Great Plains High School AU: Chapter One
Jazz rubbed his eyes, yawning as he slid into his desk. Five minutes early, as usual. He opened his backpack and pulled out his homework from the night before. Not that there had been a whole lot of it -- it was still early yet in the school year. Slumping down in his seat some, he pulled out his phone and began typing a message. He kept a lookout for his first period teacher as he typed, thumbs moving quickly over the smooth surface of his phone.
Not that he had expected a response -- he knew Ryin probably wouldn’t get back to him until the period was over. But it was still worth a shot. Text sent, Jazz sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. Tried to sit up straighter, even making small talk with his fellow classmates. Not that they cared much about what he had to say.
It wasn’t long before Ms. Esposito stood at the podium, clearing her throat. Jazz waited for his name to be called, gritting his teeth a little the closer they got to the H’s. “Jasper Hathaway?”
“It’s Jazz,” he hissed, raising his hand. How many times did he have to tell this woman that? The rest of his teachers could get it right, why couldn’t she? His teacher gave him a disdainful look over the edge of her glasses before continuing down the list. It made Jazz feel a little better when he heard other classmates correct her. At least he wasn’t the only one?
Just as she finished taking attendance, Ms. Esposito opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the morning announcements. She frowned, listening to the instructions no doubt being blared in all of the classrooms. Special assembly.
It didn’t take long for Jazz’s class to line up single file. As they walked out of the classroom and towards the auditorium, Jazz couldn’t help wondering what the assembly would be about. His classmates whispered amongst themselves, and when they sat in their seats, Jazz pulled out his phone.
He hadn’t received a text back from Ryin yet. His stomach twisted as the whole school came in one by one. When Principal Page stood behind the podium and cleared her throat, her expression grave, Jazz wished his heart would pound a little less.
“We have called this special assembly to inform you that, last night, Great Plains lost an invaluable member of its student body. Ryin King was a...”
Jazz felt his chest tighten. Felt his eyes sting before the rest of the words could even sink in. His best friend. His best friend. The only person he really even interacted with at this school -- and he was gone. His phone chirped in his pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts. Even gave him a small bubble of hope in his chest.
He pulled out his phone, his hope quickly dissipating when he noticed the message was from his brother Dylan -- not from Ryin. You okay, bro?
How could he be okay? He shook his head, knowing that Dylan couldn’t see him from wherever he was in the auditorium -- but he knew Dylan had to be there, too. Probably sitting somewhere behind him. Jazz couldn’t get his thumbs to type out a response, his vision too blurry for him to even concentrate enough on the keys.
“You okay?” a girl’s voice whispered from the row behind him. Jazz turned around, wiping at his face as he did so. “You seem to be taking this harder than everyone else.”
“I’m -- fine,” Jazz choked out. He managed a shaky smile at the girl. “Thanks for asking.”
“Are you a freshman? I haven’t seen you around, much. I’m Gemma,” she continued to whisper, leaning forward in her seat some. She glanced around the auditorium -- Jazz couldn’t help doing the same, noticing that many of the teachers have moved to the front. Principal Page was no longer talking, standing impassively at the front of the auditorium.
Jazz nodded his head. “Jazz,” he said, wishing his eyes would stop stinging. “Ryin is -- was my best friend.”
Gemma nodded, frowning slightly. “If you ask me, there was something fishy about that car accident,” she murmured, purposely keeping her voice low.
Jazz opened his mouth to respond, then shut it. Car accident? He cleared his throat, hoping he would manage to keep his voice steady. “I wasn’t -- paying much attention,” he admitted slowly, glancing down at his hands. “I mean -- I just heard Ryin’s name and --” he cut himself off, shaking his head.
“Well, Kalen Murdock was the one driving the car -- you know, the captain of the football team? -- but he like, just suddenly lost control. For no reason. And only the passenger side was hit?”
Jazz felt his blood run cold at that. “You don’t think --?” He cut himself off again, shaking his head. “I-I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I really wanna talk about this, right now.” He bit his lip before wiping more tears away. “I -- I think we can head back to class.”
He stood up from his seat, slipping through the row of seats. He watched as Gemma did the same, meeting her at the end of the row. They stood in the aisle for a moment before heading towards the back of the auditorium. It took Jazz a moment to realize just how much taller Gemma was -- at least a few inches.
Just as they passed through the auditorium doors and out into the hall, Jazz could hear laughter coming from his right. Two boys stood by the doors -- Jazz immediately noticed that they both had long hair that went halfway down their backs. But their eyes stood out the most -- the blond one had violet eyes, and the one with chestnut brown hair had much lighter purple eyes.
