Another holiday finished, another school year beginning. A new classroom, a new teacher, Ralph just had to hope that he would be sat next to someone new as well, and not that awful Jack Merridew for the third year running. Three years sitting next to each other would have been great if they were friends, or tense if they were true enemies, but they seemed to be so lost between the two things that it was just plain awkward, and Ralph didn't know what to make of the situation.
When they weren't in lessons, Jack and his gang tormented Ralph, and any friends that happened to be with him at the time, mercilessly. That Ralph could deal with. He could return comments with ease, and if things got violent, he was quick on his feet, and stronger than he looked. What he couldn't deal with was the way Jack acted in lessons. As soon as they sat down in class, and Jack was away from his posse, he was nice. He didn't tease Ralph, or call him names. Well, he called him 'golden boy' no matter what the setting, but in class, it was almost, almost, affectionate. And Ralph never knew how to respond. How could someone be so horrible in one setting, and so nice in another? It just didn't make any sense.
"Merridew, you're next to Harrington at the back."
Ralph cursed under his breath, pulling his chair as far away from the seat next to him as he possibly could, while Jack sat down and got his books out.
"Well, well, well, golden boy, looks like I'm stuck with you for another year." The taunting voice filled Ralph's ears, coated in the tone of softness that confused the younger boy to no end.
"Yeah, guess you are." Ralph muttered in response, watching as his two best friends, Simon and Piggy, were seated at the far side of the room. Despite how uncomfortable he was next to Jack, Ralph couldn't help feeling sorry for Simon. He had been seated next to the most violent member of Jack's gang, Roger. Everything about Roger was terrifying, and next to Simon, the picture of innocence, the threatening atmosphere he gave off was amplified. Ralph just prayed that Simon wouldn't become his main victim because the two of them were sat together.
"No need to look so worried, Goldilocks." Another of Jack's favourite names for Ralph. "Your little friend will be just fine. Roger's got a soft spot for guys like him, he'll treat him real nice."
Ralph instantly turned to look at the redhead beside him, and was shocked to find icy eyes locked to his the second he did so.
"What do you mean?" Jack laughed at his ignorance, choosing not to reveal too much.
"Exactly what I said. Roger's going to treat your little friend real nice, so don't you worry."
Ralph frowned, still not really understanding, and glanced back over at Simon, who was clutching his pen tightly, while Roger stared at him intently, despite having his head angled towards the desk. The way Roger's dark hair half covered his eyes made him look more menacing than usual, and Ralph decided to keep an eye on him, just to make sure Simon wasn't under any threat. Not matter what Jack said, or what it meant, he wasn't taking any chances.
"Alright class, now that everyone's seated, let's open up our textbooks to page 23."
Ralph liked to keep his desk neat, he made sure his pens were always in a nice, straight line, all facing the same way, and he had just enough room for his textbook to lie open without one side being propped up on something else and getting bent out of shape. Jack wasn't quite so particular, and as soon as Ralph placed his book in its designated position, Jack dropped his into place, purposefully allowing it to overlap Ralph's.
Ralph sighed, mentally scolding himself for not expecting this kind of behaviour.
"Jack, move your book."
"Well, someone's in a good mood today." Jack mocked sarcastically, smirking at the blonde boy.
"Don't start, Jack, just move the book. You've got plenty of space, don't invade mine."
"Say please."
"Jack!"
"That's not saying please."
"Oh for crying out loud."
"Mr Merridew, Mr Harrington, is there some sort of problem back there?"
Jack raised one eyebrow at Ralph, as though silently repeating the teacher's question, and Ralph just sighed again.
"No sir." He responded quietly, while Jack continued to smirk.
"Jack, please will you move your book?" Ralph whispered, through gritted teeth.
"Of course I will Ralphie."
All of the lessons that morning went pretty much the same way, with the red-headed choir boy doing everything in his power to annoy Ralph, and the the blonde knew exactly what it meant. It might have only been the first day of term, but Merridew was looking for a fight.
