'Sorry for being there when you wanted me to. Sorry for seeing you
through.'
Sora trudged through the mass of humanity to his locker, occasionally smiling or waving at people he knew. He finally made it to his locker, pulling out his English and History books along with his art folder. He slammed the door shut with a sigh and regretfully looked at the one three doors over.
'Faggot'
The word was emblazoned in black permanent ink on the small red door. Someone had written it on Kara's old locker when she was still a student there. The administration had tried scrubbing it off but the ink wouldn't budge. Sora briefly wondered why they didn't just cave and paint over it. Maybe they didn't care.
Sora shut his eyes but the word was still there, ingrained into his memory. He sighed again and leaned his head into the door with a soft thunk. Almost immediately after he felt a hand on his shoulder and a gentle, "You ok?"
He turned to face Riku, smiling softly and nodding. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Riku's eyes blazed with concern but the shrill ringing of the bell broke their contact. The older boy shook his silver head and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and then opening them again to look into the deep blue ones before him.
"Come on, we'll be late." Sora smiled as Riku grabbed his hand and pulled him off to their English class. They sat down just in time for the late bell to ring. Sora set his books on his desk and pulled out his writing assignment, watching Riku do the same from the corner of his eye. They sat next to each other toward the back of the classroom, their friends (Tidus and Kairi) two seats in front of them. It was one of the few classes in which they were seated in alphabetical order and now Sora was thankful for that since he wouldn't have to deal with Kairi during lulls in the lesson. It wasn't that he hated Kairi, he still considered her a friend. But he had a lot to sort out now, much of which concerned his relationship with her.
Ms. Takako asked for their homework and it was passed forward eagerly. It had been a creative writing assignment (Sora loved those) about loyalty. Sora gave his paper one last look before handing it up and slumped down in his chair. He wasn't exactly being loyal now. He pulled a piece of paper out of his notebook and scrawled a message on it then passed it discretely across the row. Riku unfurled the note and stared at it blankly. Sora's message almost needed no reply.
'I have to break up with Kairi.'
Riku suppressed the urge to smile. He shouldn't do that. This was hard for Sora. Even if his boyfriend (he supposed that was what he was) didn't want to be with Kairi, he would still feel bad for leaving her. He thought of others too much and rarely of himself, Riku mentally noted. He replied with one word.
'How?'
Sora sighed, staring at the word. Yes, how? He didn't want to just be blunt about it. Even if he felt nothing for her, she seemed to be in love with him. Should he just tell her his heart belonged to someone else? But then she'd want to know whom. What possible reason could he give her for leaving? From all outward appearances they seemed like a very happy couple. He couldn't just say things weren't working out.
'I don't know. But I want it to be painless, you know? I don't want to hurt her. I'd ask how Jishuka broke up with you, but it seemed to hurt you a lot. You kept saying "stupid bitch" all the time. I don't want Kairi to be mad at me.'
Sora smiled lightly at the phrase. It had been rather funny in a depressing sort of way when Riku kept muttering "stupid bitch" under his breath shortly after his break-up. He'd really liked Jishuka, but she, apparently, didn't like him that much. It wasn't really funny at the time, but Sora tried to pull Riku out of his angry hole, poking fun at him by scowling and muttering obscenities whenever she passed them in the hallway. He smiled wider now and passed the note back to Riku.
Riku couldn't help but smile as well. It was quite funny to look back on. His bad mood had been pointless. He moved on. What was a silly high school romance anyway? No, scratch that. Sora was a high school romance, and Riku knew he'd never give him up. The older boy sighed, half-paying attention to the lesson, half-thinking of a reply.
'I'll tell you how she broke up with me anyway, so you know what /not/ to do. She pulled me aside during lunch (you were there, but you were with Kairi or something) and told me things weren't working out. "I really like you, Riku, but we're just so different. You seem, I don't know, distracted and distant. I don't feel like you pay enough attention to me." Oh, /that/ pissed me off. I was with her every damn /second/! No, I should calm down. I couldn't give less of a damn about her now. Guess I gave too much of a damn then. But I guess you can't really be nice about a break-up. Someone's going to get hurt, and you have to hope it's not you. Maybe we should tell her about us, Sora. If she knew, then maybe she'd understand. If she knew that you were "that way". '
Riku refrained from using the word gay for two reasons. One: he didn't want to upset Sora. Even if they both knew he was gay, sometimes it was best not to mention it. Two: if someone was reading over their shoulders then they'd get an eyeful. The silver-haired boy passed the note back to his friend and Sora accidentally opened it rather noisily.
