Dear Noelle,
I think you are very very betifull- botifull- buetifull- pretty and I like you a lot. Do you like me too?
Love Always, Jean.
He smiled down at his love note before drawing several hearts and quickly folding it half a dozen times. Jean looked up, ready to ask his close friend Roy, who sat between his future girlfriend and him, to pass her the note. The love declaration fluttered to his desk as his jaw dropped open at what he saw.
"So, come here often?" His raven-haired friend asked, winking at the pretty little blonde on his left. Noelle. His Noelle.
Jean's eyes filled up with tears as she giggled, flattered by Roy's attention. "Yeah, everyday."
He thought his heart was about to burst, it hurt so much. Furiously blinking back tears, Jean ripped the note up into tiny pieces. He sniffled miserably as he weaved through desks and rushed over to the garbage bin, angrily throwing the bits in. He wiped his eyes and sat back down in his seat, staring aimlessly into space.
Heymans saw Jean's forlorn expression and felt sorry for him. He wanted to know Roy's secret. That jerk could charm anyone, every last fourth grade girl! Well, almost all of them, he mused with a long look over at the blond sitting quietly at the back of the room.
Her hair was carefully tied back, not a strand out of place. He bet she did it all by herself, rather than her mother.
He smirked. Not even Roy could have little miss Riza, he decided as he crumpled up a piece of paper, throwing it quickly at the uptight boy who sat in front of her. The paper cleared Vato's pale head and dropped onto Riza's desk.
Heymans' eyes widened and he snapped around, pretending to do his work. After a few minutes of scribbling across his workbook, he laid down his pencil and slowly turned back to check if the coast was clear. The paper ball bounced off his nose.
"Don't throw paper, Heymans." She growled.
He winced. "Sorry, Riza." Heymans suddenly got a sneaky look about him and carefully picked up his eraser, ready to lob it at Vato. She said paper, not eraser.
She said his name warningly before he could do anything. Riza didn't even look up from her workbook! "Don't do it."
He shrugged, before tossing it at the back of the boy who sat in front of him instead. Riza let out a long sigh and he bet she was rolling her pretty amber eyes too.
The boy jerked and whirled around. He looked upset. "Why'd you do that?" He asked, lower lip trembling.
"Oh, c'mon Kain." Heymans teased with a grin. "I'm just playing. Don't cry."
"I-I'm not going to cry!" Kain denied vehemently, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
A sudden, booming voice interrupted them. "Is there a problem, boys?" Their teacher asked, looming over them. Kain whimpered and Heymans' mouth fell open.
"No sir!" Kain immediately shook his head, shrinking down in his seat.
Heymans also shook his head. "No, Mr. Armstrong."
His teacher pumped his biceps a few times in the red-head's face. "Are you sure? The talent of solving conflicts is one that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"
"No really-" Heymans was interrupted by the principal who stood in the doorway, softly clearing his throat.
The class paused in their schoolwork and glanced up. "Ah, good afternoon." The man said with a friendly smile and a wave hello. "Might I have a word with you, Mr. Armstrong?"
"Of course sir!" He flounced (yes, he flounced) over to his boss. They stepped out into the hallway. As the men left, a tall boy slipped into the classroom. Before the door closed, they heard Mr. Armstrong ask: "Is there a problem?"
All the students exchanged worried looks with each other. What was going on?
The dark haired boy flashed the class a wide smile as he lowered himself into his seat in the front row. He straddled his chair, facing the back. "How's it going, Roy ol' pal?" He asked cheerfully.
Roy shoved his homework away from him, welcoming the distraction. "Hey Maes."
The boy pulled off his glasses, leaning back and cleaning them on his shirt. He slipped them back on as he greeted Noelle. They exchanged a few pleasantries.
"Why were you late, Maes?" She innocently asked.
His green eyes twinkled in the light as his seemingly permanent smile grew. "I was feeding Mister Fluffykins."
"Mister Fluffykins?" It was simple curiosity but it was one of the biggest mistakes of her little life.
"No! Don't ask!"
Maes' chest swelled and his grin was a mile wide. "Mister Fluffykins is my puppy-dog! Isn't he just the cutest thing you ever saw?" He pulled multiple pictures of a golden retriever out of nowhere and pushed them in her face. "He's just the sweetest little puppy! You should meet him!"
She was as far back in her seat as she could go and was clearly uncomfortable. Her emerald green eyes blinked slowly. Noelle sent him an uncertain smile. "Yeah, he's cute."
