It was August thirty first at four thirty p.m., exactly fifteen and a half hours before school officially began for the Academy students. The end of month weather was making everyone melt into the browning grass, and every student remained in their dormitories with at least two fans per room. The sun's haze made the day drag on and the teenagers think that school would never start up.
"Are you serious? You still haven't picked up your books? I bet you haven't even made sure your uniform still fits!"
Eric let himself hang upside down in front of a fan from his bed, yo-yo in hand. He watched the toy as it spiraled downwards and back into his palm. In an unamused tone, he asked, "When did you get yours, Sir Scaredy Cat?"
Leon put his hands on his hips and furrowed his brows. "Right after I brought my suitcases here! And I told you not to call me that!"
The nickname derived from the previous night; Eric had retired to go to sleep, and his roommate screamed bloody murder when he flipped the light switch off. He ended up confessing that he was intensely afraid of the dark, but not before three sophomores banged on their door at the speed of sound to make sure they were okay. They were comforted when told that Leon saw a spider run across his laptop. The European figured that being under the assumption that he was afraid of an insect was better than everyone knowing that the outgoing, friendly Asian had a psychological fear of darkness, but unfortunately all it did was put Leon into an excited frenzy that continued throughout the night and into the next day.
Eric pulled his body back upright and stood up, pocketing the yo-yo. "Look, the bookstore closes at five. I'll head over there now, grab my supplies, and come back for my schedule." He slipped his feet into his loafers while running his hands over his wrinkled tee shirt and jeans. "Also, I've been five foot nine since I was fourteen, I'm pretty sure I won't need a different size uniform."
He swiped his card out of his wallet and walked out, leaving Leon seated on the desk with a dropped jaw. At most, the teenager must have been five foot three, maybe three and a half. It was a nice change for Eric, since Toris had been over six feet tall and skittish, where as Leon could quite possibly beat the shit out of someone if he was taunted enough. The memory of the latter's morning ritual, yoga with a side of green tea and some kind of martial arts routine in the center of their crowded floor, made him shudder as a result.
The school store was located next to the campus, the location being both a blessing a curse. One one hand, at least the academy wouldn't be a macrocosm that he would live in forever. In the other fist, getting supplies for projects before midterm exams at the end of January wasn't fun with two feet of snow on the ground. Fortunately, Eric was used to snow from growing up in Iceland, but he admittedly wished to be back in the sun whenever he left for summer vacation.
If it wasn't for him needing to collect books and the occasional poster board for his classes, his feet wouldn't step anywhere near the building. Eric was a lover of books, specifically the science fiction and fantasy genres, and contrary to the name, Gakuen Bookstore only held textbooks and copies of tasteless erotica. It also displayed school merchandise and backpacks in the windows, but it was accepted around the corridors that the hot pink and navy blue sweatshirts were tacky freshmen bait; it appeared as if only ninth graders wore the baggy clothing through the city, leading to them being slapped by 'bad ass' sophomores who still believed in freshmen hazing.
Sweat dripped down Eric's nose as he opened the front door to the store. The air conditioning felt blissful on his soaking skin, but in order to not look like a fool who rarely experiences temperatures in the nineties, he trudged forward to the main desk.
Talking to people he didn't know made him uncomfortable. He couldn't even order food at a restaurant without stuttering slightly and forgetting what he was going to say. Leon was an exception since their first official initiation led to him getting an adrenaline rush. The other boy in return started hyperventilating when Eric proceeded to change his clothes in front of him later that day; it was an Icelandic thing, businessmen do it all the time.
As he neared the desk, and mentally prepared every possible outcome, a hand slipped into his back pocket and grabbed his leather wallet. A blush crept onto his cheeks when he felt the hand grip his rear, and he turned around to find his biggest nightmare staring back at him with fish eyes and a flirtatious smirk.
"Hey Eric, how are you?" Eduard von Bock asked. He then yanked Eric's hand and closed the wallet into it.
The two juniors had met in the middle of their freshman year. Eduard had become friends with Toris, who in turn introduced them because he had a Nordic fetish and wanted to know everything there was about the countries. From then on, the Estonian clung onto Eric like a koala and watched him from afar. At one point as sophomores, he pointed out how 'cool!' the teen's thick accent was, and it made him hit every English book in the library to sound less Icelandic. After a while he decided that Eduard was just someone to laugh at, and he was good to have in tow since no one else really interacted with him.
