Delaroux writing.
After some consideration, I've decided not to include any supernatural twists to the story, in favor of concentrating on keeping everything as close to the canon as possible. This decision was also influenced by a number of reviews and pm's. Thank you so much to everyone who replied to my plea s for opinions! If I ever do want to give things a more supernatural twist, I'll put up a drabble or something.
But be warned that the characters I'll be introducing are still dark and definitely have more to them than meets the eye. This will be shown in later chapters. I won't be introducing too many new characters in detail unless you respond well to my OC's, so don't worry.
Let's move on to the chapter (: I had tons of fun writing this chapter especially, and I'm sure you'll understand why soon. So I REALLY hope you enjoy it!
Monday morning came around, and at eight thirteen in the morning, the school was populated with students. Most were hanging around their lockers, waiting for their friends, or heading straight to their classrooms and lecture halls.
"Sorry, I think you're very attractive, but I actually swing the other way. Quite strictly."
This comment caught the attention of approximately twenty eight people in the hallway. In other words, everyone.
The girl excused herself and went back to her small group of friends, whispering ferociously with an embarrassed flush on her face. She had never been turned down quite like that before.
The new kid had dark red layered hair that draped over his shoulders. Ignoring the stares of everyone, he pulled his hair tie off his wrist and whistled as he tied it back into a small ponytail. He had on Asian nerd spectacles, which only focused attention to his dark green eyes.
His skin was extremely fair; it was obvious he wasn't from Hillwood. Dressed in a red tank top and black jeans, he was a fine specimen to say the least. A black hoodie was knotted around his waist, and leather bangles adorned his wrist. He had three rings on his left hand. His jeans were tucked away into steel-toed combat boots.
When he stretched to tie his hair, his tank top rode up slightly. He had the number 11 tattooed over his hip bone, which was triple pierced.
Androgynous didn't even begin to describe the boy. He was toned but lithe, slender but healthy-looking. The girls stared, the boys gaped. No one could figure out where the boy had come from, but needless to say, they were trying their best.
He nonchalantly collected his book bag from the floor, took a drink from the drinking fountain and walked away. "Hmmn, E Practical Design T3404…" He muttered under his breath as he glanced at his timetable.
The hallway erupted in conversation.
"… And then Thad just crushed the note and ate it." Rhonda sighed sadly. Helga half snorted in laughter, trying to keep her chocolate milk in her mouth.
Lila giggled. "Stinky once did that. We were passing notes and Mr. Aiber caught us. It had all sorts of embarrassing things in it, such embarrassing things…" Her face turned a little red as she remembered.
"Embarrassing stuff is juicy." Nadine commented with a raised eyebrow.
Katrinka smirked. "Come on, Lila, spill. What was in it? Any cringe-worthy stuff?"
Patty sighed. "Come on girls, leave off." She patted Lila's shoulder sympathetically. The girl looked up at her friend gratefully.
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad, Lila." Phoebe smiled graciously as she unwrapped a sweet.
Rhonda laughed. "Bet it was. You've been holding out on us, girl."
Lila just smiled and played with her hands, blushing.
T3404 was the studio for the newest elective offered at HS 118; Practical Design. The students also called it the Hive, because it had a black and yellow color theme. All the gang had decided to take it together, thinking it'd be fun. Several other students from different classes joined them for the elective. Most of the class waited until the bell rung at nine before trickling in.
Today though, the girls had decided to come in early to have breakfast together. Only Peapod, Lorenzo and Park were there early with them, and the boys were discussing a new game.
Helga finished her breakfast off with a decisive bite and swallowed deeply. She was about to say something, but everyone was looking at the studio entrance. She turned around to look.
"T3404… Seriously, why don't they just number their studios and classrooms properly?" Someone grumbled lowly from the door. "A, B, C, 1, 2, 3…"
Everyone stared for a moment.
"Is that red color natural?" Rhonda whispered loudly on impulse.
"It is." Helga and the new person automatically replied.
Helga stood up with a huge smile on her face and ran to embrace the hottie by the door. "Relial! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She smiled excitedly.
The new boy beamed. "Echo and I wanted to surprise you."
Everyone in the studio was still staring.
