tall brunette with red streaks in her hair stood up. She was the mirror image of her Mom except with the emerald green eyes of her father. She styled herself in the punk/glam rock scene with a black thermal and purple polo over it. She had multicolored bracelets on both arms and rocked multiple piercing in both ears. Her khaki Capri pants were slightly worn here and there and black combats were tied to the top.

"Tony quit picking on Ronnie." She said as she leapt over the side of the bed.

"Juliette." Jay glared at her. "Quit using my truck as a jungle gym."

"Sorry dad. It won't happen again." She said as she hugged Ronnie.

Juliette turned to Gabe. "Miss me?"

He pulled her into a tight hug. Gabe whispered in her ear. "I missed you kid." They broke the hug and smiled. "Did you have fun in New York with Mom?"

Juliette looked him in the eyes and mouthed later. "It was okay. All of the fun stuff was eighteen and over. I barely left the apartment."

"Hey I need you guys to help Junior with finding his way." Jay said as he held the door open for the youngest Hogart. Jason James Hogart was the perfect mix of parents; dark hair and eyes, Manny's Filipino features with some of Jay's physical makeup. He smiled at the group.

"Little Jay's starting high school?" Gabe asked.

"Yeah, we're really proud of him." Jay smiled. "He had to get the brains from Manny. He took the placement tests last year and tested out of eighth grade."

Ronnie smiled at J.J. "I guess we're in the same boat then."

"It'll be cool Ronnie." J.J. nodded back. "We're in the big leagues now."

"I hate to break up the fun." Tony grunted. "We need to get our classes and locker assignments Dad."

The kids said their goodbyes to Jay and started up the stairs. They noticed a limo pull up to the front of the school. They watched the back door open and noticed a strawberry blonde woman step out with two kids that looked the absolute same. They had rust colored hair; the girl's hair longer than her brother. They were identical in skin tone, slender build, eye color; even down to the slight freckles around the bridge of their noses. A jet black haired girl followed after the strawberry blonde.

"I heard that some diplomat and his wife were sending their kids here." Juliette smiled, leaning on Gabe's shoulder. "The parents apparently went to school here a long time ago."

"Most of our parents met here." Ronnie commented.

"Identical twins starting as niners? How wild is that?" Gabe asked.

"You two started at the right time I guess." Juliette placed a hand on Ronnie and J.J.'s shoulders. "Emily Cameron starts this year too."

"Auntie Em's daughter?" Tony asked.

Juliette nodded. "Most of our parents' children are starting this year. Don't you listen to your younger siblings?"

Gabe laughed. "Well it should be fun for these two. The rest of us will have to deal with the usual bull."

The group headed in and made their way to the front desk. They got their schedules and locker assignments and met in the main hallway of the school. They were about to compare schedules when Principal Simpson came up to them.

"Hey welcome back." He smiled at the older students. "I would like to borrow Jason and Veronica for a few minutes."

The boys nodded to him. "They're not in trouble Mr. Simpson?" Juliette asked.

"No not at all." He smiled. "I just wanted to talk to them about making their transition into high school earlier than usual. I'll make sure that they make it to their first class."

"Okay Mr. Simpson." Gabe nodded. He turned to his sister. "If you need me, go talk to Mr. Simpson. If not, I'll see you at lunch. We'll save you a spot outside."

Mr. Simpson led the two students off to the office. The other three headed the other direction. They found their lockers in the grade ten area and put their excess supplies in the lockers. Tony took off towards his science class with Mr. Isaacs, Juliette and Gabe had Media Immersion which was just around the corner. They decided to hang out in the halls for a few minutes. Gabe leaned against his locker and Juliette stood in front of him.

"I really missed you." Gabe half grinned.

Juliette blushed. "I wasn't gone that long. Two months isn't long."

"Long enough Jules." He pulled his best friend into a tight hug again.

Juliette blushed a little more. "Gabriel Joseph; you're good and bad for me."

"How do you figure?" They pulled out of the hug. "All I'm saying is that you're gone for two months and you come back looking hotter than you did before…"

Juliette broke away and lightly punched his shoulder. "This is what I'm talking about."

Gabe shrugged. "Come on Jules; even on your worst day, you come in looking great."

Juliette smiled at him. "Charmer."

"Yeah. Dad says that's a Mason gene." Juliette rolled her eyes and laughed. "So anything fun happen while you were out there?"

Juliette face lit up. "Dude! We're so going to NYC on Spring Break. Central Park is a rocking paradise! I went to so many punk and hardcore shows; I was spinning."

"I missed that?" Gabe groaned. "Jules; next time please bail me out of here and we'll tear it up! All I could do was go over our regular haunts and check out the usual shows."

Juliette smiled. "You still got to see some awesome shows; most of them for practically free. What are you complaining about?"

"I wasn't complaining." Gabe's eyes grew big. "I forgot to tell you!"

"What?"

Gabe was laughing. "I got busted by the cops one night!"

Juliette was shocked. "What happened?"

"I was out by the university; behind the law building. I was putting up posters for the hardcore show just after Canada Day. Ran into campus security; literally."

"You didn't run?"

Gabe shook his head. "How could I? They caught me just as I landed on my butt."

Juliette shook her head. "So what happened?"

"Ran my I.D. and took me home. I lucked out; Dad was home and got busted for curfew. I had to work as dishpig for a month."

