(A/n: Wow...It is so not pleasant having no motivation to write. *Sighs* Please enjoy)
Chapter 18: A Rose's Significance
Word about Tweek being another addition to the vampire students has yet to have faded away. The Principal told everyone over the intercom about the incident the following day after it had happened, leaving Kyle's name out of it. All but not most were shocked by the news, and the teachers and other staff members were wondering who could've done such a forbidden thing. There are quite a few suspects and Craig is the first among them, Clyde and Butters were excluded since they have no interest in no one but each other and Craig.
Firkle, however, can care less about what happened to the crazy haired human, his interest wasn't as high nor visible like the others in the school. Moving the textbook they were assigned to read up a bit, he slumps forward and rests his elbow on the desk followed by his cheek on his palm. Firkle wishes he could control time like Mr. Thorn. He would use the ability almost everyday just so he could get away from going to class, he would sleep all his days away like a lazy person.
Such a thought causes a yawn to escape past his mouth, he doesn't even bother covering it up and Mr. Thorn turns around from in his seat at his desk to glare at him for the unnecessary disruption in his quiet classroom.
"I know that reading is boring, but please refrain from yawning every time we do this." He faces away and starts fiddling on his phone again. "These books contain helpful information so I'm having you all read them for a reason."
"What's the point in reading when you can freakin' teach this stuff to us?" Firkle sits up glaring at his back with his visible eye, then directs his scowl towards his left when he hears a stifled snicker. Ike has his head down in his book, but moves his eyes up towards Firkle's direction, and quickly looks away with another suppressed laugh.
"You're such a kid," the vampire noirette whispers with a huff. He moves his book down to his eye level, and pretends to read it's content.
"Says the guy who always tries to sleep whenever we read," Ike retorts back.
Before Firkle can say anything back, Mr. Thorn, who overheard their hushed conversation says, "You two quit flirting and read."
Some students chuckle at that, while Ike blushes lightly and Firkle flips the man off, his cheeks also colored a light pink.
After what felt like days of reading in the textbook, Firkle still being on the same page, the second period bell rings. The black haired vampire yawns again amidst the shrill noise, he along with the rest of his classmates closing their books then waiting on their teacher for their next lesson. Once the sound of the bell comes to an end a few seconds later, Mr. Thorn gets up from his chair as he stuffs his phone in his pocket, seeming to be in a good mood due to the broad smile on his face.
"Alright let's go." Even his voice sounded cheery and it was freaking the students out.
"What's got you in a good mood all of sudden?" A student with brown hair and black eye asks as they stand and follow the man out of the classroom, walking to their well known training ground. Mr. Thorn turns his head back slightly, the still present grin answering for him before turning away.
"It probably has something to do with 'The Mole'," another student says to the brunette, and they both laugh when Mr. Thorn tells them to shut up without looking at them.
"Also it's Mr. DeLorne to you brats," the teacher adds. "Only I get to call him that, and in bed if ya know what I mean."
There are groans of fake disgust and laughter after his jest, even from the passing by students who aren't in his class. Firkle just shakes his head, already used to his teacher's behavior.
The class reach the courtyard in their same short time frame, approaching and standing in the same spot behind the fountain. Five students stop and stand next to the fountain while Firkle and Ike stand on Mr. Thorn's left and six Purebloods stand on his right. The light grey clouds above are showering the earth in faint drizzle, and there is a light breeze drifting in the air.
Mr. Thorn crosses his arms, his smile lessening some. "Since Gregory and Cartman won't be back until the day after tomorrow from their suspension, we're going to continue what we've been doing these past couple of days until then." And with that all being said, he and his group walk further back in the yard and Mr. Thorn sets up a barrier and they got started.
Firkle walks to a bush and plucks out a velvet rose as Ike stands in the middle, looking disappointed when Firkle walks back to him with the flower in hand. He raises an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
"Can we do something else?" Ike asks.
"Like what?"
"I don't know," Ike shrugs. "Something different I guess. I already have like five of those things in my room, and..." He trails off with a faint blush, leaving Firkle curious.
"I see, but I don't have anything else planned."
Ike gives him a blank look, blush fading. "So you were just gonna have me hold flowers all the time?"
