Very much what the title says. Just little bits about these characters to give you some idea of who they are. And since this isn't exactly a modern au and more like a reincarnated au, their names change ever so slightly. Please don't come after me for that. Okay but seriously aaaa this is where it starts!!!

Enjoy! :)

------------------------------

There are some times when some people have such a strong inexplicable pull to each other that it might as well be fate.

Where maybe there's a reason why they met, and became so close.

Some don't believe in stuff like that.

But once they start seeing the signs...it's going to get harder and harder to ignore.

This is a story about a group of friends going to a high school rumored to be built on the grounds of the original building for the infamous newspaper The New York World. Where for some reason without an explanation, they are all drawn to each other.

Jack Kelley is going to start eleventh grade in September. He'll gladly have summer while it lasts. Summer is his escape from the world, where for at least a little, everything might just make sense.

He's only seventeen, but he likes claiming to have reached his mid-life crisis. After hearing too many times that he's too young to be going through a mid-life crisis, he's just settled on being a bi disaster has given me an identity crisis and made me a chaotic mess, which isn't wrong.

He has always wanted to go to Santa Fe, not knowing why. Why would he want to go to a random place in New Mexico that he has no connections to? But the pull of it is so strong. Every time he thinks Santa Fe his breathing hitches a little bit and he gets so excited, and he has absolutely no clue where it came from. Maybe some day he'll go, and finally find out why he has such a strong connection to this really random place.

The drama teacher, Medda, is one of his favorite teachers at the school. The English teacher, Mr. Denton, too. They are both adults that he trusts, and the ones who will listen to him. They're the teachers that make staying at this school worth it.

He has dreams of what he wants to do in the future, when he doesn't have to worry about school anymore. For now, he just has to worry about surviving eleven and twelth grade.

Tony Vitale is a theatre kid through and through.

He's a disaster queer.

ADHD is fun until it's not.

All his friends accept him and his trans identity. He loves being validated. But gender dysphoria can hit him hard. What's worse is that his parents won't let him buy a binder. So instead, he finds every binding and/or layering technique that he can. His friends help a little with easing his gender dysphoria, but they will never be able to make it all go away.

He is happy to be dating Sean, who is one of the few people to truly understand him. Neither of them are perfect, but they are perfect for each other.

He's always had a strong connection to his grandparents. Everything about them, everything about their house, it's just magical. And every time it's just him and them, it's like it's the three of them against the world. And he loves it. He's much closer to his grandparents than his parents. His grandparents never misgender him or deadname him, like his parents sometimes might. He's so glad he has them in his life.

His grandfather loves watching horse races on TV, and he loves watching them with him. His mom claims gambling is bad, but he really doesn't see the harm in just watching events where people place bets on who will win. This is his little bonding activity with his grandfather.

His grandmother is the eye of a hurricane. She helps the world make sense. She tells him about their family, and teaches him how to make Italian food, teaches him about their culture. He eats up every word and every culinary masterpiece eagerly, always wanting more.

He has a close connection to Jack. They're around two years apart and one grade apart, but they have a special kind of bond. Jack's like his big brother. He and Louis get along really well too. There are just some kinds of chemistry that can't be explained. He wouldn't want anything different, though.

There's just something about seeing his picture in a year book or school newspaper/newsletter that gets him so excited. He knows it's weird, but he can't explain it. It's like ... people can see him there, in that setting, and can't deny that he was there. It's like saying I'm here. I'm not going away. I exist in this space and time, just like everyone else. It's the little things like that that prove that he's not invisible. As long as he get represented right.

He loves little kids. He loves watching them grow up. Watching them interacting with each other. Watching them interact with him. He loves seeing their little eyes light up in excitement when he says something he likes or agrees to play games with him. This summer he'll have his first official job: working at a summer camp for elementary school kids, and he is psyched. 

Unlike a lot of people that he knows, he believes in fate. He believes in everything happening for a reason. He loves asking what if...? questions. Astrology, numerology, mythology, anything. These kinds of things excite him. 

Sean O'Connor just switched school districts last year. There are times when it feels like everything is happening at once in his life. Switching schools was one of them. But his boyfriend Tony was so happy that they would be in the same school now, that it made him happy too. And they're both in drama club together. What could be better?

He's always felt a strong connection to Brooklyn. He's not entirely sure why. He loves going over the Brooklyn Bridge. Being in Brooklyn feels right. And for reasons he can't explain, not being Brooklyn = not being home in his mind, and it really messes him up. It's déjà vu. And as the years go on, the feeling never goes away. Every single time he goes across the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn it feels like crossing the threshold into something amazing, nearly magical.

