Realistic or Modern Simplicity is Bliss {P}

[Ursa Minor]

Luke decides not to think about what the day will bring him when he's in school. It's a simple concept really not focusing on what troubles him. He ties it together with his studies and with his tests as he solves equations and generally spends his time on something that keeps him busy. His hand hurts by the writing of the pencil and his mind is a somewhat dull throb as the pain recedes. The words come out in dark grey charcoal as he puts his thoughts onto paper. He's about ten sentences in and it continues in a steady pace. He licks his lips without wondering and sighs. The air around him is cool and the students next to him sigh and whisper to one another as they pay attention to somewhere else.


"I expect this to be done by the end of next period. You can return this to me by tomorrow afternoon." Mr. Baxter's voice is calm yet demanding. His dark pepper and white hair is curled in a thick ponytail and it matches his outfit. Luke tries not to notice the stain on his shirt and the stink of his breathe.


"Yes, Mr. Baxter." The class sighs as one. The bell is only two minutes away and the end of the day approaches quickly. Luke knows he'll be done by then seeing as he already has his main point down and has to put his conclusion into words. He smiles as he wraps it up and lets loose a quite sigh and sits up cracking his back. That earns him a quick glare from the boy next to him, envy tinted in his green gaze, and he looks away almost in shame.


He doesn't mean to do it. The work is easy and he doesn't know why really. He's not gifted or talented or anything like that despite what the teachers say and he knows that he's not in the top twenty or even thirty. He's just some skinny Latino with hardly any friends. Nothing different or new in this high school. The bell rings loudly causing a few students to jump in their seats. Luke grabs his paper along with his backpack--everything was packed neatly a few minutes ago-- and turns it in to the teacher. Mr. Baxter smiles knowingly and tips his head as Luke strides past him quickly and steps out into the crowded hall.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Class was a total bore, especially with Mr. Baxter, who didn't like students who talked through his lesson, even when he had nothing particularly interesting to say. He turned to his left anyway, leaning into his best friend, Matthew. "Hey Matt, you up for some baseball after class?", Thomas asked, not even bothering to lower his voice to a whisper. The blonde guy turned his head towards Thomas, shrugging lightly. "I don't know, man, this assignment is pretty important."


You could call it a miracle, Thomas and Matthew being such good friends. Thomas was always getting himself into trouble, whereas Matthew was a lot more temperate. He liked to have fun, sure, but he made sure he stayed upright in school as well.


Thomas rolled his eyes. Because he'd been dozing off for the last thirty minutes, he hadn't heard much about the whole assignment at all. He shrugged, looking around the classroom in search of someone able to write it for him. His gaze landed on a boy with dark hair in one of the front rows, still writing, even though almost all of the students were already packing up. The left corner of his mouth curled up into a sly smile as he threw his books into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and getting up. "I'll catch you at the lockers.", he told Matthew, watching the dark-haired boy hand in his assignment and walk out of the classroom, following him. He picked up his pace until he walked besides the boy, adjusting his pace to his. "Hey.", Thomas said with a lopsided grin. "Nice work back there. Do you always finish assignments that fast? And if so, are you not afraid of people seeing you as... What do you call it- a try hard?"

 

[Ursa Minor]

Gritting his teeth and trying ignore the obvious tension in his stance, Luke swallowed and didn't look up. His gaze was focused on the corner of the distance trying not to face the larger--and stronger--male. Thomas Mckee. 5'8" and made up of pure muscle and Luke knew that he either had two choices. Either A; he could try and lean toward the crowd for support. Or B; He could retort with a sharp comment trying to waver his attention somewhere else. Plan B was what the Luke inside of his mind would do. In his own world he would reply with a scathing comment forcing Thomas to tears with a single phrase, but this wasn't fantasy land. He was Luke Marshall, someone who was scared of confrontation and couldn't stand up for himself even if someone paid him a million dollars to do so.


He chose Plan A and opened his mouth only to hesitate. "I'm not a try-hard...I just like to do my work that's all..." Luke swallowed back a prickle of doubt and didn't say anything more. Maybe if he tried to start a decent conversation would he leave him alone. He doubted it, but he would at least try his counselors advice.


