Chapter Text
In Beacon Hills highschool, Liam Dunbar was king.
Freshly appointed captain of the school's winning lacrosse team. Son of a dr. and a businesswoman- something that gave him a large, often vacant house to host parties in. Not quite a star student but charming enough to get on every teacher's good side. Add to that the way his muscles came into their own since he was a freshman, the sharp line of his jaw, the way his hair sat, smoothly pushed back away from his face- and the fact that he was freshly out of a year long relationship with one of the hottest girls in school, (and it didn't even end badly. Hayden and him were still friends!) It wasn't a surprise that girls and guys alike both followed him with their eyes when he walked down the hallway, giggling in his wake.
And now, being a senior? The absolute top of the food chain that was this school? Lacrosse championship, a good GPA, prom king- and then off to a good college after one last crazy summer. Everything was already laid out in front of him, all he had to do was get there. He had no doubt about it. This was going to be his year.
He parked his car- a shiny red and precious thing, newly bought last year- in the best spot in the lot. The parking lot was already half full and getting more packed by the minute, so getting the spot was just barely short of a miracle. The first day of school was just starting, and already luck was on his side. All around him, a river of wide-eyed freshmen were making their way into the building, looking anywhere between lost and excited depending on whose face you focused on. They made way for him as he went through, parting like the red sea, eyes glancing up at the racket poking out of his backpack. Liam allowed a smug little smile to take over his face.
Yup.
Definitely a good start.
A great start, even.
The only way this year could get any better would be for his teachers to collectively decide that Liam should be exempt from doing homework or taking any tests. He was such a good guy, after all. And he was already so busy with lacrosse practice. They could just pass him. Right?
He pulled out his phone to check for messages and shoot a ‘where are you guys?’ text to Mason. The response came not even ten seconds later.
'Back near our lockers.' With a little yawning emoji next to it. He was about to slide the phone back into his pocket and head over there when he noticed last minute that someone was blocking his way- just like that, popped out of nowhere. He barely had enough time to stop himself from crashing right into them, swinging on his heels and taking a few small steps back to regain his balance.
"Woah- hey. Sorry about that," he said, leaning further away to give the other person some personal space. Said person, however, didn't seem as startled by the near collision as he was. In fact, she looked very pleased with herself. The smile on her face was a not-so-subtle indication that she in fact planned this encounter in advance and had executed it exactly according to plan. But then again, Violet never really felt the need to be subtle. She took a step forward, taking over the space Liam hastily stepped out of, her eyes scanning him from his head down to his shoes and then back up.
"Hey there, handsome."
He could admit it- Violet was incredibly hot. With her large round eyes, cute smile and very kissable lips she was easily one of the prettiest girls in school. She also seemed like the kind of girl that would kill you in your sleep. Right now, she seemed like a lioness zoning in on her prey. Prey that- Liam quickly realized- was himself. He rubbed the back of his head, returning her confident smile with an awkward one of his own.
"Um, hi."
"Heard you were flying solo this year."
He blinked at her, and a small lightbulb went bright in his head. Oh. Okay. That made sense.
"Yeah. But I'm not looking for anything right now. No offense or something. Because I- I would," he let his gaze jump quickly up and down her body. If she did it to him first there was no harm done, right? Equal opportunity. And besides- by her proximity to him and the way she leaned forward- he guessed it was exactly what she wanted. "I'm just… happy to have a break."
"A break," she pursed her lips.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I mean, I had a girlfriend for the past year, you know. I'm not in a hurry." Violet looked at him as if he was at least a little bit stupid. She took a step forward, almost bumping into him, and he had to take another step back. He just barely avoided getting knocked into other students behind him- and earned himself some annoyed side glares.
"Guys don't usually say no to me."
He wasn't sure what to say, so he just smiled at her again and shrugged- a combination that was bound to be charming. "Ask me again in a few months?"
"A few months?" She echoed. Liam was about to nod again when Violet lifted her hand, fingers flexed out in a sign for him to stop and listen. "Let me put it simply for you. We're seniors this year. You know what that means? Prom. And you know what that means for me? That I intend to take my rightful spot as prom queen. So as future prom king it is only fitting that we'll be together, campaign together, and eventually go and win together."
Liam blinked at her, dumbfounded. He did not expect a little speech. And yeah, it made sense that this was what she wanted. He was going to raise the status of any girl (or guy) who dated him. But wasn't this… a little too early to start planning for prom?
"Violet, it's the first day of school."
