Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. :(
Hey, my lovelies! I know, I know! ANOTHER story. I should be concerned with the one I have now but I just cant help myself...
Lover's Carvings
Chapter One
"Shut up, Luffy! You're going to get us caught!" A whispered voice hissed as the duo slid in through an unlatched window.
"Awww~! But, Ussop, I'm REALLY hungry~! Can't we stop in the cafeteria for just a quick snack?" The second voiced whinned loudly, followed by a painfully loud tummy grumble.
"SSSSSHHHHH!"
"But-" the second voice protested.
"For the hundreth time, Luffy, the cafeteria isn't open yet! School doesn't start for another week!" The first voice whispered sharply. "Plus it's almost midnight! Why would anyone be at school at this ungodly hour?!"
"We are..." the second voice pouted.
There was a the sharp slap of a hand against their forehead. "That's because we're sneaking in! I've got to get all my supplies outta the science closet before the janitors start their fall cleaning!" The first boy spoke like it was obvious. "This is our senior year, and I don't wanna screw it up!"
"It doesn't make me any less hungry..." the pouty voice mumbled bitterly. Then, "Oohh~! Look at that skeleton! Doesn't that look alot like Brook, the music teacher?"
"Will you just shut up, Luffy?! We're gonna get caught with all your yapping! Now, quit complaining, and help me!"
A flash light was clicked on, revealing two 18 year old boys. One was tall, with jet black hair, and a pale scar on his left cheek, just under his onyx pupiled eye. The other had curly black hair, mocha colored skin, and a distinctive long nose.
"You're so mean, Ussop!" Luffy, the raven, yawped, but nonetheless took some stuff for his longnosed friend.
"Just be careful, okay? If one of these were to be dropped... well, the school wouldn't be a pleasant place to be for a few weeks..." the teen named Ussop said ominously, taking his own share of the supplies.
Luffy quietly followed his friend over to the window, where he handed the box of viles and equipment up to the out stretched arms.
It was like fate had it's twisted sense of humor directed to them that night, because as Ussop eased the last of the boxes through the small window, one of the viles fell toward the floor.
"Oh no!" Ussop screeched, forgetting to be quiet. "Catch it, Luffy, quick!"
The raven was already on it, and caught the vile in his palm with ease. The two boys grinned in relief at each other. Whew, they thought, that was too close.
Then their serenity was shattered as Luffy stepped forward, and tripped on one of his floppy straw sandals. The bottle fell to the floor, and it smashed loudly against the tiles.
"Hit the deck!" Shrieked the long nosed boy, diving under the window, safely already out side. Luffy, however was not so fortunate.
He was coughing hard, the fumes of the liquid in the used to be vile, stinging his throat. The alarms went off, and he knew that the police and firefighters would soon arrive on the scene.
"Go on, Ussop, get out of here! I can take care of my self," the raven reassured his friend in between coughs.
"Are you sure?" Came the worried squeak of Ussop.
"Yeah!" Luffy coughed. "Now go!"
The fading sound of clinks, clanks, and muttered curses were the only indication that Ussop had followed the ravens advice. Soon the sound of the firefighters and the cops echoed throughout the otherwise empty building while the shrill sounds of the alarms accompanied them.
"Shishishi!" The teen laughed, "This is gonna be fun~!"
LNLNLNLNLNLNLNLN
Nami Mikan grumbled as she let her eyes fall upon the bane of her existence for the last six years. Grand Line High. Ugg.
"Nami-swan~!" An annoyingly syrupy voice called from across the school yard.
Nami sighed, but put on fake smile as she made her way over to her small group of friends. Sanji Prince, Vivi Alabasta, and Kaya Sweet stood by the spot they had claimed for the last three years. Thank God this was their last.
"Hey, Sanji!" She greeted the blond, happy to see him, but not his stupid pet names or pampering attitude.
Sanji had a cigarette in his mouth, and hummed in greeting. Nami then turned to Vivi and Kaya. They squealed in delight to see each other, even though they had all gotten together the previous week.
"How are you all? Happy that this is our last year?" Vivi laughed, directing the last question directly at the long haired ginger.
"Yes, ma'am! " Nami cheered happily. She fixed the white sundress's left strap on her shoulder as she added, "Though I'm not glad to be leaving you all..."
"Oh, don't feel bad, Nami," sweet Kaya smiled gently, tucking her lemon colored hair behind her ears. "We all have known what you've dreamed to do since we were in middle school!" Her soft laugh took some of the guilt out of the long legged ginger.
Nami was about to speak when Sanji opened his mouth.
"Hey, Luffy! Moss head!" The blond called in greeting.
Nami refused to turn around to look at the recipients of Sanji's words. She knew them well enough to not have to.
Roranoa Zoro was every girl's dream at Grand Line High. He was the captain of the kendo team, he was hot, he was nicely muscled, and yet, unfortunately for all those girls, he was totally gay for Sanji. Nami had known the kendo captain had the hots for the schools best cook for years now. Not that any one would guess by the way they fought like cats and dogs, but Nami knew.
She liked Zoro to a extent. He absolutely detested her, she also knew. She had lent him 20 dollars beginning of seventh grade, and she was still collecting on all the intrest she had accumulated over the years of knowing Zoro. Ever since then he had only barely tolerated her. Nami didn't give a rat's ass about how Zoro felt about her, his friend had been another story.
Monkey D. Luffy was a whole different set of nautical numbers. They had once been great friends, the best actually, until he moved away to another city in the third grade.
When he had moved back the Grand Line in the middle of sixth grade, Nami was different, physically at least. She now had braces, acne, and even breasts.
