In the Mid-Wilshire Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, several officers were gathered in a large meeting room. The room featured several desks and chairs arranged in the center, with a blackboard and a podium at the front. As the officers mingled, a tall, bald man with a goatee entered the room. This man was Sergeant Wade Grey. Behind him walked Sasha, dressed in a dark blue suit.
"Settle down and take a seat," Grey instructed, prompting all the officers to stop their conversations and quickly find their places. "To begin, I would like to introduce our new Detective, who transferred over from the Chicago PD. This is Sasha Johnson, and she will be joining us here in the Mid-Wilshire Division. Let's give her a warm welcome."
Sasha gave everyone a friendly smile. "Hello, everyone. While I may be new to California, I believe good policing doesn't change no matter what state or city you are in. Despite that, I hope I can count on you all whenever I do fall short."
"Humble and beautiful." Officer Angela Lopez gave Sasha a respectful nod. "It's nice to see another woman with the Detective title around here. Welcome to the city."
"I don't care what city you come from as long as you're good police." Officer Tim Bradford said with his arms crossed while he scrutinized Sasha. "As long as you can do that, you'll fit right in."
Sasha returned the look without flinching while giving Bradford a quick nod. "Now then, onto the next order of business. Officer Nolan." Grey turned to a man in his mid-40s who was sitting in the front of the room beside a young woman and a young man. These were officers in training: Lucy Chen, Jackson West, and John Nolan.
"Yes, sir?" Nolan said while turning to Grey, who had a small, amused smile on his face.
"Seeing as you are without a TO for the moment, why don't you show our new Detective around? Help her get acquainted with how we do things here in LA."
••o••o••o••
"So? What do you think?"
Jefferson scanned his new office with a satisfied smile, taking in the generous space. The room had tall windows that let in streams of warm sunlight, casting a golden glow across the polished hardwood floor. In the center, a large mahogany desk stood proudly, its surface gleaming and organized. An impressive iMac, sleek and modern, sat ready on the desk.
"I love it," Jefferson said, glancing over at the man standing by the door, his voice filled with genuine excitement.
Director of Engineering Brandon Diaz smiled as he walked over to the large window by the back wall. Walking over, Jefferson stood beside his new boss, and the two looked out the window to see the large open courtyard where Apple's employees could walk or unwind.
"I'm glad to hear it. I want my new Principal Engineer to be comfortable while he works." Brandon said with his hands in his pockets. "If there's anything you need, please let Felisha know, and she'll do her best to accommodate it."
"Sounds good, Mr. Diaz. I'm happy to be here." Jefferson smiled. With nothing more to do, Brandon left the room. Walking over to his desk, Jefferson sat down and booted up his computer. Cracking his knuckles, he grinned and began working.
••o••o••o••
Mathew entered the wide-open cafeteria and saw it full of students either eating their lunch or standing in line. Like any other high school, the room was loud, with dozens of conversations going on. It was a cacophony of endless noise.
"Still annoying as ever," Mathew muttered as he looked for a place to sit. His green eyes landed on a lone table in a dark corner. Its lack of other people caused him to grin. "Perfect."
As he walked toward the table, several students watched him from their tables.
Due to the event that morning, word got out about what had happened between Mathew and Natalia. Due to Natalia's negative reputation and Mathew's quick actions to diffuse the situation, everyone was quick to make assumptions about Mathew.
Due to these assumptions and his status as a new student without any prior history, rumors began to circulate quickly. Some claimed that Mathew was a kind and thoughtful person, while others suggested that he was a friend of Natalia. These rumors led those familiar with her reputation to dismiss him as just another violent troublemaker.
This left everyone who heard the rumors to hesitate on whether or not to approach Mathew in fear of being involved in… whatever it was they thought he was involved with.
Mathew quickly noticed this, thanks to his past life experiences in school and his mental age. Regardless of his odd reason for isolation, Mathew didn't care. He was fine being on his own.
"I'm going to do it. I'm going to go talk to him."
"Jess. Don't." Nick Miller said as he turned to a concerned Jessica Day. "You don't want to get involved with the new kid."
"Why not? You can't tell me you actually believe the rumors that everyone's making up. He's been here for one day! It's ridiculous!" Jess turned to Nick with an exasperated expression. "Come on, Nick. All he needs is a friend. Look at him. All alone."
"He looks fine to me." Winston Schmidt, otherwise known as Schmidt, looked over to Mathew as he chewed on his lunch with an unbothered look.
"What's he eating? It looks good." Winston Bishop squinted as he looked at Mathew's lunch, which was some rice, chicken, and broccoli. "He definitely didn't get that here." He said as he warily eyed his cafeteria food before turning to Schmidt's sandwich. "Lemme get a bite of that, Schmidt."
"No way. Get your own."
"Guys! Focus! What are we going to do about the new kid? We can't just leave him alone. He looks like he could use some friends." Jess exclaimed with concern. "That's it. I'm going for it."
"Jess. Are you sure you want to do that?" Cece Parekh asked as she quickly looked over to Mathew. "We still don't know enough about him."
"She's right, Jess." Nick nodded. "Let's just go back to eating lunch and-"
"No! That doesn't matter! Are you guys forgetting that I was the new girl last year? I was in his shoes! I know how it feels to join a new school without knowing anybody." Jess said. Cece raised a brow and frowned. "Um, Jess. You knew me." She said, causing Jess to stand up and seemingly ignore what her longtime friend said.
"You know what I mean. Whatever. I can't just sit back and ignore someone in need of a friend." Jess said with determination. Without another word, she headed toward Mathew. Ignoring the looks, those in the cafeteria shot her.
"There she goes… it was nice knowing her," Nick muttered before Cece smacked him. "Ow!"
"Let's see. I have biology next. I think Alex said that the teacher was a stickler for attendance. Which sucks for me since Natalia ditched me." Mathew said as he inspected his taped-up class schedule.
"Hello!" Jess abruptly sat down in front of Mathew with a broad, friendly smile, causing Mathew to blink. "I'm Jess! It's nice to meet you!"
-| | |-
AN: Yes, as you all can see, the New Girl cast has joined the story. But as you've noticed, they've all been aged down to 16 years old. I thought this was the best way to give Mathew a group of friends that was not entirely comprised of OCs.