Highway to Hell
“Shit Steve, I don’t know what to wear!” Bucky hissed at the phone as he ran his hand through his long brown hair. He stood in front of the mirror shirtless with a pair of worn jeans, going between an electric blue t-shirt that had the mascot of their school on it and a soft old black football shirt. The light cascading through the curtains was just enough for him to see what he was doing but not so much that it caused his head to throb from the light hangover of last night.
“Blue,” he heard his friend snicker from the other side of the line and he shot a glare in the general direction of his phone, hoping his best friend would see his annoyance. “C’mon buck, you know it’ll match your Varsity jacket. Seriously man, you’re asking me for advice? What’s going on?” Bucky sighed, sliding the shirt on. He tossed the other shirt onto his already made bed, the shirt looking very obviously out of place. He debated hanging it back up but decided against it, knowing it would make a good pajama shirt for after practice.
“I don’t know man, I think I’m just nervous,” he picked up the phone to carry with him, smiling as he saw his friend still in bed. “And you can't give me shit, you’re still in bed.”
“I’m a senior, I’m not supposed to give a shit. Besides, what are you nervous about? It’s just a merge, nothing too big,” Steve commented, Bucky watching as the phone started shaking on his friend's side and listening to his friend grunt across the mic. “Fucking never doing squats ever again, coach can suck my dick,” the phone thumped loudly which was followed by muffled swearing, earning a sharp laugh from Bucky as he put down his phone in the bathroom.
“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Bucky smirked, grabbing his hair brush from the counter and began working at the knots in his hair.
“Nah, but I’ll kiss yours,” Bucky could practically feel his friend wink through the phone and he groaned, rolling his eyes. “By the way, you should put your hair in a braid.” Bucky eyed the camera in surprise to find his friend staring at him intently, eyebrows pulled together before he nodded to himself and continued his own routine. Bucky shrugged before pulling his hair back near the base of his neck and started braiding it, grateful he learned how to do it because of how many times he had to help his mom with his sister. Speaking of the devil...
“Bucky! It’s my turn to use the bathroom,” Rebecca pounded on the door, causing him to roll his eyes. If she kept this up she wasn’t going to get a ride from him to school.
“One moment Bec!” He called back, pulling the end of his braid into a black scrunchie he had on his wrist.
“Where’d you get that thing anyways?” Steve asked as Bucky fixed his braid. Bucky pulled out a couple of strands of hair from the braid and pulled them in front of his ears, playing with them until he got the curls he wanted from them.
“I stole it from Bec, makes it easier to reject people until I find-“
“The right one, right Buck, I’ve heard this a million times,” Steve gasped, grabbing Bucky’s attention as he picked up the phone yet again to bring with him. “Is that why you look so nice? You think your one true love might transfer here today?” Steve questioned, Bucky turning the camera from his face to hide his blush as he opened the bathroom door to see an annoyed little sister.
“Don’t worry Steve, he’s blushing,” she smirked as she pushed past Bucky.
“No- Bec! That’s it! No ride to school,” he flushed, earning a laugh from his friend on the phone.
“But Bucky you promised! I don’t wanna look like a loser on my first day of high school ever. Do you know how good my reputation would be if I came into school on my brother’s bike? I’ll be, like, the coolest freshman there!” Bucky groaned, barely stopping himself from running his hand through his hair. Huh, maybe the braid was a good idea.
“Bec, you’re already gonna be popular because you’re my sister, besides, it’s not all about popularity,” he walked away from the bathroom door, stretching. “I gotta go Stevie, see you at school,” he hung up, not even waiting for a goodbye. He walked into his room, grabbing a couple of hair ties and tampons in case a girl needed any on their first day and checked himself out in the mirror one last time before sighing, content with his outfit. He heard his phone buzz and he looked down, barely catching the name ‘Russian spy’ before it turned off.
Russian spy: hey Steve told me you were nervous, got a crush on the new guy?
He huffed at the text, opening his phone so he could respond.
Winter’s bitch: Nat I swear to god not you too
Russian spy: hey I’m the one who told you about him!
Winter’s bitch: along with everyone else in our grade, do you know how many girls are gonna be simpin after him?
Russian spy: u right…
Winter’s bitch: see you at school Nat :,)
Russian spy: see you too dumb bitch :’)
He sighed, shaking his head as he grabbed his neatly packed backpack from the worn black leather seat in his room. “So long summer, hello senior year,” he whispered to himself as he shut the door to his room, walking back down the hallway and towards the stairs. He slid down the railing (much to his mother's distaste) and jogged over to her, grabbing his lunch from the counter and putting it in his backpack.
“There should be enough food in there for practice,” she commented as she entered the room with a spatula in hand. She was making food for Rebecca most likely, saying how he never really eats in the mornings until he gets to school. “Plus I packed your breakfast in there,” he smiled at his mom, who stood behind the stove fixing up eggs.
