Like to start off this chapter by thanking my muse Love and Peace Forever. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Kendall dashed into his school's front entrance, excited to get his plan started. Step one was to find the boy and as soon as Kendall had woken up that morning, he had jumped right into that task.
Surprising his mother, Kendall had rushed to get ready, dressing quickly by pulling clothes off of his floor, throwing a handful of fruity loops in his mouth along with a swig of milk, half of which ended up on the floor, and finishing by stuffing his papers into his backpack.
He was pretty sure his hurricane of destruction was not really a good way to be helping out his mom but he just didn't care right now. The moment he had woken up, his determination was fiercer than ever. Kendall really wanted to find the boy before lunch. That was all he could focus on. Kendall would clean up later in the evening, after the other kid was his friend.
At least he hadn't received a scolding. Mrs. Knight had been so shocked at Kendall actually moving after he had just woken up. Normally Kendall, who like his mom was not a morning person, woke up with only minutes to spare. So seeing him rush around in frenzy so early was unusual. All she could do was stare open mouthed as Kendall bounced out of the door, saying he'd walk to school because he felt like being early. Mrs. Knight could usually only get Kendall there right before the bell. Getting Katie ready for daycare always cut things close, so well she was perplexed, Mrs. Knight was also thankful for the extra time
Kendall's premature arrival was a genius idea. It allowed him to search the halls and the classrooms for any early arrivals. The boy could be one of those few kids whose parents worked early and so dropped their kids off before they went to their jobs.
Unfortunately, his search yielded no result. There were a couple kids studying and the rest were playing dodge ball in the gym. Kendall recognized a few faces, but not the one he was looking for.
So declining the offer to play dodge ball, Kendall trudged back to the front entrance. There he spotted more kids slowly filing in to the school and his spirits were renewed. He should be able to catch the boy when he arrived.
However, because he was usually one of the latecomers, Kendall did not realize how many kids could really crowd into the front foyer. After being pushed over by other students trying to get to their lockers while he craned his neck to look out at the front doors, Kendall gave up, pouting as he went to class. The pout grew in intensity when Kendall thought about the other doors leading in to the school that he had forgotten about.
On the bright side, Kendall could sit down for a quick nap. Waking up so early was making him sluggish. And when James and Carlos got there, he would talk to them about his plan and get their help.
It soon appeared he would not need their help. As Kendall started to lay his head down on his desk, the boy he had spent all of yesterday and the morning thinking about walked slowly into the classroom.
Kendall's head shot up. Excitement bubbling up inside of him, he watched the boy glance around the classroom fearfully before clutching his books to his stomach and hurrying to his seat at the front of the room.
The boy's desk position definitely helped explain why Kendall wasn't aware of who the kid was. The kids who sat near the front sat there by choice unless the teacher put them there to stay out of trouble. They were there to hear the teacher, see the board easily to take notes, and be readily available to answer the teacher's questions.
The first-period teacher, Mrs. Jones, liked when some of her students actually paid attention so she allowed them to sit where they pleased. In fact, most of her class was great. It was just Kendall, Carlos and James who had assigned seats because for obvious reasons they needed to be separated.
Kendall never paid attention to those kids because one school was boring enough without having to listen to them talk passionately about a subject, and two having James and Carlos in his first class was too good an oppourtunity to pass up.
Even though he was not sitting near his best friends, Kendall still liked to have fun. He passed notes, had staring contests, and always laughed at Carlos' stilly faces. Why should he pay attention to the kids at the front? They would help him understand the boring part of school. Who wanted to do that?
But he would give up his lack of interest to try to understand the boy. Kendall knew now was the perfect oppourtunity to get up from the back of the room and go talk to him but for some reason he was hit with a sudden wave of nervousness. His heart started beating rapidly and his palms were getting sweaty. This was so out of character for Kendall. Usually when he thought of something, he would go for it in an instant, completely confident and bold. Kendall Knight did not hesitate.
For some reason, he was now. Kendall couldn't understand these feelings, so he used a technique he had picked up in hockey when he was faced with an obstacle. Just barrel through it. That was exactly what Kendall intended to do.
Standing on shaky legs, Kendall rose from his desk and made his way slowly to the front of the classroom. When he was about five feet away from the other guy's desk, an energetic Carlos bumped directly into him, stopping his movement.
"Hey Kendall!" Did you figure out the plan?" Carlos stated loudly.
Kendall ignored Carlos and peered around his energetic friend to see the boy glance up from the thick book he was reading and look over at the loud exchange curiously, Carlos still muttering on about his morning.
Kendall caught his eye and grinned, pleased he had peaked the boy's interest. The boy looked as nervous as Kendall had felt moments earlier but held his gaze. Kendall wasn't sure why he felt so drawn to the boy at that moment but it was thrilling.
The gaze broke though as Carlos, noticing Kendall wasn't paying attention to him, finally stopped talking and turned around to see what Kendall was so focused on. The boy immediately turned red at both Carlos and Kendall staring at him. He dropped his eyes back to his desk.
