Dissonance - Part 2
May. 7th, 2009 07:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
surevestaTitle: Dissonance - 2
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
surevesta
Rating: PG-16
Fandom: CW RPS
Word Count: 6415 (this part)
Pairing: J2
Main Characters: Jensen, Jared, Danneel, Sandy, Kripke, Chad, Mike, Chris, Sophia, Hayden, Adair, Rainbow, Allie
Other Characters: Samantha Ferris, Samantha Smith, Tom and Jaime, Aaron, Shawn, Kristin K., Kristin B., Alexis, JDM, and an assortment of other RPS regulars and CW actors/actresses.
Betas:anyothergirl415
Disclaimer: The story and plot is mine, the characters are based off of real people and belong to themselves. The places are also based off of real places. I know almost nothing of the foster care system.
Summary: The world of High School through the eyes of violist Jensen Ackles. Life is just notes on a page, waiting to be read and interpreted.
Master Post
*****
On a normal day Jensen would grab his free hot lunch from the cafeteria and head outside, even when it was raining the over hang around the building that served as the dining hall, kitchens, six different lines for various types of food, as well as having two rooms upstairs for an extra freshman English class and a meeting place for the theater courses, kept the weather out. He'd lean against the windows that criss crossed in a 'v' shape leaving the perfect spot to sit. Occasionally someone he knew from orchestra or one of his other classes, usually just a kid wanting to copy his homework, would join him. Today he snagged a salad from the shortest line, iceberg lettuce with a few edges beginning to brown, fake shredded cheddar cheese, diced ham, and a packet of ranch dressing. Jensen pocketed the small container of one percent milk and tossed the packet of dressing into a trash can as he exited the commons.
The library was only a couple minutes walk away but it was long enough for Jensen to scarf down the salad. The empty container was dropped into the trash can in the libraries entry, conveniently placed for students to discard food and drink as per the rules. The librarians had a hissy fit if they caught a student eating or drinking anything but water around their precious books or computers.
He waved at the librarian when she looked up from the counter across the divide. She grinned back before returning her attention to processing some damaged books, water or soda damage most likely. Jensen adjusted his back pack on his shoulder as he shuffled into the main area of the library. The building was a long rectangle. There was a room used by the librarians to fix books or have staff meetings to the right of the entry and on the left was a wide open space partitioned off by a tall counter where the books could be returned and sorted. A half dozen steps into the room was a circular table housing five large monitors hooked up to computers that still used windows 2000. There was another table of computers to the right, lining the wall against the staff room. Most of the computers were in use, at least one class of freshmen was currently using the library for in class research.
The magazine section was to the left, against the wall that connected to the partitioned area where a couple of students stood waiting to check out books. Jensen glanced around, letting his eyes drift towards the back of the long building. He couldn't see anyone but a few freshmen and one or two older students perusing the shelves in the middle of the room.
Awkwardly, Jensen made his way over to the magazines and dropped down into one of the free padded chairs. There was only one other student there, a fresh faced long haired blond, hair curled and make up perfect. For all of her grown up looks she couldn't have been older than fifteen. She barely spared him a glance as he settled into a chair before turning her attention back to the magazine in hand. He noticed she actually had two, the cover stated it was this months National Geographic, but the inner portion was likely some girly entertainment magazine.
Shifting uncomfortably he spared a glance at some of the magazines on the table next to him. They were older issues, probably doubles donated by some alumni or whoever. There was a car magazine on top of the Times and a few educational journals. He reached over and idly flipped it open, not even bothering to pick it up from the table. Jensen had only been sitting there for a couple of minutes when Jared arrived, clearing his throat and motioning for him to follow.
He let the magazine flip shut, dropping his hand away and letting the pages curl back into place as if they had never moved. Snagging his bag Jensen clenched his fingers in the material, he didn't even bother picking it up by the strap. Jared led him to the back of the library, to one of the two open areas that had enough seating for almost an entire class. Four rectangular tables, five chairs each, were practically empty. The quarterback dumped his bag onto the table in the back corner and slumped into one of the chairs. They were surrounded by the fiction section, Jensen could see a copy of Nip the Buds, Shoot the kids on the shelf above Jared's head. It stood out to him because he'd done a large book report on it and the author the previous spring.
By the time Jensen had sat down Jared already had a notebook out and a small, practically empty, student planner open. He took a moment to pull out his own notebook and the packet Kripke had handed out the previous morning.
“So how do you want to do this?”
Jensen shifted his gaze from the bold print of the assignments title to Jared's hazel eyes. They practically glittered gold in the artificial light of the library. Jensen blinked, “What?”
“The assignment, we need to figure out what days we're available and when,” Jared groaned, leaning back in the plastic chair. It tipped slightly as the other teen gripped the table, his legs were long enough that there wasn't much of a threat of it flipping over backwards. “I'm pretty busy with football practice, but I do have days off.”
“Oh uh, I have practice three times a week, quartet practice. I play viola, in the orchestra. I'm a violist,” Jensen winced as he tapped his pencil against the empty lined paper of his spiral notebook. “And I work, every couple of days, mostly five hour shifts. Except Saturday, sometimes Sunday, weekends I work full time. Uh, eight hour shifts. Sometimes.”
“You sound pretty busy then,” Jared let go of the table and let his chair drop back down on all fours. A low sigh mingling with a groan escaped his lips as he ran a hand through messy dark brown hair that framed his face and flirted with his chin and past his ears. Jensen noticed that the other boy was wearing a well kept varsity jacket. That was slightly odd considering almost all of the football players had girl friends that kept their jackets for safe keeping. “I don't know how the hell Kripke expects everyone to fit their schedules together. It's not like we're involved in the same activities so things are easy to work with.”
“I,” Jensen paused, lifting his eyes from the High Schools logo over Jared's breast pocket. “I think that is the point. Kripke didn't want this to be easy, if we already knew each other there wouldn't be a reason to actually do much in the way of research.”
The quarterback frowned, chapped lips stretching into a thin pink line, “We could technically still give each other notes on our own day, it'd be easier.”
“I think Kripke's already informed most of the school staff about his project, I really doubt we could get away with it. There's actually a section detailing how we have to shadow our partner for one full day of class, and after school for a full week,” Jensen rubbed his eye, dislodging his glasses. He adjusted them on his nose before continuing, meeting Jared's gaze. The other teenager was watching him, an unreadable expression on his face, “Looks like we can do that over a period of several weeks, we don't have to follow each other around for a straight week. Just whatever days work best. Our notes and outline aren't due till the week before thanksgiving.”
“That gives us just about two months,” Jared broke into a grin and picked up his notebook. “We'll be fine, I still need to figure out my entire schedule.” He sent Jensen a sheepish look, “I kinda misplaced a syllabus or two.”
Jensen looked down at his packet, it was open to the list of due dates, displayed clearly below a miniature calendar, “We have some time, why don't you get back to me next week? We can work out another meeting before or after class sometime.”
“Awesome,” He shouldered his bag and stuffed his pencil into the letter jacket's inner pocket. “I'll talk to you next week then.”
Jensen nodded and moved to stand, he was just closing his notebook when he realized Jared was still standing there. He glanced up, brow furrowing slightly.
“You coming to the game tomorrow?” Jared's question startled him. The other guy was trying to make small talk? Jensen shook his head in response.
