A/N: New chapters should be released every Friday. They'll be longer, I promise.
WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
-heavily used profanity
-marijuana usage
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH
Bart awoke in the morning, muscles stiff. He tried to move, then realized he couldn't. He began to remember what had happened the previous night.
"It's about time he woke up." Cassie grumbled from the back, and the muscular girl approached him. She pulled out a knife, and Bart screamed.
"Shut up, you idiot. I'm gonna cut you out. We have this all situated." she reassured him, and he relaxed somewhat once he felt the ropes fall off his body. Both his wrists and ankles had red stripes on them from the ropes holding him down into the chair. He got up and stretched immediately. Cassie handed him his phone.
"Your dad isn't happy."
Bart's face went pale as he began to check the messages.
Is this about what happened yesterday morning?
That's it. You're off the cross country team and the track team. The school district found out so you're suspended too!
You ruined our name. Now everyone in the entire town is questioning the capability of our family.
You'll be spending three nights in jail to learn your lesson.
"Uh..." he said awkwardly, "Well, I'm fucked." he suddenly stepped aside as Jaime walked past him with a full backpack, "Whoa, where are you going?"
"We're getting the hell out of town, that's what. We're gonna live somewhere else. Now get out." Jaime said in a hostile tone.
Bart uneasily shifted, then looked at his phone again. There were more messages, from more people, friends, relatives, all saying how disappointed they were in him, among other things.
"Take me with you."
"Wait, what, ese?" Jaime hissed.
"Take me with you guys. To the place." Bart repeated.
"It's a farm. And are you fucking crazy? You have your entire life ahead of you!" Jaime lectured, almost as if he were a friend.
"Not here. Not anymore. Look." Bart handed him the phone, "My life here is gone. My family has always had a big name... and I messed up, badly."
"Name one good reason as to why we should bring you with." Tim commanded from the back.
"Well... I can run pretty fast. Y'know, herd up the cows and goats." Bart tried to say enthusiastically.
"You're not going to complain?" Tim asked.
"Nope."
"You're not gonna bitch and moan about how hard your life is?" Cassie asked, folding her arms.
"Nada."
"Just take the motherfucker with!" Dick yelled from the background, lazily slinging a backpack over his shoulder.
"Well, if that's the case," Jaime said, too exhausted from the recent events to try and debate with Bart anymore, and he gestured to his phone, "leave that thing behind. If we give them enough time, they could potentially track it and find you."
Bart didn't hesitate. He took the expensive phone and slammed it into the ground, then violently stomped on it.
"That's the spirit!" Dick cheered and came forward, slapping Bart playfully on the back. A car was heard pulling up, and Tim peeked out the blinds.
"Roy's here. Let's go."
The group of five quickly made their way out front, piling themselves into Roy's car, pulling the doors shut before any of them could blink.
"Who's he?" Roy asked, and Bart found himself looking face-to-face at a guy with practically orange hair and bright blue eyes.
"His name's Bart. He's... got himself caught within our shit." Jaime explained briefly. Roy took this as a good enough explanation. He began to drive into the street, and out of town. After about ten minutes of driving, Jaime turned to Bart.
"You better not regret this, ese." he muttered.
"Oh no, I won't!" Bart replied with enthusiasm. Jaime didn't respond.
Soon enough, the houses became less and less, and the trees became more and more. The sun was at its highest, its rays shining into the car, causing Roy to put on sunglasses (to which, Bart must admit, made him look pretty bad ass). Dick fell asleep and was snoring the world away, and Tim and Cassie fell asleep on one another. Jaime stared blankly out of his window, hood up, a sad-looking face making a soft reflection in it. Bart watched with interest, though neither made a comment.
