Chapter 10

Kiku had lived with Heracles Karpusi for three weeks now. The first week, the sleepy, ever-preoccupied Greek boy had seemed normal enough. He was quiet, which suited Kiku just fine, and he had an amazing personal library. He was a little messy, but not obnoxiously so, and patient, too. Since Kiku was still learning English, sometimes he didn't always have the words for what he wanted to say right away. Sometimes (with an embarrassed blush) he'd be forced to pantomime or fetch a dictionary. In such times, Heracles just smiled a little and waited for Kiku to convey his message, even if it made him late to class or interrupted his work.

And maybe that's when it had started. Normally, Heracles always had his nose in a dog-eared book about his homeland's history, but because Kiku was a little hard to understand at times, Heracles had started paying close attention to the other boy when he spoke. At first, it had been innocent enough, but lately Kiku couldn't help but feel as though Heracles was watching him...differently.

"I was thinking I would visit the Washington Monument this weekend," Kiku said. He'd been reading an Otaku magazine on his bed, but he'd noticed Heracles was staring at him again. It was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence, and Kiku felt the need to say something now—to force a reason for Heracles to be staring at him.

But Heracles just kept smiling that strange, half-secretive little smile at him and didn't immediately answer. Kiku felt his blush darken, and he shifted nervously on the bed.

"Well...do you want to go?" he asked. Kiku had been trying to be more friendly and outgoing this year, since he was more confident in his English and interested in making new friends, but befriending Heracles Karpusi was fast becoming an awkward endeavor.

Finally, after a small eternity, Heracles lazily nodded. He licked his lips (while still staring—was it at his mouth? Eyes? Something in his teeth? Kiku couldn't figure it out!).

"Did you know that the Washington Monument is shaped like an Egyptian obelisk? Lots of ancient Greek philosophers claimed their knowledge came from their studies in Egypt, but there's a frustrating unwillingness from modern historians to acknowledge the links between ancient Greece and Egypt. It's interesting, don't you think?" Heracles mused. Finally, his stare shifted off Kiku and up to the ceiling. He stared at the blades of the ceiling fan for a few moments in silent contemplation.

Kiku, meanwhile, felt like an idiot for wasting his time reading an Otaku magazine. Sure, he had nearly perfect grades, but Heracles seemed so much smarter than he was. The other boy was always reading heavy history books, and he was practically a walking encyclopedia. Even though he was a little odd with his strange staring, Kiku admired his roommate's knowledge.

"I did not know that," Kiku said. He didn't bother to hide how impressed he was. Heracles's attention shifted back to Kiku, practically unblinking and somehow, simultaneously interested and disinterested. If Kiku didn't know better, he would have thought a compelling paragraph about Greek mythology was written across his lower face. That's how Heracles looked at him—as if he were a history text book.

When he thought of it like that, it almost felt like a compliment. Kiku knew how beloved history was to Heracles. The only other thing that even came close to competing for his interest was watching plays and helping the drama department create their productions. Kiku felt a secret thrill whenever he tagged along with Heracles and watched the other boy expertly build a stage platform, or skillfully construct a set until it was just perfect.

So maybe Kiku had been doing some watching of his own. Maybe, if he was really honest with himself, Kiku knew why Heracles was staring, too. He wanted to ask "Do you like me?" But it was impossible to say the words—not because he didn't know them, but because the whole fiasco the previous year with Alfred Jones had made him terribly uncertain about such things.

It had seemed like Alfred liked him, too. Of course, Alfred was in love with someone else and Heracles was mysteriously single. Kiku didn't understand that either—the brunet teen was good-looking and incredibly smart. He was patient and gentle and he loved animals almost as much as Kiku did. Plus, the attractive girls (and even some of the guys) from the theater team were always flirting with him, but he never really gave any indication that he was interested. Kiku had lived with him three weeks and he still didn't know if the other boy was straight, gay, or bisexual.

