Title: Reputation

Summary: Everyone's heard the saying: sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. Unfortunately for James Diamond that statement wasn't entirely true. But when he gets the chance to start over, will it prove to be everything he really wanted?

A/N: ok so I would've put this in my Every Moment story, but it's going to be like three chapters long so I wanted it to stand alone. Also, the plot of this story was inspired by the movie Bandslam, but I tweaked it. If you've seen the movie then you probably have an idea about what's going to happen with this story; if not then sit back, relax, and read(: also, the story takes place in Minnesota, before they were famous, and the boys are about fourteen.

Disclaimer: I don't own BTR or Bandslam

Part I: Starting Over

Shinedown had said it best when they said, "Sometimes goodbye is a second chance". Nobody believed in those words more than James did right now. He had finally gotten the chance to say goodbye to his life in California, and he was able to look forward to a new life in Minnesota. Why his mom had picked this place to live boggled his mind but he was still ecstatic about it.

Except for one thing: the cold. And the snow. And the ice that caused him to slip and fall while holding a box of clothes.

"You ok?" a voice asked. James, who was laying on his back at the time, craned his neck to the side so he could see a blonde boy walking over to him.

"Kinda stuck." James said. The box was resting on his abs and the fall had taken most of his energy, which is why he was still laying on the icy ground.

The blonde chuckled and lifted the box off of him. James let out a breath and stood up.

"Thanks man."

The blonde put the box down at James's feet and extended his arm. "I'm Kendall Knight, your new next door neighbor."

James shook is hand. "James Diamond."

"Welcome to the hood." Kendall smirked, but it faltered slightly for a second. "Wait, Diamond?"

James licked his lips nervously but tried to play it off. "Yup. Why?"

"Sorry to ask but are you, like, related to Brian Diamond?" Kendall asked.

James felt his heart drop. "Who?" he asked, trying to come off as confused.

Kendall shook his head. "Nobody important. I just heard my friend's dad talking about him the other day. He's a police officer."

James raised an eyebrow. "Your friend?"

"No his dad." Kendall chuckled.

James laughed at his own stupidity. "Oh."

There was a small silence between the two of them, only to be broken by a guy walking out of James's new house. He had the shaggy hair and he wore a leather jacket.

"Hey kid." he smacked James on his back affectionately. "Who's this?" he pointed to Kendall.

"Bud, this is Kendall. Kendall, this is my uncle Bud."

Kendall shook Bud's hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Bud bent down so he was at the boy's level. "Listen here, Kendall. Any friend of James is a friend of mine. That means you need anything- a ride, a place to crash, some weed- I'm your guy." he clapped Kendall's shoulder with a smile and then turned back to go inside.

Kendall turned his head to James, an amused smirk on his face, and the taller boy couldn't help but to laugh.

"Ok, so he's not the best role model," James admitted. "But he's still good when he needs to be. And me and my mom need him around."

"Where's your dad?"

"Uh… he's not… around." James said slowly, as if trying to chose the correct words.

Kendall's features softened and he looked almost sad. "Oh. I'm sorry. Is he like…" Kendall trailed off, making a face to hope that James would get the hint that he didn't want to say the word 'dead'.

James's eyes widened. "Oh no. Him and my mom just separated. Let's just say that he has a thing for younger women." he added bitterly at the end.

Kendall caught on quickly and James was thankful for that. "Sorry dude." he said.

James shrugged. "What can you do?"

"Well my mom's a single mom too. My dad died when my sister Katie was two, nearly six years ago."

"That's rough man."

Kendall mimicked James. "What can you do?" James smiled softly.

"So tell me, you any hockey?" Kendall asked.

"A bit. Like I played roller hockey back in California, before I moved."

Kendall's eyes widened. "You moved from California? To Minnesota? Do you have a drug problem?"

James laughed. "No just with the split and everything, and Uncle Bud being here my mom just figured this was the play for us."

"Aah." Kendall nodded. "Well we have a killer hockey team and we're always looking for new members… interested?"

"I could be."

"Wanna come to the rink with me and my friends, to play around a bit? Just to see if your any good."

"Yeah sure. I probably gotta unpack some more but I'll be over in like an hour."

"Awesome." Kendall said and turned to go back to his house. James smiled and picked up the box on the ground. As soon as he walked inside he dropped it down on the floor and sat on top of it.

"You ok?" his mom asked, looking up from the dishes she was unpacking.

"Fine." James mumbled.

"Bud told me that boy said something about Brian."

James shrugged. "Word travels."

Ms. Diamond sighed. "Jamie, you know that your father-" James shot his mother a sharp look. "I mean Brian, was convicted guilty. You can't stay mad at him forever."

"As far as I'm concerned, I can be."

"Jamie-"

"Mom, for almost three years my life was a living hell because of him and it all could've been avoided. But it wasn't and I hate him for it."

"James, it's not his fault."

"Whatever mom, I don't wanna talk about this." James stood up. "I'm going to unpack some stuff and then I'm playing hockey with Kendall." he started upstairs to his bedroom, but stopped part of the way there when he heard Bud talking to his mom.

"You can't force him to talk about this Lillian."

"I'm not forcing him to talk about it; I'm forcing him to forgive his father for making a mistake."

"A mistake that fucked up his life big time."

"Liam-"

"I'm sorry that person does not exist."

James smiled slightly, knowing his mother was rolling her eyes. "Ok, fine Bud. I'm just saying, I don't want James to go and change his name like you did because his father messed up his life."