“Can't, got some stuff to take care of. My, uh, brother. I have to pick him up from school and work. I mean, I work that night, too.”
“Ah,” Jared nodded and turned. “See you around then.”
As the quarterback disappeared through the shelves Jensen frowned, hand paused over the worn zipper of his backpack. He really should check the good will or humane society thrift stores at some point for a cheap replacement, the zipper teeth were starting to bend in odd angles. His finger rubbed over the cool metal and his gaze dropped to stare at it. Patches of black paint had rubbed off revealing the shiny silver, dulled slightly by use, beneath.
He wondered why Jared had even bothered to ask if he was going to the game. They also really hadn't gotten much done. Jensen wasn't quite sure whether or not he should actually be concerned about that.
*****
Game nights were a pretty big thing for the town, not nearly as big a deal as some areas of the country, but big enough that the usual Friday night crowd was significantly thinned out. Jensen yawned, his jaw cracking slightly. He was leaning back against the counter watching a few college students pay Sophia for their drinks. His co-worker worked at the coffee shop full time in addition to taking courses at one of the local community colleges. She was a nice girl, a sophomore in college working on a degree in accounting. Jensen thought she was just enamored with money, Sophia's relationships never worked out because her boyfriends always bought her gifts or flowers. They didn't understand that the way to win her heart was by being thrifty and actually saving money. Diamonds had nothing on a fat retirement fund for her.
An older couple in the corner had the stereo turned on to the high school game, it was being played on a local FM station. The coffee shop wasn't a chain and didn't have an actual sound system, although it did have wi-fi. Not that it mattered, the Starbucks two stores down the block also had wi-fi, and it reached all the way down here with a decent signal.
Sophia walked past him a moment later, moving to inspect the calendar hung just out of view of the customers on the wall that led to a small alcove. Most of the small shops supplies were stored back there.
“Jensen are you busy tomorrow?”
He glanced toward the door to make sure no customers were coming before moving behind her to look over her shoulder, “Not really. I have a five hour shift in the afternoon.”
“Rain doesn't have a game you need to go to in the morning?” She glanced over her shoulder at him, brown eyes sparkling in the dim light. Jensen just shook his head in answer, her cheeks dimpled as she smiled. A stray though crossed his mind, making him wonder why her dimples didn't make him near as nervous as Jared's had.
“Could you take the middle of the day shift? That'd be a full eight hours plus lunch... I know how you were wanting as many hours as you can get with your schedule,” Sophia bit her lip hopefully. “Justin called, he can't come in till one. He'd be able to cover your lunch...”
“That's fine,” He shrugged as the door chimed announcing the arrival of a customer or two. They both hurried over to take orders, smiles plastered on their faces. Quality customer service was very important.
*****
The weekend went by surprisingly fast, Jensen managed to finish the history essay he had due that Tuesday, hand written legibly so that he'd be able to type it out quickly on Monday. He made a bit of headway with his solo and attempted to record it on an old tape recorder he found for a dollar at the Humane Society Thrift Store. Jensen had stopped there after work Saturday on the way to the bus stop. In addition to the old recorder, he'd found a good sized back pack. It was slightly worn but the zipper was in good condition. It was also black, which wasn't that bad of a color really. After wiping it down with a soapy rag and cleaning it out it was almost as good as new. Not quite, but it was much better than the pack he had been using.
The tape recorder honestly hadn't been much use to him, the recording had been slightly warped sounding and Jensen figured that was more from the recorder or tape then it was his playing. In any case, Jensen was pretty happy with the progress he was making. The shift in positions to play the higher notes on the A string then back down to the normal position on the G string was no longer tripping him up as much as it had been. Even the off beat sixteenth notes were flowing quite nicely.
Monday morning started just like any other weekday, he woke up at six am and got ready for class. Instead of working on homework he headed downstairs to make some pancakes for breakfast. By the time a dozen six inch diameter golden circles were finished, Hayden, Rain, Adair, and Margaret were already filing into the kitchen. His foster mother murmured her thanks as she snagged a cup of coffee and single hot cake. There was a mix of different toppings, peanut butter, syrup, and margarine, being spread onto the flat pastry.
Jensen covered his own with a thin layer of peanut butter and rolled it up to eat like a sandwich wrap before heading back upstairs to get ready for school. Showering quickly, he dressed in his usual jeans and double layered t-shirt. He frowned at the mirror in the corner before slipping on his bracelet and a, decidedly masculine, black necklace Hayden had given him last year for his birthday. While Jensen wasn't quite sure how, he thought that the pre-teen had actually made it during some arts and crafts event or something. She certainly participated in enough free after school groups between community events and youth groups that it wasn't a stretch.
He ran a hand through his hair and squinted at the mirror, the black frames of his glasses looked almost awkward perched on his nose above a smattering of freckles. Shrugging on his jacket, Jensen grabbed his pack and instrument before heading out the door. His foster mother was going to give the girls and Rain a ride, but he had to take the bus to get to class on time. He didn't even bother calling out to them as he hurried out the door.
Less than half an hour later he was settling himself in his chair, a small grin on his face as he tuned his viola. He turned his gaze up when he felt a sharp jab against his shoulder. Mike was using his bow to poke his bicep, a wicked smile on his face.
“I heard you got partnered up with all star Padalecki for some lame ass English assignment by Kripke, gotta get to know each other or some shit,” Mike was running his fingers over the thick strings of his cello, shifting from position to position without much thought. The string twanged slightly, even though he wasn't even plucking it.
Jensen shrugged, “Yeah, it doesn't seem like it'll be too hard though.”
“Aren't you supposed to spend time together or something?” Mike raised an eyebrow and Jensen wondered what the guy would look like if those were shaved in addition to his head. Seriously, Mike had to shave every other day to keep his head that shiny.
“Yeah, a full week. Or, at least five evenings after school, one for each day of the week, and a full weekend. We have two months to do it, though,” Jensen settled his gaze back on his instrument as he adjusted a fine tuner and plucked softly at his 'd' string, checking the tone. “No big deal.”
Mike snorted, “I can't believe you got stuck with a jock, and not just any jock the quarterback. It's probably going to be hell for you to tear him away from his precious football practice. He's not going to want to come watch us 'fool around' with our toys.”
“Please tell me he's not referring to his dick again,” Allie wrinkled her nose as she walked past Mike to sit in her spot.
He grinned at her, “Wanna fool around with-”
“Finish that sentence and I will shove your cello where the sun don't shine. Forcibly, till you can't even see a single inch of it,” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And I'll follow it up with the bow, don't think I won't.”
*****
Leaning back against the cool glass pane Jensen set the carton of one percent milk down next to his half empty disposable tray of food. He'd gotten a ham and cheese sub today, it was actually quite tasty, but the fries it came with were pretty soggy. Jensen preferred his fries crispy. Behind him, Jensen could hear the dull roar of voices from inside the commons, if he turned around he'd probably see the back of someones head as they sat kitty corner to him inside.
