In These Halls

By Simsgal

Disclaimer:I do not own Total Drama ;)

Chapter Six- Duncan

Sighing deeply, the mohawked teen inhales another rope of smoke before leaning against the hard brick wall and shaking his head. There was a slight drizzle, common for his town, but he had no intentions of going home or in fact, seeking any shelter.

"Why weren't you at school today?" His sea-blues glance lightly over to the girl who walked up to him. Zoey. He shrugs.

"Didn't feel like going." He states simply before swallowing and then inhaling more smoke.

"That stuff can kill you." She says pointing to the cigarette.

"Yeah, so can the government." He mutters as the redhead cocks her head to the side. He shakes his head and puts the cigarette out, earning a smile from the girl.

"Today was my first day of high school, you know." She says. "And you weren't there." Duncan winces a bit.

"S-something came up." He lies quickly. Zoey Yeltz looks like he doesn't believe him one bit.

"You promised." She whispers. He pulls off his zip-up hoodie and drapes it over the smaller girl's shoulders.

"It would've been the same with or without me." He remarks. "Do your parents know you're here?" he asks, somewhat caring. This girl, Zoey, was maybe one of the few people he gave a damn about anymore. The only other person was taken away from him so he no longer trusted his feelings with people. But, this little 5'3 girl was enough to make his heart open up a teeny bit. It wasn't romantic, at all. Just looking at her gave him this instinct.

But he wouldn't tell her that.

"They don't care." she huffs. "They're at dinner." His eyes widen with anger. "I walked here from school. I knew you would be here." Zoey says simply. It was true, Duncan often hung out behind the Indie music shop run by his good friend, Euro. He cleared his mind there as best as possible before starting his shift sometimes.

"I'm taking you home." And they begin the walk to Zoey and Duncan's neighborhood.

xxXX

"Duncan John Anaheim do you have any idea what time it is?" his father asks him, livid. Duncan's eyes are half lidded and he doesn't even care about his father's lecture right now, he'd rather be in his room asleep.

"You're the one wearing a watch." He dryly retorts as his father throws his hands up.

"Diane. Diane!" he calls for Duncan's mother, who gives her son an empathetic look. "Look. Look at his eyes, he's high. Duncan have you been smoking cocaine?" Duncan's eyes squint further.

"One, no I'm not high, two you don't smoke cocaine." He says factually.

"Oh sweetie, I told you hanging out with that Ito boy was bad news." His mother says before handing him a towel to dry his wet hair.

"And I got a call from your school today. Where did you go today? Smoking cocaine?" yelling, his father holds up the housephone. Who even uses housephones anymore? Duncan wonders, rolling his eyes.

"I was out." He tells him. "Now can I please go upstairs? I promise I'll go to school tomrrow." He fibs.

"Don't pull that bull with me young man. I'm surprised they even let you pass."

"Harrison." His mother scolds her husband before looking to her son. "Honey go ahead and take a shower. I'll bring your plate to you." Duncan smiles at his mother, who actually cared about him (along with Zoey) and goes up the stairs.

"See that's the problem, you baby the hell out of him." Harrison spats under his breath.

"He's only 17, still young. You know how you were at his age." She rebutals. Sighing in defeat, he suddenly gets a good idea.

"No. You're right."

"I—I am?" Diane Anaheim usually had night-long arguments with her husband over their difficult son. Harrison wanted the best looking family and Laura wanted the best for Duncan.

"Remember ?" he asks, not waiting for an answer. "After that amazing business deal, he told me if I ever needed anything to call him. He even offered to take Duncan then." Mrs. Anaheim looks apalled.

"You're not… actually thinking of sending of our son, your son, to live with some family he doesn't even know, right?" she says more than asks. Duncan's father is already set on the idea; he sits at the table and continues to organize papers.

"I know the Sherfrews. They even have a daughter his age. He needs to be out of his comfort zone. That's why he thinks he is so invincible." He plugs in numbers on his calculator before scrawling them down in his notebook. "Steven will be completely accepting. I talked to him just the other day about vacationing together."

"Harrison. Please." His mind is already set. It was too late for the teen upstairs.

He was on his computer, headphones in, with the music blasting. He notices the poster on the back of his door rattle, meaning his mother knocked. He liked that she knocked, unlike his father who would just barge in.

"Yes, mom?" she steps in gingerly, over the tiny bit of mess in his room (he was a delinquent, not a slob) and places the reheated dinner on his nightstand.

"Oh baby, your father is making some rash decisions." She tells him, rubbing his cheek lightly, which he would usually flinch away from but his eyes are glued to his screen.

"As always. Not new, mom." He says smartly. "What is it this time? I already went to military school." It was true, the Anaheim boy went to military school once before (when he was 14) and they simply couldn't crack him. Her face breaks. "Catholic school?" he gags, actually disgusted by the idea as his mother smiles lightly, but it falters quickly.

"We'll talk about it in the morning. Get some rest. You have school." She says pointing a finger as he waves it off.

"Yeah, yeah." His mother gets off of his bed and begins to leave the room before looking over her shoulder.

"I love you, Duncan." He stays silent, and after the door closes he shuts his computer and reaches for the mashed potatoes and chicken.

"Love you too, mom."

XxXX

"You're going to school." His dad commands, before throwing clothes at the boy from his wardrobe. Duncan, still more than half asleep, covers his eyes as his father opens the blinds, letting harsh sunlight in.

"Dad what the fuck!"

"Watch your mouth, be ready in 10 minutes or I will drag you to that damn school." And with that he slams the door behind him, leaving an agitated teen in his bed, eyes stinging.

"Fuck. Actual Fuck." Duncan groans into his pillow before throwing himself out of bed. Usually, he wouldn't give a damn about school, but he wanted his father to just leave him alone, plus knowing his dad, he would drive him to school, walk him in, and watch him go to class.

After brushing his teeth, he puts on deoderant and a bit of spray, and then throws on a plain dark-blue t shirt and khaki shorts. Dark white high socks peek out of his red converse. He simply scruffs up his hair and attempts to spruce up his green mohawk before grabbing his phone and heading downstairs.

And so begins his hell.

At school, his friend Scott comes up to him. Despite his slight hygenic issues, Duncan considered the red-haired boy a friend.

"Wow, you're actually here." Duncan nods, giving his friend a handshake greet.

"I know. Kill me now." He says as he leans on his locker and groans loudly.

"Oh man, you should've been here yesterday. Some guy pulled off Anna Maria Santos' top." Duncan perks up at this.

"Oh really?"

xxXXX

Ay wassup you guys it me

So I want to thank pizzawizz the first comment for this story AYYY YOU GO FAM YOU ARE ELITE AND COOL you can sit with nme and my fam in the back of the bus on the field trip!

I'm corny

UNTIL NEXT TIME

ALSO: earlier in the story I mentioned a zoey character passing out papers. I was just trying to come up with a name and forgot about Zoey Zoey. So it's a different Zoey. Zoey Yeltz is TDRI Zoey.