Piper
"Time to get out of the car, kid."
Piper grits her teeth and balls her hands into tight fists. She's still not over the fact that her father didn't even have the courtesy of taking her himself to this place she's going to be disappearing into for the next ten months. Instead, he paid his personal assistant, Jane, to fly her over to Nevada.
"Can you tell my dad-"
"Nope," she replies, scrolling through messages in her cellphone.
Piper clucks her tongue, not surprised by her response.
"Whatever, bye Jane."
She slams the door shut behind her and grabs her suitcase from the trunk of the rented Mercedes-Benz. As soon as she closes the trunk's hood, Jane starts up the engine and speeds on out of the parking lot.
"I HATE YOU!" Piper screams after her at the top of her lungs, soon afterwards, she hears several echoes of her three words throughout the parking lot, each followed by a slam of a door and the start of an engine.
If she weren't here, in a school full of tough delinquent kids, she would have broken down into sobs already. A frustration so great clogs up her throat and coats her lungs, making every breath feel like a massive accomplishment. She keeps her composure however, she knows how it is in places like these. Back in LA, her entire life consisted of attending schools full of stuck up rich kids who loved to wreck trouble. She knows that at the smallest hint of weakness, they will pounce on her and make sure to harass her until she's forced to move schools. The stakes are much higher here, however, seeing as this is an actual school full of junior criminals and because her father warned her that no matter what pretext she uses, he wasn't going to be pulling her out until she finishes the school year.
And so, because of that, all she can do is clench her jaw and drag her suitcase behind her.
A few steps before the door, she stops.
She twists around and breathes in her last bit of freedom. She takes in the barren panorama and wistfully gazes at the strange desert mountains of Nevada.
With a heavy sigh, she turns back around and pushes the doors open.
Inside, there is havoc.
"What the hell do you mean you have to take my bags you, prick!" Screams a girl with long black locks that fall to the small of her back. She wears a cheetah print fur vest and black leggings, accompanied with six-inch tall hot pink stilettos.
"Do you really think we're about to let a bunch of future criminals just bring their crap in here without inspecting it first-we know your bunch, I'm pretty sure we're gonna find a few bombs in some of your luggages!" Shouts the security guard behind the checkpoint, spitting in her face.
"I will sue all your asses and make you regret this disrespectful-"
"Just cut the crap and give me the fucking bag, princess!"
The girl's jaw drops and with an undignified huff, she throws the three hundred pound suitcase at him without exerting any extra strength at all. The next three bags fly over at him as well, but he dodges them all, as if this were routine for him.
Piper stares in horror as the girl, who can't possibly weigh more than ninety pounds, flips her hair behind her shoulder and walks through the metal detectors to the other side of the entry hall.
To her other side, a boy with a bad case of acne jumps over the table dividing him from the security guard and wraps his large hands around his throat. In no time, three more guards abandon their posts, pulling the two apart. At this, several other students jump over the tables, screaming for revolution and freedom from the authority.
What have I gotten myself into?
With a little gulp, she walks up to one of the free guards and hands over her suitcase.
"Hello, what is your name?"
"McLean, Piper McLean." She manages in a small voice, taken aback by the woman's calmness despite the fact that anarchy is happening just a few yards away.
The stout woman types into her handheld device and nods, "Okay, well-" She crouches down and after a minute of searching, comes up with a handful of fliers, "Here you go, and-" she stamps Piper's hand with a teal number three, and in a monotone voice says, "There, walk on through and welcome to the paradise that is the Wilderness School."
Piper gives her a stiff nod, hurries through the metal detector's frame, and follows the arrows leading to the auditorium where the orientation is to take place. She's not too surprise to find even more metal detectors here. She walks through them quickly and her eyes widen when she reaches the auditorium.
Students stand in their seats, others scream at each other, some are actually punching one another at random.
Cold fear engulfs her at her very core and she's paralyzed into place. In and out, shouting hits her and everywhere there is disorder.
She begins to hyperventilate right there and then because it's too much. She shouldn't even be here! She had done nothing wrong, why couldn't her dad believe her!
It's then that she catches sight of a short impish looking boy with tight black curls sitting by himself at the very back of the room, looking as miserable as she feels. An eerie sort of calmness falls into place at this display of humaneness in this room full of monsters. Without any sort of hesitation, she runs towards him and takes the seat right beside him.
