Chapter Text
After the exciting start, his day went back to being a little boring. He was caught up trying to find the right classes and every new teacher made him introduce himself to the class, announcing his status as the new kid over and over.
Most people in his classes were too enveloped in the joy of meeting their friends after a long summer away and paid him no mind, though he did notice the seniors from the mall eyeing him once.
Still, the day hadn’t been terrible but Ian was still more than willing to get out of the campus and on to the L so he could head back to the south side. He had a shift at Kash and Grab with Mickey after all.
His mind was already miles away from the northside that he hadn’t expected to be splashed with kool aid the minute he opened his locker. He saw the color mostly spill on his uniform, already staining the new cloth and he barely managed to hold in the curses.
One glance around the corridor and he knew he was the centre of their attention, all of them waiting for his reaction. Well, no need to miss a chance to disappoint them, he figured before shrugging and rolling his eyes dramatically.
He turned to face the crowd, fingers already working on removing his tie. He gave the stunned audience a very effective strip show as he quickly shrugged off his blazer and the white uniform shirt.
He took a minute to flex his bare muscles before turning back to dig a t-shirt he had stashed in there so he could change before work. Once he had pulled it on and grabbed his things, he stepped away from the puddle and slammed his locker shut.
There was still silence around the corridor and he caught a teacher or two at the corner, not that he cared about them right then. He simply gave the hallway a middle finger salute before raising the same finger in the air, flipping them off one more time before wordlessly heading towards the exit.
He had better things to do than deal with fucking five year old pranks. After growing up with Carl, they’d need to work harder to impress him.
*
Mandy was in hysterics as she sat at the Gallagher kitchen table with the laptop she had borrowed from Debbie.
She had had a bad day with Karen Jackson back in school but she had found her way to the store Ian worked at earlier in the evening. Mostly she had bitched about the blonde and then at him for abandoning her in the shithole before demanding details about his new school.
It was safe to say she had already heard everything about everything, including the new essay Ian was already working on to get a scholarship. She knew he wanted it to be a secret and since no one except her asshole of a brother had been in the shop then, Mandy knew it would remain that way. Mickey didn’t care and she wouldn’t share.
Well she didn’t share Ian’s secrets. But this was pure gold and it was him that sent her the youtube link anyway, so she wasn’t going to miss the chance to show his family.
Helpfully, she placed the laptop right in Fiona’s face, grinning widely as she pressed play. The eldest Gallagher had been about to complain before she spotted Ian on the screen and quickly shut up.
By the time he walked away, flipping the room off as he went, all the Gallaghers had gathered around.
“I can’t believe he didn’t hit anybody” Carl sounded disappointed.
“Think he did way better than that champ” Lip smiled, evidently proud of his little brother.
And Mandy was too. She knew Ian could do the passive aggressive bullshit well, that he only resorted to actual fighting if he had to and she’d seen him piss Lip off without a word more times than she could count.
Ian Gallagher was going to kick some northside ass. She knew it.