Bruno was happy that Toby now seemed to be in a conversation with someone. Assuming that the short boy really was very quiet and introverted, it was probably a good thing to talk to people to get a lot more confidence. There were people who would probably disagree strongly with Bruno (example - Dominik) but he didn't really care about that. In Bruno's opinion, those people were wrong. Talking is a lovely thing to do and people should probably do it more, as moping about a problem doesn't get it done, Bruno believed.
Suddenly, the Croatian boy's train of thought was derailed when he heard someone try and speak to him. He turned to see Fiorella, the Puerto Rican girl he had noticed earlier, saying excuse me to him. She spoke in a sing-song voice with a slight hint of a latin accent. Bruno had to admit, it was pretty cute. She was asking for a small explanation of the american schooling system? Could Bruno explain it well enough? He didn't really know too much about it as he missed a large portion of it, and only knew about the schooling system he was enrolled in through reading about it online. He would try and explain it as best he could however. He responded in his own accent to her question.
"Oh, don't worry, I know how confusing starting at an American school for the first time can be. Basically, the American school system is split up into 3 parts, which is a lot different to where I come from, Croatia, where there are only 2 parts. It goes elementary school, then middle school, then high school. We're in high school, more specifically Grade 10 in high school. High school goes up to grade 12 and then it's optional education. I think so, anyway."
The decent tunes of Young the Giant flooded out from Dominik's earbuds as he sat drawing. He could see his brother talking to a girl and some other people. He was just ticking down the time until this horrific social time ended and they could just go off to class and just get on with the day. At least when you're sitting in Geography or History or Maths you don't have any people trying to contact you when you clearly do not want anyone to. Headphones indicated that you don't want to talk, why some people couldn't just get that was beyond Dominik. I mean, what more do you need to realise someone didn't want to talk.
And there was one of those people who just didn't get it. Dominik saw the shadow of a person crouch down in front of his desk. He was about to tell the person to go away and maybe give them a piece of his mind, but as he looked up into the pretty eyes of Davina all thoughts of anger left him. He almost let out a tiny scream, it shocked him so much. She was asking if Dominik was doing anything after school. Oh my God, is she asking me out? Dominik's mind raced with fear and ideas. After she finished speaking, Dominik spoke with voice that sounded a little bit fearful.
"Oh, hi Davina! I'm not really doi- I mean, I don't really have anything planned for tonight, actually. Football isn't really my favourite thing to watch."
Toby nodded soundlessly as Maria made a comment about Marco hating violence. Interesting. She was probably right; Marco didn't at all seem like the kind of person to get into fights. The Costello kids were just really affable and nice, from what Toby knew of the two twins. As for himself, Toby wasn't much of a pacifist per se, but he tended to get into a lot more unprovoked beatings than actual fair fights. There was a lot about Toby that was bullying gold. Some of it he could sort of hide, but most of it was right out in the open.
Either way, he couldn't think of anything to say in response to Maria. She seemed to be trying to withdraw from the conversation anyway. He stifled a fit of coughs with the sleeve of his hoodie, nearly doubling over as he wheezed and tried to regain his breath. He recovered from the coughing spell quickly, but the lingering ache in his chest was enough for him to mentally vow to never, ever forget his inhaler again.
Two silent seconds passed, then three. This was turning into yet another awkward silence and Toby frantically wracked his mind for anything he could possibly add to the conversation. Naturally, he came up with nothing, whimpering quietly in defeat. He really wasn't good at this whole socializing ordeal. He pleadingly looked to Quinten, then to Maria, hoping the two more charismatic individuals could revive the slowly dying interaction before it ended on a sour note.
There were many reasons why Alyssa's heart beat fast during the day. Too many people, a public bathroom, groups of girls so much as glancing over at her. However, this morning, it was due to the fact that she was running. Her parents left early for work, and unfortunately her alarm hadn't gone off. She'd awoken ten minutes later than she'd wanted (after having tossed and turned all night) and the shower had been cold. Then, she'd misplaced one of her textbooks (it had been in her bag all along) as well as her house keys (unfortunately, she'd had to leave the door unlocked).
Alyssa was nervous. She'd wanted this to be a good start, a fresh start, a surreptitious start. Now she was going to be that awkward new late kid. Would it earn her another cruel nickname? Nausea washed over her like a fog, and she had to stop for a moment to recollect herself. Slightly hunched over, puffing with exertion, the backpack hanging down from her shoulders looking heavier than she was. Her hands balled into fists to just hold on, to not scream or start crying. When she eventually relaxed her hands again, dark red crescent marks were inlaid in the skin of her palms.
With a sigh, she started walking again. Great - she was getting sweaty too. Fantastic. Alyssa wanted to cry. Either super late, or sweaty. She didn't know what was worse. Cars zoomed by, and she looked at the back of them wistfully. How she wished that she could drive and have a car. In that momentary lapse of concentration, she didn't hear the car close behind or realise how she was drifting toward the road. A moment later, she was splashed as the car zoomed by.
Stopping straight in her tracks, she stared down at herself - sadly dripping a bit of water - and the fight seemed to drain out of her. Alyssa felt like she was either going to cry, scream or just die right here on this very pavement.