Physical appearances aside, their behavior stood out to Jazz the most. Neither looked upset. The blond looked almost down right gleeful.
“Jazz?” Gemma asked, putting a hand on Jazz’s shoulder. “What’re you looking at?”
“Those two,” Jazz murmured, pointing at the two boys. He could feel his chest tighten again, but for different reasons. They had to be older than him, likely seniors. But they were laughing. Not even remotely acting like the rest of the school at all.
“Ugh,” Gemma snorted, shaking her head. “You mean Egan and Nico? They’re gods.”
“Seriously? Gods go to this school?” Jazz asked, blinking. “They don’t look like gods.”
“See their eyes? Gods have purple eyes,” Gemma said. Her tone had a biting edge to it. She turned to Jazz, lightly touching his shoulder again. “C’mon, let’s get out of here before they see --”
“Well, Nico, would you look at that?” the blond one said, his voice loud as he gestured towards Jazz and Gemma. Nico’s eyes lit up at the sight of them both.
“--us.” Gemma sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Jazz just watched as the two gods approached them, the blond one smirking at him.
“You poor thing,” Egan murmured, his attention focusing entirely on Jazz. Jazz felt his back stiffen as Egan moved in uncomfortably close. “Were you a friend of Ryin’s?” he asked, false sincerity lacing his voice.
Jazz nodded his head, wishing his vision wouldn’t continue to blur and that it would get easier to breathe. “Known him for years,” he answered quietly.
“Shouldn’t you two go back to class?” Gemma snapped, her voice helping Jazz get his tears under better control.
“We don’t have to go back to class,” Nico said, smiling at Gemma. He moved in close to her, just as Egan had done with Jazz. Jazz could see her bristle, her arms uncrossing and her fists balling at her sides. “You could join us, if you like. I’m sure that your teachers will understand,” he continued, running his fingers down her arm.
“Leave her alone,” Jazz said, stepping between Gemma and Nico. He noticed the way Gemma shivered -- though with anger or disgust he couldn’t tell. “She and I were just gonna head back to class.”
“Oh, so you two were going to ‘go back to class’ together, is that it?” Egan asked, smirking at Jazz again. “Is she your girlfriend?”
Jazz furrowed his eyebrows together, giving Egan a confused look. “She’s just a friend -- and we really were just gonna go back to class.”
“Hm, I thought so,” Egan said, moving in uncomfortably close to Jazz again. When Egan reached out and brushed aside a stray tear, Jazz felt a sort of electricity run through his skin at the touch. He gasped and bit his lip as Egan’s smirk grew into a predatory grin. “You’re too pretty to be straight.”
“H-Hey, what’re you doing to hm?” Gemma asked. Jazz pulled away from Egan, trying to forget the current that had shot through his body. How it had unsettled him. “You’re not -- are you two trying to flirt with us?”
Jazz felt his face heat up uncontrollably at the thought.
“And if we are?” Nico purred. “You both are rather...attractive.”
Egan nodded, reaching out for Jazz’s hand as he smiled. “Very much so.”
“Egan -- Nico!” another voice called from behind them both. The boy sounded unsure of himself -- looked unsure of himself as he fidgeted on his feet, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Leave them alone, will you? They’re -- they’re underclassmen.”
Jazz felt Egan’s fingers wrap around his wrist, feeling that same jolt run through him again. Jazz’s face burned even worse as Egan pulled him closer. “Ah, Savin. You’re just upset that we beat you to them,” he said, cupping Jazz’s cheek. Jazz wished he could pull away from Egan -- but no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t. “Especially the one I have right now, right? Isn’t he your type?”
Savin’s face turned just the slightest shade of red. “It’s not fair to use your seductive powers on him,” he muttered.
“It’s not my fault you humans succumb to it so easily,” Egan said, sliding his arm around Jazz’s waist. The electricity just increased -- Jazz could have sworn he saw other people stopping and staring.
“Don’t -- don’t make me get Mr. Hathaway, Egan!”
“Don’t -- don’t get Mr. Hathaway!” Jazz managed, finally pulling away from Egan as Savin began walking towards the auditorium. He gave himself a little shake, wishing his face weren’t so damn red. Even put plenty of distance between himself and Egan. “Look, I don’t -- like guys, okay? At least, I don’t think I do, and --” He cut himself off, noticing the way Savin’s expression changed at that. “I’m -- gonna go.”
