Roxas
"Still can't believe you lost your license." Roxas' best friend, Hayner, snickered from the side-lines as he watched Roxas' lock up his bike. Hayner was the first person Roxas had met since transferring to St. Jude's a year ago. Coincidentally, they had met in detention and had been fairly inseparable since. Even though they'd only known each other for a year, Roxas trusted him almost as much as he trusted his sister.
In Response to Hayner's taunts, Roxas shot him an icy-glare before getting up from his crouched position, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Don't remind me. I had to get a part-time job in order to pay off the damage and pay my dad for the insurance hike. On top of that, I also have to do five-hundred hours of court-ordered community service."
"Guess you're not winning the 'Son of The Year' award, then?" Hayner chuckled, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "I'd give you a ride, but Janice isn't ready yet."
Roxas rolled his eyes, 'Janice' was Hayner's car, although calling it a 'car' was a little too kind. The old junker had more in common with a pile of scrap metal than a car, but Hayner loved it nonetheless. From what Roxas understood, Hayner's father had been a small-town mechanic until becoming the owner of one of the largest car dealerships' in the state. Despite their wealth, Hayner's father remained adamant that his children learn the value of a dollar rather than having everything handed to them. Which meant that Hayner's father went half-way with Hayner on purchasing 'Janice', leaving Hayner to fix her up during his free time. Hayner, who had a knack for fixing things, was more than happy to accept the offer.
"I don't think Janice will be ready in my life time, so no worries." Roxas smirked, earning himself a 'hey' and a moderately gentle jab to his right bicep from Hayner.
"Whose Janice?" Namine approached the two, having hitched a ride with their father who refused to give Roxas a lift under the pretense that Roxas could use the exercise.
"A pile of scrap metal that Hayner swears is a car." Roxas answered cooly, teasing Hayner.
However, Hayner didn't seem to be paying attention. Instead, he was looking at the motorcycle that pulled into the senior parking lot, "Holy fuck, I can't believe he's back." Hayner let out a whistle to punctuate his disbelief. Roxas knitted his brows in confusion, not only at Hayner's reaction, but the sudden stillness and hushed whispers of the nearby student body who ceased their first-day reunions to stare.
When the engine of the motorcycle was killed, the person riding it removed his helmet, revealing a mop of cherry-red hair and poisonous green-eyes. The man was too far away to make out any other distinguishable features, though Roxas swore the kid had tattoos on his face. Which, having grown up on the South side of Chicago, was never a good sign.
The senior didn't seem to be paying any attention to the numerous stares, or if he did notice, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, the red-head made a beeline to Riku, both men laughing and talking animatedly.
No longer finding any interest in the scene, Roxas refocused his attention on Hayner, "Who is he?"
"Axel Lancaster." Hayner answered in a mumble, almost as if his disbelief turned to disdain.
"Lancaster? Why does that sound familiar?" Namine questioned, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned in towards Roxas, trying to get a better view of the two seniors across the parking lot.
Hayner opened his mouth to answer, but Roxas beat him to it, "Lancaster Hotels, I'm guessing. Dad got me a job at the one on 7th street, remember?"
"That's the one." Hayner agreed, pulling his attention away from Axel and Riku to Roxas, "Axel used to attend St. Jude. Although I use 'attend' lightly, he practically ran it. Not in the same way Riku thinks he runs it, but more that Axel was all charm and good-looks. People either want to be him, or be with him. He seems harmless up until he's stabbing you in the back."
Roxas listened to Hayner talk, suddenly feeling as if he had entered a 'Mean Girls' script, but he could tell that Hayner was more on edge than normal. Part of him wanted to ask if the two had history, but he thought better of it, "Right, so he's just another asshole trust fund-baby with sociopathic tendencies. Basically a carbon copy of all the other losers Riku associates himself with." Roxas mused, not understanding the fuss over the kid.
"So, wait, you said he was back, right? Where was he before?" Namine interjected, furrowing her brows together.
"At the end of his sophomore year, before you transferred in, there was a lot of rumors that Axel was involved in drugs. There was even a rumor that he'd been arrested for drug possession, but no one knows for sure. Long story short, he basically fell off the radar sophomore year. His father pulled him out of school and sent him, not only out of state, but out of the fucking country. No one has heard from him since, hell, a lot of people don't even think Riku was kept in the loop after his departure." Hayner frowned, rolling his shoulders forward "He's bad news, man."
Both Roxas and Namine nodded nonchalantly, although Roxas could see that Namine was visibly getting anxious over the conversation. Ever since they transferred, Riku and his posse had targeted them relentlessly, presumably because they weren't actually 'prep school material'. While everyone was here on their parent's dollar, Roxas and Namine were here based on their grades and the school's lottery system that awarded two students that opportunity to be enrolled despite their financial instability.
Roxas shifted his gaze over to where Axel and Riku were walking towards the school's entrance, Kairi and Larxene joining them. Just before Roxas went to look away, Axel seemingly looked in his direction. Roxas felt himself subconsciously roll his eyes before looking at Hayner and Namine, "Well, can't say I have any interest in getting chummy with Riku's posse, but warning received, nonetheless."
