Next one right away :)
Robbie entered the classroom and looked around. Some people already took their seats and some even looked up to check out the newcomer. He saw Jade West sitting in the middle of the first row. A few people were standing around her place and talking to her. Well, at least they tried. She didn't seem too talkative and just nodded or rolled her eyes in annoyance. Robbie was so distracted by his surveillance that he didn't see the chair in his way and fell over it, causing everybody in class, even Jade, to look in his direction. 'God dammit, what's wrong with my feet today?' He got up quickly, his face probably as red as a cherry tomato. Most of the people were entertained by his little stunt and chuckled silently. Some guy did the "loser"-cough. Great, so that's still a thing? He sat down in the last row, took out his notebook and hoped that the teacher would arrive soon. When he looked up he saw that a man, probably in his mid-forties entered the room and the chatter died down. Everybody turned around except for … Jade! She looked Robbie directly in the eyes and he couldn't help but just stare back at her. She raised her eyebrows and smirked lightly and then turned to look at the teacher. Robbie let out a deep breath. Dang, that girl could make you nervous. He tried to concentrate at the stuff the teacher was talking about. The usual first-lesson-of-the-year-talk.
Sooner than he would've liked it was time for lunch. That was the part of the day he always dreaded most. Where would he sit today? Should he find a table and sit by himself or should he join some people who would maybe accept him?
Robbie paid his food and looked around. It was quite unusual that that all people were eating outside. But this was California after all. It probably never rained here. He took in the different tables, which were occupied by the various cliques: jocks, nerds, normal looking people who were the majority, artists, stoners, extremely weird people (seriously, what kind of school is that?), then there was a table with a mix of cheerleaders and normally clothed girls and guys where he could see Tori Vega.
Then there was a table, far away from the others where he could see the guy he ran into in the morning and two other guys who looked somehow intimidating but cool. Then he spotted the table far away from the Tori Vega table which was occupied by Jade West and her clique. He couldn't figure out if they were athletes but something was clear: they were all very good looking. He sighed. Maybe he should try to sit down at a table with average students. Or would he be send to the nerds? What if they told him to go to the table of the extra strange guys? Now that he thought about it, he didn't see Sinjin anywhere.
Suddenly (he probably had a stroke or something) he marched over to the table with the guy from the morning. He was nice when Robbie crashed into him, maybe there was a chance that he could sit with him. Before he even reached the table he saw that the two other guys were looking at him like he was crazy. "Are you lost? The nerds usually sit over there, next to the coffee machine" Was the greeting of one of the guys and the other laughed.
He just wanted to walk away when the boy he ran into spoke up. "Hey, Glasses! Take a seat, man" Robbie turned around in surprise and the other boys also looked at him like he was insane. The boy just nodded reassuringly and Robbie sat down reluctantly. "I'm Beck by the way. And that are Danny and Moose. What's your name?" "I-I am Robbie. I just moved here from Chicago" "Chicago, cool" Beck answered and continued eating. The others looked at each other, shrugged and also proceeded eating their food. Robbie was too nervous to enjoy his food which was delicious – they must have gourmet cooks at this school – and looked around. That's when he saw that some people were looking at him or rather his interactions with the guys at the table. Was it that surprising that somebody new was sitting with them? Okay, most likely. After all everyone except Beck weren't too pleased with his presence. "So tell me, Robbie. Which class do you have after lunch?" Beck's sudden question made him yelp in surprise which caused Danny and Moose to snicker silently. Beck remained cool and looked at him expectantly. "I think Calculus?" "Too bad, I have history. See you around, Glasses!" With that the boys stood up and left him alone at the table. Well, that went quite smoothly. Okay, compared to his previous stunts in the morning it couldn't get any worse. He just hoped the next day would go by easier.
On the next morning he drove to the school with more confidence. His father had asked him about his school day. Robbie just mentioned that he had lunch with a few cool guys but left out that he met one of them when he ran into him in the hallway. He also left out his plummet in front of the dark haired goddess.
He was very excited because today he would have his first optional subject – media design. He had a passion for computers and liked improving his knowledge. He wasn't surprised when he found Sinjin in the classroom. "Hey Robbie! What a nice coincidence" Robbie sat down next to the boy. "Well, I also kind of expected to find you here as well. Hey, where were you yesterday at lunch? I thought you should guide me and lunchtime is the most irritating time of the school day" Sinjin sighed. "I'm so sorry but I was at the computer room, I had to update my website. Where did you sit?" "A guy named Beck invited me to sit with him and his friends" Sinjin's mouth dropped. "You … you sat with Beck Oliver and his friends?" Robbie frowned. "Yeah … I guess so. Why is that so strange?" "Robert Shapiro, how on earth did you do that? These guys usually stay by themselves and nobody questions that. They're like the bad boys of the school, if you want to call them that way. You better not cross their path" "But they were really nice! Well, at least Beck was something like that" "NICE? Okay, I don't know how you went away without a black eye but okay. How did you even meet them? Did you just walk over there and asked if you could sit with them?" "Yeah … Well, I met Beck before I even met you. I kinda ran into him in the hallway and he helped me up" "Wait, wait, wait. So you ran into Beck Oliver, he HELPED you up, you had lunch with him and his friends and you're still alive?" Okay, now Robbie was sure that Sinjin was a little crazy. Fine, maybe Beck and his friends had a wild reputation but he couldn't say that he had feared for his life yesterday. Sinjin just shook his head and mumbled "Unbelievable" Robbie shrugged and watched as the teacher entered the room and started the lesson.
