No, I'm not procrastinating with my other story, how could you even think of that? No, I really wanted to try my hand at writing a modern Pirates fic just too see how it goes. I know that it's being done a bit more than usual right now, but I think I might have a few different ideas to entertain you all with.

Declaimer: nope, nadda, zilch.

A young man walked briskly down the sidewalk with his head held high as he avoided knocking into the people surrounding him. Even though it was early in the morning the streets were already filled with bustling traffic. Businessmen and college students alike shuffled along to their destinations.

Coming to a crosswalk, the young man peered both ways down the street and crossed quickly with a few other people who were not worried about crossing between signals. He looked down at his wristwatch and determined that he still had enough time to stop for coffee before class. He walked past the Starbuck's directly on the corner; he didn't have the money for that. Instead, he walked into a small restaurant. He ordered a large coffee and fished out a few bills from his duct tape wallet.

He walked down yet another block and came to the school. He flashed the aged security guard his student ID and walked up three flights of stairs to his first class. He climbed through the door into the amphitheater.

"Morning Mr. Turner," his teacher greeted with a friendly grin that reached his tired eyes. As tired as the man looked, his bright Hawaiian shirt was distracting enough to take away from the look.

"Mornin' Roy," Will replied as he clambered up to the second row. As interesting as Will's film history class was, it was horrible to have the class first thing on Thursday morning. Especially since Will's Wednesday night class generally ended at ten. It was difficult to sit in a pitch-black movie theater for hours on end when you've only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before.

Will Turner was in his very early twenties and a junior in college. He had living in New York City his entire life. He had lived with his father on the Lower East Side ever since Will's mother died when he was twelve. It was around that time when Will became interested in the arts. He felt that it was easier to express his emotions in a visual way rather than just talking about it. Will had been enamored with illustration and sculpture since then. However, it was in his sophomore year in high school when he fell in love with film.

When the time came for college selection, Will looked at many of the best schools in the country. Most of the schools accepted him right off due to his consistent grades as well as amazing references from his teachers. He finally decided on the School of Visual Arts. It was still right in the city, a good distance from many of the tourist locations, yet still in a refreshingly young area.

A boy and a girl flopped down right in the cramped seats next to Will.

"Hey, how you doing?" asked John. Will had met John the previous year in a screenwriting class and they remained good friends. It was at that point though when Roy Frumkes began his class.

For this week, Roy had decided on introducing the class to Western films. He began at first detailing the beginnings of these films. He added humorously that just about every one of the Western films ever made had a many innuendos in them that you would not normally identify unless you were looking for them. To illustrate his point, Roy showed the ending of The Outlaw and was met with near constant laughter.

Will dragged out his notebook. He knew that they would all be assigned a paper to write for next week's class and would need some form of notes. The other problem with this class beside it's early time, was that you were expected to take notes in near total darkness. When Will looked back at a few of the first notes he had taken, the scribbles were almost indistinguishable as well as slanted in strange directions.

The one film that would be shown today was The Searchers with John Wayne. Will grimaced; he didn't care for John Wayne all too much. When the two hour long movie was finally over, the lights switched on. No matter how many times it happened, Will was always blinded by the sudden change in lighting. He looked down at his watch; it was only one in the afternoon.

"Did ya' like it?" inquired Roy from the front of the room. He was met with mixed responses. It seems that many people didn't care for the Western genre either. But still there were a few that defended it. As horribly boring as Will found it, he knew the historical significance of the movie already; many other films were based off of it. Later directors also used the same location for their movies later on.

"Not everyone would like it," Roy finally said. He asked for a paper on the significance of the films they saw in class on later cinema just as Will had guessed. They were released from class early; Roy had to meet with a director.

Will retraced his steps from earlier that morning to return to his apartment. Well, it wasn't totally his. There would be no way Will could afford even the tiniest studio in the Gramercy Park area. Luckily, he had found another student who was looking for a roommate. That was how Will first encountered Jack Sparrow.

Like many other young adults in this area, Jack was striving to be an artist. He may not always have the dedication to get through school, but from what Will had seen, Jack was an amazing illustrator.

Will finally arrived back at their apartment on 28th Street and Lexington. He walked up the seven flights of stairs quickly; he was used to taking this trip a few times daily. When he came to the top landing, Will checked that the bike lock was still fastened safely and secured his bike to the obsolete roof ladder. Will pulled his keys out from pocket and unlocked the door, giving the handle a few violent shakes before it opened.

The apartment was tiny, but it was far better than dorming through the school. The main room was made up of a kitchen area as well as a small living room. The bedrooms lay on opposite sides of the apartment with a bathroom between them. A tiny office had been converted into a storage room for both of their things.