She had hoped even with these changes, they could pick up where they left off, but it was not meant to be. Somehow Luffy had changed too, but Nami didn't know in what way it was. It wasn't long after that Luffy's uncle Shanks, the man that had looked after Luffy his whole life, died at sea while fishing by himself. He had slipped, and knocked himself unconcious, drowning in the water.
That left Luffy, and his two brothers, Ace and Sabo, orphaned until their grandfather came and adopted them. Even in those hard times Luffy stayed light hearted and strong. Nami hated it.
When she 13, while walking home from the grocery store, her mother Bellemere was shot and killed in a mugging one rainy afternoon. Now it was just her, Nojiko, and their cousin Robin. The 18 year old Robin took in her younger, rather misbehaved cousins, and cared for them as she tried to find her own way in life. Nami would never forget Robin's kindness as long as she lived.
She never understood why Luffy was never bitter, like she was when Bellemere died. Luffy was so different, and Nami couldn't help but wonder from time to time what could've been. Well, what ever could've been, couldn't ever be now. Nami was weak and a coward. She couldn't even stand up to her mothers killer when asked to give a testimony. She was everything that Luffy despised.
She heard the raven greet Sanji back, and Zoro's grunt as a reply. Nami pointedly ignored them both, while Vivi and Kaya waved, smiling.
Nami flicked her bright hair over her shoulder in contempt, and marched inside, her posse following close behind. She strode through the hallways of the school, wrinkling her nose at the faint smell of soot and sulfur.
Walking purposefully into her first class of the day, she sat sat down at a desk in the middle of the room.
"Nami is so gorgeous when she is cold to others~!" Sanji noodled as he followed her and the two other girls.
"You know you guys don't have to be my shadows, right? Just because I might not like somebody, doesn't mean you can't hang with them if you want to." Nami said, pulling out her geographic books. "Go, talk to your other friends!" She encouraged wih a smile.
The three teens looked at her like she had flown the cuckoo nest. She flicked a bracelet clad arm in the direction of the hallway. 'Go on,' the gesture read.
Her three friends quickly said their goodbyes till lunch, then departed. Nami let out a sigh of relief, along with the breath she had been holding.
She then calmly opened the top book on her pile, and leaved through the already read pages. She had gotten all the books she needed for both her semesters, and had read them all thoroughly cover to cover.
She was humming absently as she skimmed the section on common nautical know-how, when a body sat heavily in seat next to her. Out of all the empty seats, they had to sit next to her, didn't they? Well, whatever the case, Nami was determined to ingnore them. She was not going to be distracted.
"Shishishi," the voice laughed, and Nami's blood froze. "Oi, Nami, can we share books? I don't have one."
Nami wanted to die as she raised her caramel colored eyes to Luffy's almost black ones. Why did she always get the bad luck?
Luffy's eyes twinkled mischeviously.
"How's it going?" He asked, scooting his desk closer to Nami's with out permission.
"Alright, I guess..." the ginger responded. This was really awkward.
The raven teen nodded. "Good, good." He chuckled, giving her his signature grin.
Nami got a good look at his face then. His jaw was more chiseled, and he had lost the baby fat around his face. Not that he was fat to begin with, he had always been a string bean, but sometime during the last two years Luffy had lost his childish look, and looked more like a man.
His dark hair was just as shaggy and thick as it had always been, his bangs hanging haphazardly in front of his eyes, and the scar on his left cheek pale in contrast to his sunkissed skin. But he had filled out well over the last four years. He was no longer lanky, but broader and more muscled.
Over the summer the ginger had seen the black haired teen wearing loose muscle shirts and open button ups, so she knew just how well muscled he was underneath the baggy red t-shirt and large black leather jacket he liked to wear until they were faded and so holey that hey needed to be replaced.
He leaned back in his seat, and kicked up his sandaled feet on the desk in front of him.
"How was your summer?" He asked, picking the wax out of his ear with his pinky finger.
Nami frowned in disgust. "It was fine. I worked alot at my job. Luffy, why are you even in this room? I know you didn't come in here to bugg me," she said, cutting right to the chase.
Luffy opened his mouth to answer, but the teacher, a rather nice old man by the name of Rayleigh, cleared his throat.
Nami looked around. It was just her, Luffy, a guy named Duval Beau, and two other kids she didn't know the names of.
The teacher cleared his throat again, then began to speak.
"Good morning, class. I'm Silvers Rayleigh. I am professor at GLU, but I also teach a few highschool classes on the side. Welcome to Advanced Geography 125, and I hope that together we can have fun..."
Nami propped her chin in her hands, leaning on the desk. She didn't know how any one was supposed to concentrate with Luffy in the room, but she hoped for her sake she could...
The class was rather enjoyable, if you ignored the dozens of interruptions the Luffy made during the leeson. And she seemed to be the only one irritated by it. Every one else just laughed at the teens comments and crazy, barely relevant stories.
As the bell rung, signaling the end of class, Nami gathered up her things, and avoided Luffy. She left the room without incident, thinking she had gotten by, when his voice rang out.
"Oi, Nami! Wait up!"
The teen cringed, but refused to slow down. But alas, Lady Luck was not with her today.
"Nami," Luffy breathed, "Hey, wanna eat lunch together or something?"
"Uh, no."
"Awww~! Why not?"
"Because I'm not paying for it! You eat like a elephant, Luffy! I'm surprised you're not as fat as one!" She exclaimed heatedly, then stormed off in the direction of her next class.
God, he was so annoying! She couldn't understand why she was ever friends with such a simple minded Neanderthal!
Nami made it to her next class with five minutes to spare. She took this time to place her face in her hands, the gold bracelets jangling lightly around her writs, and sighed again.
Then she heard Luffy's rambuncious laughter floating down the hall. Nami shook her head tiredly. Why did she always get the short end of the stick?
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