'Maybe he's asexual,' Kiku thought with a frown. He heard a lazy sounding huff of amusement from across the room. Kiku glanced up to see Heracles had returned to his new hobby of Kiku-watching.

"What is so funny?" Kiku asked, petulant frown remaining in place. The Greek boy grinned lazily, and stood slowly. He stretched, like a cat, all slender muscle and long, toned limbs. Kiku had to avert his eyes.

"I like to picture what you're thinking. I had a funny thought about what might have made you frown just now," Heracles said, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to admit. Kiku's expression morphed into one of confusion.

"My...thoughts?" he asked.

"Mmm...I imagined you were thinking about what you'd say if I asked you out on a date," Heracles said casually. Contrary to what Heracles suspected, Kiku's reaction was one of surprise instead of displeasure.

"Are you...ano...asking me to be your..." Kiku floundered for the word. With a flaming blush on his cheeks, he simply held up his pinky.

Heracles cocked his head to the side, his expression amused, patient, and curious all at the same time.

"Does that mean 'boyfriend'?" Heracles asked.

"Hai," Kiku replied. He couldn't think of the proper English words—not when butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach, triggering tsunamis with their wing-wind.

"Then yes, I want to be your...this," Heracles said with a grin, extending his own pinky up in the air. Kiku, still sitting rigidly on the bed, stared intensely at the covers and concentrated on controlling his blush. It had spread over his cheeks like unchecked wildfire.

Suddenly, a big hand gently cupped his chin. Kiku gasped in surprise and looked up to realize Heracles had closed the distance between them.

"Want to know something else about the obelisk? It symbolized protection. I know you liked Alfred Jones last year, and I know he let you down. If you'll let me, I'd like to protect your heart this year. I've been trying to figure out how to say that to you this whole week. Did that come out okay?" Heracles said sweetly. Kiku closed his eyes slightly at the romantic words and leaned a little into Heracles's touch.

"I find...when I can not think of the words...sometimes it is better to do instead of say," Kiku advised in a wise-sounding sort of way. Heracles smiled, and then he kissed him.

Kiku thought it was rather wonderful, and even if he'd known every word there was to know in the English language, not a single one of them would describe how amazing his first kiss felt.

Mr. Allowick was certain something was off in his classroom. He'd gotten the strange sensation ever since he'd returned from his conference period to see his overturned trashcan and his desk about two feet further back than it was supposed to be. He'd righted the furniture, but still had no explanation for its strange positioning, nor could he expel the weird, almost sexual feeling that lingered in the air.

Whatever it was, it clearly affected his students during last period. They'd been driven to distraction by each other all week. Of course, it also could have been the fact that the teens he taught were not so young anymore. As he scrawled some notes on the board, he peeked over his shoulder to scan a sea of sixteen and seventeen-year-olds, far more interested in each other than they were in biology. Or, rather, they were more interested in each other than they were in his lesson on molecules because of their biology.

Mr. Allowick narrowed his eyes in a thoughtful sort of way. Yes, something naughty had definitely gone down in his classroom. He just had no way of knowing what had happened, or who it involved. There were certainly some likely suspects, though.

"Who can tell me what type of chemical bonds hold together molecules?" he asked his tenth period class. As usual, Wang Yao nearly decapitated his desk partner Feliciano whilst trying to raise his hand quickly enough to prove just how certain he was of the answer. Mr. Allowick had a bet with Mrs. Crispen that if Felicano Vargas passed his mid-term, he would tattoo 'PPPAAASSSSTTTTAAA' all across his ass. Suffice it to say, Feliciano was as dumb as Wang was smart. That was why he'd paired them up as desk buddies, but Wang's brains had yet to rub off on Feliciano.

Ignoring Wang for the moment, Mr. Allowick zeroed his gaze in on Alfred Jones sitting in the very back row—the President's kid, who'd supposedly gone from zero to hero last year and became some sort of model/actor/reality TV show star over the summer.

