[right][sub][color=lightgray][@smarty0114] & [@Hey Im Jordan]
TIMESTAMP: Just before The Morning Show 
The Halls
FEATURING: [color=31ba9c]Jamie Callaghan[/color] & [color=a52521]Owen Lyon[/color]
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[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DBlYVmo.png[/img]
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This was the first day of the rest of Owen Lyon’s life. He was free from the burden of reputation that followed him around in his past school, he had basically gotten to hit the reset button, and it was oddly freeing. Even homeroom, which he hated, seemed like something that he could easily overcome. That was why he strode up to the teacher with so much confidence, and handed her the paper he’d been given as part of his welcoming packet. Owen was being assigned a guide to show him around the school, which was something he desperately needed.

His last school had been a lot smaller, and a lot easier to navigate. Owen was already almost ten minutes late when he managed to make it to the homeroom class. After he talked with the homeroom teacher a bit and introduced himself, Owen was directed to Jamie’s desk. He walked across the room and stood in front of it, holding his right hand out to shake as he introduced himself.

[color=#a52521]“Hey, I’m Owen.” [/color]He slightly furrowed his brow, barely noticeable unless Jamie was paying close attention to his expression, and then he added after the briefest of pauses. [color=#a52521]Owen Lyon. You’re supposed to show me around the school for this period? The lady said the office told you.” [/color]Owen pointed at their homeroom teacher. The office, of course, had not said a damn thing to Jamie, but Owen slid a piece of paper across the desk that explained he was in fact telling the truth. Owen Lyon was, for the day, Jamie Callaghan’s ward.

There were better days for it.

Jamie looked up at Owen and tilted his head, lips pressed tight as he decided how much potential he saw in this new face.[color=#31ba9c] “Lyon. You’re Scott’s cousin.”[/color] He’d been doing a wonderful job ignoring the uncomfortable fact that his sister was dating AJ’s best friend, so of course the office sent his cousin to follow him around. [color=#31ba9c]“He’s about ready to elope with my sister, so I guess that makes us almost family. Which can be useful around here.”[/color] He finally decided he saw a good deal of potential, and stood to grab his bag. [color=#31ba9c]“They sent you to the right person, lucky for you. Let’s go, Owen Lyon, this place is way too big for its own good.”[/color] 

He was glad to get out of Belmonte’s class after Decky, and the Jones’ abrupt exit, and he quickly led Owen back into the hall, letting out a sigh. He didn’t bother explaining where they were, or where they were going. Jamie wasn’t a map. He was, however, a trove of knowledge concerning the school’s social scene. Consequently, his tour was less about locations, and more about the dangerous creatures you might meet along the way. [color=#31ba9c]“So, like, what does Owen Lyon do? What’s your thing? You’ve gotta have a thing or you’ll just drift the halls alone like a sad, teenage ghost.”[/color]

Owen followed Jamie as he stepped out of the room, listening to him talk. It was about forty seconds into Jamie talking that Owen realized he’d been paired with a classic yapper. [color=#a52521]“Uh, teenage ghost doesn’t sound too bad to me. I had a bad time at my last school… so I’m sort of hoping to just skate under the radar?” [/color]He presented it as a question, as he wasn’t sure that skating under the radar was something that could be done at BHHS. Between what his dad and uncle had said, and what this guy was already saying… he wasn’t about to hold his fucking breath, that was for sure. [color=#a52521]“Scott and I aren’t really close, but my dad said I should try to hang out with him. He made it sound like this place is like, an active warzone.”[/color]

[color=#a52521]“I don’t really have a thing, by the way. I go to the gym, and I train a lot. I played football in my other school, but I’m not interested in trying out here.” [/color]Owen explained, hoping that Jamie wouldn’t dig too far into what he was saying. He didn’t want to cross that particular bridge quite yet, but he was trying his best to be sociable. [color=#a52521]“My parents and I are re-opening the gym my dad went to when he was here, so I’m thinking that’ll take up most of my time anyway.”[/color]