Dylan's phone alarm had been obnoxiously ringing for the last five minutes and he was just beginning to stir from his heavy sleep. Memory of the night before out late training and afterwards a few of the boys from the gym where they sparred got in his car and they went on a binge session. He'd gotten home at three in the morning, his alarm now read seven fifteen.
"Dylan!" A high pitched roar came from the room down the hall, "Turn that shit off!" He kicked the covers off himself and sat up as his mother started screaming, the last thing he wanted was her coming storming down to the room and giving him a bollocking about where he was and what he was doing last night. "Dylan!" His name was called again, more shrill and irritated than before.
"Yeah!" He exclaimed in return, "I'm up!" Swiping right ceased the incessant bleeping. Dylan turned so he was sat on the edge his bed and took a moment to wake up before getting ready. He didn't look any different than usual for the new school year, runners, blue jeans and a pullover Adidas, draw strings pulled a little tighter on the hood, made it that little bit trickier to grab if he was dragged into an altercation - hey! Better to be prepared right?
It was now twenty-five past, he was already late so he figured at this point a few more minutes couldn't kill although he didn't want to slack. "See you later!" He called in from the front door before closing it, quietly behind him. Dylan jogged at a brisk pace down the stairwell, being nine floors up had it's perks for dropping that extra pound when it came to qualifying. Getting to his '91 Golf he popped the keys in the passenger door, opening it and dumping his bag in the seat, he hadn't bothered with text books, or note books - he could get some paper and a pen off the teacher or something. A packed lunch and his rawhide sparring gloves. He paced his way to the other side of the car, got in and started up the ignition, pulling out of the buildings outdoor car park and on the way to school. Dylan was cruising along the usual route, not really paying too much attention, his fingers rapping off the steering wheel, other hand resting casually on the gear stick as he bopped his head to a mix he'd burned onto a CD while ago and played on the car stereo. The music was at a decent volume, loud enough to shake the speakers a little but not so loud that it was obnoxiously blaring to the rest of the town. He'd been driving a little to close to the curb when he tore through a puddle, the roar of the wave warranting him glancing at the side window, it was then he saw her soaked as a result of his lack of attention. "Shit." Dylan hissed, coming to a stop not too far ahead of the stranger, he looked in the rear mirror and then out the windshield behind him. It was hard to assess if he'd drowned her badly but she didn't seem to impressed. "Well." He muttered to himself shifting to reverse and looking back over the seat, arm perched on the top of the driver seat, palm on the passenger.
"You alright?" He asked, casually although there was regret and a sincerity to his tone, assessing the damage he pulled his bag up from the passenger seat, turning away from the girl for a second. He moved it to the back of the car, "You go to Delbrook?" He asked, a smile crossed his expression, tugging at the corners of his lips. "Hop in, I'll give you a lift." Like him, she was late enough already and it was the least he could do after having carelessly splashed her with a puddle.
"Thanks! I don't really have any plans, I was just going to hang around with my sisters. Always stuff to do, you know? Besides, I can't stay out any later than ten, so it's not like I've got a ton of options..."
Andreas frowned internally, Tae seemed similar to him in some respects although he couldn't quite make out whether Tae was lonely by choice or otherwise. Still, it didn't damped the compassion any less. His own shortcomings in the behavioral department had made him rather good with reading people by their expressions and mannerisms, he was often right on the button with it.
"Sounds like fun." Andreas replied with a hint of friendly sarcasm trying to have some banter to make light of it. He was distracted by his phone vibrating off his thigh, he checked it quickly hoping for a message from his anonymous 'handler', nothing. Just a text from the network provider finally informing him he had topped up... A week ago. Thanks, he guessed. He turned back to Tae, noticing him examining another boy close to them that he personally had never seen before, he looked young maybe some kind of genius? Andreas smirked but his expression fell back to neutral when Han addressed him again.
"Good to see you too. I think this year's not going to suck as much as last year." Those words decided it, perhaps it was obvious on his face that he somewhat related to Tae on this one. "Up for a game of soccer... Or something?" He asked, he'd have to put aside his social awkwardness as best his brain chemistry would let him - Could it hurt? Andreas shrugged making it out not to be a big deal "Or some Xbox, if you like."
"Soccer sounds great!" Tae Min answered excitedly. Nobody ever really invited him to do things, at least they hadn't recently. His first year at Delbrook had been a bit disappointing, to say the least. "Know anyone who might want to play with us? I'm not too familiar with this particular group." he gestured to the room and its inhabitants, then shrugged, grinning affably.
Awaiting an answer, he idly looked around the room. The little boy next to him seemed to be having some difficulty breathing, but Tae Min decided not to ask if he was okay. Having watched him interact a bit, that probably wouldn't be a very productive decision. Tae Min ran a hand through his light pink hair, looking up at the ceiling of the room and then out at the window. The sky had darkened a bit from an overcast of clouds. Tae Min hoped that didn't mean it was about to rain, since he had to bike home and didn't live particularly close to the school.
