do you remember...[RUGRATS MODERN AU]

[Nari Parker]

MODERN HIGH SCHOOL AU
(Saturday) August 19th, 2018
weekend morning detention

She really really hated this.

Detention? Nari Parker did many stupid things in her life but to get detention? It was all a simple understanding.

(She couldn't say the fresh black eye her fellow teammate and classmate Bridget was sporting was a simple understanding but..in her eyes it was.)

Making her way into the partially empty classroom, the young girl tried not to make much eye contact. Most of the people who got detentions were all troublemakers or kids that were on the wrong path. The chatter seemed to only slightly die down when she stepped into the room, a few eyes glancing in her direction. Speaking of troublemakers...

Nari narrowed her eyes as she almost instantly spotted her own 'troublemaker'; Finlay McCormick relaxing casually in a desk chair. Of course she wasn't completely surprised she'd see him in there due to his reckless like behavior but surely his coach wouldn't be happy. Her's definitively wasn't. Her cheer coach was a hair away from screaming at her when she had to miss this morning's practice to be in some random classroom for a few hours.

She also spotted her most recently made friend, Joey McCormick. Nari almost let out a sigh in relief. At least she had one friend in this boring as hell situation. It was odd though, to see Fin's identical twin in detention. Joey always was a more relaxed guy who hardly seemed like he'd get in trouble. Her dark doe eyes sent him a friendly wink as a greeting before she chose a desk right in front of him.

Slinging her small backpack off her shoulders and onto the floor beside her feet, Nari casually glanced at the teacher in the front of the room. Some middle-aged man with hardly any hair left and a grumpy expression on his face. The older man stood up in front of the whiteboard.

"Okay everyone welcome to detention. Some of you are new faces and some..not so much." Nari heard a few people snicker in the back of the classroom "-but for those who are new, here are the rules."

The teacher took out a marker and traced three simple sentences onto the whiteboard.

no food

no talking

no phones

Nari felt her lip curl in distaste. So it truly was going to be like hell.

In the least suspcious way she could, Nari casually pulled out her mint silicone iphone under her desk and opened Joey's text profile.

_{text message}
to jo jo bear
09:00 am
why are you in here?

[Joseph McCormick]

It was not Joseph McCormick's first time in detention, but he wished it was.

It would be nice if he didn't even have to have his first, but simply being the twin of Finlay McCormick ensured this would never be the case. Fin always found a way to drag him into something and Joey was never able to resist going along with it. He figured him being there to take even the quickest look before they leaped might help prevent them from getting caught, and it had before, but they had not been so lucky this time around. There was really no way to argue your way out of it when the janitor came along to clean the wall you were in the process of defacing it. As Fin had claimed it would be, graffiti was a fun form of self-expression, but unfortunately, it was an illegal one.

He sat upright in his desk chair and alternated between staring at the whiteboard and staring into the void. Detention was the most boring activity he could imagine, and it always made him restless. Already his foot tapped relentlessly, creating constant echoes on the tile, and they hadn't even started yet. He hoped this wouldn't drag on for too long. He had to march in a parade of bands tonight with the high school marching band, and he would prefer to have some time to eat and get ready first.

No food, no talking, no phones, no fun... The teacher in charge looked like he had no real energy or life left in him. Joey couldn't relate. His other foot had started tapping and he had enough energy to burst out of the building and jog more laps than they did when the director was particularly grumpy.   

At least he wasn't alone. He grinned back at Nari and wondered how she had managed to land herself here too. Some people here were ones he would have never expected, but then again, Joey supposed he wasn't one people would typically expect to frequent detention. He turned his grin to Fin, whose posture declared he was a whole other story.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and his eyes went to the teacher in front. It appeared the man was already done with them, busy sorting through papers at his desk. Subtly, he pulled out the device and typed out a response.

_{text message}
to narwhal :)
09:02 am
i swear it wasn't my idea,
but let's just say we really
made our mark and mom
has banned us from spray paint
until pretty much forever. you?

