Chapter 3
Neptune's P.O.V
As I wake up to the sound of my alarm, I realise that for the first time in a very, very long time, I feel refreshed. I don't remember the last time I actually felt motivated to get out of bed. I roll out of bed and get to my feet. The cold floorboards make me jump so I quickly hop over to my bedside table and turn off the alarm on my phone. Today is going to be a good day, I can feel it. Must be that Friday feeling. I get my head phones out and plug them into my phone and try to pick out a song to listen to while I prepare myself for today. I scroll through my songs and finally decide on 'You Make My Dreams' by Daryl Hall & John Oates. An old classic will do just fine.
I walked to the bathroom in just my briefs and my goggles and when I say walked I mean danced. The morning is the only time I can dance with no one seeing. Mother has already gone to work and my Brother is still overseas so I can literally dance like no one is watching. I get to the bathroom and slide my way across the tiles to the sink. I brush my teeth while jamming out to the song and making a fool of myself. I pull my goggles over my eyes and get down to business. I shower, I go downstairs, I make breakfast and eat it as I prepare my clothes and school essentials for the day and while I am at it I check myself out in the mirror. Looking good Neptune.
I get dressed and walk over to my wardrobe to pull out my favourite red jacket and put it on. I pull the earphones out of my ears and put them in my bag along with my books. Now I am ready. It has been so long since I have felt this good in the morning and I don't know why and I guess it doesn't matter, I feel great. I walk out the door and start to walk to school. As I reach Sun's house I feel my stomach go a bit funny like I am nervous? It is probably the house, it kind of scares me. The house looks like it has been abandoned for years with no sign of life. It's like something from a horror movie.
I stand there for a bit wondering if I should wait for Sun so we can walk together but then again who knows, he might have already gone. Who I am kidding, I don't think Sun is the kind of guy to be on time for anything, he is an idiot. I laugh to myself as I continue on my way to school. For some reason as I walk, I keep thinking about that house. Something seems off about it, well besides the crooked windows, peeling paint and damaged doors. All the other times I have walked past it, when Sun wasn't occupying the house, I didn't even give it a second glance so maybe it has always been creepy. I might ask Sun on his opinion when I see him.
…
Sun's P.O.V
As I open my eyes, I notice everything is blurry. I squint to try and see better but the blur is still there. There is an aching in my head and the side of my face feels as though it is throbbing. I slowly sit up and I realise I am not quite sure where I am. I look around and I am pretty sure I am on the lounge room floor. Why the hell am I on the lounge room floor? And why is the side of my face and the back of my head in so much pain? I rub at my eyes to try and get rid of my blurry vision and it sort of works. I can see clearer out of my right eye but my left one is still the same. I should probably ask Mother what happened. I get up slowly and look around and notice a hole in the wall and suddenly the memories from yesterday come flooding back.
"Shit!" I hiss as I start to run towards the stairs. Mother better be okay or else I am going to fucking kill him! I run up the stairs and straight to my Mothers bedroom and discover that she is not there. I turn and run to the bathroom and she is not there either. I check the whole of upstairs and she is nowhere to be found. Shit, shit, shit, shit! I run down stairs in a panic. "Mother!" I shout out hoping she will answer.
"Would you keep your bloody voice down?!" Mother shouts from the kitchen. Oh thank god. I rush to the kitchen and see my Mother sitting at the table with a half empty bottle of Smirnoff in her hand. She takes a swig of it and winces. "What?" she says in a croaky voice. I walk over to the table and notice grab marks around her neck.
"I'm going to fucking kill him" I say with venom.
"No you're fucking not!" she says with her voice raising. "You should have just stayed out of it, it was none of your business" she says as she takes another swig from the vodka.
"What was I supposed to do!? Watch and let it happen!?" I yell, my emotions getting the better of me.
"Keep your bloody voice down" She says in a stern croaky voice. "He didn't mean it, he was just in a bad mood".
"He could have fucking killed you!" I shout as tears try to force their way out. "You need to leave him before he actually does kill you! He is a pathetic waste of space!"
Mother picks up the bottle and throws it at me, barely missing me, and smashing against the wall with a loud clutter of broken glass. "Get the fuck out of my sight!" she yells angrily as she stands up. I stand there in shock and the tears force their way out of my eyes. I look away, not wanting her to see the tears. "I SAID OUT!" she screams, her voice cracking. I run out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. I slam the door and lean against it in shock while silent tears fall down my face which are stinging my left eye. I slide down the door and sit there while my silent tears turn into body shaking sobs.