The weather was nice today, sunlight peaking through a light smattering of clouds. There were a few sophomores, he recognized them as such from last weeks assembly, tossing a frisbee to each other in a sorry attempt to organize a game of ultimate frisbee on the lawn. A trio of girls, friends of Allie's, were sitting beneath a tree near the bend in the creek that wound through the center of campus. They were knitting, oddly enough, and Jensen remembered his stand partner mentioning something about a knitting club starting up. One of the girls had a bright and fluffy ball of yarn that sparkled in the sunlight.
It had been two weeks since his last meeting with Jared, two weeks since the other teen had even spoken to him. Jensen really shouldn't have expected anything different. It was obvious that he was going to have to work hard at getting the quarterback to seriously think about doing this assignment according to Kripke's directions. The guy probably assumed that if they waited long enough they could get away with just interviewing each other. Screw doing the first hand observations.
Jensen stuffed a couple of fries into his mouth, they were chilly now. The only thing worse than soggy fries was cold and soggy fries. Picking up his notebook as he chewed, Jensen opened it up to the tab he kept his English assignments under. They had about six weeks, a little less, to get the “research” portion of the assignment done. And, personally, Jensen really didn't want to be scrambling with this at the last minute.
The sound of a frisbee scraping across rough cement startled him. Jensen glanced in time to watch the red disc come to a stop a foot to his left. He set his books to the side and stood, leaning over to pick the frisbee up. The throw he attempted was weak, but then he didn't really have much experience with the game. Outside of a few days spent in PE during his freshman year of high school, there hadn't been any reason for Jensen to play it.
One of the guys, a football player named Chad, out right laughed at his failed attempt, “Dude, you throw worse than a chick.”
The teasing didn't bother Jensen, much. He shrugged and sat back down, his eyes dropped back down to his notebook and the taunting front page of his end of term English assignment. Jensen had been called much worse over the years.
Shutting the notebook he slipped it into his bag and grabbed his leftover lunch. He stuffed the cold fries into a nearby garbage and adjusted his backpack. If Jared was going to ignore the assignment Jensen would just have to confront him about it. Star football player or not, Jared wasn't going to make Jensen get stressed out over a silly project. He had much more important things to worry over, like the music competition or his university auditions. Really everything would have been much simpler if he'd just taken the regular English class like his councilor had told him to.
*****
“Wait, you're leaving early?” Danneel, Mike, and Chris were all staring at him incredulously. He could kind of understand why, though, since he was the one that always pushed to make sure everyone showed up on time and actually practiced.
Settling his viola onto the worn fabric lined interior of the case, Jensen shrugged, “I need to catch Jared and football practice gets done about now.”
“The losers been avoiding you hasn't he?” Mike actually grinned, white teeth shining almost as bad as his bald head. “I told you he'd give you shit about it.”
Jensen rolled his eyes as he put his rosin away and shut the small compartment at the end of the case. As he twisted the knob at the end of his bow to let the taut hair relax he sighed, “He's just been busy. And I've been busy, too. Neither of us have had a lot of time. I figured I'd just catch him on the way to his car, I walk that way anyway.” He glanced up as he secured the bow and flipped the case shut, securing it with a flick of several latches.
“We're just surprised,” Chris spoke up for the first time, blue eyes narrowed slightly. “Generally nothing is more important then practice for you.”
“Not failing my English class is a close second,” It took him a couple of seconds to reorganize his music and shut the folder. After slipping it into his bag, Jensen shouldered it and snagged the handle of his viola case. “We're doing great anyway, ten minutes without me isn't going to hurt anything.”
“Except Mike's concentration,” Danneel interjected and received an offended 'Hey' from the cellist.
“You guys'll be fine,” Jensen waved a hand as he left the small room. He exited the building through the band room, a percussion group was using it but it was much smaller and harder to interrupt than the men's choir that spent the afternoon in the shared choir and orchestra room.
The path from the Music building, and connected auditorium, that led to the gym passed by the commons. Jensen briefly considered snagging a soda from one of the machines but thought better. The concrete walkway was littered with browning leaves and the nearby creek was audibly rushing through its channel. Unlike most days, there weren't any ducks swimmingly lazily against the current.
There were three buildings that made up the gym. One was off to the side, the weight room used by the school teams and the weight training class that attracted mostly guys- the one without 'aerobics' in the title. The first main building was the small gym, it was original to the school and housed two gym classes and the JROTC. The aerobics and weight training course Jensen took his freshman year used a small weight room that was on the second floor, the only room on the second floor that wasn't storage. It had looked out over the rest of the gym, a high guard rail boxing weight machines and students in.
The larger gym had three physical education classes each period and was large enough, when the bleachers were out, to hold all four grades easily for pep rallies. The football team used the large gym's locker room since there was also a small room dedicated to the sports med class off to the side. It was easier for any student athlete that needed a knee of ankle wrapped to get it done if they were in the locker room nearby and the large gym had much larger lockers.
Awkwardly, Jensen leaned against one of the pillars that supported the gym and separated the offices and locker room from the wide open gymnasium floor. It was slightly uncomfortable, leaning with his backpack between himself and the pillar. He settled his viola next to him, hand on the top as he balanced it upright against his leg.
A few odd looks were sent his way as the team trickled out, but most people ignored him. It wasn't odd for a non-athlete to be in the gym after practice, there were a host of after school activities that didn't get out till about this time. A lot of people had projects to work on or got rides with other students. Granted it was a little odd for Jensen to be near the gym at all, after he finished his required two years of physical education classes he'd been avoiding the place. It wasn't that he hated working out, he just set his focus entirely on his education and music.
Jensen glanced over to the wall clock that hung above a drinking fountain next to the office. It was a good thing he didn't have work today, otherwise he'd be late. He probably could have gotten away with finishing practice and still made it in time to catch Jared. But it was better to be early than sorry... or however that saying went. A sigh escaped his lips and Jensen dropped his head back against the pillar, shutting his eyes when he saw a trio of cheerleaders turn the corner from the entrance to the small gym.
The cheerleaders used the upstairs weight room as it had a wide open space and mats to practice. He really hoped none of them were waiting for Jared, if there was anyone worse than jocks when it came to teasing and dirty looks cheerleaders were. They were the masters of gossip. Danneel complained about that at least twice a week during practice.
It wasn't his lucky day, however, as the voices of Kristin Kreuk, Sandra McCoy, and Kristin Bell. There were way too many girls at this school named Kristin. It was well known, even for someone as outside of the high school social circles as Jensen, that Sandy was with Jared. At least in the sense of her following him around all the time, Jensen didn't actually know if they were seriously dating or not. He didn't really care to either. Her presence meant that it wasn't very likely he'd get a good discussion in with Jared, which was more than slightly frustrating.
Jensen stepped away from the wall as another group of football players exited the boys locker room. Kristin Bell squealed in delight as a student he didn't recognize lifted her up and swung her around. She swatted playfully at his chest, a grin stretching shiny pink lips.
Behind the small group, Jared appeared, eyes settling on Sandy's petite form. Jared watched as she walked up to him and began talking animatedly. The guy nodded at something she said and turned, heading in Jensen's direction and the door that led towards the tennis courts, English building, and the far parking lot. A moment later Jared glanced up, eyes catching on Jensen.
Jared stopped and turned to Sandy, a large hand dropping from the strap of his backpack to rest on her slim shoulder. She turned towards him and looked up, wide smile brilliant on her face.
