Not The Same

Author: Sierra (AliasSydney502)
Genre: S/V High School
Summary: Two different people that might actually have something in common.
Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC.

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Chapters 1-8 // Chapters 9-16 // Chapters 17-24

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Chapter 1


The school bell rang to signify the start of another school year. Sydney Bristow walked up the front steps and through the doors, books in hand. She was immediately greeted with the bustling hallway alive with the buzz of students.

She made her way down the corridor, keeping her head relatively down and her beloved books close. Last year some upper classmen thought it would be funny to knock down a quiet freshman’s books. A real laugh that was.

She passed the popular girls, Lauren Reed, Francie Calfo, Amy Tippin, and Anna Espinoza. They were too busy applying makeup and checking out the jocks across the hall to notice Sydney walk by. They were throwing not so secret glances at them and giggling like idiots. Yeah, the jock boys were cute, but they were jackasses.

Eric Weiss was crushing a pop can into his forehead while his friends looked on, cheering. Eric, Will Tippin, Michael Vaughn, and Julian Sark were all members of the popular click. They ran around school all day, beating up freshmen, hitting on the pretty girls, goofing off, and generally not paying attention to their surroundings.

Sydney noticed just in time before Julian backed up in her direction, almost knocking her over with his backpack. She stepped out of the way as he walked back over to his buddies and they began their nonsense again, completely ignoring the fact that he could have just caused an accident. She kept going, determined not to let it get to her.

For some reason, these were the popular kids. If you looked closely, they weren’t very much better than anyone else. They didn’t get good grades; they spent too much time putting down others to study. Sydney highly doubted any of them had ever picked up a book.

She couldn’t imagine not wanting to read, it was her outlet in life, she could read for days on end if she had the time. Books allowed her to forget about her troubles and become another person. A book would never judge you, like all her peers did. They would probably make fun of her if she told anyone that though.

She went to her classes just the same as last year; it felt no different being a sophomore.

***

“Dad, I’m home.” Sydney called as she opened the front door to her family’s two story home. She put her backpack down in the front hallway and walked into the kitchen, hungry. She ruffled through the cabinets, not very satisfied with her choices, but she picked out a poptart to eat anyway.

Her father walked into the kitchen, looking cold like he always did. “Hello Sydney, I didn’t hear you come in.” Sydney rolled her eyes, she had yelled. He was just too dense to notice.

“Dad, can I go to the mall tonight?” Sydney knew she wouldn’t be able to go, but she had to put up a mask around her family. He thought she was accepted and had friends. She didn’t, but she didn’t want her dad worrying about her. Not like he would anyway.

“Sydney, I have to go to a meeting, you have to babysit.” As if on cue, Nadia ran into the kitchen, almost knocking Sydney down (second time that day) and jumped into her father’s arms. “Nadia, I have to go.”

“Buhbye.” Nadia replied, kissing his cheek and squirming her way out of his grasp.

“Be good for Sydney.” He left without another word, not saying goodbye to Sydney.

“SYYYYYYDDDDD!!!!!!” Her little sister screamed from her room. She groaned and went upstairs to watch her.




Chapter 2


Another boring school day passed by and Sydney gradually became excited for the afternoon. She had volunteered to help with the setup of the play and the painting of the backdrops.

She went to the gymnasium where to stage and supplies were, and saw that there were very few people there. She didn’t mind though, she just enjoyed helping out. It also was a reason not to go home and babysit.

Mrs. Dennis assorted everyone into groups of two and gave them a task list to complete. She was annoyed when her name was called to be partners with Michael.

“Let’s get to work.” Sydney said positively, determined not to let his presence deter from helping. He grunted in response, obviously not thrilled either, and they walked over to the supplies.

“So, you wanted to help with the play?” She tried to initiate a conversation while they worked.

“No.” She could have guessed it.

“Then why are you here? Sydney asked curiously.

“Eric convinced all the guys to skip Friday. Guess who got caught?” He asked dryly.

“You.” She smiled, but quickly hid it from him. She didn’t want him to think she was amused at his ‘misfortunes’. She would get a rep for being mean, and she didn’t want that. “Wait, but where are they?”

“I’ll give you one guess.”

“Skipping.” She concluded.

“Yeah, they thought painting the sets and stuff was a moron’s work.” He thoughtlessly said. “Wait… that came out wrong.”

