A humans imagination. An escape from reailty or something we want to happen in reality?
"Ngh!" ws the first sound Athrun came out with as he forced himself to sit up "...Not again" he sighed as he crossed his legs over, feeling himself hard against his own legs, his face flushed after realizing that it wasn't going to go away any time soon. A quick release was needed before getting ready to go to school, it was a good thing he had woken up before this alarm went off or this would make him late.
Athrun ran a tight schedule on a morning, just so he could get things done in a orderly fashion. It allowed him to do things without rushing around at the last second, no body in this day and age wanted to go to school all sweaty and out of breath, Athrun knew this fact all too well, being a prime victim for bullies, his dorky appearance and his title of 'honor student' normally brought around jealous teens or teens who just liked to pick on nerdy looking students, being told 'he looks so vulnerable and pathetic'. Going back on track, Athrun had a quick shower to refresh himself and to make himself feel less 'dirty', washing over his entire lower half with strawberry scented shampoo, paranoid that his smell lingered around. At this day and age, most teens knew the fact of life just due to lack of control of their desires or just because they wanted to tell a 'cool' story to their friends so that they looked like a big man or a respected slag, school turely was a nasty place for someone like Athrun, he was a honor student, taking the advance classes for his age for free, it was like college but high school was apart of the building, everyone just called it school, any way, not many people took the advance classes and since Athrun did take them without paying, a few students glared at him most days, itching to whack him every time he was first to raise his hand in class. One student in particular liked to prey on the class honor student due to rivalry, failing to keep with Athrun and put at number two after each exam or practice test they did. That was that ran through Athrun's mind every time he woke up on a morning, the idea of students getting pissy over his intelligence or worse, getting another black eye. So far Athrun had received four black eyes in just half of the school year, his most recent one faded a few weeks ago after bring hit by the school's number one bully, oddly enough someone Athrun never learned the name of, he didn't think it was important although did him no favors when it went to the principles office.
Break came next on his daily morning routine, a nice couple of slices of toast with a fried egg on top of each one, topped off by a glass of orange juice, nothing special, just something to keep him going on until lunch.
Bag? Check,
Pens, paper? Check,
Home work? Check,
Reading glasses? Check,
Pack lunch? Check, check and double check, he was ready to head to school fresh and ready for a day of hard work, he was eager to pass his exams so he could get the grades he needed to study for his ideal job. Leaving his apartment, he made sure his door for locked just in case and started on the steady walk to school, it was a long walk but it wasn't short either, Athrun did the walk every morning just so he got some exercise in since studying, homework, his part time job and school took up most of his time. It was rare that he left himself enough time to take up on some hobbies, he didn't always used to be like that, before his father passed away he had a lot more free time due to less pressure for his future career.
The streets he passed that morning were pretty dull, no field scenery or anything just tall grey buildings reaching high into the skies, the major down side to living near flat blocks. Athrun sighed every time, how he long to live in the country side where it was peaceful, miles of fields with sheep, cows and what ever else there might be and he wouldn't need to worry about stupid cowards who tried getting to him outside of school like -
'Umph!' Athrun's thoughts of bliss were interrupted by a hard sudden thud against his back that knocked him over, his face first on the floor, feeling a heavy weight on his back,
"Urgh ..." he heard, Athrun turned his head around as far as he could but all he could see was some light blue hair near his shoulder, the weight lifted itself up, sat on Athrun as if he was a donkey, "Oi, watch were you're going!" the boys voice growled. Athrun's chest thumped against his ribs, he knew that voice, he really wish he didn't.
