Chapter Text
2006
“Shit, shit, shit,” John muttered under his breath as he swerved into the parking lot of Cholla Springs High School. He peeled into the first parking spot he could find, all too crooked and over the lines. The morning bell was due to ring any second now and another truancy on his file would warrant him yet another after school detention. Both of his fathers were already angry with him about his last one; he had crashed into a yield sign outside of his school’s parking lot just last Monday, right in front of his principal. John wasn’t entirely sure he had even locked his car as he sprinted across the parking lot and through the semi-deserted halls. Much to his chagrin, the bell rang mere seconds before he burst through the door of his history class.
“Mr. Marston, this is the third time this week you’ve been late to my class!”
”Barely even late this time, Ms. Grimshaw!” John retaliated, slipping into the only available seat at the back of the class, “Won’t happen again, I swear.”
Ms. Grimshaw tutted and John knew a phone call would be going home later that afternoon. He hoped it would be to his pa and not his dad. Hosea was a helluva lot nicer about those phone calls than Dutch was. Ms. Grimshaw turned her attention to the rest of the class as John considered the possibility.
”Good morning, everyone,” She began, a cheerful grin on her face that caused John to roll his eyes as he leaned back into his seat. “I hope you have all had an excellent week so far! I’ve got some exciting news to share. We have a new student who has just transferred to our school from Mexico. Mr. Escuella, if you could stand up, please.” The boy beside John stood up and gave a half-assed wave before collapsing back down into his seat.
“Please give Javier a warm welcome to Cholla Springs High.”
The class gave mumbled hellos or welcomes before Ms. Grimshaw moved onto their assignment for the day. John turned his attention to the kid beside him rather than paying attention to the lesson. John could tell from the tired expression on his face that he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. He tapped Javier’s arm to get his attention. Javier ignored the motion at first but when John tapped him again, he sighed and turned his attention to the boy beside him with the messy hair and the scarred face.
”Soy John, uh,” John began, in broken Spanish, “Como te,”
”You know I speak English, ese.” Javier replied, an eyebrow cocked.
”Shit, sorry,” John chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “Should’a asked that first.”
“It’s fine, you aren’t the first to assume,” Javier grumbled before turning his attention to Ms. Grimshaw. John bit his tongue as he leaned back into his seat. Not many words were shared between the two boys for the rest of class and when the end of period bell rang, Javier was up and out of the class before John could even say see you tomorrow.
Javier continued to find ways to ignore John during class time in the passing days. He was more concerned with finishing the last half year of high school after he and his family moved to Cholla Springs only a handful of weeks ago. Socializing was the last thing on his agenda; he was far too introverted to network with anybody but something about this kid was testing Javier’s limits. He’d be polite to John but never stick around for long after class to chat before weaving through the crowded hallways with his headphones over his ears to his next period class as quickly as he could.
John, on the other hand, couldn’t figure out what Javier’s problem was. He was difficult to read and far too quiet for his own good. It intrigued John. He didn’t care much for getting to know people at Cholla Springs High; his friend group was more than enough but John wanted to crack the kid. See him smile, one goddamn time for Christ’s sake or at least give more than a handful of one-worded responses. He complained about it to his friends after school on Friday as they passed a joint around in the field a short distance behind Sean’s house.
“You know that new fella? Kid from Mexico? Javier?”
“I’ve got Chemistry with him.” Sean replied, as he blew smoke up above him, “Quiet fella.”
“What’s up with him?” John grumbled as he leaned back into the grass.
“Maybe he just doesn’t like talking,” Lenny explained, passing the joint to Karen on his right.
“Or maybe he just doesn't like you,” Karen laughed, taking a hit and passing it to Sadie.
“Hey now, that’s enough!” John retaliated.
“You’re hot headed, John. Hard to get used to th-,” Sadie began as John snatched the joint from between her fingers before she had the chance to smoke it.
“Ain’t nothing hot headed ‘bout me,” John replied, blowing smoke up into the air above him.
”Goddamn, John Marston, ain’t you something.” Karen chuckled, head shaking.
John’s temper was one that he had somehow managed to inherit from his father. Not an ounce of blood relationship between him and the man, yet he still carried the same fury behind his words at times. The same went for his older brother, Arthur. He was a whole decade older than John, long since moved out and living with his wife Eliza and their son Isaac in a quaint home on the other side of the town. They had met in college; she had moved to Cholla Springs from Haïti during Arthur’s third year and they had taken a liking to one another over shared interests.
John missed the times he and Arthur lived together. They were quite inseparable, even though they fought like hell sometimes. It was a bit less hectic these days as John didn’t fight with their sister Tilly all that much. Although back when they were all young, the house was akin to a circus.
Hosea had been given a run for his money; somehow they had managed to adopt two children that were carbon copies of his husband, Dutch. He was thankful Tilly, their only adoptive daughter that was two years John’s junior, took a bit more of a liking to his own reserved personality. The only time the household got anywhere near the level of chaos that it used to a decade prior was when they had family game night. It had originally been every Sunday evening after supper but was changed to every other Sunday evening after Dutch nearly broke the table slamming an Uno reverse card down to sabotage John after he had him pulling sixteen cards in one go. A full blown argument ensued between the two of them that night and Hosea put his foot down; no more weekly game nights and no more Uno.
~~~
John was able to get a little more outta Javier in class come Monday, all because he had offered the fella a pencil when he noticed Javier rifling through his bag to look for one before he missed the chance to take notes about the French Revolution.
“Thanks, compadre,” Javier breathed, flipping to any open page he could find in his notebook to jot down anything off the slideshow before it shifted to the next slide. He didn’t get much before Ms. Grimshaw continued the presentation, “Ay, does she always scroll this fast? Nobody can write that quickly.”
