A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and ideas. I really like where this story is going and I am glad to receive feedback from you guys.

AnetteBP: CHRIS! Ugh. I don't know why I didn't think of that. This is one of the reasons I love you :*

Takers dark lover: You're welcome, bb. :)

SmoothieCat: No, thank you for the support. I hope to keep your interest.

RKOgirl87: Thanks so much!

Guest: Thank you! c:

TriggerWarnings: mentions of self-harm, shame, drug use, mentions of bullying

Seth smiled and thanked the teen, making a note to talk to him more because 'Punk' was wearing a Deftones shirt and Seth figured if the kid was nice and had great music taste they should be friends. "Yeah, Thanks, man. I'm glad you're the one that found it. Heh.. my stuff would be exposed if anyone else had their hands on it." He chuckled and nodded at the blond once more before making his way to his first class.

Randy glanced over when he saw Seth heading to class, smiling a bit and patting Dean on the back "Why don't you ask your girl to help you in chem?"

"Don't be like that!"

"Orton! Are you threatening our best kicker?" Roman chimed in, hearing the discussion from where he was standing a few feet away with his own group of friends.

The co-captain shrugged before winking at Roman "Maybe I was. It ain't really a threat though. His girl actually knows her shit in that class. I heard she's close to having a perfect grade in there."

Dean grumbled "I can't ask her for help, man."

"Why not?" Mickie challenged, her brows furrowing with slight annoyance as she placed her hand on her hip "'cause she's supposed to be inferior?"

John chuckled, kissing Mickie's temple softly and cooing into her ear "Calm, down babe.. you know Ambrose lives in the damn clouds. I don't think he even knows what he's thinkin' half the time."

Dean flushed at that, apologizing to Mickie and just deciding to keep his trap shut before Mickie told his girlfriend about this conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was have a pissed Puerto Rican on his hands.

Randy laughed, seeing the faraway look on Ambrose's face and shaking his head as he looked at his phone for the time "You made him get all dopey, Micks.. ugh. I don't have time to look at Dean's smitten face." The group burst into laughter and Randy patted the blond's shoulder lightly before shrugging and headed into the school and opened the text he'd gotten.

[From: Doe Eyes] Hey, how's life on the richer side going? ;P

"Where the hell are you going?!"

Randy turned to look at his ex and grinned "I have another test tomorrow!"

The group groaned as a whole, Cody grunting out his annoyance "Another? How many tests does he plan on giving you on game days?"

Randy laughed and shrugged as he waved them off "You guys do know what Advanced Placement means, right?" He didn't wait for the answer and instead headed to his locker so he could put his books away and just keep the two he needed before first break. After slamming his locker closed and heading for class, Randy noticed Roman leaning against a locker and talking to someone. He grinned a bit and shook his head, not paying much attention to it until he walked past them and met Seth's glance. Their gazes locked for a few seconds before Seth flushed and turned away. Randy could only turn slightly to wink at Roman before shaking his head and laughing softly; the fucker worked fast.

[To: Doe Eyes] It's alright. More smoke & mirrors. :x How's the bay?

He sat down on his usual seat and pulled out his binder, starting to go over the problems he'd highlighted during the past week though he really didn't feel that he needed to study for this test. Thankfully, the distraction for the last 5 minutes or so before class started came in the form of a cute blonde that was on the opposite side of the state from him.

[From: Doe Eyes] It can't be that bad!

[From: Doe Eyes] It's as it's always been. Comfortable more than anything.

[To: Doe Eyes] It's not. I've just got a test I should be studying for. :c

[From: Doe Eyes] Shit. I forget your in harder classes. :l

[To: Doe Eyes] *You're. And yeah I am. Have to make sure I get into UCLA or Stanford

[From: Doe Eyes] :x Don't correct my grammar. Why not Harvard?

[To: Doe Eyes] If you wouldn't mess up so much I wouldn't have to ;)

[To: Doe Eyes] Because I wanna stay in California.

[From: Doe Eyes] Oh. That will do it. :c

[To: Doe Eyes] No big deal. Hey, I'll talk to you later. Classes.

[From: Doe Eyes] Kay. :* Take care.

He stared at the last message, unsure how to take it as it was the first time Taryn had sent something like that even though they'd been texting since the party. Were they talking or were they already an item? Randy shrugged, facing forward as the second bell rang and his teacher started taking final questions before tomorrow's test.

Seth walked in just in time and smiled nervously at the teacher before taking the first empty seat he found and biting his lip when he realized he'd be sitting next to Randy. His cheeks were still slightly flushed from the conversation he had with Roman; not because the conversation was embarrassing but rather because the younger teen was attractive and his body seemed to hate him.

Randy grinned at the two-toned teen about half way through lecture when Mr. Michaels gave them time to look through the topics that would be on the test. "Psst.."

Seth bit his lip, looking over at Randy and smiling softly.