Ralph made sure to take all the precautions he could to ensure his friends weren't going to get roped into a scrap with Jack and his group. First off he warned them, then he convinced them to sit somewhere other than their usual spot, so they would be harder to find. Piggy suggested they find a club to go to, so they weren't out in the open, and even if they were found, there would be a teacher with them, so there wouldn't be a fight, but Sam and Eric, the twins from the year below that liked to sit with them, argued that it was too nice a day to go inside, and even if there was a fight, the five of them could take the choir boys any day.
They got through most of lunch without any signs of hostility, but with ten minutes of lunch left, the familiar trio finally found them. The red-headed tyrant sauntering towards them with a smirk, Roger on one side, his eyes fixed on Simon, and Maurice on his other side, grinning at the thought of getting to watch a fight.
"Oh no." Simon mumbled, glancing in the direction of the three bullies as they drew nearer. Ralph saw them too, and groaned internally.
"Well, if it isn't our favourite group of losers." Maurice sang happily. A glance from Jack shut him up, then the leader took charge.
"We got worried when we couldn't find you at your usual bench. Why'd you move? I hope you weren't running away from us." The gleam in his eye said exactly the opposite, and all four boys in Ralph's group turned to the small blonde boy to take charge of their side.
"We weren't running away, just looking to avoid a confrontation. Plus, sometimes you need a change of scenery."
Jack, Maurice, and Roger shared a mocking look, before turning back to the others. Simon began fidgeting uncomfortably, Roger's gaze on him unmoving and intense.
"Aw, Goldilocks, how nice of you to pick such a pretty place for our first fight of the year." Jack said with a smirk, stepping closer to Ralph.
"We're not going to fight, Jack." Ralph replied calmly. Piggy held his breath, and Sam and Eric kept looking between the two leaders in nervous anticipation. Simon looked at no one, and kept his head down so he wouldn't meet Roger's intimidating stare.
"Oh really? And what makes you so sure of that?" Jack leant right down to where Ralph was sitting, holding himself so their noses were almost touching.
"Because I'm not going to fight you." Ralph said simply, fighting all of the instincts that told him to move his head away from Jack's. Flames ignited in Jack's eyes.
"Well then, if you're not going to fight me, I guess I've got some free hits." With that, he grabbed Ralph's shirt collar, and pulled him up onto his feet. Ralph stumbled, not managing to get his balance back in time to dodge the first blow. Jack's fist caught his shoulder, and he stumbled again, just stopping himself from falling, and regaining balance. He dodged the second punch easily, and sidestepped the third. Jack growled, feigned a fourth punch, and pounced instead, knocking Ralph to the ground and pinning him there.
One leg went either side of Ralph's hips, and strong hands were on his shoulders, holding him down, despite his struggles. For a moment, it seemed that Ralph was winning, he was so close to getting Jack off of him, so close to overpowering him, when the fire in Jack's eyes blazed. Ralph's shoulders were slammed back down into the ground, and Jack shifted almost all of his weight, grounding down on the smaller boy's hips to hold them in place as well.
In the same instant, Ralph stopped struggling. The feeling of Jack grounding his hips was...interesting, to say the very least. He was silently hoping that the slight tightening in his trousers was just his imagination, but when Jack froze, he knew it wasn't. It couldn't be happening. He couldn't be reacting to this in that way. He hated this, he hated fighting, and from that moment, he hated himself. He couldn't be that way, he couldn't be. His father would never approve, if anyone found out he'd be a laughing stock, he'd be ridiculed, shunned, outcast. And there he was, so vulnerable, because the one other person that knew as much as he did was Jack. Horrid, unpredictable Jack. Internally he was panicking, expecting Jack to start shouting, or at least mention it in some way. But he didn't. Instead, he just stood up, kicking Ralph, surprisingly gently, onto his side as he did so.
"Maurice, Roger, come on, we're leaving." He ordered, before stalking off, Maurice close to his heels. Roger stared at Simon for one more long moment, then stuck his hands in his pockets and followed the other two, kicking a stone as he went.
"Ralph, are you okay?" Piggy asked quickly, helping Ralph up from the ground.
"Why'd he just leave?" Eric added.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Ralph replied quietly, staring after the bullies, feeling a hideous mixture of disgust, dread, confusion, and the lingering remnants of arousal. "...I...I don't know."
