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Note: Hey guys! Welcome to The Artists, a story I've been working on for months! Feel free to leave comments, but nothing mean! And be warned: This story contains abuse and minor language! Oh, and mind the font size if it's too big- I couldn't figure
out how to make it smaller!
See end of chapter for notes!

Enjoy!
-TheLittleReaderWriter

Chapter 1

"Have a good day, sweetie," Duck's mom said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You too, mum," he replied, before bending down to give the family dog a pat, "see you after school, Train."

Duck shut the door behind him and walked the short distance to the bus stop. He saw two of his close friends there, Thomas and Percy, whose fingers were intertwined. The two had been a couple for a little over a year, and it had taken them both years to even come out to their families and each other. But, their friends, families and school were all very supporting. Thomas and Percy both lived down the street, and they'd all been friends since Duck moved in.

"Hello, Duck," Percy smiled. "How was your summer? Did you see Oliver?"

Duck sighed, thinking of the best friend he left behind. Oliver had been his best friend since he could walk, and then Duck had up and moved away. Duck remembered how weird Oliver had acted a few months prior to the move...like he was hiding something. But, Oliver claimed he was fine, even though the two told each other everything, and Duck clearly didn't believe him.

Duck missed him dearly, and tried to make plans to go visit his friend and home as often as he could.

"Hey, Percy," he greeted back, "no...I didn't get to see him this summer. Hey, Thomas. When's the bus getting here?"

"Should be any minute now," Percy replied, watching Thomas unplug his earbuds and put them in his jacket pocket. He set his guitar down for a brief second, stretched his hand, then picked it up again.

Percy giggled.

"Is your instrument weighing you down, Thomas? Maybe you've shrunk."

Thomas chuckled and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Maybe I have, yeah."

Percy smiled and leaned into his boyfriend's side, and then opened one of three notebooks in his hands.

In his hands, Percy held three spiral bound notebooks, each with a different colored cover. He was reading something from one of the notebooks very carefully, eyes narrowed in concentration. He plucked a pencil from his pocket and made a quick mark on the page before putting the utensil away. Percy was short and just a tiny bit chubby, but he had a huge heart. He was sixteen, had short, spiky blonde hair and deep, innocent brown eyes. He had a scarf around his neck, and a bright green jacket with some jeans and some Vans shoes. Thomas watched him intently, fingers bouncing on the handle to the guitar case he was holding. Thomas was short too, but he was a lot thinner than Percy, and was about a head taller. He was also sixteen, about two months older. He had messed up chocolate locks, and deep, royal blue eyes that reminded Duck of the deepest depths of the sea he had always dreamed of visiting. Thomas also wore a blue jacket with a yellow and red outlined number one on it, and nobody had ever seen him without it on. He wore some old jeans and some black and white Converse high tops. He also had some earbuds in his ears, and was tapping out the beat. He loved music more than anybody. Percy, Duck and Thomas all attended Sodor Academy, a high school meant specifically for the arts and other talents. Many of their other friends attended it as well. Percy carried around all those notebooks because he was into the arts of literature. Those notebooks were all full of stories he'd written in class or over the years. But, nobody had ever seen them, except his teachers. Percy was the greatest writer in the school, even better than Edward, who took the same course and was incredibly intelligent. But, still, nobody had ever seen one of Percy's stories. Not even Thomas had read a single word of them, since the only thing he ever read was music. But, Percy was very sweet and also very shy, so he liked putting words down on paper more than saying them to other people, Thomas was in the Musician/Performing group. He was the best guitar player in the school, at the top of his class, and was even one of the best singers. Many girls had huge crushes on him for his looks and abilities, but he brushed them off with a smile and a simple,

"Sorry, I'm taken."

As for Duck, he was the underbelly of the world of the video arts. He was in control of the sound boards, recordings and special effects, and basically anything that had to do with a stage. He was pretty camera shy, so he never really wanted to be seen on camera. He wanted to be known as the one who made things come to life and to the big screen. He worked in the video department with Gordon and James, two over dramatic drama queens who fit the acting course perfectly. He also worked with many others and couldn't name them at once.

He wasn't too sure if he liked Gordon and James or not.

Do it the right way, and do it correctly, he always thought. There were only two ways of doing things, after all.

Suddenly, the bus pulled up and Bertie opened the doors for them.

"Climb on in, boys!" He grinned, "ready for another day?"

"Another day on the set, yeah," Duck replied, "but another day with the two biggest girls in the school? No, I'm not."

Thomas laughed at the reply as he climbed onto the bus. He shoved his instrument under the seat, and immediately put his arm around Percy's shoulders when he sat down next to him. Duck smiled at the sight; he felt so happy for the both of them. Bertie closed the doors, and with a heave, the bus was off to the school. Thomas waved a greeting to Edward, who was sitting at the very back with James, his best friend. Henry and Gordon were in the seat across from theirs, and they were absorbed deep in a conversation, except for Edward, who was absorbed in his book. Up in the front, Lady, Molly and Rosie were all giggling over something, and sneaking looks at Thomas. Percy frowned, snuggling further into his side.

