The next day at school, Sherlock was in serious pain. He bent down to pick up his Calculus textbook, and hissed in pain, standing straight up, and clutching at his chest. His ribs were a bit bruised and sore, and it was making every task agony.
"Let me help you with that." Sherlock looked at the voice, and found his eyes were met with Kirsty's green ones. "Please?" The cast around her arm was blank. He was surprised she was in school at all.
"Um, thanks." Sherlock said. She lifted his bag with her good hand, and he lifted out a book. His chest still throbbed, but it was less painful this way. He stored away his books, and pulled out the ones he knew he'd need, before closing his locker, and gingerly easing his backpack on. "So, nobody's signed your cast?" Sherlock was surprised that the most popular girl in school hadn't gotten a single signature on her cast.
"No, I hid it. I wanted you to be the first to sign it." She said, holding out a Magic Marker. Sherlock looked a bit surprised, before taking the marker, and uncapping it, before he scrawled his signature across it, and gave it a thought, before he scrawled "Thanks" underneath. Sherlock recapped the marker, and handed it back. She giggled.
"Thanks? For what?" Sherlock blushed slightly.
"For getting in Malcolm's way when he was being a jerk." Sherlock said. "He wasn't very nice to either of us, and you seemed to be the only one with the guts to stand up to him." Sherlock coughed rather wheezily. He was having an allergic reaction.
"You okay?"
"My asthma." Sherlock said. "I'm getting an allergic reaction to something." Sherlock pulled out his inhaler, and took a puff. He inhaled, and realized she smelled quite pleasantly. "You smell wonderful." Kirsty blushed.
"You like? It's a perfume I just got." She giggled. Sherlock grinned.
"Well it smells wonderful." The warning bell rang. "May I walk you to class?" It was a bold move for a very uneasy, inexperienced Sherlock.
"I would be honored." She said, looping her arm through his, before they walked off. Sherlock smiled, and they walked to class. Kirsty and Sherlock sat down, and were soon joined by Roger and Anna.
"Hey guys!" Anna said. "How are your ribs?"
"They hurt." Sherlock admitted. "They've been giving me grief all day." Roger winced, and patted him on the back gently. He had been scared for Sherlock all day and all last night.
"You okay though?" Roger asked.
"I've been better." Sherlock said. His eye's were both black, and his body was bruised badly, so people stopped and stared.
"Freak, what happened?" Dirk, from his Chemistry class, looked shocked.
"Malcolm happened."
"Ouch, that's happened to me twice. How are you not in the hospital right now?" Dirk was the only other boy in the school that knew what Sherlock was going through. They'd used their bully nicknames for one another, but without the maliciousness behind it. They were also familiar with one another from their Confirmation Classes.
"Anna called the cops." Roger said.
"Good for you." The bell rang. Sherlock pulled out his textbook, notebook, and pen.
"Good morning..." Mr. Davies, Sherlock's history teacher, looked at him in shock. "Sherlock, what happened?" Sherlock blushed, and looked at his hands, fiddling with a pen.
"We were attacked by Malcolm Flynn." Roger said, realizing his cousin wouldn't speak. A gasp ran around the room.
"You survived?"
"You're actually here?" Sherlock refused to look up.
"Are you okay?" Sherlock nodded, but not saying anything.
"All right, class, settle down. Now, today I want to talk about some current events. Give me one." The room was silent. "Nobody?"
"The feminist movement." Sherlock knew that the topic had only been picked, because Mrs. Davies was a feminist herself. He knew she would rant on the entire class, and they wouldn't have homework. Sherlock was good with it. His homework, which took ordinary people hours to finish, took him one, and it was almost too easy. He would rather spend the time sleeping off his injuries now, or even experimenting.
"Excellent." She said, her face lighting up. "What are we going to talk about today?" She looked at the newspapers on her desk. "Actually, let's talk crime. Why do the cops always assume it's a he? Women can be criminals."
"Because it's less likely. Scientifically speaking, men have a better advantage from their body mass and strength, so they're more likely to be able to kill people." Roger said.
"Because nobody suspects it's a woman." Kirsty added. "They just assume a man did it. Personally, I'm not complaining, it means I won't be questioned for murder anytime soon." Sherlock thought her point made sense. Looking at his mother, and sweet Mrs. Hudson, he never would suspect either of them for a murder. Alfonse had the body mass and strength to do it. Sherlock concluded that Roger's point, grouped with Kirsty's, made a valid argument against feminism.
"Because what woman barely taller than a fifth grade girl is going to be able to kill a man taller than Freak." Sherlock had hit his major growth spurt already, and was 6 feet tall. "She'd have a higher chance of being killed by him no matter what. Even if she had an athlete's body, it wouldn't necessarily be enough."
