Chapter Text
“Mom, where’s the cereal?”
14-year-old Sam Emerson emerged from his boy cave in all his glory, the sandy-haired fashion victim trudged down the stairs to the breakfast table, blowing his hair out of his eyes.
Around 20 minutes later, his 17-year-old brother Michael found his way downstairs, looking incredibly hung over, he’d been downing a few with some Surf Nazi’s he’d met at the boardwalk, he was supposed to be looking for a part-time job but he didn’t really mind the detour too much, he’d just go poking around after school or something.
Their mother delivered two bowls of cereal to her sons, Michael rose his head an inch to half-heartedly shove Sam off his chair
“Mike! What was that for?” Sam squealed, pouting like a little kid from his seat on the ever cleanly kitchen floor.
“For not leaving the key under the mat last night, I had to crawl up the pipes Sam”
Sam ignored his brother, feeling halfway between guilty and pleased, Alcohol and Michael didn’t exactly mix with the best outcome.
Not that he usually had to worry, his big brother wasn’t a drinker, more of a soccer field, protein shakes and weights kind of guy which he would have hated if it wasn’t Mike who saved his ass every time some asshole decided he was an easy target, which was frequent back in Santa Carla.
“Shouldn’t have stayed out so late then, mom was getting suspicious!”
Michael softened, Sam would never admit it but he hated being alone, there had been plenty of times where it seemed like them against the world, especially with the divorce and the moving, the Emerson brothers prided themselves in their good relationship.
Mike smiled dangling his hand down to help Sam back up, after all, no one messed with Sam but him.
“Thanks for covering for me Sammy”
Sam went a little red in the cheeks and fruitlessly tried to look miffed, he should be, he’d have a huge bruise on his ass from Mike’s little stunt.
But, he wasn’t.
Mike was Mike, end of.
Lucy leant against the doorway, grandpa shadowing her sinisterly
“I hope you two are getting on- “she gathered the bowls up and deposited them on the side
“Even though Santa Carla High is small doesn’t mean I want you to abandon each other. Right Michael...Michael?”
Michael held back a groan, gee whiz those guys must have given him some heavy shit, he felt half dead, apparently the stuff was in some bottle they found on the beach.
“Yeah?”
“Oh Sweetie you don’t look so good, you could stay home but- “Lucy’s kind eyes flicked to her youngest, she worried most about him, Michael had muscle and he was always enough of a follower to be well-liked.
But Sam it seemed, attracted trouble.
Michael put her fears at ease, leaning over to ruffle Sam’s hair “It’s chill mom, I won’t let anyone bag on him”
Sam furrowed his eyebrows and scooted away from Michael’s long arms, he loved to mess with his hair, hair that took him forever to do in the morning, there was a reason he got up at 6 am.
“Okay, boys! Get your shoes on, we’re leaving”
The Emersons shared a mutually pained look, their mom drove like a maniac.
“Aw, why can’t grandpa take us?” the younger Emerson complained, sliding his feet into his kicks, which used to be new but were now quite faded.
“He’s weird o-rama Sam, rather go by death car”
“Death’s not a car, it’s you boys if you touch my shelf”
Both boys jumped, still reeling from the jump scare they didn’t see Nanook running full force at them, tongue hanging out of his mouth but he was caught by Lucy, who laughed gleefully when he turned his attention to her.
Michael stared, he couldn’t help it, his mom hadn’t looked that happy in years.
Then the moment was broken and he and Sam followed their mother to her car, he rode shotgun much to his little brother’s chagrin.
The car ride was average for the most part, it was nice to stare out of the window aimlessly, part of Michael was looking forward to the chicks at his new school and the other half was dreading actually finding any of the guys attractive.
They’d all been grody at their school in Phoenix.
Not that anyone knew or would know about his bisexuality, he found it inconvenient enough anyway and with the chances that Sam was queer in some form, Michael felt like he needed to have a girlfriend.
Even out the weird.
Santa Carla high was squalid and miserable looking, the building was a funny off white which juxtaposed the sun shining down on Santa Carla.
About ten kids filtered through, five or so of them Ash people, it looked so square
“Hell-o bootleg Phoenix” Sam announced, standing with his hands on his hips like a yoga instructor,
Just as the school bell went a tall lady, a weird looking boy and a small bulky boy came towards the Emersons looking like holiday sales reps.
The tall lady held out her hand to Lucy, “Hello Ms. Emerson I’m Principal Sutherland, Welcome to SC High, next to me we have a buddy for each of your sons until they get comfortable here, boys?”
Principal Sutherland was irritatingly sweet from the outset, she smiled and showed off dimples, and her lovely red curls fell loose around her ears.
The funny looking one coughed into his fist, and tightening the bandana around his head he turned his wandering intense gaze to Sam
“Frog. Edgar Frog, you must be Samuel?”
Sam held out his hand awkwardly and shook with Edgar “Yeah, Sam’s fine though”
The small muscle guy grinned and saluted Michael “I’m Tommy Sutherland, soccer captain, do you play Mike? Can I call you Mike? We’re looking for some new team members, any interest?”
“Thomas” Principal Sutherland reprimanded as if he was getting ahead of himself, ‘Tommy’ nodded enthusiastically and mumbled a rushed sorry mom.
Michael smiled despite the obvious hyperactivity of this kid “Yeah, I like Soccer man, Play too”
Tommy beamed all teeth and smoothed his ginger hair back “Righteous!”
Lucy hesitated as Tommy and Edgar started up conversations with her sons, Sam seemed weirded out by Edgar’s potent glaring but Michael and Tommy were already joshing each other, elbowing each other and bantering about their favourite soccer teams.
