A/N: Hey guys! This was a new fic idea I had! I'm not sure of where it's going just yet…but here's what I have so far! For this AU, Beth, Carl, and Daryl are all the same age and are seniors in high school together. Let me know what you think!

Chapter One -

"Well at least my sister ain't some drunk college whore!" Beth's body tensed and she dropped her armload of books, spinning her body and clenching her fist before socking the quarterback in his nose, breaking it with a crunch as blood flowed down his face. "You bitch!" He roared as his hand moved to slap her. Beth grabbed his wrist before he could hit her and kicked him in the groin. The fight had gathered a small audience and everyone all "oooh'd" and groaned in pain with the senior football player as he collapsed to the tile floor in pain.

"Nobody talks about my sister like that!" She yelled in his face before letting out a huff and pushing her way through the growing crowd, most of whom parted when they saw her coming. This wasn't Beth's first fight in the school, though it was the first of her senior year. She smirked when some of the girls flinched and whispered about her.

"Ms. Greene, Mr. Jones, my office, now!" The principal yelled from the end of the hall as he approached. Beth shrugged and picked up her books.

"Mr. Jones may take a while to join us, Mr. Porter. I kinda kicked him in the balls."

"My office, now," Beth could tell that the man in front of her was not amused and she smiled sweetly at him.

"You got it, Mr. Porter." Beth walked ahead of her principal, her ponytail swaying slightly as a slight bounce entered each step she took. Part of Beth was sick of high school, public school in general. She had thought about dropping out and just getting her GED and going off to college but she also liked the idea having the social experiences of her senior year. Part of her wanted to dress up and attend her senior prom, though she knew she wouldn't have a date to go with her but she could just make it a fun day and night with her friends, Amy and Carl.

The rest of her just wanted to get the heck out of dodge as quickly as possible. She loved her life, loved the farmhouse and her chores around the farm. She loved her family and friends, but the loss of her mother hung everywhere in this small town. Everyone had known Annette Greene and had loved her. Her mother loved to eat at the diner on Saturdays and shopped for books during her free time. Everywhere Beth looked, there was some reminder of her mother. Three years later, every face Beth looked at still held grief and pity towards her. She was the unstable Greene, the suicidal Greene. She just wanted to go to a place where her face was invisible to the world; where she was just another body on the sidewalk. Beth realized that her fighting and causing problems only made the attention she received worse, but she only got in fights when it was called for. Like today.

Beth figured her motorcycle gained her a lot of negative attention too but at least she wasn't out doing drugs like some of the other seniors. She drank occasionally but she still had good grades and obeyed the law. For the most part. Getting into fights had gotten her a couple of threats for assault charges but so far, she had managed to avoid any real legal problems.

"This is your eighth visit to my office, Ms. Greene," Mr. Porter started as soon as they were in his office, pulling Beth from her thoughts.

"You're counting last year too, Mr. P. This is my first visit of this school year," Beth corrected calmly.

"We're only a month into the new school year, Beth." Mr. Porter told her and Beth rolled her eyes. As if I didn't know that already, she thought.

"Well, I figured a month of good behavior was enough. Besides, he called my sister a drunk college whore. He had it comin'." The older man in front of her sighed and stared at her for a moment.

"I'm having Mrs. Blake call your father. I'm not putting up with your attitude and fighting again this year. Straighten up, Ms. Greene," Mr. Porter dug into his desk and pulled out the suspension forms and began filling one out. Beth sighed. This would disappoint her father, he would probably get incredibly angry with her and talk about how upset this would make her mother if she were here to see this. The blonde couldn't help but think that her mother knew that this would be how Beth acted the older she got. She had a feeling that her mother would have been expecting this. After all, Beth's mother had always told everyone when they asked about her girls that Maggie was a spark, but Beth was a wildfire. Maggie had a temper and a level of sass that had pushed their father's buttons as they grew, but she always reigned herself in before things got physical. Beth didn't do that, she honestly wasn't even sure she could.

"A week of in school suspension for fighting." Mr. Porter's voice cut through Beth's thoughts again and she looked at the form as he filled out why she was getting the punishment.