“I’ll bet.” She knew he was just like every other one of the jocks, he was a jerk. She gave him a cold glare when he wasn’t looking and didn’t talk to him for the rest of the time.

***

Thanks to her stubbornness, it took them longer to complete their work and they had to stay later to finish. Sydney knew she would get in trouble when she finally got home, but she could use the line ‘I’ve got homework’. Even though she finished it all last weekend. She sighed; her social life was non-existent.

But her father didn’t know that. He rarely paid attention to what she did, until he needed her to babysit. She hated Nadia. She heard the crunch of footsteps behind her and her heart started pounding. Someone was behind her. She turned down her street and hoped the mysterious person would keep going straight.

They didn’t.

She tried to walk normally, and listen to how close behind her they were, but her heartbeat was too loud in her ears. She could either run away of fight if they attacked. She wasn’t a very fast runner, so she chose confrontation. She took a deep breath and turned around on the count of three.

One…

Two…

Three.




Chapter 3


She jumped when she came face to face with Michael. He was wearing a sexy leather jacket and dark jeans. He stopped abruptly, giving her a confused look.

“Are you following me?” she asked, her heartbeat decreasing and leveling to normal.

“No.” He answered, and brushed past her, continuing walking.

“Then why are you walking out here?” She caught up to him, walking by his side.

“I live over here…” He raised his eyebrow at her.

“Oh.” Now she felt stupid. Nobody would want to follow her home, unless it was some perverted stalker. “You’ve never walked this way before.”

“Yeah, dad took my car away.” He explained, rolling his eyes.

“What did you do this time?” She smiled, he was always in trouble; it was kind of sexy. Stop thinking that, he’s a jerk. She focused back on reality and managed to hear the end of his story.

“So, dad took the car, and now I’m stuck walking!”

“Oh.” She nodded her head. She was turning sixteen next month and her father refused to buy her a car or get her license. They reached what appeared to be his house and said awkward goodbyes.

She continued walking, but slowly. The sooner she got home, the sooner she got yelled at. She steeled herself up for a rough night as she approached her front porch.

***

“I’m home dad!” Sydney yelled and headed up the stairs to her room.

“Sydney!” She stopped, almost to the top and turned around.” Where were you?” He asked as he walked into the hallway. This was Angry Jack Bristow and you didn’t want to mess with him.

“Play set up…” Sydney explained.

“This late? Sydney, it’s dark out!” He crossed his arms over his chest in the normal Bristow style. He was obviously displeased.

“Yeah, well… it took a while.”

“This is unacceptable. What if the office called? I can’t leave Nadia by herself.”

“Yes you can.” Sydney muttered, she hated talking about her sister. It was always Nadia this, Nadia that. It drove her wild that her father only seemed to notice one of his daughters.

“She’s seven!”

“So?”

“Go to your room!” He pointed up the stairs stiffly, glaring at her.

“On my way.” She rolled her eyes and ran up to her room. She might as well get next weeks homework out of the way.




Chapter 4


“Hey Mike! Pizza! You comin’?” Will yelled down the hall through the rush out of the building at the end of the day.

“Nah, I gotta go do the stage set up.”

“The what?” Eric asked as the group met up by their lockers.

“For the play, stupid.” He said slowly, explaining further when Eric still looked confused. “That thing that you’re skipping…”

“Oh, that.” Michael was surprised by how dense Eric could be. He should have been used to it by then, they had been friends since third grade. “Why are you going to it?” Eric asked.

“Cause it’s punishment?” Michael rolled his eyes, Eric had never been a fan of doing as he was told, but Michael had learned at an early age to obey when an adult asked you to do something.

“You’re weird.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Michael replied dryly and walked off before he could get into more trouble.

***

He arrived at the gym a little late and Mrs. Dennis was already assigning tasks to the groups. He looked around to find Sydney and didn’t see her.

“Um… Mrs. Dennis?” He asked as he approached her. “Sydney isn’t here.”

“Ok, Michael. You can work with Claire and Daniel.” She pointed out a group on the opposite side of the gym.

“Ok.” Michael began walking to the group and heard loud snorts of laughter coming from them. Here goes nothing, he thought.

***

In the end, Michael had a tremendous headache and was feeling like he wanted to shoot himself he was so bored.

All Claire and Daniel talked about was math and science. He had no idea what they were talking about and they found it funny. He hated being laughed at, even more so when they were such geeks.