Later, Robbie had history. The teacher told them that they would make a team project on their favourite war (Really? How can anyone favour a war? Loads of people die in them!) and the best presentation would decide which war they would first learn about. Very interesting teaching style.
The teams were randomly picked and he awaited his teammate anxiously. He would probably get paired with someone who would make him do all the work. "Robert Shapiro and … Tori Vega" Robbie's eyes widened. Great, so he had to work with Miss Popular. "Excuse me Ms Shaw but who's Robert Shapiro?" Tori looked at her teacher confused. Robbie sighed. "That would be me" He answered her question before the teacher had the chance to show that she had no idea who Robert Shapiro was. Tori turned around and eyed him curiously. Then the teacher continued making the teams and soon enough they were told to start working. Tori came to his table and sat down. "Hi. I'm Tori, as you probably know by now. I thought we could take the Franco-Spanish War? You know, the one during the Thirty Years' War? My mom is from Spanish origin and I always like to find out more about the country" She smiled nicely at him and he thought he was dreaming. Seriously, what's wrong with this school? Or was she just nice because she wanted a good grade?
"Sooo … what do you say?" He couldn't help but nod and smile back at her. Her smile was really contagious. "Okay, great! How about we first both do our own research and next week we can compare our results and dismiss the unimportant facts?" "Sounds good" "Great! So tell me Robert are you new to this school? I'm usually very well informed but I didn't hear anything about a new kid and I'm pretty sure that I haven't seen you before" Robbie smiled weakly. So his arrival wasn't even part of the school's gossip. "Call me Robbie, please. Yes, I just moved here from Chicago" "Wow. I bet Chicago is totally different than L.A." "Yeah. It's not as warm and sunny" Tori smiled at him and then the bell rang. "Well, see you next week Robbie" He nodded. So Tori Vega really was nice. So far he had only met friendly people in this school. Maybe his senior year wouldn't be as horrible as he had imagined.
Later he met up for lunch with Sinjin. Just before they walked to the nerd table (what a surprise) somebody called his name. "Hey, Robbie! Come over here!" He looked up and saw that Beck had called him. To say that he was surprised was an understatement. He thought the seating arrangement from yesterday was a one-time thing. He looked at Sinjin who stared at him disbelievingly and shrugged. 'Let's see what he wants.'
He walked over to the boys' table. "Glasses, take a seat" Robbie obeyed and waited for somebody to speak up. "So, I talked to the guys and we agreed that you can spend lunch at our table" "Yeah, we 'agreed'" the guy named Danny added. Beck rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you're new here but we can't let you sit with the nerds. No offense but I bet you want to have fun in your senior year and I'm pretty sure you won't have fun with them" Robbie couldn't believe it. He looked to Sinjin's table and back. Beck was right. He could still be friends with Sinjin but he never had friends who were considered cool. Maybe he should take a chance. "That's really cool. But that's it? You don't dare me to do something gruesome or make me sign an illegal contract or anything?" The boys started laughing and Robbie was even more confused.
"Man, what did the people tell you about us? We're not that bad. It's refreshing to meet someone who hasn't lived his whole life in L.A. and is new to the school" Beck gave him a friendly slap on the back and started eating. Robbie smiled and they ate in silence except for a few questions from the boys about him. It was new for him that people were interested in his life and he told them everything they wanted. Except for the really nerdy stuff he decided to keep a secret. He didn't want to seem like a total loser.
"So I asked Cat Valentine out today" Danny casually said after a while. "Again? So what did she say this time?" Moose answered with an amused smile. "Well, she didn't say no. But she giggled and said 'Awww' and walked away. What the hell am I supposed to make out of that?" The boys laughed but Robbie was confused. "Who's Cat Valentine?" "The girl who constantly turns down our Danny-boy" Beck laughed at Danny's face. Moose added: "She's the best friend of Jade West which means she's practically beyond reach. Danny has asked her out a million times since junior year but she never accepts it. But she also never really declines. It makes our sensitive guy crazy" "Excuse me? Who do you call sensitive. I'm sorry that I'm trying to get with the girl I like. And don't think that I forgot that both of you wanted to ask out Jade at least once!" Robbie's eyes grew wide. "Really? So why didn't you?" Moose and Beck looked at each other. "Well, Moose tried two years ago when she was new at the school. But her standards for a guy were impossible at that time. Beck decided that she was interesting enough to ask her out last year but then she started having a thing with Ryder Daniels. I guess her standards lowered considerably" Beck shrugged. "Yeah but its cool. I mean, I bet she's completely shallow and self-absorbed" Moose and Danny exchanged knowing glances which Robbie didn't miss. Interesting.
