A/N: Summer vaca, whoot! This gives me more time to write, and hopefully more time for y'all to read and review! As promised, here's the next chapter, and ohyes Happy Canada's Day!

Euphrosyne's Fic III – 02

.:Bastard Academy:.

Smearing the smooth charcoal with the tip of his finger, Kai blew the excess powder before dusting the corner, holding the sketchbook out at arm length to examine under the light.

Being away from home was always a pain in the ass. Trapped in a room full of geezers displaying the latest line of toupees while your father conferenced in a foreign language…? It really was the crème de la blah blah blah on his cake.

Only Mr. Hiwatari had the capacity of screwing over France. But Kai wasn't about to complain, at least he got a few good frames of the place. Paris really was the city of lights…

On top of being jetlagged, the blue-haired boy had half a dozen courses to catch up on. Tala wasn't exactly the most reliable creature when it came to business/eco assignments. Then again, the old man did frighten the teachers into cyberspacing his work to him; business, after all, was thee most important course, his work, and soon to be his entire life.

Ray usually had pretty good English lit notes, but rolling into the last semester, summatives were on the way, applications for universities, scholarships, renting grad gowns, the formal; everything had a deadline.

Art took him away from that, away from the blue collars, dates, reminders, and rules. Art permitted creativity, accepted expression, and tolerated opinions. It was an intimate class, a small ensemble, lots of personal space. Like his father, many parents of the Rene students frowned upon the practice of such leisurely habits, but since art was a notable aspect of upper society, the course was pending, dangling on the rare few students of talent. There was an air of maturity, sophistication, and class amongst the students and teacher alike. Restraint- everything was channeled into the paints and mediums. Art folk were calm, good people…

It reminded him of his mother before she passed away. He was ten. He would fall asleep, soaring on the memories of him and her face painting, smearing blue paint across each other's cheeks, then laughing it off as she chased him with a hose…

Loud music spewed through the door as Tala stepped in. Reality seemed to amplify itself, the music, the laughter, even the ice cubes knocking against the sides of his friend's glass, sounded with more intensity,

Kai waved for his best man to shut the door.

Strolling towards one of the corners where a velvety red cloth draped over a mysterious easel, Tala's curiosity got the best of him as his fingers reached for the rich fabric.

"No drinks in my room. Touch my work and die." The blue-haired boy's tone remained its usual calm air.

"Fine, fine," replied the redhead defensively before settling his drink on a stack of textbooks. He wiped his hands on his shirt. "See, they are clean. Just a little peek…"

Contours of a bridge over crystal water in a scenic garden caught his attention before an alarm clock hit him square in the face.

"-Jesus Christ! That's it, no compliment! No shit's worth my-"

The door swung open two more times.

Kai let out an annoyed groaned.

"Here you two are. You guys are missing out on all the fun. Ming Ming just arrived." Johnny was not tipsy, but the way his brows synchronizing raised with his beer bottle really did threaten the sketchbook Kai had on his lap.

Instinctively, the boy closed the album and tucked it safely beneath his pillow.

Sensing the tension, Ray shook his head before passing his friend a glass of ice, lime on the rim, and a can of pop. He hummed the jingle, "You put the lime in the Coke-"

Ray was to become the world's next renowned chef.

"Don't even start with that commercial, Kon. My head hurts."

"-An alarm did hit you in the face-"

"Why are you guys throwing me a welcome back party at my place? Do you even know half the people here?"

"Half? Yes."

"Tala!"

"Okay, okay. It's all good!" The redhead stretched the vowels on that last word. "We should celebrate the halfway point on this academic road of success! Besides, remember the first and last party I had at my place freshmen year?"

"Oh man, your parents were jokes!"

"I thought Mr. and Mrs. Valkov were nice. Interesting folk, quite entertaining."

Kai didn't bother to agree.

"It's your night," a glare burnt his shirt. "Fine. It's my night. Be supportive. Away from the watchful eyes of gramps, away from my cousin, that bastard Brooklyn and his bitch, Lovett…"

"You mean, Riley?"