"Last year, I told you to cut your mullet and you gave me two weeks' worth of detention, one week of ISS doesn't seem like much for breaking someone's nose," Beth smiled sweetly as his pen paused over the form and he sighed before carrying on with his writing.

"Mr. Porter, Dr. Greene is unavailable but I talked with Maggie. She said she could come get Ms. Greene if that was needed," the voice of Mrs. Blake carried into the room and Beth sighed. Great, Maggie's involved. There's going to be a yelling match later…or maybe not when she finds out I defended her honor.

"That won't be necessary. Ms. Greene can finish the day. Your suspension will start tomorrow and I really suggest you straighten up, Ms. Greene. I will not have you bullying or fighting in my school. I will give you out of school suspension if your act continues. I might even call in Sheriff Grimes and the alternative school in Atlanta. You don't want either of those." Beth sighed and nodded, taking the form from his hand when he extended it to her before she stood. She understood why the man was reluctant to give her suspension out of the school or any form of major punishment. Her mother's death and her suicide attempt afterwards. The man walked on eggshells around her now, it annoyed the blonde more than Duane's constant instigating.

"I understand, Mr. P. I'll do my best. I hope you give Duane suspension too, he started all of it." Beth pointed out before leaving his office. She almost collided with an older man with a beer belly who reeked of alcohol as she stepped out of the office but a quick sidestep saved her. The older man turned a rude glare on her before his eyes moved up and down her body, making her narrow her eyes in return. Her blue eyes settled on a tall, dark haired teenage boy behind the man who was staring at her and she felt a weird tightening in her stomach when their eyes met. His blue eyes were bright and, dare she say it, gorgeous to look at. The boy looked away once their eyes met and she snapped out of her trance and walked around them. Her eyes took in Duane sitting in one of the chairs in the office, a tissue crumpled under his nose and she smiled sweetly at him, it growing when her smile was returned with a glare.

"Okay, looks like your information is all here. Here is your class schedule, Mr. Dixon. I'll see if I can get someone to come show you to your first class," Beth overheard from Mrs. Blake. She heard the older man grunt something crude and leave. Beth thought about offering to take this new kid for a tour but decided she didn't want to walk some poor kid around the school. She would much rather be in her History class talking with Carl than lead some piece of fresh meat around.

"See you around, Duane!" She cheerily said in farewell. The boy jumped up and grabbed her arm.

"This ain't done, Greene," he threatened. His hand was yanked off her arm and Beth turned to see the new kid standing there, glaring at Duane. "Hey, man, this don't concern you any."

"Mr. Jones! Get in here," Mr. Porter yelled and Duane pulled his hand free from the new kid's and stomped off. Beth looked at the new kid, their blue eyes meeting before she glanced over his appearance. He had a goatee and his hair was slightly long, the tips ending around his ears and his bangs hanging down his forehead, almost to his eyebrows. He was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt that clung to a fit body (god, his shoulders and those arms! She thought with a light blush) with a leather vest over it and blue jeans that had obviously been mended a few times too many. His family must not have a lot of money, she thought but then her brain brought forth images of her favorite jeans and how holey they were now, or maybe those are just his favorite jeans.

"Thank you. I could have taken care of it, but thank you anyways." The new kid nodded and looked at his shoes.

"Oh, uh…Mr. Dixon, why don't you wait here, I'll call someone else to take you down to your history class." Mrs. Blake stared between the two and Beth smirked slightly. Is she worried I'll beat up the new kid or something?

"Who's your history class with?" Beth moved closer to this Dixon boy and looked at his schedule. They had all the same classes. "Its fine, Mrs. Blake, I'll take him. We have classes together." Mrs. Blake opened her mouth but Beth interrupted her, "chill out, Mrs. B. I won't hit the new kid on his first day. Besides, he needs to do something to deserve it and he hasn't. Unlike Duane in there. Come on," Beth opened the office door to let the quiet teenager out and began leading the way to their classroom.

"My name's Beth," she told him.

"Daryl," he muttered in return, his eyes flitting to hers. "That kid in there…you do that to him?" Beth smiled and nodded.

