Chapter 37: Switzerland

Another day at Bullworth Academy, another hurdle. To say that Larry was in a rotten mood would've been an understatement – the first thing in the morning he had bumped into Russell Northrop on his way to the classroom. While the gargantuan bully had been content with a "Sorry, I slipped", Larry apparently hadn't apologized loud enough because Troy Miller hadn't heard him. The livid bully had then proceeded to chase him all the way to his classroom, only giving up when he had almost ran over a cranky Dr. Slawter standing at the door.

Later, during recess, Troy had tried to set the record straight, only to be stuffed into a trash can. Alone as Larry may have been, a lone run-of-the-mill bully had nothing on an ex-greaser. Then again, a whole bunch of them did, which Wade Martin demonstrated when he came to his friend's aid. Larry had gotten pounded down like a nail, pinned into a wall for a few gut punches before the prefects had bothered showing up. Lesson learned: even though he had learned a thing or two from brawling with Clint, he still had no business flaunting it about.

Larry's day was about to get worse even after school, though. Someone was waiting for him at the gates, leaning against the brick wall and shooting death glares at any school kid daring to look at him.

"Duncan? What're you doin' here?" the brunette asked, sounding even less enthusiastic than he was. He didn't mean to take it out on the short dropout, but he was certainly not in the mood for his company.

"Tch. Dude, I need to have a word with ya. Let's get goin', I can't stand this place", Duncan huffed, hoping he wouldn't get even a glance of Davis White or other bullies.

Silently, the two started walking towards the town. Only when they were on the bridge did Duncan feel like opening his mouth again.

"Gurney got jumped on last night. Got beaten up real good", he said with a cough.

"What? By who?" Larry asked in disbelief. This wasn't just any guy they were talking about – Gurney was a big lug who reeked of trouble.

"Your old buddy Vincent and his cronies, that's who. They were waitin' for Gurney at his trailer and ambushed him", Duncan grumbled.

"Huh", was all that Larry managed to say.

"Gurney told that Vincent went on about 'keeping his dirty paws off other guys' women' or some shit", the dropout continued.

"Oh, I get it. … Wait, Gurney's seriously been bangin' Lola?" Larry said with his voice cracking, being baffled by his own deduction as soon as it came to mind.

"Who cares! What matters is that your buddies came to our turf to beat up one of our guys and your time is up", Duncan barked.

"What're you sayin'?" Larry asked, not quite following.

"I'm sayin' that you've got to pick a side and stick with it", the older boy said calmly.

"Hey, now, I thought I told you guys loud n' clear: I'm not into this gang business no more. I just wanna work at the frickin' warehouse!"

"I know, okay!" Duncan snapped angrily.

The two stopped walking for a moment and scowled at each other. The stareoff ended with the dropout sighing as he understood that this wasn't leading anywhere.

"Look dude, I'm on your side. I mean, I know right? It's hard to admit but I probably wouldn't be able to beat up the other astronomy club guys even though it's been so long", the ex-nerd said awkwardly and started to walk again, followed by a doubtful Larry.

"The thing is, though, I don't have to. Nerds got nothin' on us. But Vincent and his guys, he does", he continued.

"But I ain't a greaser no more! I don't wanna get involved with this shit", Larry growled defensively.

"I know", Duncan breathed frustratedly, "but really, what did you expect? You started hangin' out with us knowin' we go against Vincent from time to time. You yourself fought against him that one time – you didn't have any problems with it then."

Larry's response was something that was by now very familiar to Duncan: sour expression and hostile, impervious silence. The two walked ahead while only hearing the noise of passerby students on bicycles and the whistling of the wind playing in the structures of the bridge that they had just about crossed.

"To be honest, I think the guys have been pretty generous with ya. They've let you have time to get your bearings straight and they haven't made you do much", Duncan finally said, sick of the quietness.

"I mean, you used to be Vincent's right hand man AND you're still a student of that fuckin' school. They could be so much more anal about that. They don't get what the hell really happened with you n' Vincent either but they let it slip", he continued.

The two came to the crossroads where the two would have to go to different directions and stopped. Larry still had nothing to say, though, which further annoyed Duncan.

"Y'know, I've been pretty fuckin' sparin' with ya too. There's so much I coulda said to you about your thing with Vincent and his bitch by now. You keep sayin' what a great guy he is, but as far as I can tell he treated you like shit n' let that slut treat you even worse. Personally, I think you're as gullible as they come if you think he didn't at least have a hunch about what was happening", he spouted venomously.

"Shut your fucking mouth – you don't get it", Larry hissed harshly, anger sparking behind his dark eyes.

"Yeah? Well you ain't makin' it easy for me. You hardly talk", Duncan calmly stated, crossing his arms.

Larry hemmed and tore his eyes away from his friend. Looking into the distance, he waited for him to say his goodbyes and leave. The dropout sighed shakily, knowing that he shouldn't part ways with him when he was mad; his grudge would always outlive Duncan's and he'd be forced to be the peacemaker.

"Y'know, I really do think you're an okay guy, Larry. I wanna help you but you ain't makin' that easy for me, either. I just came to warn ya that Edgar expects you to meet him and the guys halfway in this matter. Just... Don't say I didn't warn ya", he said with a hint of desperation.

"Also, show some goddamn respect to Clint, 'cause it's thanks to him puttin' a good word for ya that the guys have been so lenient this far", added he.

Show me some too you oaf, the young man almost said but he bit his tongue and held it in.

"Right. See ya", Larry muttered and left towards his sister's apartment, leaving Duncan to stand alone by the intersection. The dropout shook his head once again as he turned and started walking towards New Coventry and Blue Skies.

The worst part for Duncan was, he really did care. Larry wasn't exactly his type, but he had this far been a refreshing addition to his life anyway. When talking to him, he had to dumb himself down for him just like he had to do for his dropout buddies, but not as much. The ex-nerd could actually talk about things concerning Bullworth Academy with him without the pretense that school was for losers and talking about it was for losers too. Furthermore, even though Larry hated all kinds of geeky activities, at least he could understand the concept of having a hobby that wasn't A, bashing rich people's letterboxes or B, stealing bikes.

Duncan was getting to the end of his rope, though. Larry had agreed to occasionally stay over the night at his place, but he was always so distant. For a guy so hell bent on getting over something he was incredibly blind to opportunities to do just that. The high school dropout had started to wonder if Larry had actually ever let go of any memory or sentiment or if he carried everything that life had thrown in his way, like a snail lugged its shell.

Whatever, he thought to himself bitterly – he had no problem letting go of Larry if he was going to sit on the fence with his fingers in his ears.

Author's Notes: Ah, poor Duncan - I work with the assumption that he was the kid that Davis made to drop out of school. Actually, poor almost every character except Lefty! Gotta love a guy whose internal problems don't seem to extend beyond not having smokes, having sudden hot dog cravings, and there being so many girls but not enough time. Also, apparently there aren't enough people who have a vowel at the end of their name (what the hell?)