He slipped the phone back in his pocket and looked around, wondering if anyone else who could manage to make this morning interesting would show up.

[Finlay T McCormick]

No one appreciated school spirit anymore.

The football season was just heating up and he'd only wanted to show his pride and enthusiasm by spraying a Roman warrior's helmet onto one of the long, blank stretches of hallway in the school. The school administrators had not appreciated Joey's and his show of creative spirit.

A Saturday morning detention could have been a disaster (and he was sure it was for some, his brother included) but Saturday was a day off from football since games were mostly Friday nights. Fin really only had two speeds: one hundred and fifty miles an hour and dead to the world. For him, Saturday morning detentions were just a place to catch up on the sleep he missed out on Friday.

Fin's feet were kicked up on the top of his desk, a sucker sticking out between his teeth. He felt Nari's gaze on him when she entered and he returned her narrowed eyes with a wink of one of his.

"Some of you are new faces and some..not so much."

Fin gave a wide, toothy grin around the stick in his mouth, letting his eyes flit around to a few others in the room that knew he was pretty much a regular here.

As the old man wrote about no food, Fin gave a pointed crunch on his sucker, making sure the noise echoed around the room. He chewed the pieces before reaching into the pocket of his letterman's jacket under his feet and grabbing another one; strawberry flavored this time.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way and their so-called teacher went back to not caring about them, Fin dropped his head back and looked at Rosie upside-down.

"Rose," he whispered, "psst, Rosie," a flirty grin flashed in her direction, "why don't you sit on the top of this desk so I can use your lap for a pillow." One hand reached backwards to pat the desk directly behind his head.

[Marco Solita]

He should've been at piano practice right now.

Instead, he sat in a room with a bunch of students who actually did something wrong.

Marco heavily believed that he shouldn't be there. Physical Education was not made for deaf people. The amount of noise that occurred in a gymnasium, the squeaks of trainers on the floor, the sound of balls bouncing on the floor and the shouts during a game - he couldn't concentrate. So, he skipped.

Every lesson.

Since school started a few weeks ago.

It would've helped if he wasn't the only deaf kid at school, people might not know his name so easily. Of course, the cochlear implant on his left side gave him away, even if the hearing aid on his right blended in sometimes.

When the empty classroom that he usually hung out in during the hour he was supposed to be getting hit in the face with a basketball (or other body parts with various sports balls, they didn't discriminate) was suddenly stormed by multiple teachers who needed to use it for a meeting due to a new fridge being installed in the staff room.. he was given the option of having a meeting with his dad and PE teacher or three weeks of Saturday detentions.

It was clear which he chose and whilst he didn't regret it, he knew he still shouldn't be here.

Marco had his AP Chemistry textbook in front of him whilst he tried to keep himself busy with the homework involved - in which he was currently having more success doodling in the margins - before he tackled any other subject, since he knew it would take him the longest.

[Rosemary Wolffe]

“Sorry I’m late!”

Rosemary Naimh Wolffe was always late, and she was always sorry, and it was never a surprise. She came bursting into the room with the widest of smiles, her hair a windswept mess and her knees scraped and bleeding from when she’d tripped on the pavement roughly five minutes ago. Rosie had never much minded detention, she always found some way to entertain herself.

“Joey!”

It was no surprise seeing Joey McCormick here, solely because Fin was (always) here too and Fin got his twin brother in trouble all the time. Rosie waved to him, already making for the seat next to his. What had they done this time? Something cool, probably. Hers was boring, just a bunch more forgotten homeworks and late marks. The usual.

Rosie passed Nari on her way to Joey’s seat, and that was a surprise, but she grinned at her other best friend all the same.

“Hi!” She poked Nari in the arm and stuck her tongue out.

And then, once she’d slumped into the seat by Joey and dropped her rucksack at her feet: “What did you and Fin do, Jo?”