With a heavy gaze towards his locker, Luke picked up his pace. He whispered a soft excuse me to a younger freshman and flinched as a glare was turned towards him. The people around him were thinning out and people were starting to stare wondering what Thomas would do this time. Some looked interested while others looked on with an apathetic expression. Some jocks near them stopped their talking and waved a hello to Thomas and frowned at Luke.


"H-How was your work?" He looked away as they reached his locker and he tried to ignore the quiet stillness of the hallway.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas couldn't help but smile in amusement at the boy's stuttering. "Oh, right, you like to work. Now don't we all?", he asked sarcastically, drawing a laugh from some of the bystanders. "Listen, Mr I like to work, my work was fantastic, because I didn't do it. I need a good grade for this assignment, and you're going to help me with that.", he said, his voice dropping to a low, warning tone at the last part.


He didn't like that he couldn't quite get a grip on this boy. What was he thinking? What exactly did he know about Thomas? He huffed, holding a hand out for a high five with one of the jocks. He always forgot their names, but he acted friendly, so they were pleased. When they reached Luke's locker, he leaned in, his face close to the boy's. "Tomorrow morning, before class, right here.", he said, then slung his bag over his shoulder and walked off, heading to his own locker, around the corner. He spotted Matthew and called out a hello, smacking his best friend's shoulder. "What's up? Ready to go?"

 

[Ursa Minor]

"Or you could just do it yourself...." The words left his mouth by the time Thomas has walked away. He tried to think about something else daring himself not to get to focused on everything and start...doing what he hated. Even so he could hear the whispers all around him, talking about him and laughing at him from behind their hands. He didn't say anything hoping that they would leave him alone or that they would finally stand up for him. He knew it wouldn't happens though because who would want to be in the line of fire of Thomas Mckee? Not the jocks for one considering that they started this and not his friends...he sighed to himself watching Thomas out of the corner of his eye walk away to his friend--what was his name--Matthew and turned away before he could start another incident.


He breathed in hard considering his options for tomorrow and wished that he had the daring to not show up. He didn't want to of course, but was it worth getting a beating? If he were taller maybe. If he were stronger maybe...but he was neither of those things and he didn't want to risk getting hurt because of his pride. Or what was left of it. He could feel the prickle of tears in his eyes and looking around quickly he made sure no one was watching before he wiped it away.


Opening his locker he put away his books quickly and once he was done he closed it and went the other way trying to avoid Thomas and his friend before they knew what he was thinking. He didn't have to go to school tomorrow...he could just skip, but then if he did then Thomas would be all over him the next day. He could bring a friend to back him up, but Thomas had jocks as friends while all Luke had was a single girl friend who couldn't take on anyone despite her bragging. He sighed to himself wondering his options and as he passed by the jocks he flinched as one of them stared at him up and down measuring him. One of them whistled at him and he grit his teeth at the bark of laughter that followed him.


It seemed to him as if he didn't have a choice after all.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Matthew looked up at Thomas' voice, smiling at him. "Yep. What were you doing?", he asked curiously, walking with Thomas to his yellow pickup truck. "Taking care of things.", Thomas said vaguely. He knew Matthew didn't like when he forced other people to do stuff for him. He saw Matthew raise an eyebrow, but he asked no questions, so it was alright. Thomas got into the truck, behind the wheel, and started it, waiting for Matthew to get in before driving off the parking lot at school. He went straight to the baseball field, parking his truck in the grass. "Tom, I have that assignment to finish.", Matthew protested. Thomas shrugged, grinning widely. "Just one game.", he said, getting a baseball from the back of the car. Matthew sighed, then nodded. "Alright, but just fifteen minutes at max.", he said. Thomas grinned and ran into the field as Matt got the bat from the car, getting ready.