“I forgot I need to go over an English assignment with Jensen,” a sheepish smile crossed the quarterbacks lips, long strands of dark brown hair fell across his eyes. “Why don't you get a ride home with Kristin?” He didn't even bother specifying which girl he meant.
Sandy glanced Jensen's way, a small frown on her lips, before nodding up at Jared, “Call me tonight?”
“Of course,” Jared broke into one of his wide, dimpled smiles as Sandy leaned up and kissed his cheek before hurrying to catch up with her friends.
Jensen adjusted his grip on his viola, leaning down to slip his hand around to the handle before straightening. He watched as Jared made his way over, the guy had the decency to look sheepish at least.
“Hey man, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you last week-”
“S'not a big deal,” Jensen shrugged, gaze dropping to where his fingers wrapped around the cracked plastic handle. “People get busy.”
“It was a big enough deal for you to wait after school for me,” Jared pointed out and made a motion with his hand. “Why don't we talk as we walk? My Mom's expecting me home for dinner.”
They were silent till they pushed through the gymnasium doors and walked out onto a small blacktop. A couple of old half basketball courts with chain baskets were set across from the large paned windows of the JROTC classrooms. They were empty and dark, but a few students milled nearby, cheerleaders and volleyball players mostly. He noticed the faint outline of a square partitioned off into four parts and wondered when the last time was it had been painted, let alone played on.
“You didn't have to brush your girlfriend off you know,” Jensen glanced over at Jared. The jock just shrugged and smiled at him. Just a small smile with barely a hint of dimple.
“I know this assignment is a big deal and I put it off long enough. Plus it's not a big deal, I was just going to drop Sandy off at her Aunt's anyway. She lives nearby,” He shrugged. “But Kristin does too, so it really didn't matter who gave her a ride.”
Jensen nodded as if he understood and this wasn't just useless information that he didn't need to know, “Makes sense.”
The grass was dry but green as they crossed it. He noticed that the tennis court gates were shut, locked to keep students from getting in and making a mess of the special flooring. There was a wide field in front of them now, the English and History building on the left along with the office and teachers parking lot. The track and practice fields for the football team were on the right. The real football field was half the town away, expensive and shared with a private Catholic high school.
“I really am sorry, you know. I'm not just saying it to appease you or something,” Jared pushed his hair back behind his ear as Jensen glanced up. “I really meant to catch up with you last week and sort everything out. Waiting till the last minute to work on a project like this isn't really my thing. It just happens sometimes.”
“You got busy. Football and everything,” Jensen nodded and reached up to adjust his glasses. They had slipped down his nose a bit. “Life happens. But we do need to do this. The assignment. We need to get the assignment done and waiting till the week before isn't something I can do either.”
He watched Jared from the corner of his eye as they walked, the quarterback was slightly obscured by the black frame of his glasses. A look of concentration was furrowing lines into Jared's forehead, bottom lip folded beneath clean white teeth.
“Are you busy after school Friday?”
Jensen blinked at Jared, turning his head to eye him straight on, “I have work at six?”
“Since this is pretty much the only Friday I don't have a game, how about watch my practice? Then I can go to work with you and such,” Jared shrugged. “While it's not ideal it should work?”
“While I work? Um, what are you going to do while I work?”
Jared grinned at him, fucking dimples, “Watch you. I'm supposed to observe, right? You work at the coffee place downtown, coffee heaven or something?”
“Coffee Haven,” He corrected automatically and Jensen could feel his cheeks heating up. How did Jared know where he worked? Jensen had never seen the guy anywhere near the small cafe before. Most of the popular crowd went to Starbucks.
“Well then, I can get a venti double shot expresso or something, one of those dainty little pastries you sell, and sit in a booth for a couple hours,” Jared's smile seemed never ending. “Sugar and caffeine, what more could I ask for? 'Sides, I can use the time to work on my science homework. Chemistry is kicking my ass.”
“Oh,” Really, coherency was something Jensen needed to work on. “So Friday?”
“Yep, Friday we can get this project moving,” Jared jumped over the loose chain that made a sort of fence to separate the parking lot from the field. Following suit Jensen stumbled slightly, only to feel himself stabilized by a strong hand.
“Thanks,” He murmured and made sure his legs and instrument were clear of the chain. A small frown crossed his lips as he felt Jared move off towards his car. “Um, we need to sort out a couple days during school hours for Kripke.”
“How about we do that after class tomorrow? I promise I won't skip out on you,” Jared slipped his key in the car door and unlocked it. There was a slightly staggered thunk of all four doors unlocking. The quarterback let his bag slip off his shoulder before glancing up at Jensen again. “Hey, do you want a ride?”
Jensen's eyes widened behind his glasses and he shook his head, “Um, no thanks. Walking. I, uh, don't live that far so I walk. Home. I walk home.”
“Right,” there was a small smile of what Jensen swore was amusement crossing the jocks lips. He really needed to work on speaking clearly. Maybe he should have taken theater. Anything to avoid looking like a nervous wreck in front of people he didn't know. With his luck he probably would have ended up scarred for life and unable to even walk onto stage. That'd cause some difficulty for his music career. If he ever got one.
“Are you sure? It's no big deal Jensen. I give people rides all the time.”
“Sure. I'm sure,” Jensen shook his head in the negative and adjusted his hold on his instrument. His knuckles were aching a bit, several freckles standing out clearly against pale white skin. He may have been gripping the handle a bit tightly. “I'll see you tomorrow. After class, don't forget.”
Jared grinned at him before tossing his bag into the passenger seat and climbing in, “I won't. Promise.”
*****
Looking back, Jensen probably should have accepted Jared's offer of a ride. It wasn't as if Jared wouldn't find out about his home life eventually. The damn assignment saw to that. He really wasn't sure why he hadn't accepted it, either, as he really didn't have that much to hide. On the outside it the house might look a bit run down, but it was cared for and in a constant state of renovation. It wasn't any worse than most houses in the area. Maybe Jensen just didn't want to admit his family wasn't really his family. Or it was, just not conventional, and not really close.
The walk home was pretty uneventful. The weather was nice, had been all day, and halfway there Jensen stopped to take off his hoodie. For a fall day it was pretty warm. While his foster family didn't live in the best part of town, they also didn't live in a bad part. Most of the houses nearby had well kept yards, mowed at the very least, and fences. There weren't many with landscaping or flower beds and most were also in need of a paint job. The neighbors were relatively nice, a mix of older couples who had lived in there for several decades and newer couples that had invested in their first home together. Cheap and with a little fixing up they could sell again in a few years to make a small profit.
The walk was good for him, Jensen figured. It felt good to stretch his legs and breathe in the crisp autumn air. He did a lot of walking during the day since the campus was so spread out, but fifty minutes every hour was spent hunkered down in a chair. Even in Orchestra the students spent more time sitting than standing.
It was 5:45 by the time Jensen unlocked the door, the walk had taken longer than usual. He hadn't been in a hurry, though. Jensen didn't have work tonight and it wasn't his turn to cook dinner. Margaret said she'd pick up some pizzas to throw in the oven on the way home from work that morning. He was looking forward to the treat and hoped she bought a meat lovers. They usually just got the special, a large single pepperoni and a medium two topping. It didn't hurt to hope though.