Firkle gives him a one-armed shrug. "Pretty much."
Ike shakes his head. "Seriously dude?" He takes the rose from Firkle's hand, and nearly drops it as his back slouches and his arm dips down. "D-damn, t-this is h-heavier than the other times." He grits his teeth as he tries to lift up his arm.
"At least that counts as doing something different. Also you're holding it for five minutes," Firkle says, crossing his arms as he watches his partner struggle to raise his arm, grumbling about the increased time limit as he does so. It reminds Firkle of when they first did this, although now it seems Ike has gotten used to holding overweight flowers. Doing so has lead to some noticeable changes in his arms, proof that Firkle's training has been doing it's job right. He's been having Ike alternate between carrying the Basyes Purple Rose and lifting it like a barbell with each hand these past few days, even when the human preteen wasn't accustomed to it yet. There is a small bulge in his twig-like arms whenever he holds the rose now.
"Wonder where he's been keeping the roses in his room," Firkle thinks.
"H-hey, wanna hang out later?" He hears Ike suddenly ask, and he stares at the boy in slight shock. The flower in his hand is almost held out as if he's going to give the thing to the vampire, though he's still struggling some.
"Umm why all of a sudden?" Firkle questions, not hiding his confusion.
Ike's cheeks turn pink again in embarrassment. "Cuz well you asked me the last time, but we umm ya know..." He stops his arm and avoids Firkle's eye as he pauses for a moment, then looks back at him. "Look I'm sorry about last time, I really did wanna hang out with you that day."
Firkle doesn't say anything as he tries to comprehend what Ike said, his visible eyebrow furrowing as he slowly recalls himself asking Ike to hang out out of the blue. Firkle had actually forgotten that had happened since it was embarrassing and so unlike him, he went straight to sleep as soon as he entered his room and got in his bed. The next day Ike was a little late to class, the reason being he went to get his bandage removed from his hand, but the boy hadn't said anything to him that day. Only looked at him when he thought Firkle wasn't aware of it.
"He must've thought that I was mad at him," Firkle thinks. He straightens his eyebrows as he stuffs his hands into his pants pockets. "It's alright, I've forgotten about it anyway."
A brief flash of relief washes over Ike's face, covering it up with gritted teeth as he proceeds to try to lift up his arm. "Do you have anything planned?" Firkle asks, repeating what Ike had asked him that day.
"O-of course I do," Ike responds quickly. "B-but I'll tell you i-in fourth period." They share first, third, and fourth period together.
"Why not tell me now? Or is that you actually don't know?" Firkle deadpans.
Before Ike answers, he wraps all of his fingers around the rose's stem, pulls his raised arm back with his elbow next to the upper side of his stomach, and lets it rest there. "I do know, I just wanna wait until the day is almost over with. Also is five minutes up yet?"
Firkle rolls his eyes. "Whatever, and no it's not up yet. I think." He shrugs.
Ike groans and the two chat about random things until the bell rings close to ten minutes later. "You all know what to do." A creepy smiling Mr. Thorn and his crew walk pass them and into the building, Firkle, Ike, and the other five following behind them.
"Am I the only one freaked out by Mr. Thorn's smile?" Ike whispers to Firkle as he massages his arm, earning another one-armed shrug from the teen.
Once they enter the school, Ike stops Firkle. "Here," Ike holds out the rose to Firkle who raises a questioning eyebrow.
"Why are you-"
"Think of it as an accomplishment from your pupil..or somethin'," Ike says sheepishly, rubbing back of his neck.
Firkle blinks. "And you call me weird," he mumbles, taking the rose and continuing on his way to his second period class.
/
Firkle and Ike walk to their shared fourth period class, Enhancement Training, taught by Mr. Akuma. The only thing they needed to bring there were themselves. It is the only class in this school that has a limited number of students ranging from 8 to 15, and is only instructed by the Asian man.