He likes acting like the tough guy. If it gets him a reputation as the intimidating one, all the better. He doesn't know why it matters so much to him. Maybe it's to cover up insecurities. Maybe it's to cover up what truly goes on with his inner turmoil.

In the moment, Tony is really the one good thing in his life. His one constant. Which is funny, because Tony can be anything but constant. He's chaotic and a lot at times. But that's what he loves about him. Tony is loving, and passionate, and caring. Tony makes him happy. 

There are lots of times where he feels in a kind of place that is of neither here nor there. It makes him feel like he's going crazy at times. There are certain names or words that he hears and he doesn't exactly know how to feel about them; just that there's something. He doesn't know exactly how to feel about anything of the paranormal, if things like that can happen. It would explain a lot, though. He hopes he can get some answer. Some day.

Louis Adamas has always had a fascination with leaders who didn't receive all the glory they deserve.

He feels like he goes uncredited some times. And the last thing he wants is for people to believe he's not on their side. He wants to appeal to people. He's not necessarily a people pleaser, that's his boyfriend's job. But that doesn't mean that he's not loyal or steadfast. Those traits are some of the ones that his friends admire about him.

He's so ready to be able to vote at the next election; his 18th birthday coming up really soon.

He's really sensitive of when things come close to his eyes. It freaks him out. Any time something gets in his eye, he panics. He can't watch something hitting someone's eye in a film, or even reading it in a book.

For some reason, he likes pirates. The way they act, dress, wear eyepatches (again, with the eyes), and how there's a whole history behind gay pirates. 

When he was younger, he insisted that his birthday was truly a special day; it was a holiday, it marked something. Everyone thought it was just how little kids think that they, and their birthdays, are the most important thing. Now that he's older, he doesn't talk about that anymore. Yet he still feels like he's forgetting some very important event every time he celebrates his birthday.

Nick Myer is so in love with his boyfriend Louis; it must be some kind of fate. He loves talking to Tony about those kinds of things. They have everyone's zodiac signs and birth charts memorized, and so much more.

He's known for a very long time that he's gay. It's just something that has always been a part of him. He and Louis started dating long before they told anyone. But somehow, everyone knew. If anything, their friends were surprised that they hadn't been dating longer. 

He always likes being able to help. Any time he brings a smile to someone's face, it brightens his day. He's the happy one, and makes others happy.

There's nothing that makes him feel worse than not being useful. It bugs him when he doesn't have all the answers either. He's not trying to be perfect, he just wants to help make things better. And when he can't...that's when he begins to despair.

He knows he shouldn't worry, but he can't help but worry about what will happen after high school. Especially involving Louis. Louis says he wants a future with him too. He just hopes that it's a bright one.

Charlie Moore is one of the school's fastest runners. Well actually, he will be, as he's going into ninth grade. He's always loved being in track, and was the kid with the fastest times at his middle school. The transition to high school is going to be intimidating, but all his friends are going to be there, and are excited for him to be there.

He is always willing to listen whenever Tony or Nick ask a what if? question. He loves asking them too. They have a lot of fun conversations.

He's one of the sweetest people that his friends have ever met. He's the youngest, the cinnamon roll that needs to be protected at all costs. He can act indignant about it, but secretly, he enjoys it. He loves that Jack is the closest thing to an older brother that he'll ever have; and that he has all his friends looking out for him.

He also loves trying to be like a  therapist for his friends. According to them, he gives good advice. And he likes that a lot. He can be very sympathetic and compassionate; other things that his friends like about him.

He can never explain why he feels the constant need to move. It's as if he can't sit still or something will happen. Always needs to be moving, almost always needs to be outside, and just run. He doesn't know where he gets the impulses from. He just knows that being outside and running are things that he enjoys, so truly for him, there's nothing strange about it.

Being in different grades has never influenced anything for them. In the summer, without school, sometimes forget that they are in different grades. It surprises them when others are surprised at them all being friends in different grade levels. To them it just feels natural.

However, there's someone else who is tied to them who hasn't been mentioned yet; and has not yet played a big part in their story.

Kathryn Palmer is kind of a lone wolf. Friends have never really been her thing. She doesn't get how others make friends so easily.

She's a demigirl, and wants to start going by she/they pronouns. She also knows that she's wlw. She might be bi, but with a strong preference for girls. She's not entirely sure yet; still figuring everything out.

