saladlove | This is Forever-A High School AU (Chapter 2)

So, this chapter is now up.

~Scott PoV~

Scott sat through his boring classes, not paying any attention to the teachers boring “First day of school” speeches, that were really all the same. Instead he kept thinking about how awkward his last confrontation with Clash was, and how he could make himself seem less awkward, and in turn cooler. He didn’t want to mess up with these new group of friends, and more specifically, Clash.

When the last bell of the school day rang, marking that all the students could get their freedom back, Scott was very relieved. He gathered up his belongings, and headed outside, in search of Clash. He waited for a bit, probably about 5 minutes or so, until he saw the bright phoenix jacket that Clash was wearing.

“Hey Clash, over here!” he called out gleefully. Waving his hand around a bit, to make it easier for Clash to spot him.

“Hey Scooter!” Clash called out happily, walking over to him. “All set for a fun afternoon at the park?”

“Yep, just lead the way” Scott said, doing a small hand gesture as to show Clash should take the lead.

“Alright! Off we go!” Clash said, enthusiastic as ever, walking with a long stride towards the park.

After a-not so-short walk to the park, Scott saw that Shawn, Cooki, Ratt, and a girl he recognized from one of his previous classes were all sitting at a park bench, talking happily. Clash took the initiative to show their presence.

“Hey, guys! We’re here! Got anything planned for today? Can we go climb trees? Oh, I think the playground might be empty! Can we go there?” Clash asked eagerly, eyes shining in child-like joy at the mention of the activities he wanted to do, which brought an eye roll and some good natured laughter from the group in front of them.

“Sure Clash, whatever you want” said Ratt with a hefty smile, his arm was around the girl who Scott couldn’t quite pin a name to. It was almost as if Ratt had read his mind as he immediately introduced the girl.

“Right, sorry, this is Freeze, we’re dating now.” He said with a confident smile.

“Weren’t you dating someone else last week, guy?” Clash asked, completely unaware of the slight change in Ratta’s facial expression as Clash said that in front of Freeze.

“Oh Hayley, yeah, things didn’t work out, she was kinda stalkerish… But I’m sure things with Freeze will be much better!” he said, giving Freeze a reassuring kiss on the cheek.

Scott wasn’t necessarily the brightest bulb in the shed, but he was smart enough to know that Ratt was the obvious ladies man of the group. He found it kind of funny, knowing that the relationship he had now most likely wouldn’t last more than a month.

“Come on! Let’s go to the playground!” Clash said, beginning to grab people by the arm and drag them over to the area, which was probably designed for much smaller children, but it didn’t seem like Clash cared, swinging happily on the swings and hanging upside down from the monkey bars. Shawn, Cooki, Ratt, and Freeze all just sat at a bench, conversing with one another, not necessarily wanting to go on the playground.

Scott, wanting to seem cool, sat with them. Though he didn’t join in any of the conversations, instead he just watched as Clash seemed to have the time of his life playing on something that was clearly meant for people much smaller than him. He found it amazing how someone could have so much confidence to just be able to go and do that, without fear of being judged by their peers.

Scott was so enthralled by his thoughts that he seemed to lose track of his time, and was only reminded of such by Shawn getting up and stretching.

“Hm, it’s been a good few hours, Cooki and I have homework, so I think we’ll be heading out.” Shawn said, intertwining fingers with Cooki. At first this action confused Scott, until he realized how oblivious he actually was. These 2 were an obvious couple, and Scott probably would have noticed it, if it weren’t for his other distracting thoughts.

“Aww, time to go? Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you guys around!” Clash waved goodbye to his friends, his sadness at them leaving instantly replaced with his usual gleefulness. “I think my mom is going to get annoyed if I stay out for too much longer on a school night, too… Bai everyone! I’ll see y’all tomorrow!” He hopped down from the monkeybars, which was really only about a 6 inch drop, and began to jog away with a wave, picking up his backpack as he left.

Scott was about to ask if Clash wanted to walk home with him, but there was no way Scott was going to try and catch up with Clash. His natural energy seemed to go into his speed as well. So Scott simply gathered up his belongings as well, and waved Ratt and Freeze goodbye, as he began to walk home as well.

Once Scott had finally gotten home, he opened the door to the sight of his Dad reading the paper in the living room.

"Hey champ! How'd your first day go?" Asked Scott father, he was a rather lean looking individual whose appearance almost neared that of Indiana Jones.

