Ch 2
Ludwig could not find the right word to describe the size of the school. It's definitely not "gargantuan" and it absolutely is not "minuscule." He couldn't find the right word, so he'll settle with "bigger than average." Ludwig could count ten buildings, not including the office, library, and cafeteria. One Building had a green house situated beside it. Another had a fenced off pool. If Ludwig didn't know better, he would have mistaken the campus for a rich man's land. then he remembered that this school is funded by rich men: Sir Henry Kirkland, owner of the leading tea company, and monsieur Jacques Bonnefoy, CEO of a popular wine company.
"Generous men," thought Ludwig as he received his class schedule, "Usually private academies have such luxuries."
Ludwig had thirty minutes until class started, so right after he located his midnight colored locker, he began to to wander around the school, map in hand, gazing at the park like quality of the place.
Then a familiar voice floated into his ear rich with an Italian accent. It seemed to be calling his name.
"Ludwig! Luddy!" The voice was drifting from behind. "Ludwig!" He turned around and his blue eyes met golden, guiltless orbs and a gargantuan smile that managed to fit on a minuscule face.
"Oh, Feliciano!" Ludwig gave Feliciano a polite smile.
"I didn't know you came to this school!" Feliciano excitedly said, dancing up and down on the balls of his feet.
"I'm starting today," stated Ludwig, awkwardly showing him a school map. Feliciano nodded enthusiastically in understanding and pulled out a book from his backpack.
"I accidentally took this with me. I was hoping to see you soon so I could return it," Feliciano said, still wearing a semi-permanent smile on his face. He handed Ludwig a book with a football printed on the cover. Sudden relief flooded Ludwig and he sighed.
"I was wondering where I left this! I was afraid I left it at the park," Ludwig leafed through the pages.
Feliciano gave him a shy apologetic smile," I'm sorry."
Ludwig held up his hand," don't worry about it. Thank you for handing it back." Feliciano's smile changed from apologetic back to enthusiastic.
"No problem! Did you know that the author of the book is a teacher from here?"
"Really?" Ludwig looked at the author's name. "Juan Julio Rodriguez."
"He's the Spanish teacher and the soccer coach. He's a really cool teacher!"
Feliciano kept talking about the teachers as they strode around the school. their final destination was the library.
"And Mr Edelstein in the music teacher! He and miss Héderváry have a little thing going on. We're all expecting them to get married and-" Feliciano's eyes drifted from Ludwig's curious eyes to behind his shoulder where the library was. Feliciano's smile faltered a bit. He looked at his bare wrist as if to check the time one an invisible watch. "Well, look at the time! I have to go somewhere.. vague.. See ya!" Feliciano abruptly turned and briskly walked away.
"S-see ya," the suddenness of Feliciano's flight confused him. "What was that about?"
An arm slithered behind Ludwig and clasped his shoulder..
"Bonjour," purred a french boy with sunflower-petal locks and forget-me-not irises. "I haven't seen you around, you must be a new student." His voice was dripping in a French accent. "My name is Francis Bonnefoy."
"Bonnefoy? Surely you're related to Jacques Bonnefoy?" Ludwig asked, astonishment tinted in his tone.
"Oui. He is my father. Hey, Arthur! This guy knows who my father is!" Francis called out to someone behind him.
"Who doesn't know who your father is?" retorted a British accent.
"This school is full of different accents," thought Ludwig as a teenager with a head full of shaggy, blond hair, eyes the color of envy and caterpillar eyebrows walked up. Ludwig immediately recognized him from the news.
"Arthur Kirkland, heir to the Kirkland's Tea Company!" Ludwig said in awe. Arthur flashed him a nearly sarcastic smirk and nodded.
"That I am. Say, newcomer,what's your name?"
"Ludwig."
"Ludwig, Ludwig, Ludwig," Arthur savored the name, "I'm pretty sure you want to know a lot about the school." Ludwig nodded. He wanted to know everything about the school.