Eventually, Roy pulled onto a nearly-invisible country road, with so many trees surrounding it that the bright sunlight was barely able to filter its way through. After lots and lots of more twists and turns, he made it into a large field, with barely any trees in it. There were trees in front of it, behind it, and on the sides, but only the occasional tree here and there when it came to the actual field. The field itself was full of healthy dark green grass, slightly overgrown, with some wild rabbits grazing upon it. In the middle of the field was a huge old house, and a couple-hundred feet away, a barn, in which its red paint began to peel off. Bart looked out in awe. The land was absolutely beautiful. Roy pulled up to the house and stopped the car, informing the sleeping passengers that they had arrived. Bart jumped out of the car and stretched, taking in the surroundings. An elderly couple, along with a teenage boy came out of the front door greeted them.
"Hey, Roy. So this is your group you got here?" the woman asked. Roy nodded, hugging his elderly friends and the teenage boy, cheerfully saying hello.
Roy began to introduce the group, "This is Dick. Over here is Cassie. Next to her is her boyfriend, Tim, who is also Dick's brother. Then that's Jaime, and the new kid, Bart. Guys, these are the Kents. Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent, and Conner Kent."
The group began to shake hands and greeted each other. The Kents lead them inside, giving the group a tour of the house, and what room they'd be staying in.
"Oh, and Cassie, honey, you'll be sharing a room with a young woman named Jade. She'll be arriving in a few days. She comes here every fall to help harvest." Mrs. Kent explained. Cassie nodded.
"We'll be downstairs making lunch. You guys make yourselves feel at home." Mr. Kent said before leaving with Conner and Mrs. Kent.
Bart flopped onto his bed and let out a sigh of exhaustion. Jaime didn't make a noise as he began to unpack his things to get himself situated.
"You look mad." Bart commented as he sat up on his bed.
"Kinda." Jaime admitted.
"Why?" Bart asked.
"I was hoping to be roommates with Tim, not some goofball like you."
"Hey, watcha got against goofballs?" Bart commanded in a joking tone.
"Look," Jaime said, turning around quickly to face Bart, "Just... don't bother me, okay?"
"Oh, don't worry, dude. I think we'll become friends." Bart predicted, and ran up to him, placing a hand on Jaime's shoulder and he whispered in his ear, "Maybe even best friends."
"Get off of me!" Jaime barked, shoving the other teen off. Bart fell onto the floor, and he looked back up with wide surprised eyes.
"Sorry." he mumbled, "I won't bother you."
Jaime mumbled something back, though Bart didn't catch onto what he was saying.
x
"The food is great, Mr. and Mrs. Kent." Dick complimented, practically inhaling it all.
"We appreciate the compliment, Dick." Mr. Kent responded, and he chuckled.
"So how do you guys get electricity and plumbing so far out in the country? Sounds like it'd be hella expensive." Dick commented.
"Everything here is solar, wind, and hydro-electric powered." Mrs. Kent replied, "Pretty efficient. Costs almost nothing, too."
"Sounds pretty dope." Dick acknowledged, "Livin' large."
Jaime finished his food quickly along with Tim. The two got up to put their bowls in the sink, asking which side to put it in before leaving and going outside, looking into the sunset. They decided to go for a walk together, and began to make conversation.
"So this is our life now." Tim said blandly.
"Yeah." Jaime agreed, then immediately changed the subject, "Dammit... why'd we have to take that kid with? He's gonna be a burden."
"Well, Dick likes him." Tim pointed out, "And when somebody has Dick's seal of approval, well, that mean's something."
Jaime chuckled, "I guess. Maybe he'll become less annoying with time. I'm just paranoid he'll become homesick and want to leave, and ruin everything for everyone."
"We'll make him stay, either way. No backing down now." Tim said, and Jaime nodded in agreement.
"So that Conner kid seems pretty cool." Tim said.
"Yeah. He's kinda quiet though." Jaime commented.
"He's as quiet as Bart is as loud." Tim joked.
"Yeah, no kidding. He talks enough for all of us."
x
"Jaime? Are you still awake?"
"What the fuck do you want?"
"Just wondering!"
"Go the hell to sleep!"
"Okay! Good night then, I guess!"
"...good night."
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH
The bright morning sun provided enough light for the teens to see into the barn as Mr. Kent taught them how to properly milk a cow.