(She had never been very good at sticking to the no talking rule.)

“You look funny upside down,” Rosie giggled when Fin leaned back to stare at her. Rosie was probably the worst pillow Fin could’ve chosen, but it didn’t matter. She did not think for so much as one second before she had hopped out of her seat and perched instead upon the desk.

“Is it comfy?” She made a very bad attempt at whispering, staring down at him still with a smile. Her hair fell in a tangled curtain around her face, obstructing her from view. Rosie did her best to stay still but it wasn’t long before she was shifting upon the table.

(She has never been very good at sitting still either.)

[Elliot Blue Sinclair]

It was the most important moment of Blue Sinclair's life. Right then, right there, right in front of the doors of Detention, he would determine his future.

(And the conversation could clearly be heard from inside the room, too, so basically all ears were listening for his fate.)

"Well, technically, sir, they weren't meant to explode in the middle of lunch- yessir, I know, in the newly remodeled cafeteria-"

Two weeks ago Brandon Tan had told Blue of his stash of impossibly loud fireworks, and Blue had responded with the brilliant idea of giving the school a much needed spark. Things were getting boring around the place, after all. Unfortunately for the plan, and Beth White's precious sushi lunch (who liked raw fish, anyway??), the spark was a bit premature. A lot premature.

"-but to be honest, with all due respect Mr. P, I mean sir, did ya ever get a good look at those walls? It was about time! That one strawberry jam stain- the one shaped like George Washington?- well it was startin' to grow mold! I-"

There was a brief moment of silence from the dark haired boy's end. Curious students in the room might've shifted in their seat, leaned back just so towards the door to catch the last bit of the conversation. And then-

"But Mr. P, they were just fireworks. Please, no one got hurt or nothin' and I can't go to detention today, I've got serious plans, how about next week? Rain check, maybe? I know you love those cinnamon rolls my mom makes for the bake sale, how about I throw in a whole extra tray as my special tre-"

Murmuring. A hearty laugh- but not Blue's. The battle was over. He was doomed.

The door opened in defeat, with Mr. P's hand sending Blue off with a firm pat on the back. Slumped, Blue Sinclair trudged into the room, took a step towards a desk in the back, looked up and...And brightened up immediately, exclaiming, without regard for any of the stuff written on the board-

"McCOOOOOOORMICCKKSSSSS!" His favorite twins in the school. Actually, the only twins he knew, but that was besides the point. "MARCOOOO POLOOOOO!" Another great kid, a lot smarter than Blue too, but Blue considered them to be the best of buds nonetheless- even if Marco Solita thought otherwise.

With much more enthusiasm than a few minutes ago, Blue fell into a seat near Finny, leaned back in his chair as far as he could go, and looked over at his friend and none other than carrot-top Rosemary Werewolf. He looked at the two of them without saying anything for a good minute.

Well. Some people were getting cozy. A cheeky grin made its way onto his face.

"Aren't you two cute?"

Wait, why was no one else talking?

[Nari Parker]

More people seemed to fill in the classroom, not a big drastic number but there were some faces that were quite a surprise. First there had been Joey but after quickly reading his text, she wasn't shocked anymore.

Of course Fin had dragged Joey with him to detention but it didn't seem like Joey was miserable. Then there was the one quiet boy who had a hearing aid, Nari was familiar with him being his name was always called during her gym class and he never seemed to be present. But there was one very familiar face she didn't expect to show up.

"Roe?" Nari raised an amused eyebrow, clearly surprised to find her best friend in detention. What was she doing here? Seeing Rosie in detention was an unusual picture. Rosie was usually a pretty well minded student and maybe a possible teacher favorite. But maybe she didn't know a certain side to her bright bubbly best friend.

Realizing she hadn't responded to Joey, Nari took a glance over at the teacher and realized he was fully invested in his computer work to even pay attention to the fact that kids were already talking and eating amongst each other. So much for rules.

