< Main

Chapter 1

Nick headed down the hall towards his locker, he smiled as he recognized his best friend Justin standing in front of it, waiting for him. With one glance to his watch, Nick saw that he was a few minutes late and hurried the rest of the way. The last thing he wanted to do was miss it, the one thing he looked forward to every morning at 8:37am. He was a creature of habit, and if one thing was thrown off, the whole day would be slightly out of whack. And he totally hated it when his day was out of whack.

"Dude, you're late," Justin said. A wide grin appeared on his face as he looked up from the book he was reading. "You're never late."

Nick nodded before craning his neck to look down the far end of the hall. Thankfully he hadn't missed it. At least he didn't think he'd missed it. Nick's pulse began to race at the thought that he'd taken too long in getting out of bed that morning and Justin would, at any minute, tell him he was too late. "Was up late doing my book report and couldn't get out of bed. Then BJ wouldn't get out of the shower... Did I...?"

Justin simply rolled his eyes and shook his head. Within seconds he had buried his nose back in the geography text book he'd been reading. He tried to soak up as much information as he could, as quickly as possible. They were rumoured to be having a pop quiz in third period that day and of course Justin had been too busy watching the game the night before to even crack the book open. Not that he'd actually brought it home, but if he had, he still wouldn't have been able to study. Some things were just more important than grade nine geography, and watching Michael Jordan perfect his basketball skills was one of those things. "No. You haven't missed him. Don't worry your pretty little blonde head over it." The words and diagrams all swam before his eyes and Justin cursed himself silently.

With a giant sigh of relief, Nick's smile returned to his face and his hips moved in an excited shimmy. "Good. Then move, I want to be ready for it." Nick knew that behind the book, Justin was rolling his eyes again and he didn't care. Carefully, Nick put his bag in his locker and prepared his books for the day. He had math first so he made sure to grab the right binder, his text book and pencil case. At the last minute he remembered his calculator in the front pocket of his bag, pulled it out and quickly shut his locker door. He wanted to be ready and waiting for when it happened.

"Did you see that game last night?" Justin asked as he snapped his book shut. There was no use cramming for the test now, if he didn't know the stuff it wouldn't make much of a difference. He frowned when Nick shook his head.

"Nah. I had to do my report. Not to mention the math assignment I've got to hand in first period. And then Aaron had some homework problems so I helped him." Nick gave a sheepish shrug. "I lost track of time and you know how mom and dad won't let me do my homework in front of the TV. I'm in high school now, I have to take my studies seriously if I want to get into a good college." Nick rolled his eyes at how lame his parents were. Their voices were still ringing loudly in his ears.

"That's why you have to tell them you're gonna come over to my house to do homework on game nights. How are we gonna make the team this year if we don't study the pros?" Justin's eyes widened at the thought of making the Lincoln High basketball team, the lights all dimmed low, cheerleaders on the sidelines, the stands full of adoring fans and Justin, running down the court as the gymnasium exploded in thunderous applause. "I am SO gonna be Michael Jordan when I grow up." Justin's voice was wistful and he leaned against the lockers, the fantasy still playing in his mind. He had no doubt that this fantasy would come true.

"Uhhh, J?" Nick said as he stifled a giggle. When he knew he had Justin's attention, he continued. "One problem. You're white." With the look Justin gave him, Nick's stifled giggles turned into full blown laughter and he groaned as Justin punched him hard on the shoulder. "Oww. Fucker." Nick gingerly massaged the spot where Justin had just decked him. He saw the smile playing on his best friend's lips and knew that he wasn't really upset with his joke.

"Screw you, just watch. I'm going to be the best player that this school has ever seen!"

Nick only shrugged, he still massaged his arm gingerly. "But... we're only freshman. I don't think a freshman has ever made the team..." Nick's statement was cut off as his eyes roamed down the hall and rest upon the exact person he had been waiting for. His pulse raced, his stomach churned and Nick swore that he could see dancing cartoon hearts floating around his head. Justin, on the other hand, hadn't even noticed Nick's distraction.

