The Delinquent and The Mentor (for shadowsong2b)

[BlueFlower]

Alexander "Lex" Caldwell never saw it coming.

It started out as a dare. The clock was ticking well past midnight, the twelve year old hanging out in a peculiarly dark alley with a bunch of older high school dropouts, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, and sharing jokes as if there was no tomorrow. Lex knew in the back of his mind that these guys probably only hung out with someone as young as he was because his family was rich, but the young lad never let it bother him much. The guys treated him as though he was special, and they were the only ones to ever "care" about what he did. So what if it took a few hundred dollar bills to get this kind of attention? At least someone was giving him the light of day, and that was all Lex cared about. In fact, when one of the boys pulled out a little clear bag of green leaves and some rolled up paper, Lex had watched warily as the other boys began to get their share. The eldest of the group, nineteen year old Jayson Brown, saw the pre-teen's hesitation and smirked.

"Come on, Lexy-boy. A little weed won't hurt you. Unless your scared, of course," the man said with a laugh. Of course, it got the intended reaction as Lex jumped off the trash can he had been sitting on, walked over with a determined look, took the rolled up weed that Jayson prepared for him, and accepted the light. Having already been a good bit loose from the drinking and smoking that had already taken place, one draw of the substance had Lex feeling loopy and high as a rocket.

"Good boy, Lexy," Jayson had laughed.

And that was the last time Lex heard Jayson's voice. The sound of sirens filled the air almost instantly, and all the boys jumped and hollered "Let's get out of here!" before running off. Lex tried to run, but the combination of liquor and weed got the best of the young boy, and he found himself tripping over a random trashcan. He yelled and begged for one of the older boys to come back and help him, but no one paid him any mind. The cops came running up then, catching sight of empty beer cans, cigarette buds, and a few rolled up weed papers that got left behind. They then saw the twelve year old boy, obviously intoxicated and holding on to another weed paper.

The cops had no choice.

Lex was handcuffed, escorted to the police station, charged with underage drinking, underage smoking and possession of weed, and put on trial a couple of days later.

Lex was legitimately nervous, though he hid it underneath a neutral expression as he stood before the judge, the charges being called out, and the jury claiming guilty for each and every one. The judge, a guy who looked old enough to be the boy's grandfather, sighed and shook his head as he gazed down in disappointment at the young lad before him.

"Well, Mr. Caldwell, I must say I'm very disappointed. These are very big charges for someone so young as you are. I'm very reluctant to send you to juvenile prison, because I really think you are better than what the jury finds you guilty for. And because this is your first time, I am willing to give you a choice. But it's only going to happen once, so pay attention," the judge said firmly, pausing a moment and waiting for Lex to nod his understanding before continuing. "You can spend six years in a juvenile detention facility, no parole. Or... I could sentence you to a year at Reform School, where you will be assigned under a mentor who will be in charge of disciplining you and helping you change your ways. So, what will it be, young man?"

Of course, the only part Lex had truly listened to was the amount of time he had to serve. Reform School was the automatic choice in this case, and it was not long before Lex found himself aboard a small aircraft, handcuffed with two policemen, being flown to a place off the mainland where he would spend the next year of his life. The trip only lasted a few hours, both officers and the boy not speaking to one another except for the one bathroom break the boy requested, before they were touching down upon the island. The policemen did not even wait for the aircraft to turn off as they escorted the delinquent and his few possessions off the plane to meet his new mentor.

[shadowsong2b]

Brian Connors, stood waiting for the plane to touch down, he was 24 years old, he had large arms with big hands, they fit because he was 6'3" tall. his sandy brown hair and eyes complemented his body type, which was very fit. once the plane landed and taxied to the islands small air port he walked over to the waiting area.

[BlueFlower]

The police officers were quick to escort Alexander Caldwell to the waiting area. To them this was just a job: transfer the kid, get a few papers signed, and then get out of there fast. Both officers believed they had better things to do than to take care of a trouble maker, and it showed on their faces as they approached the only person in the waiting area.

