Lane frowned as she peeked out into the hallway, watching for any possible witnesses.

She was no delinquent, but she was on a mission this particular day. Music from Mission Impossible slipped into her mind as she scanned the hallways, humming the tune beneath her breath. When she saw that the coast was clear, she took a tentative step forward. Nothing happened. She was just about to allow herself a smile, when–

Thud.

Clearly, she could never become a spy, because it wasn't a moment later when she was promptly pushed back into the wall with more force than was probably needed. She let out a strangled oomph, moving to hit whoever had blocked her.

"Shh," the boy standing in front of her hissed, slapping a hand over her mouth. Then, as if he'd only just truly noticed her, glanced down at her with a frown. "Skipping?"

Lane narrowed her eyes at him, at all the muscle he possessed – especially for such a lanky build – paired with curly hair and a pair of light brown eyes. For someone who'd just foiled her plans, she was disappointed to say that he wasn't bad looking. If she were honest, he was even quite handsome. Alas, she could not let herself be distracted by this good-looking-plan-foiler. Without a moment's hesitation, she licked the hand that was placed over her mouth. He quickly jerked back in surprise just as she remarked, "I could ask the same."

He scowled, wiping his hand on his pants. "I thought you were Davey. That boy rats everyone out."

"Someone has to, I guess," Lane replied, ignoring the fact that he hadn't answered her question. "Who are you?"

"Finch."

Lane listed her head to the side. There wasn't a chance that that was his real name – last name at best. She'd read All The Bright Places, it was certainly possible. She began to wonder what his first name really was, if this theory were correct. "Interesting."

He shifted on his feet. She wondered if she was making him uncomfortable. She tended to have that effect on people, although it was something she generally tried to avoid. "You?"

"Lane."

"Nickname?"

She crossed her arms. "Like you?"

Finch shrugged, looking bashful. "Well, Finch could've been my real name."

"And Lane could've been mine," Lane replied. "But it isn't, is it?"

He bit his lip.

Truthfully, Lane was in fact not her real name. It was Brigid, which she actually found to be quite pretty. Yet her name tied her to certain people she'd rather not be associated with, and so Lane it was. Besides, Lane was an easy one to explain. Most people just assumed that Lane was short for Laney, and moved on with their lives. Brigid, however, they would likely be able to piece together. Somehow, she was the only Brigid in that school, and so all it would take was some nosy kid to poke her brothers about why the new girl looked suspiciously like them to figure out just how closely she was tied to the Delancey family.

That had largely been why she'd been attempting to sneak around the school. She didn't know what it would even accomplish, but she figured that she may be able to get a hold of the school computers and double check that she was registered as Laney Delly. It was how she'd enrolled herself, anyway. Her brothers had threatened the night before to expose her by talking to the principal, and she supposed it had set her on edge. Not that she really believed they would – she figured they'd want to toy with her a little more first.

And so although she knew why she was using a fake name, she wondered why this other kid, this Finch, was using one as well.

"Well, good talk," Lane told him, patting his chest – there was no way for her to gracefully reach his shoulder. "I'll be going, though. I'm trying to avoid being caught by anyone else."

"Wait!" he called as she began to leave. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here, or-?"

But she was already well out of earshot.

"Well, if it ain't Brigid."

"Morris," Lane greeted back flatly.

"We heard you skipped French class today," Oscar mentioned, falling in step with the pair of siblings.

"That's great," said Lane, not bothering to spare either of them a glance as she walked towards the cafeteria. "I appreciate your insufferable company, truly, but isn't there anywhere else you could be?"

"No, I think we're fine where we're at," Morris said. "Maybe you should've picked another school if you wanted to hide from us."

"Unfortunately for you guys," she began, tapping her lip as she scouted out the lunch room, "I'd much rather have a good education than to never see you two again... lovely as that'd be."

It was perhaps time for a lesson in Delancey history. There was a reason why she had only just transferred schools when her brothers had been here all along, despite what you might believe. See, when she was younger, she actually had been going to the same school as her brothers. Unfortunately, her brothers had decided to become the terror of the school at quite a young age. You can imagine how well this reflected onto Lane. And so while the entire school population was being bullied by none other than Oscar and Morris Delancey, she, in turn, was being bullied by the entire school population for being related to them. It had gotten so bad that eventually, her already negligent father was forced to pull her out of school and place her somewhere better. Somewhere safer.

