Prologue - Detention
The class were held back after their final lesson of the day. At the Institute, everyone was taught together, which would have led to some hugely riotous classes, if it wasn’t for the fact there was an armed guard posted in every corridor. And, to be fair, it wasn’t that unusual to be kept behind in the first place. At a boarding school, you could do that.
Well, less of a boarding school, more of a secure unit. One look at the school roll would tell you that this was no ordinary place. Killers, intellectuals, subversives, homosexuals… all sent to Mr Harvey to reform.
And Mr Harvey himself was no angel, by all accounts. School folklore painted him as a rebellious teenager, kicking against the system, spitting at Regime Police, shirking his work duties, even a closet homosexual – and that boys sent to his office for punishment were often dealt with in singular ways. The story went that he was assigned to the Institute as the authorities felt he was the only one in the country who knew what could re-educate these delinquents into model Good Citizens, having been in that position himself.
His methods were, to say the least, unorthdox. Brutal, even. Rumour had it that there was a secret room in the cellar with an ECT machine. One girl, it was said, was once lobotomised on school premises. And sometimes, late at night, the sound of screaming could be heard echoing across the school courtyard. Sometimes the rumours alone were enough to keep the kids in check. There were other similar institutes across Europe, but none had the reputation, or the efficacy, of the Harvey Institute. Indeed, no-one was allowed to leave if they were still a failure…
This Friday afternoon the class was interrupted as they were about to leave by Miss Claridge, a particularly dowdy old spinster who took particular joy in humiliation. At that moment, though, she looked ashen-faced.
“Class, pay attention” she called out in a querulous voice. No-one did of course, and they started to try to barge past her. Lora Cruz even made it past her into the corridor, but was shoved back into the room in no uncertain terms by one of the guards. Lora didn’t recognise this one, but he looked bigger and more intimidating than normal.
“Class, I want you to tidy this room. It’s a disgrace. And when you’re finished, don’t leave – sit down at your desks and await further instructions.”
After witnessing Lora getting shoved back into the classroom by a really, mean-looking guard - meaner than usual, if anything - Reiko Abe, the school's skinniest kid and the one the other kids had given the nasty nickname 'Lollipop' to behind her back (as her head appeared too large for her anorexic body), began to feel extremely uneasy.
There just seemed to be something not quite right about today... all the night before she'd suffered bad dreams that had allowed her very little sleep, and now today she'd been struck with an ominous sense of foreboding which she couldn't entirely put down to her nightmares.
As the grumbling kids all around her half-heartedly picked up the mess that a whole day's worth of classes had generated, she happened to catch the eye of one of her acquaintances, Jennifer Nilsson, who was loading the scrunched-up bits of paper and empty chewing-gum wrappers from the front of the classroom into a waste-paper basket which another acquaintance, Ryuji Tsutsuno, was holding for her.
That made Reiko almost laugh: Ryu was one of her best friends, and had a bit of a crush on Jennifer: he would take any opportunity he could get to be close to the pretty Swedish blonde... even if it meant holding up a filthy dustbin for her.
"Hey Jen... what's the deal with today? Old Crabbage is acting really... weird, don't you think?" she muttered, quietly so as not to invite further punishment, shrugging. "She doesn't usually get all tongue-tied and bizarre like that... and it looks like she's about to cry, or something...? I dunno, things just seem all messed up round here at the moment," and she made a Gallic shrug, shoving her plaits behind her shoulders to keep them out of the bin.
Ryu turned slightly and squinted towards the front of the classroom, and shrugged back, "I don't know, I hadn't really noticed anything...? Everything just seems normal to me, except for getting an asskicking for the mess. But that's hardly news, getting kept behind, is it?"
Annoyed at being kept back, Park resolved to do nothing whatsoever to help the others... after all, it wasn't his damn mess, so why should he clean it up? He slumped over his desk, half-closed eyes amusedly watching the other kids trying to be Model Good Citizens with their bins and dusters.
Bukiyo Natsume had even picked up a broom and was sweeping the floor a little too zealously, which made Park chuckle under his breath, watching the nerdy little Japanese kid, dressed disconcertingly like a junior salaryman, sneeze from the dust he was disturbing and re-distributing.