"Time goes by fast," she shook her head and raised her eyebrows at him. "You think being single isn't hurting your chances?"
The honest answer would be no, but that felt a little mean to say so he just shrugged again. He brought out his leg, slowly starting to shuffle his way around her.
"Listen, my friends are kind of waiting for me. So how about we put this on hold and talk about it again in a few months? Really. I promise I don't plan on dating anyone else in the meantime. If I do I’ll let you know."
He wasn't even sure why he was making promises. Maybe because by that point in the conversation Violet's flirty look had turned into a 'lock your window at night and good luck' kind of glare and his survival instincts kicked in. Maybe because he just really didn't want to make a girl mad. She didn't even answer him, just rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated little sound before storming away.
He probably should have felt bad- and he did! Really! At least a little bit- but mostly the emotion flooding him was relief.
When she was finally gone in the sea of students he was free to keep going towards his original destination- the group of lockers at the end of the hallway where his friends were already waiting.
"What did she want?" Mason asked, eyes still trailing the spot Violet had been in before turning to Liam, who just passed a tongue over his teeth and offered a noncommittal shrug in response.
"You know..."
"Oh, you better not," Mason shook his head. "She will eat you alive."
Liam and Mason were best friends since elementary school. It was difficult to keep a friend this close for so long, but somehow they stuck through it- and by now Liam had no idea how he could live without his best friend. They were for life. He was sure of that. Once they got to highschool, their small duo slowly but surely turned into a group. First there was Hayden, another sort-of-friend from when they were kids who brought with her a lot of complicated feelings at first and a lot more displays of PDA later. Then Mason brought Corey, and they quickly became more than just friends themselves. Then Liam brought Nolan from his lacrosse team, and finally, Hayden- refusing to be the only girl around- brought Tracy, rounding up their small circle of close friends to the tight knit group they had now.
Liam wouldn't trade them for the world.
"For the record, I rejected her."
"Oh good," Mason nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "Pretty sure her ex is, like, insane."
"What? No, he’s just a jackass."
"Garret? A little bit insane actually. Yeah," Nolan piped in with an apologetic smile. Liam rolled his eyes.
"Well I'm not scared of him. Or her, for that matter."
“You should be,” Hayden said, with an arch of her brown and a teasing smirk. Considering the experience she had with him, she probably knew what she was saying- at least when it came to Violet. Still, It seemed a bit over dramatic. Liam shook his head.
“I’m not!”
"That’s because you don’t have a sense of self preservation."
Liam smiled, bright and wide. That perfect Katy-Perry-teenage-dream kind of smile that always got him out of trouble, and now only got him a friendly shove from Mason. He laughed, and Mason rolled his eyes at him, but there was a smile etched to his friends lips.
“How the hell have you survived this long?”
“Duh,” Liam said. “Because I have you.”
--
Classes, just as expected, were mostly boring. Liam’s year opened with two hours of English, AP biology, a sociology course he only took because he heard it was supposed to be easy, and history. Out of those, the only one he actually liked was the last one. At least it was the first day, and they didn’t get any homework- a small victory if you asked him. Teachers weren’t always this considerate. Most of the time, in fact, they acted as if their class was the most important thing a teenager could spend his time on- as if Liam didn’t have his friends, and lacrosse, and a party/event schedule planned all the way to winter’s break.
It didn’t matter, the real start of the school year was happening right after all the classes ended, when Davenford Prep was set to arrive.
Beacon Hills High and Devenford Prep already had a sort of connection when Liam was only a freshman. Since then, fueled by their respective star players turned captains, the relationship bloomed into a full blown rivalry. The kind you’d have in those cheesy sport movies from the 90’s. There was shit talking, there were pranks (from both sides) and most importantly, there were great games. Every time they played together the seats were full, even if it was only a scrimmage.
During the last week of summer, the two teams agreed to celebrate the beginning of the new school’s year with an unofficial practice match followed by a large group outing to the local diner for milkshakes. Beacon Hills won the coin toss, which meant Davenport were the ones getting into cars and making their way over.
It was going to be the best and Liam, for one, couldn't wait.
By the time he made his way out to the school’s front lawn with Mason at his side, his sort-of-sworn enemy and rival captain was already there. Brett Talbot and him used to have a pretty tense relationship at the beginning. A few times in the past their games ended with a bit more violence that was probably necessary. By now, though, they had managed to form a working friendship. Sure, there was always teasing, and arguments, and the constant need to one up each other- but he and Brett got along, in their own way. It was kind of impossible not to when your teams spent so much time together.