”I kinda just scribble half assed notes,” John explained, “but I’ll go over anything you missed after.”
”Would ya?” Javier replied, his eyes meeting the crooked grin that John had. His breath vanished for a little while before he looked away and continued taking notes.
”Hell yeah,” John replied, proud of himself for getting more words than yeah, or dunno, or no from Javier, “I got you, dude.”
”Thanks,” Javier muttered, shifting his eyes to the side to see the way John was staring at him. His breath did the same thing; disappearing for a brief moment before he brought his eyes to the board ahead of them. Javier would be lying to himself if he didn’t think John Marston was at least a bit handsome. Scarred face and all.
~~~
John and the gang were reunited in the field behind Sean’s house Friday after school, a lit joint making its rounds. Sean had way overfilled the paper and had begun to roll his joints using a much stronger blend that he typically did. It made John’s head swirl, the haziness in his eyes settling only a split second each time he blinked. He diverted his attention to the skate park nearby, watching as people of different ages rolled around and did tricks off the pipes and ramps.
He caught the glimpse of someone who looked mighty familiar and when the guy did an ollie and landed up over the crest of a small ramp, he realized it was Javier. In his hazy state, his eyes were glued to the boy, watching as he travelled around the small skate park; grinding off rails and doing kickflips. John didn’t realize how long he was looking at him until Sadie nudged him.
“Quit starin’ at him and take the goddamn joint, Marston.”
“I ain’t starin’, Sadie,” John replied, his eyes not leaving Javier as he made an attempt at grabbing the joint. It was then that he saw Javier wipe out and John jumped up without thinking before running over towards the skate park, the joint still burning between Sadie’s fingers as he vanished without a word.
“Ah, mierda,” Javier grumbled, wincing as he made the move to stand up. He felt two hands on his shoulders and his eyes widened when he noticed who it was and the state he was in.
“You okay, fella?” John drawled, eyes droopy with that crooked grin on his face that Javier had grown to enjoy.
“Yeah, yeah,” Javier replied, chuckling to himself at how high John was right now. He ran a hang through his hair as he made the move to grab his board, “I’m fine.”
“Cool tricks there,” John continued, as he tucked his hands into his pockets. His eyes stayed glued on Javier as he watched him grab his board and tuck it under his arm.
“Thanks,” Javier replied meekly, his eyes darting away from John as he felt extra flustered now.
“Did you wanna come smoke with my friends and I?” John offered. Javier had thought it tempting and he considered it for a short bit but when he saw a handful of people he barely knew, he declined.
“Nah, I’m okay, thanks though.” Javier replied, “Uh, see you round.” He added before tossing his board on the ground and rolling away, his heart pounding in his chest at the lingering feeling of those hands on his shoulders and that dopey smile.
Javier’s feelings expanded over the week and he felt all too stupid for even falling for the guy, while John was getting incessantly teased by his friend group for how much he talked about Javier whenever they hung out.
“Goddamn, Marston,” Sadie sighed, “We get it, you wanna kiss him on the mouth.”
”Bullshit, Sadie,” John retaliated, his eyes rolling as he looked away.
”Bullshit, my ass,” Abigail, Sadie’s girlfriend, retorted, “He’s a good lookin’ fella, I don’t blame you.”
”Shit,” John sighed, clearing his throat as he felt his face get hot.
”You do like him!” Abigail gasped, smacking John on the knee, “No more denying it!”
”You girls are making me want a goddamn cigarette,” John grumbled as Sean and Lenny made their way back with the pizza they had gotten the gang for lunch.
”What are you teasing him about this time?” Lenny inquired.
”Just his undying love for one Mr. Javier Escuella,” Abigail sighed dramatically which got a good laugh out of Sean.
”Women, I tell ya,” Sean retorted and Sadie kicked his boot so hard he jumped back, nearly dropping their meal. “Jesus!”
”Shut your goddamn mouth, boy,” Sadie hissed, “You ain’t funny.”
A rapid torrential downpour washed over their part of Cholla Springs later that afternoon, the rain not letting up at all before everyone was let out from their final class of the week. John hurried through the parking lot as he tried to outrun the rapid pour of rain. He found refuge in his car, shivering as he turned the key in the ignition. John pulled out from the parking lot and before he had turned down the road, he had caught sight of Javier rolling along the sidewalk, drenched to his bones. He rolled down his window and slowed to match his pace.
“Do you need a ride?” John hollered over the loud sound of the torrential downpour.
”¿Que?” Javier replied, unable to hear John over the chattering of his own teeth.
”A ride? Home? Casa, or whatever?” John added, his voice louder.
”No, I’m okay,” Javier replied, “I don’t live far.”
”Come on, fella. It’s pourin’ out here.”
Javier considered it for a moment before giving in. He’d be home a lot quicker this way. He agreed and John came to a complete stop.
”That’s better, ain’t it?” John continued once Javier was situated in the passenger seat. “What way?”
”Just a left here, then keep going. It’s a few lights down, I’ll tell you when to turn.”
”Alright,” John replied, following the instructions. Javier wasn’t sure what to expect about John’s driving but this was one of the scariest car rides he had ever been a part of. John drove way over the speed limit, took no care as he turned corners, or would get extra perturbed when drivers didn’t hit the gas fast enough after the light turned green. Javier counted three times where John shouted get outta the damn way to another driver after only a half second of being stationary at a light. Javier was more than thankful once the car came to a screeching halt outside of his house and he thanked John meekly as he climbed out of the vehicle.