"Auel?" he said with a less than happy tone, almost terrified, Auel finally got off Athrun before brushing himself down,
"Yeah what?" he replied as Athrun scurried to his feet, picking up his back pack,
"Nothing ..." Said Athrun, avoiding looking at the dirt covered younger male,
"Well if it's nothing, move out of my way!" yelled Auel, shoving Athrun to one side before running off, Athrun couldn't help but wonder what the rush was, he couldn't be eager to get to school, he wasn't exactly a fan of it from what he had learned about him. Moments later, the sound of running footsteps came towards his general direction, it sounded like a stampede until three boys from Athrun's school came running around the corner, they looked pretty angry, he guessed it was something to do with Auel. The three boys approached Athrun, panting heavily as they tried to speak,
"Hey you! Have you a scrawny little kid with pale blue hair?" the tallest one ask, he was pretty rough looking, he had a cigarette behind his ear and a band aid across one of his cheeks,
"No, I haven't" Athrun said, keeping his nerve as best as he could, he could almost fear dripping down from every inch of him,
"Tch, that waste of space can't have gone far! He's dead when I find 'im" the tall male complained, "C'mon boys, lets go" commanding the others like a leader, his minions who obeyed likes loyal dogs followed his every move, the leader ran off and the other two followed behind swiftly, Athrun let out a big sigh of relief once they were out of sight.
'That could have gone bad.. ' he thought to himself, feeling his heart pounding madly against his chest, just another day and the life of Athrun Zala really, dodging people who could potentially give him a black eye. He went on to continue his journey to school when from out around a corner he was grabbed and brought into a damp ally way, the streets were full of them because of the plenty of tall, large buildings that provided a city like maze of allies. Athrun felt his entire body tremble as he was hung up by his collar, again Auel had appeared out of no where, catching him off guard.
"Why did you do that?!" he yelled, baring his childish fangs,
"What...what did I do?" Athrun asked, he couldn't help but pant out of fear but also, Auel was too close for him to handle, his hot breath breathing on his face felt like addictive toxins,
"You saw me go by you, I even fell into you, why didn't you rat me out!" he asked, Auel looked a cross between angry and confused at the same time. Athrun's body began to heat up, slowly building up trembles in his knees,
'Oh no ..!' yelled him on the inside, starting to feel some discomfort, "Isn't that a good thing? They looked like they wanted kill you" he said, trying to wiggle free. Auel let Athrun go, grunting as he did so.
"This doesn't mean I owe you anything.." he pouted as he started to walk away with his hands in his jeans pocket, "Got it?"
"Got it ..." said Athrun, making sure Auel's back was to him, "But ..."
"But what?" asked the younger male, pausing for a moment to see what answer he got, Athrun hesitated to say something, "Well dork, what is it?" he growled, making Athrun jump,
"Oh, nothing, forget it" he replied.
"Tch.." went Auel as he started walking away. "Quit wasting of time" he complained. Athrun took a deep breath, cooling down rather quickly, he clutched his fists and did something he thought he'd never do,
"Wait!" he called out as he hopped forward,
"I'm not waiting" Auel said, still walking off, causing Athrun to run to catch up, "What do you want now?" he asked, noticing Athrun was trying get to him.
"I was wondering … If I could walk with you to school?" he nervously asked, almost afraid of the answer, he could see the look on Auel's face, flinching just in case he was going to hit him,
"Free country" he said, "I'm not going to stop you" Athrun wanted to smile, but he tried not to, he wanted to engage in conversation, it was just, what did he say to a guy like Auel? He and him had to be polar opposites, nothing between them could be shared with interest. For the first five minutes the walk felt awkward, neither one trying to talk, Athrun sighed a little, "Sup?" Auel surprisingly asked, Athrun's head cocked to one side,
"Uh?" Athrun responded, scratching his nose beneath his glasses as he did. "oh, nothing really I was just thinking to myself, maybe I'm just stressed about home work and studies, no matter how much I try to keep up, I always seem to have huge piles of it on my desk .."
"Then don't do it" Auel said, "That is what I would do if I felt stressed over it, it's not worth my time" he shrugged,
"But it's worth mine, the better I do in my exams, the better chances I have of succeeding in getting the job I want" Athrun said, almost arguing his point since it was true and didn't want Auel to convince him otherwise knowing that he didn't even probably do his work at all, "Don't you want that too? A job you want to do when you've left school" he asked, curious what answer the boy would give,
"I guess" Auel replied. It was strange, Auel had Athrun up by the collar only moments ago and he could have easily beat him up for meddling in his business, yet they were here together making small talk like two civil people, this was a side of Auel Athrun had always wanted to see, a calm side where he felt safe good to be around him, he found he hard to believe, even harder to stop himself from smiling in the moment.