“There they are,” Brett took over one of the vacant picnic tables- and took over meant sat perched on the table with his legs on the bench to make sure no one else could come and sit there uninvited. He waved them over and scooted to the edge of the table to make room. “How’s the second best lacrosse captain currently at the school doing?”
“I don’t know. You tell me,” Liam said with a smile as he sat up right next to Brett. In the past a comment like that from the other would probably be enough to start a fist fight. So, well, here’s to the new year and here’s to personal growth.
Brett’s greeting towards Mason was calmer, and when Hayden and Corey made their way over and joined them he was almost downright kind. Apparently, some of the guys from Davenport were still making their way, so they had a little bit more time to chill together before the players in the group had to drag themself away to the locker rooms to change. While the rest of Liam’s little group gathered at the table, the conversation drifted around. They exchanged stories about how they spent the last few days of their summer vacation. Talked about lacrosse, and training regimes, and the upcoming season. Until, inevitably, the topic turned around toward relationships.
“So how does it feel being newly single?”
“It’s cool,” Liam said, and Hayden nodded in agreement. “We’re just seeing how things go.”
Brett gave a considering hum. “How things go huh? So you don’t have your eyes set on anyone else?”
“Nah,” Liam shrugged. It’s not like- if he wanted to get a new girlfriend- he was going to have any trouble scoring whoever he wanted. Not this year, at least. Apparently there were already offerings. Though that thought probably wasn’t encouraging- he was still a little bit scared for his life.
“You don’t sound stressed about it.” Nolan, up until that moment, was busy throwing and catching a lacrosse ball, launching it higher and higher into the air every time it went up. When it was finally high enough that it rolled away from him and onto the grass, he stopped so he could actively join the conversation.
“Should I be?”
“Yeah,” he said with a small nod. “If you wait too long all the good dates are going to be taken.”
“Okay but like… Does it matter?” Liam asked. Two very different answers came back at him at the same time.
Corey said “not really.” But Brett fit him with an amused look and an arch of his brows.
“How are you going to be prom king if you’re single?”
He almost let out the most exasperated groan of the century, but managed to hold it back long enough for it to turn into a more normal sounding annoyed huff and eye roll. What was it with so many people bringing up prom on the first day of school? Well, two people, but that was still plenty enough.
“This is bullshit.”
“Hey, I don’t really mind,” Brett continued. “But I will absolutely rub it in your face if I win my title and you lose yours.”
“Jackass,” Liam said, and Brett just gave a self satisfied smile in return. “Why’s everyone talking to me about prom? I don’t see anyone worrying about Hayden,” he gestured towards her for emphasis.
“Hayden will be fine,” Tracy snickered, and Hayden smiled, sharp and full of confidence.
“Worrying about prom queen is lame anyway. I don’t care about it.” And well, Liam believed her. It wasn’t an act, she really was just too cool to worry about this kind of stuff. It’s why he liked her so much in the first place. Not that he really cared either, it was just that everyone assumed he should, and he didn’t like to disappoint them. He threw his head back and groaned.
“And why is everyone so hung up on popularity anyway? It literally means nothing. I could make any person in this school popular in like less than two months.”
Brett looked at him with a fresh spark in his eyes- the kind that meant danger.
"Aren't you a little over confident?" He said, his smile teasing and lopsided. "I mean. I know you're the ever golden Liam Dunbar, but you don't have a magic touch. There's Some things even you can't fix."
"There are," Liam agreed. "But that's not one of them."
"Is that so?" Brett arched his brows, and Liam nodded.
"Yeah. I mean, you just gotta get someone into the right parties, wear the right clothes, spread some of the right kind of gossip- and you're halfway there already. It's easy, right? There's not a single person in this school I wouldn't be able to do that with."
Brett's smile had gotten even wider, breaking by then into a full blown smirk. He leaned towards Liam, reating one arm on his knee.
"Prove it."
"What?" Liam blinked, the surprise drawing a confused frown out of him. Even though it was the obvious direction the conversation was going towards, he didn't really realize that until the words left Brett's mouth.
"Let's make it into a bet."
"Whoa whoa, hey," Mason looked between them so quickly Liam thought he might get dizzy. In fact, every single pair of eyes around the table was currently fully focused on the both of them. Corey looked a little white at the idea of said bet, Hayden seemed thrilled. Mason, flailing his arms at them, looked like he was hearing something truly and magnificently too dumb to comprehand. "Aren't you two taking it a little bit too far?"