The boy ignored the correction. "Forget about her. Let's talk about real ladies. People like my cousin and his crew don't belong in our world. They're 'proper,' they memorize the ingredients in beer-"

Johnny gave his pal a good slap on the back before clanking their glasses in festive agreement.

"Cheers to the ugly fools who couldn't be with us tonight-!"

"Do you realize Brooklyn has the entire female population in the palm of his hand?" All eyes turned to the Asian who had a less than impressed expression on his face for their behavior. "He tutors all the girls-"

"In their rooms? On their beds?" charged Johnny excitedly.

"Yeah right. He spends half his life in the library-"

"Seriously, Tala. He tutors Mariah, Ming Ming," he gave his pal a suggestive glance, "and Scarlett," pointing at Johnny. "Think about it. Maybe he's got you guys all figured out. He could be ahead of the game for all we know…"

"…Damn…"

"If you guys are gonna get horny, I'm gonna have to ask you all to leave-"

"Topic change." Tala raised his arms in surrender. "Tell us about the kinky French chicks-"

"That's the same bloody topic, just on a different continent!"

"-How was the cuisine?" offered Ray, a question of actual substance.

"Grabbed a few menus with me. Can't pronounce half the stuff, but you wanted'em."

"Thanks man." The Asian gave his friend a grin.

"Boring! Can we talk about me now?" Tala gestured to himself before emphasizing his status with a few muscular flexes. "The old man's punishment for my shitty grades includes a lukewarm weekend of brats at the Lee Estates. Ugh, babysitting. Any notable escape route?"

"Whoa, the Lee Estates? That ain't no punishment."

Kai raised a brow with interest at the drop of the name.

"Isn't that where your celeb crush, teen phenomena, Miss Melisande Lee lives? What are the chances…?"

"-As slim as escaping from the kids."

Tala scowled at the truth. "I don't like kids. They're dirty, manipulative, and evil-"

"Sounds just like you."

"Talk about being a child at heart."

"Shut up, guys. To top it all off, guess who I got paired up with for the economics presentation?"

"Stop complaining. Economics is one of the toughest-"

"Riley Lovett. That bundle of…" Tala's face scrunched up with disgust as his hands made weird choking movements. "Nerdy rejection in the form of…"

Less than three hearts felt sorry for him.

"Why?" The question was simple and straightforward. "Are they punishing me for my brilliance? Butchering me because I've achieved the unattainable? Have my waves of knowledge killed someone? Why him? Why?"

"-Moving on. This week's trivia competition is against Le Marc. We've got a lot of studying to do. They're definitely not to be underestimated-"

"My cousin ain't that bad…"

"He tried pushing me down the stairs." Kenny adjusted his glasses.

"Ming Ming's uniform was folded to a record length- very short." explained Scarlett at his brother's silent reaction.

"Underpants...?"

"Highly questionable."

"How do you put up with her, Rye?"

Garland and Scarlett dissed it out.

"We're at truce, we've found mutual ground. She does her thing, I do mine. She's relatively quiet now that she's figured out text messaging. Sure, there's shameless gossiping and random giggling, but she's rarely ever in the room. You guys are here more often than she is!"

"Ming Ming…" Kenny leaned against the side of the bed with a dreamy sigh. "A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet…"

The group rolled their eyes. Everyone was sprawled in the area between the two beds.

Passing Enrique's notebook across the room, Brooklyn couldn't help but agree with the mass. "Kenny, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you can do better. Ming Ming? She's not exactly the brightest creature on land. She didn't understand the concept of roman numerals. She thought we fought in world war eleven…"

There was a pause before soft giggling sounded the room. Brooklyn was serious.

"It doesn't matter. She's going into entertainment. She's got talent."

The boy thought it best to let the subject slide.

"Enough about Ming Ming. Rye, did you get my notebook?"