It took a moment or two for Alyssa to snap out of her reverie, the bad thoughts rebounding off the inside of her skull. She hadn't expected him to stop, but here he was, reversing toward her. Taking an awkward step to the side, she blinked as he apologised. "Oh, it's okay," she mumbled, despite it being a little bit not. But what was he going to do - and in any case, this wasn't turning out to be the best of days anyway. She was wondering the same about him as he asked, and she nodded shyly, one of her hands forming a fist again at her side as she tucked a piece of hair around her ear.
"O-oh? That's very kind of you..." Alyssa glanced down the rather long road, and then back to him. There was no telling if he was for real, but at this point, she decided to trust her instinct. "Thank you." For the first time in their exchange, she smiled, opening the car door. She hopped inside, and was careful not to slam the door. She glanced down at the side of her pants, where they were wet - it actually wasn't that bad - before looking back at him. "My name's Alyssa," she said quietly, pulling on her seatbelt, hoping like Hell that he wasn't going to tell this tale to all his friends.
Roxy resorted to absent-mindedly running her fingers through her hair as her two new neighbors processed her introduction. She could feel the curiosity in their stares, and she loved it. Even better, the girl used a cheesy pickup line on her. Her lips pulled up in an amused smirk, fully taking in the appearance of the girl. Auburn hair and big blue eyes full of laughter, she seemed to be open and carefree and Roxy almost envied her for that.
Her eyes drifted to the guy, Andreas he had introduced himself as, and it was her turn to be curious. She had seen his mouth open to talk, but had been distracted by the pickup line. Now she was desperate to know what he was going to say. Instead of downright asking like she normally would, she just let a bubble of laughter escape past her lips.
Now that the two had introduced themselves to her, she felt as if the conversation was over - just in time to spot a familiar shock of blue hair nearby. Smirking at her friend's clear disagreement with the seating arrangement, she waggled her fingers at them in a girly wave. And, after a second, she pulled a face and gestured to Sarah and Andreas in very not-so-subtle way. She wasn't being rude, and in fact liked the pair of them a lot, but if they weren't part of the trio then they're irrelevant.
Roxy was about to shout something somewhat inappropriate across the class to her friend, but was once again distracted by one of her neighbors. This time, it was Riley, and she turned around to catch what he was saying.
"Ohhh, what are we doing?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Riley and the guy next to him. Her accent dripped from her words, making her sound like a spoilt British child. Colton, she assumed, her gaze sliding over the unfamiliar guy. Part of her hoped it was one of those jock parties everyone talked about, but the other, more realistic side of her said that then it would only be a bunch of egotistical guys in sports gear drinking and showing off. Even better.
Dominik's response left many questions in Davina's mind, more his tone of voice than the actual response itself. This caused the girl to press her lips into a hard, thin line for a moment before half smiling again before replying back. "Oh, no worries. I get it. Not the right kind of 'football' game." She mentally kicked herself, slightly wincing at how bad the joke was. Davina quickly let out a small nervous laugh and added hastily, "I only started going because of some of my friends who like a few guys on the team. I get dragged along more than anything."
'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Just shut up, already!'
Davina grit her teeth at her thoughts but maintained a cool expression on the outside, not wanting Dominik to think she was upset or disappointed otherwise. It would have been nice to go to the first home game with Dominik at her side, but maybe it was a bit too early to be rushing into this sort of thing. Davina then caught herself thinking of Jackson and winced slightly at the memories that flowed through her mind, following. Painful, no doubt. With a soft sigh, Davina glanced over at her cousin on the other end of the room and smiled. He seemed to be trying to make friends with the blonde kid and the girl Maria who Davina knew was crushing on him. As far as her version of 'girl code' went, you never outright told any girl's secret crush. I mean, even though most the girls at the school knew, and even some of the guys did, too. Quinten however was still as as oblivious as ever.
Considering Dominik wouldn't be going to the game, Davina wondered what he might be doing after school. The many thoughts that crossed her mind forced a blush to rise to her cheeks but she cast it away with a simple thought. 'Stop. Just.. stop. Slow your roll, girly.' Davina then inhaled sharply before mumbling, "Well, anyway.. that's alright. I probably won't be going either. Was gonna be more of a 'if-you'll-go-I'll-go' kind of thing." She gave him a soft, warm smile before standing up and quickly covering her mouth as she yawned gently against her hand. Still tired from not getting enough sleep the night before. With her hand so close to her face, she pulled it back and checked the time on her digital wrist watch. 07:37AM."Almost time to get out of here, she muttered to herself, looking behind her to check the classroom's clock that sat over the doorway to make sure her watch was in sync with the school's.
Quinten smiled genuinely at Toby to his responses, nodding in agreement to his question of whether or not any school year was actually smooth. Suddenly Quinten found himself on the defense, feeling bad for having mentioned the whole brawl scene that nearly went down a couple days prior. "Ey man, it's cool. I wasn't intending it that way. I know it was resolved. Just saying, I wouldn't be one to try underestimating you." Quinten watched the boy as he fidgeted around and refrained from holding any kind of eye contact. The behavior reminded him a lot of his own mother who acted the same exact way, although hers was justified quite differently than Toby's, he was sure. Quinten's mom has a lazy eye. Not full-blown, but it acts up when she's exhausted, and she tends to be insecure of it. Had been her whole life.
