Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the canon setting, plot, or characters of the 1998 movie, Disturbing Behavior. I own only my own plots and original characters.
Author Notes: this is an AU fic. While the premise, some characters ECT feature prominently, the main character of Steve and his family are not in this. It's as if he never came to Cradle Bay and saved the world. This is also a bully romance with HEA. I will give content warnings per chapter but please expect that despicable behavior, language, and sexual situations will occur.
August 1998, Pensacola Florida
I stood on the white sand beach and stared out into the beautiful blue gulf. The waves were kicked up a little high, due to it being the start of hurricane season and all, but the air was warm like a comfortable blanket and the sun was shining. I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I didn't think I could cry anymore this week but apparently I could. The funerals for my mom and dad had been over the weekend and this would be my last few hours in the only home I had ever known. Seagulls dove and dipped along the beach and the sounds of kids shrieking in joy in the distance did little to ease the pain in my heart. Waves washed along my feet in a soothing pattern and all I could think about was how long before I could feel that warm ocean water again? Years? Probably. I would still be by the ocean in the Puget sound. But that's cold ocean, not blissful warm ocean. No cerulean waters to greet me daily, only dark water like obsidian. Where you can't see what lurks below you before it strikes.
I sighed and shoved my hands into the pockets of my board shorts. I loved these shorts, they had flamingos on them. We had wild flamingos in Florida but I am betting the only ones I will see in Washington are in a zoo. I slowly walked along the beach, looking for shells I could smuggle with me when I finally left to go live my aunt and uncle in some place called Cradle Bay. It was an island in the Puget Sound. I hoped the high school had a cheerleading team I could join. It was seriously lame to have to leave my school right before senior year where I would have been co-captain of our national championship-winning squad. I had so many plans for this year. Why did my parents have to take that damn puddle jumper to the Keys? I hated those small planes. They scared me. They had decided to go on a mini vacation after we got back from Nationals in Orlando. Now they are gone forever and I am being shipped off to go live with my mom's twin sister and her husband up in Nowheresville.
I went back to my soon-to-be ex house. It was a pretty stucco one-level. Open concept. I frowned at the SOLD sign posted in our front yard right next to our lemon tree. The estate had either been sold off or put into storage for me. The money from the sale was put into a college fund. I know mom and dad were counting on me to go to college. I would not let them down. I would make the best of my situation and the best of my life. And right now, that life was crammed into two large rolling suitcases and one carry-on. I tried not to cry these bitter tears as I looked around my home one last time before going outside to meet the taxi that would take me to the airport. Goodbye mom and dad. Goodbye house and beach. Goodbye sunshine and sunkissed hair. Goodbye Florida.
Cradle Bay, Washington
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was super crowded when I finally deplaned. I had to wait forever for my bags and then walk what felt like miles before I got to the area where I saw my aunt Cora waving wildly. I had seen her over the weekend when she came to the funerals but she hurriedly went back to her home to prepare for my arrival. It was jarring to see her, she looked just like my mom. I didn't know if that made it harder or easier to cope. She raced over to me and took one of my rolling suitcases after hugging me excitedly.
"Welcome home, Leigh." Her hug was so warm and loving that I couldn't dare be annoyed that she referred to this new place as home. It was not my home. But it was, wasn't it?
"Thanks, Cora. It's great to see you again."
She started walking out the doors where uncle Gregg was waiting by the car. He smiled and took my luggage, loading it into the trunk. We smiled and nodded to each other. Gregg was a classic example of masculine stoicism. I think I've only heard more than a few sentences from him ever. At least infront of family. He is an architect, spending most of his time huddled over his designs in his studio. His job was the reason he and Cora had to move here to The Land of Trees. Seriously, I had never seen so many trees ever as we drove from airport.
Cora turned around in her seat to smile at me "you're going to love it here. I promise. It's a fresh new start."
I watched out of my window, I finally saw the northern Pacific Ocean come into view. It wasn't totally hideous, I guess. Then our car disappeared back into more trees for what felt like eons. Our ride came to an end when we reached a ferry wharf. I had never ridden a ferry and it was kind of cool that we just drove right onto it. I got out of the car and watched the water. A seagull flew over, squawking. It was a welcomed familiar sound. There were so very many trees and rocks, a thin mist seemed to constantly hang in the air. The ferry finally stopped at the wharf and our car drove under a "Welcome to Cradle Bay" sign. We drove for a little while on winding roads with, you guessed it, more trees. Then through a town right off of a Norman Rockwell postcard. My eyes scanned the buildings and landed on a group of teenagers walking together laughing. All of them in blue varsity jackets or sweaters. My kind of people. There was hope yet. I watched them, my eyes instantly honing in on one of the boys. He wasn't the tallest, taller than myself definitely, but he was broad with muscles. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a surprisingly decent tan for someone living where the sun is clearly on strike. I couldn't get a good lock on his particular facial features before we drove further away.
