For Camelot

Clyde flipped over the crumpled card he held in his hand as he debated what to do. A fortnight had passed at Park County High School. He wouldn't be considering this at all if he wasn't that desperate. After all, he wouldn't willingly give up his free time to do work if there was another way. He wasn't doing well again though, and as ever he was set to fail some upcoming practise tests. If he could just get fairly decent grades in a couple of them for now, then he'd stand a chance later on. Chemistry and History... With a little help couldn't he do just that?

So he read the front of the card and punched the number into his phone. He counted three rings before the answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, dude. It's me... Clyde."

"Oh, hi." Kevin sounded cautious, like he had no idea what Clyde could possibly want from him.

"Yeah, I got your number from that card you gave me."

"Oh right."

"Yeah, look I was wondering if your offer was still open."

"My offer?"

"To possibly tutor me perhaps." It fell silent. Clyde felt himself cringing. "You don't have to I mean... maybe just once, maybe? I need help, like desperately." He closed his eyes and braced himself, feeling a slight fluttering, probably from desperation.

"Sure, I'll help you."

Clyde breathed out a sigh of relief. "You will?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't serious."

"Thank you so much, dude. I'll totally pay you for your time."

"Oh, don't worry about that we'll work it out later."

"Okay, so when are you free or want me or whatever?"

There was a pause. "Well... how about tomorrow afternoon?"

Clyde thought. That would be Thursday - he didn't usually do anything on a Thursday after school except sometimes throw some hoops with the guys from the team; he could easily get out of that. "That actually sounds good, dude."

"Okay, great. Shall we say you come over to mine?"

"Sure." Clyde felt relieved that he was going to get some help. Something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, where do you live?"

"It's printed on the card."

Clyde picked up the card and stared at it. "I can't see it."

A chuckle came from the other end. "Flip it over maybe?"

Clyde grudgingly did so, and there it was, laughing at his stupidity. Damn Stoley and his magic. He read the address. Wait that was... that was just around the corner, less than ten houses down. "HEY, KEVIN! WE'RE NEIGHBOURS!" How had he never realised? Was he that unobservant?

"Really?" asked Kevin, faking surprise.

"Yeah, you live like... two minutes away. Maybe even one!" Clyde felt an urge to find out, but quickly shook it off. It would definitely not look normal if Kevin saw him running between the two houses... or if anyone else saw him really.

"Wow, well I guess that's useful."

"It's ideal. So anyway thank you, dude. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you then."

"Bye."

"Bye-Bye."

Clyde put the phone down and grinned. He took a moment in his head to thank his Chemistry teacher. Even though he really couldn't stand him, he had to be slightly grateful. It was because of him that Clyde discovered how good Kevin Stoley was at helping people. And Clyde was someone who really needed help.

Clyde rang the doorbell the following day. Whilst waiting he checked his refection in the hall window, smoothing his hair down and baring his teeth to inspect them.

Kevin opened the door and beckoned him in with a wave of his hand, not saying anything, and immediately turning on his heel, walking away. Clyde furrowed his brow. He'd talked to Kevin a fair few times recently - why was he still so bad at hellos? He'd had an awkward greeting in Chemistry, been 'accidently' ignored in History and greeted by such a cautious voice on the phone. It pissed Clyde off more than he'd have liked it to.

"Hello, dude?" said Clyde, sounding slightly annoyed. Kevin just nodded in response. Clyde rolled his eyes. "Let's try that again, shall we? Hello, dude." Kevin gazed at Clyde for a few seconds before smirking, raising his eyebrows and turning around again, continuing to walk towards the stairs, amused at the effect silence was having. He didn't really have a reason for not saying hello; he just... didn't say it. Clyde lurched forward and grabbed Kevin's arm, spinning him around and grinning.

"I'm not giving up until you say hello." Kevin stared dead-pan into Clyde's eyes. Clyde poked the black-haired boy in the side. Kevin let out an uncontrollable high-pitched squeak and attempted to push Clyde away. Clyde laughed and did it again, watching as Kevin squirmed and a slight blush crept onto his face.

"Hello," said Kevin quickly, taking a deep breath and wriggling out of the other boys arms. He pointed towards on ornate gold frame hanging by a plant near the door. "There's a mirror over there if you want to finish doing your hair." He smirked, before once again turning and heading up the stairs.

Clyde panicked. "Why, what's wrong with my hair!?" He heard a faint chuckle from Kevin. With a slight feeling of confusion... or possibly nerves, he followed him up the stairs.

Clyde's eyes lit up as he walked into Kevin's bedroom.