"I may have scraped up Bridget Marlot just a bit" Nari cheekily smiled at Joey, turning in her chair to face him. 'Scraped up' was a light understanding. She could still remember the way Bridget's smug smirk was wiped off her face when the small korean girl launched herself at the fake red head's 5'6 stature.

"The dean wasn't too happy about it, giving me a big warning and lecture about how lucky I am she didn't press charges." She shrugged with ease, turning her head to watch another person enter the room. This time, it was a more louder presence.

"Calm down Charming or else you might give someone a heartattack" Nari smirked lightly, leaning further back in her chair and keeping her eyes away from Fin or Rosie for the time being.

[Adeline Carmondy]

Addie wasn't entirely sure what she had done to get detention. The slip had said something about skipping classes, but she didn't remember skipping any classes. Not on purpose, anyway.

She wouldn't have even bothered to show up, but she'd left the detention slip on the dining room table and her father had seen it. He'd gone on an impressive rant and then dropped her off at the school that morning herself, rather than letting her walk like usual. It was a trust thing, he had said. She had to earn it back or something.

Thankfully, she wasn't alone in this Saturday morning detention. Actually, it was pretty full. Weird. She knew all these people from classes and hanging out and such, but she couldn't remember them doing anything to get detention either. Maybe the teachers had all just made mistakes.

She sat down in the desk next to Marco, tossing a sketchpad and pencils onto the desk and burying her phone deep in the pocket of her sweater where no one could hear the vibrations.

The rules said that they couldn't talk, but nowhere on that list of rules did it say that they couldn't sign. She nudged Marco to get his attention.

"What did you do?" she signed. She made no effort to hide her hands because if they didn't want them to sign, they should have put that in the rules. Not that anyone else seemed to be following them anyway. "How long do you think we have to stay until we're allowed to leave?"

It was probably on the slip. She hadn't really looked at it.

Pulling her sketchpad closer, she started drawing Rosie and Fin, who were looking very snuggly and very cute.

[Dante Hartless]

Dante Hartless shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans, shoulders hunched over as he slouched into the classroom, his dark hoodie swamping his frame, the only shape given by the worn out leather jacket thrown over the top. He wasn’t unfamiliar with saturday morning detention, in fact, Dante Hartless spent more weekends in this classroom than he did at home. The soles of his shoes scuffed against the floor with every lazy, step through into the classroom.

Dark eyes flickered to the board, before they rolled. Nothing new there. Then bounced around the room at the mish-mash of others joining him on this stupidly bright saturday morning. What a half sorry lot.

He kicked past one of the desks, pausing only briefly when he realised Rosie Wolffe was sitting atop of it, practically in the lap of Dumb or Dumber, he could never tell those two apart. His fingers reached out, grasping a strand of her tumbling hair, and tugging gently before he let go and swept on. “Red.” The nickname rolled from his lips, the only acknowledgement of the action he would give before he moved on.

A chair was kicked back, beside Marco Solita, who was definitely not going to be a disturbance since Dante was fairly certain he couldn’t speak much. Then he tumbled in it, all long limbs, and his feet kicked up onto the desk. “Wake me up when it’s over, will ya?”

He reached back for his hood, tugging it over springy dark curls before tipping his head back to stare at the roof, wishing he could actually fall asleep through the detention.

Easier said than done with this lot around.

[Mara Cole]

Mara Cole had never been in detention before. She felt very uneasy and out of place. But she’d forgotten to do some homework assignments and it had landed her here. Most of the others seemed rather comfortable… very comfortable, in fact.

She sat behind Marco. She looked over at Addie, who was sketching in her notebook. In front of her on the other side was Dante who was trying to sleep through the whole thing.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a notebook. She had already started writing a short story romance about two girls who had been friends all their lives. She hovered over it as she wrote, keeping eyes from peering over. She didn’t want anyone to know she was writing about two girls. Her mother wouldn’t understand if she knew.