He'd also been acting all weird in class lately, and it had put him firmly on Mr. Allowick's radar. Him and his boyfriend were on each other like cats in heat, and they were definitely high on the list of his suspects.

"JONES!" he barked. The blond boy winced as if he'd been shot and his eyes gravitated three desks up and two over. His Royal Highness Sir Arthur Kirkland (the boyfriend to aforementioned teen-dream boat and the other half to the school's oddest romantic pair) was already turning subtly in his seat to whisper the answer. "Answer without the assistance of Mr. Kirkland, if you please."

"Um...what was the question?" Jones asked, playing up his sheepish, boyish grin. Naturally, the class erupted in giggles. Roughly in the middle of the classroom, the new transfer student who made all the male teachers think nothing in her presence except the determined phrase 'She's not legal! Don't look at her breasts!' twirled her silky brown hair and glanced flirtatiously back at Jones. Her giggle was especially loud and girlish: a mating call if ever he'd heard one.

Mr. Allowick subtly rolled his eyes. It didn't take a scientist to realize Michelle would get nowhere fast with the Jones kid. He was gayer than aids.

"Molecular bonds, Mr. Jones. What sort of bonds do molecules share?" he repeated.

"Uhh..."

Mr. Allowick waited. Wang tried exceptionally hard to reach the ceiling with his hand. He was practically dancing in his seat now, wanting desperately to be noticed and called upon.

"Ummm..."

No longer amused by Jones's general inability to answer anything in class, Ludwig Beilschmidt tapped his fingers impatiently on his desk and his icy blue gaze shifted distractedly to the window. Patricia (the kids were calling her Fatty Patty, though Allowick tried to nip that in the bud) also turned around towards the back of the classroom, likely feeling pity for the cornered jock.

Before she could whisper the answer to him, Alfred Jones blurted out the first stupid thing that came into his pretty little head.

"Bonds of friendship?" he offered, smiling charmingly and batting his big baby blues. The class erupted in laughter.

"Covalent chemical bonds, Mr. Jones," Allowick said tiredly. Wang frowned primly and lowered his hand, disappointed. Deciding to toss the kid a bone, Mr. Allowick added, "Thanks for raising your hand, Mr. Yao. I'm glad at least someone is paying attention."

He was pretty sure he heard the fussy Chinese kid mutter something about "stupid Westerners" but that was not a battle he wanted to fight ten minutes before the end of the day.

Lazily, a hand went up in the back, far-right corner. Allowick mentally sighed. No good would come of this, but he couldn't ignore a kid with a question.

"Yes Mr. Karpusi?"

"It was the Greek philosopher Democritus that came up with the first essentially correct theory of atoms and molecules, right? Can we talk about him some?" Heracles asked. Mr. Allowick sighed in a defeated sort of way. The kid never took notes, never turned in work, and yet he had some of the highest test scores. His file labeled him a genius, and he was certainly eccentric enough to be one with his strange "everything-comes-back-to-Greek-history" obsession.

In the front, a few desks over from Wang, Kiku Honda politely nodded his head.

"I would be interested in that lesson, too," he agreed.

"That has nothing to do with what we need to know for our test! Can we finish this lesson already?" Ludwig grumbled from his seat by the window. Mr. Allowick smiled patronizingly at Heracles. Ludwig had said exactly what he was not allowed to say, but wished he could.

"I'm sure Dr. Hummel would love to discuss that very topic with you during your next history lesson, but Ludwig is right—this is biology and we need to focus on more recent developments in the field. So who can tell me what a covalent bond is?"

Wang's hand shot up, startling Feliciano all over again, and this time he got a rather half-hearted hand raise from Prince Arthur.

"Mr. Kirkland?" he called.

"It has something or other to do with the sharing of electrons, does it not?" Kirkland offered. Mr. Allowick would take what he could get. Arthur was an excellent student all around, though it was clear biology was not his strong suit.

