Art went too fast for Steve's liking. He would have been quite content with staying in there the rest of the day actually. The room was hectic and peaceful all at once. His teacher was probably the craziest, nicest man he'd ever met. Math, on the other hand, would not end. His teacher had no sympathy for him. He was so lost by the end of class that he was entirely sure he'd already failed for the year.
Once it was over, though, it was lunch time. He scanned the room, seeing no sign of Loki. He was about to give up when he felt someone press their hands on his shoulder blades.
"There you are sweetheart. I was starting to wonder." He joked, leading Steve to an empty table. Steve sat down across from him, setting his lunch down on the table.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Steve asked, motioning to the empty space in front of Loki.
"Probably not." He rubbed his arm awkwardly. "I'm really not that hungry."
"Good afternoon Loki." Steve turned to see a large male with luscious blond hair about the same length as Loki's.
"Steve, this is Thor, he's that brother I was talking about." Thor placed his lunch tray down on the table, taking a seat directly next to Steve.
Steve had a hard time believing they were related. Loki's hair was jet black, Thor's a dirty blond. Loki was skinny, somewhat frail looking while Thor was fit, looking like he could handle himself in any sort of fight.
"Well, Steven, it's nice to see Loki can actually make a friend." Thor laughed. Loki smacked his head on the table.
"Really Thor, can't we go an entire day without making jokes about my social life?" Loki asked.
"Or lack thereof!" Thor laughed again. Loki groaned. "So Steve." Thor turned to him. "How old are you?"
"I'm 16, same as you. So I've heard anyway." He smiled at Loki.
There was an uproar of laughter from the middle of the cafeteria. The three turned to see what was so funny, only to catch a short glimpse of Tony making a joke at someone's expense.
"So who is that guy, anyway?" Steve asked, turning back to the table.
"The sorriest excuse for a human being to ever walk this earth." Loki was grasping his arm with enough force to break something.
"Brother." Thor said firmly. Loki released his arm, resting both hands in his lap.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
Thor turned to Steve. "Tony Stark is the son of Howard Stark, the rich genius that lives in the giant mansion on the edge of town. Most popular boy in school, although he really only has one 'real' friend."
"Wait, I'm lost. If he's as popular as you say he is how can he only have one friend?" Steve asked.
"You know, he has tons of people who like him because he's rich and handsome, and then there's Bruce." Thor motioned to the kid that sat directly to Tony's right. "He's a nice kid, keeps Tony pretty much in check."
"And what about you?" Thor was a bit thrown off by the question.
"What do you mean 'what about me'?"
"You seem easy enough to get along with, and you certainly look the part, why aren't you part of Stark's posse?"
"Well I was for awhile, we were actually really good friends, then he started saying some stuff about Loki, so I punched him. We haven't spoken since." Loki was pulling his shirt sleeves as far over his wrists as he could.
"I'm sorry." He put his head down.
"No harm done." Thor smiled. "Right Loki?"
The black haired boy smiled lightly. "Right."
"Well I had fun, but I really must be going." Thor stated, standing up. "You kids have fun." He smiled and walked away.
"But we're the same age," Steve said weakly.
"Don't bother. He thinks it's funny to pick on me and you sort of just learn to let it happen. So what's next on your schedule?" Loki asked.
Steve reached into his pocket, pulling out the piece of paper that was starting to tear from the constant folding and unfolding. He ignored that fact and unfolded it.
"Gym." He stated flatly.
"Let me see that." He grabbed the schedule from the blond. "We have seventh period study hall together in the library, but that's it."
"What do you have next?" Steve asked.
"Math. With Mrs. Anderson" He was obviously not excited about going.
"The gym is right past her classroom, isn't it?" Loki nodded. "How about I walk you to class. You know, to return a favor." Steve suggested.
"Are you hitting on me?" Loki asked.
"No," Steve smiled. "Should I be?"
The bell rang and they simultaneously stood. They walked Steve's lunch to the trash can. Then, as suggested, Steve walked Loki to class.
Steve left the locker room, dressed in a pair of blue basketball shorts and a very fitting white tee. He scanned the room for a familiar face, AKA Thor, but much to his dismay, found Tony instead. Their eyes locked for half a moment before Steve looked away coldly.