School was still a little walk away, he didn't want it to end, he had so many questions he wanted to ask but couldn't bring himself to ask them in case he came off as a weird boy that asks weird stuff, or offended him by accident. "I don't think I'll get really job when I'm older anyway" Auel added, finding the quiet too irritating to keep his mouth shut,
"That's not true, as long as you're good at something, you'll find a good job eventually" Athrun said, Auel turned his puppy eyed face towards Athrun, a look that burned into his mind, 'oh god that's cute ..' He thought to himself, unaware that he had started to blush around the face,
"You think I'll find a job?" a sad tone rang from his voice, Athrun felt like he might have something bad, "No one has ever told me that I'll be able to get a job, heck one of teachers got so mad at me, she yelled that I won't amount to anything at this rate" he chuckled proudly, Athrun couldn't help but chuckle too even if it wasn't something to chuckle at, his amusement purely came from Auel's laid back attitude.
"If you work at it, .. Yes, I think you will get a job" he wanted to rub his fingers into Auel's hair as a way of saying 'You can do it kiddo'. He didn't, it might make him angry and himself a little bit too hot under the collar, he imagined Auel's hair to soft and enchanting but that's only something he thought about when he dreamed, at this moment, he had no idea how it felt though longed to know.
Soon school appeared within their sights, the two would have to go their separate ways from here on, it was rather disappointing since it had been one of those moments Athrun had waited for, a chance to talk to a guy he thought would beat him to a pulp and also dreamed about most nights, it ended too soon. Auel on the other hand looked like he couldn't care less what was happening, he just scowled at the building with disgust.
"So I guess... I'll see you around?" asked the older teen, Auel shrugged in response. 'Not likely huh..' he thought to himself nothing less than what he expect of course, he knew Auel had no reason to hang around him, especially since it would draw in attention to himself. "Bye-"
"Shut up dork, I haven't answered your question yet" Auel said as he interrupted with a snappy tone. "Look, I don't do the nice guy routine but … I owe you one" he pouted as he pulled out a brio from his pockets, offering it out to Athrun.
"You're paying me back with a pen?" Athrun asked curiously.
"Tsk, don't be stupid. This is my favorite pen so I'll want to find you again to get it back off you... I mean, you find me and tell me you saw me drop it as a distraction, but really it would be you saying you want to return the favor I owe you" he scowled, he wasn't being too manly about that, his head turned away as he shook the pen hinting for Athrun to take it,
"Oh, thank you?"
"Don't thank me idiot, I'm not doing it to be friendly!" Auel snapped, causing Athrun to flinch. "...I'm out of here, see you around dork." Auel said, waving as he walked off.
'Uh, what a strange out come.' Athrun thought to himself, watching Auel walk away casually. 'I guess this means we will see each other again, I'll looked forward to it', clinging to the pen tightly. It was going to be a bumpy ride, should it be a long enough one considering he kept cowering around Auel, he couldn't it help it, he was used to bullies trying to threaten him, he could only assume that Auel could or might also try to get him one day, only time would tell.
Through out the entire day, Athrun's mind became clouded from busy thoughts, each thought curious about today's events so far and what might come, he thought about what Auel might be do right now, probably dreaming or something daft –
"Mr. Zala, are you listening?" a voice called out to him, causing him to snap out of it, he was in the middle of class,
"Oh, sorry sir" he blushed, embarrassed. Funny how that worked, thinking about the fact Auel might be day dreaming like it's a bad thing yet here he was doing it himself. Strange, he had never done that in class before now, he was confused that he'd do that at all in class since his classes were important to him. '...What on earth was that?' he wondered to himself, blinking blankly in the direction of his lanky old teacher, trying to think too about it in case he drifted away again.