"Sora?" Ms. Takako looked over at him. "Are you passing notes in my class?"
"No, ma'am!" Sora answered quickly, straightening up and trying to look innocent.
"Then what were we discussing?" She cocked an eyebrow at him playfully.
"We were discussing, uh, h-how Poe doesn't use iambic pentameter in "The Raven", but, something octameter? And mid-sentence rhyming?" He answered warily. He'd been half-paying attention and mentally cursed himself for forgetting what came before "octameter".
"It was trochaic octameter, but it's a hard word to remember anyway. Try taking notes." She smiled at him and continued with the lesson. Sora inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God that Ms. Takako showed favoritism. She'd told him before that he showed great talent as a writer. This both pleased and embarrassed him. It was nice to be good at something, but having your work read in front of the class wasn't exactly thrilling.
Sora blushed and shot Riku a sideways glance, mouthing "no more notes." Riku smirked and nodded. If /he'd/ been caught with the note, it may have been read aloud, and that would have been very, very bad.
The two listened with rapt attention to the teacher for the rest of the class, her explanation of Poe wanting "The Raven" to have an hypnotic effect on the reader putting Riku to sleep. The loud bell pulled him out of his stupor and he gathered his books to head into the crowded hallway once more. He waited for Sora to gather his things before leaving, but was accosted by Kairi and Tidus as soon as the two stepped out the door.
"What were you writing notes about?" Tidus glanced at Sora, who turned slightly pink.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter." He stated quickly before turning to leave.
"Aw, c'mon, Sora! You rarely ever write notes. It must be important." Kairi called after him.
"It's not. I-I just wanted to ask him something." Sora stammered out.
"What?" Kairi asked impatiently.
"It's /really/ not important. You're so nosy, Kairi. Since when are notes public domain?" He forced a playful smile.
"Hmph. Well, maybe Riku will tell me. What /did/ he ask you, Riku?" Kairi turned to the older boy, hands on her hips.
"It's really none of your business." He smirked as he brushed past her, Sora not far behind.
Kairi let out an exasperated sigh and followed them to their American History class, dragging Tidus along with her.
'Handcuffed in the present tense, variations on your violence. Mind games and pretty girls, a cracked song in the universe.'
Sora trudged through the mass of humanity to his locker, occasionally smiling or waving at people he knew. He finally made it to his locker, pulling out his English and History books along with his art folder. He slammed the door shut with a sigh and regretfully looked at the one three doors over.
'Faggot'
The word was emblazoned in black permanent ink on the small red door. Someone had written it on Kara's old locker when she was still a student there. The administration had tried scrubbing it off but the ink wouldn't budge. Sora briefly wondered why they didn't just cave and paint over it. Maybe they didn't care.
Sora shut his eyes but the word was still there, ingrained into his memory. He sighed again and leaned his head into the door with a soft thunk. Almost immediately after he felt a hand on his shoulder and a gentle, "You ok?"
He turned to face Riku, smiling softly and nodding. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Riku's eyes blazed with concern but the shrill ringing of the bell broke their contact. The older boy shook his silver head and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and then opening them again to look into the deep blue ones before him.
"Come on, we'll be late." Sora smiled as Riku grabbed his hand and pulled him off to their English class. They sat down just in time for the late bell to ring. Sora set his books on his desk and pulled out his writing assignment, watching Riku do the same from the corner of his eye. They sat next to each other toward the back of the classroom, their friends (Tidus and Kairi) two seats in front of them. It was one of the few classes in which they were seated in alphabetical order and now Sora was thankful for that since he wouldn't have to deal with Kairi during lulls in the lesson. It wasn't that he hated Kairi, he still considered her a friend. But he had a lot to sort out now, much of which concerned his relationship with her.
Ms. Takako asked for their homework and it was passed forward eagerly. It had been a creative writing assignment (Sora loved those) about loyalty. Sora gave his paper one last look before handing it up and slumped down in his chair. He wasn't exactly being loyal now. He pulled a piece of paper out of his notebook and scrawled a message on it then passed it discretely across the row. Riku unfurled the note and stared at it blankly. Sora's message almost needed no reply.
'I have to break up with Kairi.'
Riku suppressed the urge to smile. He shouldn't do that. This was hard for Sora. Even if his boyfriend (he supposed that was what he was) didn't want to be with Kairi, he would still feel bad for leaving her. He thought of others too much and rarely of himself, Riku mentally noted. He replied with one word.