As Miss Claridge shot Park a warning look and said, "You too, Lee-soo," he sighed and got up from his desk, grabbing a duster and peremptorily flicking it over the window next to him, achieving nothing but a cloud of chalkdust which made Bukiyo sneeze again.
"Sorry Kyo," he murmured, "Didn't mean to make you sneeze," and chuckled, throwing him a suggestive wink which was meant almost entirely to make the other boy feel uncomfortable... almost, anyway.
Park disliked Bukiyo's attitude to his sexuality, knowing full well (as everyone else did) that he had been sent to the Institute for being gay... just as Park had, but at least he had the courage to be totally out about it, instead of acting all coy and butter-wouldn't-melt innocent like the Japanese kid...
His distaste at having to clear up after everyone else who had used the place today was shared by Sylvain, on the other side of the room, who was grimacing as he removed stuck-down chewing gum from the walls with a metal ruler.
As usual, he thought to himself, I get all the really glamorous jobs, and sighed heavily, knowing that the old bitch in charge would never let them go until the whole room was spotless, and he wanted to get out as soon as possible to have a practice with his band tonight in the dorm...
But as he was reaching to get a particularly high bit, something thumped into his back, making him trip and stumble forwards, bumping his head against the wall. Chloe Karn had tripped over her ludicrously high heels and fallen against the diminutive blond French boy, and was sitting on the floor looking crestfallen; both of them heard harsh, sarcastic, derisive laughter from the direction of Hannlelore Wolfsberg-Schmidt, and the black-haired girl scowled.
"Hey... are you OK Chloe?" he asked shyly, blushing and rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. She looked up and gave the blond a withering glare that made him stumble back a couple of paces, pained.
"Help me up, you freak, it's your f***ing fault I fell over in the first place," she snarled, grabbing hold of his sleeve to pull herself up from the floor, expecting a rude comment from Hannelore at any moment.
Bukiyo sniffled, his cheeks staining a bright shade of scarlet at Park's reaction to his sneezes. He took the teasing with a quiet resignation though and continued sweeping the floor; the Japanese boy would rather take Park's lewd behaviour any day than Hannelore's cruel barbs or the sarcastic attitudes of some of his other classmates.
"So desu ne?" <Is that so?> He muttered in Park's general direction, not really intending for the Korean to hear him or the slightly hurt sentiment in his reply.
Across the other side of the room Dev however was merrily encouraging his peers to clean up. He hummed something that sounded vaguely like Sk8tr boi as he deposited armfuls of abandoned scrap paper into another bin being held by Ami Hodges, whom he kept grinning at with slightly overbearing, but well-intended cheerfulness.
Slowly the room was beginning to look more like a classroom and less like a bomb site.
However, Dev glanced round when he heard Chloe swearing at someone and nearly dropped the papers gathered up in his arms.
"Hee-y, " He called over, in a reasonable, amicable way, trying to appeal to their decent sides (If they had them) "Knock it off already guys. Let's just get this finished."
Park grinned at the Japanese kid mischievously; it wasn't exactly teasing, more... provocation.
"You bet... there's lots of things I'd rather do to you than make you sneeze," he replied cheekily, and stirred up another cloud of chalkdust, this time deliberately, hoping Bukiyo would join in his little game. But to his disappointment, the other boy merely sneezed again and went fishing in his pockets for a tissue, wincing as his nose began to run.
Park sighed very heavily, chuckling to himself under his breath. "You're hopeless, Natsume, absolutely no fun at all," and mock-pouted, moving along to clean the next window, but not taking his eyes away from the Japanese kid for a moment, "Someone really should teach you how to have fun, y'know... how about it?"
However, Sylvain on the other side of the room was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, having taken Chloe's wrath full-on, he was now trying to extricate himself from Dev's overbearing friendliness.
"Th-thanks Dev, but it's OK, Chloe just tripped over her heels, was all," he stammered, as ever slightly oppressed by Devon's grin, which always kinda scared him for some reason... it was just too full-on for Sylvain's liking.
"Oh f**k off, Sylvain, it was your stupid fault I fell over you," Chloe shouted, waving her fists menacingly and unsurprisingly enough attracting the teacher's attention.