Jamie studied the boy next to him, curious as to just how genuine this kid was. Genuine people tended to mix poorly with the kids here, for better or worse. [color=#31ba9c]“Scott’s fine, but his friends suck,”[/color] he said, all too happy to throw AJ’s name in the mud. [color=#31ba9c]“Under the radar is an option here, but that’s boring, and you don’t seem boring. Broody, but not boring.”[/color] He sped up his pace and spun around so he could face Owen, walking backwards as he began to list off the potential safe havens for a new kid at BHHS. [color=#31ba9c]“You’ve got your classic band geeks, but that’s social suicide. If you smoke there’s the PLC for all your illicit substance needs, and if you’re serious about flying under the radar, the gamers like to practice there,”[/color] he said, pointing towards a closed door.

[color=#31ba9c]“You don’t seem like any of those though.”[/color] Jamie came to a stop in front of a large trophy case, filled with pictures of sports teams, past and present, and the myriad trophies that had been won for the school over the years. An empty space was reserved in the middle, where this season’s oversized golden cup was expected to eventually rest. [color=#31ba9c]“You, my friend, are an Elite.”[/color]

This was not the kind of tour Owen had expected. In his head, he’d imagined a quick trip around the school, a little ‘here’s the classrooms for the classes on your schedule,’ then bam, right back into the homeroom to finish up the day. Instead, he was getting the [i]real[/i] tour of Beverly Hills High. To him, it almost felt like he was stepping into a TV show. [color=#a52521]“An [i]Elite[/i]? What the hell even is that? It sounds like a boy band, and I ain’t no pop star.” [/color]Had he mentioned a PLC? Owen only knew PVC.

Owen shook his head as he could already feel that Jamie was trying to typecast him as a jock. He looked at the trophy case in front of him, and tried to defend himself before it became too late. [color=#a52521]“Dude, I’m really not trying to join a sports team. I get too competitive.” [/color]He hoped that Jamie wouldn’t pry any further, but every single fiber of his being said that he would. At least he hadn’t been Googled yet, though he could almost sense in Jamie’s aura that he would be shortly after this conversation. [color=#a52521]“What about you? What’s your group? I’m gonna guess it ain’t band geeks or the gamers.”[/color]

[color=#31ba9c]“They aren’t a boy band, unfortunately. And they aren’t all jocks,” [/color]Jamie said, quietly running through the mental list of Ethan Green’s band of brothers. It would be kind of nice if they could perform synchronized choreography to pop music, but alas, that was a fantasy for another day. [color=#31ba9c]“Okay, well, I guess that part’s not really true, but you don’t need to be a jock. They’re just,” [/color]Jamie let out a particularly perturbed sigh, [color=#31ba9c]“the ‘bros’, y’know? Not to typecast you or anything but like…is that not your thing? I mean, your parents own a gym.” [/color]

He crossed the hall and pointed at a poster advertising the school paper. [color=#31ba9c]“Trixie and I run the school paper, and keep track of everything that’s happening around here. Well, everything that matters. You can grab lunch with us if you want, but you don’t strike me as someone with a passion for journalism,” [/color]Jamie said. He crossed his arms and tilted his head. [color=#31ba9c]“Ethan thinks with his dick more than he should, but he’s not the worst person in the world.” [/color]He walked further down the hall, gesturing for Owen to follow. [color=#31ba9c]“What I’m saying is, you can either be a loser burnout, or you can put the biceps to good use and go get your parents some new gym patrons?” [/color]Jamie looked back at Owen with a smirk and a shrug. If he was being honest with himself, he needed a man on the inside of the Elite more than he needed Owen Lyon to survive his senior year, but sometimes you could kill two birds with one stone, and it always paid to get the new kid in your pocket. You never knew what tricks they might have up their sleeve. [color=#31ba9c]“Here, give me your phone,” [/color]Jamie extended his palm, tapping his fingers as though he had anywhere else to be.