"I know, right?" Noelle's hesitant answer was all the encouragement he needed. He flew into a full out speech about everything. From the puppy's age to the origin of his name to the dog's eating habits. "You know, he does the strangest thing when he's chowin' down-"
She tried to politely cut him off. "Yes, Maes but I really need to go sharpen my pencil now." She sent Roy a helpless look and he just shrugged.
"I told you not to ask." Was his only reply. What a gentleman. She frowned.
"Who's that?" She pointed behind Maes, across the room.
He chuckled. "I'm not falling for that old trick. Roy tries that all the time."
"Boys and girls!" Mr. Armstrong was back and with him he'd brought a small, mousy girl.
Maes jumped, surprised, and craned his neck around to see. It was Noelle's turn to giggle.
Her tinkering laughter reached Heymans' and Jean's ears. Heymans watched as his friend sunk even further into his slump.
He nudged the blue-eyed blond in the ribs. "Psst, Jean." He whispered. "What's going on? Who's that?"
"I don't think I'll ever love again." Jean muttered sadly, still staring off into space. Heymans let out a long sigh.
"Of course you will, buddy." He argued. "You just haven't found the right girl yet. Speaking of girls." He pointed to the front. "Why don't you have a look?"
"What's the point? She won't like me." Jean pouted even as he dragged his gaze up to his teacher and the mysterious new girl. His mouth dropped open.
"Class," Everyone fell silent immediately, obediently listening. "It's my absolute pleasure to introduce to you Miss Sciezka! She's been home schooled up until now. I hope you all are accepting of her, it's always so tragic when the new student is rejected by their peers." He paused in his dramatic speech to sniff loudly. They could see the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Don't worry, Mr. Armstrong, sir." The new girl, Sciezka, said quietly, patting his arm. She looked like she didn't know what to do with him. "I'll be alright."
He guided the new girl to her seat, back beside Riza. She tugged nervously on her green turtleneck as she sat down. Sciezka sent the other girl a sidelong look and Riza responded with a warm, small smile.
She pulled out her textbook and quietly began reading, not knowing what else to do. Sciezka saw a shadow fall over her and felt a interested pair of eyes on her. She glanced up and let out a terrified squeak.
His eyebrows lifted before he smiled down at her. She relaxed, gotten over her initial surprise. "Hi there. I'm Jean!" His sky-blue eyes were very kind.
"I'm Sciezka." She replied shyly, timidly returning the smile.
"I'm Roy, it's nice to meet you, Sciezka." Roy's voice startled the two of them. The dark eyed boy was twisted in his seat, grinning at her. "Very nice to meet you."
She blushed a deep rcrimson at his approval. "I-it's nice t-to meet you too, Roy." Sciezka stammered.
"Sexual harassment!" A girl whispered loudly, chortling (does this make you think of a fat, old guy too?) to herself.
Her friend nodded with false seriousness. "That makes me a sad panda." She sang quietly before the two of them burst out into stifled giggles.
Jean, still miffed that, yet again, Roy was trying to steal his crush away, sent them a weird look. "You guys are really strange."
"We're not strange!" The first girl argued, her ponytail bobbing as she shook her head.
"Your face is really strange." The second girl venomously shot back at Jean.
"Yeah, well, your face is stupid!" He grumbled and she gasped, before bursting into loud, noisy tears, sobbing into her hands. Jean looked horrified. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "I didn't mean to make you cry…"
"Say sorry like you mean it!" The little brown eyed girl with the ponytail ordered angrily. "You really hurt her feelings!"
"I'm sorry, Lia." He apologized, looking away uneasily. "Your face isn't stupid."
Lia's head popped up, a smirk on her face. She wasn't really crying at all! "Darn right it isn't stupid!" She said. "But you're… what's that word again?" She exchanged a look with her friend. "Gully bull?" She wondered aloud before nodding. "Yeah, you're such a gully bull!"
"It's gullible." Sciezka corrected, almost silently.
Jean dropped the pencil he had been twirling. "You tricked me!" He shouted. "You dumb noodleloaf! You tricked me!"
"Mr. Havoc!" Mr. Armstrong exclaimed. "Did you just call Lia a dumb noodleloaf?"
"Uh oh."
A/N: I DON'T EVEN KNOW. I just suddenly had this idea (which I'm sure has been done many, many times) and decided, what the heck, I'll do it. I'm shocked that I managed to write something without a main character OC! (Lia -who is totally like me-, Noelle and the ponytail girl are all mine though)
So, you see that little review button down there? You should totally click it. Really, you should. Tell me what you thought.
Did it suck (it did, I know, but I want to hear your opinion)? Did you actually like it? Was anyone in character at all? Would you have liked to see anything done differently? Did you catch any of the references (there were three) or are you sitting there like "…?"