"Just Like High School" by Ami Ven
Title: Just Like High School
Author: Ami Ven
Prompt: Amnesty 2008; "Altered State"
Rating: PG
Characters: team; tiny bit of Abby/McGee
Word Count: 741
Abby tossed her skull-patterned backpack onto the floor with a thump, before opening her locker and beginning to rifle through her stuff. She put a folded paper between her black-painted lips- it was a study sheet for math- while she shrugged into her equally-black coat and piled text books into her bag. She had gotten a lot of homework this week, and she should probably get started on it.
The Goth made to swing her locker closed, but the metal door was shut for her.
“Hey, sis,” said her older brother, Tony, leaning against the lockers beside hers, hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket.
“Don’t you have practice, or something?” she asked him.
“Nope. Coach canceled it. What about you?”
Abby smiled. While Tony’s practices were all of the athletic variety, she had surprised her brother by signing up to join the school’s spring musical- not as an actress, of course, but as head of the sound tech.
“No practice for me, either,” she said. “Did you need something, Tony?”
The older boy grinned, eyes sparkling in a way that meant he was planning trouble. “Just need a pretty girl to talk to while we wait for-”
“Hey, Abs.” Tim McGee appeared beside them, laptop bag slung over one shoulder.
“Hi, Timmy,” the Goth girl replied sweetly. The slightly-awkward boy was a neighbor of theirs, and Abby’s on again/off again boyfriend- but always her best friend.
“How was computer club, McGeek?” added Tony. “Hack into the CIA yet?”
McGee frowned. “I have never hacked into the CIA, Tony. I guess I could, but…”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, Zee-vah.”
Ziva David’s locker was two down from Abby’s. She speared Tony with a look as he continued to grin at her. “McGee’s hobbies are his own concern,” she said, taking her coat out of her locket and pulling it on. “Not everyone can be a varsity jerk.”
“Jock, Ziva,” Tony corrected, as Abby and McGee stifled grins. “It’s jock.”
She waved a hand. “Close enough. Now, are we going to get food, or what?”
“Food, definitely,” said Tony. “Now, all we gotta do is sneak out before Dad-”
“Before Dad what?” asked a new voice.
They all looked into the doorway of the nearest classroom, but Abby smiled brightly. “Hi, Daddy.”
Her father, known to the rest of the school as Mr. Gibbs, their history teacher, merely stared.
“We were just headed out for some chow, Dad,” Tony added. “You want us to bring you back something?”
“I’m detention moderator today,” his father said. “Don’t be out too late.”
Tony gave him a mock salute, and continued grinning even as the older man glared and headed back into his classroom. “So, food?”
“I have to pick up Sarah from middle school…” McGee began, but Abby interrupted, “She can come, too.”
“And I will drive,” said Ziva, plucking the car keys from Tony’s hand.
“No!” he argued, trying to snatch them back. “I just got my Mustang detailed…”
Following along behind, Abby tucked her hand into McGee’s elbow, pressing herself against his side. Tony and Ziva continued to bicker, even as they were joined by his and Abby’s cousin Jimmy.
“Did you guys see the flyers for the school dance?” Jimmy asked, just before Tony pulled his arm, literally dragging him into being a reluctant moderator.
Sure enough, there were brightly-colored flyers hung along the hallway. Abby could feel McGee tense up. “Something you want to ask me, Timmy?” she asked.
“What?” he replied. “I mean…yes, I think so. Abby, do you want to go to the dance with me?”
“Of course, Timmy!” she cried.
Tony pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, flooding the hall with light, and Abby woke with a start.
She was still in bed, in her own apartment, sunlight beginning to stream through the curtains right where her eyes had been a moment before. Abby frowned in concentration, trying to remember the fleeting dream, until a sleepy voice came from beside her.
“Of course what, Abs?” asked a still half-asleep McGee
Abby leaned over until she could poke his shoulder gently. “If we had gone to the same high school, would you have asked me to the school dance?”
“Um…” There was a pause, as McGee’s brain tried to overcome sleep and form a coherent answer. “Sure, Abs. ‘Course I would have. Why?”
The Goth smiled. “I just had the craziest dream…”
THE END
P.S. (Random Note: I made Abby a theater tech, because at my high school, us tech geeks always wore as much black as possible- we even had black lipstick. And Gibbs teaches history because he is an ex-Marine, like my great-uncle, who then went on to teach history. Now, really "the end".)