"Lil, our situations are totally different."

"Not entirely."

"Ok, whatever. And dad isn't the only reason I changed my name. Liam's a stupid name anyway."

"Like Bud is any better?"

James sighed and completed his journey upstairs. He entered his bedroom, unpacked most of his boxes, and then went next door to Kendall's house. When he got over there, there were two other boys with him. Both of them shorter than James by a couple of inches and they both had dark hair and eyes. The only difference was that one was Hispanic and wearing a helmet.

"James, this is Logan-" the pale boy raised his hand, waving shortly. "-and Carlos." the helmet-clad boy waved happily to James.

"Hey." James greeted them.

"Alright, let's play some hockey!" Carlos said, jumping up to his feet. James chuckled and the four boys walked down to the rink. Once there, they realized that James was in fact an amazing hockey player. He had speed and swiftness, and didn't let a single puck get by him. And he also got somewhat aggressive while playing, which Kendall approved of, but Logan feared.

"I'm not going to hurt you Logan." James said, smiling as the smaller boy flinched away every time James charged at him on the ice.

"You could never be too careful." Logan insisted, pulling his helmet off and running his fingers through his sweaty hair.

"Mitchell, what's going on?" a voice said. Logan made a face of anger and disgust and turned around.

"What are you talking about Jack?" he asked, his voice impatient.

The boy- Jack- skated over to Logan, towering over him, causing the boy to skate backwards a few paces. "I'm saying that we have practice and it's not 'let's-let-the-new-kid-skate-on-our-ice'." he said.

"It's not your ice." Carlos said skating over. "You didn't buy it."

"Yeah but as team captain-"

"Co-captain." Carlos and Logan corrected Jack, angering the boy immediately.

"Kendall's the other captain." Carlos said to James.

"Whatever." Jack rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the rink is ours." he skated up close to James, closing in on his 'personal space bubble' but James didn't flinch. He just held Jack's glare with one of his own. "So leave." he said, getting up in James's face.

James just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Are you deaf?" Jack asked. "Team members on the ice only."

"Actually, he is a team member." Kendall said skating over to the group that had formed. Behind Jack was the rest of the team. Behind James was Logan and Carlos. Kendall skated next to James and shoved Jack backwards slightly. "Coach has seen him skate all afternoon and he offered him an immediate spot on the team." Kendall said, his voice smug and proud. He turned to James. "You're accepting, right?"

"Of course." James turned to smirk at Jack. "I would love to get to know Jackass better." a few members of the team snickered and Jack's eyes clouded with anger.

It was at that moment when Jack was determined to get rid of James.

After a few months of James being on the team, showing up Jack every chance he got, Jack's hatred grew more and more. But after an incident, when James had shown up to practice with a customized jersey that said JACKASS on the back, Jack had found the perfect way to get back at James.

The poor brunette didn't even see it coming. He was loving Minnesota and he was living happily with his mother and uncle. He was happy with his three best friends and his life in California was finally behind him.

Or so he thought.

"Hey Diamond." Jack said as James, Kendall, Carlos, and Logan walked inside the rink. Jack and his 'boys' were on the ice and Jack was holding something in his hands. "I just wanted to thank you so much for the interesting jersey you gave me last week."

James smirked. "Glad you liked it."

Jack didn't miss a beat, still smiling at James. "So I decided to get you this." Jack unfolded the jersey and turned it backwards to everyone could read the words on the back. James froze, his blood boiling and his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

Pedo-Bear.

Those two words that had haunted him for three years straight had returned in his life.

"Pedo-Bear?" Carlos asked, obviously confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"James knows." Jack said, throwing the jersey at James's chest. It fell to the ice and James still stood there, unmoving.

"Tell 'em Pedo." Jack continued. "Tell your bestie friends about your life in California and explain to them what your special nickname means."

"Shut up." James snapped, his eyes turning dark as he grew more angry. "Just shut the fuck up."

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos all looked at each other. In the months that they had known James, they had never seen him so angry before.

Jack just laughed and turned to his friends. "Look guys, he's just dying to touch me right now. You can see it in his eyes."

"I said SHUT UP!" James lunged at Jack, throwing a punch at him square in the face. When the boy's head was down, James grabbed his shoulders and shoved him to the ice, pinning him to the ice. Jack looked up at him and despite his bloody nose, he had a devious smirk on his face.

"Looks like you like being on top Pedo." he commented. "Like father, like son, right?"

James just lost it right there.

He started throwing punching left and right at Jack, determined to make him bleed so much that he lost all memory of what he just said. Kendall, Logan, and Carlos were pulling at James's back, trying to get him off of Jack. Finally, the coach ran over to the scene and he grabbed the collar of James's shirt, yanking him forcefully off of Jack.

"What the hell is wrong with you Diamond?" he demanded. James just stood there, breathing heavily before he tore away from the coach and ran into the locker room.

James was gasping for breath, his chest feeling tight as he locked himself inside one of the bathroom stalls. Leaning his back against the door, James slowly sank down to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and for the first time in three years, tears began to drip down his cheeks.

A/N: ok, so here's chapter one. It's not as long as I hoped it to be but I think that I got my point across. Did you all like it? Feedback is GREATLY appreciated. I'm really into this story right now. I got the idea today at work and I just started typing up ideas on my cell phone until I got home and started working on it. And now it's done (because my ADD got in the way lol) :D so yeah, I'm gonna stop rambling and let you guys do the talking now :D