"Alright class, out on the track, I want a five lap warm up." The class walked out the door's out to the track.
Steve began running and quickly lost himself in his thoughts. Before he knew it, the gym teacher was shouting his name.
"Rogers!" Steve halted in his tracks.
He spun on his heals to face his teacher. "Yes sir?"
"What lap are you on?" Steve thought about it for a second.
"Uh... I think that was my sixth." Steve replies.
"Have you ever thought about joining the track team?"Of course not, with all the moving when would he have time to think about sports. "Tell you what, we have practice after school today, how about you show up and give it a try."
"I, uhh..."
"Great! I'll see you out here at 3:15 then." He said, smacking Steve's shoulder.
"Just like that, huh. He just decided it for you." Loki was very amused.
"Don't be so smug." Steve hissed, looking down at his math homework. It was all finished, but definitely not all right. He shoved it in his math folder anyway, contempt with just done.
"Well Thor's in track if that makes it any better. He throws, though, so I guess that doesn't really help." Loki shoved his math homework in his folder too, although he hadn't even started it.
Steve shook his head. "Coach Michaels wants me because I'm runner, not a thrower."
"Well, you're built like you could do just about anything, Steve. You look like Mr. Perfect." Loki replied.
He heard the boys a few tables over saying something or other about homosexuality, but ignored it. Loki glared at them through the corners of his eyes, rubbing his wrists. Steve glanced down at them, catching a small glimpse of a few scars. Loki hurriedly pulled his sleeves down, and hid his hands in his lap.
"Thanks." He smiled brightly. "So do you do any extracurriculars?"
"I did drama for a while, but I quit, I wasn't all that good anyway." He avoided eye contact. "Now I just hang around in the library until Thor finishes whatever it is he's suppose to be doing."
Steve resisted the urge to reach across the small space between them and force him to look him in the eye. He felt terrible for the poor kid. Sometimes people just made him absolutely sick.
"Speaking of getting home, is that really your bike in the lot?" Loki asked.
"It is indeed," Steve replied proudly.
"That's pretty awesome; I've always wanted to ride a motorcycle." Loki said.
"Maybe I'll take you for a ride sometime."
Again with the homosexual jokes. Steve clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, he closed his eyes tightly.
"Ignore them." He opened his eyes. "They aren't worth it." Loki wasn't just saying it to Steve.
"Do you have to put up with a lot of this?" Steve asked.
"Yeah... No! I mean no. I... no." He rested his head on his arms on the table.
Why would a human being be so cruel as to drive someone to hurt themselves. Why did Loki's feelings matter any less than anyone else's? Why couldn't Steve bring himself to punch those jerks in their oh so deserving faces?
"Loki are you alright?" Steve asked.
"I just... I have to go." He pushed himself away from the table and hurriedly left the library, barely noticing that he brushed past Tony Stark on his way out.
Tony turned and watched him go before turning back into the library. He saw an awestruck blond sitting alone at a table. He walked over and joined him.
"Did you break his heart?" Tony asked mockingly.
Steve glared the brunette. "You're an asshole." He said blatantly.
Tony raised his hand in innocence. "I didn't have a thing to do with that." Steve thought Tony had more to do with it than he knew.
"Do you like making people feel smaller than you; is this some sort of superiority complex?" Steve asked.
"I don't need to feel superior, I just do; I just am." Tony said smugly.
"I don't care how much money you have, I wouldn't spend a day with you for all of it." Steve spat.
Tony shrugged and walked away.
So, Yesterday was Steve Rogers' birthday (AKA the Fourth of July) and while I was celebrating America's independence with my family- and Steve's birthday on my own- I avoided checking my story. Okay, so I was also a bit nervous and didn't want to look, but upon getting the courage this morning I was very pleased to read the reviews, they make me very happy! So thanks to anyone who read and greater thanks to reviewers.
And while we're on the subject of reviews, if you see any grammatical or spelling mistakes, please tell me because I try and triple check my work, but sometimes I miss things… Sadly, I am only human. Anyway, thanks for reading and please continue to enjoy.