"I know, but there's always gotta be that first one to break the tradition right? I mean, why wouldn't I make the team? I'm amazing, have mad skills and so what that I'm only fourteen? I'm going to be fifteen in January and..." It was Nick's lack of response and failure to even acknowledge him speaking that caused for Justin to finally stop. "...and you're not even listening."

"Oh.. yeah.. uh-huh," Nick murmured. "Mad skills."

Justin snickered as he rolled his eyes. "And we all know you have no game, isn't that right Nick?" Justin knew that it was something his best friend would never admit to, and on many occasions, that statement alone had fueled a heated debate that always ended with one tackling the other to the ground and wrestling until one said ‘uncle’. Today, Nick simply nodded. Justin knew all hope for decent conversation was lost for at least three to four minutes.

Nick faintly answered with, "no game."

Everything was moving in slow motion. Nick's heart was beating wildly in his chest and he was having trouble breathing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear Justin still talking but Nick couldn't care less what it was about. Kevin Richardson, captain of the football team, both homecoming and prom king two years running was walking down the hall, followed closely by his usual posse. Everyone and everything except for Kevin and his best friends faded into the background, invisible to Nick's eyes. The temperature of the air raised a few notches, electricity was charging through the air and Nick felt as if his whole body was alive with awareness.

Looking at the three teens that accompanied Kevin down the hall, one would be surprised that they were friends, best friends to be exact, but they were. Had been since kindergarten practically. Usually, or as Nick had always assumed, the different cliques kept with their kind and pretty much ignored the rest of the school, but in this case there didn't seem to be any type of boundaries with the friends. Despite being the captain of the football team, Kevin was tight with pretty much every clique that the school held, as he was someone that you couldn't not like. He broke down the age old boundaries that kept everyone segregated and decided to make his friends based on his own decisions, not the decisions that countless students before him had followed. This group was proof of it, and that was what made Kevin the most popular person in the school, male and female.

The man was a legend. A god. The one thing that made high school livable for Nick Carter, a lowly freshman.

Before Nick knew it, Kevin was only a few feet away from him. He swallowed nervously, held his breath and smiled, hoping that today would be the day he caught Kevin's eye. Nick had replayed the scene out in his head a million times of what would happen when Kevin actually turned his head to look right at Nick. How their eyes would meet, Nick would smile and Kevin would look at him with a raw, hunger in his eyes that was meant for Nick and Nick alone. The thought always sent goose bumps racing up his spine. He nervously played with the hem of his tee shirt with one hand, while his other arm was secured safely around his books, holding them to his chest.

On one side of Kevin was Brian Littrell, the smallest member of the Lincoln High basketball team and one of Kevin's best friends. He had sandy blonde hair that curled just slightly around his bangs and the nape of his neck and spoke with a light accent that Nick wasn't sure where he got. On Kevin's other side was Joey Fatone, Kevin's other best friend and a legend in the school's theatre programme. From what Nick had learned, he'd been the lead of every play, musical or not, that had been put on since he'd arrived and it was rumoured that once he left Lincoln High, he was contemplating moving to New York to pursue acting full time. And on the far right next to Joey was Chris Kirkpatrick, who upon first glance, had scared Nick just a little. He always wore black jeans, a black long (or short) sleeved tee, black boots, black hair gelled in pointy spikes and a dog collar. Sometimes Nick wasn't sure, but he thought he saw eye liner decorating Chris' eyes. Aside from being a senior, Chris
 was lead bassist in a punk band that played in a bar across town every second weekend. They were a strong, cohesive unit that had seen each other through good times and bad, only making them all the more close and none of them were going to let the social standings of Lincoln High break a friendship that had been going strong for at least twelve years.