Her father had pretty much dumped her in the worst school around – seriously, it was decaying – yet she didn't want to end up back in with her brothers, and so she bore it as best she could. By the time they'd reached high school, Lane had accumulated enough money on her own to attend her dream school, even though she knew it was where her brothers planned on going. They received that same money through... other means. She was slightly irked that they were able to get what they hardly even wanted in the first place that much easier, and it didn't help that this meant that they would once again be in the same place, but she didn't let it bother her too much.

She would not pass up on a good education just because her brothers existed. It would take much more than that to stop her.

She was beginning to sense her brothers' unrest from behind her, frustrated that they weren't getting a rise out of her. Probably want to get me suspended, she thought. She figured they knew the feeling was mutual.

"Don't forget your place in this family," Oscar spat. "You already have no one. Imagine how bad it would be for you if people knew whose blood you have. Really, if you think about it, everyone already hates you. They just... don't know it yet."

There. There it was. The only thing among dozens that made her want to stop and think twice. She knew the mistake of getting close to anyone was disastrous – she'd be practically plotting her own demise. Even her brothers knew how much they were hated all across Duane High School. She'd probably be able to take it if the whole student body turned on her, but it wouldn't be very pleasant.

She didn't have the energy to deal with that.

"I appreciate that stellar vote of confidence," she said tiredly, "but that's already what I think about, every day, thanks to you two. I don't see how you saying it will make a difference."

"Hey!"

She and Oscar turned, watching as a boy with a blue tee shirt approached them. A pack of others followed closely behind. "Are these boys bothering you?"

"Wasting my time, is more like it," Lane said, shooting her brothers a glare. "But, if you want to deal with them, be my guest."

"You heard her," another boy with curly blond hair said, striding towards her brothers. "Let's get 'em, boys!"

A taller boy with a nice suit sighed before hauling Curly Hair back. "C'mon, Race. We don't want to cause a scene. Plus, it's almost lunch. You wanna be late for lunch?"

Race begrudgingly agreed, pulling back from the two. "Don't think I'll miss the next chance I get to bust your guys' faces up."

"Race."

"I'm not scared of you two, y'know. I'd take you any day."

"Race."

"And it won't be pretty when-"

"Alright." Their leader pulled the persistent boy back behind him. "I think they get it, Race. Right, fellas?"

Oscar scowled, grabbing Morris' arm and dragging him someplace elsewhere. Probably off to go terrorize some other students.

"I'm Jack," Blue Shirt said, holding out his hand.

Lane shook it after a moment's hesitation. "Lane." She studied his face. "What's your deal with those two, anyway?"

"We're the Oscar-Morris hate club," Jack explained jokingly. "They've picked on enough of my friends enough times for it to become official."

"Now that I can believe." Lane considered this for a moment. "You taking applications?"

Lane sat close to the group she'd associated herself with, if not a bit secluded from the rest of them.

It had been a few days since she'd met the group, and they seemed like a fun enough bunch, if not a little draining. They simply had a lot to say, all of the time. They were better than her brothers, though. That was for sure.

Her gut sank at the thought.

She hadn't told them of her brothers, naturally. It was something she hadn't felt the need to share. She knew the consequences if she ever did, and it wasn't like she spoke much to any of them, anyway.

This point brought her back to the boy she'd bumped into after she attempted to sneak out of class. Apparently, he was in the group of kids she'd been hanging around since that day. Finch, he'd said his name was. He had said a lot of things to her that day. Which seemed terribly ironic in present time, seeing as he hadn't spoken a word to her since they'd met.

Well, Lane wasn't complaining. She hadn't particularly enjoyed their first conversation. His chattiness had almost gotten her caught. If it weren't for her quick thinking after having spotted Mrs. Mattews prowling the halls, she almost certainly would've been.

"New girl," she suddenly heard someone call. "Hey, new girl!"

"I've been here for three weeks," Lane grumbled in reply, turning to face the curly blond.

Race smirked in a way that told her that he was well accustomed to being the reason for someone's crankiness. "D'you meet Albert yet? Seems he's the only one who hasn't introduced himself."

Lane's gaze slid over to the boy standing next to Race, and her heart froze in her chest. Because there was no way... "Al?"

Albert threw her a small smile, and she knew he'd spotted her before she had, yet had chosen not to say anything. "Hey, Brigid."