Owen stared at Jamie as he held out his hand expectantly. Was this guy serious? Had Owen died and gone to hell? After Jamie asked for his phone, Owen didn’t hand it over. Instead, he focused on a particular part of what Jamie had said, [color=#a52521]“dude, are you hitting on me?” [/color]He asked, then looked down at his arm, absentmindedly tensing it slightly. They did look good, he supposed, but he wasn’t sure how to take what was happening then and there. 

[color=#31ba9c]“Who’s doing the typecasting now?” [/color]Jamie replied, one eyebrow raised as he looked expectantly down at his empty hand. Owen was hot, Stevie Wonder could’ve figured that out. He was much too focused on a certain Gearhead however, and the events of thirty minutes ago, to even consider exploring that feeling. Besides, he knew a straight man when he saw one. [color=#31ba9c]“I’m making sure you don’t spend your last year of highschool as a complete and utter nobody. You will thank me later.”[/color]

He hesitated at first, and then thought back to his father’s words. BHHS was weird, and the number one rule was simply to not trust anyone. But where had trusting his parents ever really gotten him anyway? There was a hint of caution, but he dropped his phone into Jamie’s open palm.

[color=#a52521]“My gym’s not like… a weightlifting gym. It’s more for MMA, y’know? Self-defense. That kind of thing. You know anyone that might want to sign up? I can teach ‘em how to throw a mean 1, 2.” [/color]Owen quickly threw a couple of punches in the air, shadowboxing as if he were fighting with the very idea that he ‘belonged’ with the jocks. After he did so, he looked at Jamie almost as if he expected to impress the other boy with his half-hearted swings. [color=#a52521]“Are you a journalist? Cool. My last school didn’t have a paper.”[/color]

[color=#31ba9c]“Journalist, paparazzi, school’s biggest gossip. Pick your favorite I guess.” [/color]Jamie’s focus remained on the phone as he added two numbers. The first belonged to Ethan Green, and the second to Jamie himself. God, he really was starting to hand that out like candy. [color=#31ba9c]“Tell Ethan that I said he owes me one for not telling any of his girlfriends about eachother. He’ll get the hint,” [/color]he said, handing the phone back to Owen. [color=#31ba9c]“MMA?” [/color]He was hardly impressed by Owen’s shadowboxing, but he could still feel AJ’s breath on his neck and he took the bait. [color=#31ba9c]“You wanna teach me how to deck my ex-boyfriend? For legal reasons, I don’t think I actually want to. I just wouldn’t hate having the option.” [/color]He rubbed the mark on his neck, almost absentmindedly, and looked up at Owen. This was not his usual kind of friend, but this was not his usual kind of day, and the more he thought of it, the more he realized…he didn’t have a lot of fucking friends.

[color=#a52521]“Dude? Totally. I’ll text you the gym’s address, you can come by after? If you sign up for classes, you’ll probably be working with me. I can teach you how to throw a couple punches. Since you’re like… the first friend I’ve made, you don’t even have to pay. We have a discount.” [/color]Owen was making a hell of an assumption, but he could kind of feel it in the air. Neither one of them would normally socialize with the other, but fate seemed to have brought them together. And also, Owen wanted to make a good impression because meeting people was stressful and Jamie seemed connected enough to introduce him to a few different people. Including… the Elite, whoever that was. [color=#a52521]“For legal reasons, I can’t tell you to do it, but if your ex deserves it, they deserve it.” [/color]Owen opted to be gender inclusive, a little unsure of how he was coming off after the jab about typecasting. He didn’t mean anything by it! He just couldn’t help but notice when miring was happening. It wasn’t like he [i]minded[/i]. What was the point of all the muscles if people didn’t look at them?