Kendall frowned and Carlos opened his mouth, looking for answers.
"Who's this…"Carlos started to ask loudly before a voice cut him off.
"Carlos and Kendall! What are you two doing talking? You should be in your seats. The last bell rang five minutes ago. "
Both Kendall and Carlos mumbled quick apologies to their teacher and scurried off, not wanting to risk getting more detention As Carlos waved to James who was already in his seat, Kendall glanced back to see the boy hadn't looked up but was instead fishing around for a notebook in his backpack. Kendall wondered if he could get away with passing him a note…
Mrs. Jones cleared her throat behind him and Kendall broke out of his thoughts to scurry to his desk.
"All right class," Mrs. Jones started once her most troublesome kid had finally reached his seat. She frowned when he started noisily digging around for paper but decided just to continue with what she was saying.
"Today we are going to be picking partners for the science project I'm assigning. Your partner and you will pick an animal you like and will write a report plus make a poster on the animal you select. I will write the full description of the assignment on the board"
The class groaned then immediately started chattering among themselves to pick their partners. Carlos all but jumped on James lap to claim him as a partner and Kendall, pushing away another bout of nervousness, stood up to make his way to the front.
"Alright, everyone, calm down. Kendall, take your seat. I've decided for this project we are going to pick partners a little differently in order to branch out from our comfort zones."
Mrs. Jones picked up a baseball cap from her desk.
"Half of you will pick names from this hat. The name you choose will be your partner. Those who don't have a chance to pick this time will get first pick on the next project."
Grumbling was heard with Carlos and James whining loudest of all. Mrs. Jones made her way to the back of the classroom and stopped in front of Kendall's desk. Why he got the first pick, he would never understand.
"Go ahead Kendall."
Kendall put his hand in the hat and made a show of ruffling around the little papers before clamping his hand down on one and pulling it out. He read the name out loud, not recognizing it.
"Hortense Mitchell?"
Hortense's head automatically shot up and he turned to look at Kendall, eyes wide in fear and mouth gaping open.
Kendall grinned back softly attempting to get the other boy to calm down but inside he was jumping with joy. Who would have thought picking a name out of a hat would allow Kendall to truly meet this boy? At that moment, Kendall decided Hortense was his favourite name in the entire world!
He couldn't want to get started. It didn't matter that Hortense looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
Mrs. Jones wrote down the two boys names while nodding her head in approval. Hortense was a good student and could probably get Kendall to work, at least a little bit. It would be interesting to see Kendall Knight actually do a good job on an assignment and hand it in on time.
Looking up from her paper, she noticed Kendall launching himself toward Hortense's desk. Laughing inside at his enthusiasm, she set her face into a frown.
"Wait until everyone his partners, Kendall, then you can start your work." Mrs. Jones shook her head. She never thought she would ever say those words.
Kendall twitched in his seat while the rest of the class picked partners. Somehow James and Carlos ended up together, which could only end in disaster, but finally, finally, they were allowed to start brainstorming ideas for the rest of the period.
Kendall ran up to Hortense's desk, sheer glee adorning his face, making him forget about Hortense's hesitation.
"Hi Hortense, I'm Kendall!" Kendall practically screamed at Hortense, extending his hand.
Kendall watched as Hortense gulped and eyed Kendall's hand warily. The grin never left Kendall's face but a million questions running through his mind, not one of them about the project. He wanted to know why Hortense seemed so frightened of everyone including Kendall? Was what happened in the cafeteria every day a regular occurrence? Kendall was guessing it was by the way Hortense was acting now. Speaking of which, why did he get the name Hortense? Why…
"I know who you are. I'm Hortense Mitchell," Hortense said shyly, grasping Kendall's hand lightly and offered a small smile.
It seemed while Kendall was thinking, Hortense was doing the same and had decided to trust Kendall enough to talk to him. Kendall didn't know what sparked the change but he was grateful. Hortense had made the best decision because Kendall wouldn't start bullying Hortense.
"Nice to meet you Hortense."
Hortense smirked a little at Kendall's over-confident tone.
"Nice to meet you too. Now what animal were you thinking about researching? Because I wanted to read up on…"
Kendall jumped into the empty desk behind Hortense, intensely listening, not at all surprised at his rambling. He already knew from where Hortense sat in the class that he was smart and his talking just showed he was really smart.
Although some students would have found Hortense's tirade geeky, Kendall found it endearing. He was discovering he was actually interested when Hortense talked about school stuff. He could tell Hortense was a genius. Kendall knew being friends with him be ultimately cool because Hortense could help with the thinking behind Kendall's amazing plans. Kendall just knew he would be the perfect voice of reason for his little group of friends. Plus, this smart side seemed to make Hortense less shy, an added bonus.
"Does the koala sound ok?"
Kendall nodded.
"Totally, but isn't it a koala bear?"
Hortense shook his head.
"No, English-speaking settlers in Australia only called it a bear because it was similar in appearance to bears they had seen. The name's taxonomically incorrect."