"Yup. He called my sister a drunk college whore. She's none of those things. She's a college graduate, and she drank some, who hasn't these days? But she's definitely not a drunk or a whore. Her and Glenn have been goin' steady for years now and he's the only guy she ever slept with. Don't exactly make her a whore, ya know? Anywho, Duane and I get in fights a lot, mostly arguments; he's a major ass. Thinks he's all that and can say and do whatever he wants cuz he's the town favorite in football." Beth snapped her mouth shut when she realized she was rambling, something she never did. She frowned before her eyes moved up to Daryl's and she found him smirking, his eyes bright with amusement. "What?"

"You always talk this much?" His voice was light, a small quirk to his lips

"You always so quiet, Dixon?"

"I'm an observer, not a talker," he replied lightly.

"An observer, huh? So…what can you observe about me?" she turned and walked backwards, her smile turning sly when he chuckled slightly and looked her over. Normally she hated being stared at but a guy or seeing their eyes roam over her body, but something about Daryl made her like it. She enjoyed his attention. His blue eyes took in her long blonde hair in its ponytail with the small braid in it, her bright blue eyes that were lined heavily in liner making her eyes the first thing he wanted to look at, her straight, pearly white smile. His blue eyes moved down from her face, taking in the heart necklace she always wore, the plaid button up she had open and tied at her stomach with a blue crop top on underneath it, the mass of bangles and bracelets on her left wrist, her tight blue jean shorts that were shorter than the school dress code probably allowed, and dirty boots for working on the farm. His eyes then took in the bright pink of her fingernail polish and he smirked slightly when he saw her middle fingernails were painted black.

"Farm girl," he started and Beth sighed, interrupting him with a roll of her eyes.

"The boots give that away, next."

"I ain't a damn trained monkey," he told her, though his eyes displayed a mirth that his gruff voice didn't show, and she laughed.

"You said you were an observer. Classify me as a farm girl, miss all the other important details. I wanted to know what you observed and thought about me but alright, I'll leave it alone. This is our class anyways. History, the most fascinating class of your day. Mrs. Grimes is cool, though. Funny when she wants to be. Wife of the town sheriff." Beth's hand went to the classroom's doorknob.

"Hey," Daryl interrupted, his hand grabbing Beth's arm softly, unlike the grip Duane had had on her earlier. He let her go as quickly as he had touched her, shaking his hand like he had been scalded, "what you did, defending your sister, hitting that guy, was good." Beth snorted and gave an indifferent shake of her head while holding up her copy of the in-school-suspension form.

"My ISS paper says otherwise. My ears will be ringing with the screeching I'll get at home..." Beth pulled the door open and the entire classroom turned to face the two students. Beth walked in, nonchalantly because this had happened before and Mrs. Grimes was almost used to the blonde being late or leaving early to skip, and went to a seat at the back of the room with an empty seat on her left and a thin boy with lengthy brown hair on her right. She gave him a high five, which prompted a scowl from Mrs. Grimes. Daryl, however, did not like the attention the class was giving him as he walked to the older woman and showed her his schedule. She gave him a bright smile and pointed to the empty chair.

"Go sit on back there with Beth, Daryl, we're just beginning chapter two today." Daryl nodded and went back to the empty seat beside Beth. Mrs. Grimes began her lecture over the chapter and Daryl found himself agreeing with Beth's sarcasm. This was going to be the longest class of the day.

"Psst, hey," Daryl turned and looked at Beth and the kid next to her. Beth smiled and nodded her head to the boy next to her, "this is Carl. Carl, Daryl." Daryl tilted his head in greeting before looking at the blonde next to him, his thoughts returning to their conversation form the hall way. He had only just met the blonde but he found himself comfortable around her. She was gorgeous and she seemed to be pretty cool. She seemed stand-offish and like she wouldn't take anyone's shit. "You gonna keep starin' at me, Dixon? Find me that mysterious or beautiful?" her teasing whisper cut through and he jumped slightly in surprise, his cheeks warming when he realized he had been caught staring.