It was probably the smarter thing to agree with him. But Liam was more often impulsive than he was smart. He looked right at Brett, crossed his arms and jutted out his chin.
"What's your terms?"
"I chose the person, and you," he pointed at Liam's chest. "Turn them into one of the most popular people at school by our first official match of the year. If you can't, you have to sit out the game."
"And if I can," Liam returned, the prideful smile Brett had now infecting his own lips as well. "You're the one who's going to sit out." He offered his hand- ignoring Mason's calls about how this was insane and they better stop it- and waited for Brett to take it.
"Deal?"
Brett nodded, clasping his hand and squeezing in hard as they shook.
"Deal."
Mason threw both his hands in the air as if he just gave up on both of them. Hayden, however, had a cheeky smile on her face that said you're going down Talbot. She leaned forward against the table and eyed both of them.
"So who's going to be the lucky guy or girl?"
Liam shrugged. “I don’t care. Go ahead and choose.”
“Alright,” Brett hummed and stood up so he could get a better view of the school’s yard. “Anyone huh?”
“Yup," he nodded. After all, how hard could it be? He followed Brett's gaze as it wandered across the school's yard, examining different groups of students sitting together or walking in and out of the building. The options seemed endless.
“How about that one?” He pointed towards a girl with short, curly blond hair carrying a stack of books so high it almost hid her face towards the library.
“She’s too cute,” Hayden said with wicked amusement in her voice. “It would be too easy.” Brett turned his attention onto a guy with thick glasses sitting down at the outside lunch tables and polishing a golden tuba.
“Okay, this one then?”
“No,” Corey shook his head. “Mike’s super nice. Don’t get him into this.” They went like that for four more students, Brett picking them out of the crowd only for someone in the group to find a reason why they weren’t a good fit. Too easy, too hard, too weird. For a moment Liam thought they would just have to call it quits, but then Brett smiled, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he finally settled on someone and offered a helpful point.
“How about… him?” Liam slowly followed the finger and gaped at the lone boy Brett was pointing at. Dark brown hair covering the sides of his face where it grew too long, flattened down under a pair of heavy headphones. Sharp features and fair skin made only brighter in contrast to black clothes. He was sitting with his back against a tree, one leg curled to his chest, a book in one hand. It almost looked like a picture of peaceful contemplation- except Liam was sure he saw a knife just barely hiding in his jeans pocket, glinting when the sun hit it at just the right angle.
“Theo Reakan?”
Theo came to Beacon Hills in the middle of last year, and it seemed like he did not come with the intention to make any friends. He was usually on his own, either smirking at people as if he was oh so better than them, or looking like he might bite them bloody if they ever tried to get too close. He was mysterious and unapproachable, something that got the rumor mill turning two hundred miles per hour; Liam heard several different stories about who he was and where he came from. None of them were good.
“I heard he was held back three times,” Corey said with a small, concerned crease to his brows.
“I heard he killed a man,” Nolan added unhelpfully.
“Scary and inaccessible.” The smile on Brett's face was self satisfied and playful like a wolf closing in on his prey, so sure that he was due a fresh meal. "He's perfect."
"You want to get me killed?!" Liam furrowed his brows and scrunched his nose with indignation. "He's like… cryptid levels of weirdo. And I’m pretty sure he has a criminal record." Brett just shrugged at him, oblivious to his worries.
"You said 'anyone'."
"Yeah but I didn't think-"
"What? Are you backing out already? Afraid you can't do it?" The challenge was like a specially made trap to Liam's ego. It always worked. Always. And judging by Brett's smug expression- he knew that perfectly. Liam could be goaded to do almost anything at the mere mention of him being too scared for it, just to prove the world wrong. It had landed him in trouble more than once in the past- and it was going to get him into trouble again. Right there and then. Right when he puffed his chest and shook his head and said:
"No. Why would I be? This is going to be easy."
"Alright then," Brett, the pleased smile still on his face, reached his hand forward for another, final shake. "By our next match, you make this guy the talk of your school, or you drop out of the game." And if he won… Well, without Brett playing, that match was going to be a walk in the park, a guaranteed victory. It will make their season that much easier. And well, how hard can this be anyway? Just like he said, all he needed to do was make some tasteful adjustments- and he was already halfway towards championship. Liam grinned back, reaching forward to clasp the other's hand.
"You've got yourself a deal."