"All right. But, what could make it a woman?"
"Jealousy, hate, an affair." Kirsty said. "Sometimes all three."
"But that's easy, they get a gun and kill the offender. A mugging won't always be like that." Roger countered back.
"True." Kirsty said. "Very true." Sherlock was thinking, Roger could see it. He wondered what about.
At lunch the four of them sat together.
"Look, Freak's got friends." Someone shouted. Sherlock blew them off.
"He actually has friends?"
"They must be freaks too, they're hanging out with the biggest one!"
"I hate those guys." Roger muttered.
"They've always been like that." Kirsty said. "I only put up with half of them because my parents know their parents."
"Well, I for one, wouldn't even do that." Anna said. "They're all downright mean."
"Unfortunately, my parents make me. They expect me to work for one of their companies or whatever."
"Good thing my dad is a forensics pathologist. I'm good with following that." Roger said.
"You like dead people?" Anna asked, slightly surprised. Roger shrugged, and Sherlock smirked.
"They aren't nasty, rude, or winy when you mess up something." The three laughed, Sherlock just bit into his sandwich. Sherlock was also finishing some homework. That way, he didn't have to do it later, and he could do his experiments.
"Why don't you guys stop by the shop later? Sherlock, I heard chess got canceled." Anna and Sherlock were in chess club together. "We could have a coffee and...well, the rest of us could do our homework, Sherlock could like...help." Sherlock blushed, and Roger laughed.
Two nights later, Sherlock was at dinner, when his mum asked him how school was.
"I made friends." He said simply. His father looked shocked, his mother excited.
"Oh, that's so amazing! When can we meet them?"
"Mummy." Sherlock complained. James smirked.
"Have them over for dinner one night. Friday we're going out, we'll see them for a few minutes, then you guys have the place to yourself. Well, accept Mycroft and Lucinda." Sherlock groaned. He wasn't fond of his brother's girlfriend. "Be nice. Lucinda isn't so bad."
"Mummy, she's awful." Sherlock complained. "She treats me like I'm five. And I can't see why Mycroft likes her so much."
"That's enough, Sherlock." James said sternly. "You will be civil to her. You're brother is very fond of Lucinda." Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, for what she does in bed."
"Sherlock!" His mother scolded angrily. "How can you say such a thing?"
"I see it, I deduced it."
"Not that again. Look, Sherlock James Archibald, you are not going to deduce your brother's girlfriend to their faces, nor to anyone else. Understood? Mycroft and Lucinda will probably be out of your way for the most part." Sherlock didn't really want his friends over. His parents could be so embarrassing. Then again, Father had said they were going out. Mrs. Holmes got up to take her plates to the kitchen.
"Where are you guys going on Friday?"
"Out to dinner and the cinema."
"Father, get real. That's too predictable. Take her somewhere better than the cinema." Sherlock said. "Try the opera, Mummy loves the opera."
"There isn't one in town."
"The Globe Theater is having a performance Friday evening. Roger's parents were planning on going too."
"What's playing?"
"I'll have to ask Roger. Actually, is it of any inconvenience to you if Roger stays the night Friday night?" The last time his parents went on a date, they went to a hotel room closer to their date location, and hadn't returned until the following morning. Sherlock didn't care, it left him freedom to do whatever he wanted, but it did get a bit lonely. Mrs. Hudson had been okay, but he couldn't just talk with her all day. Besides, Roger hadn't stayed over in ages. James only rolled his eyes.
"I swear, one minute I'm talking to a teenager, the next you're talking like your grandpa. Besides, Roger's always welcome to stay over."
"I want to be sure, Father, you know that." Sherlock said, finishing the last of his lasagna and taking his plate to the kitchen. "Will Joel be picking us up then?"
"From school? If they want to come over then. You'll have to talk to Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock nodded, and went into the kitchen, gave his mother his dishes, and went off to finish the little bit of homework he had. Sherlock went to his room, and found Mrs. Hudson already there, dusting. He smiled.
"Mrs. Hudson." They hugged.
"Sherlock, dear. How are you?"
"Well. Mrs. Hudson, I may be having my friends over on Friday. And Roger's staying over. Is that all right with you?" She smiled.
"Of course, love. I'm just glad there's someone in that school that will be nice to such a sweet boy." Sherlock looked uneasy.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She looked at him, his eyes filled with uncertainty, and slight...fear? She sat down on his bed, and patted it gently.
"Come on, tell me all about it, sweetheart." Sherlock sat down next to her.
"Two of my friends are girls. I'm afraid of what Mummy's going to react like when she finds out. They're going out Friday, and I'm afraid she'll say they can't come over because...she'll be afraid that Roger and I will try something with them."
