A/N: I was planning to update one of my many other stories, yes I know there are a lot of them that need updating, but for some reason I'm not in a very angsty mood right now, and I need to be in that frame of mine for the other fics to work. So I decided to get on with the AU someone asked me to write a while ago. The prompt was 'high school, Bo is a cheerleader and Tamsin is on the football team', it came after the cheerleading episode of season 5 (surprise, surprise). Anyway, this has been kicking around in my head for a while, the updates might be slow in coming, but I'll get there. So here we go. Remember it's an AU, the characters might not be exactly as they are in the show, but we'll see how we go… Read, review and (hopefully) enjoy!
Chapter One
The first day at a new school was always something that people seemed to dread, but not Bo Dennis. Her mom got a new job, so in the middle of the semester they upped and moved half way across the country, Bo loved the adventure and she was looking forward to starting her new school, and hopefully making new friends. At her old school she was pretty popular, she was on the cheerleading squad, dating the quarter back for a while, everything had been great. She hoped that she would fit in pretty quickly, her mom was sure she would, Bo just seemed to draw people to her.
As a gift to celebrate her first day at her new school Bo's mom Aife had bought her a new car, a battered yellow mustang, most girls would hate it, but Bo loved it. Pulling up in the parking lot at the school that morning she noticed a lot of people looking, as she got out of the car she wasn't sure if they were looking at the car or at her. The first task of her day was to report to get her timetable, so she went to the reception area. While she was waiting she noticed a blonde girl sitting there, her head in a book. From the looks of it, as far as Bo could tell, it looked like a science book.
"Interesting book?" Bo asked, as she moved and sat closer to the girl.
The blonde girl in question looked up at her and nearly dropped her book, obviously surprised that someone was actually talking to her.
"Sorry…" Bo said with a little laugh, "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay," the girl said with a nervous smile, "it's er… it's a science book."
Bo looked over at the book and couldn't understand 90% of what she read from one page.
"Quantum physics?" she asked, "if that's what you guys are doing in science then I'm totally screwed."
The girl laughed.
"This isn't what we're studying," she replied, "this is more… light reading…"
"That's light reading?" Bo asked, "Let me guess, you want to be a scientist."
"Doctor, actually…" the girl replied with a little smile, "I want to help people…"
"Sounds like you've got it all planned out…" Bo said, "I'm Bo."
"Lauren." The girl said, "First day?"
"Yep," Bo said with a smile, "I'm just waiting to get my timetable, maybe we'll have a couple of classes together."
Lauren smiled a little.
"If you want to be popular here, you probably should stay away from people like me," Lauren said, "even the nerds won't let me sit at their table at lunch."
Bo couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her.
"I don't tend to listen to people who tell me I can't be friends with who I want to be friends with," she said, "I kind of follow my own path in that sense. I'd rather just be friends with everyone, unless they are a-holes."
At that moment the door to the principal's office opened and a Goth girl walked out.
"In the future Ms Malikov I would appreciate it if you didn't set off the fire extinguishers in the gym, the morning before a big basketball game." Mr Fitzpatrick said.
"How was I to know that the foam makes the floor sticky," the girl said, "maybe they'll play better."
Bo again laughed, the girl who had just walked out of the principal's office looked at her. The first thing Bo noticed was that the girl had amazing blue eyes, her dark hair really made them pop. She slowly walked over to where Bo was sitting with Lauren.
"Hey brains," she said, "who's your new friend?"
"This is… this…" Lauren stuttered.
"Bo." Bo said, standing up and holding out her hand.
"Kenzi," The girl replied, shaking Bo's hand, "welcome to the hell hole."
x-x-x
Lauren was asked to show Bo around, from what the other girl told Bo it seemed to be a regular thing when a new person started. Apparently the principle thought it was the safest option, it may encourage the new students to study and stay out of trouble. They arrived at Bo's first class of the day, English, a class that Lauren also was in. As they walked in Lauren took her seat quietly and Bo handed the note to the teacher. He read it before standing at the front of the class.
"We have a new student joining us today," he said, as Bo felt all eyes on her, "this is Ysabeau Dennis, why don't you tell us about yourself Ysabeau."
"Well firstly it's just Bo," Bo said, "I just moved here with my mom, I moved from a small-ish town, so living in a city is exciting… that's pretty much all I can think of."