He's so distraught he doesn't even notice her for the first couple minutes. His hands shake terribly in his lap and Piper tries her best not to intervene with whatever is going on in his mind. She doesn't know how he might react if she asks him what's wrong, everyone here has done something wrong after all.
All at once, he glances up and narrows his eyes at her, "When did you get here?"
Piper's face flushes at this and she begins to feel sheepish, realizing he probably wants to be alone. "Uh-"
He waves it off and stares ahead, "Quite a place, huh?"
Up in the stage, two burly boys wrestle each other. Everyone starts to abandon their personal quarrels and give encouraging hoots to the two fighters.
"Yeah."
His hands are jittery and he bounces his foot against the wooden floor so quickly it's a blur to Piper's eyes.
"I honestly don't get how anyone can ever domesticate these Neanderthals."
Piper notes how his foot taps even faster than before.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" He turns to face her and then frowns, "You look freaked out-which I guess is pretty reasonable, you've got to be a freak to not be freaked out right now, to be honest."
She starts opening her mouth but he starts again, "I sure hope you're not one of those silent killer types, in which case I will have to watch out and-"
"I'm Piper," she interrupts him, holding out a nervous hand.
He breaks out into a grin and takes her hand, shaking it energetically, "I'm Leo!"
A giggle escapes her, "Nice to meet you."
Leo drops her hand and scratches his head, "Likewise, except I wish it weren't in a place like this, ya know?" He glances behind him repeatedly, as if he's expecting someone. "I've been here for three hours already."
Piper frowns, "Why is that-it said-"
His hands mimic a mouth as she talks and then he drops it to his side with a heavy sigh, "Yeah, so I just want to eat food and go to bed. I am done."
Under his eyes are dark shadows that must've been brought about from countless sleep deprived nights. Despite his boyish appearance, his eyes seem to belong to someone several centuries older.
"Yeah, I haven't eaten anything since before I got on my plane to get here." Piper mumbles, suddenly becoming aware of the emptiness she feels in her stomach.
Leo's mouth becomes a perfect O.
"Where are you from?"
"Uh, from Los Angeles, you?"
His face brightens at the mention of the city, "Oh! I lived there for a couple months a couple years back, I never got to do the fun stuff there though, like you know the amusement parks and stuff?"
Piper tilts her head, "What brought you to LA for a couple-"
"Anyways, I'm from Houston, howdy misses!"
He speaks with such rapidity Piper can barely keep up with him, one second they're talking about hometowns, the next he's talking about minerals he recognized during his drive up to Nevada. It gets to the point that all Piper can do is nod her head at his words because he never stops for a breath. With each passing word, the velocity of his foot tapping increases.
But all in all, she's grateful for it. She doesn't feel like talking anyways, she's always been like that. Piper loves listening to others speak, she loves hearing their stories and their interests.
She's just happy that she's not alone right now, that she's found a human in this jail full of animals. Piper channels out all the hollering and focuses completely on Leo, she almost forgets where she is because she's so captivated by his words.
"SILENCE!"
Both her and Leo jump at the booming voice that explodes from the speakers throughout the auditorium. All the seats in the room are filled and a petite stout woman in a pink suit stands behind the podium at the stage. How they'd managed to pull out all the kids from there is a complete mystery to Piper.
"Thank you, dears. Now, we welcome you warm heartedly to our lovely campus. You will love-"
"It looks like shit!" A boy to Piper's left shouts, showing off his yellow crooked teeth with a smug smirk.
The woman up front smiles placidly down at the boy and gives a silent order with a wave of her hand. Not three seconds later, three guards surround the boy and handcuff his hands behind him. He screams as he's carried away.
"Oh my god," Piper whispers.
"I should probably mention, we are not in the slightest bit ever lenient and will never tolerate your bull shit, okay? Just know, you don't ever want to go where he's going to now."
A tense silence settles in the room.
Leo leans over toward Piper's ear, "Are they allowed to curse? Does that mean we're allowed to curse?"
Piper narrows her eyes at him, "They're taking a boy to who knows where and you focus on that."
He offers a sheepish shrug and let's out a meh sound.