Egan shrugged and dusted off his shirt. He looked off to the side, a wide grin making its way across his face as he elbowed Nico in the side. “Hey, look at that one,” he said, pointing off to somewhere inside the auditorium.
Nico’s eyes moved away from Gemma, who had remained silent the whole time, her jaw halfway to the floor. He then grinned. “We’ll see you two later,” he murmured, grabbing Egan and pulling him away from Jazz and Gemma.
“Oh, thank god,” Savin breathed, putting a hand to his forehead. He then ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you want me to grab Mr. Hathaway?” he asked, looking directly at Jazz. “He could have stopped Egan from being an ass.”
Jazz could have sworn his face couldn’t possibly get any redder, but he could feel the extra heat rush to his face. “Mr. -- Mr. Hathaway, 12th grade English teacher, right?” Jazz said, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked away from Savin after the taller boy nodded. “Well -- he’s my dad.”
“Wait -- does that mean you’re Dylan Hathaway’s little brother, Jazz?” Savin asked. “You were friends with Ryin, too, weren’t you?”
Jazz felt his heart sink in his chest, his hand falling away from the back of his neck slowly. “Y-Yeah...” He bit his lip, glancing back at Gemma. “I wish I had found out about it in some other way.”
“Tell me about it,” Savin muttered, pulling his glasses off of his face. He wiped them on the hem of his shirt before sliding them back over his eyes. Sighing, he shook his head, looking away from Jazz. “Anyway, I should probably head back to class. And you two should, too.”
Jazz nodded, willing his tears away. For a moment, he stood there, watching as Savin then turned on his heel. “Hey, Savin!” he called.
Savin stopped, glancing at Jazz over his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“If, um -- if you ever need to talk to someone about -- about Ryin, I can give you my number?” Jazz offered, clearing his throat. His eyes began to sting again. “Dylan’s not -- exactly the greatest person to talk to about that sort of thing.”
Jazz could have sworn he felt his heart skip a beat when Savin smiled, pulling out his phone and moving closer to Jazz. “Sure thing,” he murmured. “I’ll give you mine, too -- just in case you need to talk. Okay?”
Nodding, Jazz rattled off his number to Savin quickly, wishing his face would stop feeling so warm. He then turned to Gemma, smiling at her. “I guess I should get your number, too,” he said quietly.
Jazz swore he saw Savin’s smile fade just a tiny bit.
Not that he had expected a response -- he knew Ryin probably wouldn’t get back to him until the period was over. But it was still worth a shot. Text sent, Jazz sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. Tried to sit up straighter, even making small talk with his fellow classmates. Not that they cared much about what he had to say.
It wasn’t long before Ms. Esposito stood at the podium, clearing her throat. Jazz waited for his name to be called, gritting his teeth a little the closer they got to the H’s. “Jasper Hathaway?”
“It’s Jazz,” he hissed, raising his hand. How many times did he have to tell this woman that? The rest of his teachers could get it right, why couldn’t she? His teacher gave him a disdainful look over the edge of her glasses before continuing down the list. It made Jazz feel a little better when he heard other classmates correct her. At least he wasn’t the only one?
Just as she finished taking attendance, Ms. Esposito opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the morning announcements. She frowned, listening to the instructions no doubt being blared in all of the classrooms. Special assembly.
It didn’t take long for Jazz’s class to line up single file. As they walked out of the classroom and towards the auditorium, Jazz couldn’t help wondering what the assembly would be about. His classmates whispered amongst themselves, and when they sat in their seats, Jazz pulled out his phone.
He hadn’t received a text back from Ryin yet. His stomach twisted as the whole school came in one by one. When Principal Page stood behind the podium and cleared her throat, her expression grave, Jazz wished his heart would pound a little less.
“We have called this special assembly to inform you that, last night, Great Plains lost an invaluable member of its student body. Ryin King was a...”
Jazz felt his chest tighten. Felt his eyes sting before the rest of the words could even sink in. His best friend. His best friend. The only person he really even interacted with at this school -- and he was gone. His phone chirped in his pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts. Even gave him a small bubble of hope in his chest.
He pulled out his phone, his hope quickly dissipating when he noticed the message was from his brother Dylan -- not from Ryin. You okay, bro?
How could he be okay? He shook his head, knowing that Dylan couldn’t see him from wherever he was in the auditorium -- but he knew Dylan had to be there, too. Probably sitting somewhere behind him. Jazz couldn’t get his thumbs to type out a response, his vision too blurry for him to even concentrate enough on the keys.