I spend the next 20 minutes in that position until I have ran out of tears. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. I have already missed the first class of school. I sit there rubbing my sore eye as I wonder if I can bothered going to school. I am in no state to see anyone at the moment. I get up and walked to the mirror to see how much of a wreck I look. That is when I notice I have a black eye and there is dried blood coming from my nose. I look away quickly because I hate the sight. I can't show up to school like this but then again I can't stay here either. What am I supposed to do?
…
Neptune's P.O.V
"Have you seen Sun today" I ask Yang who is sitting next to me at the table outside. "He didn't show up to the first two classes". When I thought that he would probably be late, I didn't think this late.
"I haven't seen him today" Yang says while taking a bite of her apple. "He is probably still sleeping" she says with a roll of her eyes. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, um… I just thought he would be here is all" I say with a slight smile, thinking about mine and Sun's conversation the day before.
"I thought you would be happy he isn't here" Yang says with her eyebrow raised.
"No, why would I be happy about that?" I say defensively.
"Well you did not seem too fond of him is all" Yang says as she takes another bite of her apple.
"That's not true! I am fond of him. We sorted it all out on the walk home after school" I say proudly.
"Walked home together eh?" Yang says. "Interesting, very interesting indeed"
"Yeah it is" I say with a slight smile. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean!?"
"Oh nothing" Yang says with a sly smile. "It's good you two sorted your shit out, Sun is a good guy."
As I was about to reply to Yang, Weiss came and sat down next to her and I close my mouth. Even though it was a little over a month ago that we broke up, I still feel weird around her. She did not take the break up well. Weiss even went as far as to throw stuff at me which eventually lead to me telling her the real truth to why I was breaking up with her. She was speechless and eventually calmed down and all she had to say was "I get to tell people that I was the one doing the breaking up, I deserve that at least". Now here we are, a month later and I still feel awkward around her.
"Are you guys talking about that Sun guy?" she asks as she takes her seat next to Yang.
"Yeah, we were just wondering where he is today" yang replies, finishing off her apple and throwing it in the bin that is 10 meters away. Yang throws her arms in the air with triumph when she gets the apple in the bin.
"He's probably off doing drugs or whatever people like him do" Weiss says. I am shocked at what she just said and I can't even think of something to say, so I just look at her with shock written all over my face.
"Weiss!" Yang says with shock and anger.
"What? I don't trust the guy, seems like trouble to me" she says defensively.
"You said the same thing about me when I moved here" Blake says from the other side of the table, not looking up from her book.
"Yeah, well this time is different!" Weiss says defensively. "We don't know anything about him, like why he's here or where he came from".
"He came from Mistral" I say with a bit of anger in my voice.
Weiss looks at me with her eyebrow raised. "How do you know that?" she asks with coldness in her voice.
"Maybe because I spoke to him" I say angrily "Maybe you should try it before you judge him and make yourself look like a bitch" I say icily. I have no idea where that came from but I can't find it in myself to regret it. What the fuck have done!? I can see in the corner of my eye that Yang is covering her mouth trying not to laugh but also looks like she is in shock. I can see Blake peeking over her book with her eyebrows raised in shock. Lucky the others are having their own conversation so they didn't hear it.
"I beg your pardon?" Weiss says with anger in her voice. "You can talk to someone a thousand times and not know who they are! Sun could be a drug dealer or a nutcase or even a murderer!" She says while staring right into my eyes with anger.
"Actually it is all of the above" a voice says from behind me. I notice that Weiss freezes in shock and has gone completely red in the face like she is embarrassed.
Sun takes a seat next to me and I automatically freeze up. It is then that Yang loses it and bursts into a fit of laughter. I notice Blake also giggling behind her book.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear" Yang says while laughing.
Weiss is in a state of shock with her mouth open trying to think of something to say to save herself.
"Uh… I mean… um I-I…" Weiss says trying to think of something to say.
"It's okay I understand" Sun says while laughing. "I am new and you guys don't really know anything about me, it is only natural to be cautious." This seems to calm Weiss down and she takes a deep breath and gets herself back to being calm and collected.
"See guys, even Sun understands" she says to everyone while looking straight at me with anger. "Now apologise Neptune."
"For what?" I say with disbelief.
"For calling me a bitch and for speaking to me in a condescending tone!" she says with her nose stuck up in the air.
I notice that both Yang and Blake roll their eyes at Weiss. I am not sure if Sun did since he is wearing sunglasses. Wait, why is he wearing Sunglasses? It's not even sunny outside or anything.