*****
Next
A.Note: Next update will likely be Sunday or Monday, depends. Thank you for reading this part, I hope you enjoyed it!
Author:
surevestaRating: PG-16
Fandom: CW RPS
Word Count: 6415 (this part)
Pairing: J2
Main Characters: Jensen, Jared, Danneel, Sandy, Kripke, Chad, Mike, Chris, Sophia, Hayden, Adair, Rainbow, Allie
Other Characters: Samantha Ferris, Samantha Smith, Tom and Jaime, Aaron, Shawn, Kristin K., Kristin B., Alexis, JDM, and an assortment of other RPS regulars and CW actors/actresses.
Betas:
anyothergirl415Disclaimer: The story and plot is mine, the characters are based off of real people and belong to themselves. The places are also based off of real places. I know almost nothing of the foster care system.
Summary: The world of High School through the eyes of violist Jensen Ackles. Life is just notes on a page, waiting to be read and interpreted.
Master Post
*****
On a normal day Jensen would grab his free hot lunch from the cafeteria and head outside, even when it was raining the over hang around the building that served as the dining hall, kitchens, six different lines for various types of food, as well as having two rooms upstairs for an extra freshman English class and a meeting place for the theater courses, kept the weather out. He'd lean against the windows that criss crossed in a 'v' shape leaving the perfect spot to sit. Occasionally someone he knew from orchestra or one of his other classes, usually just a kid wanting to copy his homework, would join him. Today he snagged a salad from the shortest line, iceberg lettuce with a few edges beginning to brown, fake shredded cheddar cheese, diced ham, and a packet of ranch dressing. Jensen pocketed the small container of one percent milk and tossed the packet of dressing into a trash can as he exited the commons.
The library was only a couple minutes walk away but it was long enough for Jensen to scarf down the salad. The empty container was dropped into the trash can in the libraries entry, conveniently placed for students to discard food and drink as per the rules. The librarians had a hissy fit if they caught a student eating or drinking anything but water around their precious books or computers.
He waved at the librarian when she looked up from the counter across the divide. She grinned back before returning her attention to processing some damaged books, water or soda damage most likely. Jensen adjusted his back pack on his shoulder as he shuffled into the main area of the library. The building was a long rectangle. There was a room used by the librarians to fix books or have staff meetings to the right of the entry and on the left was a wide open space partitioned off by a tall counter where the books could be returned and sorted. A half dozen steps into the room was a circular table housing five large monitors hooked up to computers that still used windows 2000. There was another table of computers to the right, lining the wall against the staff room. Most of the computers were in use, at least one class of freshmen was currently using the library for in class research.
The magazine section was to the left, against the wall that connected to the partitioned area where a couple of students stood waiting to check out books. Jensen glanced around, letting his eyes drift towards the back of the long building. He couldn't see anyone but a few freshmen and one or two older students perusing the shelves in the middle of the room.
Awkwardly, Jensen made his way over to the magazines and dropped down into one of the free padded chairs. There was only one other student there, a fresh faced long haired blond, hair curled and make up perfect. For all of her grown up looks she couldn't have been older than fifteen. She barely spared him a glance as he settled into a chair before turning her attention back to the magazine in hand. He noticed she actually had two, the cover stated it was this months National Geographic, but the inner portion was likely some girly entertainment magazine.
Shifting uncomfortably he spared a glance at some of the magazines on the table next to him. They were older issues, probably doubles donated by some alumni or whoever. There was a car magazine on top of the Times and a few educational journals. He reached over and idly flipped it open, not even bothering to pick it up from the table. Jensen had only been sitting there for a couple of minutes when Jared arrived, clearing his throat and motioning for him to follow.
He let the magazine flip shut, dropping his hand away and letting the pages curl back into place as if they had never moved. Snagging his bag Jensen clenched his fingers in the material, he didn't even bother picking it up by the strap. Jared led him to the back of the library, to one of the two open areas that had enough seating for almost an entire class. Four rectangular tables, five chairs each, were practically empty. The quarterback dumped his bag onto the table in the back corner and slumped into one of the chairs. They were surrounded by the fiction section, Jensen could see a copy of Nip the Buds, Shoot the kids on the shelf above Jared's head. It stood out to him because he'd done a large book report on it and the author the previous spring.
By the time Jensen had sat down Jared already had a notebook out and a small, practically empty, student planner open. He took a moment to pull out his own notebook and the packet Kripke had handed out the previous morning.
“So how do you want to do this?”
Jensen shifted his gaze from the bold print of the assignments title to Jared's hazel eyes. They practically glittered gold in the artificial light of the library. Jensen blinked, “What?”
“The assignment, we need to figure out what days we're available and when,” Jared groaned, leaning back in the plastic chair. It tipped slightly as the other teen gripped the table, his legs were long enough that there wasn't much of a threat of it flipping over backwards. “I'm pretty busy with football practice, but I do have days off.”
“Oh uh, I have practice three times a week, quartet practice. I play viola, in the orchestra. I'm a violist,” Jensen winced as he tapped his pencil against the empty lined paper of his spiral notebook. “And I work, every couple of days, mostly five hour shifts. Except Saturday, sometimes Sunday, weekends I work full time. Uh, eight hour shifts. Sometimes.”
“You sound pretty busy then,” Jared let go of the table and let his chair drop back down on all fours. A low sigh mingling with a groan escaped his lips as he ran a hand through messy dark brown hair that framed his face and flirted with his chin and past his ears. Jensen noticed that the other boy was wearing a well kept varsity jacket. That was slightly odd considering almost all of the football players had girl friends that kept their jackets for safe keeping. “I don't know how the hell Kripke expects everyone to fit their schedules together. It's not like we're involved in the same activities so things are easy to work with.”
“I,” Jensen paused, lifting his eyes from the High Schools logo over Jared's breast pocket. “I think that is the point. Kripke didn't want this to be easy, if we already knew each other there wouldn't be a reason to actually do much in the way of research.”
The quarterback frowned, chapped lips stretching into a thin pink line, “We could technically still give each other notes on our own day, it'd be easier.”
“I think Kripke's already informed most of the school staff about his project, I really doubt we could get away with it. There's actually a section detailing how we have to shadow our partner for one full day of class, and after school for a full week,” Jensen rubbed his eye, dislodging his glasses. He adjusted them on his nose before continuing, meeting Jared's gaze. The other teenager was watching him, an unreadable expression on his face, “Looks like we can do that over a period of several weeks, we don't have to follow each other around for a straight week. Just whatever days work best. Our notes and outline aren't due till the week before thanksgiving.”
“That gives us just about two months,” Jared broke into a grin and picked up his notebook. “We'll be fine, I still need to figure out my entire schedule.” He sent Jensen a sheepish look, “I kinda misplaced a syllabus or two.”
Jensen looked down at his packet, it was open to the list of due dates, displayed clearly below a miniature calendar, “We have some time, why don't you get back to me next week? We can work out another meeting before or after class sometime.”
“Awesome,” He shouldered his bag and stuffed his pencil into the letter jacket's inner pocket. “I'll talk to you next week then.”
Jensen nodded and moved to stand, he was just closing his notebook when he realized Jared was still standing there. He glanced up, brow furrowing slightly.
“You coming to the game tomorrow?” Jared's question startled him. The other guy was trying to make small talk? Jensen shook his head in response.