“You okay?” a girl’s voice whispered from the row behind him. Jazz turned around, wiping at his face as he did so. “You seem to be taking this harder than everyone else.”
“I’m -- fine,” Jazz choked out. He managed a shaky smile at the girl. “Thanks for asking.”
“Are you a freshman? I haven’t seen you around, much. I’m Gemma,” she continued to whisper, leaning forward in her seat some. She glanced around the auditorium -- Jazz couldn’t help doing the same, noticing that many of the teachers have moved to the front. Principal Page was no longer talking, standing impassively at the front of the auditorium.
Jazz nodded his head. “Jazz,” he said, wishing his eyes would stop stinging. “Ryin is -- was my best friend.”
Gemma nodded, frowning slightly. “If you ask me, there was something fishy about that car accident,” she murmured, purposely keeping her voice low.
Jazz opened his mouth to respond, then shut it. Car accident? He cleared his throat, hoping he would manage to keep his voice steady. “I wasn’t -- paying much attention,” he admitted slowly, glancing down at his hands. “I mean -- I just heard Ryin’s name and --” he cut himself off, shaking his head.
“Well, Kalen Murdock was the one driving the car -- you know, the captain of the football team? -- but he like, just suddenly lost control. For no reason. And only the passenger side was hit?”
Jazz felt his blood run cold at that. “You don’t think --?” He cut himself off again, shaking his head. “I-I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I really wanna talk about this, right now.” He bit his lip before wiping more tears away. “I -- I think we can head back to class.”
He stood up from his seat, slipping through the row of seats. He watched as Gemma did the same, meeting her at the end of the row. They stood in the aisle for a moment before heading towards the back of the auditorium. It took Jazz a moment to realize just how much taller Gemma was -- at least a few inches.
Just as they passed through the auditorium doors and out into the hall, Jazz could hear laughter coming from his right. Two boys stood by the doors -- Jazz immediately noticed that they both had long hair that went halfway down their backs. But their eyes stood out the most -- the blond one had violet eyes, and the one with chestnut brown hair had much lighter purple eyes.
Physical appearances aside, their behavior stood out to Jazz the most. Neither looked upset. The blond looked almost down right gleeful.
“Jazz?” Gemma asked, putting a hand on Jazz’s shoulder. “What’re you looking at?”
“Those two,” Jazz murmured, pointing at the two boys. He could feel his chest tighten again, but for different reasons. They had to be older than him, likely seniors. But they were laughing. Not even remotely acting like the rest of the school at all.
“Ugh,” Gemma snorted, shaking her head. “You mean Egan and Nico? They’re gods.”
“Seriously? Gods go to this school?” Jazz asked, blinking. “They don’t look like gods.”
“See their eyes? Gods have purple eyes,” Gemma said. Her tone had a biting edge to it. She turned to Jazz, lightly touching his shoulder again. “C’mon, let’s get out of here before they see --”
“Well, Nico, would you look at that?” the blond one said, his voice loud as he gestured towards Jazz and Gemma. Nico’s eyes lit up at the sight of them both.
“--us.” Gemma sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Jazz just watched as the two gods approached them, the blond one smirking at him.
“You poor thing,” Egan murmured, his attention focusing entirely on Jazz. Jazz felt his back stiffen as Egan moved in uncomfortably close. “Were you a friend of Ryin’s?” he asked, false sincerity lacing his voice.
Jazz nodded his head, wishing his vision wouldn’t continue to blur and that it would get easier to breathe. “Known him for years,” he answered quietly.
“Shouldn’t you two go back to class?” Gemma snapped, her voice helping Jazz get his tears under better control.
“We don’t have to go back to class,” Nico said, smiling at Gemma. He moved in close to her, just as Egan had done with Jazz. Jazz could see her bristle, her arms uncrossing and her fists balling at her sides. “You could join us, if you like. I’m sure that your teachers will understand,” he continued, running his fingers down her arm.
“Leave her alone,” Jazz said, stepping between Gemma and Nico. He noticed the way Gemma shivered -- though with anger or disgust he couldn’t tell. “She and I were just gonna head back to class.”
“Oh, so you two were going to ‘go back to class’ together, is that it?” Egan asked, smirking at Jazz again. “Is she your girlfriend?”
Jazz furrowed his eyebrows together, giving Egan a confused look. “She’s just a friend -- and we really were just gonna go back to class.”