Nick knew pretty much everything he could find out about Kevin, and consequently Kevin's friends, keeping all of his notes safely secured in the back of a leather bound journal that his parents had given to him for graduating from junior high. All summer he had saved that journal, keeping it safe until there came a time that he would need it. His parents had intended for him to use the journal for something much more academic, but from the first time Nick had caught a glimpse of Kevin across the hall, he knew it was just perfect for keeping his "Kevin Files". The journal never left his sight and often, Nick would sneak off to be alone so he could update his files, include new facts or observations or simply take a moment to revisit old ones when he found he was having a particularly bad day. Even if he was just reading about Kevin, the senior had the power to make Nick smile and remember why life was so good.

The foursome passed by and just as Nick gave a nervous, anxious smile, Kevin threw his head back and laughed at something Joey had just said. His eyes were shut tight and he half leaned on Brian as they continued walking, not even once noticing the tall, blonde freshman waiting for their appearance with bated breath. It was only as they turned the corner, heading to the 'senior's lounge' that Nick was able to breathe again. He expelled the air that he had been holding in his lungs and collapsed against his locker, crossed between giddy at Kevin's mere appearance and disappointed that yet another day had gone by without any contact. The people in the hall seemed to once again appear and Nick could see more than just the beautiful man he was enamored with.

"Did you see him?" Nick asked Justin breathlessly. He turned his head and flashed his best friend a goofy grin.

"Uh, no. I missed him. I was temporarily blinded by this glow that was coming from your eyes and smile." Both of them burst into laughter as Nick punched Justin's arm.

"Shut up," Nick giggled. He wasn't going to let Justin's teasing distract him from the heady rush of Kevin's appearance in the hall. "He looked so good today," Nick swooned. He closed his eyes to replay the moment over in his mind again. The faded blue jeans that Kevin filled out to perfection, the cowboy boots on his feet and the button up shirt that hugged his chest teasingly, long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Kevin's hair was brushed back at the top, long locks nearly touching the nape of his neck and he'd been carrying a few books in his arms, probably to study Nick assumed. The butterflies once more rattled around in his stomach and he sighed. "So good."

"He's never going to know you exist if you don't say anything to him," a voice said from behind a locker, startling both Justin and Nick. Nick's pulse started to race, but for a different reason than the one he'd had less than two minutes earlier.

"Huh?" The last thing Nick needed was someone spreading the fact that he was head over heels in love with Kevin Richardson around the school. He had no idea how Kevin would react to the news and feared that being so popular and such a big jock, he'd probably want to beat Nick up for feeling that way about him. Never once had he even entertained the thought that anyone could have, at any point in time, overheard their conversations about Kevin and suddenly he felt a little nauseous. "I don't know what you're..."

The locker slammed shut and Nick found himself looking into a pair of intense green eyes that he couldn't remember noticing before. The teen, obviously a freshman since his locker was in 'Fresh Meat Lane' was a few inches shorter than he and Justin and looked slightly awkward in his jeans, runners and tee shirt. Before Nick could say anything, the stranger continued. "Every morning you go through this exact same ritual. You get here early enough to prepare, make small talk until 8:37 when Kevin Richardson and his buddies walk down "Fresh Meat Lane" to go to the seniors lounge.. which by the way, Joey and Brian aren't even seniors. They're juniors, but still get in because they're best friends with Kevin and Chris. Then when he goes by, you leave. Every time you know he's going to walk by this hall for the rest of the day, you rush here to beat him so you can get another glimpse of him."

Nick and Justin exchanged surprised glances as they both shrugged. "Who are you?" Justin asked suspiciously. "And why do you care?" It was okay for him to make fun of Nick for his crush on Kevin, but for some stranger to step in brought out Justin's protective side. He made a step so that he was shielding Nick, prepared to attack if need be. Not that this person looked like he could put up much of a fight, but still, Justin wanted to be prepared.