Quinn's attention was drawn elsewhere, then, only to be dismissed what seemed like half a second later. His expression shifted into a quite confused one at that point, raising an eyebrow at the girl. He didn't really know how to respond to that, in all honesty. It took Quinten a second to finally let go, "Umm, alright then." It boggled his mind why this girl, Maria, did this to him almost any time they had an opportunity to talk. He had half a mind to think that the girl hated him. But why say hi to him if she hated him? Who knows. Not Quinten, that's for sure! He looked back at Toby who'd now been gazing out the window, to which he followed in doing the same thing. It was a nice day outside, from what the sky looked like. The sun was just barely peaked over the building across from them, shining down into their classroom. Almost a blinding light. Quinten turned away and sat facing forwards, then.
"Oh, by the way. Toby would win simply because Marco wouldn't fight back. Not unless there was good reason. Marco hates violence and stays out of it as much as possible."
It was at that moment that Quinten was a little irritated, but only just. He had been joking, and it was like no one was picking up on the fact. With Maria's dismissiveness and then the following response, Quinten found himself really hating the computer for putting him next to her. Or vice versa, rather. He could deal with being around people he didn't know well because he made friends easy, but to be around Maria who seemed to do nothing but ignore him. Quinten didn't bother dignifying her response with an answer, but just simply nodded his head in response. Not really agreeing nor disagreeing, seeing as how he didn't know Marco all that much. Suddenly his phone went off in his pocket, forcing him to yank it out from his deep jean pockets. The name on the home screen made Quinten frown. It was her.
ιт'ѕ yoυr weeĸend. do yoυ wanт нιм or noт?
Reading the text alone left a sour taste in Quinten's mouth. Did she even care for their-... his son? He bit down on his teeth hard at that moment, typing out a quick text in response.
yoυ ĸnow мy anѕwer. мeeт aт тнe υѕυal ѕpoт. ι'll pιcĸ υp нιѕ car ѕeaт ғroм нoмe aғтer ѕcнool and вe on мy way, тнen.
Something stopped his train of thought at that moment, looking over at Toby who looked to be having an issue breathing. "Hey man, you okay? Need anything?" Quinten's face was riddled with concern, hoping there was something he could do for the poor kid. It then dawned on him that he might have asthma, or bronchitis..? Quinten looked down at his pants that, had someone who wasn't a dog animal lover looked at his clothes, they couldn't have seen the black hairs that covered his pants and were slightly speckled over his jacket. 'Shit, he's allergic to dogs,' he thought to himself, looking back at the boy with an apologetic look.
colтon ĸrυger
Dark blue jeans with red converse and football jersey #17 ->
Colton's mini-anxiety attack blew away the second he was asked if he knew of anything happening that night, to which in fact he did. His smile spread wide, almost a devious one. "Yeah. There's a massive party going down in New Orleans. Not too big of a drive, if y'all wanna come along. I'll drive. I'm going regardless." Colton looks over at Mrs. Wiley and makes sure she isn't paying any attention to their side of the room, slipping his wallet out from his pocket and flipping the bi-folded leather open to flash an I.D. "Got my bases covered." He smirked slightly, closing the wallet back up and sliding it back into hiding. Colton glanced over at Harley for a moment, mentally screaming at Riley for having still been friends with her after their break-up but knew it wasn't right of him to want that to end. Harley and Riley had been friends long before Colton and Riley were even considered buddies. Colton looked over at Roxy as she piped into the conversation, raising an eyebrow. "You game?"
"Who doesn't like soccer?" Andreas joked, taking a quick glance around the room smiling at Roxy and Sarah who he'd distanced himself from conversation wise. "I don't know." He answered truthfully his attention going back to Tae, shrugging an eyebrow arched.
He turned to Marco and playfully nudged him with an elbow, "Football, tomorrow?" He asked. Ever since moving over here he'd always referred to both American Football and European Football as the one name, he didn't like the name soccer and it wasn't the word they used back in his home country.
Andreas had caught Roxy's face and gesture, while he told himself there was probably nothing to it a scowl crossed his face for a second, he looked to raise his eyebrows at Sarah, wondering if she'd caught it too, he smirked and after looking between Tae and his friend brought Sarah into the conversation, "You up for the park tomorrow? Football, beers, something." He'd spoken quietly but made sure to be within earshot, "Roxy?" He asked, as far as he was concerned she was welcome to come along.
It wasn't just the lack of flow of conversation and the apparent nervousness from little ticks that Dylan picked up on, she had seemed lost in her own thoughts when he pulled up beside her.
"Oh, it's okay,"
She'd mumbled the words and while he took it sincerely couldn't help but think at the back of his head it really wasn't all that okay at all. A quaint but warm smile crossed his lips after she nodded, he guessed that meant yes. "Well, great." He began, turning his attention away looking out ahead of his down the road for a second before turning back the girl. She seemed stiff as she tucked her a lock of hair behind her ear, he gave a sarcastic smile, "You won't be getting there any earlier." He told her, his voice a mixed tone of teasing and friendly.
