As promised, here's a quick slick update. Booya! Enjoy the chapter.
A/N: The Lee Estates is of Asian decent, note the name Lee. Yeea yeea is Chinese for grandfather.
Euphrosyne's Fic III – 10
.:Bastard Academy:.
"What am I going to do yeea yeea? You know I've never been a fan of weddings. Given the fact that I don't exactly support this one, people are gonna have to pry me from the ceremony cause I'm pulling one of those run-down-the-aisle objection thingys."
Tapping the area by her cup in a respectful manner as the tea was poured, the girl gave a huff as her grandfather placed the tiny pot back on the coal heater. Immune to his granddaughter's complaints, the elder absorbed the information, stroking his beard with one hand as he lifted the antique cup towards his lips, the steam tickling his nose, nodding with that same wise expression Rye had grown up seeing.
"Mn."
Rye groaned. "What's with this 'Mn-ing' thing? Do people just replace audible sentences with random mechanical grunts now?"
Palette in hand, standing on the lush grass by the open gallery, Kai gave a responding 'hn' before continuing along with his painting.
The Lee Estates had been booked off entirely for Rye and Kai this day, no other visitors allowed. Traditional tea ceremonies required peace and quiet, and though the lack of quiet due to the girl's rants destroyed the peace, spending quality time with his granddaughter and her best friend, the young Hiwatari heir, was already more than he could ask for. He was after all, in this day and age, viewed by common younglings as your typical boring, old man.
Though the sliding doors were open, allowing the cool breeze in and the scent of rich tea out, the baffle boards in the cultured room absorbed much of their speech, leaving Kai relatively undisturbed as he listened to the flow of the rolling river, mimicking its movements on paper as he began the base of his favorite ruby red bridge.
"Your mother has lived a hard life, losing her husband. She deserves happiness."
"With that bastard!"
Kai looked up. Rye apologized, she couldn't control herself.
Raising his hand towards the boy's direction to which Kai sensed, Kai carefully laid the pallet on a chair before walking over to join the two. Kneeling on a beautifully embroidered silk pillow, Kai bowed as the man poured him some tea.
Through the boy's letters requesting access on the Lee Estates for his portrait, the elder had sensed the depth and sincerity of his spirit, and if his senses were correct, the passion in his heart had only deepened since his last visit. This love however, was directed towards something much more animate than his painting, but equally as frail.
Rudely shifting her body back, Rye switched from her knelt position to a simple cross-legged position, bringing a knee forward and up towards her chin. "If Kai and I become siblings, Brooklyn is going to freak. Can life get any worse?"
"Who is this popular Brooklyn and why haven't you brought him to meet me?"
His voice was slow and hoarse with age.
Scratching the back of her head, Rye gave an embarrassed laugh. "It's a long story, hard to explain."
"I've got time."
Sensing the girl's tension, Kai took a sip of the mellow flavor before calmly lowering the cup to relieve his friend. "For reasons either forgotten or unknown, a feud concerning three males at our school, is how it has always been. Brooklyn is the hardworking and intelligent second grandson of the headmaster. Not only a close confidante of our Rye here, but a chap she seems to fancy."
Rye instantly blushed at the summary punching her friend in the arm.
The elder watched the exchange, the boy had just as much tested her as he had informed him. The pain of unrequited love. Men of such depth and consideration were rare these days, and as much as he loved the free-mind of his granddaughter, the girl could learn a few things from this boy- restrain, when to hold her tongue, especially in the presence of the enemy, women like her mother. There were more to people than first impressions.
"Brooklyn lives such an undeserving life, a life more screwed than Tala's mind."
The old man raised a brow, "There is a Tala?"
"The first grandson of our headmaster."
"And Blue's best friend, that slutty bastard."
Her tone clearly indicated she thought Kai could do better.
Once again, the old man stroked his beard. Teenage feuds were rather strange these days, family against family. "Following the pattern, I shall take it that you and Brooklyn do not get along but Rye and Brooklyn do?"
The boy's eyes darkened slightly as if trying to understand the scenario himself. "Yea."
The elder leaned back in thought.
"Vyse and I just don't see eye to eye I guess…"
"Whoa! I've never noticed the cyclic pattern before! Kai and Tala are friends, Tala hates B and B doesn't like Kai. Yet I like B, I like Kai, and I think Tala should die." The girl grinned to herself, uncrossing her legs again to resume the kneeling position before taking a sip of tea. "It almost rhymes."
Rye's grandfather narrowed his eyes, studying the boy's face. "Young Kai, what did you say the boy's last name was?"