"Yes. It's the stable bond created by the—Alex, bring me that," he ordered. The friendly (though overly talkative) Cuban kid in the third row huffed in annoyance but stood up, his dreads swaying as he did so. His quiet friend, Matthew Williams, turned bright red. Mr. Allowick loved confiscating notes—he especially loved getting ones about him. They were usually good for a laugh in the staff room at lunch.

Reluctantly, Alex handed over the note he'd been passing to Matthew.

"If I catch you boys passing notes again, it'll be a D-hall."

"Si, sir," Alex said, and returned to his seat looking completely unshaken by the threat. The distraction of the note forestalled any further learning about molecular bonds. The bell rang and the kids hurriedly scrambled for their backpacks, blazers, and textbooks.

"Okay, guys, we'll go over this again next time. Study your notes, do your homework, and start preparing for that first test—it'll be here sooner than you think!" Allowick shouted. Most of the kids fled quickly, but he was surprised to note that Alfred Jones was lingering behind.

Apparently, even his boyfriend didn't know what was up. He stared after Jones questioningly, but Alfred shooed him along.

"I'll be out in just a sec—I just gotta ask Mr. Allowick something!" Jones assured. Arthur looked nervous to leave his boyfriend alone with him—it must have been the two of them. They probably had butt sex on his desk. Damn kids.

"I knew what the right answer was," Jones said, once they were alone. Mr. Allowick would have been inclined to dismiss him, but something about Jones was painfully sincere and honest. He didn't seem capable of lying.

"Then why didn't you answer?" Mr. Allowick replied. Jones shifted a bit, still flashing that sheepish grin, and ruffled his perfect hair. Disgustingly, it only made him look more handsome. Some people looked good no matter what they did or wore.

"You know how it is Mr. A—I don't wanna look like a nerd!" Alfred replied. Mr. Allowick sighed.

"You care too much about what your peers think, Mr. Jones."

"Yeah...that's what Artie's always telling me. But hey, that's not what I wanted to talk about. At the old campus, I had started a club."

"The Hero Club? I'm familiar with it. We keep in pretty close contact with the freshman teachers in London."

"Oh...cool. So how about it? Wanna be my sponsor this year? I wanted to hang up fliers but they said I had to get a sponsor first. You're my coolest teacher so..."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Jones," Mr. Allowick replied with a wry smile.

"Does that mean yes?" Jones asked excitedly, his mega-watt grin contagious.

"That means yes."

"AWESOME! You rock, Mr. A! Oh, and there's some other stuff. Me and Artie were absent for the funeral."

"I'm aware. Mr. Kirkland already collected your make-up work for you."

"Heh, that's Artie for you. He's a machine."

"I bet he is, considering the state of my classroom," Mr. Allowick muttered into his briefcase as he packed it up. Jones blinked obliviously.

"Huh? I didn't quite catch that."

"Nothing, Mr. Jones. Is that all you needed?"

"Oh, no—I'm gonna be out some more. I got a commercial and a magazine ad. Me and Michelle are gonna fly up to New York for the shoot. I'll be gone Thursday and Friday, like two weeks from now."

"Is all this modeling stuff going to distract you from your studies, Mr. Jones? Based on what I've seen so far in class, I'm not sure you can afford to miss lectures," Mr. Allowick said. Alfred just grinned.

"I told you I know more than I let on. I'm actually good at science. It makes sense...unlike English. Why's reading such a big deal?" Alfred whined. "I have to pass English to play football this year. It totally sucks."

"Yeah," Mr. Allowick replied sarcastically, "reading and education totally suck."

Alfred Jones hesitated a second too long and then laughed a fraction too loud. "Ha! Good one, Mr. A."

"I try. Now if that's all, I have to be going Mr. Jones. Don't you have a football practice to attend?"

"Oh yeah! I gotta hurry or coach will make me do drills."

"Alright, run along then. Oh, and Alfred?"