"You and Rome an item?" he teased, smirking when Seth's cheeks flushed a darker shade of red.

He shook his head, "N-no! He was just being nice. And.. teasing me for Monday."

Randy lifted a brow, shaking his head "He's never just 'nice' .. at least not from what I've heard. All I know is fucker's got his eyes set on you.. he says he's certain you play on the same team."

Seth's heart almost leaped out of his chest as he stumbled for words but just then Mr. Michaels called on Randy to give his opinion on the study sheet. He blew out a gust of air, glad he didn't have to answer that just yet because the last thing he needed was to be victimized for his sexuality like he was back home.. especially now that he was at a new school and trying to make friends and join activities.

Randy winked at Seth playfully, patting him and whispering "I'm not droppin' this.. I'm actually curious." He cleared his throat and sat up, looking at their teacher before droning on about derivatives and how they should be on integrals already. Half the classed groaned at that but it was the truth.

Seth gaped at Randy. He wanted Mr. Michaels to go through the material even faster? Damn perfect Randy and his stupid perfect life. He huffed and faced forward again as he started scribbling down anything and everything their teacher said.

Second period went a little better for him. Mrs. Stephens was a calm teacher and asked them to pair up for the year's second experiment. He started panicking before she projected a seating chart with their new assignments. Seth breathed out and took his seat, smiling politely at the tan girl with square glasses that took the stool next to his.

"I'm AJ." She announced rather happily, extending her hand for the stranger to take and nodding at him when he told her he was Seth. "Cool." The Puerto Rican fixed her glasses before slouching in her seat and opening up her chemistry book and pointing at the titrations they'd be doing for the experiment. "Are you comfortable with titrating?"

Seth nibbled his lip but gave a slight nod. Truthfully, he'd taken a summer course for chem to get AP credit before enrolling here but they didn't offer a science at a higher level than chemistry here so.. he had to retake it. "Yeah. You want me to do the calculations or set it up for us?" he asked.

AJ smiled wide at this and shrugged as she shoved their equipment to Seth and pulled out her notebook "I'll run the equation and you set it up."

He nodded and worked quickly, sliding his gloves and goggles on around his manbun before heading to get the chemicals from the hood. When he came back to the desk, AJ was staring at him wide-eyed but slightly smug as she patted the seat for him to sit down. Seth looked at her cautiously but took his seat.

After that, the titration went by quickly. The most time consuming part was getting the initial color change but after that the rest was cake. AJ let Seth work out the solution this time and just scanned over his work, smirking at him and relaxing against the barstool. They had about 20 minutes left of class. She chuckled "It's the first time I get paired with someone that can keep up with me."

Seth laughed. The comment should've sounded pretentious but AJ was actually looking at him with pride and curiosity so Seth couldn't take it the wrong way. "I have an unfair advantage." He admitted.

"What? You take this class already too?"

Seth shrugged "In a summer course. Got college credit for it already.. you?"

"Last year as a junior. But they told me I couldn't take 3 electives so they gave me the option of taking this or AP Calc. Yeah, no thanks." She grimaced. She was intelligent, no doubt about that but math wasn't exactly a subject she would take willingly.

"Huh. I'm starting to question why I'm even in AP Calc myself." He laughed, rubbing his jaw slightly.

"Orton start to make you nervous?" she teased.

"How d—"

"My best friend is in there. Dolph's always telling me about Randy's 'fuck it' attitude towards the class. Besides, my boyfriend is on the football team with Randy and he tells me the guy never shuts up about math or homework in general. It's like that and football are all he ever thinks about"

He hummed, shaking his head at the information. Seth couldn't say that was true of Randy himself since the times he'd talked to Randy the taller man always had something interesting to say. And on top of that, the night they met Randy had hinted at being discontent with life .. why, Seth would probably never know.

They spent the rest of the class talking about random things and Seth almost freaked when AJ told him she was into comics and old video games. He'd proposed that they have a game night one day and he'd bring over his SuperNintendo. The girl had laughed but it was a cute snorting laugh and Seth found himself laughing along as well. She never gave him an answer but they did exchange numbers so that had to mean that she'd be okay with talking to him again, right?

…

"Dad!" Nate screamed out excitedly as he waved around Randy's phone and looked for the man in their house. Randy had only remembered to record about five minutes into second half but that was okay, that was the better half anyway.

Bob smiled fondly as he rubbed the top of Nate's head and took the phone from his son. He watched the video with Nate giving commentary and Randy rolling his eyes with amusement as he sat at the desk downstairs and did his homework. His mom was mindlessly scrolling through her phone but at least she was downstairs with them. She only ever bothered when Bob was around.

Randy heard his own voice through the tiny speakers at the end of the game scream 'fuck yes!' and flinched just before his mom huffed in annoyance and scolded him for vulgar language out in public. He tugged at the sleeve of his hoodie, smile wiped off his face as soon as it came.