He found himself missing Sydney. There was something about her that was so intriguing. She didn’t care what other people thought about her and that made her special. All the girls he had ever dated had been stupid blonde cheerleaders who were only with him cause they thought he was hot. They knew nothing about him. Maybe if Sydney put a little more confidence into her actions and ideas that she would be even more beautiful. He didn’t even know her that well, but he intended to find out more.




Chapter 5


The next morning, Michael saw Sydney walking down the hall and I brought an unexpected smile to his face. Julian saw this, and found the source, grinning devilishly. He whispered to Eric, who passed it to Will. The smile quickly turned into a frown, knowing his friends were up to no good.

“Hey Sydney.” Julian greeted kindly.

“Oh, um, hey Julian.” She said shyly, astonished he was talking to her. He looked down at he paperback novel in her hands and smiled coyly.

“Whatcha reading?” He grabbed the book before she could answer. “The Scarlet Letter?” There were a few snickers from Eric and Will.

“Um… Yeah?” She replied, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Aren’t we supposed to read this next year?” He smirked, thinking he was funny for making fun of her. Michael and Sydney’s gazes locked or a moment, like she was looking to him for support, and he looked away. She inwardly sighed, knowing he was just like the rest of them, and gathered up her courage. She was enraged by Michael’s unwillingness to help her when he was so nice to her before.

“Well, I’m surprised you even know that, you hardly attend school as it is.” She replied bitterly, snatching her book back and walking away.

“Wow.” Julian turned around shocked that she had fought back at all. “Looks like little Miss Bristow just told me off.”

“Didn’t see that one coming.” Eric commented, but Michael ignored them. He knew that Sydney was hurt by their teasing and planned to apologize later.

***

“Hey Sydney.” Michael greeted in the gym after school. She gave him a quick glare and walked away to their workstation. He followed her, intending to apologize for his friends.

“Wait… Sydney, I’m sorry. Julian’s a dumbass. He shouldn’t have done that.”

“I don’t care.” She didn’t bother to look at him and it only made him feel worse.

“I’m glad you stood up for yourself…” He tried.

“Nobody else would.” She snapped, he felt like shooting himself for being so stupid to say something like that.

“I just meant…”

“I told you, I. Don’t. Care.”




Chapter 6


They passed the time working quickly but not talking to each other. Michael felt like the world’s biggest loser because of Julian. He wanted her to understand that he felt guilty about it and wasn’t part of it.

Sydney knew he wasn’t involved, but he still let it happen. He just stood by while they made fun of her. What was that old saying, guilt by association?

So what if she liked to read? It wasn’t that big of a deal. Her anger slowly diminished and she forgave Michael, but didn’t feel the need to tell him. She would let him squirm for a while. They finished before everyone else and were allowed to leave.

“Would you like to walk home together?” Michael asked on the way outside. He thought he heard her mumble something resembling ‘like hell’ but he let it slide. He deserved it.

“Um… Sure.” She knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up, especially after what happened earlier, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to be with him. He seemed different from the rest of them.

“So…” He tried to start a conversation, but she was too nervous to say anything. She shivered in the late winter weather because she was wearing a light coat and it was getting colder.

Michael looked nice and warm in his leather jacket. She fantasized about wearing it, being that close to him. She needed to stop thinking like that. She shivered a little more noticeably, hoping he would catch the hint.

“Cold, isn’t it?” He said, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah, I should have worn a thicker jacket.” She hinted again.

“Now you’ll know tomorrow.” He shrugged it off as casual conversation. He would have offered his coat, but he couldn’t.

They arrived at his gate and he told her goodbye and went inside. He watched through the curtain as she sighed and kept walking. He noticed her rubbing her arms to get warmer and felt bad for not offering her his coat.




Chapter 7


Sydney managed to avoid Michael the whole next day until play set up. Mrs. Dennis tasked them with painting some backdrops and they gathered the paint and cloth and started working.

“I hope you can paint, cause I suck at it.” Sydney commented with a smile.

“Eh, a little, I’m no Picasso.” He replied, smiling back. This was definitely better than yesterday.

“Better than me.” Sydney laughed. She looked so beautiful when she was happy. They finished painting half the cloth and it was time to go. They stood back and admired their work.

“Wow, you’re good.” Sydney complimented.

“Thanks…” Michael felt weird; he had never drawn anything in public before. His friends had always thought painting and art were gay. The whole school would see this. Sydney saw it. He wondered when he began to care what Sydney thought.

