In the Night Sky
Chapter 2
Summary: Alex is starting his time in San Francisco with the Pleasure family, a new house, a new school and a new life. But can he go from international super spy to normal school boy?
He once got thrown into a world he didn't belong and now he's gotten pulled back into a world he's outgrown. Is his wish for normality what he really and truly wants?
Alex Rider is on his toughest mission yet where his cover is an ordinary boy and his objective is to be ultimately normal, will he succeed or will this be his biggest failure of all?
But the biggest question of all, is: Can he well and truly forget not only the past but also the past him; the spy that he's been and might very well still be?
Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider. Simple as that.
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Presidio Heights High is like any other high school. There were different types of kids, different types of teachers and there was always different gossip about an unlucky someone. Currently, it's about a kid who had been at the school about a week ago who was apparently the son of a politician. No one knew if it was true or not, they didn't get a chance to ask before he left, but everyone made up their own tales about the boy. A year ago, it had been about a girl who turned out to be the headmaster's long lost daughter, she's gone now too. Alex had noticed a pattern that those who get gossiped about always left, he had done so himself, however, his reasons were not as simple as theirs.
Alex had enjoyed a quite bus ride where Sabina had talked to a blonde pretty girl in front of her about their weekend, Alex had noticed that Sabina had exaggerated about some things but he left her be. There had been a group of boys who were extremely loud at the back of the bus but Alex had tuned them out easily. Now though, he couldn't ignore the people trying to talk to him.
Walking through the halls, next to Sabina, was a tiring job. No one had seen him before and they were all curious, the girls especially, paid extra attention to him, some giving him lingering looks and smiling at him coyly. Sabina took in all the staring in stride and Alex, an experienced spy, had no trouble pretending to ignore them, it's the actual ignoring part that's hard. Alex wasn't comfortable with the looks but he was a spy, he can pretend easily enough, but inside, he just wanted to disappear.
Sabina was chatting excitedly next to him, calling out to the occasional person, introducing him and then talking about things that Alex had no interest in. Not that he had many interest these days but Alex liked to think of himself as knowledgeable and that he could partake in almost about any conversation. At one point he had to turn away and walk off on his own because although he was knowledgeable, it didn't mean that he particularly wanted to talk about the things he knew. Especially if it's about a girl's, ah, thing. And doubly so when said girl had never had it before and was asking for advice about what to do, he did not need to know the details thank-you-very-much.
So it was when Alex walked off into a quiet courtyard to give the girls some privacy that he met his first enemy at Presidio Heights. He missed having normal school bullies as his most hated enemies but he did not miss the fights he had with them. Maybe that's why when one of the boys he recognised as a boy from the back of his bus spat at him that he did not retaliate.
"What, you being a pussy and scared of getting hurt!"
Alex thought that the boy had the poorest insults on earth but before he could say anything back, he had to dodge a punch that had come at him in such a slow pace that Alex almost wanted to yawn. The boy, however, seemed to think his punch was excellent until Alex dodged it easily. He seemed to become more enraged when he saw that Alex had dodged as if his punch was nothing but weak so he full out lunged at him.
Alex saw the boy fly towards him so he took one simple step and when the boy landed with a sound 'oof', he spoke in a quiet but mocking tone.
"I don't think I've ever met someone as clumsy as you but," he paused and gave the boy a cold stare and his voice went from mocking to threatening, "if you're ever this clumsy around me, you'll find yourself regretting it."
The boy stood up and his frame shook a little, he tried to cover it up but Alex could have seen it miles away. His friends who have stayed back so all took a small step back subconsciously and some were visibly shaken too. Alex started to walk off when he remembered that Sabina had been taking him to his locker and now he had no idea where either are.
Sighing, Alex headed off in the general direction Sab had been taking him, hoping that maybe he'll find his locker by luck. Thousands of thoughts ran through his head as he slipped gracefully through the crowds in the hall but one stood out the most.
Tom. He had not let himself think of his best friend since coming here, locking himself away from everyone and everything. But the little… incident in the courtyard had reminded him of his time in London, when he had first met Tom. He forgot how he had enjoyed helping those smaller and weaker kids against the bullies and how sometimes Tom would tag along and try to be tough and fight them as well. He remembered how he would bring Tom back to his house to clean up Tom's injuries before he went back to his house.
An image of Jack tending to Tom and him after their first fight together came to his mind and instantly his whole face closed off. His face became emotionless and stone-like, his posture stiff with anger and remorse, his eyes, god his eyes, they were so cold, unseeing, like bottomless holes of darkness, and in them, there was something deadly, lethal.
Unfortunately for Alex, a girl happened to turn the corner and bump into him, dropping the stuff in her hands. It jolts him out of his trance but not before she sees his eyes, the world seems to slow as he watch her flinch and bend down to pick up whatever she dropped. He watched as her body tensed with fear and how her hands seemed to be shaking.
Alex was extremely glad that he had not subconsciously held the girl in a choke hold or something equally bad when she had bumped into him but her seeing her eyes was not that much better. He bent down to help her and it was his turn to flinch when he realised that he had caused her to drop a whole bunch of pamphlets about a psychology clinic.