"Don't you have an exam tomorrow? You're not going to fall behind. If your grades start to dip I'm pulling you out of football."

He felt his heart race, looking at his dad helplessly and seeing the sad smile on the man's face as he shook his head lightly.

Randy knew what that meant. He understood that there were some battles that couldn't be carried out and would only cause more harm than good especially because everyone knew Randy's grades wouldn't tank. Still, it hurt to know that his dad wouldn't stand up for him.

"Nathan, Rebecca, please finish up whatever you're doing and go to sleep. It's a school night."

Funny. The woman was acting like a mother.. or at least her shitty attempt to pretend that she cares about them and not just about what other people would say if her kids weren't at the top of their classes and didn't look well-rested.

Randy ground his teeth together before getting up and collecting his things. He headed over and gave his dad a tight hug "Night, pa." he pulled away then scruffed Nate's head, smiling at him widely before moving to Becky and kissing her cheek. He only gave a slight nod to his mother and the woman seemed okay with that. He'd learned at around age 11 that his mother would only pretend to be affectionate in public. That was okay with him. He would always fill nauseous when the woman gave him empty hugs and emotionless gestures of love.

His skin was crawling, feeling the need to escape but knowing he couldn't pull something like that when his dad was around. The man already knew about Randy's cutting.. if Randy started showing other signs of distress he was sure his father would worry. Randy would only feel more ashamed if anyone worried about him. So he sucked it up and finished up his History homework before recording some dialogue for Spanish and heading to bed. His stomach was in knots, already dreading the weekend. He was probably the only teen that hated not having anything to do. Randy despised being alone with nothing but his thoughts and his mom's judgmental looks. He knew that's when it got worse. And he also knew that this weekend would be especially bad seeing as there would be no after-game party since Mickie would be going away for the weekend.

Randy looked at the clock on his nightstand once he slid into bed, frowning at the time and sighing heavily as he rummaged through the top drawer and popped multiple pain killers. Too bad they didn't take care of the pain he needed them to. Randy stared at the ceiling, humming one of his favorite songs to himself until the medication kicked in and he felt dizzy enough where his body would mistake it for sleepiness.

…

That test was easy. He slouched back on his seat and started going over his notes for Mr. Jericho's class seeing as the blond man liked to pop random questions and he seemed to love picking on Randy or any football player really.

What the fuck? Seth frowned at the paper, hearing rustling all around him and cursing to himself as he scribbled down some steps that seemed kind of like the right steps. How was he even allowed into BC calc when he was barely starting AB in his old school? More importantly, why the hell did they not have advanced sciences if they had math on steroids at this school?! I'm so screwed. The two-toned teen nibbled on the side of his pencil as he thought of anything that might remind him on how to solve the last two problems.

Minutes ticked by and Randy pulled out his headphones, plugging in and selecting his relaxing playlist as he read through the notes. All Time Low's melodic songs calmed him down as he tapped his highlighter along to the beat and scribbled down more notes. By the time class was done, Randy had gotten notes done and even got a head start on next month's English paper. There was no way he'd let his grades slip now. Letting that happen meant spending more time at home.

After Calc was over with he got through the rest of the day pretty easily. Randy only received minimal teasing from Jericho but it was nothing he couldn't handle. And Spanish had thrown him for a loop with the pop oral presentations but Randy got through that with flying colors and even went over the expected time. Señor Alberto looked at him with just a hint of pride before the look vanished off his face and the stoic man called upon the next person.

Before he knew it, it was time to board the busses for the first game in the big leagues. Randy sighed as he pulled on his long-sleeved trainer before slipping on a t-shirt and sweats. He headed to the bus and smiled when he saw John saving him a seat towards the back.

John helped Randy put his stuff on top before sitting down next to his long-time friend and tapping Randy's thigh softly "You ready?"

Randy hummed, mind not fully there as he shrugged "As ready as I can be."

That's when Roman walked in and sat a row in front of them, Dean taking the seat opposite of the Samoan "What kinda talk is that, Cap? You're supposed to be giving us a pep talk! What happened?"

He rolled his eyes, punching Roman on the arm "Pep talks aren't fuckin' necessary. We're gonna win this shit. And we're going to win by a landslide. Show these fuckers what we're made of."

Coach Calaway stepped in then, grinning at the hollers he heard from the back and nodding at Randy as he blew the whistle "Ya'll heard him, ladies! We're taking this one home. By the time we get off this bus your asses better be ready to hustle.. I'll tell ya what, if we win by more than 12 I'm getting you guys dinner anywhere you want."

John whistled and the bus erupted into chaotic shouting and laughing as they cheered for that and the bus started moving.

Randy only grinned and shook his head, plugging himself back in because he'd need some time to himself if he wanted to be in the zone.

A/N: Added a few more faces to the story. Review? :)