"That's so weird." Bart commented to Jaime. Jaime just nodded, trying to focus. Bart said some other things, though Jaime was slowly beginning to learn how to ignore him. Mr. Kent lead them to the horses. There were six of them in total, and he introduced each horse to the group.
The first one was white with a light blonde mane, and his name was Prince. The next one was the opposite- pitch black. Her name was Luna. The third one was brown with a white stripe going down his muzzle, and he was called Samuel. The next horse was nearly as pitch black as Luna, though he had white spots here and there. His name was Dot. The fifth horse was smaller than the rest, a mare with tan fur and a light blonde mane named Ginger. The last horse was another mare, who was grey and named Misty.
"You'll get to know these guys. You'll treat 'em like they're your own kids!" Mr. Kent said with amusement. The group chuckled in nervousness and slight confusion. Mr. Kent then proceeded to teach them how to properly handle pigs, how to efficiently get apples off of apple trees, how to work the ride-on lawn mowers, and some other things before he finally allowed them to go back for the house to eat. Conner and Mrs. Kent had made lunch, which was a humongous chicken salad. After the meal, they went back outside, looking for something to do.
"Hey, Conner- that's your name, right?" Dick asked, and the black-haired boy turned to Dick, "Wanna get high?"
Conner shook his head. Dick frowned before smiling again, slinging an arm around Conner, "Cm'on, big guy! It'll be fun!"
"Fine." Conner agreed, obviously not in the mood to put up with Dick's shit.
"And he talks!" Dick said with enthusiasm, and the group made their way into the distance, sitting around one of the few trees that didn't lead out into the woods, and Dick pulled a small bong out of his pocket, along with some weed, then a lighter, and he took the first hit before passing it around. Once it got to Bart, he let out an extreme coughing fit as he inhaled it. Dick laughed, "Amateur." as Bart tried to catch his breath. Bart handed it to Conner, who had some coughing, but not nearly as much as Bart did.
"You do realize that since you live here now, you won't be able to get anymore weed, right?" Tim asked.
Dick laughed, "Nah. I have my ways, lil' bro."
The sun was halfway set, and the stars began to come out.
"Maaaan, it is so fucking pretty out here." Roy told Conner, "You must have a blast living here."
"Not really." Conner admitted, "It gets boring after a while."
"Well, you have us to keep you company now." Cassie pointed out.
"I guess." Conner shrugged.
The group talked about other things for hours upon end, until the stars made themselves clear in the sky.
"I've never seen so many stars in my life." Bart said with awe.
"Me too." Jaime agreed, "Don't think I've seen any stars in a while actually... light pollution and all..."
There was silence. The rest of the group continued talking, not paying attention to the other two.
"You have a question to ask me. I know it." Bart insisted.
"I was wondering if you were... regretting coming here." Jaime admitted.
"Dude, are you kidding me? This place is so great. I mean, I may have had a cool life at home but... this place is... real, y'know?" Bart asked.
"I guess I can see what you're trying to say." Jaime said.
"So Jaime, am I really that bad? Like, so bad that I'm an annoying goofball motherfucker?" Bart asked with a mix of enthusiasm and curiosity.
"I think you'll get better with time." Jaime told him, and he chuckled somewhat. Bart couldn't tell whether or not it was because he found Bart funny or it was because of his high- if Bart had learned anything so far, it was that Jaime Reyes didn't laugh.
But when he did, god damn was it adorable.
"Or maybe you will." Bart suggested after a couple of moments.
Jaime frowned, but quickly sat up, not saying anything. Any evidence of him being amused or happy a minute ago was gone. He began to engage with the group's conversation about how broccoli looked like little trees and how the Green Giant was really tripping balls. He tried to ignore Bart's annoyed glare. Dick wasn't wrong when he said Bart could read him like a book. Jaime knew he had a soft side- he just didn't want to admit it. And he was not going to let some random fourteen-year-old-who-he-just-talked-to-for-the-first-time-two-days-ago break his shell.
No, that was definitely not going to happen.
Not until pigs fly.