Helga laughed at their facial expressions. "Guys, this is Relial. He's a really close friend of mine from Firnest." She explained. "Where's Echelon?" She asked him, and he shrugged with a happy smile.
"You'll see."
Gerald grinned as he walked towards the studio with Arnold. "So that party at Rhonda's place… Man, that was some party, huh?" Arnold laughed.
"Yeah Gerald. Sorry Abner chewed on your sleeping bag in the morning, though. He was just hungry." The blonde replied, ever quick to defend the undeniably strange eating habits of his pet pig. Gerald shrugged.
"Nah, man, I'm used to it."
They laughed and entered the venue two minutes early for class. Most of the students were already there, plus one new face.
"Think he's the one who everyone in school was talking about on our way in?" Arnold asked his best friend.
Gerald nodded. "Who else could he be? The man who rejected Kina William's, not to mention that he aired his sexuality in the open. He's a bold, bold guy." He added gravely. Arnold just stared at him. "What?" Gerald shrugged. "Gossip travels fast in this school, you know that."
Arnold just nodded and they walked up to their friends, who were speaking to the new kid.
Gerald grinned at the boy. "Hey, I'm Gerald." He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you."
The boy took it with a strong grip and smiled. "Call me Relial. And you are?" He turned to Arnold.
"Oh. I'm Arnold," The blonde introduced himself.
Helga cringed as Relial smirked.
"Oh, I seeeeeeeeeeee." He said simply, dragging his e's.
Helga wanted quite desperately to slap him.
Arnold was confused.
"Settle." Someone commanded as he walked into the place. At the tone, everyone did. Helga wanted to scream in excitement. She settled for glaring at Relial, who shrugged with a smug grin.
"Where's Miss Dean?" Gerald whispered to Phoebe, who shrugged.
The man heard. "That must have been the name of your previous design mentor. She got sick of all of you." He deadpanned at the front of the studio.
Helga resisted the urge to giggle. Everyone in the classroom was still with shock at their new teacher's appearance and personality except for herself and Relial.
"My name is Echelon." The man began. "And so, you may call me Echelon." He scribbled his name on the chalkboard. "Alternatively, you could also call me sir, teacher, mentor, or God." He turned around to face them again with a poker face. "It's really up to you. God would be nice, but Echelon suits me just fine."
Echelon had raven black hair and onyx eyes like mirrors. He was rather short, but had a fit physique. Something about him commanded attention and obedience, perhaps his quietly demanding voice or his piercing stare. Either way, he possessed a formidable presence.
He was dressed formally in a black work shirt with a pale silver tie, black working pants with a leather belt, and black leather shoes to match. His tiepin gleamed, as did his belt buckle. Most noticeable about him were the faded puncture tattoos on any part of his skin that was exposed. He had one creeping up the arch of his neck, and even one down over his eye from his forehead.
Some of the students, like Lila and Phoebe, gulped a little.
Some of the students, like Arnold and Gerald, grinned. The two boys even dared to exchange a thumbshake. Miss Dean had been a boring teacher.
Some of the students, like Lorenzo and Peapod, sat up in interest.
Some of the students, like Rhonda and Nadine, just stared in awe.
"You can't be over twenty..." Nadine unconsciously whispered, before clapping her hand over her mouth in what seemed to be horror.
Echelon turned around to face her. "Actually, I'm thirty two." He admitted in slight amusement, and the class stared at him in utter shock.
"No WAY!" Eugene almost shrieked in disbelief. Then, he clapped his hands over his mouth like Nadine had done. "I mean… Gosh, that's unbelievable?" He mumbled between his fingers.
"Dude was born in a fountain of youth…" Sid said in awe.
Gerald rubbed his eyes. Then he smacked the side of his ears. He could not have heard that number right. Thirty two could not have been right.
Rhonda continued to stare. "It's either the work of God, or a miracle of modern science." She declared. "I just can't decide which one. The minor lack in height aside." She added softly.
Echelon, who was only 5'6, nodded. "The minor lack in height aside, but I can work around that." He said monotonously. He turned to Relial. "Liam, take attendance." He tossed the boy the clipboard and took a seat on the teacher's desk.
