Chapter Twenty Four
Kili had barely got through the door on his first day of high school before he was hit in the face by long, red hair as Tauriel tugged him forcibly away from Fili and pulled him down the hallway. He could hear Fili's laughter at her antics and turned his head to shoot him a dirty look. Much to his displeasure, the blond didn't look at all repentant.
"Come on!" Tauriel said, putting more force behind her tug.
"Tauriel, slow down!" Kili snapped, trying to pull out of her grip. "I promised Ori I'd find him before classes start!"
Ori had elected to turn down his spot at the magnet high school once he realized that he could go to the same high school as they did. Kili was excited that the smaller boy was joining them. Between going to different schools and Ori spending his summers in smart kid camp, they hadn't been able to spend much time together in the past year.
"This'll only take a second," she assured.
He followed her dutifully as she led him to the courtyard, where a bunch of tables were set up with signs. She made a beeline to a table with a large "Archery Team Tryouts" sign.
Of course.
Tauriel smiled at the dark-haired upperclassman manning the table. "Found the friend I was telling you about," she proclaimed proudly.
"Found, kidnapped, same thing," Kili muttered sarcastically. Tauriel glared at him while the boy behind the table grinned.
"Bard Bowman," he introduced himself. "If you're as good as Tauriel claims, we'll definitely have a shot at states this year."
"Kili Baggins," he said before frowning and shooting the redhead a look. "Just what have you been telling him? I've only been shooting for a little over a year."
"And he already shoots almost as well as me," Tauriel bragged. "And I'm damn good."
He opened his mouth to retort but a voice cut him off.
"Trying to take all the potential recruits, Bowman?" a tall, slim boy with short dark hair at the next table asked with a smirk. "You should give them a chance to see what their other options are, such as those that actually win occasionally."
Bard rolled his eyes. "I think that if they wanted to sign up for track and field, Smaug, they wouldn't have approached the archery table."
"Why don't you let them decide for themselves?" he asked, sidling up next to Kili. "How about you? Kili, was it? You definitely have the body of a runner."
Kili flushed as the older boy's icy green eyes looked him up and down. "S-sorry," he stammer out. "I already promised Tauriel I'd do archery with her. Besides, I've never really done any track."
"That's disappointing," he replied with a quirk of his eyebrow. "However, tryouts aren't until January so I've still got time to convince you."
"What makes you think I'm worth convincing?" he asked in bewilderment.
"I know value when I see it," he said, smirking. He excused himself, though, when a group of students came up to the track and field table. As he was talking to them, though, he looked up and winked at Kili.
Flustered, he quickly signed his name on the archery try-out sheet and waited impatiently for Tauriel to do the same.
"Looks like you've got Drake Smaug's attention," Bard commented as he waited. "I'd be careful if I were you. He's not a bad guy, but he's more of a love 'em and leave 'em type of guy."
Kili stared at him with wide eyes. "I don't think he's interested in me like that!" he protested. Why on earth would he be?
Bard gave him an incredulous look but turned his attention to another freshman loitering by the table.
"It's alright, Kili," Tauriel said, looping her arm around his and steering him towards where their other friends were loitering by the picnic tables. "I'll protect you from flirty upperclassmen."
"He was not flirting with me," Kili insisted as they approached the others. He was happy to see that Ori had found them without Kili seeking him out.
"Who was flirting with you?" Ori asked curiously, looking up at him with an innocent smile and making him regret his previous thought.
"Not flirting with me," he reiterated through clenched teeth as plopped down on the bench next to Fili.
"Pretty sure he wasn't undressing you with his eyes just to size you up for the track team," Tauriel remarked, giving him a mischievous wink. Kili blushed and hid his face in his arms on the table, prompting his friends to laugh.
"Aw, leave him alone," Fili said, laugh and voice sounding funny to Kili's ears through the barrier of his arms. He turned his head and shot the blond a grateful look, but Fili wasn't looking at him.
"Yes, if Kili says there was no flirting, then there wasn't any flirting," Aragorn stated. Kili was surprised, but pleased, at the older boy's support.
Tauriel opened her mouth to say something else that Kili would want to throttle her for, but the bell rang for homeroom before she could get it out. Kili practically bolted from his friends, needing to escape before any more teasing came his way.
Honestly. As if anyone would want to flirt with him. Besides, it wasn't like Kili would be interested if he were. He had resigned himself over the summer to pining for Fili forever. It wasn't such a bad fate, he had decided. It'd probably be worse as soon as Fili started dating, but until then, it was enough.
