Hi everyone! Your non-binary pal is back once again with yet another Prinxiety fic! This one, unlike the others, however, is intended to be a story instead of a oneshot. (My autocorrect tried to put in 'a disappointment'. XD) Then again, no promises.
This one is a high school - human AU.
Enjoy!
Warnings: possible strong language, bullying, homophobia, just general LGBTQ+ -phobia, gay slurs. I do not agree with these negative views, and fully support the LGBTQ+ community. Heck, I'm in it! So please no hate to me for what these characters may believe or say. Thank you and enjoy the story.
3rd Person POV
Virgil Storm wakes up with the sound of his alarm. Its noise echoes around the room, reverberating off the walls and ceiling. With a groan, Virgil leans over the side of his bed and stops the blaring noise before falling back on his pillows with a tired sigh.
This is it.
His first day of ninth grade.
In an entirely new school.
Virgil remembers his old school with disgust. People shoving each other against lockers, giving wet willies and pushing each other's heads into the toilets in the boys' bathrooms. He has lost count of the hundreds of times he's been on the receiving end of these, along with punches, pinches, kicks, you name it. Hopefully this school will be different.
Hopefully.
Virgil approaches the school an hour later. He keeps his black hood up, his eyes trained on the ground, trying his very hardest to go unnoticed by everyone. He passes jocks, smiling and laughing obnoxiously, girls gossiping and staring at the jocks with starry eyes, geeks discussing the newest comic book and its movie adaptation, nerds making their hopes to be in top-set maths known to the public and only a couple of stragglers heading into the school alone, many listening to music or digging their noses into books.
The second Virgil steps through the gates, a blur of baby blue and light grey appears before him, nearing knocking him off his feet.
"Hiya kiddo!" An excited voice greets him enthusiastically as the owner comes into focus. The person before him has short blond-brown hair in a bit of a mess, wearing a light blue polo shirt, pale khakis and with a light grey hoodie tied around their shoulders. They smile down at Virgil cheerily, calming his anxiety and making him feel safer. He lets a small smile creep into his face.
"Hi." Virgil replies quietly.
"Salutations!" Another, slightly calmer voice with a bit of a robotic tone sounds from his left side, and he turns to see another person, taller than either of the other people they stand with. They have a black polo shirt on with khakis and a dark blue tie. Their hair is rather straight, dark and well-organised. Virgil gives them a tight smile and a curt nod. "I am Logan Berry. He/him pronouns, please."
"And I'm Patton Morale! Also he/him!" Patton exclaims.
"Virgil Storm. I'm he/him too." Logan and Patton nod in unison before flashing bright smiles. A loud ringing above their heads startles the boys, and Virgil jumps a mile out of his skin with a yelp that is barely covered by the bell. Almost immediately, students of all years begin to swarm into the building, chattering and laughing. A group of tall jocks shove their way through the younger students.
"Wait, guys, wait up!" A loud voice calls out from within the sea of students until someone dislodges themself from the tangle. Virgil barely takes in their crisp white and red varsity jacket and light blue jeans before they take off down one of the corridors, sneakers squeaking loudly against the tile floor. Logan sighs and pinches his nose.
"When will Roman learn to get some real friends? Those jerks are so fake."
"What?" Virgil asks, turning to face Logan and tilting his head like a confused animal.
"Oh, right, you're new here, aren't you? That's why we're here!" Patton smiles. "That's Roman Prince. The jocks and popular kids literally swarm him because they all think he's hot or something. Personally, I don't see it."
"Although he is a very kind and considerate person one you get to know him." Logan chimes in, pulling a neatly folded wad of paper from his backpack. "Have you received your timetable yet, Virgil?" He asks the shorter boy, who nods as he pulls it from a pocket in his ripped black jeans.
"I have chemistry first."
"Ooh, what class are you in?" Patton stands at Virgil's shoulder and stares at his timetable. "Oh, you're in the same class as us! This way!" He grabs Virgil's wrist as Logan struggles to keep his dignity while running to catch up as he tries to force his timetable in a pocket on his khakis without creasing the paper. He soon gives up and sighs loudly before putting on a burst of speed and then jogging alongside them.
The trio arrive at chemistry to find a male teacher at the front of the class, talking to a small group of students. Virgil looks around to see Roman Prince sitting in a back corner on his own.