"Sit down at your desk and shut up, Karn," Miss Claridge said wearily, and Chloe smiled smugly, realising her little temper tantrum had got her out of cleaning duties this time. She went to her desk, physically shoving Jennifer Nilsson out of her way as she passed her.
Hannelore was just waiting for the weekend. At least they were allowed out a little at the weekend, if Harvey was feeling slightly generous. Sometimes, if he'd received some government edict he'd keep them in and force them to do dull, pointless, menial tasks - like sweeping the yard with their own toothbrushes - but at other times he could be quite disposed to giving them a little freedom.
And for Hannelore, freedom meant fast cars, fast men and fast living.
God, she thought to herself, I'm such a degenerate, and I love it.
When she saw Chloe tumble she couldn't help herself.
"Chloe, been on the turps again? Oh look, we can see right up your skirt. What a surprise."
So Miss Cribbage had kept them in. Big bloody deal.
Just wait for tonight... tonight...
Kyo shoved the tissue back into his pocket and looked at Park with wide eyes, the innocence on his face which would've been feigned by some of the other students was utterly genuine.
"I don't understand you sometimes..." He replied, purposefully playing up the fact that english was his second language. Despite his virginial nature Kyo knew exactly what kind of fun Park wanted to have with him.
Dev grinned and returned to his cleaning with (if it was even possible) more exuberance. Another successful friendship rescue mission for the Canadian sk8tr boi. ^___^ His cheery expression didn't faulter at the concerned looks Ami gave him from over the top of the papers clogging up the bin in her hands. [/b]
As he half-heartedly dusted the already-dusty windows with some more dust, Park realised all too quickly that Kyo had in fact joined in his little game and was playing along, and it was more than he could have hoped for.
Secretly he'd been harbouring a major crush on the strange little Japanese for months now, and hadn't really ever been given an opportunity to talk to the other boy before now... not to mention not having had the courage to do so, because he knew full well that Kyo's sexuality was... well, unclear, to put it mildly. He also knew Kyo had got canned to this school for it...
But as it stood, Park had to find some kind of fast reaction to Bukiyo's innocent reply; he smiled widely, cutting his eyes suggestively and placing one hand on the diminutive Japanese's shoulder.
"I think we understand each other perfectly well.... don't you? Man, I mean, what are these clothes like, hmm? Hon, you look like a salaryman," and he shook his head mock-sadly, still grinning to let Bukiyo know he was teasing gently.
"I'd rather see you in leather and black lipstick... how hot would you be then! You can borrow some of my clothes, if you like, perhaps we could dress each other up in my dorm room..." and he leaned even closer in, knowing well that his physical closeness was making the other boy feel uncomfortable, "I promise not to peek while you're getting undressed. Well, not too often, anyway..." and he raised his eyebrows in open invitation.
However, Sylvain was not doing too well; already having been yelled at and publically humiliated by Chloe, terrified by Dev's scary happy-face thing he had going on, he was feeling a little faint. It was probably time for his meds. He checked his watch, sighing, and was about to turn around and get his schoolbag when he accidentally bumped full-on into Leon Courtney... which was not something anyone in their right mind - or not, as in this case - would want to do.
Sylvain cringed, almost flinching, "Sorry Leon... sorry, sorry, didn't see you there..." hoping like hell neither he nor his scary brother would decide to punch his lights out.
The petite student Bukiyo took a faltering step back, eventhough he'd been shunned by his own heritage the typically Japanese feelings of discomfort due to personal space invasion still dictated his reaction.
He bowed his head a little, hoping Park would show a bit of mercy and not comment on the deep shade of scarlet his cheeks were slowly going. The humiliating thing for Bukiyo was mostly that he didn't feel as adverse as he felt he should to what Park was suggesting.
"Park-san! Please.." He glanced around nervously, indicating to Park without another word that this was definatly NOT a conversation to be held in the middle of a busy classroom if at all.
Leon glared silently at the French kid debating whether to knock him on his ass or not. His eyes flashed momentarily over to Paul who had been stood over by the window pretending to clean the sill.
Paul grinned in amusement at the terrified French boy now looking nervously at the brothers. Then he took a quick glance over at Claridge and the guard and shook his head "aint worth it"
Leon glared at Sylvain for a few more seconds with a look that seemed to suggest "maybe later" and then pushed past him and returned to his desk. As far as he was concerned, his cleaning was done.