"I am not apologising" I say sternly. "You were judging and criticising my friend and you don't even know him!" I say, frustrated. Friend? I don't know where that came from. I feel myself go a little red in the face but I keep a stern look towards Weiss. I notice that Yang has a surprised look on her face which I can't tell if that is bad or good. Do I consider Sun a friend? I turn to look at Sun and he has his head down but I can see he has a slight smile on his face.
Weiss shakes her head and has a look on her face like she can't believe what she is hearing. "You heard Sun, it's only natural to be cautious, now apologise" Weiss says in an icy tone.
I go to speak when Sun nudges my arm and leans closer to me. "Just apologise bro, I have a feeling that this chick is going to go on and on about this" Sun whispers to me. I shudder at his closeness and feel my face heat up but I don't feel uncomfortable or anything, I feel something else but I have no idea what it is though.
"I don't like the way she spoke about you though" I whisper back while Weiss stares daggers at us.
"That's sweet and all but the sound of her voice is irritating" Sun whispers. "Please apologise so she shuts up, my ears can't take much more of it. So either apologise or I am going to cut my ears off."
I cover my mouth to try to keep the laughter in but it does not work, I burst out laughing and everyone turns their heads towards me and stares with eyes wide, full of surprise. Even Blake is in shock as her book lays forgotten on the table. Weiss stares at me with an anger so strong that if looks could kill I would be a goner right now. Eventually I have to hold my ribs because I'm laughing so hard that it hurts.
"What is so funny!?" Weiss asks viciously while half out of her seat. "This is no laughing matter!?" she says angrily.
"Please have mercy on me, Neptune" Sun whispers. "No man should have to live like this" he whispers dramatically which causes me to laugh even harder. I am laughing so hard my head hurts and It feels like it is about to explode. I am not use to this but I like it. Everyone still have looks of surprise on their faces and are looking at me like they don't know who is sitting right in front of them except for sun who has a huge smile on his face.
"Are you making fun of me Sun?!" Weiss almost yells and is now completely standing out of her seat.
"I would never make fun of you, snow angel" Sun says sarcastically causing Weiss to groan in frustration. "If Neptune could speak right now he would be apologising but he seems uh… at a loss for words."
"To hell with the both of you" Weiss says as she goes to walk off from the group.
"I should go calm her down before she kills someone" Ruby says. "She's a little crazy" she whispers loudly to the group and then goes off to follow Weiss to wherever she is going. The table is silent except for my subsiding laughter.
"What was that about and is that really Neptune laughing?" Jaune asks as him, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren sit down at the table.
Yang and Blake look at each other with confused looks. "We are not too sure" Yang says. "They made the ice queen lose her cool, I am actually kind of impressed" Yang says with a smile.
"Impressed?" Sun asks. "Weiss seems like the kind of person to lose her shit at everyone and everything."
"No one ever stands up to Weiss. It's normally her way or the high way. It is kind of refreshing to see her being put in her place" Blake says while smiling at sun. It is weird seeing her smile since she hardly ever smiles. I guess Sun must have that effect on people. I finally get myself composed but my ribs still hurt so much.
"She is going to kill me, isn't she?" Sun says as he turns to me.
"Yeah pretty much, don't worry dude, I've got cha back" I say in a joking tone.
"Are you sure you want to be on the side of a drug dealer, nutcase and murderer?" Sun asks with a giant grin.
"Don't forget about stripper!" Nora yells from the other end of the table.
"Oh yeah, and stripper" Sun says, his grin getting wider. "Thanks Nora!" Sun yells but is still facing me. I feel myself go red in the face.
"Well I do need more adventure in my life" I say with wink which make Sun go a little red in his cheeks. Wait is he blushing? Would be easier to tell if he wasn't wearing those Sunglasses. Nah, I am just being stupid. "By the way what is with the sunglasses?"
Sun's grin slowly goes down and immediately I regret asking. Shit, did I do something wrong? He looks like he is thinking and the feelings of guilt start to come up. "Uh, are you okay?" I ask, unsure of myself.
"Oh, sorry, I zoned out" Sun says with a laugh but it sounds forced. "What was the question again?"
"Oh um, I was just wondering why you were wearing sunglasses" I say quietly, still feeling bad for asking in the first place.
"Ahh, you mean these bad boys?" Sun says pointing to his glasses and I nod. "Well I thought to myself, Neptune has his goggles so why don't I wear sunglasses" he says with a mocking tone.