The stranger gave a low chuckle as he closed his locker. He nervously ran his fingers through his light brown hair before speaking softly. "My name is Lance. I'm in your English class," Lance pointed at Justin before turning to face Nick "... and we have phys ed together but I'm usually hiding in the bleachers while you're right in the middle of things, being the athlete that the teacher screams at us to be." Lance blushed as he received blank stares from the two best friends. "I'm not much of an athlete, more of a numbers person."

"Have you always had this locker?" Nick asked. He couldn't ever remember Lance being at his locker ever before and it was the middle of October so they'd have been locker neighbors for over a month now. The thought unnerved him that Lance had been studying them for so long to the point that he knew when they got to school, what they did and what classes they had, all without Nick even realizing it. For a moment, he tried to convince himself that Lance had just moved into that locker and that was why they'd never seen him, but even he wasn't buying it. Lance just seemed to know TOO much about his obsession with Kevin.

Lance nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. You two are usually pretty wrapped up in what you're doing to notice anything that's going on around you. Which isn't wise if you're constantly swooning over the hottest, most popular BOY in school." He looked down the hall, both ways, before turning back to face Nick. Lance leaned in as if to share a secret. " But if you haven't noticed me, you probably haven't noticed the girls on the other side of your locker then either... have you?"

Nick's eyes widened as he looked at the row of lockers beside him. They were all a shade of pale yellow which had been freshly painted during the summer but were now beginning to look a little dingy from wear and tear. With a shake of his head, he leaned in to hear what else Lance had to say. "No.. why?" Now he was curious to find out what else he'd been missing. There was a sliver of regret that he'd been ignoring Lance, but pushed that to the back of his mind.

Lance chuckled by means of a response. "Oh, they have the biggest crush on both of you. You're all they talk about. Nick this and Justin that."

Justin made a sound that resembled a snort as his cheeks blushed. Nick only laughed. "Yeah right, you're just saying that."

Lance shook his head. "No man, I'm serious. Their names are Britney and Christina. From what I've heard... god, I know Kevin's whole schedule from hearing you talk about it all the time, where he is at any given time of the day, what he's wearing and how hot he looks in it..."

Nick blushed in embarrassment as Lance kept talking.

"And if that's not bad enough, I know where both of you are at any given point of the day too. I know you both have science together, because the 'peroxide twins' are in your class. You both sit at the front table by the windows which is 'like totally prime watching location'," all three teens laughed at Lance's impression of the two girls. "And besides science, Christina has math and English with Justin, History with Nick where Britney has computer studies with Justin and sadly enough, nothing else with Nick."

"God, this is so scary," Nick said. Looking at his watch Nick realized that they were going to have to rush if they wanted to get to homeroom on time. "I can't believe I've been missing all this!"

"Me too... are they hot?" Justin asked with raised eyebrows.

Lance only shrugged. "They're kind of annoying, so I don't notice the hotness." He turned to Nick, face serious. "But I wasn't kidding, what I said earlier. He's never going to know you exist if you don't at least say something to him. You just never know."

"I..." Nick's face turned a scarlet red and he looked away in embarrassment. It was scary enough just standing in the hall as Kevin passed him by, the thought of having a conversation with him left him terrified. It was Justin who broke the awkwardness.

"We've got to get to homeroom. Where do you usually eat lunch Lance?"

This time Lance was the one to blush in embarrassment. "I usually eat in on the front steps of the school. There's not as many people around and..." Lance didn't want either of these boys to know that he ate lunch alone every day, usually reading a book while he tried to forget that no one besides teachers had spoken to him since he'd started at Lincoln High. This was the first conversation he'd had and he was feeling a little light headed at how nervous he was.

"You eat alone? Every day?" Nick asked quietly. He could tell that Lance was uncomfortable and didn't want to add to that feeling. His stomach fell when the other teen nodded.

"Kinda."

Justin's face broke out into a wide grin. "Well, meet us here after third period. You can join us in the quad. We can talk more about these babes who are lusting after me."