Everyone but Helga wondered about the relation between the two. Park and Eugene glanced at each other momentarily before returning their attention to their new teacher.
Relial caught it and stood up without question. "Okay, let's see… Arnold." He began to read.
Feeling like he was in a movie of some sort, Arnold blinked. "H… Here." He said.
'So you're Arnold.' Echelon noted internally with no change to his facial expression. Relial continued to read out the names without pausing.
"Helga G. Pataki." Relial read out. He smiled at his friend, who beamed. Echelon looked up abruptly.
"I'm back here by the window, Echelon." She smirked at the new teacher, who lifted an eyebrow.
"Well well, Helga G. Pataki. I didn't even notice you sitting all the way there on the other side of the class." He intoned, and she smiled. "You haven't changed a bit."
Helga shrugged. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I seem to be teaching Practical Design." Echelon sighed, thinking this was a rather stupid question.
"I can see that. Why?" Helga persisted.
"A favor. Believe me; I'm not happy about it." Echelon gestured to Relial. "Liam, continue."
And so Relial continued to read out name after name till he was done. No one was absent except for three girls, who commonly breezed into the classroom whenever they wished. Everyone was used to it by the second term.
The gang was here, along with several other students who usually clung together, even for projects and whatnot. Their names were Thyme, Ely, Sisera, Jeramael, Eve, and Aion. They were all from the same school previously, so in everyone's minds, the class was pretty much already streamed into cliques.
"So, a few rules." Echelon glanced at them. "Rule number one – I don't care about any of you. Really. I'm truly not exaggerating. Except Liam. You all know him as Relial. And perhaps to a very small, miniscule extent, Helga G. Pataki."
Helga took no offense. This was practically a declaration of family relations for the man. Relial laughed, but stifled it quickly, blushing. Echelon glared at him before continuing.
"Rule number two." He continued. "I'm an extremely private person, and I will not tolerate any rumors or discussion about me. Any comments related to me in any way, including but not limited to, my body, sexual orientation, age and particularly my love life, will not be appreciated. Even if any of it is true. If I can trace it back to you," He paused by Rhonda's table, correctly identifying her to be the gossip queen of the class, "And believe me, I will -"
He looked up at the rest of them. "There will be severe consequences awaiting you."
Rhonda gulped rather audibly. Thad could see the life slowly draining away from his girlfriend. She thrived and survived on gossip.
Echelon walked back to the front of class. "Rule number three; we will be working with sharp and dangerous instruments and materials. I will be allowing you to utilize laser cutters, printing presses, woodcut tools, and a number of heavy duty machineries." He picked up a sharp-looking cutter and twirled it between his fingers. "I will even go to the extent of providing them for you."
"Excuse me sir… but isn't that forbidden by the school?" Lila whispered.
Echelon nodded. "That is correct, Miss Sawyer. But I am not like any other teacher. I am vastly different and will allow students more leeway as long as my rules are not broken. I am not here to treat you like mere students, but as student designers. I believe Practical Design should be more… Practical, don't you?" He shot them all a sardonic smile.
"However, closely connected to rule number one, I will not be held responsible for any missing appendages, cuts, burns, grazes, scratches, or any other form of physical injury that occurs in this studio, particularly if you fail to follow instructions or standard safety procedures."
Everyone winced as he stabbed the blade into the wood of the table.
"Rule number four." He picked up a wooden meter rule and swung it to his left. Arnold ducked as it swung past the space where his head had been. Everyone gasped as the tip of the ruler stopped centimeters away from a student who'd just entered, Mikaelle's, nose.
Echelon lifted his head with an unamused expression on it. "I do not tolerate tardiness." He swiveled his head to glance at Arnold for a moment. "Good reflexes, blondie." He commented.
Arnold, who had his hands poised over his head in slight fear for his life, nodded uncertainly with his eyes wide. He didn't trust himself to say anything at the moment. Then his eyes connected with Mikaelle's.
He shuddered a little.
The girl blinked for a moment, cross-eyed, before she looked at the teacher. "Holy shit, teach, you're pretty fucking hot." She smirked.