"Welcome Bo," the teacher said, "there's an empty table at the back there, take a seat…"
As the teacher started the lesson Bo made her way to the back of the room, as she sat down the guy sitting in front of her turned around.
"I'm Dyson," he said, "you into sports?"
"I was on the cheerleading squad at my old school," Bo said, "so yeah, I enjoy sports."
"You should stop by the gym later, we have a ball game." He said.
"Stop by and watch them lose, again." The girl in the seat next to Bo's said.
Bo looked at her, the girl had her feet on her desk. The first thing Bo noticed was the girl's eyes, they were ice green, and she'd never seen eyes like them.
"We're actually in with a shot of winning tonight's game." Dyson said.
"Sure you are stud," the girl said, "keep telling yourself that."
"You not a fan of the basketball team?" Bo asked.
"I tend not to associate with losers…" The girl replied, still not looking at Bo.
"You tend not to associate with anyone, Tamsin." Dyson said, "Except that little Goth girl… what's her name…"
"Kenzi…" Bo said, assuming that he was talking about the girl she had met earlier.
"School full of losers," Tamsin said, "obviously."
"If you hate it so much why do you still come?" Dyson asked.
"You know why…" Tamsin replied.
"Oh yeah, you need the college scholarship," he said with a nod, "dead end parents, no jobs… football is all you've got, right Tamsin?"
Bo watched as the girl stood up, grabbed her bag and walked out without saying a word to the teacher.
"Mr Thornwood, care to explain why Tamsin just made an unexpected exit?" the teacher asked.
"No idea Sir." Dyson replied.
Bo was still looking at the door that Tamsin had just left out of. At most High Schools the football team and basketball team didn't usually get on, but this felt a little more personal that a spat about which team was doing better. She made a mental note to ask Lauren about it when class ended.
x-x-x
"What's between Dyson and Tamsin?" Bo asked as they were walking to their next class, "in class he mentioned that I should watch the basketball game later, Tamsin said they were going to lose…"
"They have lost every game this year," Lauren replied, "and last year… the team set up is all wrong, it's not a scientifically viable layout it's…"
Bo had stopped, a little confused by what Lauren was saying. The blonde girl stopped and looked back at her, a nervous smile on her face.
"I'm sorry," Lauren said, "I tend to start to… ramble on…"
"I just don't know how you can apply science to a basketball team…" Bo said with a laugh.
"It's about the order of the players, based on height and weight…" Lauren said, "If they had the taller, bigger players at the back, in defence, the smaller lighter players in the centre and then the taller lighter players in the forward attacking positions it would be a more viable set-up… and now you know why I have no friends."
Bo laughed a little as she walked back up to Lauren.
"I think it's cute," she said, "so the basketball team are losing, a lot, and I guess the football team are winning?"
"State champions last year," Lauren said, "which obviously causes issues with the teams. But that isn't Dyson's only problem with Tamsin… they are from completely different ends of the spectrum. Dyson's parents are rich, his father is lawyer, his mother a doctor, he has his college already lined up and doesn't have to worry about fees… Tamsin on the other hand…her parents are…the only chance she has to go to college is scholarship, and Dyson seems to like reminding her of that."
"I didn't think girls got scholarships for football…" Bo said.
"They don't usually…" Lauren replied as they continued walking, "there are a couple of good colleges with girls' teams… it's a long shot, but it's the only shot she's got."
x-x-x
Bo was driving home from school when she saw Tamsin walking alone. She pulled her car over and wound down the window.
"Hey, Tamsin," she called, "wanna lift?"
"I thought you'd be watching the game…" the blonde said as she walked over to the car.
"I watched some of it," Bo replied, "but they were down 26-0 in the first quarter, something tells me it's going to be a long game."
The blonde laughed.
"26-0…" she said, still laughing, "It's a good job none of them are looking for scholarships…"
"So…" Bo said, "Do you want a lift?"
"No thanks," Tamsin replied, "I enjoy the walk…"
"Okay," Bo said with a smile, "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Probably," Tamsin said as she slowly walked away from the car, "I mean we both go there, chances are we'll cross paths again at some point."
Bo smiled to herself as she watched Tamsin walk down the street, there was something different about the blonde, something that intrigued Bo. The brunette made a mental note to find out where the next football game was, she would ask someone tomorrow, after her cheerleading try-out.
A/N: I'm aware that Bo drives a Camaro, it's AU...