ROY SAUNTERED into his first period class, already donning a bored and tired look. He took his seat in the far-left area of the classroom, taking a moment to stare out the clear window next to him at the skyline. He thought briefly for a moment how beautiful it looked and how hard it would be to paint. The morning fog diluted the sharp lines of the city buildings, and the blue sky made the tips of the skyscrapers look like they were just dipped in a translucent sky-coloured paint. The sun crept up those same buildings as it rose over the horizon, colouring the bottom half of the buildings with a golden colour. He slipped his bag off and set it at the leg of his desk, next to his chair, and folded his arms only to rest his head on them, sliding his chair backward to get more comfortable.
"Good morning, class!" Roy's chipper English teacher, Ms. Fouler, chirped as she entered the room. There was a scattered, monotone mutter of a 'good morning' from the class in reply. Ms. Fouler proceeded to set her bags down behind her desk and slip off her coat, which she slung over the back of her chair. She straightened herself out, took a breath, and started to recite a full-blown lecture about the messages found in Macbeth. Roy's thoughts wandered to the fact that his teacher was never one to beat around the bush and always got right to the point of everything she ever taught or said to him. His train of thought continued to ones of how he looked forward to his two classes after lunch, as they always managed to be fun no matter what they were doing- or supposed to be doing; ones of a perfect hue he found in the sky that matched Lily's hair; and ones that wondered if there was anyone else in the entire school that had blue hair. He was derailed when his teacher threw a question about revenge at him for him to answer, and at that, he sat up straight and responded confidently. This was how his day began.
Once English class finally ended- in which Roy had somehow gotten into a heated argument about incest- he moved with the crowd towards his science class, where he "participated" in a lab. Sheik seemed to be handling the entire experiment fine by himself, Roy decided, and his assumption was confirmed when Sheik refused help from his lab partner when it was offered. When he was supposed to be recording temperatures of the murky liquid contained in a beaker, he was actually burning random pieces of scrap paper over the Bunsen burner at their lab table. After a full period of doing next to nothing, Roy helped Sheik clear the table, collected his things, and left class to go to lunch.
A floor down and a few hallways away from his science class, Roy spun the combination into his lock, trading his English and Science books for his sketchbook, camera, and guitar. He stood up from rustling through the papers stuck behind the front cover of his sketchbook for a particular sheet of music that he had to practice for his music test he had next period- just in case he needed it- and shut his locker again.
The flame-haired teen went down the stairs to the first floor and entered the cafeteria, greeted by the loud, constant chattering of the students inside. He walked over to the table he and his friends always sat at and took a seat across from Lilina, next to Link.
"Hey Royskies…" Lilina said, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Roy! Will you play that song for me? The one we're going to get tested on next period?" The blonde boy said, turning to face Roy, bearing a hopeful expression.
"Yeah, sure… are you sure you're not going to fuck up and ruin the marks for the both of us?"
Link rolled his eyes and nodded. "I just want to make sure I have the beat down pat, that's all."
"You're freaking out too much about this, you know…" Roy commented, placing his guitar on the table, unzipping the case, and withdrawing it. "Do you want me to give you an intro?" He asked, placing his guitar on his lap and reaching into his pocket for a pick.
"Nope, just start from the beginning." Link replied, holding his drumsticks at the ready.
"Alright, on three, then, starting from the part where the drums come in…"
Roy began strumming the guitar line from Gold Lion by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Link supplied a soft rendition of the drum line on his thighs with his drumsticks and feet. Sheik, while finishing off the last of his English essay, began to sing along without realizing it. Lilina watched with a soft smile as they all carried out the timing, pitch, and rhythm of the song without any mistakes.
"You guys are so cute." Lilina said as they finished, grinning over at the three boys across the lunch table.
"Eh? That was… random?" Link said as he slipped his drumsticks back into his backpack.
"I know, but… I don't know… you're all such good friends and all… so when you work together, it's even cuter."
Roy smirked at her comment, chuckling softly. He started to play the tabs to another song, softly singing the lyrics to himself. Lilina sighed softly, watching Roy for a moment before getting up again and putting the book she was holding back into her bag. "Sorry guys, but I have to get into class early today. I promised my math teacher that I'd help him organize the desks and papers for our test. I'll catch you later, okay?" She leaned over, giving Roy a peck on his cheek, which he returned with a smile as Lily left to go to her class.