Principal Sutherland rest her hand on Lucy’s shoulder softly “It’s alright ma’am, it’s only a half day, they’ll be home before you know it and my Thomas is very sociable, your son won’t be left alone for a single moment”
If Lucy saw the look of a long-suffering mother she didn’t make any mention of it, she shook hands with the principal again before she left, niggling concern for her boys floating around in her head.
Michael it turned out, had an awful lot in common with Tommy, they both had irritating younger siblings, although he had two little sisters and Mike only had Sam, they both adored sport and protein shakes and they both liked chicks.
“There’s a hippy chick, sorta unattainable, not your typical beach bunny, she’d be right up your alley”
Michael was only half listening because, with an eerie song playing over the school intercom, Michael caught sight of him.
He caught Michael’s eye defiantly, strangely soft blue eyes twinkling in the light of the corridor, he was mouthing the words to the song and when he passed Michael, it seemed the words were just meant for him.
“Last fire will rise,
behind those eyes,
black house will rock,
blind boys don’t lie”
Michael’s heart thudded in this chest and he felt the strangest urge to follow after the blond boy, his whole world had flipped upside down, he felt repulsion and attraction fighting inside of him, colliding and merging, screaming for him to say something to this kid before he disappeared down the hallway.
Tommy interrupted him with a cackle “Yeah, everyone stares at first. That’s David. Total ass wipe” he commented, nonchalant as he tugged Michael to a room labelled 19O
Somehow David total ass wipe seemed suitable, especially with that smug smirk he was wearing
but he couldn’t fight the need to get the 411 on this David kid.
A sea of teens his age stared at him when Tommy kicked open the door to the room, there in the back of the room, smoking out of one of the windows was David, surrounded by three other edgy looking boys, and…one girl, she giggled and leant against his shoulder, her smile bright enough to substitute for the sun.
Was that…his girlfriend?
Tommy groaned “Mike, the lost boys are totally bunk! You don’t want to get involved trus’ me”
Tommy’s once kind voice now seemed whinier and annoying, Michael wanted to sit with them, he wanted to ride his bike with them, feel the wind in his hair.
David stubbed his cigarette out on one of the plastic chairs and wrapped his arm around the brunette girl clinging to him, he must have noticed Michael staring by now, but he seemed to be pointedly ignoring the curly haired new kid.
“Tom, who are they?”
Thomas Sutherland could see disaster before it hit, the lost boys tensed up, the small energetic rock enthusiast Marko was shielded by his much taller hood boyfriend, the emo of the group, Dwayne shut his copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s the tell-tale heart and flexed his fingers.
And their faithful leader, David just stayed relaxed against his chair, nodding along to what the hippie girl beside him was saying.
“Tom”
“Michael, we should go” he stammered awkwardly, his own friends began to feel uncomfortable with the rising tension in the room, his girlfriend Neema side eyed him knowingly, she and Star had been best friends until she ran off chasing David.
David wasn’t hers but she sure as heck was his, David had whims, he found some innocent airhead and made her one of them, leather jacket, earrings, bad attitude, truanting.
And they all claimed they knew what they were doing until they pushed him for a commitment and then off they went, either ran away or turned into ghosts of themselves.
Star had been “with” Santa Carla High’s Fuck boy for a few months.
Eventually, David took notice of two things, the new kid was staring at him and his boys, and, the whole room had gone silent in anticipation.
David registered Star’s presence and then caught on, this little jock wanted Star.
Fair game, he was tiring of her anyway, she knew how to have fun sure, but she didn’t have enough fire in her to properly engage David for the long periods of time the others had.
Michael had long since tuned out Tommy and his friends, their frantic whispers were dull in comparison to the roguish blond, the challenge in his eyes.
He removed himself from his pack and descended on Tommy’s table, hovering over Michael, face neutral.
“D-David, Cool Out he’s new” Tommy protested weakly, already halfway off his chair.
The lost boys gave him the major creeps.
David ignored Tommy and focused on Michael, leaning into his space, holding back a snort when Michael stood up to meet his height shaky on his feet, this human was fronting, inside he was falling apart.
David recoiled a little when he felt something jump inside Michael’s bloodstream.
His heart was racing, any faster and David feared he’d have a heart attack, it wasn’t fear, no David could smell fear a mile off, it was coming from little Thomas in delicious waves.
“Uh...I’m Mike “he forced out breathlessly, he felt like he’d had the life sucked out of him, dizzy with something he couldn’t quite pin down.
“Michael huh? My name’s David, those are my boys, Marko, Paul, and Dwayne. You should come with us to the boardwalk after school”
Each lost boy sent their own greeting over to the skittish human, Marko stuck his tongue out, Paul did the V sign and Dwayne rose his eyebrows and nodded coolly.
“H-Half day”
David hummed “Funny. Us too, See you later Mikey. Boys?”
They shot up onto their feet, following after David loyally, the emo hesitated a little in front of Michael
“Welcome home Michael” he muttered more to himself than anyone else.
The hippie girl looked absolutely bewildered, David hadn’t turned to summon her when he called the boys away.
“Hello,” she said to Michael, slightly dazed.
“Hey”
“David likes you.”
The brunette ran her fingers through her hair smiling laxly at Michael.
She was very beautiful, or at least quite appealing, the moon to David’s sun.
The masculine bravado came back full force and Michael abandoned Tommy for the pretty girl sat all on her own.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
The girl tittered and tossed her hair like a show pony, her gypsy skirt pooling around her ankles.
“Oh he’s everyone’s boyfriend”
Her light tone did nothing to hide the moonish look on her face, Michael decided right there and then.
He would never pull that face over David, he wasn’t a lovesick teenager.
No. David could go to hell with his lean bod and infectious fricking James Dean aesthetic.
He wasn’t going to get amped. No way.
Famous last words.