Paul turned away and headed back to the window. He was confronted by Dev holding a dustpan and brush. evidently to pass on to do a better job of the sill. "yeah whatever, gimmie that thing" Paul sighed and snatched the dustpan away.
Park merely chortled, slipping his arm around Kyo's slender waist for a fleeting, momentary hug that made the other boy jump and look even more flustered than before.
"Ahhh, keep your shirt on, Kyo... or don't," and that sly wink appeared again, so swiftly Bukiyo nearly missed it. "Soooo... if you don't wanna play in my dorm room, how about a date? You doing anything tonight? Oh, thaaaat's right,I forgot, we're all locked in until the weekend... meet you in the bike-sheds, then? Or can I take you somewhere nice on Saturday?" and he blew the blushing Japanese a fond kiss.
Underneath all Park's playful banter though, he really did want a date: that much was serious. Now he had his opportunity, nothing could stop him at least from trying his best. Park was no quitter, when something so precious and pretty was at stake.
Sylvain, on the other hand, was breathing a huge sigh of relief as the Courtney brothers pushed past him, clearly deciding that today was not the day to be beating up on little French boys, and half-collapsed into his chair, grabbing his risperidone capsules and swallowing two dry.
The idea of trying to deal with the murderous voices in his head while he was having dealings with the Courtney pair was too much for his sensitive heart and he shuddered, pressing his fingers into his eyelids.
"Sylvain, I think you can help Gordon with the bins, don't you?" Claridge said stonily, and sighing, Sylvain got back up. If anything, Gordon Marx worried him just as much as the Courtneys... there was something really intimidating about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. But at least he didn't think Gordon would beat the shit out of him... for the moment, anyhow.
Now that most of the cleaning had been done, Hannelore sat behind her desk - at the back, in the corner, the furthest away from Cabbage's desk, for sure, as befitted someone of her status in the school - and got out a mobile phone.
Not her mobile phone, for sure - she'd whipped it out of Jennifer Nilsson's bag some time ago, and the stupid bitch hadn't worked out someone was still using it. Hannelore was not one to pass up free calls - not that she needed to very much, as she had daddy's expense account, but this was different. No, this was much more fun.
She started tapping on the phone's keypad. For some time she'd been sending texts to Devon Delonge's number, as Jennifer. Some of them were just fawning, but more recently they'd turned...well... obscene.
My Darling Dev -
since i 1st saw u ive bn wnting 2 suck u off all da time. U R so sexy. Will u suck me off 2?
i watch u all day n cant take my eyes off u. I want u soooo bad n i hv big boobz 2.
big XXXXXX
Jen
She hit "send" and waited to see Delonge's reaction.
Kyo coughed embarrasedly, looking at anything except Park now-- even the floor had taken on some vast interest for him and (if that was possible) his blushing intensified momentarily.
"Park-san, I believe you mistake me for someone else, " He began in his typically awkward and quiet voice, "I'm not into that kind of thing." It was a blatant lie, he knew it, Park knew it and anyone who was listening knew it too. But, for the sake of a chance to ever get out of here Kyo kept on deluding himself.
Dev wriggled as the phone in his back pocket began to vibrate and a tinny rendition of 'What's my age again?' cut through the various low-pitched grumblings of his class mates.
He'd set the tone specially to alert him to 'those' messages and glanced around for Jennifer as he dug the phone out of his pocket and pressed a couple of buttons, reading it quickly.
He wasn't sure whether to be flattered or nervous. Discreetly the Canadian txted back.
#^_^# U no size dun mattr 2 me.
U wana go out sumtime?
txt bk
dev
Ouch, Park thought, wincing a little and stepping off, raising his hands to his shoulders in a defeated gesture, all the mischief and playfulness knocked out of him for the time being. His shining black eyes widened, and he blew out an exasperated and slightly upset sigh.
"OK, OK, I hear you loud and clear... but the offer still stands, y'know, if you change your mind or whatever," he replied quietly, also averting his eyes, his stomach suddenly tying itself in knots at the hurt of the rejection.