"Yeah Mr. A?"

"Don't mess around with your boyfriend in my empty classroom again. It's unsanitary. I sometimes eat my lunch on that desk."

Mr. Allowick winked jauntily at the skeleton in the corner as he exited the class, leaving a mortified, spluttering sophomore in his wake.

"He just knew!" Alfred defended, still red-faced. Arthur, blushing equally hotly, just glared at his boyfriend. They were walking across the grounds to the gym together, since Alfred had practice and Arthur had continued his tradition of sitting in the stands to study while Alfred played.

"There's no way he could have known. You gave it away somehow. How mortifying! I won't be able to look him in the eyes ever again," Arthur complained.

"Well, better get over that—I asked him to be the Hero Club sponsor and he said he would. Great, huh?"

"Yeah," Arthur replied sarcastically, "Bloody superb."

"I know, right? I mean, we gotta get busy. The Hero Club is way behind."

"How so?" Arthur asked. He tugged in annoyance at his sweater vest. Washington D.C. was so much warmer than London, and he felt like the humid air was always making him sweat. It didn't bother Alfred, which was entirely unfair.

"This year, I'm totally going to save Gilbert."

"Save him? From what?" Arthur asked, a little surprised at the mention of the school stoner.

"Duh. Himself. Haven't you seen him around campus? He's always sneaking off to smoke or do drugs, and he skips all the time. It's a cry for help. That's what Oprah said," Alfred explained. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I told you not to watch Oprah anymore. You get ridiculous ideas about—"

"Oh! On that same episode they talked about this new diet called Flush!"

"Alfred, you don't need to diet. Your neither fat, middle-aged, or out-of-shape."

"Are you kidding me? I thought you were just being nice and not mentioning it, but all my pants are getting tight. I need to workout more or something," Alfred insisted.

"You work out plenty. Your pants aren't getting tight—trust me, I would have noticed that," Arthur joked. Alfred, however, just shrugged uncomfortably.

"Do you really watch my weight that carefully? I mean, you'd still love me even if I got fat, right?" Alfred asked, sounding suddenly (and surprisingly) self-conscious.

Arthur, growing more and more alarmed by Alfred's series of increasingly bizarre questions, wanted to stop the conversation right there and address the issue bluntly, but they were interrupted by the coach, who spotted Alfred's approach and began to yell at him to "hurry his big butt up."

Arthur was in disbelief when he heard Alfred mutter, completely seriously, "See? Even coach thinks I'm turning into a fat-ass." Then, raising his voice so that Arthur could more clearly hear him, he added, "Thanks for staying, babe. Catch ya after practice?"

"Always," Arthur replied, a little dumbly. Alfred was being strange...stranger than usual, at any rate. Arthur caught the other boy by his school vest and pulled him back a step, so that he could stretch onto his toes and kiss him.

"You're handsome just the way you are, love," Arthur insisted once the kiss was over. Alfred just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah—you should work for the greeting card companies with cheesy lines like that. Love ya!" And then he was off, jogging towards the locker room of the gymnasium to get changed with the rest of the team. Arthur's large eyebrows knitted downwards as he frowned. Something was definitely up with Alfred, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

Alfred beamed at the huge crowd of kids packed into the auditorium for the first meeting of the Hero Club. Mr. Allowick stood nearby gazing forlornly at all the rambunctious teenagers.

"Why did I agree to this again?" he asked. Alfred just grinned.

"'Cause science is totally about being a hero! It's about improving the world!"

"Club sponsor pay—that's right. Now I remember. Okay, kid, I'm just gonna sit over there and do some grading. Can you handle this crowd?" Mr. Allowick asked. Alfred just flashed him a thumbs up.

"Sure thing!" Alfred moved to the front of the packed room, attracting everyone's attention. There seemed to mostly be girls in attendance, though a few guys were scattered here and there.

'The gay kids,' Mr. Allowick noted with a grin.