A loud snoring filled the apartment; Jack was still asleep. 'Lucky bastard,' Will thought. Will was in fact quite jealous that all of Jack's classes were in the early evening. The previous year, Will had scheduled all of his classes at night so he could work a few days a week. This year however, all of the courses Will wanted to take were either in the early morning or at night.

Will was very happy with college life. He liked being on his own with classes that were actually interested with teachers who actually knew what they were doing. But there were still a few things that Will thought about in the back of his mind.

Will knew that his field was highly competitive. He also knew that all of the biggest film companies were out in Los Angeles. But Will had decided a while ago that he would rather die than go out to work in L.A. He valued many of the old artistic virtues such as suffering for your artwork. But it was all worth it in the end.

Another thing that had been bothering Will was his lack of relationships, or rather a relationship that was worth keeping. Since Will had met Jack, he had tried to hook Will up with several women. None of these really ever went past a six-digit phone number or a drunken one-night stand. In high school, Will had had a few girlfriends. They were all for the most part good, but it was just high school. Practically no high school dating was serious.

It's not like Will wanted to meet someone and immediately settle down with her, of course not. He was really too young to be thinking about marriage now anyway. If anything, Will was looking for someone who he liked and could have fun with outside the bedroom or bar.

Will's stomach growled angrily. He had not eaten since yesterday afternoon. Will was a testament to the idea of being a 'starving artist'. He pulled himself off of the couch slowly and rummaged for some kind of food. With the loud bang of one of the old cabinets, Jack wondered out of his room still half- asleep.

Jack was of medium height. His dark brown hair framed his face. A few dreadlocks poked out here and there. A scraggily goatee and the beginnings of a moustache were also present on his face. Although he was older than Will by about a year and a half, he was still some what immature for his age. Jack, in short, would rather be out partying than really figuring out what he wanted to do with himself. He tried to impart some of these values to Will, but with minimal success.

"What's for breakfast?" Jack questioned groggily. He poured himself a cup of stone-cold coffee from the day before and sat down at the table.

"More lunch than anything else," Will replied. Jack shrugged in indifference. Will pulled out a box of cereal. It was a few days passed the expiration date, but it would due.

"Cap'n Crunch," Will informed his friend. Will found a clean bowl and poured some of the sugary cereal into it. Leaning into the refrigerator, Will found some milk that had not expired yet. Will sat down at the table with Jack.

"Where' mine?" Jack asked with an accusatory tone.

"What am I? You're mother? Get it yourself," Will replied. He picked up last weeks copy of The Onion and read through it once more. Jack got to his feet haphazardly and got himself a bowl of cereal.

"You sure this is all we have?" Jack asked. Will sighed.

"Yes, until one of us decides to go out shopping for more. Jack immediately perked up at this. It would be over his dead body that he would go shopping.

"Nose goes!" Jack shouted out suddenly, bringing his index finger to his nose with a sly smile. Will, as fast as his reflexes were, did not have a chance to beat his friend.

"You cheated," Will complained. "Besides, do we even have any money to get food with?" Jack grinned.

"Of course I do. I'm Jack Sparrow," he assured Will with a grin. As much as Will wanted to ask, he never came around to asking Jack what he did for money. Jack always suspiciously had a good deal of money on hand which was surprising since most of the time Jack was either sleeping or getting shit-faced.

Now more awake, Jack rose to his feet. "I think I might just go to class today," he commented.

"Dear God, it's the end of the world," Will muttered sarcastically.

"First time for everything, mate," Jack replied. As he turned to his bedroom, he remembered something mid-step. "By the way, mate," he said. "We're going out tonight." It wasn't a request, just a statement.

"Where to?" Will inquire immediately not even bothering to look up from his paper. It was probably a party.

"It's Ana Maria's birthday today," Jack continued.

"Ana Maria the sometimes girlfriend Ana Maria?" Will interrupted. Jack had many women who could fit that description that it was sometimes hard to keep them all in line.

"Yes actually," Jack said. "You're coming either way." Will considered this statement for a moment. He didn't have any morning classes tomorrow.

"Fine, where-"

"Splendid mate," Jack said immediately. "Just be back here at around ten tonight so we can collect you." Will nodded as Jack abandoned the room so he could get ready.

Maybe it's what Will needed. He hadn't been out to a party in a while, and it couldn't hurt to go tonight.

"Alright," Jack said coming out of the bathroom. "Jus' so you know, we're gonna go to Webster Hall tonight," Jack explained. Will was rather familiar with the massive club.

"Ana Maria's choice?" he inquired.

"Of course." Jack looked at the clock on the microwave. "Time for me to get going," he said as he sauntered out the door.

There's the first chapter. Be honest with what you thought of it. For the reference, just about every detail I add is carefully put in. I'm currently at the school Will is attending so I know the area and school pretty well.

Drop me a review okay? I'm going to try something and put it out there that if you have a suggestion, why not tell me about it, eh?

Cheers!

Jim