Smokes and Punk Clothes
A USUK fanfic
Warning: Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV
"What the―?" I exclaimed as soon as he pulled back. What the fuck was that for?
"Hm? But you said blondie wasn't your girlfriend so I assumed it was okay." he looked as stunned as I was, but for different reasons.
"Assumed?" I repeated incredulously. Well, it's true that she's not my girlfriend and that I'm not dating anyone right now, but, "E-Even if I'm not dating anyone, how does that make it right for you to kiss me like that?"
"You didn't like it?"
It is impossible to have a straight conversation with him. No pun intended...
"That's not the point, dude!" I face-palmed, sighing exasperatedly. "Look, forget it... let's just forget anything ever happened." I said. I knew it would be hard for me to forget, of course. I guess it would be easy for him, since he's drunk.
He shrugged, as if to say, 'Whatever'. He leaned back into his seat and slowly fell asleep due to tiredness and intoxication.
We were lucky Arthur's bandmates were with him, so they were able to take them home. I entrusted him to them, at least they weren't as drunk as Arthur.
"Alfreeeeed..." a low groan came from my right as I saw Arthur and his bandmates off.
"Whoa, Zoe! You're drunk too?" I turned and asked her in disbelief. Am I the only one who didn't drink anything alcoholic tonight? I mean, most if not all of us are probably not even legal yet!
"I lost in a dare..." she looked quite dizzy, stumbling forward a bit. She caught the sleeve of my jacket to prevent her from falling.
"Give me your phone..." I sighed, holding my hand out.
"Here..." she shut her eyes for a while, reaching into her bag before giving me her phone. "Fuck, everything is spinning..."
I took it from her, and dialled Isaak. Damn, how would he react when he finds out Zoe got drunk...?
"Zoe?" Isaak answered after a few rings. His voice was deep and it sounded a bit worried.
"Isaak, it's me, Alfred. Can you come pick us up now?"
"Oh, sure. I'll be right there." he hung up, and I led Zoe outside to get some fresh air.
We both sat on the curb, and I let her lean on my arm for now. She was semi-conscious, like flitting in and out of sleep. I think she'll have a horrible hangover the next morning.
So much for a fun party. I sighed. It was okay, I guess, but it wasn't as fun as Maria and Liz advertised. I spotted a few cigarettes on the cement beneath our feet, flicking it with my index finger out of boredom.
"Alfred, Zoe." Isaak called to us from his car, the windows rolled down. "Get in."
I nudged her awake, and she stirred groggily before getting up on her feet and stumbling towards the car door. I sat in the backseat again, shutting the door with a sigh.
"Thanks, Isaak."
He gave me a slight nod. "What happened to her?" he asked with a jab of his thumb in her direction.
"She said she lost in a dare."
"Heh. This is her first time drinking so I guess she'll have a terrible hangover tomorrow." Isaak snickered. I thought he was going to be quite annoyed or pissed off, like a normal big brother or something?
"Is she going to get scolded when she gets home?"
"Nah, I'll probably just give her a lecture tomorrow. Dad doesn't really give two shits so," he shrugged.
He dropped me off in front of my house and I thanked him before he left. I walked up to our front door and fished for the house keys in my jeans' pocket, pushing the key into its keyhole. When I twisted it, it made a little clicking sound. I went inside and tried to stay silent, closing and locking the door behind me. I removed my shoes and went upstairs, when I saw some light flooding out of my sister's room.
"Maddie?" I opened her door, to find her awake and on her laptop.
"Oh, wait a minute," she said to no one in particular, before she took off her headphones. "Hi, Alfred. You're back, and just in time, I see." she smiled a bit.
"Just in time for what?" I asked cluelessly.
"Mom gave you a curfew of 12, right?"
"Oh, that. Anyway, what are you doing up this late?" I stepped into her room and closed the door behind me. I'm secretly glad she and I are in good terms, which means I can just go into her room whenever I feel like it without her sending me away like most teenaged girls do.
"I'm talking to someone." she replied, which explains the headphones and the talking to no one in particular thing.
"Cool. Who is it?"