Whether he should take that knockback personally or not was the question. He knew damn well Kyo was gay, so why the hell was he hiding it? Maybe it was personal, after all.
Either way, Park had gathered every last bit of his courage to try and cheer the miserable Japanese kid up (and to make his one and only pass) and it hadn't been easy... so he shrugged irritably again and turned his back, chucking the duster onto the window sill and returning to his desk. As far as he was concerned, cleaning time was over...
...but he still could barely take his eyes off Natsume. The only thing was now he was going to have to try and be more discreet about it.
He caught Devon Delonge's eye, as he was texting someone on his mobile, and exchanged a rueful grin with him, knowing he had witnessed Park's spectacular crash-and-burn.
"Tell me Dev... am I wasting my time with that one?" he sighed, riffling his fingers through his scruffy dark red locks.
Dev shoved his mobile back into his pocket and shuffled his-my-legs-still-hurt-from-the-last-time-I-ollied-into-a-pond-way to the Korean.
"Cheer up, s'all love between you and him...I can tell. He'll come round, just give him a little time. Kyo-- he's shy and stuff."
With a devil may care smile he added, "And you know you've always got me man."
Kyo looked twice as miserable now as he picked up the duster Park had discarded and held it to his chest. Now, he'd got what he wanted and Park had backed off to talk to Devon, but he felt guilty.
I mean it wasn't as if Park had been being sincere-- right??
With a sigh he finished off the window ledge and sat down.
Park grinned sadly, and smacked Dev fondly across the shoulder, putting his chin on his arm and giving the skater kid a wide-eyed look.
"Ahhh, man, you know you're too good a friend to me and I don't date good friends..."
He dropped his voice, having noticed the text message from Jennifer on his mobile as Dev brought it back out of his pocket, read it, his black eyes widening with surprise even more than before, and chuckled throatily. "Besides, I think I'd have too much competition from the lovely Miss Nilsson. There's nothing like being modest about your assets... and that's nothing like being modest about your assets. Is this the first time she's sent you a text like this? Man, I'm.. quite shocked. I never had her down as that kind of girl..."
Cheekily he called out to Jennifer across the classroom, "Hey Jen, what's the rush to get with Dev, man? You're young, you know you've got everything ahead of you," and the two boys giggled saucily at the pretty Swedish girl's expense - but only very gently, neither of them were nasty like that at heart.
As he was laughing though, he caught Bukiyo's eye, and the other boy's expression wiped the smile right off his face. The attractive Japanese looked doubly miserable than before, and Park's heart ached for him.
He wished he could just say to Kyo, don't worry, it's OK to feel the way you feel, to be who you are... but he knew it really wasn't OK, not in this society. That was the only reason why he was locked in this kiddy jail and had been for years.
Maybe Dev was right, that secretly Kyo liked him too... but was too afraid to be like him, in case - and it hurt to admit it - in case he ended up like Park, unable to hide or disavow his sexuality and so totally left to rot in the Institute until he would finally be forced to renounce his true self.... or more likely end up as one of Harvey's "special cases" whose brains somehow got re-wired, either with electricity or with a great big knife...
Park was determined to try and get through to Bukiyo, so he gave the other boy a sad, genuine smile and drew a little happy-face in the air with his fingertip, trying to make the little Japanese at least smile.
”Great… This day just keep getting better and better…” Jennifer Nilsson thought as she walked up to the front of the classroom. She bent down and started to pick up a few very and not so crumpled up pieces of papers. One of the papers she picked up had was missing at least 3 parts, but she could clearly see that it was a part of the nasty- but amusing- drawing someone made of Mr. Harvey a while back. If she remembered correctly it was only days after she had been transferred here. There was a really big commotion about it, but Jennifer couldn’t remember if anyone was actually punished for it. Anyway, no one ever drew a picture of Mr. Harvey ever again.
She got up and started looking around for a wastebasket when Ryuji Tsutsuno practically stuck one under her nose. “Thanks,” she said and smiled sweetly, while unloading the papers from her hands. Okay, she admitted, Ryu’s a really cute and friendly guy, and what more can a girl ask for – especially at a place like this – but she wished he would stop sticking things under her nose like that. Could get annoying at times. But since it was quite obvious he had a crush on her, she could forgive him.