"And who's Ryder Daniels?" Moose rolled his eyes. "That guy over there who's currently s shoving his tongue down Jade West's throat" Robbie turned around and saw a tall, black haired guy who was about to sit down next to Jade. "And they're dating?" Danny laughed. "Someone's pretty curious. Nah, not exclusively. But it's something like an unspoken rule that no guy can go after Jade. I bet if she knew that she would dump him immediately" Robbie nodded. God, this school was just as complicated as all the others.
His last period was AP Statistics and he wasn't surprised that Jade West was there too. The girl seemed to be really clever. From what he knew from Sinjin she was an honour student last year. The lecture started and he was bored. He couldn't wait for the evening because Beck and the guys invited him to go to a bar they hung out a lot. He still wasn't sure if that wasn't just a prank but he decided to take a chance. When he asked how to get into a bar although he was under 21 Beck smirked and said "No problem". How could he possibly concentrate on statistics? Robbie snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the teacher say his name. "Miss West, would you mind borrowing your notes from last year to Mr Shapiro? I'm sure he will need them to catch up with the curriculum". Jade frowned. "Who's that?" Robbie sighed. Déjà-vu much? "That's me" Jade and the rest of the class turned around and acknowledged his presence for the first time. Jade frowned again and he thought that she had recognized him and then she turned around again. Robbie still wasn't sure if he would get the notes or not. When the bell rang he started packing his bag but stopped when he noticed that somebody was standing in front of his desk. He yelped faintly and stared at her. Jade looked even prettier from near than from far away and she smelled SO GOOD! "Here" She held out a purple notebook. "I want them back next week" With that she walked away and he was left staring after her. He should really stop gazing at that girl like a dumbstruck idiot. He put the notebook in his backpack and walked to the parking lot. He couldn't believe that his second day was even more exciting than his first.
A few hours later Robbie was waiting at his front door. His mom was delighted when he told her that he was going out with some friends so she didn't even question the fact that they were going out on a school day. His father borrowed him one of his old t-shirts which was still about ten times cooler than everything Robbie owned. Now he was waiting for Beck, Danny and Moose to pick him up. A part of him still thought that this evening would end badly. And another part of him decided that he had to ask Moose about his strange name. Maybe when he wasn't afraid of them anymore.
A few seconds later a Range Rover pulled up his driveway. He saw Danny in the driver's seat and Beck next to him. Robbie sat down at the back next to Moose. "So Robbie, are you ready for your initiation ceremony?" Danny asked. "My what?" Robbie gulped. He knew this was a bad idea. The boys laughed. "Relax Glasses, just a joke. But I bet you've never been to a bar before. Consider that your initiation" Beck tried to calm the nervous boy down. "But … I'm still not sure how to even get inside a bar" Moose smirked. "No problem. Fake ID?" "I don't have one…" Danny laughed. "Seriously? Shapiro, how have you lived until now without one?" Beck grinned and handed him something. "Thought so. I got you one. It was a favour so you don't owe me anything" Robbie's eyes widened and he looked at the ID. It looked very real. "Marty Glassman? Really? How did you even get a photo of me?" The guys laughed again. "That's the thing with free fake ID's. You don't get to choose your name. And I used my charm at the registration office to steal a pic of you" Beck answered, still laughing.
Half an hour later the car stopped in the parking lot of a two story building. It looked a little rustic and dark, not how someone would imagine a bar in Los Angeles. The boys headed to the door and he was surprised that there was no bouncer or any other sort of ID control. "Easier than you thought, huh? This is our favourite place and you just need the ID for the drinks" Moose had probably seen his confusion.
They went inside and sat down at a booth at the far back and Danny went to the bar to get some drinks. Robbie looked around. They were in a big room with five booths and seven normal tables. At the other side of the room there was a pool table and a juke box. "So Robbie, how were your first two days at Hollywood Arts?" Beck looked at him expectantly. "Well … what can I say? I ran into a guy within my first five minutes there who invited me to hang out with his friends. I got teamed up with Tori Vega for a history project. Oh, and Jade West borrowed me her notes today". Beck and Moose's eyes grew wide and Danny, who had just returned to the table let out a low whistle. "So you get to work with the Vega girl? Nice. If I wouldn't be after Cat Valentine I'd probably be into her" Moose and Beck laughed at that comment. "Yeah, and I bet she would turn you down just like the little redhead. But I can't blame you – Tori is quite hot!" Moose grinned and took a sip from his beer. Robbie looked at his own glass. He wasn't really a beer drinker but then again – he never drank alcohol before. Ah, who cares, bottoms up! He cringed after he swallowed the liquid. Yep, beer definitely wouldn't become his favourite drink.
"Sure, she looks fine. But she has got to be so boring. She' s all sunshine and Miss Perfect. What's the challenge in that?" Beck leaned back in his chair and raised the glass to his lips. "Don't mind him, Robbie. The perfect woman for Beck Oliver probably isn't even born yet" Danny grinned and Beck grimaced at him. Robbie had to admit that the boys were really cool and fun to be around. But the beer was still gross.