Kai slowly replied, not knowing where this conversation was heading. "You mean Brooklyn? It's Brooklyn Vyse."
"Son of Dr. Damek-?"
"-Son of Dr. Damek Vyse."
That was the first time the boy had heard anyone, even Rye, say the full name.
"Where is Dr. Vyse now? Is he-"
"He is in jail."
The man stopped but quickly gathered himself. "This is most bizarre..."
"Why, yeea yeea? What's so strange? Did you know Brooklyn's father?"
The blue-haired boy was just as eager for the reply.
"Yes. We all did," by this, he meant himself, his son, and Rye's mother. "Dr. Vyse was the man who delivered you, Rye."
Kai narrowed his eyes. What did this all mean?
"You may come in, Miss Lovett."
Turning the knob and stepping into the office, Rye was surprised to see not one but two bodies. The lean frame of her nemesis, the redhead himself, sat happily on the edge of his seat (one would assume it was his second home) cutting open a package of what appeared to be Smoothie Mix Skittles.
As the body of the other made contact with the only other leather chair in the room, the haughty boy looked up at the sound. What the hell? He popped a strawberry flavored candy into his mouth.
Hold on, I got pulled out of lunch hall for this shit? What was this all about? She hadn't done anything wrong. Maybe, if luck permitted, she was a witness in the Valkov-is-an-ass trial. Damn. Wish the headmaster gave her time to bring her duel-tang of accusations.
Immediately, the headmaster began. "By now, you two are probably wondering why I called you here today."
Indeed Rye was, but Mr. Tala over there seemed to be enjoying himself as he arranged the pastel colored candies into their color groups.
The headmaster noticed the girl's sudden shift of eyes and quickly intervened, "Tala, concentrate would you?"
Apologizing, the boy brought his chair forward and leaned back, staring his grandfather in the face.
The old man shook his head. "Now. Where were we? Ohyes. According to your families," the man eyed the two individually, "a compromise has been made." Looking at his grandson who had once again shifted his attention back on the Skittles, a rather skilled arrangement of a purple elephant with pink toes on green grass sat neatly on his side of the table. Slamming an empty mug over the candies, the boy traced the hand back to his grandfather's face who finally rolled the candies towards himself. He shot the boy a stern stare. "You may have these back later."
"Sorry, sir. I'll listen for real this time." Sensing his grandfather's impatience, he even passed the man the crumpled piece of pink packaging. "Please. Continue."
"So," the man leaned back in his chair once more, confident both students were listening this time. "I usually do not do things such as this. Actually, I've never done something such as this, but given the special circumstance between both parties of adults, these adults being your parents, and if you two agree, your parents would like very much for you two to attend the formal together."
Tala instantly rose to his feet. "Go to the prom with her?" he pointed a finger at the teen, "Bullshit! Fuck that! Let me talk to mum and dad!"
"I was under the impression that you brought Rye home, introducing her to your parents. Was there such an event?"
The redhead swallowed, feeling the pulsing stares shooting him from the side. "Maybe," he rose his hands to defend himself, "but it was all a misunderstanding. She and I were paired, unwilling if I may add, for an Eco assignment. We did really well by the way. I got an A."
Mr. Valkov looked at Rye who confirmed the mark with a nod. He had a feeling the girl took on most of the work.
"But the prom. I'm not going with her. We can't stand each other. Tell him Rye. Tell him how you think I'm an ass."
"He is an ass."
Fiercely nodding, the boy pointed towards himself.
"Hm. Interesting." The man studied the two. By now, Tala had retaken his seat. "Do you two already have engagements? Is that the thing?" He eyed the girl first.
Sadly, the female shook her head. "Well, no…"
"I do! I'm going with Ming Ming!"
"Please, Tala. Can we see a more gentlemen-like display?"
Closing his mouth, the boy held it in.
"I'm sure Ming Ming is a girl of many talents," a girl of many talents indeed she was, both teens cocked their heads at that, "I've seen her in a few musicals myself…"
"So musically talented, the girl blows more than just instruments…"
Tala kicked her calmly under the table. She used a hand to cover her mouth, suppressing the pain.
"However. Is she a girl you can see yourself with twenty years from now? Does she make you laugh? Does she make you yell? Does she challenge your body and mind? Will she make your parents cry?"
Rye snickered. The man was good.
"All I'm trying to say is, you two may not see it, but your parents see in you, potential to be an interesting couple. May it just be friends even, it is just a formal. You two have plenty of parties and banquets to attend in life. Why not give this a try? Give it a chance. You might even find that you enjoy each others' company."
There was an awkward silence.