"Hey shut up, asshole" I say while punching his arm and laughing. "You are such an idiot" I say and we both laugh because I guess we both know it's true. Something seems off about him today though, like his mind is elsewhere and I wonder why he kept avoiding my question. I probably shouldn't ask.
…
Sun's P.O.V
Well if Weiss didn't like me before, she definitely hates my guts now. Oh well, it is not like it's the end of the world. I am sure I will live… unless Weiss actually does kill me. Well at the least that little fight with her took my mind of things even though it was only for 5 minutes. I honestly hate these sunglasses but they were they only thing that I could use to cover my eye.
Recess is over and we all head back to the lockers. As I am sorting out the stuff in my locker, Blake comes over and smiles at me. Does she want something? Oh wait, her locker is next to mine. God I am so out of it. She opens her locker and starts pulling books out of it. Jesus she has a lot of books. Am I supposed to have that many too?
"That's a lot of books" I say, trying to find out the answer.
"I like to bring extra, just in case I finish my work early so then I have other work I can do" she says with a smile. Oh thank god, there is no way I could cope with having that much work to do. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" she says with curiosity.
"Yeah, sure thing dude" I say with a smile but deep down I am nervous. It better not be about the sunglasses.
"What did you say to Neptune to make him laugh that much?" Blake asks.
I am taken by surprise by the question. I was not expecting that. "Oh, that" I say with a laugh. "It was nothing really, why?"
"Well it was something because Neptune never laughs and especially not that hard" she says while grabbing more books out of locker. "It was actually really nice to see" she says with a smile.
Never laughs? I was not expecting that either. "Well, uh, I must be special then" I say with a smirk.
Blake looks away and there is a tint of red on her face. "Well anyway I've got to go to class" she says with a smile. "I'll see you later, Sun"
Well that was uh something. I made someone who never laughs have a fit of laughter. I really do feel special. "Neptune, you really are going to be the death of me" I say under my breath and I feel a smile spread across my face.
"Did you say something?" a voice says from behind me and I freeze up. I turn around to see Neptune standing there with a smile across his face
"Uh… nah… I-I was just thinking out loud" I say while scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
Neptune shakes his head and laughs a little. "Whatever you say bro" he says. "What did Blake want?"
Do I tell him about it? Maybe I should just keep it to myself. "Oh um, I was just asking her about why she has so many books is all" I say with a smile. "She may even be a bigger nerd than you" I say, earning another punch in the arm.
"Whatever asshole, let's get to class" he says with a slight smile.
"Lead the way, buddy"
…
The rest of the school day flew past in a blur. Nothing really happened besides Weiss staring angrily at Neptune and I from across the room, Nora tackling me to the ground and reminding me about her and Ren's party next week and if I don't come she will kidnap me and Jaune tried to teach me how to play guitar but that ended horribly. Apart from all that, it was a quiet and quick day. At least I only have to do the second semester of year 12 here. The people here are nice and all but school really isn't for me.
The last bell of the day goes and we all get up and walk out the door with Oobleck yelling out about homework that's due next week which I probably will not complete because honestly I have no idea what is going on in that class. I'll ask someone about it later, most likely Neptune. He always knows what's going on in the classes we have. I go to my locker to get my things and Blake is already there so I ask her instead.
"Well maybe a certain someone should have been paying attention" Blake says with a smirk while putting all of her books in her bag. Don't tell me she is going to home to study even more.
"Hey, I am new here, cut me some slack" I say with humour.
"You know, that excuse isn't going to work forever" she says as she passes me notes from the class.
"Well in that case, I will just have to use it as much as possible until it doesn't work anymore" I say with a smirk.
Blake shakes her head and smiles "I'll see you later Sun" she says as she closes her locker and walks off.
Yeah everyone is way too nice here but it is a good thing. A little weird but good. Even Weiss is considered nice compared to people at my old school. She may be a bitch but at least she is honest. I close my locker and turn around and bump into Yang. I jump from the shock. I did not expect someone to be right behind me.
"This is the third time I have scared you" she says as she laughs. "You make it too easy."
"Well I didn't expect someone to be right behind me" I say as a laugh off the fright. "Besides, you said it yourself, you have that effect on people."
"Oh shut it" she says as she playfully punches my arm.
"What is it with people here and punching other's arms?" I ask as I rub my arm where she punched me.
"Consider it a friendly gesture" She says with a wink. "By the way I think she likes you."
I look around and see no one. "Uh, who?" I say confused.