Over the years Kevin had grown to love more than just Star Wars, but his taste was still quite particular. He did of course have a couple of Star Wars posters stuck perfectly straight to the wall. One was vintage looking, with Darth Vader's head in the background and Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia posing in the foreground. The other was of lots of individual scenes from the movie, but when viewed from a distance they formed a picture of Yoda. Kevin obviously loved Sc-fi, but he also things that were mystical and magic. Lord of the Rings had eventually found a place in his heart, and tattered copies of many other fantasy books were stacked on a shelf, including the Harry Potter books, which he had to admit were rather good. But Kevin didn't completely agree with magic being taught in a school, he also didn't like the way it was set in modern day - he preferred the old legends of magic.

Kevin's room certainly had a lot of character, with quirky things dotted all around. A blue and orange dream catcher hung from his window, a commonly scrambled, solved and re-scrambled Rubik's cube sat on his desk, and a violin bow lay across a music stand. There were comics stacked on the floor and action figures peering down from a high shelf, positioned in stances fitting their characters. Two hooks were screwed into the wall and on them lay a green lightsaber.

Clyde looked around the bedroom, trying to hide his stunned face. It was so Nerdy, it was so uncool... it was so awesome. But goddamn if he was going to admit that. A model of a grey castle caught his eye. It was placed on a small table in the corner of the room. "What's this?" asked Clyde, stepping nearer and pointing to it.

Kevin walked to stand beside Clyde and smiled down at his creation. "It's a model of Camelot."

"The ermm... English Kingdom?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, presided over by King Arthur."

Clyde thought hard. "... The Knights of the round table right?"

"That's right!"

Clyde was amused at the excitement that filled Kevin's voice. "There's some guy called Lancelot?"

"Sure, he has an affair with Guinevere- Arthur's wife."

"Stealing the queen! What a bro." Clyde walked closer to the impressive model and noticed it had little figurines of the people, all nicely placed in the courtyard, like a story was about to unfold or a great quest was to be started. He noticed the one with a crown on its head and grinned. Picking it up, he spoke in a very deep voice and moved the figure lightly from left to right. "Lancelot, how could you betray me as such. I gave you my complete trust."

Kevin could detect the light mocking in Clyde's voice but he smirked and moved towards another figure, raising it slightly to face the king, "It's not my fault that your wife has good taste."

Clyde eyed Kevin suspiciously, but deciding he was not to be outdone, carried on. "You have mocked me for the very last time. You are banished from Camelot. Leave now before I stab my sword through your heart."

"Having to leave Guinevere would be like stabbing a sword through my heart, sire." Kevin exaggerated the words, making them sound extremely dramatic.

"Take the bitch with you; I don't want her anymore."

Kevin sighed and nudged Clyde. "That's extremely inaccurate."

Clyde raised his hands defensively and put on an innocent face. "This is all legend right? He could have said that."

Kevin smirked. "Fine then." He put on a fake English accent again. "Come, Guinevere, let us flea."

Clyde picked up the figure of a woman in a crown and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Lancelot... I don't want to go with you. You're old news. My new love is... is the great dragon."

Kevin gasped. "This can't be true. I gave up everything for you!" He picked up the red model of a dragon he'd made in sixth grade - which was sitting outside the castle - and made him soar through the sky before landing next to Arthur. In a gravelly voice he growled, "Suck it, loser. It's true."

Clyde wiggled the figure of King Arthur again. "A Dragon in my kingdom? Shoot that Dragon!"

"Oh yes, let's just go to the armoury and get out the AK47's shall we?" replied Kevin sarcastically.

"Yes, and while you're there fetch me my flamethrower." Clyde narrowed his eyes dramatically and twisted his head to meet Kevin's gaze. "We'll fight fire with fire."

The intensity in the Jock's glowing hazel eyes left Kevin speechless for a few seconds. He rapidly turned his head away. "I'll go fetch them, sire. Guinevere has betrayed us both to this flying abomination."

The two boys carried on mindlessly playing with the model of Camelot, thoroughly enjoying it, even though they'd never admit it. Eventually they stopped when Kevin dragged Clyde over the desk so they could start on the only reason why Clyde came over, because surely Clyde was only being nice to Kevin so he could get the help he needed?

The brown-haired boy though, was weirdly disappointed that their imaginative game had to come to an end. He reluctantly picked up his History book and began to listen, trying not to laugh as he thought over their epic battle to defend Camelot. They'd won in the end, the dragon lay slain on the castle floor... along with Guinevere. He listened as Kevin explained Stalin's plan of Collectivisation, getting engrossed in the topic, his lips curling into a small smile as he explained particularly interesting points. Something that Clyde had noticed was the real passion Kevin had for his subjects - he seemed to enjoy learning, so much. Clyde couldn't deny that with Kevin tutoring him, he was starting to enjoy it too.

Not too much though, that would be Nerdy...

A/N: Guinevere dead? I guess Lancelot and Arthur are going to have to get together...

Okay here's the deal. This story was not meant to be my main priority at the moment. I was going to finish 'Who's Afraid of Craig Tucker?' first... but I got a bit carried away and you got the next chapter, nice and bright and very early!

So, please do tell me what you're thinking, for the sake of Camelot!