Lance's eyes nearly bugged out at Justin's suggestion. "The quad? That's where the sophomores eat... we can't go in there."

"Do you know AJ McLean?" Nick asked with a shrug. When Lance shook his head he snickered. "Don't let him know you said that, he's got this ego thing. Thinks everyone knows him and worships him. Well... he is awesome. One of the coolest guys ever. He's taking freshman art and we sit together. He's a great artist... gonna be famous one day. We're with him so we're cool. No one bugs us... not any more than usual anyways. He doesn't have to be nice to us, but he is."

Justin nodded as he started to head down the opposite way that Nick was going. "Yeah, and we eat in the quad with him every day. Keeps us out of the caf where all the freshmen are. It's always so insane in there so we don't go. We'll meet here after third period, you're eating lunch with us.."

"I don't know.." Lance stuttered nervously.

"Yes you do. You'll be there," Nick ordered kindly. "I guess I'll see you in gym in second period. Later."


~*~*~*~*~

Lance fidgeted nervously with his locker. He wondered for the thousandth time in two minutes whether or not Nick and Justin were serious about letting him eat with them. By now he'd already be on the front steps, nose in a book so no one would be able to see the sadness in his eyes at not having any friends at Lincoln. Where everyone else had gone to junior high together, as well as elementary school, Lance's parents had moved to Middletown just that past summer and he knew no one in the small town. And most people already had their cliques together and were not too keen on new additions, so he'd mainly spent all of his time alone since school had started. There had been a few times that he'd approached people, trying to make new friends, but more often than not they would take one look at him, hear his thick Mississippi accent and snicker before leaving him standing alone in the hall way. With a glance to his watch, Lance gave them five more minutes before he took his brown bag and
 his lunch towards the front steps where he usually sat.

"Sorry I'm late," Justin said, startling Lance. "My geography quiz took me a little longer to finish or I'd have been here long before now. Maybe should have studied instead of watching the Bulls game last night" It wasn't anything Justin was all too worried about as the test was almost forgotten already and he knew the next time he had a test, he would probably do the same thing again. He'd long since learned not to worry so much about school because he was smart enough to get the grades needed to be on the team, and that was all that mattered, being on the team.

Relief washed over Lance at Justin's arrival as he nodded nervously. His stomach was churning with nervous excitement and he was nearly giddy at the prospect of eating with other people, at making friends. "No problem. I was just..." He watched as Justin swiftly opened Nick's locker and pulled out two brown paper bags, he then tossed his geography textbook and binder on the top shelf. "What are you doing?"

Justin shrugged. "Getting our lunches."

"You keep your lunch in Nick's locker?"

Justin nodded as he looked at Lance like he was crazy. "My mom doesn't make good lunches. And I always forget to make my own in the mornings, so I just tell my mom that I’m going to get lunch at school and she gives me five bucks to eat here. She has no idea that Nick gets his mom to make him two lunches, one for him and one for me. So I get lunch plus five bucks. And Nick’s mom’s lunches are the best. At the end of the week, Nick and I split the money! Now come on, they're gonna be waiting for us."

Lance had to jog to keep up with Justin's long strides as they headed down 'Fresh Meat Lane' towards the back stairs that led to the quad. "Who?"

"Nick and Aje. Weren't you listening this morning?" Justin looked at Lance who shrugged and had a confused expression on his face. "Nick usually doesn't come back to his locker after art. Takes him too long to get his supplies put away, so I just meet them there. His locker is closest to geography so I just come by, drop my stuff off and get our lunches. Plus, like he said, AJ is in the class with him so they go to AJ's locker to get his lunch and then go and save us a table outside." The sophomore lockers were in the area of the main foyer, which was on the way to the quad where they had lunch, so it was easiest for them to stop at AJ's locker before heading directly outside, rather than forcing Nick to backtrack down to the lower level where the freshmen lockers were kept.