He shimmied his way out of the the Estonian's hand and gritted his teeth. "I'm fine, and you?"
The poor boy could never take a hint. "I'm not too bad. I'm just here to get my economic book! How was your summer in Iceland?"
It annoyed Eric that he had to add his country to everything. Why couldn't he just ask how his summer was? Before he could answer, another question came out of the near-sighted classmate's mouth.
"Why do you have a yo-yo in your pocket?"
Eric had completely forgotten about the toy. He slipped his hand into his other pocket and pulled it out with a cheeky grin, and devised a white lie to get what he needed and leave without risking being kicked out at five. "I got it from the airport in Iceland, do you want it?"
Eduard shook his head, but his eyes became noticeably brighter as he gazed into the purple and green spirals on it. Eric grabbed his hand and closed the yo-yo into his grip. "Keep it."
His messenger bag was heavier than he expected.
It consisted of a hundred page English pamphlet, along with four textbooks. The first two were for American History and Advanced Placement math, while the other two he needed for his major and elective; Earth Science and Marine Biology. He also had a pencil pouch filled with every writing utensil possible, and five binders and notebooks.
Due to the school's scheduling, he wouldn't have every class five days a week. Instead, his five day week would consist of longer period blocks in certain parts of the days to let everyone focus on certain subjects for two hours instead of the usual one. The bag's weight would vary on the day and time.
The dormitories were split into four directions; North, South, East, and West. Each year, one outstanding senior from each section who excelled in their classes the previous three years would be chosen to watch over their dorm area, informing their direction about updates and changes with the school. They also delivered the schedules the day before classes began, so Eric and Leon were equally confused when he got back from collecting his custom supplies and met Roderich Edelstein immediately after settling back in.
Roderich was well known for both his ability to be middle class and look filthy rich at the same time and his skills as a virtuoso, seeing as he played the piano, cello, violin, clarinet, flute and had a wide vocal range. There was an unconfirmed rumor spreading through the school that he was in a relationship with a Hungarian Literature major, but neither of them brought it up and they stopped sitting together during lunch. Eric secretly hoped that they were romantically involved; the two seniors didn't look like they would cause an unnecessary PDA scene at inappropriate times, unlike half of the relationships running through the halls. As he heard Feliks say at one point, "School isn't a place for dry humping by a vending machine during block switches."
Upon opening the door ajar and seeing who it was, Leon's face lit up with amusement. "Wow," he started. "I didn't think I'd see the day when they'd choose a musician to be a Western Dorm Guard."
The Austrian quirked a brow. "Zwingli's average was a tenth lower than mine. It was a close call."
Eric remained in his spot behind his roommate and muttered, "I bet he's pissed."
"He requested a room change but the principal shot him down. Besides, his sister is here so he doesn't want to make an ass of himself just yet."
"Sister?" Leon pulled the door open all the way to get a clear view of the Guard in his tacky plaid pants and beige shirt. "Isn't it kind of rare for siblings to attend together?"
He crossed his arms and let out a 'humph!'. "Vash is only here for aerodynamics. Eloise is here to major in Chemistry and can speak German, French, Italian, some Dutch, and intermediate Mandarin." Roderich tilted his head towards Leon as he stated this, and the latter replied with, "I'm Cantonese."
"Ah, well, here are your schedules." An apologetic smile was sent his way as they were held out in front of him, but all the Asian did was accept the piece of paper with a plastered grin. Eric gingerly took his before the senior wished them good luck and strolled to the next room. He closed the door and felt a headache coming on at the sight of AP math being his eight o'clock class.
Their bodies synchronized as they both plopped onto their beds in an ungraceful manner. It seemed like forever before the silence an uneasiness lifted.
"Why is math my first class of the day?"
"Why does everyone think I'm from mainland China?" Leon lifted his head from underneath his pillow and checked his schedule.
"What's your second period class?"
"History."
"Third?"
"English."
"Hell yeah, me too!"
He continued to list the remaining blocks, but in the end the only class they had in common was English on the fifth floor. Eric couldn't debate on which was worse; an aristocrat running their dorm, sharing a class with Leon, or the fact that the rumor about all AP classes being changed to the last period of the day was false. While drifting off to sleep that night, he prayed that something would work in his favor.
Little did he know that his wish would be a little bit too granted that year.