"Sorry about that, I was a bit out of it there and didn't see you coming."
He spoke carefully and tried his best to sound like a normal teenager, keeping his tone nice and friendly, well, what he thought as nice and friendly.
It seemed to work since the girl smiled at him and stuck out a hand although they were both on the floor.
"It's alright. I'm Carlie."
He shook her hand and inwardly he was impressed, the girl had been frightened of him not seconds ago and here she was, shaking his hand as if she hadn't been scared out of her mind. Alex was surprised when her shake was firm, when her hand had been shaking just moments before and he was even more surprised that she didn't flinch away when he steadied her as they rose off the floor.
"Alex."
His voice was quieter and he didn't try as hard to sound normal, he took his time to examine the girl, Carlie, in front of him. She had dark brown hair that hung loose around her shoulders and skin that was paler than the average Californian, her light hazel eyes were kind and amusement sparkled in the depths of her eyes as she stated, "Finished admiring the view yet?" Her voice was teasing, playful and a growing grin brightened her face up to a whole new level.
"No, not really, I think I can do with a little more time to enjoy it." For the first time in almost forever, his voice was light and had the tiniest bit of playfulness in it. Her grin felt contagious and he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, however small it was.
"Hm, well I'm looking at something quite spectacular myself but I think I'm going to have to go. I am quite the busy person, well, if you counted meeting with the school counsellors as busy."
He nodded, understanding why she had a bunch full of psychological pamphlets in her arms. Just as he started to walk off, he remembered something.
"Hey, Carlie!"
She turned at the sound of her name and thankfully there were only a couple of people in this hallway, nobody else turned towards him and Alex was immensely grateful.
"Yeah?"
Her head tilted and she gave him a questioning look.
"I was just wondering, but do you happen to know where locker number 1042 might be?"
Carlie seemed to try to bring up memories of locker numbers and Alex watched as she squinted her eyes as if she might see it if she looked hard enough.
"Uh, I think it might be in K block, I'm not too sure since I don't pay that much attention to locker numbers but my locker's around there and I think it starts at 1020 and ends at 1080. I'm not too sure 'cause my lockers 1065 but I think it's there."
She still had that look on her face as if she was trying to think of an answer to a math question that she knew but couldn't remember how to do. He was just within range to hear her mumble, "I think you can fit 60 lockers there…"
Alex started to walk off again when he realised that he didn't know where K block was but when he turned around Carlie was gone. He thought of how ironic that his unit at the SAS was K-unit and now his locker was supposedly in K block, they weren't related in any way apart from the letter but Alex still felt as if someone punched him in the stomach every time he thought of something from his past, especially if it had something to do with his old… job.
Alex wasn't one to dwell on his past but what had happened… had cut too deep for him to move on and get past it. He thought of the pamphlets Carlie had been carrying and wondered what he would say if he ever went to a psychologist. He shivered at the thought of having to tell a stranger about his deepest and darkest secrets.
Wondering around the school, Alex realised that Presidio Heights High is very modern, there were courtyards everywhere and the classrooms all seemed to have the latest technology and most of the buildings seem to be new. He jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket and he scolded himself for being so jumpy. He was getting out of shape both mentally and physically, he's going to lose his touch soon if he continues like this. Alex isn't so sure if it's a good or bad thing.
"Hello."
"Alex! Thank god you answered, where the hell are you? Do you know how worried I've been! You can't just walk off like that!"
Alex realised that it was Sabina who was having a screaming fit at him over the phone and he felt the tiniest bit guilty. He should have told her he was going but he had only wanted to get some fresh air and then that bully had to have a go at him, after that he had crashed into Carlie and in the end, he totally forgot about Sabina. Be as it may, he did not think that Sabina had to be so angry or worried, he could look after himself perfectly fine.
"Sorry Sabina, I was just giving you some time with your friends but I guess I must have wondered off and lost track of time."
He didn't feel like explaining the whole scene with the bullies or with Carlie to her so he left it simple and plain, free for her to interpret whatever she wanted out of it.
"Alex… look just don't go off like that again okay? I was really worried and just…" he heard a sigh and then Sabina's voice came back on, "Where are you?"
Alex looked around for a sign and next to a blob of black hair, he saw a sign saying 'H5'.
"I'm in H block, can you tell me how to get to K block? You don't have to come with me, I'll be fine on my own."
They had entered through Gate 3 and Sabina had already collected his timetable and everything for him so they had decided to check out his locker first, but they kept being interrupted by Sab's friends so they hadn't gotten very far. Alex also realised that her, no, their school was very, very big. Way bigger than Brookland and Alex wondered how they had time to get from one class to another, especially the Year 9's who wouldn't have a clue where to go.
Alex reminded himself that in America they were called '3rd Formers' not 'Year 9's'.
"Well, umm… which way are you facing?"
Alex realised that Sab probably wasn't the best at giving directions so he decided that he might as well look for it himself, he was pretty sure that he had been given a map with his timetable.
"It's alright Sab, I'll find it myself, I'll see you at morning tea."