"So," Tauriel said, as she caught up with him.
"Drop it," he hissed, stalking towards their classroom and taking a seat in the back.
She sat down in the seat in front of him and rolled her eyes. "Wasn't gonna say anything about that," she huffed. "I was going to invite you over for a movie night at our place Friday. Eowyn and Ori are coming too."
Kili frowned. "Just Eowyn and Ori? What about Gimli and Faramir?"
He didn't bother asking about Fili and their other friends. It wasn't unusual for Thranduil to limit the number of people Tauriel and Legolas could have over at once, but usually they invited all their grade-mates.
And even Kili wasn't clueless enough to not realize why she had invited Eowyn.
"Legolas and Gimli broke up last weekend. They're trying to downplay it, but I figured it'd be best not to subject them to each other," Tauriel explained. "Faramir is going to ask Gimli to do something with him and Aragorn. I'm sure Aragorn will invite Fili and Eomer too."
"Well, I'm glad everyone decided to plan Friday out without me," he muttered sullenly.
"You're just mad because I'm trying to make you spend time away from Fili," she retorted. "And it'll be good for you to spend time apart. If you're not going to tell him how you feel, maybe time apart will help you not turn down the cute track-star of a senior who was clearly flirting with you earlier."
Kili scowled at her. "I'll come Friday if the topic of my love life is on the do-not-mention list. Between you mooning over Eowyn and Legolas nursing a broken heart, I think that's more than enough relationship drama for one night."
"Fine," she agreed petulantly with a toss of her hair.
He sighed and ripped a strip of paper from his notebook before scribbling something down. He held it out to her as a peace offering. "Here."
She frowned as she looked at it before grinning at him. "Your parents finally caved and got you a cell?" she asked in excitement.
"Nothing so dramatic as caving, really," he said with a shrug. "They got Fili one when he started high school, so they gave me one this morning."
"Still, we can text now," she remarked with a smile before turning as the teacher called them to attention.
As soon as the bell for the next period rang, though, she was digging in his backpack before he could protest and pulling out his phone.
"Hey!" he said as she grabbed her own bag and started walking towards the door, eyes on both their phones as she typed away on his.
"Relax, Kili, we're going the same way," she placated. "And I'm just giving you everyone's numbers and texting them yours, since you're the last one to get a phone. I swear, even Ori has had a phone for the past couple of years."
"Ori went away for the summers," he defended, but gave up trying to get his phone back.
"There," she said with a smirk. "Now everyone has everyone's numbers."
Kili rolled his eyes. "I would've given everyone my number, thanks."
"Well, now you don't have to," she replied flippantly. "Now enjoy Geometry. I'm off to English Lit."
He shook his head and slipped his phone back in his bag before walking to his class. He smiled as he saw Ori already there, sitting front and center. Despite usually gravitating towards the back of the room, he slid into the seat behind Ori, not wanting to abandon his friend.
"How's the first day so far?"
Ori gave him a bright smile. "Great! It's nice to have people to talk to at school," he said shyly.
Kili gave him an understanding smile. He remembered what it was like to be the odd one out at school. He was going to reply but Gimli walked in and plopped down in the desk next to Ori, immediately pulling the younger redhead into a conversation about some sci-fi book that Kili hadn't read. He was surprised Gimli had, as the other boy wasn't that avid of a reader, before he realized that Ori was doing most of the talking, with Gimli nodding along and smiling at him in encouragement.
It was nice, he thought, to see Gimli being attentive to Ori and helping him feel more welcome.
The rest of the morning went by quickly, with Kili thrilled to realize that he had the same lunch period as Fili. No mention of the not-flirting incident was mentioned at lunch, mostly because Tauriel did not have the same lunch as them.
The period after lunch was study hall in the library. He made his way there with Faramir once the bell rang, frowning in confusion as he spied Aragorn and Eomer sitting at a table in the corner. Still, he followed Faramir as he immediately headed towards them.
"I didn't know this was mixed grades," Faramir commented in a quiet voice as he took a seat.
Eomer was torn away from the window he had been staring out of and gave him a grin, while Aragorn smiled more sedately at them before going back to his Chemistry book. Kili followed his lead and pulled out his Geometry book, turning to the page of problems his teacher had assigned.
He ignored the short whispered conversation of his two friends as he got to work. He had barely started, though, when the empty seat next to him was suddenly occupied.
"You must be one of the few people who actually study in study hall on the first day," a quiet voice teased.