'How?'
Sora sighed, staring at the word. Yes, how? He didn't want to just be blunt about it. Even if he felt nothing for her, she seemed to be in love with him. Should he just tell her his heart belonged to someone else? But then she'd want to know whom. What possible reason could he give her for leaving? From all outward appearances they seemed like a very happy couple. He couldn't just say things weren't working out.
'I don't know. But I want it to be painless, you know? I don't want to hurt her. I'd ask how Jishuka broke up with you, but it seemed to hurt you a lot. You kept saying "stupid bitch" all the time. I don't want Kairi to be mad at me.'
Sora smiled lightly at the phrase. It had been rather funny in a depressing sort of way when Riku kept muttering "stupid bitch" under his breath shortly after his break-up. He'd really liked Jishuka, but she, apparently, didn't like him that much. It wasn't really funny at the time, but Sora tried to pull Riku out of his angry hole, poking fun at him by scowling and muttering obscenities whenever she passed them in the hallway. He smiled wider now and passed the note back to Riku.
Riku couldn't help but smile as well. It was quite funny to look back on. His bad mood had been pointless. He moved on. What was a silly high school romance anyway? No, scratch that. Sora was a high school romance, and Riku knew he'd never give him up. The older boy sighed, half-paying attention to the lesson, half-thinking of a reply.
'I'll tell you how she broke up with me anyway, so you know what /not/ to do. She pulled me aside during lunch (you were there, but you were with Kairi or something) and told me things weren't working out. "I really like you, Riku, but we're just so different. You seem, I don't know, distracted and distant. I don't feel like you pay enough attention to me." Oh, /that/ pissed me off. I was with her every damn /second/! No, I should calm down. I couldn't give less of a damn about her now. Guess I gave too much of a damn then. But I guess you can't really be nice about a break-up. Someone's going to get hurt, and you have to hope it's not you. Maybe we should tell her about us, Sora. If she knew, then maybe she'd understand. If she knew that you were "that way". '
Riku refrained from using the word gay for two reasons. One: he didn't want to upset Sora. Even if they both knew he was gay, sometimes it was best not to mention it. Two: if someone was reading over their shoulders then they'd get an eyeful. The silver-haired boy passed the note back to his friend and Sora accidentally opened it rather noisily.
"Sora?" Ms. Takako looked over at him. "Are you passing notes in my class?"
"No, ma'am!" Sora answered quickly, straightening up and trying to look innocent.
"Then what were we discussing?" She cocked an eyebrow at him playfully.
"We were discussing, uh, h-how Poe doesn't use iambic pentameter in "The Raven", but, something octameter? And mid-sentence rhyming?" He answered warily. He'd been half-paying attention and mentally cursed himself for forgetting what came before "octameter".
"It was trochaic octameter, but it's a hard word to remember anyway. Try taking notes." She smiled at him and continued with the lesson. Sora inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God that Ms. Takako showed favoritism. She'd told him before that he showed great talent as a writer. This both pleased and embarrassed him. It was nice to be good at something, but having your work read in front of the class wasn't exactly thrilling.
Sora blushed and shot Riku a sideways glance, mouthing "no more notes." Riku smirked and nodded. If /he'd/ been caught with the note, it may have been read aloud, and that would have been very, very bad.
The two listened with rapt attention to the teacher for the rest of the class, her explanation of Poe wanting "The Raven" to have an hypnotic effect on the reader putting Riku to sleep. The loud bell pulled him out of his stupor and he gathered his books to head into the crowded hallway once more. He waited for Sora to gather his things before leaving, but was accosted by Kairi and Tidus as soon as the two stepped out the door.
"What were you writing notes about?" Tidus glanced at Sora, who turned slightly pink.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter." He stated quickly before turning to leave.
"Aw, c'mon, Sora! You rarely ever write notes. It must be important." Kairi called after him.
"It's not. I-I just wanted to ask him something." Sora stammered out.
"What?" Kairi asked impatiently.
"It's /really/ not important. You're so nosy, Kairi. Since when are notes public domain?" He forced a playful smile.
"Hmph. Well, maybe Riku will tell me. What /did/ he ask you, Riku?" Kairi turned to the older boy, hands on her hips.
"It's really none of your business." He smirked as he brushed past her, Sora not far behind.
Kairi let out an exasperated sigh and followed them to their American History class, dragging Tidus along with her.
'Handcuffed in the present tense, variations on your violence. Mind games and pretty girls, a cracked song in the universe.'