Garland waved the leather bound pad in the air for the blond to see. He shook his head. "Enrique, when it comes to you, style is everything. Be creative. Spell the character's name differently every time, get your physical descriptions wrong. Start the story in present tense, then switch, without explanation, to an extended flashback scene. Typos, grammatical errors and run-on sentences are perfectly okay. Or my personal favorite-"

Rye elbowed the boy in the side, grabbing the book from his hand. "So," she smiled at Enrique, skimming the first few lines of the work, "One day, an ordinary guy is walking down the street. He gets hit by a kangaroo and wakes up fifty years in the future of Mega Tokyo…" There was a chuckle of satisfaction to her side before she elbowed the arrogant boy once more. "Um, three paragraphs later, he is a full member of, wha-? Fighting against…Okay, whoa. Slow down. You've got the whole plot thing down this time, but while some fan fiction is made to be fast paced, the leaps you take to get a story moving right away may strain credibility with your readers. Nothing's wrong with taking a little time with your fic. You're not gonna do much for the story or your readers if you cram a saga-sized plot into a few measly pages."

Brooklyn shrugged, turning to the pink-haired girl with a smile. "What does she know? I particularly liked the part with the kangaroo."

Mariah blushed.

"Anyways, guys. Friday's the Parents Night Bash. I ain't gonna be in, so Scar, you're gonna have to tackle mum and dad on your own." The male nodded towards his sister. "I think they're gonna be surprised. Good surprised. I'm proud of all the effort you've been putting into your studies. Thanks Vyse, for all the help." He wrestled a hug from his sis.

"On the road again, Garland? Damn you for being so athletic. You and your competitions. I want a trophy." Rye crossed her arms.

"You've got your talents. But holdup, are your parents attending the bash tomorrow night, Rye?"

"Nope. Mother's still an ass. She doesn't give a shit."

"Haha, that's a pun."

Garland shot the blond a look.

"She sent her secretary with a camcorder last time," teased the Asian beauty.

"We've gotta meet this woman sometime."

"She's such a bitch, doubt she would have time in her 'busy schedule' to meet you all." The girl growled. Deciding to change the topic, Rye placed a hand on her best friend's lap. "Screw her. Now I can keep B company…"

For the two other people who understood Brooklyn's family situation, they kept an apathetic expression. No tension, whatsoever.

The redhead gave his pal a small smile before kissing her on the forehead. Rye returned the affection, rubbing his back before giving him a hug. He was like the brother she never had.

"-Ray wanted to escort me to the bash!" blurted the pink-haired girl at the intimate scene.

"Is that so?" Brooklyn turned towards the girl, looking over Rye's figure by resting his chin on her head.

Mariah waited for his follow-up, a reaction from the headmaster's grandson.

"I like him. He's a nice guy."

She slumped with disappointment.

"Oh, come on, Mari. Ray's cute. An excellent cook! You're gonna be so spoiled. Have you tried his desserts?"

"Sometimes I wonder why he's a part of Tala's goons-"

"Rye," lectured the redhead, "My cousin ain't that bad. There's something about him. I can't explain it. Family, maybe? Kai on the other hand…"

"What do you have against Kai-?" Rye was cutoff.

"Brook's too nice if you ask me. They're all a part of the same clique, the army of shanks. You agree, don'tcha, Mari?"

The girl's face flushed at the first part of the question, but went unnoticed. Timidly, she replied, "Sure…"

"I particularly dislike that McGregor fellow. He's tagging me for the same football scholarship! Who does he think he is?"

"Brother…"

"Be careful of yourself, Scarlett. His eyes were resting a little too south from your face, if you ask me-"

"Garland…"

"Let's see how he'll play football without his retinas-"

"Garland!"

The group shook their head at the boy's less than competitive nature.

Chapter two. Complete. Hope you all enjoyed it! Things are slowly starting to fall into place. Any curious bits you don't understand, hehehe? Drop me a note. I tend to write my fics as if the reader where an invisible character who suddenly dropped in on the set. Do tell me if I'm running too quickly or if something comes across as being unclear.

Authoress' hint: Relationships play a very large role in this fic…like the business world a few of the characters live in, connections and networking can make you, break you, or save you. Every character is linked to another in some kinda way…hehehe.

Which brings me to add, cookie to anyone who can correctly crack the summary for this fic: "The world's most eligible bachelor, the city's perfect man, the school's irresistible charmer. Three guys, three classes, one school, one girl. Who will settle for second best?"

Happy guessing! And do make the most of your holidays!

Please read and review!