“Thanks mama,” he walked around the counter, giving his mom a kiss on the cheek before heading for the door. He grabbed his keys off the hook next to the front door, pausing to throw a smile over his shoulder, “by the way, Beck was a jerk so she has to ride the bus. Ok bye ma!” He yelled, closing the door before his mom’s sounds of protest could form any words. He jogged over to his bike, grabbing his helmet from the shelf in the garage next to his bike. He put in his headphones before sliding his helmet over his head, kicking up the stand and spinning around his bike. He revved the engine, smiling to himself as he moved the bike forwards out of the driveway and onto the road. He loved living in California, the hot summer rays resting on his shoulders. It would almost be overbearing if it weren’t for the breeze whipping through his jacket and against his body. The smell of salt flooded his nose and he sighed, waves of nostalgia crashing over him like the ocean on a beach. Playing beer pong with his friends, summer campfires and dumb songs, hitting on super hot guys and girls that he stood no chance with. Sure he was waiting for the right person to fall for but in order to do that he had to meet them first, right?
He heard the sound of another motorcycle and his head shot up, shaking away previous thoughts. Ahead of him was a group of four bikes, one was a Harley but the rest were all street bikes like his own. He shot forwards, slowing when he reached near the back. He was shocked when he recognized the bike in the front was none other than Natasha’s, the white highlights on her red bike shining under the sun. He scooted towards the back, catching the man in the back's attention. He was riding a purple bike that somehow fit his look. The man nodded to him and revved his bike a couple of times, catching Nat’s attention. The purple bike nodded towards Bucky, and Natasha nodded in return. The man slid over, giving Bucky room to ride next to him. Bucky took this time to look at the other two bikes in between Natasha and the purple bike. The first one was another red bike, the girl on it wearing a brown leather jacket and her hair was falling out in strands in the back. Her long brown locks bounced around in the wind, causing Bucky to smile. His hair would probably be doing that too if he hadn’t pulled it into a braid. The bike to her right was a silver Harley, seating two people. The boy on the back was holding tight to the boy on front, who didn’t seem to mind at all. He wanted to get a better look at the man next to him but all too soon they hit the road leading into the school. He expected the others to break off but they didn’t, following one another as they turned into the student parking lot. Bucky turned down the first row of parking spots with Natasha, pouting when the other three continued a couple rows down. He slid smoothly into his spot, kicking down the stand and stopping the engine. “Natasha!” He called out, kicking down his stand and sliding off his bike. He pulled off his helmet, shaking his head to loosen the hair plastered to his scalp and looked around. He caught a flash of red and white hair and he jogged over.
“So, you liked our little ride?” She asked, leaning against a large pick up truck that belonged to Steve. The others were sitting in the trunk, laughing. They were there half an hour early, which wasn’t unusual saying this was the only time they were able to hang out because of their busy schedules.
“Actually, yeah. I didn’t know you did that,” Bucky shrugged, walking towards the back of the truck. He set his backpack in the bed, stretching out the kinks in his back from the ride. “I’m kinda excited to meet all the new kids this year, hopefully they’ll be a benefit to the football team,” Bucky commented aloud, getting murmurs of agreement from the others.
“I heard Pietro is ungodly fast, and Clint has a perfect throw, like this kid never misses,” Sam noted, hitting his vape. Bucky held his hand out, causing Sam to roll his eyes before passing it. “It’s strawberry,” Sam quickly added, causing Bucky to smile. Strawberry was his favorite.
“We’re also getting a lot of smart kids, like Bruce,” T’challa suddenly appeared behind Bucky, causing him to jump.
“Every fucking time,” Bucky growled but was ignored as Steve added into the conversation.
“I heard we’re getting Shuri, Tony, and Peter as well.” Bucky breathed in while Natasha spoke, the taste of strawberry invading his mouth and lungs. He held it in his lungs for a moment before breathing out, taking another hit. He sat in the bed in the truck, basking in the buzz he felt in his hands and feet. Steve reached for it but Bucky pulled it away, giving it back to Sam. Steve let out a sound of complaint but Bucky shook his head.
“You plus this thing is an asthma attack ready to happen. Besides, I’ll buy you whisky next week you Irish bitch,” he scolded, the man grumbling as he picked up a football. Bucky climbed out of the truck, already aware of where this was going.
“Hey Buck, go long!” He heard Steve yell but he had already shot forwards, turning around to catch a ball a little too high. He jumped up, stumbling slightly as he landed with the ball in his hands. He was grateful he was still on his feet or that would have been embarrassing.
“You still need to work on your aim!” Bucky yelled to the blond man, who turned a little red. He threw it back to the blond, ball arching perfectly into the man’s hands. The taller man rolled his eyes, throwing again. Bucky only needed to take a step forward to catch that one. “Better!” He called back, his friend beaming in pride. Even though Steve was the kicker he still had a hell of an arm. He was probably going to be one of the backup quarterbacks, at least if he didn’t make kicker this year. Then again, he always made kicker. Bucky was about to throw the ball back when a loud laughter to his left caught him off guard. He saw a tall blond guy, possibly taller than Steve (who just shot up from 5’4” to 6’ cause of his growth spurt) walking backwards towards him. He was wearing a very familiar black leather jacket with jeans and purple chucks that had designs… arrows? On them. He was surrounded by a bunch of people who seemed to be laughing at whatever he was saying. One of them must’ve gotten mad because he shoved the tall blond forwards.
Bucky felt everything slow as he watched the man stumble into the middle of the row of cars and right into the path of a car charging towards him. Bucky did the only thing he could think of doing, he lunged forwards and tackled him.