My heart was beating fast as I awoke in a cold sweat. I felt unusually calm, despite my incomprehensible dream, but it was short lived, as my brain regained control of my body and I let loose one of the most horrifying screams I think I've ever heard. My mother, ever the speed-demon, was in my room in 1.3 seconds and was sitting combing my hair before I even understood what was happening. The front of my black nightshirt was drenched in sweat, and my head felt like death had paid it a surprise visit. A headache suddenly overpowered my senses, and I leaned over and cried, my head in my hands.
"Honey, what's wrong?" my mother lulled, running her fingers through my hair. I laid my head down onto her shoulder, still holding it in my hand. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, mum. Just a bad dream." I sighed, thinking over my horrendous nightmare as I gripped my shirt, the slick fabric slipping easily out of my fingers. I tried to control my breathing, matching it up with my mother's, but it wasn't helping. I dragged up the most relaxing memory I could think of; my first time skating on the ice. This calmed me slightly, but my mother was the one who brought me all the way home.
"Just breathe, Yuuri. Breathe..." She caressed my back, and I could feel my fear slowly slip away. I sighed, holding my head in my hands as I sobbed quietly.
Finally regaining control, I stopped crying and glanced up at my mother. She smiled at me reassuringly, and told me that I could stay home from school, if I wanted. I smiled, relief flooding through me as I hugged her. Glancing out the window, I saw that it was early; the sun hadn't even risen yet. The clock read 4:30am, and as soon as I settled down completely, I felt exhaustion overpower my senses. Laying back down, I fell back asleep, my mother still seated beside me.
As soon as I awoke, I climbed out of bed, and my mother cautiously exited the room. After removing my sweaty pajamas and taking a shower, I climbed into something a little more presentable; a pair of black sweatpants and a baggy black shirt. After my headache began to subside, I reminisced about all the schoolwork I would be missing if I skipped school today, as my mother had suggested. Choosing a little bit of discomfort over a mountain of stress, I chose to go to school. After eating breakfast, brushing my teeth and grabbing my backpack, I was out the door.
Every day I jogged to school, regardless of the weather or time of day. My high school was about two miles or so from my house, so it would have been ridiculous to bus or drive. Plus, the strenuous jog helped to keep my body fit.
School that day was fairly uneventful. I definitely enjoyed French; it was a beautiful language, and I enjoyed studying it. I was also learning Russian, Japanese, and Thai at home, but they didn't provide any of those languages at my school except Japanese. Besides; French was much more fun to study in school because it was the language I was best at. My anxiety made me nervous about trying to speak a language I wasn't exceptionally good at (in school) so that automatically made it the best choice. If I tried speaking Thai in class... yeesh. Safe to say, I was still more than happy to see the end of the day come around.
My locker sat near the south exit of the school; it sure pissed me off that my last class of the day was all the way in the east wing. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, I slipped up to my locker lithely, trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible.
Let's just say that today wasn't my day for remaining anonymous.
My heart hammered in my chest as Viktor, the Senior class' most popular jock, walked up to me, his short silver hair blocking his left eye from view. I watched him pass, trying to hide myself from him. He was nice, sure, but I had only ever been harassed by the popular crowd; I assumed he wouldn't be any different. However, there was little I could do as he sauntered up to me, hips swinging back and forth. I noticed absentmindedly how feminine his movements were; he winked as he walked up.
Viktor's azure blue eyes bored into mine as he cocked his hips, my legs barely able to support me as his wink reached my nervous system. My legs nearly turned to jelly as he began to speak. Unfortunately, due to my brain's loss of function, I never did hear what he said.
"So... whadd'ya say?" I blinked, looking him straight in the eyes.
Oh god, he was still staring at me.
"I... um... have to g-g-go..." I turned and bolted, watching him frown disappointedly. I wondered what he said; probably something asinine and only meant to set me off. I turned and looked back, my shoulders hunched and all too aware of the heat filling my cheeks. Two of Viktor's jock friends whom I didn't recognize were standing by him now, pointing and laughing at me, but Viktor wasn't joining in. He just stared after me sadly.
What the hell had he said?
I tried to ignore my discomfort as I walked towards the nearest exit, but the tears started flowing before I could even make it to the door. I slipped into the nearest classroom instead, thankful for the absence of people. I thought that I had been careful enough, but apparently, I had not.
