Hmm...So it's English first...I wonder what my classmates will be like?
That innocent thought served as a rather ineffective distraction from what was going on inside Antonio's mind right now. From his still-pounding heart, his burnt cheeks, and the feeling which stirred up from deep within whenever he was around Arthur. Was it joy? Embarrassment? Admiration for the blond Etoile? Somehow, it felt like an odd combination of the three.
That morning, he'd figured out that Arthur and Afonso's room was just down the hall from his and Lovino's, when he saw them emerging. Afonso had managed to slip away quietly to the dining hall, meanwhile Arthur was stopped by almost every student who crossed his path, all of them bowing and repeating the same greeting:
"Good morning, Mr Etoile."
As much as Antonio would've been fine just to watch the little display of worship that Arthur was receiving, he was quick to receive a jab from Lovino, who told him to hurry the fuck up so that they could go and eat breakfast.
And now, it seemed like Lovino wasn't kidding when he said that Antonio would be the talk of all three schools. The second he stepped into the classroom, he was bombarded with questions from his classmates:
"Did the Etoile really kiss you?!"
"I'm so jealous!"
"What was it like?"
All of that had made it rather difficult to listen to Sister Caroline's reading of The Yellow Palm...
After a mostly uneventful first day, Antonio had decided to check out some of the clubs that St Miator's had on offer, along with Lovino...
First on the list was the literature club, in which Lovino recited a love poem, which he had written...
"...Rainbow, rainbow, I live with thee," he finished, prompting cries for an encore from the other members of the club.
"It's about a love which my main character knows is doomed, but he decides to pursue it anyway," Lovino explained, to Antonio.
"Interesting. Did you have anyone in mind when you wrote it, Lovino?" Antonio teased.
The Italian's face turned beet red, as he turned his face to the ground. "O-of course not, you b-bastard!"
And that sent Antonio into a fit of laughter as they came up to the room being used by the ballroom dance club.
Next came the archery club, and the football team, and a few other strange ones. By the time Antonio and Lovino had reached the baking club's kitchen, they'd learned how to cha-cha, shot at a target, scored a goal, recited an ancient blessing, knitted woolly scarves, and learned how to sing falsetto.
"Ah, have we got ourselves a pair of newbies?" a Turkish boy, in a white mask enquired, as Antonio and Lovino entered the room, "Welcome to St Miator's Baking Club! I'm Sadik, the club president!"
"Nice to meet you," Antonio greeted, "So, what are you making today?"
"We've decided to try out a recipe for butter cookies. If you like, you can stick around and give us a hand," Sadik offered.
"Sounds like fun! What do you think, Lovino?" Antonio asked, turning to look for his room-mate's approval.
"Sure...We can, if you want to," he agreed.
And after that, the two came away with bags of freshly-baked cookies, to add to the mountain of other things which they had received from the weird and wonderful clubs of St Miator's...
"We've still got an hour before dinner. I'm gonna go crash in our room," Lovino yawned, "Coming with me?"
"I want to explore a bit more," Antonio told him, "I heard that the greenhouse is pretty nice, so I'm going there."
Lovino hmpfed and turned away, leaving Antonio to explore on his own.
The greenhouse was on the sunniest area of Astraea hill, and located somewhere in the middle of St Miator's and St Spica Boys' Institute. It was an enormous, dome-shaped structure, always filled with the sweetest-smelling flowers...
"I wonder who these roses are for?" Antonio enquired aloud, noticing a half-wrapped bouquet of yellow roses, in a bucket.
Just up ahead, sat an ornate table was...Arthur? Yes, Antonio could've recognised that blue pendant, and those huge eyebrows anywhere.
Arthur sat, stirring a cup of tea listlessly, as he gazed at the empty chair opposite him. His eyes appeared red and cloudy, and his cheeks looked a little stained. Never had Antonio come across someone, who looked quite so alone, in all his life.
Though, come to think of it, he probably wanted to be alone, so it was best that Antonio get out, ASAP...Well, that was the plan, until he tripped on a cobblestone in the walkway...
"Are you alright?"
Arthur was in front of Antonio, helping him to his feet before Antonio had even realised that he'd hit the ground.
"U-um, yeah I'm fine," he answered, "I was just leaving"-
"No. Stay, if you want to," Arthur invited, "I just made tea."
Antonio wordlessly accepted the invitation, taking the seat opposite Arthur.
"My friend sent me this blend. It's called Russian caravan," Arthur explained, as he poured some for Antonio.
The boy held the cup to his lips, inhaling the light floral fragrance the tea gave off. He knew exactly what to have with it...But first...
"It's lovely," he said, having taken a sip. The tea tasted exactly the way it smelled; like fresh flowers and foreign spices and snowdrift. It was truly deserving of the name, Russian caravan.
"I'm glad you like it," Arthur replied, a genuine smile coming to his face.
Antonio took the cookies he'd made from his bag, placing them between himself and Arthur. "Um...I made these this afternoon...I thought that they might go with the tea..."
Arthur grinned sheepishly as he reached for one, noticing far too late that most of them had been broken inside Antonio's bag. But, even so...
"They're delicious," he beamed, dipping a broken piece into his tea.
Why were such simple words making Antonio feel like he could conquer the world...?
B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B
"You skipped the student council meeting, and the first-year welcome party, so that you could have tea with the new boy in the greenhouse?!" Afonso ranted.
"I meant to skip the meeting, but not the welcome party," Arthur explained, "It isn't my fault that I caught the new boy in my favourite spot!"
"You'd better pull your act together soon, Arthur," his room-mate continued, "This behaviour is not acceptable, considering the fact that you are the Etoile, and you have students from all three schools at Astraea Hill looking up to you!"
Arthur shrugged, and sank further down on his bed. "I'll go to the welcoming ceremony for Spica's show-jumping team tomorrow. Happy?"
"You, performing one of your Etoile duties? I'll believe it when I see it," Afonso huffed. "Good-night!"