“Can't, got some stuff to take care of. My, uh, brother. I have to pick him up from school and work. I mean, I work that night, too.”
“Ah,” Jared nodded and turned. “See you around then.”
As the quarterback disappeared through the shelves Jensen frowned, hand paused over the worn zipper of his backpack. He really should check the good will or humane society thrift stores at some point for a cheap replacement, the zipper teeth were starting to bend in odd angles. His finger rubbed over the cool metal and his gaze dropped to stare at it. Patches of black paint had rubbed off revealing the shiny silver, dulled slightly by use, beneath.
He wondered why Jared had even bothered to ask if he was going to the game. They also really hadn't gotten much done. Jensen wasn't quite sure whether or not he should actually be concerned about that.
Game nights were a pretty big thing for the town, not nearly as big a deal as some areas of the country, but big enough that the usual Friday night crowd was significantly thinned out. Jensen yawned, his jaw cracking slightly. He was leaning back against the counter watching a few college students pay Sophia for their drinks. His co-worker worked at the coffee shop full time in addition to taking courses at one of the local community colleges. She was a nice girl, a sophomore in college working on a degree in accounting. Jensen thought she was just enamored with money, Sophia's relationships never worked out because her boyfriends always bought her gifts or flowers. They didn't understand that the way to win her heart was by being thrifty and actually saving money. Diamonds had nothing on a fat retirement fund for her.
An older couple in the corner had the stereo turned on to the high school game, it was being played on a local FM station. The coffee shop wasn't a chain and didn't have an actual sound system, although it did have wi-fi. Not that it mattered, the Starbucks two stores down the block also had wi-fi, and it reached all the way down here with a decent signal.
Sophia walked past him a moment later, moving to inspect the calendar hung just out of view of the customers on the wall that led to a small alcove. Most of the small shops supplies were stored back there.
“Jensen are you busy tomorrow?”
He glanced toward the door to make sure no customers were coming before moving behind her to look over her shoulder, “Not really. I have a five hour shift in the afternoon.”
“Rain doesn't have a game you need to go to in the morning?” She glanced over her shoulder at him, brown eyes sparkling in the dim light. Jensen just shook his head in answer, her cheeks dimpled as she smiled. A stray though crossed his mind, making him wonder why her dimples didn't make him near as nervous as Jared's had.
“Could you take the middle of the day shift? That'd be a full eight hours plus lunch... I know how you were wanting as many hours as you can get with your schedule,” Sophia bit her lip hopefully. “Justin called, he can't come in till one. He'd be able to cover your lunch...”
“That's fine,” He shrugged as the door chimed announcing the arrival of a customer or two. They both hurried over to take orders, smiles plastered on their faces. Quality customer service was very important.
The weekend went by surprisingly fast, Jensen managed to finish the history essay he had due that Tuesday, hand written legibly so that he'd be able to type it out quickly on Monday. He made a bit of headway with his solo and attempted to record it on an old tape recorder he found for a dollar at the Humane Society Thrift Store. Jensen had stopped there after work Saturday on the way to the bus stop. In addition to the old recorder, he'd found a good sized back pack. It was slightly worn but the zipper was in good condition. It was also black, which wasn't that bad of a color really. After wiping it down with a soapy rag and cleaning it out it was almost as good as new. Not quite, but it was much better than the pack he had been using.
The tape recorder honestly hadn't been much use to him, the recording had been slightly warped sounding and Jensen figured that was more from the recorder or tape then it was his playing. In any case, Jensen was pretty happy with the progress he was making. The shift in positions to play the higher notes on the A string then back down to the normal position on the G string was no longer tripping him up as much as it had been. Even the off beat sixteenth notes were flowing quite nicely.
Monday morning started just like any other weekday, he woke up at six am and got ready for class. Instead of working on homework he headed downstairs to make some pancakes for breakfast. By the time a dozen six inch diameter golden circles were finished, Hayden, Rain, Adair, and Margaret were already filing into the kitchen. His foster mother murmured her thanks as she snagged a cup of coffee and single hot cake. There was a mix of different toppings, peanut butter, syrup, and margarine, being spread onto the flat pastry.
Jensen covered his own with a thin layer of peanut butter and rolled it up to eat like a sandwich wrap before heading back upstairs to get ready for school. Showering quickly, he dressed in his usual jeans and double layered t-shirt. He frowned at the mirror in the corner before slipping on his bracelet and a, decidedly masculine, black necklace Hayden had given him last year for his birthday. While Jensen wasn't quite sure how, he thought that the pre-teen had actually made it during some arts and crafts event or something. She certainly participated in enough free after school groups between community events and youth groups that it wasn't a stretch.
He ran a hand through his hair and squinted at the mirror, the black frames of his glasses looked almost awkward perched on his nose above a smattering of freckles. Shrugging on his jacket, Jensen grabbed his pack and instrument before heading out the door. His foster mother was going to give the girls and Rain a ride, but he had to take the bus to get to class on time. He didn't even bother calling out to them as he hurried out the door.
Less than half an hour later he was settling himself in his chair, a small grin on his face as he tuned his viola. He turned his gaze up when he felt a sharp jab against his shoulder. Mike was using his bow to poke his bicep, a wicked smile on his face.
“I heard you got partnered up with all star Padalecki for some lame ass English assignment by Kripke, gotta get to know each other or some shit,” Mike was running his fingers over the thick strings of his cello, shifting from position to position without much thought. The string twanged slightly, even though he wasn't even plucking it.
Jensen shrugged, “Yeah, it doesn't seem like it'll be too hard though.”
“Aren't you supposed to spend time together or something?” Mike raised an eyebrow and Jensen wondered what the guy would look like if those were shaved in addition to his head. Seriously, Mike had to shave every other day to keep his head that shiny.
“Yeah, a full week. Or, at least five evenings after school, one for each day of the week, and a full weekend. We have two months to do it, though,” Jensen settled his gaze back on his instrument as he adjusted a fine tuner and plucked softly at his 'd' string, checking the tone. “No big deal.”
Mike snorted, “I can't believe you got stuck with a jock, and not just any jock the quarterback. It's probably going to be hell for you to tear him away from his precious football practice. He's not going to want to come watch us 'fool around' with our toys.”
“Please tell me he's not referring to his dick again,” Allie wrinkled her nose as she walked past Mike to sit in her spot.
He grinned at her, “Wanna fool around with-”
“Finish that sentence and I will shove your cello where the sun don't shine. Forcibly, till you can't even see a single inch of it,” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And I'll follow it up with the bow, don't think I won't.”
Leaning back against the cool glass pane Jensen set the carton of one percent milk down next to his half empty disposable tray of food. He'd gotten a ham and cheese sub today, it was actually quite tasty, but the fries it came with were pretty soggy. Jensen preferred his fries crispy. Behind him, Jensen could hear the dull roar of voices from inside the commons, if he turned around he'd probably see the back of someones head as they sat kitty corner to him inside.
The weather was nice today, sunlight peaking through a light smattering of clouds. There were a few sophomores, he recognized them as such from last weeks assembly, tossing a frisbee to each other in a sorry attempt to organize a game of ultimate frisbee on the lawn. A trio of girls, friends of Allie's, were sitting beneath a tree near the bend in the creek that wound through the center of campus. They were knitting, oddly enough, and Jensen remembered his stand partner mentioning something about a knitting club starting up. One of the girls had a bright and fluffy ball of yarn that sparkled in the sunlight.
