Happy reading folks! Hope you all enjoy!
Euphrosyne's Fic III – 11
.:Bastard Academy:.
"Sorry, sorry! Sorry I'm late guys!" Joining her friends who flagged her down as she entered the café-diner, the dark-haired beauty slid into the booth beside Rye, smiling as she acknowledged her brother and Brooklyn with a wave.
Reaching over her friend to grab her purse and jacket, Rye tossed the gear onto the window ledge, giving them all more space to move.
"Where were you at, so early in the morning?" asked the burly teen.
Rye innocently whispered under her breath, "Yeah, Scar, cause you smell like jock."
This earned the girl a kick in the shin, jolting her forward onto the table.
Rye tried to play it off cool. It was not easy. "Just grabbing a napkin. Setting up the table." Her hand had landed conveniently in front of the napkin dispenser. It was the first thing that came to mind.
The cerulean-eyed boy gave a small laugh. "Here." He passed her the tin.
Accepting the napkins, she placed it to her right, not really knowing what else to do with them. She resisted the urge to shoot her friend a glare. Scarlett was fully aware of her crush on Brooklyn! This was going to cost her.
"Some girls said they saw you leaving with Johnny. Is this true?" The boy narrowed his eyes on his sister.
Scarlett refused to cower but didn't know what to say.
Now handing out napkins for all, Brooklyn gave the girl a reassuring smile. "That isn't true, Garland. Rye said Scarlett called her in the morning, she went out early to the Arts department, had to rotate her project."
Instantly, Scarlett nodded. "Yeah, papier-mâché warps with temperature. Went down to rotate." She gave her friend's hand a squeeze under the table in silent thanks. Ever since the time Rye walked in on Tala and Ming Ming making babies, the girl took extra precautions when it came to entering public places. Coincidently, it had been the girl's discretion that eventually led her to the one secret Scarlett had worked so hard to hide, her relationship with Johnny.
But if there was anyone she could trust, it was Rye. Not only was Rye excellent at keeping secrets, the girl's busy schedule took up much of her life, leaving her little time to question the girl's love life, yet leaving her just enough time to listen, when their underground relationship got rough. Scarlett vividly recalled one of Rye's questions.
"Scarlett," the grey-eyed girl rolled on Mariah's bed to land on her back. The pink-haired girl had stepped out of the room, something about finding Brooklyn. Scarlett found her roommate often looking for her brother's best friend, she assumed it was because she needed tutoring, much like herself.
Rye continued, "Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not purposely probing you, just interested about human nature in general," the girl looked her seriously in the eye, "Why are you with Johnny anyways? You're smart, athletic, and obviously attractive. Why go through all this trouble for him?"
The girl was silent at first. "I dunno. Maybe…" she gave it some thought, "Maybe it's because he's willing to go through the same trouble for me…"
"Alright, Scarlett. As long as you were out working. I don't want to hear anymore of this 'out with Johnny' thing. It's giving people the wrong ideas. He's a total ass anyways."
"He is not an ass, brother. He's…he's just developed a case of rectal-anal inversion."
The boy slowly raised a brow. "I see Brooklyn's tutoring has definitely been helping you."
The other two teens at the table sniffled a laugh. Thankfully for Scarlett, the waiter arrived with their food. The four were regulars here, for Garland was a man of mass accomplishments in his games, earning much needed congrats.
Adjusting the plates, Garland reached over his saucer, accidentally cutting himself on the metal kettle. He withdrew his hand.
"Garland! You're bleeding." The dark-haired girl quickly wrapped a napkin around her brother's finger.
"Oh, don't fuss. I just cut myself."
Standing to search the jackets for her own, Rye retrieved her bag, taking out a small metal kit.
Brooklyn smiled.
The nerd kit.
"Males. You've probably severed a limb, but will bleed to death before admitting you're hurt." She passed Brooklyn some disinfectant since he was at a better angle, not to mention, a pro when it came to cuts and bruises.
Garland rolled his eyes at the three tending to his nearly invisible cut. "That is not true. We males have no problem admitting pain. Maybe you women are just overreacting."
Both girls released the boy's hand, leaving the orange-haired teen to tend to the injury. Sensing the stares, Brooklyn looked up.
Oye. Dangerous water Garland was treading on.
"Is that so, Garland? Is that how you view us women?"
It was Scarlett's turn to speak. "I'm very much convinced men are the more predictable of the two genders. For example, don't you guys have this built in list of words you use when you ignore us? Words like uh huh, sure honey, and yes dear."
"You tell him, girlfriend!"
"Ah, just like Pavlov's theory with the meat, the dogs, and the bells. Stimulus and response." Nodded Brooklyn, linking the words of the females to that of his own knowledge.
Garland only stared. His friend was so obsessed with learning, so absorbed with comprehension, he didn't even realize the girls were putting him down!