"Hey Jen... what's the deal with today? Old Crabbage is acting really... weird, don't you think?" Reiko had suddenly appeared from what seemed like out of nowhere. "She doesn't usually get all tongue-tied and bizarre like that... and it looks like she's about to cry, or something...? I dunno, things just seem all messed up round here at the moment."
Before Jennifer even got a chance to answer, Ryu said: "I don't know, I hadn't really noticed anything...? Everything just seems normal to me, except for getting an asskicking for the mess. But that's hardly news, getting kept behind, is it?"
“I agree with Reiko… Sure, the teachers are always acting weird, but this is weirder than usual.” Jennifer’s accent really comes forward when she’s saying sentences. “Something keeps telling me there’s something really bad is going to happen…” She shrugged. “Probably just my nerves…”
On hearing Jen confess to sharing the same kind of misgivings, Reiko was unsure as to whether she should feel reassured that someone else felt the same way... or even more anxious as to what it could possibly be that was giving both of them such bad vibes.
"I dunno... something's not right, but I'm not sure what," she replied, giving Jennifer a worried glance and a rueful shrug.
Ryu put down his bin and tried to reassure both of the girls, cautiously squeezing Jennifer's shoulder in a friendly way, not wanting to seem too overbearing to her. Jen seemed more concerned, but Reiko was definitely anxious, and Ryu hated to see both his crush and his best friend worrying like this.
He also did the same to Reiko, who had been his closest friend since they had come to the Institute; she knew the full extent of Ryu's crush on Jennifer, and how completely terrified he was of even asking her for a date - which he had as yet not managed to do. He was so sweet and so shy, and Reiko loved him for both, but only as a best friend...
"C'mon, you two, I'm sure there's nothing wrong, maybe Crabby is just even more crabby than usual because someone stole her favourite Zimmer frame or something," he said gently, trying to get even a small giggle out of them, but failing.
"Ryu, man, I love you but you don't half talk some shit sometimes," Reiko half-chuckled, punching him in the arm and sitting down at her desk. He followed to his own desk, between her and Jennifer.
But he suddenly noticed Devon Delonge, that weird skate kid, giving Jennifer the eye, and his blood ran cold, thinking that Jennifer might actually like that super-happy freak better than she liked him...
Kyo looked genuinely surprised at Park's sweet gesture and although his perpetually guarded expression remained intact after a moment's deliberation he managed a small, grateful smile.
The idea that Park wanted him for anything other than a cruel joke hadn't entered his mind before now, but the Korean's actions planted a tiny seed of doubt in his mind and left Kyo to ponder what he really meant.
Dev on the other hand had taken his seat again, shunting it over to Park whom he now considered to be another love lorn soul who could share his hormonal ramblings as well as one of his best friends.
With a big sigh he tore his eyes from Jennifer and noticed Ryuji looking at him with a vaguely pained expression. As usual he grinned back, wondering what the Japanese kid's problem was and if he could help.
"Pssst....Park man...what's Ryu lookin' at?"
Park looked at Dev like he was completely crazy, his sparkling black eyes wide. “Whaaaat, you been living under a rock for the last six months Dev? Are you honestly trying to tell me you didn’t know that the highly cute and mysterious Ryu has the world’s biggest crush on Miss Nilsson?” and his voice trailed off slightly, as he cast his eye across the classroom to look at Ryu, who was trying to stop staring at Dev who was, in his turn, trying not to stare at Jennifer.
“Man, Ryu’s nuts. He gets to share a dorm room with Bukiyo and he has a crush on Jennifer?” and Park gave a half-chuckle, shaking his head, “Lucky guy. But still… from the look of that wild text message, I think I know who she’d rather be dating…”
He turned his attention back to Kyo then, and returned the sudden, unusual smile that lit up the Japanese kid’s face. At least, if nothing else, he’d lifted the other boy’s spirits, even if just for a moment. It was hardly a hot date, but it was, to Park’s mind, proof that the rejection he’d suffered wasn’t entirely personal: it was more likely to have come from still-closeted suspicion.
Park leaned out of his seat, sprawled rather gracelessly across the table, and murmured something about an inch from the back of Kyo’s neck, so that no-one else would hear him.