By fourth period, Roxas was harvesting a headache and rubbing his temples was all he could to keep himself from snapping at the nearest person. Apparently, everyone who was anyone knew about how he'd been arrested for reckless driving and had spent his summer on house arrest. People were either whispering about him, or straight up asking him questions. It was exhausting and nauseating.
As he entered the chemistry classroom, he was relieved to find it empty, giving him a few moments of respite. He found his seat towards the middle of the class, sitting at one of the tables before busying himself with his cell-phone. Aside from his house-arrest, he'd also been punished by his parents, including the fact that he hadn't been allowed access to the internet all summer. Thus, with his re-discovered freedom, he found himself browsing through various social media platforms to see what he'd missed.
He'd been so enthralled in his phone that he barely noticed that the classroom had filled up, or that the teacher had walked in until she cleared her throat, effectively ending the chatter. As soon as she began writing her name out on the white-board, a final student drifted into the class room.
"Axel Lancaster, I presume. I'm sure you don't require an introduction." The teacher mused, arching a brow. Axel snorted, giving her a half-assed salute as if giving her permission to continue conducting her class.
Scanning the classroom, Roxas quickly realized that the only available seat was the one next to him. As he narrowed his eyes at the vacant stool, he briefly debated if he had it in him to act insane enough to insist that the chair was taken by his imaginary friend. The blonde was almost on the verge of saying 'yes' when the red-head sat down.
For a brief moment they made eye-contact, giving Roxas enough time to assess that Axel's face was indeed tattooed. Not only that, but the red-head was almost a head taller than him and smelled strongly of weed, suggesting any time he spent at rehab presumably didn't work.
No longer interested in ogling the stranger, he turned his gaze back to his cell-phone.
Half way into the teacher going over safety protocols, a girl in front of them, Selphie, turns in her seat to look at Axel. She smiles at him, her movements painfully languid. Selphie was the type of girl that always tried to penetrate the inner circle of Riku's group, but never had quite the edge to do it. Still, out of the corner of his eye, Roxas could see the red-head curl his lips into a smirk.
"Did your dad flip out about the car?" The girl whispered, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to make sure the teacher wasn't looking at them.
In response, Axel snorted, less discrete about breaking classroom etiquette, "No, he's already got someone replacing the windows as we speak."
As soon as the words left Axel's mouth, Roxas felt a bundle of nerves harden in the pit of his stomach. He almost never got anxious, far too impulsive and reckless to waste his time on being anxious. Yet, here he was, stomach knotting at the mere suggestion that he was sitting next to the owner of the car that Namine and he had vandalized last night. Roxas tried to tell himself that it was probably just a cruel coincidence, but given that Axel was friends with Riku, it could still be a real possibility that the red-head had been at the party last night.
"That's crazy. Do you have any idea who did it?" The girl questioned, arching a brow.
"Nah." The answer was short, flippant. The girl seemed vaguely dejected at the sudden shut-down, but she maintained her composure as she turned around in her seat.
NAMINE
"She's such a fucking bitch." Was Sora's greeting to Namine the moment he slammed his tray of food onto the cafeteria table, unceremoniously plopping down into the seat next to her, "I swear to fucking god, if she tells me to correct the posters one more time, I'm going to push her down a flight of stairs."
Namine almost spat her soda out at the image of Sora pushing Kairi down a flight of stairs, but she managed to swallow the liquid in between laughs, "It's only the first day of classes, what could she have possibly done?"
"Satan doesn't stop for summer vacation, Nam." Sora countered, exhaling as he combed his fingers through his brown hair, "She wants me to start hanging up posters for the fashion show, even though it isn't until November. The girl micromanages everything except her fucking pussy." As the brunette spoke, he bit into of his French-fries, a scowl imprinted on his face.
"Sora!" Namine scolded, scrunching her face up in disgust at the mere suggestion of Kairi's sex-life, "That's disgusting. How many posters do you have to put up?"
"One-hundred twenty-five flyers and a banner for each main stair well." Sora sighed, rolling his eyes, "As if I don't have a life outside of school."
Namine giggled, shrugging her shoulders, "I can stay after school and help, " Just as the offer left her lips, her phone buzzed and looking at the screen a text message from Roxas read, 'I think I know whose car we vandalized.' Namine frowned, knitting her brows together, "On second thought, I'm pretty sure Roxas and I have to do something for our dad after school." Namine lied, smiling apologetically.
Sora snorted, "Don't worry about it, how's your brother, anyway? Heard he got his license taken away."
Roxas
Aside from the possibility that his chemistry partner was the victim of his late-night vandalism spree, Roxas felt that his first day of classes had gone pretty smooth. At least, up until he went to unlock his bike from the bike rack. Someone had apparently added an additional lock to his bike, making it impossible for Roxas to remove the bike unless he got the key from whoever had locked it.