"It actually went fairly well... I met a cool kid named Clash, and I hanged out with his friends after school." Scott explained to his father.

"That's awesome! I knew the move was kinda hard on you, so I'm glad you're fitting in with some kids." Scott's father was always the motivating type, who clearly wanted the best for Scott.

“Yeah, Clash is a really nice guy. He’s like no one I’ve ever met before, he’s just so, so, I can only describe him as Clash” Scott could feel the smile growing on his lips.

“Oh boy, does my little man have a crush?” Scott’s father said, before getting up and giving him a small noogie, messing up his hair.

“Ugh, Dad, my hair!” Scott said, backing up and trying to straighten his hair with his fingers. All the while Scott’s Father was giggling slightly to himself. “And I don’t know if I like him yet Dad, it’s been one day!”

“Scott, your face lit up when you were talking about him, there is no way you don’t like this boy.” Said Scott’s father with an, only slightly, more serious tone.

“You know what, you may be right Dad.” Scott said, not wanting to reveal his feelings, although if there was one person Scott would talk to about his feelings, it’d be his Dad. “Anyways, I’m gonna go do some homework…”

“Wow, you’d rather do homework then talk to your old man?” Scott’s father said, laughing slightly to himself, before pulling Scott into a hug and giving him a second noogie.

“Dad!” Scott couldn’t help himself from bursting out into laughter as well.

Scott had decided he was happy that he and his father moved here. Their house was considerably smaller, there weren’t any beaches anywhere close to them, and Scott knew he was going to hate the cold that would come when winter arrived, but as long as he had his Dad and some good friends, he could care less about these things.

~Shawn POV~

Psy-psy-psyduck! Shawn’s ringtone blared out of his pocket, startling him slightly as he walked home with Cooki. He chuckled a little as he realized that he’d just gone and gotten himself worked up because his phone started ringing. He picked up on the fourth ring and was slightly surprised to hear Ratta on the other end.

“Hey, Shawn! What’s up?” Ratta asked, starting the conversation with little formalities and small talk, but he could tell that something was exciting Ratta quite a bit.

“What’s up with you?” Shawn asked in reply, cutting to the chase. “You don’t really call me ever unless there’s something you desperately need to talk about.”

“True enough. Well, you know how Clash and that other guy were all talky and acting friendly and they’ve only known each other since this morning? I think something might be going on between one or maybe both of them.”

“What do you mean? Clash is always the most friendly guy around. And his name is Scott, by the way,” Shawn replied, a hint of skepticism in his voice.

“Scott! I knew I knew it, I just forgot for a minute. But, Shawn, didn’t you see them give each other looks during lunch and at the park? And Clash was acting more energetic than usual, which is saying something. Maybe trying to impress the guy?”

“Ratta, you know that all of this sounds really stupid, right?”

“Hey, hey, no need to say that. I was just saying. And you obviously weren’t paying attention because you were busy with Cooki.”

“Ratta, she’s my girlfriend! Of course I’m going to talk to her rather than be examining Clash’s behavior!” Shawn said in an annoyed tone, angry that Ratta would pull that card. “And if you would rather look at Clash for how he’s acting than spend time with your new girlfriend, then maybe you don’t deserve a girlfriend.”

The line was silent for a bit before Ratta replied. “Well, glad to hear that you think that way. Maybe it was a mistake to talk to you of all people about this. See ya later, Shawn. Enjoy being a lovebird tonight,” Ratta said, dripping in subdued anger before he abruptly hung up, leaving Shawn stunned that he’d said that to his friend. He put his phone in his pocket and slammed a palm into his forehead, cursing his stupidity and rashness. He didn’t want to lose one of his friends.

“Was that Ratta?” Cooki asked, concerned by the look on Shawn’s face.

“Yeah… I kinda... Ugh, I don’t even know. I shot down some idea he had about something, and it just went downhill from that…” Shawn blurted out, explaining every part of the conversation to his girlfriend. Cooki listened silently as Shawn went over all the details, and once Shawn ended, she gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before guiding him towards their houses once more.

“Just talk to him and apologize tomorrow, Shawn. It’s all going to work out fine, I’m sure. We’ve had much larger arguments between our friends before, so there’s no reason we can’t overcome this one.” She said giving her boyfriend a kind and genuine smile.

“Yeah, you’re probably right; I’ll talk to him tomorrow” Shawn parted from his girlfriend, leaving her with a kiss and a wave before heading back to his house. ‘I really do hope things work out in the end’.