He swung his ruler to point at the three empty chairs right in front of the classroom. "And you're pretty fucking not; now take a seat Regina George." Everyone laughed as quietly as humanly possible at the reference to the movie Mean Girls. Two of the latecomers looked shocked that Echelon had used a profanity, but after a few minutes of his introduction, the rest of the students were completely unsurprised. "That goes for the two of you as well, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith."
Two of the girls were all giggles by the time they sat down again. The third glared at Echelon for calling her Karen Smith, but took a seat nonetheless.
He glared at them. "Liam, their names please." He asked resignedly.
"Mikaelle Hilt, Danity Tse and Cassidy Knowling." Relial read out, ticking the late boxes in the second column on the attendance clipboard.
Mikaelle and Danity giggled. Cassidy parted her book irritably and began to read from where she had left off.
Helga lifted her head and bit her lip as she saw who Mikaelle was.
Arnold ducked his head.
Echelon nodded.
"Alright, students, let's get ready for some Practical Design." He said in a bored tone.
Several of the students beamed.
Echelon frowned. "I see you're all looking energetic. Fair warning, there will be no happiness in here; just Practical Design. So I thought I'd better warn all of you before you got really excited."
Most of the students sniggered.
"We're going to be designing a one-room apartment today." Echelon told all of them. "I'll be showing a few pictures of what I mean. After that, I'll list the requirements of your blueprints-"
"B… Blueprints?" Gerald's eyes widened almost to the point of no return. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He half shouted. "We haven't even designed a toilet before!" He choked.
Phoebe reached forwards and patted his back tentatively, worried he might have a heart attack.
Echelon lifted an eyebrow. "And what exactly HAVE you kids been designing?"
"Shelving units." Peapod said point blank.
Harold scrowled. "Tables."
"Doors." Eugene added with a wave of his hand.
Eve sighed. "Lampshades."
"Furniture handles..." Phoebe almost looked ashamed.
Ely spoke up. "Toilet seats." He rolled his eyes.
"Lampshades? Furniture handles? Toilet seats?" Echelon palmed his face tiredly. "I think my brain just broke."
Most of the class snickered. Past his fierceness, Echelon was going to be a great teacher.
"Fine, due to the idiocy of your previous design mentor, it seems we will be put slightly behind schedule. We're going to have to settle for designing a bedroom with an adjoining toilet." Echelon decided, looking extremely irritated at his schedule being changed. "Everyone get out the following materials. Pencils – HB, 2B, 4B and 8B. Grid-lined paper, four sheets. Ruler. Eraser."
He switched on his laptop and hooked it up. "Let me see if I can show you Zaha Hadid's contemporary bedroom design. I have the night and day mock up images somewhere. Very futuristic. Fearon, another designer from New Zealand, does some brilliant work as well."
Seventy eight windows of design materials filled the projector screen.
Everyone's eyes widened in wonderment. There were thousands of pictures in Echelon's own files and he flickered through the tabs in a systematic manner. The man looked up and smirked at their faces, taking out a stack of hard disks from his bag, all of them labeled very systematically.
"Welcome to Practical Design."
"Seriously, teach, what do you do aside from teaching this stuff?" Jeramael grinned as he measured the circumference for his door to scale.
Echelon readjusted his rule so that it was in line with his wall sketch. "I write romance novels." He said with a straight face.
The entire class stared. "Seriously?" Jeramael whispered. In his own universe, he was being extremely discreet.
"No." Echelon replied. "Your door is fourteen centimeters too narrow." He stated, before walking over to observe Harold's work, whose hand promptly began to shake with nervousness.
Mikaelle raised her hand for Echelon's attention for just about the seventy fourth time.
"Liam, or Helga, please." Echelon massaged his temple as he scrutinized Harold's design. Helga stood up, having already completed her design and having it approved for an A-. She walked over to the girl's table as casually as possible.
Mikaelle looked up at her and sighed. "Go away, I'll wait till Mr. Sexy is free." She dismissed Helga rudely, smirking in Echelon's direction.
The teacher sneezed suspiciously.
"I don't think so." Helga batted the girl's arms away and looked at Mikaelle's work so far. She rolled her eyes as Mikaelle hissed at her, annoyed. "Wow, Echo, I think this is something that actually does warrant your attention."