It had been two weeks since his last meeting with Jared, two weeks since the other teen had even spoken to him. Jensen really shouldn't have expected anything different. It was obvious that he was going to have to work hard at getting the quarterback to seriously think about doing this assignment according to Kripke's directions. The guy probably assumed that if they waited long enough they could get away with just interviewing each other. Screw doing the first hand observations.
Jensen stuffed a couple of fries into his mouth, they were chilly now. The only thing worse than soggy fries was cold and soggy fries. Picking up his notebook as he chewed, Jensen opened it up to the tab he kept his English assignments under. They had about six weeks, a little less, to get the “research” portion of the assignment done. And, personally, Jensen really didn't want to be scrambling with this at the last minute.
The sound of a frisbee scraping across rough cement startled him. Jensen glanced in time to watch the red disc come to a stop a foot to his left. He set his books to the side and stood, leaning over to pick the frisbee up. The throw he attempted was weak, but then he didn't really have much experience with the game. Outside of a few days spent in PE during his freshman year of high school, there hadn't been any reason for Jensen to play it.
One of the guys, a football player named Chad, out right laughed at his failed attempt, “Dude, you throw worse than a chick.”
The teasing didn't bother Jensen, much. He shrugged and sat back down, his eyes dropped back down to his notebook and the taunting front page of his end of term English assignment. Jensen had been called much worse over the years.
Shutting the notebook he slipped it into his bag and grabbed his leftover lunch. He stuffed the cold fries into a nearby garbage and adjusted his backpack. If Jared was going to ignore the assignment Jensen would just have to confront him about it. Star football player or not, Jared wasn't going to make Jensen get stressed out over a silly project. He had much more important things to worry over, like the music competition or his university auditions. Really everything would have been much simpler if he'd just taken the regular English class like his councilor had told him to.
“Wait, you're leaving early?” Danneel, Mike, and Chris were all staring at him incredulously. He could kind of understand why, though, since he was the one that always pushed to make sure everyone showed up on time and actually practiced.
Settling his viola onto the worn fabric lined interior of the case, Jensen shrugged, “I need to catch Jared and football practice gets done about now.”
“The losers been avoiding you hasn't he?” Mike actually grinned, white teeth shining almost as bad as his bald head. “I told you he'd give you shit about it.”
Jensen rolled his eyes as he put his rosin away and shut the small compartment at the end of the case. As he twisted the knob at the end of his bow to let the taut hair relax he sighed, “He's just been busy. And I've been busy, too. Neither of us have had a lot of time. I figured I'd just catch him on the way to his car, I walk that way anyway.” He glanced up as he secured the bow and flipped the case shut, securing it with a flick of several latches.
“We're just surprised,” Chris spoke up for the first time, blue eyes narrowed slightly. “Generally nothing is more important then practice for you.”
“Not failing my English class is a close second,” It took him a couple of seconds to reorganize his music and shut the folder. After slipping it into his bag, Jensen shouldered it and snagged the handle of his viola case. “We're doing great anyway, ten minutes without me isn't going to hurt anything.”
“Except Mike's concentration,” Danneel interjected and received an offended 'Hey' from the cellist.
“You guys'll be fine,” Jensen waved a hand as he left the small room. He exited the building through the band room, a percussion group was using it but it was much smaller and harder to interrupt than the men's choir that spent the afternoon in the shared choir and orchestra room.
The path from the Music building, and connected auditorium, that led to the gym passed by the commons. Jensen briefly considered snagging a soda from one of the machines but thought better. The concrete walkway was littered with browning leaves and the nearby creek was audibly rushing through its channel. Unlike most days, there weren't any ducks swimmingly lazily against the current.
There were three buildings that made up the gym. One was off to the side, the weight room used by the school teams and the weight training class that attracted mostly guys- the one without 'aerobics' in the title. The first main building was the small gym, it was original to the school and housed two gym classes and the JROTC. The aerobics and weight training course Jensen took his freshman year used a small weight room that was on the second floor, the only room on the second floor that wasn't storage. It had looked out over the rest of the gym, a high guard rail boxing weight machines and students in.
The larger gym had three physical education classes each period and was large enough, when the bleachers were out, to hold all four grades easily for pep rallies. The football team used the large gym's locker room since there was also a small room dedicated to the sports med class off to the side. It was easier for any student athlete that needed a knee of ankle wrapped to get it done if they were in the locker room nearby and the large gym had much larger lockers.
Awkwardly, Jensen leaned against one of the pillars that supported the gym and separated the offices and locker room from the wide open gymnasium floor. It was slightly uncomfortable, leaning with his backpack between himself and the pillar. He settled his viola next to him, hand on the top as he balanced it upright against his leg.
A few odd looks were sent his way as the team trickled out, but most people ignored him. It wasn't odd for a non-athlete to be in the gym after practice, there were a host of after school activities that didn't get out till about this time. A lot of people had projects to work on or got rides with other students. Granted it was a little odd for Jensen to be near the gym at all, after he finished his required two years of physical education classes he'd been avoiding the place. It wasn't that he hated working out, he just set his focus entirely on his education and music.
Jensen glanced over to the wall clock that hung above a drinking fountain next to the office. It was a good thing he didn't have work today, otherwise he'd be late. He probably could have gotten away with finishing practice and still made it in time to catch Jared. But it was better to be early than sorry... or however that saying went. A sigh escaped his lips and Jensen dropped his head back against the pillar, shutting his eyes when he saw a trio of cheerleaders turn the corner from the entrance to the small gym.
The cheerleaders used the upstairs weight room as it had a wide open space and mats to practice. He really hoped none of them were waiting for Jared, if there was anyone worse than jocks when it came to teasing and dirty looks cheerleaders were. They were the masters of gossip. Danneel complained about that at least twice a week during practice.
It wasn't his lucky day, however, as the voices of Kristin Kreuk, Sandra McCoy, and Kristin Bell. There were way too many girls at this school named Kristin. It was well known, even for someone as outside of the high school social circles as Jensen, that Sandy was with Jared. At least in the sense of her following him around all the time, Jensen didn't actually know if they were seriously dating or not. He didn't really care to either. Her presence meant that it wasn't very likely he'd get a good discussion in with Jared, which was more than slightly frustrating.
Jensen stepped away from the wall as another group of football players exited the boys locker room. Kristin Bell squealed in delight as a student he didn't recognize lifted her up and swung her around. She swatted playfully at his chest, a grin stretching shiny pink lips.
Behind the small group, Jared appeared, eyes settling on Sandy's petite form. Jared watched as she walked up to him and began talking animatedly. The guy nodded at something she said and turned, heading in Jensen's direction and the door that led towards the tennis courts, English building, and the far parking lot. A moment later Jared glanced up, eyes catching on Jensen.
Jared stopped and turned to Sandy, a large hand dropping from the strap of his backpack to rest on her slim shoulder. She turned towards him and looked up, wide smile brilliant on her face.