Both boys dread going to his class everyday, but for different reasons: For Firkle, it's because Mr. Akuma's teachings are strict and he doesn't allow no one not an ounce of time to relax after training. Basically he hates the ET class mainly for it's lack for him to sleep, he can do it in his other classes (Well get close to doing it) except in his last one. For Ike, it's because the man still creeps him out. The feeling got worse when Mr. Akuma found out about Tweek being turned into a vampire, and he somehow found the news interesting more than shocking. He would sometimes give Ike this look the boy can't describe, giving off bad vibes whenever their eyes met. Ike shivers at the thought.
The young duo enter the classroom just as the late bell rings, followed by a few more students. Firkle and Ike walk to the back of the first row and sit in their seat, Ike sitting in front of Firkle.
"Hey Ike, Firkle," greets Gary, who is sitting in the second desk in the back of the second row.
"Hey," Ike greets back, Firkle just nods his acknowledgement.
Mr. Akuma closes the door then walks and stands behind the podium, reaching under it and pulling out a light green leather textbook with the classes name written on it in bold dark green letters in the upper middle.
"Everyone take out your textbooks and open to page 150," he orders while doing the same.
The 12 students hold back their urge to groan as they reach under their desk for the book, Firkle more thankful than disappointed unlike the others. He'd rather read than work in this class, the total opposite in Mr. Thorn's class. Firkle looks down at the page, and arches an eyebrow.
"Who wants to volunteer to read?" Mr. Akuma looks at his students, and not one of them have their hand raised. Most have their attention in their book, trying not to look into the man's eyes as they 'try' to look like they're reading on their own. Mr. Akuma sighs irritably.
"I'll do it." Says an impassive voice, the source being Kyle who is sat in the second seat in the middle row.
Mr. Akuma nods. "Thank you, just read the first page and I'll choose someone else to pick up from there."
As Kyle reads in a voice that can put anyone to sleep, Firkle is already on the next page. Usually when they read, which is rare because Mr. Akuma has them get to work as soon as the last bell rings, it's about something they're going to be doing in or out of class; depending on the page and what's written on that page. But in this case, as far as Firkle has read, this is something that doesn't need be taught hands on. They can simply read about it, and that's it.
"Don't tell me we're gonna read until the period's over?" Firkle thinks, no longer feeling relieved if that's the case. He'll end up falling asleep without a doubt if they read until the end of the school day, and that's something he doesn't want to do in this guy's class. Mr. Akuma is also very strict about his classroom rules, break any one of them and expect severe punishment for it. Quite a few people have faced the consequences, three to be exact since the limit is 15 students, and they are no longer in this class for reasons unknown to Firkle.
"Firkle, you read next." The call of his name has him blinking, and looking up from the book. Well he's already done with the page he's assigned to read, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to read it aloud. But there is one thing he wants to confirm first.
"Can I ask a question?"
"What is it?"
"Are we reading until class is over?"
Mr. Akuma cocks an eyebrow. "What gave you that idea?"
"Because this is something that doesn't need to be taught actively." Firkle looks down at his book for a moment. "It even says so on the second page."
Mr. Akuma looks at him silently for a second, then gives him a small grin. "I see, so you've read ahead. To answer your question, yes we are going to be reading until class ends. Because tomorrow you're going to have a quiz on this chapter so you all better retain the information we're covering." Half of the class doesn't bother containing their groans and mumbles of disappointment, but their teacher silences them instantly with a glare. "Complain all you want, but those who don't score at least a 60% or higher will have to take it over until they do. Now Firkle read, we have four more pages to go."
...
...
"First time I've heard you talk for more than a minute," teases Ike as he, a grumpy Firkle, and Gary leave the classroom with the rest of the students. Firkle just glares at the other noirette. It was the first time he was picked to read, and he hopes it's the last.
"God I can't stand that class," the trio overhear a student whine as he and another person walk ahead of them. "We can't even talk to each other in there without getting caught! It's so stupid!" The other boy nods his head in agreement, then their conversation becomes incomprehensible as more students' chatter overlaps their's.
When Firkle, Ike, and Gary reach an intersection of the hallway, Gary separates from the two noirette's, bidding them goodbye along the way. "Oh yeah!" Ike suddenly exclaims, startling Firkle. "Meet me right here after ten minutes okay?" Without waiting for a reply, Ike dashes off down the hall, leaving a very confused Firkle behind.
