Chapter Text
May 2010
Pawnee, Indiana
"Wow Ben, I literally cannot believe that this is where you went high school."
Ben refused to turn his head as he passed Pawnee High, where we went from 9th grade until 11th.
"I am so excited to meet the wonderful government employees that work for the Pawnee government, they sound like wonderful people!"
Ben sped up a little, even though he was afraid of cops. He was not happy about visting the "amazing government of Pawnee" as his ex-high school sweetheart worked in the parks department. His mother told him of course, they're parents follow each other on facebook.
• • • • • • • • •
The auditors are coming. The only thought going through Leslie Knope's head. She was worried of course. Worried that she wouldn't get her park, worried that she wouldn't get to do any more projects, worried her friends would get fired, worried she would get fired. It didn't help that her ex-boyfriend was a state auditor too.
"The auditors are here," Tom yelled from the main area. She walked out of her office, and saw his face. 17 years older, and somehow 10 times cuter than in high school. Ben Wyatt.
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August 1989
Pawnee, Indiana
"You're 14 Leslie, how have you not had your first kiss yet," Lindsay Carlisle-Shay said as she put on her bright lipgloss while looking in the mirror in her locker.
"I don't know, I'm not interested in kissing anyone" she says, looking down at her converse.
It's the truth, she really hasn't been interested in kissing anyone. Why would she? All the guys in middle school were stupid and only cared about fart jokes and the newest video game. But this was high school, and high school was full of honors classes with boys who possibly knew something about the election of 1988 or the women's rights movement. Boys who were interested in debates and Model UN and caring more about a woman's brains than her looks.
She knew there was a boy like that out there, there had to be, but not at Pawnee Middle. Now, on her first day of high school, she was about her enter her first class of freshmen year, homeroom.
Of course her best friend wasn't in her new homeroom, but she knew other people who went to Pawnee Middle who were.
She walked into the class and sat down at a desk next to a girl with long brown hair.
The girl turned to her, "Hi, I'm Ann, I just moved here from Michigan."
"I'm Leslie, let me be the first to say welcome to Pawnee."
They talk for a bit being the only other people in there besides the teacher. Soon, more people start to file in, as it starts getting closer to the first period bell.
• • • • • • • • •
"Dude, we're going to be late," Ben yells at Henry.
His older brother can be such an asshole sometimes. While Henry has given him colorful advice on how to deal with girls in high school, he's not sure he'll take advice from a guy who is striking out with the girl taking they're order.
The new town they moved to, Pawnee, doesn't have any McDonalds or anything like that. In fact, he's not even sure why they moved there. All he knows is that they're going to be late because Henry wanted to try Paunch Burger right before the first day of school.
"Chill Ben, getting ladies takes time."
At this point he'd get to school faster if he walked. He didn't want to be late for his first class of his first day of high school. Ben was already behind in the social ladder in Pawnee since he didn't have any friends. All of them were back in Minnesota.
Barely, making it on time, just as the bell for 10 minutes before first period rang, he finally made it to homeroom. Sitting next to a girl with bright blonde hair in the front row.