"Oh Alex, I forgot to tell you that the different forms ate at different places, I might not see you 'till lunch but I'll make sure to go see you then 'kay?"
Sab sounded generally worried and remorseful about that fact but Alex could tell that she tried to sound happy about the seeing him at lunch and not sounding sad that she won't see him 'till then. Alex had realised a couple of days ago that all the Pleasures were trying to express things in a positive way around him and he guess that they must have read something about being positive when they're with grieving kids.
"Sure, that's alright, I'll see you then."
"Okay then, bye!"
The line went dead and Alex put his phone away while manoeuvring his bag from his back to his front. He searched for his dairy which Sabina had told him was compulsory for this school. He took out his map and looked for the letters H and K. He was saddened by the fact that no, the blocks weren't in alphabetical order, but instead, they were in Form sections so that everyone from the same Form would not have to go from one end of the school to another, meaning that he only had to find his way around a certain part of the enormous school.
Alex was s a skilful map reader but the map only showed the blocks and when he reached K block, he found that the single block was big enough to fit half of his old school in. Walking around, he finally realised that no one had been staring at him since he left Sabina's side and that he could walk the halls easily without people looking him up and down.
There were the occasional girls who would look at him and then start sending him flirtatious looks and trying to act cool. Alex mostly found this amusing and did his best to ignore them and to keep them at bay. He was extremely glad when a boy came up to him and asked him if he needed help.
Alex was sure that if someone didn't come up to him soon then the girl who's been staring at him at the end of the hallway would have probably jumped him when he reached her.
"Hey, you alright there mate? You seem a bit lost."
Alex could immediately tell that this young man in front of him was one of those easy-going types who treated everyone as a friend. The boy had light blue eyes that were friendly and gentle, his brown hair rested in a messy state and judging by his tan, he loved being outside.
"Actually, do you happen to know where the lockers are here?"
"Of course, but which one you looking for? This place has heaps."
"Uh, number 1042, I think."
His blue eyes seem to light up as he exclaimed, "Awesome! Mine's right next to yours!"
Turned out that his definition of 'right next to' is 13 lockers away. Alex had learnt on the way that the boy's name is Will but most people called him Scott, which is his last name, because he had another friend called Will and they thought Scott suited him better. Scott talked about anything and everything and Alex found it easy to converse with the cheerful boy.
"So, how come you moved from England to here?"
Alex had written down a good cover for his past and had showed the Pleasures so that everyone knew what his supposed 'past' was, but he wasn't so comfortable talking about it to someone he just met.
"My, uh, my guardian in England died in a car crash, there wasn't anyone left to look after me so our family friends, Sabina's family, took me in."
He had decided to keep in as much truth as possible so that there wouldn't be many loopholes and that they all could remember it easily.
Scott had a sympathetic look on his face but he did not seem as awkward as some people do when they find out someone they didn't know had died.
"I'm so sorry Alex."
Alex hadn't expected the easy acceptance and the hug that came his way. Not many boys hugged other boys as easily as Scott did, and most didn't hug in the sort of girly way that seemed perfectly natural on Scott. Alex wondered why Scott didn't ask about his family members and why he accepted his story without asking about why he was living with a guardian in the first place.
The ringing of the bell stopped Alex from having to say anything back and he was eternally grateful for it.
"Do you know where your homeroom is?"
"I know that it's in A15, not too sure 'bout where it is though."
Scott grinned at him and exclaimed, "Hey, my girlfriend's in that class!"
Alex didn't know whether that was a good thing or not but he did know that if they didn't hurry they would both be late.
"Great, now we really should head off to class before we're both late!"
"Hey Al, where you going? A's that way, come on, I'll show you, I'm in A too."
Alex wondered how the boy became so comfortable with coming up with a nickname for him when they'd just met, but he couldn't say much as Scott dragged him in the opposite direction and started talking about his wonderful girlfriend who Alex is going to love.
One friend, one enemy, not so bad for my first day.
Alex nearly grinned at the thought of his second day, if he met anymore friends like Scott, he was going to be consumed by the happiness and silliness that radiated from them.
Maybe America won't be so bad after all.
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Thank you to all those who have reviewed, I'm glad that you enjoy this story and I liked the name 'Milo' from Riley Erin for the dog but I'm open for other suggestions too. Also thank you to those who pointed out my tense changing habit, Katie62442 pointed out that I could get a Beta and I would love it if anyone would want to beta my story, however, I must warn you that I've never had a Beta before and have no idea how it works so you'll have to teach me quite a lot. I'd like to thank Witty Kitty01 for warning me to stay clear of Mary-Sues and that if anyone ever thinks that I'm starting to turn someone into a Mary-Sue, please inform me and I'll try to make it better.
I'm sorry if I got the whole form, year and homeroom thing wrong because I'm from New Zealand and I have no idea how it works in America or England so if I got things wrong, please point it out and I'll fix it. Also the whole size of school thing, I have no idea about America but if they are generally not that big, this school is just special cos I like it that way.
All in all, I'd love more reviews and comments on how I could improve and what you like and dislike.
Ally xox :)