Kili looked up to see Drake Smaug smirking at him. He stared at him for a moment, not really knowing how to react. He glanced at his friends for help. Eomer and Faramir had abandoned their game of hangman to look at him curiously, but they didn't seem inclined to insert themselves into the conversation. Kili was sure, though, that the look Aragorn was giving Drake would probably be a glare if it were on anyone else. As it was, it was more of a look of stern disapproval.
He probably didn't appreciate Drake's comment on studying.
"I have homework," he replied in a meek voice, vaguely gesturing towards his math book.
The senior chuckled at him and shook his head in a fond manner. "By all means, don't let me come between you and your homework."
Kili turned back to his book, extremely aware of Drake's eyes on him. It took him twice as long to get through each problem as it normally would. He couldn't help glancing at the older boy out of the corner of his eye every so often. His presence was incredibly distracting.
Why was a senior like Drake being so friendly to a freshman like Kili?
Once study hall had ended, Kili was relieved when Drake left with only a polite smile and a nod. Eomer opened his mouth, no doubt to tease or interrogate Kili, but he was silenced by a nudge of Aragorn's elbow and a shake of Faramir's head. He shot them both a grateful look as they left the library. They could always be counted on for quiet understanding.
Thankfully, he made it to the end of the day without any more confusing run-ins with Drake and without any further comments from any of his friends. He was also particularly glad that Fili didn't mention anything about the senior on their walk home.
He wasn't sure if he knew how to handle any teasing from Fili about someone who may (but probably didn't) have a romantic interest in him.
The rest of the week flew by. Unfortunately for Kili, though, Drake Smaug had somehow become a fixture in his life. It wasn't that he disliked the older boy. He had been perfectly pleasant to him. He asked Kili how he was doing, listened attentively to his interests (when Kili couldn't stop himself from talking), and always greeted him with a smile and nod whenever he saw him.
No, the problem was his friends' reactions. Tauriel gave him such insufferably knowing and encouraging looks, usually with Legolas, Faramir, and Gimli giving him sympathetic looks in the background. Eowyn was nearly as bad as Tauriel, but was much more vocal about her support of whatever relationship he chose to pursue with the senior, which only made Kili burn with mortification. Eomer usually waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her comments, making the whole situation even worse.
Ori was no help. He didn't tease or give him pity, but his what-are-you-gonna-do shrug wasn't particularly useful either.
And Aragorn's look of disproval from the library had morphed into a general glower whenever Drake's name was mentioned.
Fili never said anything about the senior. His face always morphed into a blank mask, though, when the topic came up. It was that blankness that prompted Kili to bring up the older boy of his own volition as they walked home together Friday afternoon.
"You know Drake and I are just friends, right?" he asked, looking at Fili quick enough to catch the brief scowl that flickered across his face before it was smoothed into a calm mask. "Barely even that," he added truthfully. "I don't see him like that, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't see me like that either."
"I'm not too sure about that," Fili replied, letting a bit of sullenness creep into his voice.
"Well I'm sure," Kili shot back petulantly. "And even if Drake were interested in me, which, again, he's not, I wouldn't go out with him or anything. I wish people would just shut up about it."
The blond reluctantly chuckled at that. Kili couldn't help but smile at the sound. Fili hadn't laughed as much since they started back school, the workload of his classes combined with the training he was doing for his jiu-jitsu tournament apparently weighing heavily on him. Kili didn't like seeing the blond looking so pensive.
"They just want to see you happy," he commented, giving Kili a soft smile.
"I am happy," he said grumpily, not caring that his demeanor undermined his statement. "Besides," he added with a mischievous smirk. "Drake isn't even that attractive."
Fili let out a surprised and hearty laugh at that. "I think there are a lot of people at school that would disagree with that," he remarked, still grinning.
"Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose," he said airily, sticking his nose up in mock disdain. "Too tall and skinny for me."
"What, don't go for tall, dark, and handsome?" Fili teased.
He shot Fili a smile, taking in his shorter stature, his broad chest and shoulders, and his golden blond hair. "Not in the least," he replied with confidence. "Though handsome is in the eye of the beholder."
The blond raised an eyebrow. "Got anyone in mind?"
"Nope," he answered cheerily. "I'm probably going to die an old maid. How shameful."
"Idiot," Fili said with a fond shake his head. "If that happens, we'll have to get a house with a porch and be the grumpy old men that yell at all the kids."
Kili grinned, the idea appealing to him more than it really should. "Deal."
Tbc…
I know. "Drake Smaug." How unoriginal... smh.