***

They started off for their street and Michael noticed Sydney brought a heavier coat for the cold. It made him sad because he couldn’t offer her his coat, but also happy that she would be warm. He couldn’t ignore the feeling that he wanted to be the one that made her warm and happy. They stopped at his gate and stood there awkwardly.

He looked down into her eyes and noticed for the first time how close they were standing. She looked up into his green eyes and smiled. His eyes drifted to her lips. They looked so full and perfect. He needed to distract himself from those kind of thoughts.

“You were right.” He commented.

“What?” He knew he was being vague and she was confused.

“You can’t paint.” He chuckled, picking at a small piece of paint that had somehow made it into her hair. She felt all tingly that he was touching her.

“Yeah… I meant to do that.” She joked, blushing lightly.

He wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t know if she wanted to kiss him. He would understand if she was still mad at him, he should have expected it. Instead, he told her a quick goodbye and went inside smiling to himself, leaving a disappointed Sydney outside.

***

She walked home slowly, knowing her dad would make her watch Nadia while he went to work. God, he loved his job. Then he would complain about her being covered in paint, but not allow her to shower. She dreaded stepping into that house every night.

***

Her dad left for work and Sydney decided to spend some time alone. She bribed Nadia to leave her alone and not tell their dad. Five minutes and ten dollars later, Sydney was alone.

If she wanted to impress Michael, she would have to start caring about what she looked like. She stood up in front of the mirror and decided on what she had to change. Her hair fell below her chest when she let it down; it would need to be cut. She never wore makeup, it just took too much time. She always wore sweatshirts and baggy jeans. It was comfortable, but out of style. Her glasses were also in the way, and she never wore contacts because they hurt her eyes.

Tomorrow, she would be a totally different person and Michael would love her.




Chapter 8


Hair cut a little below her shoulders, glasses off, contacts in, smaller jeans, no sweatshirt, touch of makeup and she was ready to go. She felt more confident on the walk to school and people waved to her. As she walked down the hall, people turned and looked at her. They looked at her as if she was someone completely different.

She got smiles from a few of her classmates and returned them sweetly. The she walked by the popular girls and heard Lauren mutter, “Oh, look, the freak decided to try and fit in.” followed by an annoying laugh.

She didn’t care though; she only cared what Michael would think. She finally admitted to herself that she liked him. She found Michael’s friends gathered around the usual locker and tapped Julian on the shoulder.

“Julian?” He turned around and had to do a double take when he saw her.

“S…Sydney?” His mouth was hanging open slightly and he was obviously staring.

“Yeah…” She rolled her eyes. “Have you seen Michael?” He wondered why she would be asking for him, but instead of answering, he put his arm around her shoulders and turned them back to the group. He told her she could wait with them until he got there. Will and Eric took turns commenting on how pretty she looked and how different she was. She enjoyed the praise and relaxed a little, reveling in being popular for a while.

***

Michael showed up a few minutes late and went to the spot where his friends normally met. On his way down the hall, he saw Julian with his arm around some chick. Julian seemed to have girls crawling out of the woodwork to go out with him. He would never truly care for them, he would just use them. Michael wondered who the unlucky girl was this week.

Eric waved him over and Michael froze in his tracks when he saw Sydney. She noticed the shocked look on his face and smiled weakly.

“Hi.” She blushed.

“We need to talk.” He stated. He wanted to warn Sydney about Julian, immediately jumping to the conclusion that she liked him and wanted to change to go out with him. She followed him down the hall and away from Eric, Will and Julian.

“What are you doing?” He asked, referring to her decision to like and change for Julian.

She looked down sadly. “You don’t like it?” She asked, feeling self conscious.

“No.” He knew Julian and what he did to women. He would just use her and then crush her. “It’s… It’s just wrong.”

She was devastated that he was so opposed to her new look. She wanted to cry, but wouldn’t allow him to see it. “I hope you know… I did this for you!” She yelled, attracting the attention of a few passing students. Michael stood there stunned; it didn’t make any sense. Why would she date Julian for him?

Sydney walked quickly to the bathroom and ended up missing her next class because she was crying. She knew better than to change who she was for some guy. Somehow, her deluded mind believed he would like it and ended up liking her. He had rejected her, just like everyone else.

Never again, she thought, never again.




Chapters 9-16