Sebastian concentrated on Ned all day. This was going to be his project while he was here: Turn the good boy bad. Take his place at the top of the heap. It was enough to keep his mind occupied for a few months, then maybe he could convince his parents to get him the hell out of here. He kept his head down, quietly observing the way he acted around the others. It was mostly boring. He paid attention in class, he bit his lip when he concentrated, physical contact made him jump a little, standard shy-kid mannerisms. But then, during French, something happened. Something interesting.
"So, we're just making out in her dorm, and things are getting, you know, fun," Jeff was rambling about some conquest he'd probably imagined, supposedly from Crawford, "and her phone rings in her pocket, except it's on vibrate. So suddenly she kind of twitches, and gasps, and let's just say she's ignoring the phone call. She pins me to the bed-" They were all lapping it up, apart from Ned. He kept his eyes on his textbook. Sebastian smirked to himself. "- and I swear she was practically begging for it, and suddenly we hear a squeal outside the door. Her dumbass room-mate is shouting something about clogs, and she climbs off me and starts shoving me into the closet, because apparently 'clogs' was code for a faculty member coming-"
"Well at least someone was-" Jeff punched David in the arm.
"Seriously, it was like something out of American Pie. I almost died in there! And then the room-mate, Clara or something, comes in all upset and they forget about me. I was in the stupid closet for two hours!"
"It's true," Nick added, "He was texting me the whole time asking me to come and rescue him."
"Texts which you never answered, by the way!"
"Well it's not my fault you got stuck in there, why should I come and save you? You got out the window fine in the end, didn't you?"
"Yeah, only a few cuts and bruises, I guess... Worth it. Man, she was incredible. I can't wait 'til Christmas vacation. Her parents are going away without her, so as soon as we get her little sister out of the way, we've got her place to ourselves. You know what that means..." They all started shoving him, accusing him of making it up, offering to take her off his hands and show her what she was missing. Jeff went bright red. Even though they were talking like misogynistic frat boys, they were actually just happy for him. Between them and the girl's friends, it'd taken months to get them together, and as much as Jeff liked to pretend he was a player, he was smitten. Ned kept trying to join in, but every time they mentioned sex, every time they mentioned girls, he went quiet. Back to the textbook. Back to biting the lip. Fiddling with his uniform when his hand couldn't hold his pen properly. He'd never seen someone so uncomfortable.
This just got a lot more interesting.
7:01pm. He waited for a minute after hearing the timid knock at his door.
"Sebastian? This is Sebastian's room right? It's me- it's Ned. Sorry I'm a little late-" Sebastian rolled his eyes and opened the door.
"I think I can forgive one minute." He flashed him a smile and let him in. Ned thought nothing of the transformation and sat on the bed, tucking his feet underneath him. He presumed Sebastian was just nicer alone. Like he didn't need to put up a front. It was a welcome change. Sebastian slid into the chair at his desk.
"You were quiet today. Actually, you're always pretty quiet. Don't you like it here?" Sebastian looked down at his hands. He shrugged one shoulder.
"It's not that, it's just... I don't know. I guess it's not that I don't like the school; I just feel like the school doesn't like me."
"Hey, of course they do-"
"Really?" Ned stood up and put a hand on Sebastian's arm.
"I think they will if you let them. You're just not giving them much to work with. I bet if you acted more like this, showed them it mattered to you, they'd like you a lot more." Sebastian slowly looked up at him. He'd planned what he was going to say, word for word, and Ned was just laying the foundations for his vulnerable routine. He paused a little longer than he'd intended to, forgetting his lines for a second when he saw Ned's eyes. He just looked so earnest, so desperate to help.
"I don't know. I mean, I know I seem sort of... You know... Off-" Ned couldn't help snorting.
"That's one way of putting it." Wait. That was wrong.
"What?"
"Well, you turned up late on purpose, you laughed at Wes, and you weren't exactly Prince Charming with me. It was like you didn't even want to be there. Can you blame them for not taking you seriously?"
"I-"
"I'm being too harsh, aren't I? I just think if you want people to like you, you could try being nicer to them." He was stumped. The logic was flawless. No, he had a plan.
"You really think so? That's it?"
"That's what I did, and I got a solo. Seems like a solid plan." Sebastian's forehead wrinkled slightly. This boy was so frustrating. Was he playing games too? God, this was annoying. He powered through, sticking to his plan.
"I just feel like they'll never like me now. What if it's too late? They probably all hate me now-" he could feel himself babbling, laying it on too thick, but he couldn't stop himself. "I mean, maybe I've screwed it all up, and even if I try really hard, they probably still won't like me. Nobody ever likes me." Shut up, Sebastian. Please. Pretty please. Ned was looking at him like he was insane, and it was justified.
"Woah, there. You know what? You're not allowed to say nobody likes you any more. Sebastian Smythe, I officially... Don't hate you. I've met nice Sebastian, and even if he talks too much, he's OK." That's more like it. Sebastian paused, just staring into Ned's eyes. He ignored his puzzled frown, and slowly moved in, tilting his head slightly and pressing his lips against Ned's.
At first, Ned's eyes widened with panic. After a second he closed them, just because it seemed rude not to, but as soon as he felt a hand on his leg he jumped away.
"What? What are you doing? I'm not – No!"
"Oh, I get it. You're straight, right?"
"Yes! I didn't even know you were – I mean, it's fine obviously, but I, I like girls. I'm straight. Sorry."
"Sure. And how many girls have you 'liked' lately?"
"What?"
"Well, doesn't anyone ever ask you? What do you tell your mother, when she asks if you've met any nice young ladies yet?"
"I-I... What? Where would I even meet any girls? This is an all-boys' school!" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Stop doing that!"
"What?"
"looking at me like that. I don't, I mean, I don't want to be rude, but I just don't-"
"You don't like me?" Ned shrugged, his mouth open, trying to find the politest way of putting it. "Ned, I've seen you looking at me. I don't even think you know you're doing it." Ned frowned. Had he been... Looking? "You know what? It doesn't matter. Maybe I was just imagining things. We should get to work; I heard we were doing MGMT, and that's not going to be easy."
"Sebastian, you just-"
"Ned, it's cool. The last thing I wanted to do was freak you out. I guess you didn't mean to, you know-"
"What?"
"You were kind of... Giving me signals. Don't worry about it. Just teach me the part." He reverted to cocky idiot. He flashed Ned the practised smile, oozing confidence, even though technically he'd just been rejected. He was supposed to stick with vulnerability, but changed his mind at the last second. This way, maybe Ned would think he was putting up a façade again. He never changed his plans. He could've kicked himself, but it was too late. He had to stay with it. The important thing was that the idea was in Ned's mind. That one wasn't going to leave him alone.
Ned shook his head to try and regain his senses, fussing with his sheet music. What if he had been looking at Sebastian? He was... No. Of course not. He'd never liked boys before now. But he hadn't exactly been lusting after girls either. He looked up at Seb now. He was biting his lip, and he put his palm on his forehead, closing his eyes for a second and sighing his name.
"Oh, Ned, I'm so sorry. I've made things weird. I really didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Yes I did. I'll make you feel more than that. "Really, forget it happened. I'll just let you teach me how to win the Warblers over. If you want to keep this professional, that's totally fine." If. He had to say if. That left room for him to change his mind. Ned nodded, although it came off as more of a twitch.
"Right. Yeah, I mean, that's probably best. Because I'm straight and everything." Sebastian felt a smile brewing in his stomach, either from the fact that he'd had an effect or from Ned's impression of a baby deer in the headlights. He pushed it down, because he was better than that. He couldn't screw the plan up on day 2.