"Blake, you idiot" she says with a laugh. "She never smiles that much, like ever."
So I have made someone who doesn't laugh, burst into laughter and now I have made someone who doesn't smile, smile. I'm getting good at this friendly thing. This place is so different.
"I can't help it that I am just so amazing" I say sarcastically.
"I'm sure Neptune would agree with you on that" she says under her breath.
"What was that?" I say. Something about wood fleas on her cat? "You have a cat?"
Yang bursts into laughter. "Don't you worry your pretty little head" she says as she puts her arm around my shoulder as we walk to the exit of the school and I see that Neptune is waiting.
…
Neptune's P.O.V
As Sun and Yang walked out of the building, I make eye contact with Yang and she gives me the slyest grin I have ever seen. They both walk down the stairs to where I am standing and say their goodbyes to each and I notice Yang slapping Sun's but as she walks off in a different direction.
"Go get em' tiger" she says with a wink to Sun. Sun goes a red in the face and has an awkward smile on his face.
"Will do" Sun says to Yang with confusion as she walks off laughing.
I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "You two seem close" I say awkwardly.
"I get the feeling that she would get along with just about anyone" Sun says as he watches Yang walk away. "She is crazy… I like it."
Does he have a thing for Yang? I really hope not and I have no idea why I feel that way. "I see" I say as I look downward.
"She is the like the sister I never had" Sun says and I feel my heart beat a little faster at what he just said.
"Oh, for a second there I thought you had a thing for her" I say sheepishly.
"What? Yang? No way" Sun says and starts laughing. I feel relieved at his words.
"That's a relief" I say before I realise what just came out of my mouth. "Anyway…" I say quickly before he says anything about what I just said. "Ready to walk?"
"Yeah sure thing" Sun says with a smile.
…
As we walk, I realise how comfortable I feel around this guy. Sun is so easy to talk too that it is scary. It has only been two days and it is scary how much he has grown on me. Actually I am pretty sure he has grown on everyone significantly in just two days. Well everyone except Weiss. Which reminds me.
"I am sorry about Weiss today" I say apologetically like it was my fault. "Don't take it personally, she is like that with everyone. You should have seen what she was like when I moved here in year 8" I say with a sigh. Sun looks at me with surprise. "I came from mistral as well" I say to answer the question he was about to ask.
"Well the more you know" Sun says "also no need to apologise for Weiss, I have dealt with worse" he says as he smiles towards me. "But thanks for sticking up for me, it actually means a lot" he says and I can see myself go red in the reflection of his sunglasses.
I shake my head "Don't mention dude, she had it coming anyway" I say with a laugh. Sun laughs and it looks like he is about to say something but then stops when we arrive at his house. He just stands there and I think he is staring at it, I can't tell because of the sunglasses.
"You can take your sunglasses off now" I say unsure of myself. Should I mention it?
"Nah, they are very comfortable" he says with a fake smile. I stand there for a bit trying to think of what say.
"I know you have a black eye" I say quietly and he looks at me with shock written all over his face. He opens his mouth but then closes it. Most likely he does not know what to say. "Your glasses fell off for a second when we were in history and I noticed it" I say with a worried smile. "What happened?"
He sighs and then takes off his sunglasses and his eye looks worse than I thought. When I see his eye, I immediately feel angry. "Who did it?" I say angrily which startles Sun.
"No one did it" he says defensively "I was throwing a ball around and it hit me in the face is all, I wore sunglasses to cover it because I thought it would be embarrassing to tell everyone what happened" he says as he laughs nervously. I notice he keeps nervously looking over his shoulder at his house. I know the whole throwing the ball thing is bullshit but I decided it is probably for the best if I don't push it.
"God, you are an idiot" I say with a fake laugh. "If I ever see the ball, I will bash the shit out of it" I say a bit sternly and no doubt Sun knows what I actually mean. Does he have a brother that did this? Or was he jumped... was it his parents? No way, parents would never do that to their child but just to be sure… "Hey do want to come to my house?" I ask.
As soon as I asked I notice Sun letting out a deep breath like a sigh of relief? "Yeah sure thing" he says with a big grin. "Would be nice to see the house that belongs to the boy with the goggles" he says and laughs. "Sounds like a movie" he says as he laughs even harder and I can't help but smile at this idiot.
"Whatever asshole" I say, laughing while grabbing him by the arm and dragging him in the direction to my house. I like to think of this as beneficial for both of us. I get to spend more time with Sun and he gets to be safe from whatever is going on for at least a little longer.
Why do I feel this way?