"Thank-you"
"No problem." Dylan replied, returning her smile in kind as she got into the car, he smirked as she quietly closed the door as if she was afraid it would fall off if she slammed it too hard, then looked out then focused on the road as he pulled out, a quick glance for any oncoming traffic and took off, the engine revved loudly as it took off with a couple of loud 'vrooms' as the engine revved, missing her examining her pants. Alyssa. He made a mental note of the name - seemed fitting in some way he couldn't quite put his finger on. He caught her looking at him as he turned to reply, "I'm Dylan." He reached between the front seats to the back, taking his bag, keeping his eye on the road, the fabric of his hoodie rubbed off Alyssa for a moment, "Sorry." He laughed, bringing the bag into the front seat, holding it out for her put putting it on her lap as he shifted down gear coming to a small build up of traffic, "Uh-oh." He uttered as they came to a stop, it must have been the morning rush, congestion going both ways, if it wasn't the remnants of the school run it was now people going for work. Another song on the CD played that he could really get into, he turned it up, tapping away on the steering wheel with one hand. "There's a towel in there. If you need it." He gestured with a look at the bag before bringing his attention back to Alyssa.
-
It took them seven minutes to get to Delbrook compared to a much longer walk. They pulled up in a space, Dylan turned off the ignition. "Here we are." He joked, taking the bag and getting out of the car.
Tae Min smiled to himself, glad to finally be invited out to do something. He wasn't the best at soccer; he'd played a few times with friends back in Brownsville but didn't make the team in middle school. He wasn't planning on trying out for high school soccer, but a casual game sounded like fun. Besides, it would be a good opportunity to meets some new people.
He tilted his head slightly and blinked in surprise as Andreas mentioned beer to one of the girls. Tae Min had lived in America his whole life and was pretty damn sure the legal drinking age was twenty-one. Tae Min's mothers would probably flay him if he was fined for underage drinking. He wasn't sure about the possibility of being involved in crimes, but he was so desperate for friends that he let it slide. Lonely kids like him tended to be pretty subject to peer pressure. He rearranged his scarf, looking around the room as Andreas asked people if they wanted to join in on the game. Andreas seemed to know a lot of the kids in the room, which impressed Tae Min. They'd been in the school the same amount of time, but Tae Min barely knew anyone, despite his best efforts.
Toby shook his head when Quinten asked if he needed anything. "I'm fine." He said curtly, through his uncomfortable wheezing. He was pretty sure at least one person in the room had a dog, or a lot of dogs. Not only did dogs destroy Toby's respiratory system, he just didn't like them in principle. They were such outgoing, in-your-face creatures. Toby had always preferred quieter creatures. He'd wanted a cat for a long time, but he couldn't afford pets. How could he support an animal when he barely had enough money to keep himself alive? He sighed a bit, zoning out of the conversation. He was tired and in some amount of pain, and mostly just wanted to go home and find his inhaler. Or at the very least switch seats to a dog hair free part of the room.
Landon noticed the flinch and wondered what happened, it was a interesting reaction but he figured that Marco just hadn't been expecting it and was to busy thinking about the night and the game. He didn't think much more of it when that smile that Landon melted at came back and the redhead returned the high-five. "Oh, that's cool I'll probably be doing the same thing for my brothers if I ever get the Mustang fixed." He glanced over at the rest of the class, nodding at Bruno and his two receivers and then locking his gaze on Toby who seemed to be having a coughing spell. He glanced back to Marco and couldn't stop the full blown grin that spread over his face when he mentioned swimming. Of all the sports that he played swimming was the one that he never did competitively but it was one of his favorite things to do. It was evidenced by the slimmer swimmers build that he had mixed a bit with the wiriness he was gaining from football workouts. "Nope, no plans and I'd love to come. Where do you swim at anyway, the Y?" He realized with a blush that he would get to see the red-head shirtless again and his had to hide his cheeks with a wider smile. "I'll try not to lose to badly then, how about that?"
He looked back over the class and frowned when he saw Toby have a bit of a fit and trouble breathing. He remembered he had Asthma like he himself had and looked over at Marco. "Hang on, I'll be right back." He stood and made his way past Sarah, and Andreas before reaching Toby and kneeling beside him. "Hey, you having an attack? Forget your inhaler?" He raised an eyebrow at each question and removed his own inhaler from his pocket and offered it over just in case. He knew how bad even a small attack could feel, like your throat refused to work and you slowly were cut off from Oxygen. He patted Toby's back and got a closer look at his eye, wondering what could have happened. He shot a glance at the students around him. Maria, Marco's sister was directly in front of him and then Hae was to the right. Either one of them probably had their phone and could call for help in case it got worse or the inhaler didn't work. He had a second one in his football locker anyway that was stronger so if he had to go without for a day he figured he'd be fine.