"Mr. Feltsman, I was wondering about the essa--" the boy stopped, taking in the sobbing mess that was me. I saw the smirk on his face before he could cover it with his shoulder-length blond hair.
"Katsuki Yuuri, the junior class' dumbest asshole. I heard you were having trouble with your status on the List. What are you doing in my class, moron?" The boy snickered, sliding his books onto a stray desk and walking towards me threateningly. I gripping the desk I'd been leaning on harshly, taking in his offensive stare and dangerous antics.
This boy couldn't be anyone other than Yuri Plisetsky, the 14-year-old version of Jean-Jaques Leroy. JJ was the meanest person in my year other than Yuri, obviously. He particularly liked to pick on me; I never fought back. JJ got good grades during the year, but Final's week always had him scrambling for test answers. He always played it off, saying that he 'just wanted to makes sure the answers were right', but everyone knew he was a total fake. I knew there was at least one difference between Yuri and JJ though.
Yuri had skipped two grades, and yet he was STILL in the line-up for being our class' valedictorian. Yuri Plisetsky was a complete, utter genius. I was in the line-up as well, along with my best friend Phichit and two others I didn't know very well; Guang-Hong Ji and Leo de la Iglesia. They were best friends and had also skipped grades to get into my class. Phichit and I were the only ones on the List that hadn't skipped any at all.
As I watched Yuri advance on me, I could feel the sweat begin to cover my face. He cackled at me as I stared around searching for a way out, and I swear; the look in that boy's eyes way almost predatory. He got directly in front of my face, eyes gleaming.
"You know, you are such a failure. I don't know how you ended up on the List, but dude... you honestly shouldn't be there. The faculty probably just made a mistake; you can't have gotten on the List by yourself." He stopped, shoving his hands in his monogrammed jacket and getting so close to me that our noses nearly touched. Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled,
"You don't deserve it. Stop being so pitiful and give up your spot, you stupid moron!!!" Then he turned and walked out of the room, shoving desks as he went and sliding out the door with his stack of books. The only sound in the room was my racing heartbeat, and I gasped as I felt the building pressure in my body release.
I stayed in the room for a good half hour, regaining control of my breathing and rearranging the desks that Yuri had angrily shoved. Slipping out of the room cautiously, I jogged home, reaching my door at soon after 17:30.
The bakery below my house was a small, family owned business that my family ran during the week. I slipped in through the door, making my way through the bustling crowds and finding the employee entrance. When school was on, my shift wasn't until 17:45, so I was just barely on time. I groaned in displeasure, seeing Viktor and his two buddies across the room. They had decided to come here for who knows what reason, but it seriously annoyed me. I hated having to serve them; they always acted like assholes. Well, okay... maybe not all of them.
When the three of them reached the front of the line, the one with the blond and brown hair ordered, sliding his money across the counter. I watched in complete silence as the man flipped me off while doing so, his fingers forming a backwards peace sign. The other one, a black haired one with dark sunglasses, just stared stoically. Then he started laughing, his voice deep and unfamiliar.
"Chris, Otabek, stop. Seriously," Viktor said, glaring at his two companions. He shoved away Chris' fingers and added at least three more dollars to the pile, smiling wanly at me before apologizing.
"I'm really sorry, Yuuri. These guys are completely rude sometimes."
Okay... that was weird.
I fully expected him to make a joke about it, but he just thanked me for the pastries and walked off with the others, waving off their questioning stares.
"What the hell was that about, Viktor? Gone soft hearted?" I heard Chris mutter to him as they walked out of the store. I heard Viktor's heavy Russian accent waft back through the door, then I saw him stop and do the weirdest thing.
He turned back to me, pointing at the counter and winking. Immediately, I understood. He had probably given me fake money or something, and I hadn't the sense to check. I cursed myself as I lifted the money from the register, but it was all real.
Then I noticed the slip of paper on the ground by my foot. Bending down, I held it up to the light, the thin filigree handwriting showing faintly.
Lifting my glasses, I took a closer look.
And then I gasped.
"What the hell?" I asked, reading and rereading the note. Viktor had offered to help me study for Finals…
And had left me his number.