"So, what do you two say? I've got high hopes for both of you. And Tala, the last thing I want to do is spoil you the way I did your father. You need to start making smart decisions." The man smiled warmly, in the end, this was up to them. "Well?"
Hesitant, not making eye contact with anything else but the fuzzy patch on the carpet, Rye gave a small shrug.
Crossing his arms, the boy gave a "Pfft, whatever."
The older man nodded. "Very well then. I shall take that as a yes." Dismissing the two with a wave, he rose an arm, ushering the two to leave before they could change their minds. "Excellent."
Pausing at the door, not enough room for the two to escape simultaneously, the dark-haired girl shot the boy a look, "Haven't you heard of ladies first, jackass?"
The boy pretended to look offended, quickly taking the opportunity to slide through the door. This only earned a growl from the other teen. "Ladies first my ass! I see no women here. All I see is a Brooklyn-loving, greenhouse-geek!"
Rye shook her head at the poor insult. "Oh, real clever! What the hell does that mean? I told you! I was at the Estates on an internship. An in-tern-ship. Do I need to spell it out for you? Just because the place has grass and trees, does not mean I tend to plants. Christ! Why do I even bother explaining things as advance as this to you? You're such a tard."
"I know you are, but what am I?"
Suppressing the need to strangle that neck of his, the girl stepped out of the office, purposely ramming him into the photocopier before slapping her ass in a "kiss this" motion.
Tala, throbbing with contempt, limped his way out the door after the girl.
Hand on his temple, the headmaster blinked a few times before checking his invoice messages. Whatever it was the parents saw in these two, it was small, microscopically nonexistence even. He had fulfilled his side of the bargain, more as a dutiful grandfather than anything else. The rest was up to the two, a psychiatrist, and a mighty set of paramedics.
Pacing the room as he sprayed the windows and swiffered the cabinets, Brooklyn cast a glance over his shoulder to see his friend and dormie polishing his rack of trophies. "Your collection's getting large. How are those scholarships coming along?"
Taking a seat on his desk, the light haired boy shrugged. "They're good. I'm good. Pretty sure two of the placements are secured; Johnny however, is really challenging me for that top football scholarship. This isn't going to be an easy win."
The orange-haired boy shook his head, Garland had always been a competitive one. He had a family of athletes to live up to.
"You solve that Mariah-formal façade yet?"
"Can't." there was a pause. "Don't have any classes with her and it doesn't feel right finding her at her dorm. She said she would call though, after I've given it some thought."
"Remind me again why you aren't considering it?"
Leaning his weight on the end of the Swiffer, the boy sighed. "Mariah's a nice girl, but the girls at Rene are all nice. I guess what I'm trying to say is we don't have any chemistry. She doesn't even understand my chemistry jokes, not like Rye."
Garland raised a brow but continued polishing those trophies, never looking up. "Not like Rye, eh?"
"Yeah. Besides, aren't we going as a group? You, Scarlett, Rye, and myself? I'm much more comfortable with that arrangement. I've never attended one of these dress-formals before."
Smiling to himself, the older boy nodded, silently agreeing with his friend. "Definitely. Me, Scarlett, you and Rye. In that order."
Having obviously missed the hint, the cerulean eyed male tossed his pal another towel. Catching it with one hand, Garland moved onto the next trophy. "In that order exact. I'm actually kinda excited now. My first social event."
The boy couldn't help but laugh. Man, some people were just clueless.
For fun, Damek is Czech for Earth while Ghita (our favorite fashion diva!) is Italian for Pearl (hehe) and Anastasie French for Anastasia (which is Greek for 'of springtime') for my sister who thinks I've been spelling it wrong all this time. And Lovett, the history for that name's pretty cool, but I shall hold myself back from lecturing. I love naming things! So much fun, so much fun!
As for the 'tapping the table when drinking tea thing,' Rye did in the second paragraph of this chapter, it is known as finger kowtow, the finger-tapping ritual of thanking someone in the traditional Chinese-style yum cha. It has much historical significance. When a tea-sipper taps the table with two fingers of the same hand, it is a silent expression of gratitude to the member of the party who has re-filled their cup, a gesture tracing back to Imperial obeisance. The Qianlong Emperor who use to travel incognito, while visiting Southern China, went into a teahouse with his companions, where, upon respect, found the need to bow and honour their emperor before drinking the tea. In order to conceal his idenity (since a horde of males throwing themselves to the floor to bow would give him away) kowtow was created, one finger representing their bowed head and the other representing their prostrate arms.
My parents told me this when I was young. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Smoothie Mix Skittles are slick. It's the only kind I eat.
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