"It's my friend, Mei. She's from Taiwan." she grinned and turned the laptop to face me. "Mei, say hi, it's my brother, Alfred." she told the girl on the screen and unplugged the headphones so I could hear her. She looked about the same age as my sister, and distinctly Asian.
"Hi!" she waved at me, grinning. I waved back, "Hey." Maddie turned the laptop around to face her again.
"I'm gonna go to sleep now, I'm kinda tired." I turned and opened the door again.
"Okay, good night Alfred." she said without looking up, plugging the headphones again.
"Alfred, Alfred!" Liz and Maria went up to me while I was getting things from my locker between classes, grinning and snickering madly.
"What is it?" I turned around, blinking. They seemed pretty excited.
They tried to say something, but instead they shoved a photograph in front of me.
I wanted to run away the moment I saw it.
"What the fuck?" I exclaimed loudly, slamming my locker door shut angrily.
"This is you, right? And... And that one's Kirkland from the 11th grade?" Maria shook my shoulder with one (manicured) hand, grinning and asking just to make sure.
"Wha― where did you get this?" I asked incredulously. I cannot believe this.
"Someone gave it to us! We don't remember who, though... They gave it to us at the party and we were quite pissed back then..." Liz answered, looking quite unsure.
"Shit. Give me that!" I snatched it from them. "Are there any other copies?"
"Who knows?" was all the albino girl answered me before the pair walked away, their grins plastered onto their faces as they walked away.
It was a picture of me and Arthur, kissing.
"Shitshitshitshiiiiiit... Oh God..." I groaned, banging my head on my locker. I really wished I was invisible that time.
'Alfred'
'And'
'Arthur'
'Sitting'
'In a Party'
'K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'
I gritted my teeth, crumpling all 6 notes in fury, tossing them to the trash bin near me. The student next to me just idly passed it along a few seconds ago, and whoever actually did this better say their prayers because they just earned themselves a ticket to the Pearly Gates. Not in a good way.
News spread like wildfire around the school. I can't even take 10 steps from my locker without being looked at funny. Seriously, who even cares about these things?
I heard someone behind me snicker, and I immediately turned around, my face set into a deep scowl. Behind me was a tall, slightly chubby student, probably a year older. He had light blonde hair and his eyes were somewhat violet-ish, and he wore this awfully tacky scarf (not that I knew anything about fashion for me to call something 'tacky').
"What the fuck was that for?" I hissed in a low voice.
"Oh, hey there, kissy boy!" the student behind me who had snickered made a kissing face mockingly.
"I didn't kiss him, okay? He was the one who kissed me!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. I guess he kissed you but you were the one leaning down." he had this highly insulting smirk, and I glared daggers at him.
"What? He pulled me, okay? It's not like I wanted it!" I retorted defiantly.
"Pucker up, Alfred." he smirked and made a kissy face again. "Will you give me a kiss as well?" he taunted me. I was this close to breaking the asshole's face.
"I think your lips will meet something else." I growled menacingly, suddenly standing up and grabbing the front of his shirt.
"Ooh, I'm scared!" he made a fake cry.
Everyone was looking at us now, even the teacher. I didn't really give a fuck that moment.
It was the end of the line ― it wasn't just him, it was also everybody else. Everyone's remarks and comments got to me, and this unfortunate little fucker just taunted me when I was almost at my limit. I punched him hard in the center of his face, feeling blood on my knuckles. Shit, I probably shouldn't have aimed there...
Suddenly, his mood changed. He wasn't taunting anymore, he was actually quite pissed off, because he retaliated by launching himself at me, causing me to crash into my chair. Needless to say, he weighed a freaking ton and that landing hurt my back. Oh, and my right cheekbone as well, because he punched it, too.
"Boys, boys, stop it this instant!" the teacher came in between us, stopping me and the other guy from potentially murdering one another. I was just so annoyed at this point that all the blood rushed to my head. We stopped fighting. I guess it's more of because we might hit her, than because we would get sent to the principal's office.
Both of us were issued detention from tomorrow until Friday, and our parents were informed about the incident.
"Snitches..." muttered the tall kid. I later learned that he was Ivan Braginski, Natalya's older half-brother. I wonder if she would mind that I broke Ivan's nose... Probably not.