"Boy, she's really a teacher's pet, isn't she?" Link said, once Lilina had left.
"Yeah… but she's a hard worker, and really considerate…" Roy replied, starting to play Green Day's Macy's Day Parade softly as he spoke.
"But doesn't it get annoying sometimes? Like, remember last Thursday? When she couldn't go out with you because she had to go home and finish her assignment?"
"… well… she wanted to be finished early…"
"Yeah, like, a month early. And even after that she wouldn't go out with her because she had plans with her friends."
"Okay, okay. So she's a little more… proper than we are."
"Proper?
She's anal."
"Shut up, Link. It's probably just a phase."
"You'd like to think so."
"Link, I said shut up. Go busy yourself with your girlfriend."
"What? Link has a girlfriend?" Another voice said suddenly, higher and smoother than any boys' voice that they knew. They both looked up at the newcomer, and Roy heard Link choking momentarily. "Ah… hi… hi Zelda…" Was all he managed to stutter before succumbing to his shy self.
"Hey." She replied, stealing one of the Poptarts that Link was eating. "So. You have a girlfriend? My little Link is growing up."
"Oh… um… no… Roy was talking about… my uh, other… friend."
"Aah, so your soon-to-be girlfriend." Zelda laughed as Link grew impossibly redder. "Okay, okay, I'll stop poking fun at you."
"Zel," Sheik said, entering the conversation suddenly. "What time are we meeting after school for the shoot?"
"Hmm," Zelda chewed on the piece of Poptart she'd just put into her mouth, swallowing a while later. "I have volleyball after school today, so… around three thirty, maybe? Where are we headed, Sheik?"
"To that old cemetery down the road."
"Mhmm, perfect. I just need to stop by my house first to grab that dress you wanted me to wear… you can drop your stuff off there if you like."
"Alright," Sheik said finally, throwing a knowing glance at the still-flushed Link, who was now staring over at Sheik's photography model. "Anyway… We've got like, two minutes to get to class, so… I'm going to head over to vocal… I'll see you later Link, Roy."
"Later, Sheik," Roy said, looking up at the boy momentarily and nodding his farewell. Roy stood up and put his guitar back in its case, slinging his bag over his shoulder again. "Link, we should go to music now, too. Zelda, you walking over to photography with us?"
"Eh, why not, it's in the same direction anyway… c'mon Link, don't just sit there. You'll make us late for class."
"What? I- oh. Sorry." Link stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair over in the process.
The three of them began walking down the west corridor that led away from the cafeteria. Roy always made sure that he sandwiched Link in between himself and Zelda so that the two blondes had a higher percentage of actually conversing with each other. There were scattered, random beginnings of conversation thrown around as the trio turned a corner, headed to the art department.
"Well, anyway, I'm just saying… that everyone does have that side to them; it's just that certain people flaunt it more than others." Zelda ended her short rant about evil and good in people with a confident nod, agreeing with herself. She stopped in front of her classroom and turned to head inside. "I'll catch up with you guys after school or something. If not… I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Zelda." The two boys said in unison as they continued to their classroom that was three doors down the hall.
They both wandered into their class, immediately hit with a string of melodies, all originating from different instruments- guitars, flutes, bass guitars, clarinets- all playing different tunes and songs, doing some last-minute practicing for their upcoming test.
"Link… you really have to start relaxing around Zelda. No one's going to go out with someone to doesn't say or do anything but blush all day."
Link sat down at the drumset in the corner of the classroom. He removed his bag and took his drumsticks out, sighing. "I know… but she's just so amazing and pretty… and… and… calm… collected… and I—"
"Whoa, whoa. Link. Calm your hormones. I already have a girlfriend; you don't need to sell me yours."
"Fft. You'd be better off with Zel anyway."
"… I swear to God I will shove this guitar up your ass if you say anything like that again…"
"Whatever does it for ya."
Roy let out a frustrated groan before sitting down on a bench, not far from his best friend, and checking to make sure that his guitar was still in tune. After all, you could never be overly prepared for a music test, especially one with this specific teacher, who found the absolutely smallest things to nitpick on.
A few minutes later, Mr. Trebalti walked into the classroom, and the roar of instruments slowly died down into silence. The music teacher eyed his class in an almost scrutinizing fashion. "Alright. The test today… will go down in alphabetical order. I don't care which partner comes first, so if your last name starts with a "T", and your partner, whose last name starts with a "B", is called down, you're coming too, got it? No arguing. … let's begin."