"Anyways, where are my manners? My name is Mrs. Shier, I am the founder and principle of the Wilderness School. We have quite the reputation for straightening out mistakes, so no fears my dears, you will all be worth the space you occupy in this universe soon enough."
"I don't like her," Leo mumbles beside her.
"We have security guards all around campus, as well as surveillance cameras, so don't think you'll ever be able to pull of some stunt here, kiddos." She dabs at her nose with a tiny pink handkerchief, "With you new batch, we have nearly three hundred students, so hurrah," She blows noisily into the cloth, and unfortunately for the spectators, they are disgraced by the sound of mucus being blowed out through the speakers. "We have dorms for males and females, two for the boys and one for the girls. And if we ever find the wrong gender in the wrong building, well, you will deeply regret it. You will be sent to solitary confinement, which trust me, is not a place you ever want to visit."
An almost unanimous gulp is heard from every single male.
"Anyways, if you are a good seed, there will be no need for such extremes. In your dorms you will live with another person of your own age, or at least someone of your approximate age. There will be no switcharoos happening, your assignments are permanent. In the papers you were handed at the entrance you will find your room and building number and a map to guide you around." She squints down at the notecards in her hands and then rolls her eyes, "More things...you will all only be allowed one phone call a day, and it has to be from approved contact list your guardians gave us."
Groans echo around the room.
"Oh shut up, you act as if this were unexpected," Mrs. Shier responds in exasperation. "Whatever, let us now go to the activity our student leaders have organized for you guys to get y'all to know each other better and feel more welcomed." She wears a strained smile and with forced enthusiasm says, "When you first came through those doors, you were stamped with a number! Around the auditorium we have numbers set up and we would like you all to group around the leader with the corresponding number. Disperse!"
She walks off the stage with a grimace and nearly knocks over the mike stand.
"What number did you-cool! We're in the same group!" Leo's fist punches the air above his head.
Piper smiles, temporarily forgetting that he's probably committed some kind of crime to end up in a place like this with her. She was terrified that everyone in here was going to be a bully, but here's this kid, a good few inches shorter than her, acting like any other goodhearted kid you would meet in school. What could he have possibly done to land in a place like this?
A lanky teen with crooked teeth holds the banner with the number three above his head. As soon as he catches sight of Piper, he winks at her and she has to resist the urge of throwing up.
When ten kids are gathered around the kid, he begins, "My name is Norman, yada yada yada, what're your names?" After a pause that lasts three seconds, he shoves his shoulder into the blonde girl to his right, "You first babe."
The girl grimaces, "I'm Carolina."
Next to her sits her identical, "Dakota."
"Dennis Yap," the boy with the bloodied knuckles contributes.
Between her and Dennis sits a boy with bright green hair. He grumbles, "I'm Newt."
"Piper."
"Valdez. Leo Valdez," he says in the worst James Bond impersonation she's ever heard.
With an obviously fake British accent, the boy next to him introduces himself, "Percival the Third."
"Harry Potter," a boy even shorter than Leo says, and promptly afterwards snorts in amusement. "Just kidding, I'm Dumbledore!" He breaks into another bout of obnoxious laughter. Everyone stares blankly at him until he shuts up.
"Unoriginal, all these people are so unoriginal, they see me nail the British thing and suddenly everyone tries to copy by genius-ness," Leo complains beside her, pouting with his arms crossed over his chest, clearly upset.
Piper pats his back in mock reassurance, "It's okay, we all know you're the only comedic genius here."
Leo's pout dissolves into a smug smile.
The introductions continue. "Isabel," the girl Piper had seen throw a suitcase at a guard says, winking at the boy who sits between her and Norman.
The last boy blushes at the flirtation, "Jason."
When he opens his mouth Piper is immediately drawn into him. His blond hair is cropped close to his head, military style. When she looks into his eyes, it's almost as if she's looking up at the sky in a sunny afternoon. They're a brilliant blue, her favorite shade of the color. He wears blue jeans and a purple t-shirt that really helps in showing off the muscle underneath.
Piper doesn't even realize she's gawking until he meets her gaze. They stare at each other for an eternity that lasted two seconds. She finally turns her face away with a deep blush.
"What a hottie, huh?" Leo mutters beside her, and when she turns to face him, he wiggles his eyebrows at her and wears a mocking grin.