"Ivan! I heard from Lili what happened! Are you okay?" a big-boobed chick went up to Ivan, grabbing his shoulders to make him face her properly. I assumed she was Yekaterina, since the description of her fitted quite well.
"S-sestra, I'm okay, really..." he lowered his head a bit, refusing to face her. He looked a bit softer and kinder when he was with his sister. She looked like she was about to cry. She must really care about him.
I lightly touched the bruise his punch made on my face, the contact stinging it a bit. "Ow..." I hissed under my breath. Even if the nurse put an ice pack over it, it still kinda hurt.
Yekaterina ushered Ivan down the hall, fussing over him and his huge, injured nose, courtesy of Mr. Alfred F. Jones. We will see each other again in detention. I just hope I won't receive another "collectors' item" (a.k.a bruise) for my face when we do.
I went inside the detention room, where the teacher who was supposed to keep an eye on us was just sleeping on his desk with his coat draped over him.
Ivan was already seated on a chair to the side, glancing towards me as I walked into the room. I saw Arthur seated at the back, and another guy seated at the front.
I sat next to Arthur. I guess that would be better than sitting next to Ivan.
"What're you in here for?" I asked him as I took a seat next to him. He raised an eyebrow at me when I did, as if questioning my sanity as I sat down.
"They caught me smoking again. This is the best they could do, actually. Detention, I mean." he answered stoically.
"Why is that?"
"Well, my parents donate a whole lot to the school so I guess they couldn't really do more like expel me or something." he smirked, looking satisfied. His parents must be rich, I thought.
"How do you even buy those cigarettes? I mean, you're not even legal to buy those." I blinked confusedly.
"Ah, well, it's my brother's, so I just nick one off his shelf. He doesn't really mind." he shrugged as if it was no big deal. Well, to him, it probably wasn't.
"Ah." I nodded.
"How about you, why are you here?" he asked me, highly amused.
"Got into a fist fight with him." I grumbled, pointing to Ivan who was sitting next to the window, looking out into the sky idly.
"What happened?"
"Kept calling me a bunch of names and made kissy faces at me. He teased me about that little incident at the party last Friday night."
"What incident at the party?" he seemed clueless and innocent. It was all over the school and he was part of this. HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW?
"Don't play dumb with me! That incident!" I repeated, glaring at him, coming off as annoyed.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!"
I did say we would forget the whole thing ever happened. If it was another situation, I would have been happier that he forgot about it. But this cannot be put to rest now.
I fished inside my bomber jacket's inner pocket for the picture I received yesterday from the girls. I slammed it onto his desk, "That one!"
He looked absolutely shocked. Honestly shocked. "O-oh come on, it's obviously Photoshopped!" he turned to me in disbelief.
"Do you think I would joke about this? I mean, thanks to you and your drunkenness, I am more popular than before, and not for a good reason! Oh, and let us not forget how it also got me into a fist-fight, earned me a bruise on my cheek, landed me into detention and made my parents scold me for an hour about it last night!" I blabbed out, sounding awfully resentful.
"Well, I'm so sorry I had no control of myself that night because I was drunk!" he retorted sarcastically.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have drank any alcohol, if you knew you couldn't hold your liquor well!" I snapped back.
"How the hell was I supposed to know this would happen? Anyway, the stupidity of your action after the incident and your inability to control your temper should not be held against me!"
He was right. It was my fault for getting angry and for getting myself where I am right now, but it didn't make me less annoyed at him. I sighed. "Look, whatever, forget it. That kiss meant nothing anyway." I shook my head. I saw Ivan avidly watching this exchange from the corner of my eye. That bastard.
"Yeah, it didn't mean anything." he nodded. We both fell silent. I knew it would be hard for me to forget, and now that I showed him a picture, I think he would find it hard to erase it from his mind, as well.
Author's Notes: I cannot make two people fight verbally, haha. I suck at comebacks, honestly.
I hope this is a bit longer than the last one, and I hope it's still interesting enough? Yeah.
Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I really appreciate it. Feel free to correct me with anything and suggest things~ eue
By the way, as of today, I am two school years away from graduating high school. OH GOOOOD.