[color=#a52521]“Who’s Ethan?” [/color]Owen asked, looking down at the number in his phone. It was a bit weird to have someone playing friend matchmaker for him, but Owen was tentatively going to explore the option that Jamie was giving him. It seemed like the right thing to do, but that didn’t stop Owen from asking a second question. [color=#a52521]“Hey, if this uh, boy band tryout doesn’t work, you’re gonna teach me how to be a good journalist, right?” [/color]He grinned, and for the first time in a while, Owen found himself not feeling the weight of his past mistakes on his shoulders.

[color=#31ba9c]“Ethan Green. Lead singer of the boy band, so to speak.  He’s throwing a party tomorrow, and [i]you[/i] should be in attendance. ” [/color]He returned Owen’s smile with one of his own, more reserved, but still, surprisingly genuine. Another idea was beginning to take shape, featuring this new kid, his best friend, and some forced proximity. [color=#31ba9c]“The Newsroom is always open. You should talk to Trixie, she’s a [i]much[/i] better teacher than me.” [/color]

Green? Owen frowned almost immediately after Jamie said the surname, as he recalled what his father had to say about [i]that[/i] particular family. [color=#a52521]“Green? I don’t know about that one… my dad said everyone with the last name Green is evil.” [/color]He paused for a second, thinking about it to himself. What else had his dad said? [color=#a52521]“No, wait. He said the women were heartless demons and the guys are sometimes okay.” [/color]He shrugged, and pulled out his phone, quickly penning a text to the mysterious Green.

[color=#31ba9c]“Eh, it’s hit or miss. Ethan, Andy, and Diana? Safe to engage. Levi and Celeste? Keep your distance.” [/color]Jamie said, habitually looking over his shoulder to ensure they weren’t being overheard. You could never be too careful. [color=#31ba9c]“Which does bring me to the most important rule of surviving Beverly Hills High. Don’t piss off The Hive. Whatever mean girls you had at your last school pale in comparison to Naomi Davis.”[/color]

[b]To: [color=#cba55a]Ethan[/color][/b]
[b][color=#a52521]yo, im new. my name’s owen. jamie suggested i text you[/color][/b]
[b][color=#a52521]he said i need to be in attendance for your party tomorrow[/color][/b]
[b][color=#a52521]he also said you owe him one for telling your girlfriends about each other[/color][/b]

Owen dropped his phone back in his pocket, only then starting to realize how much blind faith he was putting in this guy he’d met only a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to take it back, as the tweets were already flying over the airwaves. That only left one question burning in his mind, and Owen couldn’t help but blurt it out. [color=#a52521]“Trixie? She cute?”[/color]

Jamie smirked. He loved being right. [color=#31ba9c]“I’m sure you’ll decide that for yourself sooner rather than later.” [/color]He paused, debating just how hard he wanted to play this before deciding that he wouldn’t be a very good best friend if he didn’t take some risks. [color=#31ba9c]“But yes, she is.” [/color]Jamie’s next thought was interrupted by the slapping of shoes on linoleum, and the quickly passing figures of Levi Green-Locke and Butler. [color=#31ba9c]“Speak of the devil,” [/color]Jamie muttered, once they were out of earshot. [color=#31ba9c]“That’s Levi. Naomi’s red right hand.” [/color]Jamie took his phone out and checked the time. Perfect. [color=#31ba9c]“He doesn’t know it, but he’s got a meeting with me in ten minutes. You’ll be good on your own right?” [/color]He didn’t wait for confirmation. [color=#31ba9c]“Send me the address for your gym, and don’t flake on the party tomorrow. I’m your first real friend here, so you kind of have to.”[/color]

Owen had to admit, in his high school career, he hadn’t really had a friend do this much for him. He’d only known Jamie for a few minutes, but the other boy had already set him up with a party, a friend group, and was shilling a cute girl. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, at least as far as Owen was concerned. Owen had been unable to do anything but stare as the pair of Levi and Butler walked past. He ended up not responding to Jamie’s question, or even acknowledging the request for the address - though that went unspoken.

[color=#a52521]“Does that kid have a bodyguard?”[/color]

Jamie gave a solemn nod. [color=#31ba9c]“Yeah, you’ll get used to it.”[/color]