There were about seven couples to perform in front of Mr. Trebalti before Link and Roy were called up to play their piece, which went incredibly smoothly on both their parts.
"Yesssss. Full marks for the deadly duo!" Link said, grinning.
"… deadly duo? When did you make that our nickname?" Roy replied, packing up his guitar.
"About four seconds ago."
"Aaaand why would I want to affiliate myself with you?"
"Because… I love you that way, of course!" The blonde accentuated his comment by hugging Roy loosely around his neck.
"Okay, okay," Roy said, patting Link's arm softly. "There, there, Rinku."
"Whaaaat! You don't even hug me back anymore, Roy!? What is this?! It's blasphemy! Betrayal! You don't love me anymo-- … did you just call me Rinku?"
"… maybe…"
"Awwwww! I love it when you call me that! You do love me!!"
"Link, you're getting overly fluffy now."
"You're my best friend. I have the right to be fluffy with you. You just won't let me be fluffy with you because you have a girlfriend… it's not cheating if your friend is a guy! … unless… you're gay, Royskies?"
"Because I would be going out with a member of the opposite sex if I was attracted to guys."
"It could totally be a cover up!"
"Oh, drop it, already, Rinku."
The two friends left their music class together and said their goodbyes before splitting apart at the same staircase they always did. Roy headed up one floor to his art class, which was the class he had been looking forward to the most the entire day. The redhead entered his classroom and sat down at his usual seat- or in this case, a stool- and but his bag on the table. He sighed softly, folding his arms and resting his head on them as he did at the beginning of the day. More and more of his classmates filed into the classroom, most of them uttering greetings at Roy as they passed; some of them even took the time to have a small conversation with him.
"Hey! Hey! Roooooy! Come on, you can't sleep this class off, I'll get lonely!" Roy looked up just in time for his flame-like hair to get ruffled by an unexpected hand. "Come on come on, up and at 'em!"
"Ugh… come on, Pit… I was up late last night…"
"What, talking to Lilina?" The pepped up brunette sat beside his usual spot beside the redhead, grinning over at his friend.
"Why is everyone stuck on the topic of Lily today anyway? Is everyone having a mutiny against me or something?"
"No… well… just, if I still had a girlfriend, I would be talking to her all the time, too…"
"… Pit, come on now, keep your head up. You'll find someone else- someone better- than that airhead you were dating before…"
"But you never know that for sure… "
"… I know I don't. But… I don't know, I just have a feeling you will. Everyone has a person that they've been waiting their entire life to meet, you know. That's what I believe, anyway…" Roy withdrew his sketchbook from his bag without taking his eyes off the brunette sitting next to him.
"Yeah, I know… but… it just doesn't feel like it sometimes, you know?"
"I know it doesn't… but the rule still applies!"
Pit smiled softy, nodding, and then mimicking his friend's movements, removing his own sketchbook and opening it to a blank page.
The entire art class had to wait an additional ten minutes before their teacher entered the class. Ms. Valyko was of average build; not very fat and not very skinny, and short, as she came up to Roy's shoulder when they stood next to each other. Her hair was boy-short and jet black, usually pinned back on the left side with a barrette that was different every day. This was all the same, as she was usually late. But today was different, as she was being escorted by a teenage boy.
"Sorry, guys. I left all my paperwork in my car and I have handouts to give you that I needed, so I had to go out to my car to get them." Ms. Valyko had made her way over to her desk and was now frantically trying to get as organized as she could before her class started getting impatient, which was not very long considering her students. The boy stopped following his teacher midway between the door and her desk and was now standing in front of the chalkboard, waiting patiently for his teacher to introduce him. He shook his head slightly to clear a piece of his hair out of his eye and Roy noticed how much of a contrast his pale skin was against the blackboard. His clear azure eyes were almost the same shade as his hair if not a tad lighter, and they were darting around the classroom at all of the students that were sitting in the room, facing him.
This boy had blue hair that came up to his shoulders and bangs that just graced his eyelids. He towered over the art professor- which wasn't saying much considering her height- and was slender and trim. He wore an almost icy expression; void of any emotion. He didn't look nervous, or scared, or excited… just blank. Roy remembered wondering if there was anyone else in the school with blue hair during English class and now he had his answer. The boy's features were set evenly and almost perfectly on his face, like they would be placed on a treasured porcelain doll. Roy stared at the blue-haired teen, catching his eye a few times as when he glanced over in Roy's direction. The redhead's thoughts started to wander; he wondered exactly who this boy was and where he came from, why looked so stern, if his hair was as soft and smelled as good as Lilina's, and how beautiful he looked when his eyes were downcast and his fair-skinned face was framed by his short blue hair.