Riley smiled wide when he heard about the party and it sounded like a perfect place to unwind after the game. A good place to make a bit of trouble as well, since they wouldn't even be in their hometown. He chuckled a bit as Roxy, right on time got herself into the conversation and he shrugged at her. "Colton here says theres a big party happening tonight after the game in New Orleans. He said he'd drive to so It's a win-win for me, you think Harley will be interested?" He looked over at his other best friend as he said it but his eyes shifted when he saw Landon walk over to the short kid, Toby. The Blonde seemed to be having some issues breathing and Riley sat up, a bit concerned for his classmate even if he didn't really know him all to well. He shot a glance at both Colton and Roxy to see if they were aware of what was going on.
Alyssa's hands tightened in her lap as the engine revved, immediately regretting her decision to take a lift. She closed her eyes for just a second, tensing up - and then, they were fine. She glanced sideways at him - Dylan, she reminded herself - as his hoodie brushed against her, eyes widening slightly at the pack dropped into her lap. "O-oh, thank you." The music turned up loud, and she surreptitiously glanced sideways at him again. It was a shy, hesitant smile that spread across her lips at his antics. Taking out the towel, she gently dabbed at her clothing. She'd noticed the heaviness of the bag, the glean of leather - was it boxing gloves that she'd noticed?
~~~
Alyssa could barely breathe for nerves as they drew into the school. It seemed semi-deserted, to her sinking heart's displeasure. They were very late. But at least she maybe wouldn't miss first lesson, thanks to him. She hopped out after Dylan, giving him another one of her hesitant smiles. "Which class are you in? I'm meant to be heading into the sophomore class, but... new." Her voice trembled, much to her displeasure. Expression a little stiff, she dipped her head and adjusted her backpack straps.
Dylan walked with Alyssa up to the main doors of the school, he took his towel back off her and packed it into the bag. Slinging it over his shoulder the small talk continued - even if it was only a few words between the car and here. The moment's of silence between them were only made more awkward by how dead the school was at this time. The patter of footsteps came down the hall, Dylan was expecting a monitor.
"Which class are you in? I'm meant to be heading into the sophomore class, but... new."
His neck arched as if trying to get a look at who was about to emerge around the corner. It was Tommy, one of the boys from his club that went to this school.
"Alright, Dylan?" He asked a cheeky smile, punching Dylan with some force in the arm, enough to make him budge. He laughed as his friend continued down the hallway, he was a senior and a good friend to Dylan as far as he saw it.
He turned sticking his finger up, he wouldn't show it but it had hurt, "Bastard." He replied, his tone mocking. The senior stopped and came over to Dylan who had stopped as well.
"Who's this?" He asked, smiling at Alyssa, arms crossed over his chest, legs about shoulder length apart - he stood as if he was taking a stance, the way he always did, Dylan construed it as kind of funny. Dylan looked between Alyssa and his friend, and when he realized there was hesitation in the introduction he spoke up.
"Alyssa." He told him, "We were both running late, she got a lift with me. She's new."
"New, huh?" He asked, while it was in a joking manner his tone was meant to sound intimidating, he laughed and extended a hand, "Tommy. Nice to meet ya." He was pleasant, Tommy was known for getting along with just about anybody, a chill kind of guy, Dylan looked up to him and many would consider the two alike. He remembered last year a load of his fellow budding newbies had thought the two were related. Tommy used to give Dylan lifts to school and the two got along before in the gym, having always been in the same class and training. "Catch you later, Dylan, Alyssa." He proclaimed, heading off for the door, skiving class it seemed.
"Stay lucky, Tom." Dylan called after him before the pair continued down the hall. "Sophomore?" He repeated the end of the question, "We're here." He told her, gesturing to the door just up ahead on the right, he walked up and gripped the handle, bringing his body in close to the window. He was already late, maybe he didn't need to attend this period? Ultimately he decided against it pushing down on the handle the door clicking open, he moved aside, still holding onto the handle and looked at Alyssa as if to tell her after you.
Toby looked down at the inhaler Landon offered him, then swiftly shook his head, blushing a bit. "I shouldn't..." He said uncertainly.:I mean, if I'm getting sick or something, I wouldn't want to spread it to you. Besides, it's probably not a big deal anyway..." He suppressed the need to start coughing again, forcing an apologetic smile. He looked up at Landon as the taller boy patted his back, noticing him examining his eye. Crap. He had forgotten about the bandage over his left eye. He wanted to tell Landon not to worry about it, but he decided it would be better not to mention it at all. Don't draw attention to yourself. That was basically his internal mantra at this point. He hated being pitied and looked down upon, but he wasn't really all that tough and competent.
"So, uh... anyway... you wouldn't happen to remember what day soccer tryouts are? I kind of forgot." He said, trying to quickly change the subject. He was still wheezing, and it seemed to be getting steadily worse. He decided if it started to look like he was going to have a full on attack, he'd excuse himself to the bathroom and wait it out. Not really the safest plan, but the last thing he wanted was more attention and pity.