"What the hell was that all about?" He thinks with a second blink of the eyes. He reaches his room two minutes later, and opens the door only to nearly bump into one of his roommates.
Firkle walks past the two toned haired teen without a word, and to his isolated bed on the other side of the room. On top of it are his casual clothes he laid out earlier, consisting of an all black turtleneck sweater and pants. "Hey to you too asshole," he hears Pete say and he's out the door.
Paying his statement no mind, Firkle first takes off his shoes, then unbuttons his blazer followed by the rest of his uniform. He puts on his other set of clothes afterwards. Once done, he digs into the pocket of his blazer and pulls out the rose. He frowns at it's crumbled state and tries to smooth it out the best he can on his nightstand. But he had no such luck.
With a sigh, he looks over at the turned on lamp in the middle of his roommates' beds, contemplating turning it off or not. He thinks against it instantly once he remembers that he's supposed to meet Ike less than ten minutes from now, he doesn't have enough time to sleep, let alone take a nap.
"What does he have planned that made him leave in such a hurry?" He wonders with a yawn. He grabs his uniform and throws them into a basket in his bathroom. After a minute, he decides to idle about in the halls until the ten minutes fill like it's up. He wishes he had a phone, but he wouldn't be on it that much, or at all so he takes it back. He'd rather have Mr. Thorn's time ability any day than some time telling device. It makes him wonder why Mr. Thorn has a cell phone to begin with.
As Firkle walks leisurely down the hallway, he thinks about getting a snack from the cafeteria. "Maybe I should get a muffin or somethin'." With that decided, he picks up a slight pace as he goes in the direction of the cafeteria, already able to hear people talking inside it. He enters and walks straight to the buffet counter closest to the entrance and stands in line. There are four people in front of him, and he can hear one of them clearly amongst the others in the lunchroom.
"Is it okay to get two of the same thing?" He hears a British accented voice ask.
"Duh, there's plenty to go around," a tall teen with neck-length brown hair answers. "No one will notice two bowls of salad going missing. Also why do you eat just salad anyway every time as a snack? You on a diet or somethin'?"
Firkle drowns them out as the line moves up, he searches the steel bar for a light snack to munch on. To his dismay, there isn't anything he deemed worthy of eating whilst walking, not even a muffin which he could actually go for at the moment. He heaves a sigh and leaves the line, deciding to get something to drink from the drink machine instead. He waits for the one person there to get their beverage and leave, which only took a few seconds. Firkle scans the inside of the machine for a bottle of water, but doesn't see it. He checks again to make sure he didn't overlook it, but his eye doesn't spot the clear bottle in it's original spot in the middle.
"Are you serious?"
He heaves another sigh, and settles on getting a bottle of apple juice. Just as he is reaching for it, there is a call of his name behind him. He grabs his juice, and turns around in confusion only for it to quickly disappear when he sees the familiar person walking up to him, out of their uniform as well with a bottle of soda in hand.
"Hey Ike," Firkle greets.
"Guess I should've changed the meeting place to the cafeteria huh?"
Firkle shrugs, and the two of them leave and enter the hallway. "Sooo?" Firkle asks as they walk, hinting Ike to fill him in on what they're going to do now.
"We're going to my room," Ike says. Firkle waits for him to say more, but Ike doesn't say anything else. Instead he drinks his soda.
"Aaand?" Firkle presses, motioning with his hand.
"Aaand," Ike mimics. "That's it."
Firkle turns his head, giving the other boy an "Are you serious?" look. Ike looks at him with a grin, then looks away with a shrug. "I'm for real, that's it. We're just gonna chill in my room, although Gregory might still be in there. Pip is still in the cafeteria so I know he won't be in the room."
Firkle faces forward with the shake of his head, and stops walking. "Yeah I think I'll pass then."
Ike stops too, and looks at him in shock. "What? Why?"
Firkle narrows his eyes. "Cuz I can chill in my own room." Although his type of chill is the sleeping kind, which he would love to do right now.
"Fine," Ike sighs. "How about we study for the quiz then?"
Firkle almost groans at the thought of the quiz they have to take tomorrow. "I can do that on my own too, but whatever," he says with a shrug.