She couldn't help but stare, studying him, seeing how much he'd changed. It made her feel a bit better when she saw that he had been doing the same. "It's been a while," she said finally. "Hasn't it?"

"Yep." He stuffed his hands into his pockets, averting his gaze. "It has."

"Well, this is nice," said Elmer, attempting to dispel the awkwardness, but the words fell flat. "Right, guys?"

The rest of the group nodded along, thrown off by the sudden tension.

Lane and Albert had met when her father had dated his mother after her own had passed away. Lane was glad Albert didn't underestimate her like other boys would, while Albert was just glad he'd found a girl who didn't always want to play with dolls and would even occasionally watch his favourite movies with him. Lane, in truth, did so mostly so they wouldn't have to interact. Her idea of fun at that age was keeping her nose hidden in a book so that no one would talk to her.

Well, it still was, to be fair.

Their parents' relationship had lasted almost five years, and had even reached an engagement between the two, before they split up when Lane's father had been caught cheating. Lane had never felt so ashamed in her life, and had spent the night wrapped up in Albert's arms after he'd waited outside her door for two whole hours.

Lane's eyes dropped at the thought, as she quickly said, "I go by Lane, now, by the way."

She didn't know if anyone else other than the two of them had heard him refer to her as Brigid. It was harmless, probably, but there were so many ears around and so many people looking for someone to humiliate. She prayed that no one would think anything of it. For this reason, she didn't elaborate, and she knew Albert didn't expect her to.

"Cool," he said, confirming that thought. "Well, I still go by Albert, but most people here have nicknames."

"Don't pretend most of us don't call you Red!" Race said, pointing a cigar at him.

Albert rolled his eyes.

"He sort of reminds me of Alex," Lane mentioned to the ginger with a smile, before turning to the blond. "And, not to act like your mother, but do they really let you smoke inside the school?"

Alex was Albert's younger brother. Lane had always liked Alex, even if most of the time he got on everyone's nerves with his happy-go-lucky attitude. He quickly grew into being quite the trickster, to everyone's surprise, but always made sure no one was harmed when he pulled one of his many pranks. Pranks that Lane had helped him with, most of the time.

"It's a metaphor," Race explained dismissively, referencing The Faults In Our Stars, and she realized that it was, indeed, unlit. "And who's Alex?"

Lane laughed. "What do you mean... who's Alex?" When Race shrugged, she frowned, turning towards Albert. "Al?"

"Alex is just... an old... friend," Albert said quietly. "That's it."

But after a few minutes, whenever he came to discreetly pass by her, she heard him say, "Lane... he's with my father."

Lane stifled a gasp. If there was one person worse than her own father, it was Albert's. She couldn't believe Alex had been sent back to that man. Unlike many of her new acquaintances, as well as herself, Albert shared a house with his living mother as opposed to living in the lodge like many of the other kids in the group. From what she'd heard, he wasn't the only one – she thought she'd heard Elmer mention he had a good home-life – but he was definitely in the minority.

Speaking of Albert, she looked to see where the boy had gone. He was over talking with Finch, who'd probably asked something to do with her from his questioning tone. Lane narrowed her eyes at the sight, before quickly flitting her gaze away when Finch fixed his eyes onto her.

Whatever. Let him stare all he wanted. She didn't care either way.

But as she listened to the chaotic group of boys, having quickly moved on from her and Albert's short reunion, she simply couldn't ignore the feeling of the boy's eyes on her.

(2576 words)

And so the Violet saga begins! Violet will be a series of one shots set in modern day, which will follow mostly Finch and Lane in this book. However, if there is enough interest, I will expand this idea beyond the three one shots that I already have written, and will possibly turn it into a book. This will also allow me to develop other the relationships that are present in this AU. Hopefully that won't just sit in my drafts for three years like this one did.

Also, the various pieces of media mentioned in this do not belong to me. Newsies, for one thing, as well as Mission Impossible, All The Bright Places (by Jennifer Niven, someone please read this amazing book) and The Faults in Our Stars.

I also cannot claim that the name of the school, Duane High School, was my original idea. Aisling, PineapplesAndPapes, helped me come up with it. There was potentially a lodging house on Duane Street, Lower Manhattan, so that's the origin. I have no knowledge of the layout of New York whatsoever so she's a life saver in these times.

And lastly, I turn 18 today! I'm actively ignoring the fact that this means I'm now an adult.

~ nutcracker645