Kendall's mouth fell open and he looked confused.
Hortense blushed, looking ready to bolt again; probably afraid he had scared Kendall by being a know-it-all.
Kendall pulled himself out of his bewilderment.
"How do you know all that?"
Hortense shrugged, still embarrassed.
"I read a lot. I don't really have friends to hang out with in my spare time."
Kendall frowned at that, noticing Hortense had said that statement in a meek tone.
"Well now you have me! We can hang out all the time! I think it's really cool how you can talk like a grown-up!" Kendall, exclaimed, making a compliment out of what would usually be considered an insult
Hortense grinned a little wider, white teeth showing.
"Really?"
"Ya. I mean in the last ten minutes I've already learnt so much. We're going to have so much fun being friends and working on this project!"
"Friends?"
"Yes!"
"You don't really know me yet," said Logan. "What if you discover I'm a loser and then don't really want to be my friend."
"You are not a loser. I have a sense about people," said Kendall, hating that Logan was putting himself down. "I want to be your friend and you want to be mine too!"
A full-blown crooked grin finally appeared, making Kendall want to explode with happiness.
"I do. I'm glad you're my friend Kendall."
"I'm really glad you're my friend Hortense!"
"Hortense! What a weird name!"
Kendall's head snapped back at the familiar voice.
Sure enough, James was standing behind him with a stupid grin on his face. Carlos was looked ready to burst into laughter at any moment. Little giggles were already escaping as the Latino thought of living with the name Hortense.
Eyes narrowed, Kendall clenched his hands into fists. He had never been angrier with his two friends. He knew they were only poking fun and if it had been Kendall they were teasing; it wouldn't have been a big deal. When they made fun of Kendall's eyebrows, Kendall was always ready with a snappy comeback. But Kendall could tell Hortense was sensitive and besides he wasn't really part of the group yet. He had to be broken into the trio's odd sense of humour and wrestling rituals.
Kendall's instinctive protectiveness toward Hortense was overshadowing his rational side. If he would have been thinking clearly, he would have figured out Carlos and James didn't really know Hortense and therefore couldn't possibly recognize they were hurting the poor boy.
Their laughter soon ceased when the two boys as they noticed Kendall's face was absolutely scarlet with anger and Hortense had paled. They realized they had something wrong.
Carlos stepped back a little, sure he and his bestest buddy were going to die when Kendall pounced on them. James was trying to figure out how to protect his face, but all that didn't matter to Kendall as Hortense knocked over a chair, running to Mrs. Jones to tap her on the shoulder.
"Mrs. Jones, I don't feel so great. May I go to the washroom?"
He did look very pale and was shaking, so Mrs. Jones let him go.
"Did you see what you two idiots just did?" Kendall hissed.
"What? It was just a little teasing," James replied.
"It shouldn't have made him run off. Who does that at one joke?" Carlos said, genuinely curious.
"A little teasing? Hortense probably gets called names. I mean, look what happened in the cafeteria yesterday and today he practically died of nerves when I first started talking to him. And now you two scared him off before I could invite him to lunch or anything! And you should know better. James you get teased because of your height and because you obsess about your looks and Carlos, sometimes people pick on you because of your heritage and because you wear your helmet!"
Kendall knew he was rambling and his voice was cracking. He would not cry like a baby but he was so upset that James and Carlos had maybe ruined his chances at having a new, special best friend.
The other two didn't know what to say. They had never seen Kendall like this, not even when Carlos had hidden his favourite hockey stick.
"So that's the guy from the cafeteria?" Carlos said, afraid of Kendall getting angrier at his ignorance but wanting to know.
"Yes."
"O man. Sorry Kendall. I didn't know it was him and Carlos didn't either. And I was just having fun. I didn't think a little teasing would hurt him.
"Well it did and now he probably thinks you two are meanies just like the bullies and he probably thinks I am too because I hang out with you," Kendall said.
Regretting his tone as soon as Carlos and James' faces morphed into hurt expressions, Kendall sighed and relaxed. He didn't like upsetting his friends, even if they deserved it. Besides, he still hadn't fully explained the plan.
"We can fix this. Let's go find him in the hall and invite him to play hockey after school.
"Good idea," James said. "Let's go now so we can catch him before next period."
The three boys waited until Mrs. Jones was turned away from the door then darted out of the class. No one felt bad about skipping out early because the bell was going to ring in ten minutes anyway.
"All right, let's check the bathroom. Hortense said he was going there," Kendall said, enthusiasm returning as he rushed off to find his new friend, his other friends following closely behind.
But as soon as they reached the hallway where the bathroom was, it was clear that Kendall's plan would have to be revised.
A/N: There will be two more Minnesota chapters I've finally decided (it originally was just going to be one), and then I'm placing the story after Big Time Break Up while explaining details of the last season and a half. It will probably not include much of the episodes coming up; maybe a few details, but it won't strictly follow the show. But that's what fanfiction is for, to create your own universe. I'm so excited for what's to come!