"Well then, first the rules. You have to sign a contract promising you'll follow them." said Francis, leading Ludwig towards a table where a boy with trunk brown hair and leaf green eyes was sitting. When he saw Ludwig, a worried look began to grow on his face, only for a moment. The flash of concern was replaced with a sad smile as he greeted Ludwig.
"I'm Antonio Hernandez Carriedo,"he said. This accent was Spanish. "I'm not as well known as these two, but I don't care." Ludwig smiled politely as he introduced himself.
"Now, let's get down to business," said Arthur, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. "The rules. since our fathers fund the school, we have the right to make our own rules. Of course, the school has their rules that everyone has to follow, it is the same with ours." Thinking it was reasonable, Ludwig made it known that he understood. Arthur handed Ludwig the piece of paper so he could read over the rules.
"THE GOLDEN RULES
The student must respect Arthur Kirkland, Francis Bonnefoy, and Antonio Hernandez Carriedo as if they were teachers.
You must pay tribute to Arthur Kirkland without asking questions if you want quality respect.
No talking to delinquents, slackers or any one acquainted with them.
Anyone failing to follow these rules will be punished."
Ludwig looked up from the paper to show that he has finished reading.
"We have enforcers," Francis started, "they make sure our rules are followed."
"Be careful, they tend to be a bit... brutal," Arthur sneered. Ludwig didn't notice the sneer. "Now, if you can here to indicate that you understand and that you will follow these rules." Arthur handed Ludwig a pen. In graceful strokes, Ludwig signed his name. Arthur, with a smug smile, took the contract and placed it in a bright orange folder. "Thank you very much sir. Have a nice day." Arthur's smirk grew when he exchanged glances with Francis, who also wore a smile, and Antonio, whose expression was unreadable. Ludwig thanked them and left for his first class.
Half his day passed by smoothly. His first class, pre-calculus was pretty easy to him. His grandfather claims that he is a genius, but Ludwig just studies intensely. In his second class, which was English, they began to read The Scarlet Letter. Ludwig already read it multiple times, his own copy, given to him by Gilbert, as snuggled up on his bookshelf.
Then lunch crept up in the middle of class. Ludwig had his own lunch, leftover knödels and wurst, and he stood in the middle of a grassy area, not knowing where to sit. The late August breeze ruffled his slicked-back hair as he looked around, hoping to find a specific friendly , he heard a friendly voice call out to him
Ludwig spotted the golden eyed Italian and his brother, sitting in the dancing shade of a swaying tree. Feliciano was gesturing for ludwig to sit with them, and he did, giving them a curt greeting.
"I'm very glad you have this lunch, Luddy How was your day so far?" Feliciano asked, wearing a smile, as always, and trying to open a container. There was probably some pasta in that container.
"It's been good so far, my classes have been fairly easy," relied Ludwig.
"What classes do you have today?" Ludwig told him: Pre-Calculus, Advanced Junior English, and Advanced Physics. Feliciano gazed at him in awe. "I'm not smart enough to even maintain a good grade in my regular classes. They always end up as C's," Feliciano didn't look too happy about that, though he still wore a smile.
"If you want, I can help you," Ludwig offered. The smile grew on Feliciano's face as he nodded enthusiastically.
"Think you can come over soon? I really need help with some algebra homework."
"I can come over tomorrow. Today i have to help my Opa with the truck," replied Ludwig. Feliciano exclaimed in happiness and thanked him.
"Feli!" Ludwig caught sight of two boys, twins, to be exact, walking towards them. Both had golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and both wore glasses. One of them had shorter hair with a small blonde lock sticking up from where his hair parted, and he wore a bomber jacket. The other one was shyly holding a stuffed polar bear and a curl hung down from where his hair parted.
"Hi Alfred!" Feliciano called, telling the twins to sit down next to them. "Hi Mattie!" Matthew, the shy one, gave him a tiny smile.
