Chapter Two – An Arch Nemesis Isn't an Arch Nemesis Unless He Has the Same Favourite Flavour of Jam
Every story must have a bad guy.
This is proven fact that some unattractive scientists in white lab coats have decided to back up with lots of important evidence. I don't know why they did. They must have been a bit bored.
Regardless, their research makes my job as a saga-spinner a lot easier as I have no need to justify the fact that a REALLY bad person just happened to be in the classroom along from Alex's at the time.
Actually, I probably do.
The baddie's name was Gavin and he enjoyed eating Philadelphia cheese and listening to music by Elton John. However, these two facts hold absolutely no bearing on the story whatsoever so I'll stop banging on about them.
Gavin had darkish, straight hair that did that poncey-eye-covering-thing, similar to that of Zac Efron or Joe Jonas. He also had very dark eyes and fairly dark skin, seeming to boast of several hundred holidays in the Caribbean. He had shiny white teeth and annoyingly perfect arms. I don't quite know what it was about his arms, they just were annoying. The muscles seemed a little too perfect and a little too carefully worked out, under the dark fabric of his black T-shirt. When he flexed them, he could probably take somebody's eye out. That sort of annoying.
He also just happened to be pretty good pals with Scorpia. Small world eh?
At the current moment in time that is important enough for me to bother writing about, he was leaning casually back in his chair, occasionally flicking his fringe camply. Although his dark eyes were fixed upon his form tutor, his brain was already occupied with slightly less quaint ideas than French superlatives.
Today was the day the Rider boy was back.
He'd seen him earlier, trying to negotiate the door on his locker with a fractured elbow. Any normal person would have found the sight pitiful to behold but Gavin, what with him being a bad guy and all, found the whole sequence rather amusing but then, let's face it; he's a bit of a psychopath.
Letting the teacher's current flow of badly accented French wash over him, Gavin clicked his pen irritably and visualised roughly seventy-five different ways of disembowelling the Rider boy.
*
The lessons seemed to fly by, metaphorically of course, and Alex found himself slipping back into the normal routine of gut-achingly boring school. Although he winged a lot about being a super spy, he'd sort have grown used to the whole imminent death thing and was beginning to rather like it. He'd much rather be a super spy than say, an accountant. He struggled with algebra.
In fact, it was in an algebra lesson that things started to get a little bit interesting. The teacher, Mrs Connor had just left the room to reprimand a student she'd sent out earlier, Tyler Harper decided to write the word 'Foil' on the whiteboard for no reason whatsoever and Callum Singleton was currently wacking Oliver Rushby round the head with his chair, while Oliver laughed manically. Nothing new.
Well, nothing new apart from the new completely beautiful girl sitting at the front of the class eyeing Callum's chair bashing ritual warily. Alex had been staring at the back of her head for some hours now and had not yet got bored. This could have been interpreted as a little bit creepy but Alex liked to think if it as 'sweet'.
Clarice turned her head slightly to the left and Alex suddenly noticed a figure sitting directly behind her, a figure he hadn't noticed before but more importantly, a figure that was staring directly at him.
He was tanned and Alex self consciously covered his own, slightly albino flesh. He had very dark, very straight hair that was layered over one eye but above all, he had very annoying forearms. Alex wasn't sure what it was about them, whether it was the tan or the muscles, but something about his arms screamed aggravation.
Although his arms were disturbing, they were nowhere near as disturbing as the murderous look the boy was sending his way. Alex almost flinched, before reminding himself that he had taken bullets, so one slightly off look from a jealous peer could hardly be deemed as threatening. He gave Staring Boy a cheery little wave before returning his gaze to the back of Clarice's head.
*
Gavin nearly choked on his own spit. That little Rider sod had just waved at him. Instead of withering and writhing about on the floor in response to Gavin's-Glare-Of-Death, Rider had simply waved, before returning his attention to the girl sitting in the front row.
Reigning in his feelings of outrage and utter mortification, Gavin followed Alex's gaze to the girl. His stomach performed a sort of strange flip. This girl was beautiful. Straight, casual brown hair fell across her shoulders, freckles danced happily across her nose and a smile tugged at the side of her mouth as she watched the two complete tits at the front of the room wrestle with a chair. Mmm...laughing at pain....she was Gavin's type of girl.
He flicked his fringe enthusiastically, desperately trying to catch her eye. Unfortunately, she seemed too absorbed in the Chair-Death episode to pay much attention to a boy exerting a little more energy than entirely necessary into a fringe flick.
Gavin sighed dramatically. He would have to bide his time to win over the heart of this one.
He focused back on Rider. He was still completely absorbed in the back of the girl's head. He was even drooling slightly. How very disgusting.
Nevertheless, he would have to stay close to Rider, learn his ways. Before he disembowelled him. Gavin spent the next few minutes happily envisioning a scene in which he murdered Rider, before passionately embracing the Girl From The Front Row. Ah, happy days...
*
Lunch was always a trauma.
The whole queuing up thing was enough of a trial already without adding a fractured arm into the equation. Alex waited impatiently, along with his classmates, for a spoonful of hot-pot he knew would taste awful anyway. Ah, the life of a super-spy...
It was then that he noticed Staring Boy.
Staring Boy was living up to his name and was blatantly staring at him, from the far end of the queue. Alex checked him out.
Not romantically, of course, as that would be weird. He checked him out from a military-purely-professional-no-dodgyness-at-all-whatsoever point of view. He was fit. Not romantically of course, as that would be even weirder. He was fit from a merely-observational-in-a-hypothetical-nature point of view. He certainly would be able to take care of himself in a fight.
Just like Alex would.
Curiosity was ignited in Alex's chest and he cranes his neck to examine exactly what was on Staring Boy's plate. Hot-pot, a bottle of water, three sachets of jam and a blueberry muffin. Exactly the same as Alex.
Alex shook his head. It was weird, but not weird enough to completely freak out Alex Rider. He quickly paid and found a seat next to Tom. They were just beginning to discuss the afternoon ahead when a tray was suddenly slammed down next to Alex's.
Staring Boy looked down at them both.
"Hello." He said. "My name is Gavin. Can I sit here?" Alex didn't answer. Instead, he stared, transfixed at the three sachets of jam on the two trays. They were exactly the same.
Raspberry.