"Choose your seats! Anywhere you'd like, other than my chair of course!" The teacher, Mr Sanders, calls to the three boys, earning a chuckle from every person in the room. Virgil gestured at Roman nervously.
"Why is he alone? He has loads of friends, judging by the group of jocks he was with this morning." Patton and Logan exchange looks before shrugging in unison.
"Well, we could go sit with him, then he won't be alone." Patton smirks as if he knows something Virgil doesn't, and the look worries him more than a little bit. He steals a glance at Roman's hunched body, a sketchbook on the desk and his head bent over it as he draws. Virgil bites his lip and shrugs.
"Sure."
Roman looks up when he hears footsteps approaching him. Virgil holds in a gasp as he meets Roman's eyes. Roman's gorgeous caramel brown eyes. His hair is a golden brown and is gelled into a fancy-looking style. He quickly moves his hands to try to cover the artwork before letting out a sigh and letting his arms move back.
"Hi, Patton, Logan." He mumbles, nodding at the two boys in turn. Both of them give small smiles and Patton waves kindly. "Hi. I'm—" Virgil cuts him off.
"Roman Prince, right?" Roman nods, his eyes widening slightly. They seem to swirl with emotions - nervousness, for some reason, if Virgil knows anything. And he likes to think he does.
The three boys take their seats at the table with Roman's permission, plonking their bags down on the desks and pulling their folders out. Within two minutes, two other boys come over and greet the majority of the group like old friends before introducing themselves to Virgil. He learns their names - Remy and Emile, both also he/him - as quickly as possible, trying not to annoy or upset anyone at this school before he even starts his second day.
Virgil soon sees what Patton meant about Roman. He is hot. Really hot. Virgil soon finds the other, secret side to Roman.
The dorky side.
As it turns out, Roman reveals himself and his true colours as a theatre kid by humming something from Hamilton and a major fan of Disney just by drawing all of the Disney princesses together on a scrap piece of paper during chemistry. When Virgil points it out, however, Roman gets defensive, hiding the drawings under his arm as he shoves the paper under his folder, a blush haunting his cheeks. Confused, Virgil slowly returns to his work.
Chemistry ends in what feels like a flash to Virgil, and he packs up his folder before pulling his timetable from his pocket.
"Does anyone know where Room 18 is?" He asks the boys around his table, all of whom nod as they stand and leave the classroom.
"I'll take you if you want. I'm in the same block for next period." Remy speaks up, and Virgil nods and smiles.
"See you guys at break! Meet us out on the field! Remy, meet Virgil after class and show him where we normally sit!" Patton yells down the hallway as he turns and runs in the opposite direction, Logan's calling to him falling on deaf ears. Logan curses under his breath as he takes off down the corridor after his cardigan-clad companion, his tie flapping over his shoulder as if it was waving to Virgil even though its owner can't. Roman waves without a word.
"We'll see you later, right Roman?" Virgil asks, fixing the jock with a slightly concerned look. Roman's face quickly takes up a smile and he nods, a fake sparkle in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'll see y'all later! Have a good first day, Virgil!" he calls before turning and heading down another one of the corridors, his smile dropping almost immediately. Virgil bites his lip, confused.
"Is he okay? Is he normally like that?" He asks Remy, who shrugs as he waves to Emile.
"Well, I mean, he was never like that in seventh grade, or in eighth as far as I know, but that was when he got in with the jocks and other assholes he's normally with. So maybe. Why?" He turns back to Virgil, one eyebrow raised. "Oh God, don't tell me you're also falling into that bottomless pit!" He strides away, motioning for a perplexed Virgil to follow him. He does, throwing one last look towards the corridor that Roman had just disappeared down. It suddenly looks dark and shadowy, much more than it did before.
So, I might as well end this here! If I don't, this will definitely just become one long-ass one-shot...
I hope you all enjoyed the beginning of this story! I will, hopefully, have another chapter out by, at the very latest, March, but again, unfortunately I can't make any promises. This is one of my main priorities though.
Anyway, I'll see you all again soon, if you liked this first chapter!
As always, all reviews and DMs are more than welcome, so don't be afraid to get in contact!
Bye everyone!
-LunaPikazard