“Kyo… I meant what I said, you know? I really like you, man. You change your mind, you know where to find me. No joke, no kidding. For real.”
Park sat back, and left it at that, feeling sorry for both Ryu and Dev, both of whom he was fond of, and both of whom would doubtless soon be embroiled in a bitter fight over a girl probably neither of them could have.
Sylvain, on the other hand, was silently emptying bins with Gordon Marx, who had not spoken one single word to the French boy ever since they had been assigned to the task. And that frightened Sylvain even more than the thuggish attitude of Leon Courtney and his puppet-master brother. Shuddering with distaste, he grabbed the last bin thankfully and almost threw the contents into Gordon’s held-out binbag.
“All done, thanks Gordon,” the blond boy said all in a rush, and nearly dropped the bin he’d just emptied in his hurry to get back to the relative safety of his desk.
Kyo stopped just short of shuddering as he felt Park lean over and whisper to him, his breath hot against Kyo's chilled skin.
With a self-conscious little cough he tried to tactfully ignore Park's suggestion, but if he was brutally honest with himself it had sounded truthful. When they got out of class Kyo would find Park again and ask him if he really was being sincere.
That was if he could get past his own crushing shyness.
Dev let out a protracted groan and slumped down so far in his seat Park had to haul him back up to stop the Canadian from ending up under his desk, which earned him so very curious looks.
"Meh, fingers crossed she doesn't dig cute Japanese guys huh?" He replied quietly, with a typically Dev-like hopeful grin. suddenly a rather revelatory expression crossed his face, "Hell even if she does..."
Park chuckled at the suggestion; he had never known Devon was such a slut or maybe he wouldn't have turned down that offer of a date... after all, it wasn't like Park was getting any action lately.
The one date he'd been on this year, with a kid from the year below who had only, it seems, wanted to discuss how confused he was about his sexuality with the much more self-assured and experienced Park, had not gone well for either party.
The Korean winced slightly at the memory of dragging himself through one of the most boring evenings he'd ever known, spent with one of the most whingeing guys he'd ever met.
"Whyyyy, Devon Delonge, anyone would think you were willing to share Miss Nilsson with Ryu... I'm pretty sure Ryu doesn't play for my team though, so I don't think you'll be looking at any threesomes there," Park mused out loud. He cast a questioning eye at the silent Japanese who was sitting in front of him, but he had shown no interest in Park's offer, preferring just to keep silent.
But from across the room, he felt a chill as he noticed Leon Courtney giving the pair of them the evil eye - for what reason, Park had no idea whatsoever. He shivered, and dropped the tone of his voice.
"Still, rather you were fighting with Ryu for the lovely Swede than with, say, Paul Courtney, hmmm? Man, I don't trust that guy. Or his damn brother. They totally freak me out. It's just... creepy, they're so... weird... "
Paul sighed as he sat in the seat next to Leon and stretched his legs.
9 times out of 10 the brothers would be split up but Paul would be damned if
he'd make it easy for them.
He looked over at Leon glaring at the exchange between Park and Dev. Paul had no idea where Leon's sudden hatred of homosexuals had come from. In fact it had only been noticable a few days after arriving at the institute.
Personally, Paul also found the Park kid irritating. While he had no problem with gays per se, faggots like that Korean kid who flounced around acting like a showbiz queen pissed him off. he'd prefer it if he kept his sexuality to himself like that skinny Jap he was always teasing.
He tapped Leon on the shoulder and mouthed "what the hell do you think this is all about?". "this" was referring to the extra guard duty and overall caginess of Claridge. Leon merely shrugged and cocked his head to one side.
Paul leaned back. "I guess you're right, we'll just have to wait and find out".
Dev batted Park playfully on the arm and watched as Leon's scowl intensified, even his own brother looked mildly disturbed now.
"Hey, give them the benefit of the doubt man...maybe they're nice...uh..yeah." Even Dev's eternal optimism about humanity was hard-pressed to find a good thing to say about the Courtneys. Park was right-- they were just plain weird and from the looks of things Leon had something against the both of them.
Mainly to antagonize Leon Dev glomped onto Park and smiled at him cheerfully. Normally, he would've heeded his own advice, but there was something dark and unhealthy about them that incited Dev's mischievious side.