"Now, dear, you won't be alone. I'll be here, but I'll stay out of your way. And Mycroft's coming home. I hear he's bringing that girlfriend of his."
"I don't like Lucinda." Sherlock said. "The last time she was here, she made me feel like a little kid, and that I wasn't worth the time. She made me feel like I was just being mean. But Mrs. Hudson, I don't like being mean." He sounded like a younger version of himself, sad, small, and hurt. "People are mean to me, and it hurts. I'm not trying to be mean, I was just telling her what I knew about her." Mrs. Hudson pulled Sherlock into her arms.
"I know, I'm not fond of her either." She said. "She's not very nice to you. I can't fathom why Mycroft likes her so much." Sherlock shrugged. "Tell you what, Mr. Hudson has to come over and fix some things up anyway. Maybe he can get Mycroft to help out, and Lucinda can go do her...whatever she does." Sherlock grinned.
"Thanks, Mrs. H." Sherlock hugged her. "Can I help you with deciding on dinner that night?"
"Of course. You all right if we order pizza that night, and I can make snacks for you guys later?"
"Sure." He said. "How late can they stay?"
"Whenever their parents decide they want to pick them up. I don't mind. The girls just can't stay overnight. How many are we expecting besides you?"
"Just three. Roger, Anna Thompson and Kirsty Jonas."
"Kirsty Jonas?" She looked surprised. "Callum and Erica's daughter?" Sherlock nodded. "Oh, that's wonderful, she's a sweetheart. I'm good with that." She bustled off. Sherlock got up and did his homework. Afterwords, Roger called and he asked Roger to come over for Friday night. Sherlock went into the library to read. In there, he found Alfonse on his break. Alfonse was for extra hands, in case Mrs. Hudson or Joel needed the help. Mostly, he was a second set of hands for Mrs. Holmes when she cooked. Alfonse was a friend of Mr. Holmes, and had needed financial help. They had decided that this was a good working arrangement. Alfonse and Mycroft were close, much like Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson.
"Oh, hello, Sherlock."
"Hello, Alfonse." Sherlock said, sitting down. "Can I ask you something in confidence?"
"Of course. What is it?"
"Do you like Lucinda?"
"Heavens no, she's dreadfully boring. Maybe that's why Mycroft likes her, they can be boring together." Alfonse liked Mycroft, but often teased him that he was boring. Sherlock smiled.
"So, I'm not the only one? Mummy and Father freaked out when I said I didn't like her." Alfonse rolled his eyes.
"They aren't particularly fond of her either, son, but they put up with her because your brother likes her. A lot. I can tell you right now, it's only because he's sleeping with her." Sherlock nodded.
"I know the feeling. I've deduced it from them."
"I've taken the trash from his bedroom. Empty condom boxes and wrappers often fall out. I've been lucky not to find a used condom." Sherlock laughed.
"Oh, I can't wait till you do. That's the perfect blackmail we can use against him." They high-fived. Alfonse liked Mycroft, but sense Mycroft had moved out, he'd grone rather fond of the youngest Holmes. Mrs. Hudson came in.
"Are you two conspiring?"
"Blackmail on Mycroft." Sherlock said, his eyes wide with excitement. "Let Alfonse and I take care of Mycroft's room, Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock said. "Don't you worry." Mrs. Hudson looked very worried. Alfonse only laughed.
"Oh, don't worry, nothing dangerous. Only embarrassing. Let's go see what happens, Sherlock." They left the room to see if they had evidence.
Mycroft had only been home the night of Sherlock's fight. Lucinda had called at some point, while Sherlock was sitting in Mycroft's office. He was kicked out. They decided to clean the bedroom first, in case Mycroft had moved the cordless phone into his bedroom. The bedroom didn't look like Mycroft was in it, so Alfonse dusted, while Sherlock looked for anything incriminating, and deduced what he could about his brother. A picture of Sherlock and Mycroft , before he'd become overweight, sat on the end table, both boys looking uncomfortable.
"He didn't sleep in here." Sherlock told Alfonse. They went next door, into Mycroft's office. Each of the Holmes boys had been given an office once they went to school. Alfonse and Sherlock went into the office, and found that Mycroft had been there. There was dried drool on the desk, where Mycroft had fallen asleep. The phone had been used, Sherlock noticed, by the fact that there were oils from Mycroft's face on it. Sherlock found a notepad he knew Mycroft often doodled on while on the phone. The words "You make e harder than the covalent bonds in diamonds." They burst out laughing.
"Oh, this is gold." Sherlock said, grinning.
"Are you sending that to your brother?" Sherlock laughed.
"Of course." He said to the man, laughing and walking away. Alfonse laughed loudly, the laugh following Sherlock down to his bedroom.