It wasn't until lunch time that he started to really think about it, he sat in the far corner of the schools dining area where he was out of the way from rowdy crowds pushing and shoving for school lunches. Athrun was smart though, he knew food here wasn't worth being crushed for so he brought a pack lunch of tuna and cheese sandwiches, something he had recently taken a liking to and sat by himself to avoid being bothered by some of the students, not all of them sat nicely to eat, some did rather throw their food across the table to whoever sat opposite them. He started to tuck into his food, slowly chewing his food as his thought diverted to his earlier interupted ones,
'This was his fault, if I didn't think about what happened today, I would have stayed focused in class – Damn it'
Before today, Athrun could ignore his secretive fondness for Auel, no interaction made that pretty easy to do, with no actions there was no memories and with no memories, he wouldn't think about it. 'Gah, this is stupid, there wasn't much difference from today than usual..!'he continued to complain and rant to himself, curling his free hand into a fist, squeezing his fingers into his palm out of frustration. Again he let out a heavy sigh, releasing his grip, it was times like this he wished he had a stress ball,
"Oi, oi, still bothered by having too much work" a snarky voice said. Looking up he saw the dirty teenager he walked to school with,
"Auel?" Athrun was more confused then ever, Auel had a big cheesy grin on his face in addition to some blush marks, "What are you doing here?" he asked, Auel walked around the table, plonking himself opposite Athrun,
"Can't I sit here or something?" Auel glares, Athrun shook his head, causing Auel's expression to go back to its excited self, "Good... Now then, given you saved me this morning from a beaten, I reckon you won't say not to help me out again"
Taking advantage of that already? He moved fast that's for sure.
"What do you need my help with?" Athrun asked, his mind riddled with possible reasons why he needed help, silly ones like 'What if he wanted help learning to dance', images of the pair doing the waltz together under cover of beautiful mist beginning to emerge, images of Auel with pink sakura cheeks and himself in a noble Victorian outfit in shades of navy blue. Stupid, childish imagination.
Back to reality, Auel pointed over to a small crowd of people, a couple looked a little rough. "See the short green haired guy? He's friends with those you saw me with earlier, but he's also friends with me... They don't approve of me" he pouts angrily,
"Oh … how come?" Athrun asked,
"They can't accept I'm cooler than them" he grins, chuckling proudly. Athrun almost head butted the table, who in their right mind would tell some one who looks like they could murder you, that you're better than them? This guy was mad ... "The only girl with them, that's Stellar.. -" he suddenly pauses, Athrun looked over at the blonde female sat next to the green haired one, she looked pretty innocent, nothing violent about her look at all.
"Uh, she's kind of cute" Athrun said, without a word from Auel except 'mhm' noises. He turned back to see him hiding under his short pale bangs, tinted shades of pink around his now rosie cheeks, Athruns head cocked to one side, the sheer look of him told him some thing might be between him and her, at the single realization that Auel might have feelings for some one else, he felt a sudden pain in his chest. "... I see" he said, averting his eyes.
"Don't say that like that!" Suddenly shouted Auel, baring his fangs and waving his fist like a protective animal before huffing and relaxing back in his seat,
"So... You like that girl?" Athrun asked, keeping a normal composure,
"Yeah, yeah whatever you want to call it"
Auel was trying to keep his cool but the more he tried, the more he was failing at it.
"I still don't get why you need me though?" Athrun asked, "I hope you know I know nothing about talking to girls, I'm the wrong guy for that"
"Actually, I wanted to use you as a decoy"
That did not sound like a good idea, an idea he wouldn't want to par-take in, "You see, I had a plan! I get you to say some thing stupid to those idiots, they'd get up and chase you then she'd be alone.."
"And then what?"
"...I haven't thought that far." Auel sheepishly replied. Honestly, this guy was useless, Athrun wondered how he even got in his head in the first place with that way of thinking. "As well as a decoy, I know you're smart so I thought you'd come do that part"
"I already said I'm not the right person to ask for that kind of thing, I don't have the first idea of how to even talk to a girl should I like her" Athrun said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "I can't suggest anything .. "
"Pfft, you're just useless aren't you" the minor pouted, slouching in his chair. Those words weren't very encouraging, not very friendly at the same time, in fact it made Athrun feel pretty useless since he could help his new little 'friend' out. "Urgh this was a dumb idea!" he yelled, standing up suddenly, "I'm out of here, thanks for nothing dork"
"Wait!" Athrun yelped,
"What?" Auel glared,
Athrun paused for a moment, desperate to make him stay longer he had called out to him with no idea what to say apart from letting out 'Ahm' and 'I-I.. ', "Spit it out then.. " Without really thinking about it, Athrun walked around the table, grabbed Auel's shoulder, spun him and held onto his shoulder so he wouldn't turn back around, "W-what are you doing?!" Auel yelled,
"Just go and tell her how you feel"
Truth was, Athrun had no idea what he was doing, impulses yelled 'do something or lose him',
"You're insane!" Auel cried out, trying to wiggle free of Athrun's surprisingly strong grip, "I'm not going to do that,
"If you don't, how else will you get to ask her" Athrun replied, giving Auel a gentle shove,
"But what … what if she turns me down" For the very first time in front of others, Auel blushed. Stuttering at the idea of asking and receiving rejection, Athrun gulped, he could tell he was nervous and wished dearly to see the expression upon Auel's face.