We got to the house, my new house, my new home, a short while later. It was a fairly large colonial that was hunter green with brown trim and those old-timey wooden shutters on the windows. Oh look! More trees! We pulled up to the attached garage and got out. Cora walked by me and rubbed my shoulder as she did. We grabbed my meager luggage and went inside. It was ultra modern inside and very light. Creams and beiges flowing throughout like a Pottery Barn catalog. All the furniture was sleek but fluffy. Cora went over to the answering machine and touched the message button.
A nasally male voice started talking "Mrs. Brower, this is Charles Hand, the assistant principle of Cradle Bay High. First off, we are very happy to welcome your niece CarriLeigh. We know the circumstances are difficult and we will do everything we can to ensure a successful completion of high school for her. I do have some unfortunate news though. Despite CarriLeigh's impressive cheerleading career, we were unable to secure a spot on our own squad. Both the coach and captain were very adamant that there was no space. I venture to say that it's our loss. With that said, we do offer plenty of both sports and extracurricular activities. I do hope CarriLeigh chooses to participate. Again, we heartily welcome her into our little island family. Thank you and have a nice day."
Have a nice day, he says as my heart sinks. Cora sees my face "oh honey, I'm sorry. I really tried and honestly, who turns down a national champion?" Her hands flutter about as she talks "it's probably just mean girl crap anyways. Jealousy. Can't have you on the squad making everyone look like amateurs." She winked at me, she was right, that's probably exactly what it was. I realize that I am still just dumbly standing in the living room with my luggage.
"Um. Should I put this stuff somewhere?"
Cora smacks her forehead "right. Let's get you up to your new room."
My bedroom is on the second floor, facing the front yard. It's bigger than my old room and I have my own bathroom, which is cool. It was decorated in my favorite colors of peach and red. The full size bed was blanketed with flannel sheets and a big down comforter. By dinner, I had already unpacked. Dinner was slightly awkward as I could tell that my aunt and uncle were overcompensating.
"So what's the school like?" I inquired. Cora looked at me with her dark green eyes that sparkled.
"I imagine not much different than Florida schools. Typical hierarchy: jocks at the top and trickling down. You're going to do fine."
I smirked "why wouldn't I? I'm adorable."
A laugh from both "that you are, Leigh. That you are." Cora replied.
The next day, I decided to explore the town. I was in a cute clothing shop when I was approached by a girl with strawberry blonde hair and super shiny lipgloss.
"Are you CarriLeigh Spencer?" She asked in a sort of bubbly tone that probably would never stop being annoying.
"I am? Yes. That is me." I nodded bovinely "and you are...?"
She smiled and blushed a little "my name is Candace Draper and I'm the one who will be showing you the ropes at school next week."
"Ah. How did you know I was me?" Why am I talking like a weird detective in an Agatha Christie novel?
She chuckled "small island. News travels fast. Especially when that news is Miss Teen Florida moving to our tiny town."
It had never occurred to me that anyone here would know or care about my beauty pageant past. It was kinda jarring.
"And I have to say, you are so much cuter in person. I mean you were cute on tv and in that magazine article. But seriously, way better in person." This Candace girl chatted a mile a minute "and shorter. You look taller on tv."
"I get that all the time." I replied dryly.
"Here, walk with me. I'll show you all the best spots in town." She took my hand and dragged me out of the store. I guess I could buy that cute sweater another time. We spilled out onto the street "how tall are you anyways?"
"Um. Five foot four last I was measured" I walked up next to Candace.
"Only an inch taller than me." She beamed "I would have guessed you were five ten on the tv."
I sighed "the camera angles and high heels are good at that. But no. I am a fellow midget."
She laughed and pointed to all the buildings like the bookstore and the store that sold the best shoes. The hair salon. We then stopped at one of those diner/ice cream shops that you remember your grandma or dad talking about. We went in and as we walked up to the table, my head turned and my eyes laid straight at a group of kids in blue varsity jackets or sweaters. Included in the group was the boy from yesterday. He looked even better up close. The entire group was ridiculously good-looking and that was coming from me: a goddamn teen beauty queen from Florida. He noticed I was staring, met my glance, and gave a grin my way that made my knees shake. Suddenly the whole group turned and looked at me. I instantly shrank back in embarrassment for getting caught staring. They all smiled at me. Like robots. I turned back to Candace and did a head scratching nod their way.