Juliette grimaced. "Ouch; that sucks."

"No wonder the dishes looked like shit when the family was in there. I figured your old man had hired monkeys back there again." Spoke a voice from their left. They turned and noticed Ben Cameron walking up to them. Ben had a muscular physique and was tall like his Mom. He also had Emma's long blonde hair and brown eyes. While in his school uniform, he still dressed like a stoner/surfer.

"Hey Benny!" Gabe shook hands and followed up with a fist bump. "I thought I smelled the odor of bong water." Juliette covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh.

He shook his head. "Bong water, dish bitch; it smells all the same. It smells like shit."

Gabe shrugged. While they weren't close friends; the two of them tended to hang out in all the same circles. They gave each other a hard time and that was enough for them. Benny had a tendency to be a jerk to most people and had a bad point of pushing a joke too far; especially if concerned the female populous.

"Digging the glam look there Hogart. You look good enough to eat." Benny smiled.

Gabe shook his head as Juliette rolled her eyes. "See Gabe says something like that and it's charming. You say it and it comes out as toxic sludge."

"It's all in the eye of the beholder Hogart." Benny smiled.

"So what are you doing over here?" Gabe asked.

"I was showing Emily where her locker was and headed this way. I've got Media first thing this morning."

"Us too." Juliette nodded. "Did all of our siblings start this year? J.J. started this year and Gabe's sister started this year too."

"Wait; Mason your sister's going here?" Benny asked. "Is she legal?"

Gabe stopped smiling and gave him a dark look. "Too far Cameron; way too far."

"I mean your Mom's hot and she's like forty? Is she the cougar type?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Dude…"

Juliette shot Benny a dirty look. "You're a pig."

Benny smirked. "You want to see pigs? Look what turned down our hallway."

The three looked and watched two guys walking down the hallway. They were big guys that looked like they were bodyguards instead of football players. The moving boulder was only known to the school as "Ogre" Morgan. He was a fat guy that was a tackle on the football team. He had long dark hair and rarely spoke in full sentences.

The taller guy was the star quarterback and alpha male of any guys' sports team. Shane Milligan knew he was the shit. A dead ringer for his father, Coach Owen Milligan; Shane was known to bully anyone and everyone. He hit on anyone of the female gender in the school and there were rumors that he was very aggressive to women. None of it could be proven because Coach Milligan would do what he could to defend his only child.

"Hey Ogre, look at the faggots over here." Shane sneered as they passed. "Biggest bunch of fruits that I've ever seen!"

Ogre chuckled. "Faggots. Funny man."

Shane smiled as he stared at Juliette. "Say Hogart; I'll make a woman out of you. All you have to do is ask."

"Not if you were the last lifeform on the planet." Juliette glared.

"I'd be a better lay than Mason there." Shane smirked. "At least he would make an attempt to please you. Stoner boy can't even get it up; too much THC."

Benny moved closer to Shane but Ogre got in the way. "Milligan I will tear your head off and take a shit down your neck. I'm more of a man than you'll ever wish you could be."

"Anytime pothead." Shane grinned. "Time and place limpdick."

Juliette got in-between the three. "Knock it the hell off!" She glared at the jocks. "Don't you morons have some weights to go lift?"

Ogre pushed Juliette on the ground. "I don't listen to whores."

Gabe moved in front of Ogre. He shook a finger in front of Ogre. "That's not the way to treat a lady Ogre. If you get some more I.Q. points; you might find a lady that might like you."

Shane smirked at him. "What do you plan to do about it dishboy?"

Gabe put his hands in his pockets. "Not a thing; you two did the work for me." He grinned and pointed behind them. The two jocks turned and noticed Mr. Del Rossi and a few new niners standing there. Shane turned and glared at him.

Gabe shrugged. "It sucks that you and the gorilla are going to miss the first couple of games of the new season."

"Alright you two, Simpson's office. Now!" Mr. Del Rossi smiled. "I'm sure that there are a few ninth graders that would like to make a formal complaint." Mr. Del Rossi ushered the two jocks to the office with about ten niners following behind him. Gabe moved to Juliette and helped her up.

"You alright Jules? You hurt?"

Juliette smiled. "My hero." She pulled her best friend into a hug. They broke from the hug and Gabe looked at his sneakers quite embarrassed.

"It was nothing Jules."

"Nothing? Dude, you got the biggest assholes in trouble on the first day." Benny clapped Gabe on the shoulder. "That's impressive."

Gabe moved a step away. "Dude, try bathing. Patchouli only covers so much."

"Can we celebrate later?" Juliette asked. "Class is going to start in like five minutes and I would like a good computer this year."

Gabe bowed and offered Juliette to go first. She smiled and headed down the hallway. Gabe and Benny followed behind her.

"So Gabe, about your sister…"

"Dude, shut up."

Just a little background information; Spinner and Jay remained friends after Jane originally broke up, while Manny stayed friends with Jane. When Jane came back to finish college at University of Toronto, the two women stayed friends. Spinner and Jay were there for Sean when he came back from Afghanistan (Sean came back home seriously injured from an I.E.D.). Manny was there for Emma when she found about what happened to Sean. Spinner ended his relationship with Emma so she could be with Sean. All six of the adults had managed to remain close friends over the years. That's why the kids all know each other and they're good friends with each other.

Thanks so much for reading! Keep watching for the next part of this story.