Roy straightened out and suddenly bore a puzzled expression, which mirrored his inner confusion. Had he really just thought that, so easily, and so calmly? He had a girlfriend, and he wasn't attracted to men… but he still couldn't deny his own thoughts. Roy sighed heavily and blamed that particular deranged pensive moment on lack of sleep, burying his face into his folded arms.
"Guys, I'd like to introduce a new addition to our class." Ms. Valyko began, taking a spot beside the object of Roy's confusion. "His name is Marth Lowell. He dropped the automotive course to join into this course, so show him the good side of this art class, alright? … hmm… Marth, there's an empty seat behind Roy and Pit over there, so sit down and get comfortable. … It's the redhead and the brunette on the left side there." The art teacher droned on without taking her eyes off of the papers in her hands.
Marth, without a word, took the seat that Ms. Valyko had suggested to him. He removed his navy blue messenger bag and placed it on the desk in front of him like must of the other students in his class had done. Pit was nice enough to turn around and utter a "nice to meet you", which was returned with a slight, almost nonexistent smile and a nod. Roy didn't even bother to turn around, as he was slightly afraid that looking at the boy would cause his rampant thoughts to return.
"Okay guys, I told you on Monday that you were going to get an assignment before the end of this week, so I'm going to give it to you now. It will be completed in couples- which I am going to choose so that the conflict we faced last time does not reoccur. Here's looking at you, Ms. Toadstool."
"Miss, I already apologized for that like so many times! It won't happen like… ever again, kay?"
"That remains to be seen. Continuing on… this piece of art will be collaboration. It will be an in-studio assignment and should be started and completed here at school. I'll let you take it home if you really need to, but that would mean that you'd have to somehow make it over to your partners' house or vice versa, and things get complicated and messy. I'm just trying to make it easier on you guys, you know. Anyway, it will be a completely creative piece and will study various ways to distort a figure. Think of it as one big, refined doodle that is done by two different people."
There were excited comments exchanged between students as they anxiously waited to be assigned their partners. No student in the class would really care who they were coupled with, as they were all very close to each other, but everyone had their preferences.
"Hm… alright. Peach, you'll be paired with Samus. Mario, you'll be paired with your brother…" Ms. Valyko continued on, pairing everyone with someone else until they all had a partner. "Oh, Marth… hm… sorry, Pit, but I'm going to have to pair him up with Roy."
"That's okay, Miss. I get enough of that kid every day anyway." The brunette retorted.
"Now that that's set… you and your partner will be working on this piece at the same time. Yes, you heard me. At the same time. Meaning, both of you will be painting or drawing or… whatever… at the exact same time. You can draw anything you like, and it doesn't matter if your partner disagrees with what you're drawing. The things you draw do not have to harmonize in any fashion. It is supposed to be both deranged and dream-like, alright? I'll hand out the papers, so re-arrange yourselves so that you're all sitting beside your partners."
The art class began shuffling around to switch seats with each other. Pit moved to the other side of the classroom to sit with his partner Kafei. Roy sighed and swore to himself that he wouldn't let his thoughts return to him. But when he turned around and saw Marth staring back at him, he couldn't help but feel slightly light headed. Roy wasn't certain why he had feelings towards the blue-haired boy. He was certain that it most definitely wasn't love, as he told him this over and over again. He loved Lilina, his girlfriend; she was perfect for him… wasn't she?
"Um… so…" Roy began, desperately trying not to look directly into Marth's intimidating azure eyes. He felt himself blush and he felt his skin heat up considerably.
"What
medium are you going to start with?"
"Oh… probably
acrylic…"
"Alright… then I'll start with pastel to balance the boldness…"
Roy nodded and went to the art storage room to retrieve acrylic paint and a box of chalk pastels. He returned to his partner and handed him the box. When he got a whiff of the cologne the blue-haired boy was wearing, Roy felt light-headed and dizzy for a moment. He swayed to the right slightly, but caught himself before he could hurt himself.
"…
are
you okay… ?"
