21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

Tag, You're It

Tom had never understood why he would get these looks from girls in school. When he was truly in high school, he thought that girls never gave him the time of day. What he didn't know, was that none of them thought they would ever have a chance with him, despite how nice he was. He was too intimidating. Now, high school girls are more up front about what they want. Doug always says that he needs to embrace that aspect of it and get information through flirting, an approach that Booker uses, but Tom has always refused. Not only because they're minors, but also because of his girlfriend. Even for an assignment, he would never flirt with someone else. He loves her too much.

Tom wanted to see if he could squeeze a little more information out of her before the subject was shut down for good. He asked, "well, do you know anyone who sells? I mean, I'm getting pretty desperate here."

Andie studied Tom's face and thought that she could see the desperation in his eyes. He was new, so he wouldn't be aware of Tag, nor the drug. The bell rang, so Andie broke their eye contact as she stood up and grabbed her backpack. She turned to Tom and said in a low voice, "if you need a little boost, go behind the dumpsters after school. There are no security cameras back there."

"A boost?" He asked and chomped his hardening gum.

"Yeah," she said and all of their classmates were grabbing their bags and heading out into the hallway to go to their next class.

Tom asked in a low voice, "you know someone who sells, don't you?"

Andie nodded and disappeared into the hallway before he could ask any other questions.

Tom exhaled slowly as he grabbed his own backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He planned to take the time during the lecture of his next class to write down everything he knew so far about Lenix and the students. He remembered Andie's name because he knew that she knew something and she may be able to help him later. He walked off into the sea of students, and had to find his next class. He wasn't in a hurry though, because Tommy McQuaid doesn't care if he's on time for class or not.

After school, Andie went out and snuck behind the dumpsters. She shoved her hands in her pockets and lifted her hood up over her head so the rain didn't ruin her hair. It wasn't raining that hard, but it was sprinkling and the air was humid. The rain pattered against her hood softly, and the coldness of the air nipped the tip of her nose. The stench from the garbage was making her nose burn, and a bit of the grime rubbed off onto the elbow of her coat.

Tom put on his brown leather jacket before venturing out into the drizzling rain. He circled the school a couple of times because the dumpsters are tucked away from view. When he approached the dumpster, he tried not to show his surprise when he saw that it was Andie. He was expecting someone else to be waiting for him. He thought that she knew about the drug deals, but wouldn't have guessed that she was one of them.

Andie smiled at Tom softly when she saw him. She focused on his face, because she found him so attractive. She almost felt guilty for doing what she was going to do, but she felt like she had no choice. This is how she was hooked into the game of Tag, so she was going to do to the same thing to Tom.

First, she offers him the position. Then, they make the transaction and it will get him hooked on the drug. When he comes crawling back to her, they usually take the job because then they would have an endless supply of drugs at their disposal. Then, she would be free from the ring.

Andie stood near Tom and asked, "you've done this before, right?"

"Yeah, I have," Tom said in a level voice. The rain continued to fall around them, and the unique, earthy smell of petrichor almost covered the stench from the dumpster.