Sigurd lays down the rules as far as his little nuisance of a brother, Ivar, is concerned. Margrethe, Freydis and Katya enter the picture.
Ivar hurried as fast as he could to get inside. He'd seen Sigurd looking towards him and dad. He knew there would be consequences from Sigurd being reminded of their mother. Just as he stepped off the bottom step, he felt a shove against his shoulder. Luckily, he already had his crutch situated under his arm. Sigurd strolled past him, slapping at the crutch, threatening to knock it away from him. Ivar glared after him but didn't say anything. He'd found that Sigurd usually wouldn't keep bothering him if he found himself being ignored.
Next thing he knew, he was sprawled out in the floor. One of Sigurd's friends, Harald, had both shoved him and taken the crutch away at the same time. Before he could say or do anything, Sigurd was back, with a vengeance. He jumped over Ivar and punched his friend, causing him to reel into the wall. Then he grabbed him by the shirt, holding him there.
"Just because I pick on my brother doesn't mean that you can! Nobody, NOBODY, picks on Ivar except ME! Do you understand? DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? NOBODY but me picks on Ivar! Nobody!" He snarled angrily.
Harald put his hands up quickly. "Not a problem, Sig. No problem at all. Sorry, man. I didn't know that. I understand completely." Sigurd nodded and stepped back, smoothing Harald's shirt down to show no hard feelings. Then he pivoted and picked up Ivar's crutch. He reached down, grabbing the front of Ivar's hoodie, and yanked him up, holding him steady while he adjusted the crutch. He walked with Ivar to his locker and shoved him up against it as he walked on. Ivar sighed as he rubbed the side of his face. 'That would definitely leave a mark!' It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. At least, Sigurd hadn't taken the opportunity to use HIM as a punching bag.
He opened his locker and took out his first three textbooks. He sometimes wished he wasn't as smart as he was. That way, he'd still be a year behind Sigurd. Instead, here he was, promoted into ALL of the advanced classes and in the same grade as Sigurd. It was like the universe WANTED to keep him in range of his brother. He hated the fact that his mother had lavished all her attention in him, ignoring Sigurd. When he was younger, of course, he'd eaten up the attention. Now that he was older and more aware of how it had affected Sigurd, he wished they could just go back to their childhood when he and Sigurd actually got along!
As he closed his locker, he could see the other students side eyeing him. Nobody had paid him a bit of attention for their first two weeks of school. Now, in just a few minutes, he was the center of attention. He hated it, especially since the more attention was paid to him, the angrier it would make Sigurd. He pulled his hood up, covering his face as he ducked his head. With any luck, he'd be forgotten again by the time the bell rang for their next class. He walked into his first class, silently groaning. 'Of course, the only seat available would have to be right beside Sigurd!' He came to the conclusion that the universe really did hate him. He wondered what he'd done in a past life to earn this punishment.
They had to take a pop quiz. That's all. Surely, he could get through that without any trouble from Sigurd. He didn't count on Sigurd, unexpectedly shoving his foot against the desk, dumping Ivar into the floor! The teacher made Sigurd apologize and help him up, but Ivar could tell he wasn't in the least bit sorry for disrupting class just to torment his little brother. When the bell rang, Sigurd snatched him up, ordering Harald to grab his crutch and backpack. There was nothing he could do except for struggling to escape his brother's tight grip. Sigurd walked him down the hall to his science class and stopped at the row of hooks just inside the door.
"No! No, don't!" Ivar yelled, just as Sigurd lifted him up and hung him by the back of his hoodie from one of the hooks. He and Harald walked out laughing as the rest of the class streamed in. His science teacher pulled him down, helping him to a desk. Ivar's face was bright red. He just wanted to sink through the floor. Making things worse was the fact that Sigurd's girlfriend, Margrethe, and her friends were all in this class. They were all pointing, laughing and whispering behind their hands. He wondered how believable it would be if he failed all of his classes, forcing the teachers to all put him back into his own grade. At least that way, he'd be out of Sigurd's hair. Like the old saying went, 'out of sight, out of mind.'
Just after the bell rang, the door opened, and their principal stuck his head in. "Mr. Wessex. We have two new students for you. This is Freydis and Katya Rus." Two girls walked in, and all the boys straightened quickly. All but Ivar. He stayed slumped over, staring at the top of his desk. He'd figured out that it did him no good to notice the girls because they all turned up their noses once they realized he was crippled. That was why he was so shocked when the two girls joined him at his table. Freydis was a beautiful blonde, and her sister was a brunette. Aside from their different hair color, they were otherwise identical to one another. Freydis gave him a wide grin and Katya smiled at him shyly.
"Hello, my name is Freydis. This is my younger sister, Katya. What's your name?" She asked. Ivar couldn't decide if she was serious or not. But for now, he'd play along with her.
"My name is Ivar." He shook hands with her and Katya. He could almost feel Margrethe's eyes boring into his back. He knew as soon as she saw Sigurd, she'd be giving him fuel to use against Ivar. He knew Sigurd would love nothing more than to make his life miserable by taunting him day and night over having a girlfriend and being practically useless. It was for this reason that he promptly began ignoring them right after she introduced them. Freydis frowned and looked at Katya. She shrugged back at her. 'Maybe he already had a girlfriend (or boyfriend?) Maybe he just wasn't interested at all.'
Once class was over, he gathered his books and headed for his next class. Fortunately, he had two classes back-to-back that he didn't share with Sigurd. He'd be forever grateful for the fact that gym wasn't a shared class. He could just imagine how many different ways for Sigurd to be able to humiliate him in this class. Right now, was when Sigurd would be in music class. He noticed uneasily that both girls were going to be in this class. 'Great,' he rolled his eyes, 'Margrethe and company was also in this class.' He'd felt an instant attraction to the girls in science class. He wondered how long he'd realistically be able to ignore them before he gave in and spoke to them, without interference from Sigurd and Margrethe!