Roxas stared at his bike dumbly before hearing familiar snicker. The blond closed his eyes for the moment, inhaling through his nose before turning to face Riku. The senior in question was leaning against the hood of his vehicle, Axel perched on his motor-cycle next to him, looking disinterested in the event taking placed.
As Roxas studied Riku, it dawned on him that the asshole had not only gone to the trouble of messing with his bike, but he'd even moved his car closer to the bike rack just so that could get amusement from his agony.
If Roxas didn't want to kill him, he would've found the man's pension for sadism amusing.
With a sigh of annoyance, Roxas found himself dropping his bag near his bike before walking over to where Riku was, "Unlock my bike." Roxas demanded, unamused.
Riku merely laughed, rolling his shoulders forward in a shrug, "I don't know what you're talking about." Riku countered, his face twisted into an expression of pure amusement.
"Oh, yeah? Think if I break your nose it'll jog your memory?" Roxas spat, his patience wearing thin.
At the threat, Riku smirked and pushed himself off the hood of his car, sauntering over to where Roxas stood. As a football player, Riku was not only a good couple of inches taller than Roxas, but he was also significantly stronger than Roxas, "I'd like to see you try."
Roxas stood his ground, jaw tightening as he maintained his heated-glare, "Unlike you, I have a job to get to. So give me the fucking key." To make a point, the blond presented an expectant hand.
"Just give the kid the key." Axel drawled out, seemingly disinterested in the game of cat and mouse that was playing out in front of him. The red-head raised his brows, sliding the tooth pick in his mouth to the right corner of his lips, "I don't have time to fuck around with trailer trash."
Roxas ignored the blatant insult, keeping his eyes trained on Riku. Just when the blond was about to give up and have Hayner break the lock with one of the tools from the metal shop class, Riku reluctantly handed over the key, a smirk still playing on his features.
The blond snatched the key away and turned on his heels, just in time for Riku to open his mouth, "Say 'hi' to that slut you call a sister."
The fuck did you just say?" Roxas turned, quickly approaching Riku. While RIku was undoubtedly stronger than Roxas, he wasn't nearly as fast as him. Before the platinum blond could register what was happening, Roxas had managed to grab a fist full of the man's shirt collar, arm-cocked back to deck the football player in face.
"Roxas!" Namine yelled, coming up behind them with Hayner in tow.
At the sound of Namine's voice, he hesistated in his motion, registering the fact that he couldn't risk getting into any more trouble. Thus, just as quickly as Roxas' fuse had been lit, he just as quickly fizzled out. Stepping away from Riku, he put both his hands up in mock surrender until he joined Namine and Hayner.
In the heat of the moment, Roxas hadn't see the amused grin that etched its way onto Axel's features.
Riku
Ever since the incident in the parking lot, he'd been notably heated. He had wanted to push Roxas over the brink, but Axel had interrupted it. He could have pushed his luck, but Axel had a knack of destroying more than just a reputation or two. Even ten years of friendship didn't protect him from the underlining wraith that was Axel Lancaster.
As of now, he was supposed to be picking Kairi up from cheer-practice, but instead he was watching a brunette haphazardly try to hang up a banner above the stair well that lead up towards the gymnasium. Even standing on the opposite side of the hall, he could hear the kid cursing up a storm. As he approached the brunette, debating whether he would actually lend a hand or make a snide comment, the universe decided for him.
In his frustration, the brunette tried to force a tac into the wall, only for it to prick him in the finger, resulting in a domino effect of the brunette yelping, losing his balance, and the folding chair collapsing under his weight. Without much thought, Riku reached out to catch the brunette, or at least spare the kid from a trip to the hospital.
"Fuck!" The brunette cursed, the air momentarily knocked out of him as Riku's arm wrapped around his waist line, sparring him from landing face first onto the freshly waxed tile floor. When he was set back onto his feet, the brunette barely acknowledge him as he instead tore down the poster with unbridled ferocity, "That fucking cunt Kairi can hang up her own damn posters!"
As he finished crumpling the banner into a ball, he spun on his heels to acknowledge his savior. However, upon seeing Riku, the color effectively drained from his face. The kid who'd been cursing up a hurricane, now shrunk under Riku's gaze, "Ah, hi, Riku."
Now that the kid was facing him, he recognized him to be one of the sophomore's that hung around Namine while simultaneously playing obedient dog for Kairi. Riku scanned over him for a moment, "Are you alright?" He drawled, arching a brow as he chose to ignore the fact that the kid had insulted his girlfriend.
"I'm f-fine." The brunette squeaked out, clearing his throat before repeating himself. Despite the brunette's hesitance, his cerulean eyes lit up with newfound excitement, "Hey, you could help me put up these banners!"
Riku snorted, arching a brow, "I should've let you hit your head." He moved to push past the brunette.
"Wait, wait, wait!" The kid practically pleaded, reaching out to grab onto the sleeve of his leather jacket, "Listen, I really need to get home by five and it would really help me out if I had another person to help me."
Riku glanced back at the brunette, scoffing at the desperation in the male's voice as he yanked his arm away from the male, "No thanks." He offered a final smirk before walking through the double-doors and leaving the brunette to pout in defeat.