Those cheekbones rose once more as Scarlett opened her mouth to speak. "And I'm totally onto you men. Every time you say, 'It'll take too long to explain,' what you really mean is, 'I have no idea how it works either.'" Very much satisfied with herself, she bit a carrot for emphasis.
"What exactly does it mean when a guy says, 'It's a guy thing?'" asked the other girl, now that they were on the topic of deciphering male lingo.
Brooklyn rose a hand, "It means there is no rational thought pattern connected to what I'm saying and you have no chance of making it logical."
Garland held back a choke. Whose side was this guy on anyways?
The girls laughed at the boy's excellent answer, earning him a rub on the cheek from Scarlett and a giant smile from Rye.
"Are you paying attention?"
"Uh huh…"
Gritting her teeth as they got off the escalator, Rye rolled her eyes. It had been the redhead who suggested they go shopping together, very much convinced she was incapable of dressing herself, incapable of good taste, therefore, embarrassing him in front of the school population on the single most important social gathering of their high school year: prom. They had already entered ten stores, all to which were unsuccessful. Even if they did manage to buy a dress, she doubt she would wear it. As plain as her clothes appeared to be, everything was custom made, tailored, and designer. Her mum, Tasie, and Ghita, did not believe in retail.
"There's some hot babe around isn't there?"
"Uh huh…"
He was oblivious to her questions, Rye twitched. "Show some respect would you? You and your women. I don't want to be here either," but already, the boy had drifted off track, moving towards the water-works where a thin leggy blond was situated. She grabbed him just as he was about to head back down the escalator.
"Stop undressing her with your eyes already. We're in public."
"I'm having an introspective graphic moment."
"I'm out of estrogen and I have a gun."
That caught his attention.
"Chill woman. Jeez, you PMS-ing or something? Lower the mood swings."
She hated PMS comments, to this, she grunted, "Most women complain about PMS, but I like to think it's the only time when I can be myself."
Tala shuddered. That was a slightly frightening thought.
Entering a department labeled "for petite," two women instantly took Rye by the hand. Dresses of every size, cut, and color where brought against her body, a woman to her left measured her bust and height.
From the mirror, Rye could see Tala casually eyeing a pair of girls as he unconsciously spun a rack of skirts. Instantly, one of the girls looked up, frowned, before pulling her friend away.
Rye laughed at the exchange. "You know Valkov. You might just have more luck with women if you paid attention to the one you are with. Aka. Me!"
Stepping into one of the change rooms, a long rack of dresses from coral to black followed her in, causing the change room door to snap on its own, closing down on Tala's fingers.
The boy swore. A few women left with their kids.
Quickly, Rye told the boy to get down on his knees, shifting her bag with one hand, she held the boy's throbbing fingers in the other.
Though he felt like he had been hit by a bus, snapping his fingers in two, he wasn't about to show it. "Don't fuss. I just clamped my finger. It's no big deal."
Recollecting the conversation in the diner earlier that morning, Rye smiled. "Guys. You've probably severed a limb but will bleed to death before admitting you're hurt."
"Pfft, you think you know our kind so well." Wincing, the boy watched as the girl pulled out a tin, opening it to scrimmage for disinfectant before ripping a package in her teeth. She wiped the cotton swab against his skin.
Tala narrowed his eyes on the box. Something about that tin looked awfully familiar. He swore Kai had one of those in their room. He decided to shrug it off. "Women are just as bad."
"This coming from a man who sleeps with them and nothing else? You are a man of infinite knowledge."
"Oh, shut up. I can be sweet. I just haven't found the right person yet."
Taking out a tube of lotion, she applied it to the boy's finger, not looking up. "Haven't found the right person, eh? Who? Your precious Melisande?"
The boy said nothing.
It came to her in a soft tone. "There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy."
Rye prepared to groan.
It never came.
"Her heart."
Silent at the unexpected answer, Rye all of a sudden, felt slightly uneasy around the redhead. Whether he was serious or not, for all she knew, this could easily have been one of his common pick up lines, deep down, Rye had a feeling he had just shared with her, something he had told no other.
He had aims of starting a family, maybe something relatively like his own.
Wrapping a Band-Aid around the boy's finger, Rye smiled, looking him in the eyes, "See. You can be sweet. Why not all the time?"
The redhead gave a huff, dusting off his pants as he came to a stand. "It's a guy thing."
Rye merely rolled her eyes.
It's a guy thing! Bwahaha. "There is no rational thought pattern connected to what I'm saying and you have no chance of making it logical."
Though the nerd kit saved the lives of two of our lovely males, it got Tala all curious…hmmm.
Thanks to all those fanfic readers, writers, and reviewers out there. I shall come back to these happy holiday moments when I'm dying at school. I will try my best to update during the school year (there will be eighteen chapters to this fic), though the workload for us Life Sci students is disgustingly intense. I kept my promise, I managed an update every three days during this break! Whoot for me!
Please read and review!