"HIYA EVERYBODY! My name's Alfred Jones, and I'm a hero! In this club, you can be a hero, too!" Alfred half-shouted. The kids reluctantly began to settle down.

"Some of you were members last year, so welcome back! Lots of you are new faces, though, so I'll tell you what this club does. Our primary goal is to help people—all kinds of people, even if they don't think they need help. I've got some great ideas for charity work this year, plus we'll remain true to our roots. Anyone can come to the Hero Club if they have a problem. So who is here because they have a problem, and not because they want to join?" Alfred asked.

Everyone looked around, and the room burst out into chatter.

Suddenly, hands began to raise.

"I think my boyfriend's cheating on me!" one girl said, looking very close to tears. Alfred was about to respond, but another spoke up.

"At least you have a boyfriend. I'm fifteen and I've never even been kissed!" Another shouted.

"Alfred, I want to be homecoming princess—will you be my date?"

Suddenly, the female population was all shouting over each other, waving their hands, and airing out all their relationship woes. This probably would have continued for the rest of the meeting if the sound of a desk being lifted and dropped to the floor with a resounding bang! hadn't served to silence everyone.

"This club is not a spy agency. If you have problems in your relationship, handle them maturely—by yourself. We also do not deal in prostitutes, so if you came here to get some action, the door is to my left. Lastly, allow me to clear any misconceptions you might have—dating my boyfriend will not solve all your imaginary woes. It will only increase your problems, because then you'll have to deal with me. If you aren't here to pick up trash off the side of the road and feed the homeless—SOD OFF!" Arthur's voice resonated through the room with power and authority. Some were sheepish looking and others were annoyed, but the girls began to file out quickly to avoid the short Brit's wrath.

Arthur glared stonily at everyone until only the truly devoted remained. It was essentially the group from the previous year, with only the addition of a few new faces and the absence of a few members who'd been forced to join the previous year.

Arthur sat down in the back again and re-opened his book. "Welcome back, everyone," he said dryly. Then he sat and resumed reading, as if he was much happier now that the relative quiet had been restored.

"Aww, Artie! You scared off all my new members!"

"I think you mean to say hormone-crazed girls," Arthur replied. From where he'd been sitting over in the corner, Matthew shot a less than charitable glance at Michelle and grumbled quietly to Alex at his side.

"No, there's still one of those left."

"Did someone say something? It's funny. I heard a voice, but I don't see anyone actually backing up their talk. There must be a ghost in here," Michelle said with a bite to her voice. At the mention of the word 'ghost', all hope was lost from their fearless leader.

"What? This place doesn't feel haunted! Should we move? I watched an eight hour marathon last night of Ghost Encounters on TV, and this is exactly how it starts. First you start hearing stuff that isn't really there, and before you know it—"

"I told you to go to sleep and turn off that sodding show! No wonder you've been so unruly today," Arthur huffed as he shut his book with an irritated snap. "You didn't sleep a wink and then you drank too much coffee, didn't you?" Arthur confirmed.

"I t-think we should stick to the original members," Matthew said, this time loud enough to be clearly heard. He didn't look at Michelle, but it was obvious that's where he was directing his statement. Michelle just rolled her eyes.

"It's a free country. I can join the club if I want," she said.

The other club members, consisting of Wang, Ivan, Patty, Peter, Alex, Kiku, Heracles, and Mr. Allowick, all watched the drama unfold.

"I can go, if you want," Heracles said airily, as if he didn't care either way. Rather cutely, Kiku firmly grabbed the other boy's forearm, preventing him from leaving.

"Mattie, what's gotten into you? We can totally have a few new members! Michelle is nice, and really pretty. Plus, we're kinda co-workers now. I'm glad she came," Alfred said, his blue eyes sad and his tone unusually serious.

Matthew, in a rare act of immaturity, crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look in Michelle's direction. Beside him, Alex frowned in an unimpressed sort of way.