"Who's this? A new kid?" Alfred asked, sitting beside Ludwig.
"I'm Ludwig, nice to meet you," Ludwig said. Alfred stared at Ludwig for a moment and obnoxiously burst into contagious laughter.
"I like him already! I'm Alfred, but you can call me Al. This is my brother, Matthew," said Alfred, giving Ludwig a firm handshake.
"You can call me Matt," he spoke so softly, Ludwig had forgotten that the shy one was there. Alfred's behavior practically ate up Matthew's presence.
"Alfie, what happened to your hand?" Feliciano pointed to a green bruise on the back of Alfred's hand.
"Oh, this? Some thugs tried to mess with Matt, but I taught them a lesson," Alfred responded, mimicking boxing moves.
"What were they trying to do to you, Matt?" Lovino asked. Matt embarrassingly shifted the polar bear in his arms. Ludwig began to wonder why he carried the bear around.
"They tried to take my bear..." Matt's face flushed in embarrassment.
"They know what happens when Matt doesn't have his bear. They were trying to mess with his head, so I interfered," Alfred explained.
"What happens when his bear is taken away?" Ludwig asked quietly. No one heard him, so he remained quiet and let his curiosity slip away.
"Those meanies! Why would they bother you, Mattie? You did nothing to them!" Feliciano pouted. It was the first time Feliciano didn't display a smile on his face.
"I-I think they don't like me," Matthew said quietly, burying his face into the bear.
"If they were sent by that nasty trio, I'll show them what it really means to be a delinquent," Alfred muttered menacingly. Ludwig's eyes snapped up to Alfred's face.
"Delinquent-?" Ludwig quietly questioned.
"What's that?" Alfred cluelessly asked.
"Oh, uh, nothing, I have to go to the library," Ludwig said. "I'll see you guys later." He quickly stood up and left the group in a hurry.
Many questions ran through his mind, but the recurrent one was, "Feliciano is acquainted with a delinquent?" Feeling a bit disappointed, Ludwig sat on a flight of stairs near the library and took a deep breath. "That was close," thought Ludwig. "Feliciano is acquainted with a delinquent... But... He is such a nice fellow. I also promised I would help him tomorrow."
The echo of a clap startled Ludwig and he looked up behind him to see who was clapping. Coming down the stairs, slamming his hands together in a rhythmic gesture, Arthur held an absolute smirk on his face. Ludwig's heart dropped to the floor as a mild wave of nervous nausea rolled in. There was a glint of menace shining in Arthur's eyes.
"Good job," Arthur said, leaning against the rails. Ludwig gave him a questioning look. "In spotting a delinquent and staying away. If you keep this up, we might reward you." The tone in Arthur's voice sent goosebumps throughout Ludwig's body. the notes he spit out hit every one of Ludwig's fight-or-flight nerves, and he didn't like it one bit.
The bell rang. Arthur Patted Ludwig on the shoulder and left for class. Ludwig hesitantly made his way back to his class.
The rest of the day drifted by in a blur. Ludwig couldn't get the look in Arthur's eyes out of his mind as he was walking home. Why did they look like that-?
After an hour or so, Ludwig arrived home. The walk home from school took too long, Ludwig is wondering whether his grandfather got the oil or not.
"Welcome home, Ludwig," greeted Heinrich as he closed the lid of the truck.
"Hello Opa," replied Ludwig, "did you get the oil?"
"Yes, the truck is ready to go," Heinrich wiped his hands on a dirty rag. "You can take it anywhere now, like school."
"Well that's good. Someone wants me to help him with his homework."
"You've already made friends?"
"It's those Italian boys I told you about."
"Oh! Well that's great! When?"
"Tomorrow after school."
"Ah, okay. That's good. Well it's dinner time. I'll go make some food."
At the end of the day, when it was time to turn in, Ludwig thought about tutoring. Should he do it?
Ludwig closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.