Ike rolls his eyes, and begins to walk. "Let's go to the library."
"We can't take drinks in there," Firkle says, causing Ike to stop in his tracks.
The boy turns around with a groan. "Let's hurry up and finish our drinks then." Just as he was about to do so, Firkle says, "Can't, juice makes me sleepy."
Ike stares at him in disbelief, trying to find any traces of him joking or lying. But the vampire just stares right back at him dully, clearly telling the truth. Ike doesn't know if he should laugh or...laugh at that. So instead he says with a big grin, "You're such a baby dude."
Although it's true and Firkle hadn't meant to say that out loud, he just glares at him, only partially mad at himself for revealing such an embarrassing secret. One of them at least. Ike then looks like he's about to choke on his own laughter, which made him look really foolish in Firkle's opinion.
"Shut up, it's not that funny," he grumbles.
Ike nods his head that it was. He deflates his cheeks with a deep breath and massages them with his free hand. "Ouch my cheeks hurt."
"That's what you get." Firkle walks forward, and Ike follows after him.
"Where are you going?" Ike asks, still rubbing his cheeks.
"To my room," Firkle huffs.
The little half-Canadian is quiet for a short while. "I'll come too." Firkle doesn't bother objecting and quietly walks to his room with Ike beside him.
The walk there doesn't take long, three minutes to be exact, and Firkle opens the door for them to enter. The room is dark, and Firkle knows for a fact that he didn't turn the light off when he left.
"Wow, I'd thought it be darker in here," Ike comments.
Firkle ignores him and goes to quickly turn on the lamp on his nightstand, as soon as he does there is a groan inside the room. "Turn it off," the male mumbles in the bed that's on the right side of the nightstand before pulling the covers over his disheveled black hair. "I'm tryin' to sleep here."
"You do the same to me whenever I try to sleep so deal with it," Firkle scoffs as he places his juice on his beside table and sits down on his bed. A middle finger is raised into the air for Firkle to see, then it's gone under the blankets.
Awkwardly, Ike ambles further into the room and stops by Firkle's bed. "Soo umm," Ike starts, not really knowing what to say in this tense atmosphere.
"Don't mind that asshole. Here, sit." Firkle pats the spot beside him on the bed, and Ike tentatively obliges.
The silence resumes, but with less awkwardness. It's broken shortly after by Firkle's yawning, but it's quiet again. Ike looks around the room, it's no different than his own as far as he can tell. His eyes land on the nightstand, on it he sees the rose he gave to Firkle flat and withered on it's surface.
"I'd thought you'd thrown that away."
Drowsily, Firkle looks at Ike, unsure of what he was talking about until he sees his eyes looking at his nightstand. Firkle's half-lidded visible eye does the same, then he shakes his head. "Nah, there's no way I'll ever throw this away." He gently grabs the weak flower into his hands, giving it a caring yet tired look. "No matter how old or torn it gets, it'll still be beautiful in my eyes."
"Don't you mean eye?" Firkle flips Ike off, and places the dull colored rose back where it once was.
"So what now?" Ike asks, trying to fill the silence.
"I don't know," Firkle shrugs. "You're the one who invited yourself over."
Ike just hums, setting his soda down by his feet and sitting back with his hands behind him. "Do you still wanna study for the quiz?"
"Without any books or a computer?" Firkle questions. "No thanks."
"We can still go to the library, it's still open."
"Pass," Firkle denies instantly.
Silence takes hold around the room once more. Just as Ike is about to declare his leave, Firkle suddenly asks while turning his head to look at him, "Where have you been keeping the roses?"
Sitting up in slight confusion at the query, Ike looks at him as well. "I've kept them all in my nightstand, well mine and Pip's. Why?"
Firkle looks away shaking his head. "No reason, was just asking." He pauses for a moment, a faint small smile on his lips. "But I'm glad you're keeping them though," he says in a whisper.
Ike feels his cheeks getting warm all of sudden, he looks down at his lap, flustered. "Y-yeah, I can't throw them away either. They're my medals."
Firkle chuckles softly. "Yeah..medals."
(A/n: I feel like I dragged this on a little too long, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)