"This club just seems like a publicity stunt. What are you gonna do? Make an appearance for the media, snap a few pictures hugging kids with cancer, and then go back to your privileged, self-indulgent life? Save the world with a modeling shoot? Give me a break. Might as well call it what it is—The Delusional Rich Kid Club. There are real heroes in this world that actually deserve the title," Alex criticized.

"Excuse me, but that was rather rude. If you don't like the club, nobody's forcing you to be here," Arthur replied defensively. Alfred just looked hurt. First, all his members had deserted, then Matthew had picked a fight with Michelle, and now Alex was making him feel about ten inches tall.

Mr. Allowick felt it was time to intervene.

"Look, it seems like this club needs a little more direction and a more selective application process for membership. As sponsor, I'm disbanding the club until further notice. Alfred, if you want this to work, you need to get more organized. You need to actually have an event planned—like a charity drive or a marathon to raise awareness or something. Make some membership applications. That way, you can weed out who's not here for the right reason," Mr. Allowick said with a sigh. He began to pack up his papers.

Alfred, who looked on the verge of tears, glared hotly at Matthew.

"You're being a crappy friend, Mattie!" he accused hotly.

"This isn't going to end well," Wang muttered under his breath. Ivan, who had no interest in social work, began to wonder why they'd even come to the club meeting. He hung out with Alfred plenty outside of school and they shared tons of classes. He didn't think Alfred would take it too personally if he didn't come to the Hero Club meetings.

"We've left Sofia with Raivis and Natalia too long already. Since everyone is just squabbling, we're leaving," Ivan said curtly. Nodding in agreement, Wang stood gracefully and left. Due to the fight now escalating between Matthew and Alfred, their leaving was hardly noticed. Wanting to shield him, Patty firmly led Peter out of the room, ignoring his protests and smiling at Arthur's grateful look. Kiku and Heracles stayed, but watched the drama unfold without offering comment.

"I'm being a crappy friend? Who barely talked to me all summer? Oh yeah, that was you! And who didn't come to pick me up from the airport, because you were too busy partying with your stupid, fake friends? You again. And when my boyfriend of a year cheated on me—with her—you didn't even check up on me because you were drunk and acting stupid. What's worse, you see nothing wrong with befriending her, and if you had a brain in your head, you'd clearly see that she only wants to get into your pants! She's a messed up slut, and you're an idiot for letting her hang around you. And speaking of friends, you've been a total dick to Alex, even though he hasn't done anything to you!"

"Matthew, that's enough," Arthur said firmly, taking the enraged boy gently by the arm and tugging him backwards slightly. Matthew was completely livid. His violet eyes sparked with indignation and he was huffing in exertion after his outburst.

Alfred, completely shocked, stood at the front of the room with tears rolling down his cheeks. When he realized everyone was seeing him cry, his cheeks grew hot with embarrassment and he hurriedly wiped his face and tore out of the room. Michelle shot a dark look at Matthew and took off after him.

Mr. Allowick slung his bag over his shoulder and surveyed the remains of the fractured friendship. He sighed. Teenagers were so damned dramatic.

"Well...meeting adjourned," he said dryly.

A/N: I've been wanting to write this scene for like four chapters now. It's one of my absolute favorite moments in the series when Mattie stands up to Alfred and yells at him till he cries like a little girl. I think it was hilarious in the show, but here I went more for dramatics.

Mr. Allowick is another OC, so let me know if he gets annoying. I wanted to show a scene of what the guys are like in class, though, purely for amusement, since seeing them in the classroom is always strangely absent from school fics. Oh, and some luvin' for Japan finally. Poor Kiku was so alone. He'll have a pretty big role in the next chapter, so if you enjoyed his cameo, you can look forward to that.

Lastly, my truck was recovered, and the yaoi was still there. The yaoi-gods have smiled on me! I appreciated all the support and the lovely reviews, as always! You guys are amazing. :)