"Yeah. I'm… I'm fine. I think it
must be lack of sleep or something." Roy sat down on one of the art
stools before he could actually
fall down, watching as Marth applied the first stroke of chalk pastel
to the black bristol board, making delicate strokes with his finger
to smudge the line he had just drawn into what looked like the
beginning of body of water of a foggy day. Roy stood up and moved to
sit beside Marth; that way, he wasn't working upside down. Roy
began to add a swirl of fiery-coloured clouds, staring from the
top-right hand corner of the paper and making their way diagonally to
the bottom-left. He was careful not to touch or disturb what Marth
was drawing, but eventually their paths crossed.
"Go ahead," Marth said, pulling away from his drawing.
"No, you go on… I think I'll stop there, anyway."
"… I think it would look better if you kept going…"
"You think so… ?"
"Yeah. That way, the red and blue will contrast each other, and then end up mixing."
"All right," Roy said, loading his brush with paint again, and leaning the blue-haired boy over to continue his painting, feeling himself heat up again. He made the clouds trail off into the water of Marth's pastel, dragging the orange and red paint over the surface of the water to give the illusion of a sunset reflecting off of it. The redhead stood back to see if his swirls turned out right, tapping the tip of the wooden part of the paintbrush he was holding against his lip. "Perfect," Marth muttered.
"Alright guys, there are about ten minutes left; start cleaning up." Ms. Valyko said eventually. The entire art class immediately started bringing their art materials back into the storage room. Marth returned to Roy's side after returned the paint and pastels, and began packing his bag. Roy did the same, still red and flushed.
"… are you alright, Roy? Your face is all red…"
"Um… yeah, I'm fine. Nothing that a little rest can't fix…"
The final bell rang and all at once, the entire school exited their last period classrooms. Roy looked back at the table he was sitting at to make sure he didn't forget anything, and noticed a sheet of paper that looked like it had bars of music printed on it laying on the desk. He stopped and walked back over to the table and examined the piece of paper. Its title was "Your Song" and had "Elton John" right under the heading. "Marth Lowell" was written in the top-right corner of the page in slanted, thing letters. Roy took the piece of paper with him and quickly ran out the door, his head craning about to see if he could catch the owner of the piece of music. But Marth's blue hair was nowhere to be found, and Roy was almost disappointed that he couldn't play the hero. He resolved to keep the paper until tomorrow. That way, it would at least be prevented from getting sucked into the black hole that was art class.
Roy walked down a level to his locker and opened it for the third time that day. He traded his books again, taking only the textbooks that contained homework in them. He took home his sketchbook and guitar- they were used on a regular basis- and shut the door to his locker again.
"Royyyy-skieeeeees." Lilina wrapped her arms around Roy's neck, falling into her boyfriend lightly. Roy returned her hug, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. She stepped closer to Roy and looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow… I have to go catch my bus, or my dad will have my head."
"I know. Heck, he'd probably have mine too." Roy said, laughing softly.
"Bye, Roy… I'll talk to you tomorrow."
With that, Lilina made herself as tall as she could and gave Roy a quick, chaste kiss. It was always like this; Lilina would come to his locker everyday after school to say a final goodbye. When most students would say, 'talk to you later', Lilina was a different story. In order to keep on top of her schoolwork, she wouldn't let herself use the phone unless it was related to school, and she didn't even have her own e-mail address; her father was too protective over her. So there was no talking to Lilina after school, not even to her boyfriend. The kiss was also always the same- quick, innocent and completely pure-minded. Whenever Roy tried to deepen it, Lilina would pull away abruptly. The redhead released his girlfriend. Lilina took a step away from him, turned on her heel, and with a quick look over her shoulder, she waved and pushed through the doors at the end of the hallway to go home.
Roy didn't even bother waiting for Link this time; he knew that the blonde was on his way to Zelda's house, and then to the cemetery to watch Sheik and Zelda's photoshoot. Roy walked over to the other end of the school, figuring that he should relish the warmth of the inside of the building as much as he could before he started his fifteen-minute walk home. He dug around in his bag and retrieved a pair of headphones that his dad gave him, slipping them over his ears. They were slightly oversized and designed to block out the noise that would interfere with the music he was listening to. He rummaged around a bit further into his bag and finally found the MP3 player his headphones were connected to, feeling around the small unit for the play button. He found it, and as he pushed though the school's door, he was hit by a gust of icy wind as well as the loud melody resonating from his headphones.