“I forgot I need to go over an English assignment with Jensen,” a sheepish smile crossed the quarterbacks lips, long strands of dark brown hair fell across his eyes. “Why don't you get a ride home with Kristin?” He didn't even bother specifying which girl he meant.
Sandy glanced Jensen's way, a small frown on her lips, before nodding up at Jared, “Call me tonight?”
“Of course,” Jared broke into one of his wide, dimpled smiles as Sandy leaned up and kissed his cheek before hurrying to catch up with her friends.
Jensen adjusted his grip on his viola, leaning down to slip his hand around to the handle before straightening. He watched as Jared made his way over, the guy had the decency to look sheepish at least.
“Hey man, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you last week-”
“S'not a big deal,” Jensen shrugged, gaze dropping to where his fingers wrapped around the cracked plastic handle. “People get busy.”
“It was a big enough deal for you to wait after school for me,” Jared pointed out and made a motion with his hand. “Why don't we talk as we walk? My Mom's expecting me home for dinner.”
They were silent till they pushed through the gymnasium doors and walked out onto a small blacktop. A couple of old half basketball courts with chain baskets were set across from the large paned windows of the JROTC classrooms. They were empty and dark, but a few students milled nearby, cheerleaders and volleyball players mostly. He noticed the faint outline of a square partitioned off into four parts and wondered when the last time was it had been painted, let alone played on.
“You didn't have to brush your girlfriend off you know,” Jensen glanced over at Jared. The jock just shrugged and smiled at him. Just a small smile with barely a hint of dimple.
“I know this assignment is a big deal and I put it off long enough. Plus it's not a big deal, I was just going to drop Sandy off at her Aunt's anyway. She lives nearby,” He shrugged. “But Kristin does too, so it really didn't matter who gave her a ride.”
Jensen nodded as if he understood and this wasn't just useless information that he didn't need to know, “Makes sense.”
The grass was dry but green as they crossed it. He noticed that the tennis court gates were shut, locked to keep students from getting in and making a mess of the special flooring. There was a wide field in front of them now, the English and History building on the left along with the office and teachers parking lot. The track and practice fields for the football team were on the right. The real football field was half the town away, expensive and shared with a private Catholic high school.
“I really am sorry, you know. I'm not just saying it to appease you or something,” Jared pushed his hair back behind his ear as Jensen glanced up. “I really meant to catch up with you last week and sort everything out. Waiting till the last minute to work on a project like this isn't really my thing. It just happens sometimes.”
“You got busy. Football and everything,” Jensen nodded and reached up to adjust his glasses. They had slipped down his nose a bit. “Life happens. But we do need to do this. The assignment. We need to get the assignment done and waiting till the week before isn't something I can do either.”
He watched Jared from the corner of his eye as they walked, the quarterback was slightly obscured by the black frame of his glasses. A look of concentration was furrowing lines into Jared's forehead, bottom lip folded beneath clean white teeth.
“Are you busy after school Friday?”
Jensen blinked at Jared, turning his head to eye him straight on, “I have work at six?”
“Since this is pretty much the only Friday I don't have a game, how about watch my practice? Then I can go to work with you and such,” Jared shrugged. “While it's not ideal it should work?”
“While I work? Um, what are you going to do while I work?”
Jared grinned at him, fucking dimples, “Watch you. I'm supposed to observe, right? You work at the coffee place downtown, coffee heaven or something?”
“Coffee Haven,” He corrected automatically and Jensen could feel his cheeks heating up. How did Jared know where he worked? Jensen had never seen the guy anywhere near the small cafe before. Most of the popular crowd went to Starbucks.
“Well then, I can get a venti double shot expresso or something, one of those dainty little pastries you sell, and sit in a booth for a couple hours,” Jared's smile seemed never ending. “Sugar and caffeine, what more could I ask for? 'Sides, I can use the time to work on my science homework. Chemistry is kicking my ass.”
“Oh,” Really, coherency was something Jensen needed to work on. “So Friday?”
“Yep, Friday we can get this project moving,” Jared jumped over the loose chain that made a sort of fence to separate the parking lot from the field. Following suit Jensen stumbled slightly, only to feel himself stabilized by a strong hand.
“Thanks,” He murmured and made sure his legs and instrument were clear of the chain. A small frown crossed his lips as he felt Jared move off towards his car. “Um, we need to sort out a couple days during school hours for Kripke.”
“How about we do that after class tomorrow? I promise I won't skip out on you,” Jared slipped his key in the car door and unlocked it. There was a slightly staggered thunk of all four doors unlocking. The quarterback let his bag slip off his shoulder before glancing up at Jensen again. “Hey, do you want a ride?”
Jensen's eyes widened behind his glasses and he shook his head, “Um, no thanks. Walking. I, uh, don't live that far so I walk. Home. I walk home.”
“Right,” there was a small smile of what Jensen swore was amusement crossing the jocks lips. He really needed to work on speaking clearly. Maybe he should have taken theater. Anything to avoid looking like a nervous wreck in front of people he didn't know. With his luck he probably would have ended up scarred for life and unable to even walk onto stage. That'd cause some difficulty for his music career. If he ever got one.
“Are you sure? It's no big deal Jensen. I give people rides all the time.”
“Sure. I'm sure,” Jensen shook his head in the negative and adjusted his hold on his instrument. His knuckles were aching a bit, several freckles standing out clearly against pale white skin. He may have been gripping the handle a bit tightly. “I'll see you tomorrow. After class, don't forget.”
Jared grinned at him before tossing his bag into the passenger seat and climbing in, “I won't. Promise.”
Looking back, Jensen probably should have accepted Jared's offer of a ride. It wasn't as if Jared wouldn't find out about his home life eventually. The damn assignment saw to that. He really wasn't sure why he hadn't accepted it, either, as he really didn't have that much to hide. On the outside it the house might look a bit run down, but it was cared for and in a constant state of renovation. It wasn't any worse than most houses in the area. Maybe Jensen just didn't want to admit his family wasn't really his family. Or it was, just not conventional, and not really close.
The walk home was pretty uneventful. The weather was nice, had been all day, and halfway there Jensen stopped to take off his hoodie. For a fall day it was pretty warm. While his foster family didn't live in the best part of town, they also didn't live in a bad part. Most of the houses nearby had well kept yards, mowed at the very least, and fences. There weren't many with landscaping or flower beds and most were also in need of a paint job. The neighbors were relatively nice, a mix of older couples who had lived in there for several decades and newer couples that had invested in their first home together. Cheap and with a little fixing up they could sell again in a few years to make a small profit.
The walk was good for him, Jensen figured. It felt good to stretch his legs and breathe in the crisp autumn air. He did a lot of walking during the day since the campus was so spread out, but fifty minutes every hour was spent hunkered down in a chair. Even in Orchestra the students spent more time sitting than standing.
It was 5:45 by the time Jensen unlocked the door, the walk had taken longer than usual. He hadn't been in a hurry, though. Jensen didn't have work tonight and it wasn't his turn to cook dinner. Margaret said she'd pick up some pizzas to throw in the oven on the way home from work that morning. He was looking forward to the treat and hoped she bought a meat lovers. They usually just got the special, a large single pepperoni and a medium two topping. It didn't hurt to hope though.
*****
Next
A.Note: Next update will likely be Sunday or Monday, depends. Thank you for reading this part, I hope you enjoyed it!