Her big eyes widened more "ohhhh. Those are the Blue Ribbons. They are the top kids at school."
"Top in what? Smiling at the same time?"
"The TOP in everything. Sports, academics, music. Everything." She shrugged. I looked back over at them, saw they were looking back at me. The hot guy grinned again. I bit my lower lip and looked back at Candace.
"And where do the nonBlue Ribbons fall in all of this?"
Candace's lovely eyelashes brushed her cheekbones as she cast her eyes down "we don't. We just do the best we can amongst ourselves."
I scoffed. A little too loudly as the Blue Ribbons all looked back in my direction "that's ridiculous. You're just as pretty as those girls. You have been nothing but nice to me since we met. You're obviously smart. How are you lower than them?" I realized that I was not being the most subtle person with my rant.
She blushed but got nervous and her tone lowered "They run things. You can be as pretty and smart and as good as the Blue Ribbons all you want, but if you aren't one of them...you don't count."
This drew a snort from me "you've got to be kidding me. Boy are they going to be really vexed with me." I winked at Candace "I'm obnoxious and adorable."
She smiled lightly like she was entertaining my insanity. I looked back at Mr. Dark and Tasty and he was staring me down like he had heard every word I uttered and was not pleased about it. I flashed him my big smile that could rile even the grumpiest football crowd into a happy enthusiastic one. He continued to stare, his dark eyes slitting just enough to make me turn my attention away from his group. Ok then.
Candace and I got two milkshakes and split an order of fries. We talked forever. I really really liked her and it made me really really mad that she felt like she was lower than anyone else just because she didn't belong to the Blue Balls or whatever they called themselves. I stretched in an exaggerated manner, as these robots walked by, and tossed my mass of honey-hued curls like a brat. They smacked Hot Guy right in his face as he passed by.
"Oops." I muttered lightly with a smirk. If looks could kill, he dropped a piano on my head. I just kept my lighter brown eyes trained on his deeper brown ones until they exited the shop.
Candace let out a loud gasp "are you crazy? You are so crazy."
"Jury is out on the crazy part." I shrugged "but did you notice how he went from smiling at me to looking like he wanted to break my neck...in like a blink? That was weird."
Candace's blue eyes cast down again. Seriously, this submissive behavior she has had to adapt really cheesed me off "that's Andy. Andy Effkin. He's the quarterback of our football team. And there are lots of rumors about him. Not all of them are yummy either."
"Hmm. Like what not yummy rumors?"
"We had a couple of girls go missing. The sheriff has declared them runaways but, honestly, neither of them were the runaway type. And they both dated Andy. Like legit the last time any witnesses saw them, they were with him. They say he probably killed them. Him and the rest of the Blue Ribbons have had some...anger management issues."
I could see in her face that she earnestly believed these rumors. Who was I to tell her she was wrong? I was the newbie here in town.
"Ok. So, I must be crazy because the rumor that Andy is a serial killer just made him a bajillion times sexier to me."
Candace let out a shocked laugh. We spent the rest of the day exploring and getting to know each other. That night at dinner, Cora was eager to hear all about my day. I obliged her.
"I made a friend. Candace. I guess she was selected to be my student host. She is really sweet and we like most of the same things. I mean her musical taste leaves something to be desired but I can work around that." I shoveled a forkful of pesto pasta into my mouth "I mean, who says Toad the Wet Sprocket is their favorite band?"
"I like Toad the Wet Sprocket." This was grumbled from Gregg. Cora and I just looked at him "what? A couple of their songs are surprisingly poignant."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Uncle Gregg."
Cora just snickered and Gregg shrugged.
"So besides bonding with a new friend of dubious audio tastes, anything else happen?" Cora asked.
"I saw a boy. Nay. The Boy."
Cora raised an elegant brow "The Boy?"
I nodded as I sipped my drink "yes. The Boy I intend to lose my v-card to. As soon as possible."
This made Gregg choke on his pasta and Cora lightly gasped "Wait. What?"
"Totally in a dirty manner. Maybe in the back of his car or in the janitor closet at school."
Gregg quickly chugged his beer. Then I laughed.
"I'm just kidding. I lost it last year."
Cora's head hit the table as she sighed and chuckled. Gregg choked again. I didn't lie on that last part. I had already surrendered my precious virtue last year. To a football player at a party. It was gross and lame. Not an experience I was eager to repeat.
"No worries in that department. This guy was cute though. A little intense but cute." I shrugged.
Cora laughed, Gregg was green, and I was thoroughly amused. Maybe The Land of Trees wouldn't be so bad after all. I owed it to my parents to try.