"Mr. Connors, I presume?" one of the officers questioned, his voice gruff as he handed the papers over to the man without even waiting for him to answer. "Sign these, please, and then Mr. Caldwell is all yours. Be quick about it, please."

Lex watched the exchange between the officer and the man in front of him with a look on his face that clearly stated he was bored. Behind his 'mask', however, the young lad was getting a feel for this man the officer called "Mr. Connors". To Lex, the man looked just barely old enough to be his father, but had a stern demeanor about him as well. He was very tall, especially to Lex's short frame of 5'2", and seemed to be quite fit for his age as well. Was this the guy Lex was going to have to stay with for an entire year?

Lex did his best to hide just how nervous he was by this thought.

[shadowsong2b]

Brian nodded. signed the papers fairly fast, then once he was finished he said "Enjoy your donuts." which was a running joke about the islands mentors about cops who thought this was just a job.

"so your Lex huh? is it okay if I call you that?" he asked once the cops left the building. "I'm Brian. I'll be your Mentor well your here." he added and offered his hand to shake.

[BlueFlower]

The officer seemed to snarl at Mr. Connors before turning and walking away briskly. His partner undid the handcuffs on Lex's wrists before turning and walking away as well. Neither one of them gave any second thoughts about the boy they just left behind, and it was not long before the aircraft Lex arrived on took to the skies once more, leaving him behind for good.

Lex blinked and turned his attention back to Mr. Connors when he heard the older man speak, and he actually let a look of surprise flash in his eyes for a brief moment before the bored look took over again. The man had actually called him "Lex" instead of "Alexander" like most adults were prone to do. Thinking about it a bit more, the young boy realized that the man before him probably had a file on him and it stated his nickname somewhere in it. Either way, Lex was secretly impressed by this act, but he was not going to let it fool him into thinking about liking this adult. He was just going to be like any other, eventually, and not care one single bit about Lex or the boy's actions.

"Yeah, Lex is my preferred name," the boy said calmly, actually doing the polite thing and shaking the older man's hand as well. But that politeness faded as his voice took on an impatient tone. "So... where exactly is here, Brian? Only thing I was told was that this was some Reform School and I had to stay here for a year. I think I deserve some explanation, since I am going to be stuck in this God forsaken place."

[shadowsong2b]

"well, this island is kind of in between the US proper and Hawaii (I cant spell that for beans) the island itself is about the size of a medium sized city, with about all you'd find in there." Brian started. "well your here, I'll be your guardian, Big brother if you want, doing the time your here you'll attend school like you normally would, but this isn't a vacation. Your here to be punished for your crimes, and trust me. you will be. But as long as you keep your nose to the grind stone, you'll be fine."

[BlueFlower]

(Hawaii is spelled that way)

Punished for his crimes? Wasn't going to school on a strange island punishment enough?

Lex personally thought so, but he did not dare mention this out loud to the man before him. After all, what kid actually enjoys going to school? Oh, of course, the extremely smart people do, but that was just because they were weird. What caught Lex's attention was the fact that Brian said that this was not going to be a vacation. The young lad snorted and looked up at the man as though he were dumb.

"Hell, man. If I thought this was going to be a vacation, I would have brought my swimming trunks. Don't take me for a fucking idiot," the boy snarled.

[shadowsong2b]

Brian looked at Lex with a look that would melt iron at his cursing. "Look little boy. Unless you want to be spanked right here, you'll drop the cursing here and now." he said, his tone said that he was dead serous.

[BlueFlower]

Lex did not even know what being spanked meant, but if he had Brian's look to go by, it was probably not a good thing. The young boy actually felt his stomach crawl a bit at that look, because hardly anyone looked at him that way before. Brian seemed to mean business, and despite the 'troublemaker' logo he had set for himself, Lex wasn't really out to make trouble right at the start. Especially over something as trivial as a couple of curse words.

"As if you should really care, but I'll play nice for now," the boy muttered darkly, thus showing the man that he may have won this battle, but Lex was not going to let him win the war this easily.

[shadowsong2b]

"I do care young man." Brian said "Now. How about we head home and get your Welcome done." he said. and turned to the exit.