Zoned out, eyes lost somewhere on the whiteboard ahead with the learning objectives written neatly with a large expo marker, Sarah’s mind was most certainly not on the current curriculum. Roxy’s movement pulled her out of it as blue eyes shifted to their peripheral just in time to catch the face as she mentally stuck her own tongue out at the girl, too late to actually react. A deeper voice kindly brought her back into the real world and catching her by surprise at the same time. “I’d be down for some fútball. Though I’m afraid I’d be better off as bystander than an actual player.” . Coordination was something she was never blessed with, the only sport she was actually decent at was backyard football, Americano style, something that came from living in rural backwoods. She was the kind of girl who could manage to spike her own teammate with a volleyball, though that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy watching them immensely. Competitive at heart, she’d also been known to get heated over a bad call.
Saturday, why did that seem important? Opening her planner, the poor book would no doubt be long forgotten by the second or third week, she notice the bright blue letters ‘ART CLUB MEETING’ circled several times. Shifting her head, eyes glazed the room searching for people she’d figured would also show up. At last they landed on dirty blonde hair:
Dominik.
He always seemed like the quiet type, but Sarah rather liked that about him. Being so loud herself, she found it intriguing to be able to say so much with so little, no knowing where his thoughts were actually at. He’d joined the art club hadn’t he? Had she ever seen his work before, likely not. I wonder what medium he uses? . Giving a second longer to attempt at deciphering, she turned back to the boys, excitement building up inside her soul like waves, tickling at her sides. So many possibilities, and so much to learn.
“I have a meeting that morning but it should be wrapped up before 11. Is there anything I need to bring, other than, well, you know,” taking one hand she gestured down the length of herself, “Me, myself, and I?”
Marco's smile didn't fade as Landon spoke. He was glad he was making a good friend. He had plenty of team mates but he had chosen to distance himself from people for a long while. Landon was the first person he had accepted an invitation to go anywhere with in a long time, and it was an even longer time since he had invited anyone to go somewhere with him. Awesome! And yea, I swim at the Y, my family all has memberships there. Though me and my younger brother are the only ones that ever use them anymore. Though that kind is a Tennis fanatic and star." He realized he was rambling and shut his mouth, blushing a little bit. He was about to reply to Landon about him losing when his attention was drawn to Toby, then to Maria.
Marco decided to follow Landon over to where Toby was located. As Landon kneeled down Marco remained standing, though he stood behind and to the side a little. "Dude, he wouldn't be offering the inhaler if he didn't have a backup somewhere. Just take it, just in case you need it. There is no shame in accepting other people's help every now and then. You aren't a burden. If we didn't care we wouldn't offer." Marco was super blunt in his statement but he hopped this helped ease Toby's mind a little. He leaned down and took the inhaler from Landon's hand and placed it on Toby's desk. "Absolutely no shame in accepting help when it is offered to you." He gave the boy his signature goofy smile before turning to his sister who was also rather uncomfortable. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "If you keep acting like a doofus you will never have even a little bit of a chance with him. How about you ignore the fact that you have a giant crush on him and just try to be his friend first." He patted her head warranting him a glare and he straightened himself, his attention going to Landon first, and then to Toby. "We are gunna be a team soon, you better get used to us trying to help you all the time. We are a couple of abnormally nice dudes. Accept it and move on. Also try to ignore my bluntness, I know it happens but I have absolutely no filter." He chuckled at himself and continued to smile.
After Marco finished speaking to her she took a deep breath before turning to Quinten. "Sorry, I know you were joking, I just am kinda out of it right now. Can't even figure out how to improve this dang piece." She chuckled awkwardly and waved the sheet music in the air. 'Even though it is your dang fault, and you don't know it.' She glanced back at Toby only for a moment, though she said nothing. She knew he didn't want to much attention and she was sure Marco and Landon, as nice as they may be, may end up making the situation worse. The poor boy, needed friends sure, but maybe not two as overbearing as Marco and Landon. In the short time she glanced at him she gave Toby a sympathetic look, not because she thought he was pathetic, but because she knew what it was like to be in his shoes. She wasn't always as talkative and friendly as she is now, in fact, her and Marco have changed a lot over the years. She used to hate attention and she knew back then, if people like her brother and his new friend had decided to hang around her she would have had some sort of panic attack.
Her attention went back to Quinten who seemed momentarily focused on Toby. It made sense to be worried after all. She was worried but she figured he would probably be okay. Her attention strayed for a moment as she looked around the room at all the people. There were several new faces, and even more old ones. She took another deep breath and repeated what Marco said to her in her head. 'Just be friends...Ugh! How am I supposed to do that? Look at him!' Her eyes scanned Quinten for a moment before returning to his face. She was aware he had a kid, but quite frankly, she didn't care. 'Just be friends, find out what he likes, you only have a crush on him because he looks pretty, find out if he is even your type doofus.' She thought to herself as she glanced at her music.
Tyrone remained in his seat with his phone out. He was texting his girlfriend about his previous day. She had been busy all day so he hadn't gotten to talk to her. Now that she was free he took the chance he had to talk to her as much as possible. She was homeschooled so she had pretty much all the time in the world. At times he wished he was homeschooled also but most of the time he was content with public school. He had yet to meet anyone he would see as a future friend and though he wasn't completely shy he also wasn't very outgoing. It took a bit for him to warm up to people and before then his conversational skills usually sucked and were restricted to a few work sentences of a could grunts and mhm's. He would wait for someone to come to him, in the mean time, he was perfectly content where he was.
