A Tale as Old as Time

ii

The first day of tech surprised John since there were a lot of new faces there. While John loved the idea of new people joining to continue on their legacy (and others' belief that this part of the club was a cult,) he felt a rise of nervousness at the idea of having to train someone. What if he didn't do a good job? What if his apprentice thought he was weird and wanted to not PSM after him?

He dropped off his bag near board and headed down towards the steps where Tyler and Marcel sat, currently talking to Lui and Scotty. They seemed to be in deep conversation and when John looked around, he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or scared at the fact that all of the new kids had grouped themselves into tinier groups, currently having their own conversations. He scanned the various chairs in hope of finding Craig, or just someone so he didn't have to awkwardly interrupt the conversations currently taking place. He picked at the skin around his bright nails and ultimately decided on going to join his friends anyway, in silent hopes of going unnoticed. Before John could head down towards his friends though, an arm was thrown around his shoulders and he looked towards his right to see Sami.

"Hey John! How's it going?" She asked with a sweet smile and John knew she had something planned already.

John decided to shrug in reply, and muttered a quiet "you?" but the question was completely dismissed by the female. She slipped her arm off of him and placed it against her hip, shifting her weight onto one of her feet. The smile from before slowly fell into a straight line and John gulped, moving one of his hands to his forearm, lightly squeezing it.

"No need to be nervous John, I'm just wondering when you're going to grab one of these freshmen as your apprentice. I know you still have next year but the sooner you get on it, the earlier our director will leave you alone about it." She reminded him and he could only let out a sigh, keeping his gaze on anything but her.

"John, I know it's tough for you, but I care about you like a little brother and I don't want you stuck in this little ball of yours forever, y'know? I'm here for you, promise. Now let's head down there and make fun of Tyler and how gay he is for Craig." Sami said as she stuck her tongue out, one of her eyes naturally closing with the action.

John let out a hum, checking his phone and seeing that he had multiple texts from a group chat with Marcel, Tyler, and himself, assuming that it was something about Marcel and his pining over Brock and Brian, as it usually was. He decided that he'd check it out later, but for now he needed to get down there and would have to prep himself for introductions to the freshmen. As the two headed down the aisle towards their friends, John began to think about how weird him and Sami's relationship was.

He was intimidated by her as hell, yet was intrigued by the small girl. She was bossy, but that was one of her best traits since she had proved numerous times before that she would fight for what she believed in and what was right, even if she was outnumbered. John admired her and even though they had only talked so many times, she had somehow grown attached to him. Maybe Craig had talked about him before, but hearing Sami refer to him as a little brother made something in his heart grow and he wondered if any of the other seniors thought of him as a little brother too. He looked behind him, eyes grazing over the freshmen and he wondered if he'd become close and come to think of any of these people as smaller siblings.

"Sorry if I sounded harsh." Sami apologized a few seconds before they arrived at their friends and all he could do was like at her and when she looked back, he shot her a small smile which she was quick to respond with one back.

"Can you guys shut up." Marcel complained and John looked at him curiously, but Sami beat him to the punch.

"What the fuck does that mean Marcel? We're not even saying anything." She pointed her finger at him as she used the other to push up her glasses.