"Shut up,"she hisses, her face feeling even hotter than before.
"Okay, awesome, woo-hoo! Uh...so, you should know, your future roommate is someone in this group, exciting, huh?" He announces non-excitedly.
Piper's not sure how she should feel about these news. She looks over at the three possible contestants, wondering which one she'll have to live with.
"And you'll find out who at the end of the day. Okay? Okay." The boy puffs out his cheek and glances at his watch, "Thank god, it's time for lunch at last."
When they're dismissed, Piper and Leo settle under the shade of an awning and munch on the free cookies they'd been given.
"I don't know why cookies are justified as being a lunchtime meal, like give me a cookie any day sure, I love me my cookies, but when you're starving this shiz just ain't gonna fly."
Piper laughs and raises her eyebrows, "Shiz?"
He scowls at her, mouth still full of cookies, "Yes shiz, you have a problem with that?"
Piper puts up her hands, not able to fight back the grin, "No way."
When the boy smiles she almost forgets where she is. Again, it mystifies her how a boy like him could end up in a place like this.
They munch on the cookies silently until Leo nudges her ribs with his elbow, "Well, would you check that out?"
She follows his eyes and they land on the boy Jason.
He sits alone by the doors leading to the Auditorium. He eats nothing, instead he stares off into the general direction of the west, a wistful expression on his face.
"I think we should invite him over."
Piper turns so quickly her braid slaps Leo right across the face, "Are you mad?"
"Ow!" He shouts, catching Jason's attention. "We need a crew! All the other goons are in groups already, we leave that guy alone and he's going to get eaten up...and to be honest, you and I don't stand a fighting chance against the six-foot monsters across the yard."
She glances over at the other guys and girls spread out throughout the field. He offers a valid point, even as she observes, she already sees some ganging up on loners and robbing them of what little they have in their pockets.
"He's probably stuck up or something and that's why he's hanging out by himself," She says, making an obvious attempt of not staring at the blond boy.
Leo presses his lips together pensively and then shakes his head, "Naw, that Isabel chick came up to him and he rejected her invitation. Let's be real here, he would've gone off with that girl if he were."
"Or maybe he just wants to be alone-"
"YO JASON!"
Jesus Christ.
A crease forms between Jason's eyebrows and his eyes scan the yard, searching for the source. He finds it in 0.009 seconds, due to the fact that Leo waves his hands over his head flamboyantly.
He frowns and scratches his hair, not sure what to make of Leo's shout.
Leo waves his hand over, overtly inviting him to sit with them. With a suspicious scowl, he makes his way over to them.
"Oh god," Piper whispers, wanting to run away.
Jason stands at a safe distance, "Yes?"
Leo grins up at him, "I'm Leo and this is Piper, we want you to be a part of our super mega cool clique that no one will ever mess with."
"Super mega cool clique?"
Piper hides her face in her hands.
"Yeah! You see, I've had my share of experiences with bad neighborhoods, I know we need to assemble and we can watch out for each other, ya see?"
Jason stares blankly at Leo.
"Aaaaand if you're with us, you will have the luxury of quality humor with me, and you'll get to gawk at this beauty queen right next to me without shame whenever you feel like it."
Piper turns a bright red and slams her arm forcibly against his chest, "Oh my god, shut up!"
This outburst from her makes Jason crack a smile.
"I've literally known you for a couple hours and you're already physically abusing me, damn it!" Leo hisses, glaring at her.
Jason's regal expression loosens up, "I'll join your uh...'clique', you guys seem cool."
Leo snaps his fingers into a gun and winks at the boy, "I knew the Piper deal was going to get you."
Now he blushes and Piper joins him at it.
"This is going to be fun-tastic."
Heyo, it's been what, 2 months since the last update? Apologies! I've been busy with college applications and all that boring school stuffs. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first installment and thanks to all of you who followed/favorited/reviewed!
For the next chapter, it's going to be Jason's POV. How is that going to work out seeing as this never actually happened in the canon-verse? I'm working it out. I want to make it kind of like an AU where instead of Wilderness School being a huge Misty mess, it actually happened and that Jason was fed through the Mist a fake backstory so as to fit in.
I don't know, if you have any suggestions throw them my way and I'll consider them.
Thanks for reading! :)