Alyssa came to a stop as another boy appeared around a corner, hovering awkwardly slightly behind Dylan. She wasn't sure what to make of him, almost aggressive but not quite. She stepped forward to shake his hand, unable to help the way she instinctively bit down on her lip. "Nice to meet you," she responded in kind, voice characteristically quiet. They seemed to be good buddies, and soon enough they moved on once more.
Maybe she already liked her companion - he was kind to open the door for her, although it meant that she had to go in first. She took a second to compose herself, gave Dylan a breathy, "Thank you," and walked inside. Immediately, she was greeted by the sight of a busy classroom. She paused for a moment, slightly overwhelmed, before looking quickly to the teacher for guidance.
At her question, the tall boy thought about it for a little before giving his answer in a very intriguing way. Bruno’s voice revealed an accent of his own, one Fiorella had no experience with. During her time in Baldwin School she’d encountered different kinds of classmates with different types of ethnicity and accents: Chinese, Japanese, Colombian, German… But in all her time she’d never heard this one before. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him she’d noticed he had some foreign features to his handsome appearance, but she couldn’t put her finger on where it came from. Might as well ask, right?
Fiorella gave him a charming smile, revealing a set of straight, pearly white teeth. “Thank you so much for that. It will be super helpful for me.” she said softly, extending a delicate hand in his direction while the fingers of the other played with a strand of her curly golden hair.“I’m Fiorella by the way. Fiorella Aguilar. But you can call me Lela if you wish.” Again, her accent shone in the way she pronounced her name, last name and nickname. In other circumstances, Lela would feel a tad bothered by this, but at the moment she considered it played to her strengths. Boys found exotic women attractive, right? Her accent made her exotic, so she hoped this would help her case.
"Doesn't sound too good, man. You sure you don't need to go see the nurse? Sounds serious." Before Quinten could really do much more, Landon was in the picture and talking with Toby. Quinten figured he'd back off since Landon seemed to have the situation handled and knew what to do for the poor kid. Quinten lay his head down in his folded arms on the desk, keeping an ear out for anything new with Toby. That's when he heard Maria speak up again. He slowly picked his head up to look at her once more, a neutral expression on his face. "Well, I could help ya know. Really don't think violin and guitar are that much different. I mean, I know they are, but.. well, it doesn't hurt to get an outsiders opinion, right?" Quinten flashed his famous, charming little half-smile towards Maria, trying to be friendly towards the girl he didn't much care to speak to. Maybe if she didn't brush him off in conversation this time, he might actually attempt to talk with her more. She always seemed like a nice girl, but Quinten had yet to experience that side of her for himself. He sat there looking back at her, his eyes focused on hers. Locked.
colтon ĸrυger
Dark blue jeans with red converse and football jersey #17 ->
'No doubt Harls would wanna go,' Colton thought when Riley asked if Harley would be interested in going. Harley wasn't one to miss out on festivities such as a party in the heart of New Orleans. It was something he knew she/they couldn't pass up. A part of him was constantly on the lookout for things like this, knowing she'd wanna be there. That part of him still loved her/them. Instead of replying, he just shrugged nonchalantly and frowned slightly. Colton glanced at Harley, staring over at them for a few long seconds before turning back to look at Riley again who'd looked between Roxy and himself and off towards the short blonde kid. 'Toby?' Colton tried remembering the kid's name, thinking he had a 90% chance he was right. He narrowed his eyebrows and sat forward just slightly as he watched the interaction between Landon, Marco and Toby, also noticing Marco lean over towards his sister and whisper something in her ear. Colton's curiosity got the better of him, temporarily distracted by the thoughts of what had been said in secret.
Colton's eyebrow raised slightly, looking around at the people surrounding him before looking back over at the three boys talking amongst themselves about Toby and his apparent breathing problem. Well, his asthma problem. Colton remembered what that was like. His first adoptive family he was with, the father smoked cigarettes heavily. Being around the man so much, it kickstarted Colton's childhood asthma. He had been burdened by having to carry around an inhaler at one point but had just stopped needing them a couple years back. Colton still had problems breathing every now and again, but luckily it wasn't as serious as Toby's was sounding.
"...Marco, that's not that I said at all." Said Toby, sounding rather annoyed through his weak, rattling breaths. "I just said that I didn't want to take his inhaler in case I'm getting the flu or something, you know?" He was kind of slipping back into his aggressive mask, but was trying not to snap at anyone. Looking around, he seemed to have garnered some concern from the classroom. He flinched, not wanting to be the center of attention, especially if the cause of that was pity. He'd been pitied enough in his life, by teachers and classmates alike. It was even worse than getting bullied, in his opinion. Granted, he'd been bullied before. A lot. But still, getting beat up wasn't half as humiliating as being talked down to by a peer.
Toby sighed heavily, raising his hand and leaning out of his seat slightly to be seen behind Maria. Mrs. Wiley? Can I be excused to the bathroom, please? He asked quickly, trying not to break out coughing again. His entire chest hurt, and it felt like his airways were closing up. But the last thing he needed was for that to become more evident. @LostDestiny
