5:47 pm, Thursday, September 8th 2016, Jason's House

Jason took Seth's advice and did enjoy drama. Mr Foley kept his rundown of the next year brief before splitting them off into pairs to perform a little improv. It had been a nice change of pace from the rest of the day and a fun way to end his first day at his new school.

Now he was lounging on the couch watching some TV and thinking about his first day. It had gone pretty well, minus that little tiff with Baron Corbin. He seemed to have already found a friend in Seth Rollins, and the rest of the guys were pretty accepting of him too.

Considering that being a loner for his first few days or weeks was one of his main worries going in, it had been a successful day for Jason in that regard.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his stomach rumbling. He looked up at the clock, just wondering where his mum was when he heard a car pull up in the driveway.

"Perfect timing." He mumbled to himself as he got up from the couch and looked out the window to see his mother walking towards the front door with a pizza box in hand. "Aw yes." He muttered.

Less than a minute later, the front door opened and in walked a tall blonde woman with a kind face and hazel eyes. She had a tired smile on her face at the sight of her son. "Hi, I brought dinner." She said, lifting the pizza box.

"Mum, you're a lifesaver." Said Jason as he stood up and took the box from her hand. "You alright? You look tired."

"I am." She says, dropping her purse on the coffee table before slumping on the couch. "For some reason, it was really busy today and it's only me & Jillian so I've been on my feet all day. I've barely sat down since I left the house."

"Why don't you hire someone else?" Asked Jason, sitting down and taking a slice of pizza. "It can't be that hard to find someone who can cut hair."

"How many times do I need to tell you it's not just cutting hair?" She retorted. "You need to know how to dye hair and style it and… there's no point in telling what else you need to do, is there?"

"Probably not. But still, surely you can find someone who can do all that? Other people must've applied when you hired Jillian."

"One or two did but…," she sighed, "there's a reason I didn't hire them. Look, I know that you've already helped a lot with setting the place up and stuff but could you come down and help me out at the weekend?"

"Well… I wouldn't be doing anything otherwise. Okay, I'll help."

"That's why you're my favourite son." She said, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"I'm your only son." He chuckled.

"Exactly. So my favourite. Anyway, enough about my problems." She said, finally tucking into her dinner. "What about you? How was your first day of… what do they call it here again."

"I'm still not sure, to be honest." He shrugged. "11th Grade, I think. I just call it Junior year, it's easier. It was fine. Didn't do much except take notes. I met some guys."

"You've got friends already?" She asked, sounding happy for her son. "Who are they? What are their names."

"There's Seth," he started, counting them off on his fingers, "Dean, Roman, Kofi & E."

"E? Just, E?"

"His name's Ettore but everyone calls him E because… actually I never asked, I'll need to do that. But yeah, they seem alright."

"That's good." She smiled. "I told you you'd make friends in no time. I know that the move has been difficult but before you know it it'll feel like you've lived here all your life."

"I guess. I still miss the football though."

His mum chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah well, I can't help you there."


6:01 pm, Thursday, September 8th 2016, Alexa's House

"Homework!" Exclaimed Sasha frustratedly. "On the first day after summer vacation. I cannot believe Mr Dudley right now."

Sasha & Bayley were both lying on their fronts on the floor of Alexa's bedroom, completing the Biology worksheet they'd been given.

"Oh, relax Sasha." Said Alexa from her bed. "It's what, fifteen questions? That's nothing."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't get any homework. No, you just get to lay back and relax."

"It's okay, Sasha. It's just stuff we learned from last year." Said Bayley. "It's easy."

"That's not the point."

"Then what-."

"Just drop it." Alexa interrupted. "It's not worth it, Bayley. Just let her complain and she'll tire herself out eventually. Besides, there's something more important to talk about."

Lexi moved onto her knees. "There's an update on your crush."

"There is?" Bayley asked before her face went red. "I mean, what crush?"

"I mean your crush on the new kid and yes, there is an update. Heyman made me his lab partner in chemistry and he's in drama class with Sasha & me. His name is Jason and he just moved here from, get this, Scotland."

"Oh, Bayley. Just wait until you hear his accent." Said Sasha. "He did an improv with Sami Zayn and, while I couldn't really understand half of what he was saying, it sounded good."

"That's great and all but, I don't know why you're telling me." Said Bayley. "I don't have a crush on him."

"Really?" Asked Lexi in a disbelieving tone. "So you have never taken an interest in anything that goes on in that group and then, just when a new guy shows up, you start making googly eyes in that direction and you expect us to believe you aren't crushing on him?"

"Who says I haven't taken an interest? I'm friends with them all. Well, except for Baron, but I like the rest of them. And I wasn't making 'googly eyes'. I was just…" Bayley trailed off.

"Just what?" Asked Sasha, sounding intrigued.

"Looking." She shrugged.

"Yeah. At someone you liked." Sasha said. "Come on, just admit you like Jason. It's no big deal."

"I don't! What's it gonna take to get you two to drop this?"

"Tell us the truth." They both said.

Bayley sighed. "Fine. I was looking over because I do have a crush on someone. But it's not Jason."

"Wait, you're serious?" Asked Alexa, her eyes wide. "Which one? Seth?"

"It's not Seth."

"Roman?" Asked Sasha, and Bayley shook her head.

"Is it E? You two would be really cute together." Said Lexi.

"Nope."

"So, Kofi then?" Asked Sasha.

"It's not Kofi either."

"Well, you said it isn't Jason and it's obviously not Baron. That's everyone." Said Sasha.

"Wait. You have a crush on Dean Ambrose?!" Lexi exclaimed.

Bayley went beet red and nodded her head.

"Oh my God!" Sasha & Lexi said together, though in very different tones. Lexi sounded shocked but intrigued. Sasha on the other hand sounded more… disgusted.

"Why?" She asked. "Of all the guys in our school, Dean Ambrose? Seriously?"

"I don't know." Said Bayley, sounding a little shy and embarrassed. "He's cute."

"Is he?"

"I can see it." Said Alexa slowly. "If he shaved that peach fuzz and took better care of his hair then… he'd be kinda cute."

Sasha looked between her two friends as if they'd gone nuts. "You guys are crazy. Dean Ambrose is the most unsociable guy I've ever met. Have you ever even talked to him outside of a classroom?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly. Remember at Mandy Rose's birthday party last year? He spent 90% of that day next to either Seth or Roman and the other 10% skulking alone in a corner. Then when Montez & Angelo went over to talk to him, he gave them some weird look and disappeared for half an hour. Remember where they found him?"

"Uh… it was the shed, right?" Said Lexi.

"Yup. Why would he go in there? Who goes to a party and hides in the shed? They don't even know how he got in. The thing had a lock and Mandy said that the key was still hanging up on the wall but there was zero damage. Trust me, Bayley, forget this little crush. The guy's a weirdo."

The three of them fell into silence. Alexa collapsed back onto her bed and Sasha went back to her homework. Bayley though just stared down at her paper, thinking.

"Oh." Said Sasha suddenly. "Speaking of Mandy Rose. Have you guys heard who she's dating now? Otis. Dozovic."

"WHAT!"