[notes: I re-wrote this! I aged the characters up a bit, because It felt squicky to write teenagers bangin' and stuff. There are going to be some things that stay in line with the original and some that deviates. I hope everyone is doing well. This has been up on Ao3 for a bit, so there's a few chapters done. Thank you!

-x-

The previously empty halls of the Raccoon City High School flooded with teenagers as the bell signaling the end of classes pierced the air. With the last day of the school week behind them, there was an undeniable buzz of energy from the students.

"Hey, Claire." Claire didn't even have to turn her head to know that it was Rebecca Chambers approaching her. They happened to be locker neighbors and also in the same gym class.

"Hey, Rebecca... Well," the redhead paused for a second, fiddling with her combination lock until it made a soft click and her locker opened."I'm supposed to meet Leon, Chris and some of our friends at the mall." She shrugged her backpack off, balancing it carefully on her knee as she swapped out her books for the ones she would need over the weekend. She felt a wave of excitement wash over her as she mentioned Leon, her boyfriend. Since he graduated and went to college, she almost always only saw him over the weekend. Between his college classwork and studying for Police Academy, he just had too much on his plate to see her as often as they used to.

"Oh, how is your brother?" The smaller girl folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the row of lockers, waiting for her response.

Claire smiled inwardly. Chris had graduated three years ago, but she was still asked practically daily about her brother. If anything, she thought, it attested to Chris's kind personality and bright outlook on life. He had always been at the front of charity events, and didn't have a mean bone in his body. He played football for the Raccoon City Stars, crowned Prom King in his graduating year, and was generally an all around well liked guy. She'd found herself to be relatively fortunate that most of her peers treated her pretty well because of the association of her older brother.

"He's good." She shouldered her backpack again as her locker swung close. "Jill might move in with us." She wrinkled her nose lightly at the thought. It had just been her and her brother since their parents passed away a few years ago. The idea of someone else, even Jill, moving into that space made her nervous.

"How's AFROTC going for him?" Rebecca tucked a stray tuft of brown hair behind her ear. She'd been looking into her options in the medical field. She'd most recently had her interest piqued in either some sort of military work or Doctors Without Borders. Two very different professions in her eyes, but she was thankful that she still had the time to look into both options.

"You know Chris." She rolled her eyes. "He's a show off. Captain's pet. But so is Jill. I think they just like one-upping each other."

"No kidding." Rebecca giggled. Chris and Jill were both very competitive people, so naturally they were competitive with each other. People that weren't privy to their already three year relationship might assume that they were rivals, but luckily they never harbored ill will when the other won. It just pushed each of them to try their hardest.

Claire glanced upwards at the clock mounted on the wall. It read half past three. She apologized and excused herself. She didn't want to be the last person to show up for their Friday rendezvous.

"I'll see you Monday for second period, right?"

"Right." Rebecca flashed a thumbs up. "Have a good weekend, Claire."

"You too, Rebecca."

After the girls said their goodbyes, they parted in opposite directions. Rebecca headed towards the front of the school where the visitor parking lot was located. She carefully weaved in and out between pockets of students still conversing in the hall. She was small, but quick on her feet. She'd always wanted to play basket ball, but her short stature proved that difficult.

She spotted one of her friends at her locker as she passed him in the hall. A boy that stood a head taller than her with a mop of red hair carefully swept to the side.

"Hey, Steve!"

Before the boy could even turn his head around to answer, Rebecca was already down the hall and out of earshot. He shook his head. Must be late for her after school classes. He thought. Frankly, he didn't understand how she managed to cram as many of the activities that she did in her week. On top of being a straight A student, she took college prep classes and was the sitting vice president of the Horticulture Club. Steve, on the other hand, could hardly get his homework finished on time.

He gathered his books in his arms, fully intending on making an honest attempt at finishing all of his lessons his weekend... until he got distracted by video games again, that is. He was already excited for the prospect of joining his friends, Joseph and Brad, online to play a a few hours of their favorite video game. Rebecca was more likely to pop in to play with them on the weekends, but it had become far less common as they approached junior year.

He closed his locker carefully with his elbow as he balanced his books in his arm. If he could make it home and then spend two hours doing homework (roughly) he would have the rest of the weekend to play video games and relax. Which, to be entirely honest, he fully deserved after the 82% he scored on his geometry test.

He was planning out his route home – which convenience store he was going to stop at for snacks, what kind of energy drink he wanted... he was mid decision when a shock of pain shot through his face. He heard his books fall to the ground with a thump before he realized he was on the ground too. He was dizzy, and he felt warmth spreading down his face.

"Shit, are you okay? I'm so sorry-"

He blinked a few times. "Y-yeah." He tried to focus on the figure in front of him, but all his eyes would seem to focus on were a pair of legs clad in tight blue jeans. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand and realized the warmth was blood.

"I wasn't paying attention, I didn't even see you." She retrieved a red and black patterned bandanna out of the front pocket of her backpack and held it out for him. He took it and held it to his nose. He recognized the girl as a Senior, and vaguely knew who she was but only by name and face. She was relatively popular, but she seemed nice enough (which was always a gamble with the "popular" kids).

Claire held out a hand to pull him up, which he graciously took. She helped him to his feet and he suddenly felt very awkward and uncomfortable. He held the rag to his nose, pinching the bridge lightly as he waited for the bleeding to stop.

"T-thanks." He stammered.

"I feel like an asshole." Claire laughed, albeit a bit weakly. "I'm Claire, by the way. Is there anything I can do for you?"

He grinned. "You could give me your number, beautiful."

And immediately after those words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back.

"I... have a boyfriend." She stammered. "...b-but, I should probably check up on you."

Steve blinked. He couldn't help but wonder if this was a dream. Maybe he'd been knocked clean unconscious, or perhaps the head trauma was making him delirious. He watched, incredulously, as Claire pulled a felt tip pen from her bag. She carefully wrote her phone number on Steve's wrist, making sure every single number was legible. "... I have to go, or I'll be late meeting my friends. ...but, shoot me a text so I know you're alright."