[Oxford Emerson]

Like Rose, Oxford didn't bother to show up on time, but quite the opposite of Rose, he felt no need to apologize to anyone about it. After all, he wasn't even meant to be here. Not in the, I don't deserve detention sort of way, because more often than not he did earn time in the classroom after hours, but because this time, he had nothing really better to do.

What did it matter if he was late to an appointment he never made?

The door was still closing behind Rose when he slipped through it in a nimble motion, pausing as it clicked shut to remove his expensive sunglasses and peer at the room's occupants.

"Good thing 'show up on time' isn't one of the three rules," he smirked, winking at Rosemary.

Hooking his shades on the V of his shirt, Ox strode between the desks, pausing briefly in front of Nari's to comment softly, "Impressive left hook."

When he made to the desk beside Mara, he sank into the chair until he reached the optimum amount of lounging and reached one long arm over to pluck his friend's notebook from the desk.

She'd be furious, he knew. Always so secretive.

He flipped it closed and settled it on his own desk beneath one flat palm and raised a taunting eyebrow at her, accompanied by a lopsided grin. Ox wasn't rude enough to invade that privacy, but he was in the mood to get a rise out of someone, and she was, as usual, giving him the perfect opportunity.

[Mara Cole]

She'd been too engrossed in her writing to even noticed Ox next to her. Not until the notebook slipped from underneath her arm. She looked over at the source, eyes wide with terror. She looked over at the teacher to make sure she wasn't looking at her.

"Give it back," she whispered harshly at Ox. Luckily he wasn't peering through it. But she wanted to get it back just in case he changed his mind. What if he read it and told everyone? What would they think of her? What would Addie think of her?

She kept her eyes not on Ox, but on her notebook. She needed it back or her whole life would be ruined. She looked around the classroom quickly, hoping no one else had noticed the scuffle.

[Maeve Rafferty]

There was a combination of things that often put Maeve Rafferty in detention.

She often didn't do her work, ("Really, Rafferty, I understand failing, but you really have to try to get a zero.") even though most of the time, she had no trouble understanding it. Maeve didn't often force herself to do things she didn't feel like doing - and doing bookwork wasn't her thing. Everything Maeve did, she did at her own pace - so that meant she was almost always late to her classes. She also sometimes slept in the middle of classes (honest mistake!) and sometimes skipped her detentions.

This time, it hadn't been any of those reasons. During her lunch period, she had walked past an empty science class, and seen all of the frogs locked up. She couldn't help but pick one up. Picking one up somehow turned into trying to steal a couple. She'd almost gotten away with it - but completely forgot the school had cameras in the hallways. She wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Maeve trailed into the room after Oxford, late, as always. Her backpack, which was covered with pins, was hanging off of one shoulder, her skateboard clutched tight in the other hand. (She loved her skateboard, but she would've loved a car so much more, but she couldn't have one. There was no way she was getting one while she was still in highschool without a job - and there was no way she was getting a job.)

"I dunno, Emerson." She paused when Ox paused, tilting her head at Nari. "I would've palmed her in the nose. Hurts just as bad, and it doesn't bruise you - but I ain't you." She grinned teasingly at her classmate. Maeve didn't dislike Bridget Marlot, but she didn't know her that well, either. She found it kind of funny. Nari was so small - smaller than Maeve, at least - and the idea of her punching anybody was amusing.

Maeve tossed her backpack on the floor, not caring where it went. Leisurely, she slid into a random seat, putting her skateboard on the desk. She rested her head on the skateboard, bright blue eyes searching the room. Detention was normally a good opportunity for a nap. She could've fallen asleep despite the noise (Maeve could fall asleep anywhere), but something told her it was worth staying awake for a while.

"Are you guys sure this is detention?" She'd been in detention a lot, and it was never this lively and never had this much PDA. "When I think detention, I don't think this."