Author: Ami Ven
Prompt: Amnesty 2008; "Altered State"
Rating: PG
Characters: team; tiny bit of Abby/McGee
Word Count: 741
Abby tossed her skull-patterned backpack onto the floor with a thump, before opening her locker and beginning to rifle through her stuff. She put a folded paper between her black-painted lips- it was a study sheet for math- while she shrugged into her equally-black coat and piled text books into her bag. She had gotten a lot of homework this week, and she should probably get started on it.
The Goth made to swing her locker closed, but the metal door was shut for her.
“Hey, sis,” said her older brother, Tony, leaning against the lockers beside hers, hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket.
“Don’t you have practice, or something?” she asked him.
“Nope. Coach canceled it. What about you?”
Abby smiled. While Tony’s practices were all of the athletic variety, she had surprised her brother by signing up to join the school’s spring musical- not as an actress, of course, but as head of the sound tech.
“No practice for me, either,” she said. “Did you need something, Tony?”
The older boy grinned, eyes sparkling in a way that meant he was planning trouble. “Just need a pretty girl to talk to while we wait for-”
“Hey, Abs.” Tim McGee appeared beside them, laptop bag slung over one shoulder.
“Hi, Timmy,” the Goth girl replied sweetly. The slightly-awkward boy was a neighbor of theirs, and Abby’s on again/off again boyfriend- but always her best friend.
“How was computer club, McGeek?” added Tony. “Hack into the CIA yet?”
McGee frowned. “I have never hacked into the CIA, Tony. I guess I could, but…”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, Zee-vah.”
Ziva David’s locker was two down from Abby’s. She speared Tony with a look as he continued to grin at her. “McGee’s hobbies are his own concern,” she said, taking her coat out of her locket and pulling it on. “Not everyone can be a varsity jerk.”
“Jock, Ziva,” Tony corrected, as Abby and McGee stifled grins. “It’s jock.”
She waved a hand. “Close enough. Now, are we going to get food, or what?”
“Food, definitely,” said Tony. “Now, all we gotta do is sneak out before Dad-”
“Before Dad what?” asked a new voice.
They all looked into the doorway of the nearest classroom, but Abby smiled brightly. “Hi, Daddy.”
Her father, known to the rest of the school as Mr. Gibbs, their history teacher, merely stared.
“We were just headed out for some chow, Dad,” Tony added. “You want us to bring you back something?”
“I’m detention moderator today,” his father said. “Don’t be out too late.”
Tony gave him a mock salute, and continued grinning even as the older man glared and headed back into his classroom. “So, food?”
“I have to pick up Sarah from middle school…” McGee began, but Abby interrupted, “She can come, too.”
“And I will drive,” said Ziva, plucking the car keys from Tony’s hand.
“No!” he argued, trying to snatch them back. “I just got my Mustang detailed…”
Following along behind, Abby tucked her hand into McGee’s elbow, pressing herself against his side. Tony and Ziva continued to bicker, even as they were joined by his and Abby’s cousin Jimmy.
“Did you guys see the flyers for the school dance?” Jimmy asked, just before Tony pulled his arm, literally dragging him into being a reluctant moderator.
Sure enough, there were brightly-colored flyers hung along the hallway. Abby could feel McGee tense up. “Something you want to ask me, Timmy?” she asked.
“What?” he replied. “I mean…yes, I think so. Abby, do you want to go to the dance with me?”
“Of course, Timmy!” she cried.
Tony pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, flooding the hall with light, and Abby woke with a start.
She was still in bed, in her own apartment, sunlight beginning to stream through the curtains right where her eyes had been a moment before. Abby frowned in concentration, trying to remember the fleeting dream, until a sleepy voice came from beside her.
“Of course what, Abs?” asked a still half-asleep McGee
Abby leaned over until she could poke his shoulder gently. “If we had gone to the same high school, would you have asked me to the school dance?”
“Um…” There was a pause, as McGee’s brain tried to overcome sleep and form a coherent answer. “Sure, Abs. ‘Course I would have. Why?”
The Goth smiled. “I just had the craziest dream…”
THE END
P.S. (Random Note: I made Abby a theater tech, because at my high school, us tech geeks always wore as much black as possible- we even had black lipstick. And Gibbs teaches history because he is an ex-Marine, like my great-uncle, who then went on to teach history. Now, really "the end".)