He's the only kid not wearing a uniform.
Holy fuck, come see this. Moron's sticking out like a boner in the snow.
How could he be so oblivious?
Did he make his own clothes?
Oh my God, I would hate to be him…
Yeah. You hear the comments and see the looks. Poor kid is probably more isolated than ever right now. This is an east coast prep school, and it's truthfully very brutal if you don't conform to the way at least one other person looks.
You had to admit, though, those jeans did look good on him.
You would know, you saw him buy them on your first-ever break at your new job. You were perusing the pretzel stands, trying to figure out which came with the most butter, when you saw through the glass a little ways away a dorky smile purchasing some damn hot jeans. Okay, the distance didn't really allow for clear indication of whether the jeans were hot or not, but you kinda figured anything would look good on him. You bought your pretzel ("slippery as a virgin's ass on a Sunday") and hunkered down in a bench across from the store. Through your shades, you saw a peppy boy almost burst out of the store with happiness. Awh. He really loved his clothes.
And so concluded your first day on the job and your second encounter with him where you were less than twenty feet away from each other. The first being when you fell in love with him.
Rose said you were being stupid, love isn't an impulse buy, you can't decide to fall in love with someone right before you purchase your sugary cereals, Dave. You can decide to buy a Coke but not a boyfriend. You think that's what she said. You kind of tuned her out most of the time, but she seems pretty content with that for now. You two are part of the same circle in school, so you heard enough of her there.
Ah, but the poor guy's getting all sorts of unfriendly stares. You wonder why he automatically cowers and crouches instead of tries to make an impression. Rose would say he's an introvert, but you know better. Everyone holds an extrovert inside them. All you have to do is break it out of them.
That's right…break.
You start to feel bad for him, John, the object of your affections, but you're also intrigued. Now, you wouldn't sacrifice your own social standing for a new kid like him just to help him along on his first day, but you would send a freshman to go do it.
You send a text no more than three words long and in no time at all a skinny, freckled kid shows up next to your spot next to a tree in the courtyard.
He looks eager to please.
"Yes, Sir Strider?"
"It's Sir Strider the Heavy-Blade now."
"Of course." He tilts his head, barely missing a beat, and indicates the need for your instructions.
"See the kid in the jeans? No uniform?" You vaguely point in John's direction. The kid immediately spots him and barely holds together a smirk. "Funny, I know. I need you to…"
Huh. What could you do? You could embarrass him further, that would take no effort, or you could mess with his head a little, let him get a little glimpse of the Strider psyche before you shut him down and own him like the mess of feelings he's about to become.
You instruct the boy to introduce him to Rose.
That'll mess him up enough.
The boy walks off, doesn't make a beeline for John (because that would be way too obvious, and Sir Strider the Heavy-Blade instructs his pages well), and a few minutes later you creep your eyes over to John's hiding spot half-behind a stone column. The freshman talks easily to him, and he soaks it in like the new student sponge he it. He's pulled by the boy off to the library where they'll find Rose.
You shoot Rose a quick text: my baby daddy is comin to meet u so make us look good
That should do it. You lean back into the leaves of the tree next to you and observe all the students running around. You came here last year and you'll be here another year more, but after that, you would get to leave these upper class douchebags and work on your movies in Texas, with your Bro.
The ancient bell rings and some of the seniors spot you and will want to make hallway conversation as you all head to the first class of the day. You meet them halfway, the summer gossip already being spread around.
You think it's a little sad that this is what you've been forced to become entertained by.
You hope John makes this year a little more interesting.