“Hm, I thought so,” Egan said, moving in uncomfortably close to Jazz again. When Egan reached out and brushed aside a stray tear, Jazz felt a sort of electricity run through his skin at the touch. He gasped and bit his lip as Egan’s smirk grew into a predatory grin. “You’re too pretty to be straight.”
“H-Hey, what’re you doing to hm?” Gemma asked. Jazz pulled away from Egan, trying to forget the current that had shot through his body. How it had unsettled him. “You’re not -- are you two trying to flirt with us?”
Jazz felt his face heat up uncontrollably at the thought.
“And if we are?” Nico purred. “You both are rather...attractive.”
Egan nodded, reaching out for Jazz’s hand as he smiled. “Very much so.”
“Egan -- Nico!” another voice called from behind them both. The boy sounded unsure of himself -- looked unsure of himself as he fidgeted on his feet, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Leave them alone, will you? They’re -- they’re underclassmen.”
Jazz felt Egan’s fingers wrap around his wrist, feeling that same jolt run through him again. Jazz’s face burned even worse as Egan pulled him closer. “Ah, Savin. You’re just upset that we beat you to them,” he said, cupping Jazz’s cheek. Jazz wished he could pull away from Egan -- but no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t. “Especially the one I have right now, right? Isn’t he your type?”
Savin’s face turned just the slightest shade of red. “It’s not fair to use your seductive powers on him,” he muttered.
“It’s not my fault you humans succumb to it so easily,” Egan said, sliding his arm around Jazz’s waist. The electricity just increased -- Jazz could have sworn he saw other people stopping and staring.
“Don’t -- don’t make me get Mr. Hathaway, Egan!”
“Don’t -- don’t get Mr. Hathaway!” Jazz managed, finally pulling away from Egan as Savin began walking towards the auditorium. He gave himself a little shake, wishing his face weren’t so damn red. Even put plenty of distance between himself and Egan. “Look, I don’t -- like guys, okay? At least, I don’t think I do, and --” He cut himself off, noticing the way Savin’s expression changed at that. “I’m -- gonna go.”
Egan shrugged and dusted off his shirt. He looked off to the side, a wide grin making its way across his face as he elbowed Nico in the side. “Hey, look at that one,” he said, pointing off to somewhere inside the auditorium.
Nico’s eyes moved away from Gemma, who had remained silent the whole time, her jaw halfway to the floor. He then grinned. “We’ll see you two later,” he murmured, grabbing Egan and pulling him away from Jazz and Gemma.
“Oh, thank god,” Savin breathed, putting a hand to his forehead. He then ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you want me to grab Mr. Hathaway?” he asked, looking directly at Jazz. “He could have stopped Egan from being an ass.”
Jazz could have sworn his face couldn’t possibly get any redder, but he could feel the extra heat rush to his face. “Mr. -- Mr. Hathaway, 12th grade English teacher, right?” Jazz said, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked away from Savin after the taller boy nodded. “Well -- he’s my dad.”
“Wait -- does that mean you’re Dylan Hathaway’s little brother, Jazz?” Savin asked. “You were friends with Ryin, too, weren’t you?”
Jazz felt his heart sink in his chest, his hand falling away from the back of his neck slowly. “Y-Yeah...” He bit his lip, glancing back at Gemma. “I wish I had found out about it in some other way.”
“Tell me about it,” Savin muttered, pulling his glasses off of his face. He wiped them on the hem of his shirt before sliding them back over his eyes. Sighing, he shook his head, looking away from Jazz. “Anyway, I should probably head back to class. And you two should, too.”
Jazz nodded, willing his tears away. For a moment, he stood there, watching as Savin then turned on his heel. “Hey, Savin!” he called.
Savin stopped, glancing at Jazz over his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“If, um -- if you ever need to talk to someone about -- about Ryin, I can give you my number?” Jazz offered, clearing his throat. His eyes began to sting again. “Dylan’s not -- exactly the greatest person to talk to about that sort of thing.”
Jazz could have sworn he felt his heart skip a beat when Savin smiled, pulling out his phone and moving closer to Jazz. “Sure thing,” he murmured. “I’ll give you mine, too -- just in case you need to talk. Okay?”
Nodding, Jazz rattled off his number to Savin quickly, wishing his face would stop feeling so warm. He then turned to Gemma, smiling at her. “I guess I should get your number, too,” he said quietly.
Jazz swore he saw Savin’s smile fade just a tiny bit.