"Nah," he replied, turning his attention back to Mrs. Grimes who was still discussing whatever the topic of the chapter was. She had to be ignoring their conversation, there was no way she wasn't hearing their whispers. The room was deathly silent and Beth wasn't exactly keeping her whispers quiet.

"I need a smoke, you wanna come?" she asked him and he stared at her in surprise. She smokes too? He asked himself as he nodded. Beth smiled brightly and gathered up her books and standing. "Well, come on then, Dixon. Carl, you comin?"

"Absolutely," the teenager replied as he too gathered his supplies and a leather jacket off the back of his desk. "You left this out in the hallway," Carl explained as he handed the jacket over to the blonde.

"Ugh, you're a life saver, Carl. See ya, Mrs. G!" Beth shouted as she walked out of the room. Daryl stood and silently followed the blonde with Carl behind him.

"Carl! You get back in here this instant!" Mrs. Grimes yelled as she followed him into the hallway.

"Sorry, mom, I'll be back in a little bit!" Carl yelled back before exiting out the side doors at the end of the hall and holding it open for Daryl.

"I'm calling your father!" Carl heaved a sigh before letting the door shut and nodding at Daryl.

"That's my mom," he explained and Daryl nodded.

"You don't really strike me as the kind of kid to not listen to their mom," Daryl said as he followed Beth and Carl to the student parking lot.

"I used to listen to her, take everything she said as if it was the word from God himself," Carl told him. "Then I caught her and my dad's partner making googly eyes at each other. I guess I lost all the respect I had for her then."

"Your dad's the sheriff, ain't he?" The three teenagers stopped between two motorcycles, Beth putting all of her books in the backpack hanging from one before pulling out a box of cigarettes and a light. Daryl leaned against the other motorcycle, stroking the handlebars affectionately.

"Yea, he is. Whoa, is this your bike?" Carl asked as he looked at the motorcycle Daryl was leaning against. Daryl nodded and Beth's eyes widened in awe, her hands almost dropping her cigarettes and lighter.

"Is that a Triumph Scrambler?!" she asked as she walked the few feet from her bike to look over his in awe. His eyes settled on her bike and he felt his jaw slacken.

"You're in awe of my bike when you own a Bonneville?!" Beth met his eyes and the two stood in between their bikes, staring each other down. Their eyes wide and excited. A whistle from Carl made them break their gaze and they looked over at him.

"Could cut through that sudden sexual tension with a knife! Who knew talking about motorcycles would rev Beth's sexual engine?" Carl raised his hand with a smirk. "Pun intended, by the way." Beth blushed and refocused on lighting a cigarette before passing one to Daryl and handing him her lighter. Carl shook his head when Daryl offered him one. "I don't smoke 'em, I just like to come out here and chat with Beth whenever she does."

"May I?" Beth asked Daryl, gesturing at his bike. He nodded and watched as she swung her leg over and sat on the seat of his Scrambler, testing her balance on it before laying across the top of it and staring up at Daryl. "Can I ride your bike sometime?" she asked with a smirk, fully aware of the sexual innuendo in what she said. Daryl moved the leather jacket Beth had dropped on the seat of her bike before he slung his leg over and sat, loving the feel of the blonde's bike and thinking of how comfortable it must be to ride on. He took a long drag from his cigarette, watching as Beth did the same on his bike, her eyes bright with a flirtatious glint to them. Damn, he thought as he looked at the petite blonde in her crop top and shorts on his bike.

"You can ride it anytime you want, babe," he flirted back, surprising himself. Normally, he felt incredibly awkward around women and would stutter or struggle to find his words but something about this blonde and the flirtatious look she was giving him had broken that. Beth's eyes widened before she let out a laugh.

"Damn," Carl muttered as he looked between the two. "I'm getting the feeling of being the third wheel here. Why'd Amy have to be sick today? Why don't I leave you two alone to get on each other's bike or whatever and take care of some of this sexual tension…" Carl's eyes lifted from the two and widened slightly at the sight of the sheriff's police car pulling in. "Hey, look! Dad's here." Beth winked at Daryl before facing the car as it came to a stop in front of them.