She dated Jack briefly in ninth grade. They both realized their mistake quickly and ended on good terms within months. They still talk every now and then, and get along just fine, but don't interact that often.

Her mom has been out of the picture for awhile, and her father, who just so happens to be the principal at their school, doesn't really pay attention to them. So, the adult who is her role model is Mr. Denton, who oversees the making of the school newspaper. The school newspaper, which gives her such thrill to be a part of. Ever since she was little they loved writing stories. And they can't explain it but writing in the paper is something they truly love.

Anxiety is something that rules her life, even if they never let it show. They feel like they need to be productive 24/7. And she's a perfectionist. She's taking all the advanced classes she can, participating in several extracurricular activities. It's exhausting, and she's always one criticism and/or flaw away from a mental breakdown, but she's holding her own. She has to. Because there has to be a reason for all of this. And she's going to find it. 

This year, there will be new kids. New kids drawn to them, and they will be drawn to the new kids.

David Jacobson is dreading the day he's going to become a new kid. It's mid July, so he has some time. He's just ... not that good at making friends.

Which is why he'll be focusing on school. He just hopes his grades will be better at this school. He's an over achiever, for better or for worse.

He found the term pacifist and absolutely loved it. Because that's him; the pacifist, who hates tensions, conflicts, all of it. He listens to Imagine by John Lennon a lot. It comforts him.

He ... still hasn't come out of the closet. He knows his parents will be accepting of him being bi, but he just can't say it yet. His sister understands. She's the only one who knows that he's asexual and biromantic. They're both queer, and help each other in any way that they can.

He really doesn't have time for things like fate or destiny. Or inexplicable events. There's only facts and reasoning. But soon, something's going to happen where not even his facts and reasoning will be able to explain what's happening.

Sarah Jacobson is David's twin, and is freaking out a lot less about being the new kid. True, she's also introverted, but she knows that if she's friendly she'll probably find someone to befriend.

She just hopes that there are cute girls at this school. Cute girls who are wlw like her.

She figured out early in middle school that she likes girls. She's come a long way since then. Her celebrity crush is Hayley Kiyoko, who she worships like a goddess. She hopes that if she wears red anything to school, people will recognize her as a girl in red and let gaydar do the rest.

There are sometimes where she feels like she's pushed to the sidelines. And it frustrates her a little. Well, more than a little. If there's a way to draw attention without acting out, that's something she wants to do. Just something to feel seen and appreciated.

While David is worrying about finishing high school, she is more worried about what life is going to look like after high school. Where she'll go to college, what kind of job she'll have...just everything that life throws at her. Some thing that she and David will both have to learn, however, is that they should be focusing on both; they'll need their attention on both post-high school, and what's happening while they are still in high school.

All are very similar in so many ways. They all have some feelings about journalism, and all participate in the theater kind of drama to some degree. And somehow, being together, it just works.

There are some things that people can write off as coincidences. Things that have no meaning. But these things do have meaning. For these people, these things are everything.

And starting really soon, they'll learn just how much these things affect them.

-------------------------------------------

So that is something.

True, I probably could have done better or done it differently (and better), but I really liked this way of setting up the story.

Could you tell that I spent a lot of time thinking about modern Race? Like...there were A LOT more details about him ... I may or may not be obsessed with Racetrack...maybe...

So throughout this story, there is going to be a mix of "tell," and "show not tell." This was definitely a "tell."

Yeah, this was definitely an info dump. Hmm...

Louis Baletti (aka Kid Blink) was eighteen at the time of the strike. Or so people think. Since that's the popular opinion, that's the age I wanted modern Blink to be.

There is so little information on Mush Meyers. I'm trying.

I'm learning a lot about the New York World Building. It was first constructed in the 1860's, (but wasn't exactly the World yet), got burned down in a fire in 1882, was rebuilt in 1889 (now definitely the World), and then got demolished in 1955. And a lot of other details.

If anyone wants any more pacifist artists/songs, start with Buffy Sainte-Marie; or this song called Reggae Calling by Beres Hammond (but also sung by the goddess Robi Kahakalau). I have more if anyone wants. Do you have any more?

I know that there's a problem with historical accuracy and having a modern day Jack, David, Sarah, and Katherine...but I have a plan.

This is getting long.

According to some people,  memories of past lives are very prominent in very early childhood, and either disappear or just get locked away as time goes on.

Any thoughts yet? Any excitement for the first real chapter involving all (or most) of these characters interacting?

Please, no homophobia or transphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who saw Spider Man: No Way Home and absolutely loved it)