Mikaelle brightened as Helga returned to her seat with a sad sigh. The girl was a lost case. Everyone was interested now, as Echelon picked up her design sheet and scrowled.
Hey Mr Echelon~ Call me, sexy! Or you could call me sexy too, both are fine by me!
Her number was scribbled beneath the cursive sentence.
Echelon looked at the girl, who was smiling seductively beside him. He leaned against her table on one hand and sighed softly. "Thank you for your offer," He tried the polite approach. "But while I'm flattered, I feel it's my duty to inform you that your proposition fell into the hands of someone completely uninterested."
She was unperturbed by this.
He palmed his face. "Tell me, Michelle-"
"- It's Mikaelle…"
"Don't care – Tell me. Do you particularly like the letter F?" He asked, almost nicely.
She smiled and shook her head, in a daze. "Not really, why?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.
Echelon took her sheet with him and crushed it into a paper ball. "Because it's what you're getting if you don't take this shit seriously." He glared at her fiercely, and then at the rest of them.
"Make no mistake about it; I will not hesitate to fail any of you. Not if your work isn't up to standard; or if you don't believe in your own designs." He said. "Practical Design isn't just a simple grade. As your mentor, I'm here to inform you, and assure you, that it will be anything BUT a simple grade. You're going to fight harder for your grades than you ever have in your life. Continue working."
The class did, frowning worriedly at their pieces.
Mikaelle and her two friends whispered amongst themselves and pretended to do some work.
Echelon opened up the paper ball from before and scrowled.
'The abbreviation "Mr" should have a full stop after it.' He thought with a disappointed sigh as he crushed it again and tossed it into the paper bin. 'Stupid girl.'
Arnold looked up and listened intently.
"Points for the drop-leaf table, blondie." Echelon said, pointing at a structure Arnold had sketched earlier. "Especially since your design of it is pretty unique. But there's just one little problem; think about your space now."
Confused, Arnold gestured to the table. "I did, isn't that the reason it's good to have a drop-leaf table?" He asked.
Echelon nodded. "Yes, but not over here. Your window is on the other side of the room. This means not only that light comes in from the wrong side, but also that the space will feel small and cramped with artificial lighting. And that's because your table is also pushed right into the corner." Echelon pointed at the other end of Arnold's sketch. "Put the table over here, so that it drops directly under the window."
"But that's where the…"
"Sound system goes?" Echelon finished for him. "Good design aesthetically, but not a practical decision. With the sound system so close to the window, this design would be bad for people living in point blocks, where apartments are practically stacked one on top of another." He paused. "You know. Noise pollution?"
Arnold's nodded. It made sense.
"Which is bad. People are investing more and more in point blocks now, to conserve land space. If you can't sell your design to point blocks, you can't sell for much." Echelon added, before he looked over Arnold's design thoughtfully.
"Replace the drop-leaf table with the sound system, and vice versa. I'll consider this a minor edit since it's only the first lesson, and obviously your previous mentor taught you jack shit about real design work." Echelon sighed in annoyance as he took out a red Copic marker and graded Arnold's grid-lined sheet a B+. "Since I made one major edit and two minor edits to improve your design, you're two grades down from a distinction. Same grade as Liam, well done, blondie." Echelon said, walking to Phoebe's desk.
Arnold smiled at the man. "Thanks, sir."
Echelon paused and looked back at him. "No problem… Arnold." He said.
'Good kid. Oblivious as all hell,' Echelon said as he watched Helga staring at Arnold with blatant adoration written all over her face, 'But a good kid nonetheless.'
Relial smiled at him as he passed by. They exchanged a look.
There might be hope for Helga yet, if they had anything to say about it.
Echelon approached Phoebe. He remembered not her name, but her country of origin. "Okay, come on Tokyo, let's see what you have so far."
What do you think? :D
Echo and Relial are two of my favorite characters to write. Echelon and Relial have a long, LONG history. They can be super cute around one another, but at the same time they can be extremely volatile. I'll go a bit more into their back story in the coming chapters, after they've interacted with the characters a little more.
This chapter was basically to introduce the type of people Relial and Echelon are on a more superficial level. In the next chapter, you'll see that they're vital to the plot because of how close they are to Helga.
Please review! PLEASE.