Justin and Lance were heading past the cafeteria when the doors opened and two nearly identical girls wearing plaid kilts, white halter tops and had their bleached blonde hair pulled up with a scrunchie on the tops of their heads walked out.

Lance immediately grabbed onto Justin's Chicago Bulls jersey, pulling him back a step.

"What the hell..?" Justin whined. It was then that he noticed the two girls standing completely still, watching him through wide eyes.

"That's them." Lance whispered as he looked up into Justin's eyes. He leaned in closer so that he could speak without them hearing him. When Justin only flashed him a confused look Lance shook his head. "The girls I was telling you about, next to Nick's locker."

Before either of them could say anything else, the two girls approached. "Hey Lance," the one on the right giggled.

Lance's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. For the past month and a half, Lance had said hello to both Britney and Christina every single day and never once had they ever responded. At least not to him directly. Usually they would look at him, laugh and walk away, all the while talking about what a dork he was and how he was 'so not as hot as Nick or Justin'. "B..Britney. H..hey."

Recognition flashed in Justin's eyes and he realized that these girls must be the two freshmen that Lance had been telling them about that morning. Britney and ...Christina, Lance had said their names were. Justin let his gaze roam shamelessly over the two girls' and oddly enough, as hot as he was certain that most of the freshmen... hell the male population of the school, probably thought they were, he simply found them a little trashy. It was definitely not the type of girl he ever pictured himself with and within moments, he was bored.

"How are you today Lance? You're looking pretty good." Christina said, looking not at Lance, but at Justin.

Justin found himself offended by her rudeness to his new friend, which only furthered the fact that it didn't matter how hot they thought they were, he wasn't interested..

"Uhh... th-thanks."

"So, are you going to introduce us to your friend.." Now both girls were blatantly ignoring Lance and focused directly on Justin.

Justin's skin pricked with annoyance. "From what I hear, you already know who I am."

"But you don't know who we are," Britney flirted, batting her eyelashes sweetly at him. Justin flashed her his infamous smile and gave a non committal shrug.

"I like a little mystery in my life. Let's keep things that way."

Lance had to stifle a snicker as both Britney and Christina's faces went slack in shock. He was certain that they'd never, in their wildest dreams, have expected their first verbal interaction with Justin to go this way. Lance never failed to see how guys reacted when the two girls walked down the hall, nor did he fail to notice the countless guys who were always approaching, asking them out on dates. It seemed that the one boy.. or one of the two boys, they *really* wanted to be with, had just blown them off and they didn't know how to deal with it. Lance couldn't help but feel victorious for the harsh way they'd treated him over the past month. It was karma coming back at them.

Justin simply grabbed a hold of Lance's sleeve and pulled him in the direction of the quad. "If you don't mind, we're late for lunch with Nick." And with that, they left the two girls watching after them, mouths open wide, faces masked in shock. Once they were in alone in the hall Lance felt he had to speak up. Even though he had enjoyed watching Justin shoot them down, it didn't make sense to him.

"Why did you say that to them? You know they like you."

Justin shrugged.

"But.. they're hot and girls and... they obviously like you.."

Again Justin shrugged. "And?"

"Why did you just blow them off?"

Justin stopped and faced Lance. He looked deeply into his new friend's eyes. "They're ..." He didn't know how to explain it. Instead, he asked Lance a question. "How many times have they spoken to you? Before just now?"

It was Lance's turn to shrug. His cheeks flushed bright red and he refused to look at Justin. "I don't... know..."

"I'll bet never, because if they had talked to you before you wouldn't have been so surprised they were doing it now. I saw the surprise on your face when they said your name, when they actually spoke to you." Justin pulled Lance in the direction of the quad. "Now come on, Nick's gonna be wiggin' because I'm late." Just as Justin had predicted Nick pounced on them the second they entered the quad.

End Chapter 1

Chapter 2 >