"I don't like how they look at you, Thomas."

Thomas laughed.

"Jealous?"

"O-Of course not!"

Thomas only laughed again.

"Percy, all these girls may love me, but I'll never love them. I love you, and I always will."

Percy smiled and blushed, giggling when Thomas kissed his cheek again.

The bus door opened again, and Donald and Douglas, the Scottish twins stepped on. They were both in the same classes together, as they refused to be separated.

Ever.

Their course was Photography. Since they came from Scotland, they were able to take lots of beautiful pictures, and edit them to make them even better. They traveled back home every summer, so seeing them during the three months off was rare. They also loved to take pictures of trains, as the Island of Sodor was full of them. They both were good kids and often teased each other, but they always stood up for their friends and stood up to their enemies.

"Aye, Dook, good to see ye," Douglas said, as he took a seat.

"Aye," Donald agreed, "good summer?"

"Pretty good," Duck replied, "how was Scotland?"

"Beautiful as always," Donald sighed, "it's good to see home once in awhile."

"Aye," Douglas nodded, "it is."

The twins turned to Percy, who was completely content in Thomas' hold.

"Aye, lad," Douglas said, "yer gonna like this. A new bookstore just opened in town."

Percy's eyes lit up.

"Really?! There is?! Thomas, we have to go see it!"

Thomas laughed, hugging him.

"After school, I promise."

Percy cheered and hugged back.

The bus came to a stop at the school, and Thomas grabbed his guitar from under his seat.

"Ooch, lad, yer still carrying that thing around?" Douglas asked.

"Well, yeah," Thomas replied, lifting the case over his head so it wouldn't hit anybody, "I'm top of the whole music performance group, you know. And I plan to keep it that way."

The bus quickly emptied after that.

Duck rubbed his eyes in annoyance as he listened to James and Gordon argue for the hundredth time. He sighed and spoke into the microphone.

"Can you two shut up, please? We have work to do."

But, neither responded. Duck tried turning on some spotlights to get their attention, but that didn't work, either. He eventually gave up and turned a knob on the sound board that muted Gordon and James' mics. Sliding off his headphones, he stood up, and looked up at the clock. School was over in ten minutes, and he's hardly gotten anything done today. He couldn't get a good grade with those idiots on the stage! But, what was a Great Western to do?

Dear mental self, Duck thought lamely, I believe I'm a good person. I work hard, I'm nice to people, I can assemble movie sets and equipment, and I can operate sound boards. For a seventeen year old, I believe I'm a good person. I just hate to work with two idiots, who also happen to be my friends. Dear mental self...what do I do? Dear mental self...I wonder what Oliver's up to.

The bell suddenly rang, and Gordon and James instantly stopped arguing.

"See you tomorrow, Duck!" They called, racing out the door.

Duck rolled his eyes gathered up his stuff, and exited the building. Duck watched Thomas shove his guitar in the back of his mom's car, helped Percy get in the backseat, and shut the door as he got in. The car took off, back to the Billington's house. Duck waved as he saw his mom pull up to the curb, in her green Mustang.

Duck tossed his backpack in the backseat, then climbed in next to his mother.

"Good day, sweetie?" His mother, to who was named Marianne, asked.

"It was okay," Duck replied, propping his feet on the dashboard, "James and Gordon won't stop arguing, still. We've had a whole three months off, and they still can't come to an agreement! I'm sick of it! How am I supposed to get a good grade in Video Arts if those two don't work together?!"

Marianne smiled sympathetically and rubbed his shoulder.

"Don't worry, son. You're a Great Western. I'm sure you'll get it under control."

Duck smiled gratefully, glad for the encouragement.

"Thanks, mum."

Marianne suddenly took notice of her son's dirty shoes on the dashboard of her beloved automobile.

"Montague Pannier, you will get your feet off my dash!"

Duck immediately put his feet on the floor.

"Sorry."

"That's alright, son. But, don't make that a habit."

Marianne twisted the wheel of the car, and Duck looked up at her.

"You missed the turnoff...are we going somewhere?"

Marianne nodded.

"If you don't mind, I wanted to go look at the new bookstore in town. I've heard it's lovely."

Duck grinned.

"I don't mind. I honestly wanna see it myself."

Marianne smiled, glad that her son agreed with her. They pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore ten minutes later, where Marianne shut off the engine and they both stepped out. The bookstore was about three stories high, with about four windows on each level, with a bright sign by the door that said

Off The Shelf

"What a clever name for a bookstore," Marianne said as they approached the door, and Duck held it open for her how any gentlemen would, "I'll bet it's very cute."

When Duck stepped inside, cute didn't even describe what he saw.

Notes: Hey guys! How'd you like the first chapter? I'll update on a daily basis, if I can! I've liked the idea of Thomas and the rest of the gang attending a school for the arts and all possessing some sort of talent for awhile now...so I put it all in paper! You'll be seeing some old characters appear in some later chapters and a POSSIBLE guest star in future chapters and stories! See you guys later for chapter two!