"You'll never know until you try.." he said, thoughts of letting go beginning to stab him in the chest, he already knew that if Auel got with Stella, it would be game over for sure, at least when he was single, Athrun could fantasize about relations with his own pale rebel. As hard as it was, he knew Auel would be happier this way so the right thing to do would be to see if those two would get together. Auel smacked Athrun's hand away, psychical contact warming Athrun up as well as causing him to move back.
"If she says no … I'm coming to kill you" Auel threatened, a sharp angry animal look in his eyes piercing Athrun's coldly.
"I'm...I'm sure – She won't" he gulped, chills running down his spine.
"Tch" Auel simply went, walking off towards the female, stomping as he did so, any one could he was nervous by how awkwardly he walked.
Athrun watched from the table he was still at, sweat pouring down his face, worried about the out come. From where he was, he could see Auel's facing blushing whilst maintaining an angry look, trying to maintain his fierce look but failing all the way. Stellar continued to look a little dense, her expression almost confused, moment later he saw her shake her head from side to side and Auel's shoulders sinking before he ran off. '...Crap' Athrun knew what this meant, once Auel had calmed down, he'd be on his way to get him, at that rate it would be after school since lunch drew to an end.
All Athrun's afternoon classes consisted of him worrying like mad, chewing on his stubby thumb nail, watching the clock tick by the second – Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock – Hoping to either get out early or manage to avoid Auel for today, just in case he carried out his death threat. Finally when end of his final class came about, Athrun tried to keep an eye out for Auel whilst trying to stay out of sight like a coward, attempting to use espionage tactics to slide across the white walls of the institute, sneaking by evergreen's which grew out back, most students forgot about this area, it was almost perfect for an escape route.
Finally off school grounds, Athrun uneasily starts his trip down the streets of towering buildings, flashbacks from early today, 'Ah well.. it was nice whilst it lasted...' Athrun sighed, putting his hands in his trouser pockets, only to find Auel's pen, causing him to bring them back out. 'I bet this token means nothing now I ruined things for him … ' he sighs heavily, placing it back in his pockets. For after school, his route home was pretty quiet, too quiet -
Out of no where, it began to rain, it started coming down really badly, 'Just what I need to finish the day off.. -' His thoughts suddenly interrupted and dragged to one side, an all too familiar scenario from the morning events. This time Athrun was slammed against the alley way walls causing him to flinch and have this glasses fall off his nose, feeling as if some one had tried to break his back. Athrun opened his once flinched eyes to reveal a very drenched and slightly blurry Auel baring his fangs at him,
"Ah-!" Athrun yelped, Auel had the neck of his sweater clutched tightly in his fist, almost holding him up if it wasn't for his height difference,
"You! You ruin everything!" Auel shouted, shaking Athrun back and fourth, "Listening to your dumb advice!"
"I—I .." Athrun stuttered.
"She said no .. " Auel began to sob, resting his head on Athrun's chest, clinging with both hands onto the older males sweater, "She said she liked some one else.." he cried, using one hand to thump Athrun in the chest, distressed by the situation he was in. The moment had gone from back breaking to heart breaking, even Athrun felt a little sad for him. He found himself wrapping his arms around Auel and squeezing him tightly, the younger male allowing it or he just didn't care.
"It will be okay … " Athrun whispered, resting his chin on the top of Auel's head, just standing there in the pouring rain...