 

[Ursa Minor]

The closest way to his house was to go by the park. It was a short walk and only took him a total of eight minutes from the back of school to the front area of the baseball field. It was a moment for him to recollect his day and try and organize everything from a different standpoint. As he walked he didn't have the pressure of trying to do his work or the constant teasing of the others at school. All he was required to do was to just sit back and enjoy the peaceful lull of his mind as the sun beat down heavily upon him. Looking around he noted with a slight prickle of amusement the little kids scurrying after one another on the swing set and the parents watching them from a safe distance. The sky above them was a light blue with a occasional appearance of a white cloud trailing after one another calmly.


He noticed the truck with slight apprehension and didn't question it deciding to stay on track as he came closer to it. On a strange whim he neared the benches and gripped his backpack heavily in his hand his mind somewhat aching to sit down and read a book. It was tempting to say the least despite another part of him telling him to go home. That part of him was scared...wondering if he should try and hold back on what was to come later that night. He didn't want to face his father--seeing as a man twice his size could do same heavy damage--and he didn't want to have to scrape together the meager meal he would have to prepare before he came home. His stomach grumbled loudly and he sighed at the thought of his fridge with nothing in it.


He would have to go hungry again tonight he decided heavily. Making up his mind he concluded that his father wouldn't be home for another three hours and he came to the bench and sat down with the baseball field behind him. The grass crunched under his feet as he sat down and pulled out a thin book from his literature class. Looking around he felt a prickle of guilt for trying to avoid his father and pushed it down. Despite their past...confrontations the man was still his dad at the end of the day. Even if Luke hated him for everything he put him through.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas threw the ball out with a slight curve, grinning as it went just the right way. Sports was one of not so many things he was actually good at, especially in school. PE was his only A, the other subjects were meager C's at best. His tutor had told him to get extra classes, but Thomas hated the idea of having to put even more time in school than he was already doing.


He caught the ball Matthew shot back at him with ease, just reaching his arm out. He chuckled at the face Matthew made, knowing he didn't like that Thomas always caught everything. It was only when Thomas glanced over his mate's shoulder, that he saw the guy from class, sitting on a bench with a book. He scoffed, making Matthew turn his head. "What? Who's that?", he asked. Thomas shook his head. "I'll be right back." He pulled his left arm back, throwing the ball with such a curve that it landed directly in front of Luke's feet. Thomas clicked his tongue, slowly walking closer. "Hey, shouldn't you be doing other things? Like making assignments?"

 

[Ursa Minor]

Luke snapped. "That's not the only thing I do, you know. Some of us actually have a life instead of trying to made things harder for other people..." he mentally chastised himself for losing it instead of silently taking it like his counselor had offered.


He knew that it wasn't going to end well. He knew that without the protective walls of the school around him that Thomas basically had every opportunity to do whatever he felt like it with Luke. He had no protection, no friends, and no teachers were in sight. He shivered mentally as he slowly looking up to Thomas' leering face and bit his lower lip--the only thing that showed how nervous he was. He wanted to say something, anything, to dissuade Thomas into making him go away...how could Luke have known that he was going to come here of all places and how would he get away without at least getting shoved in the dirt and ruining his only sweater. He pushed the cuff of his sleeve down and looked down at his shoes and at the lone baseball.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas leaned closer, putting his hands on either side of Luke's shoulders on the back of the bench he was sitting on. "Hrm?", he hummed softly. "What was that? I don't know, your voice is just so terribly hard to hear when the only thing you do is whisper. You can talk to me, y'know. I'm not stupid, I know you're thinking about me in this wonderful little head of yours.", he added, his voice somewhat hoarse as he reached one hand up to tap against Luke's temple.


He pulled back, standing up so he towered over the boy. "So what are you reading?", he asked, taking the book from out Luke's hands. "Oh my, real literature, huh? Is this why you feel so much better than us? Because you read real books?" He scoffed, throwing the book back at Luke, not caring if it'd fall on the ground. "Look, pretty boy, you better be there tomorrow morning. I know where to find you." He pursed his lips, shooting the boy a look before he picked up the baseball and walked back to Matthew casually.

 

[Ursa Minor]

((I'm going to time skip to where Luke is waiting by the lockers))


The air was cold with the mid morning chill of the new day. He shivered to himself more than once cursing his lateness as he forgot his jacket and tried to wrap his arms around himself, but to no avail as nothing seemed to set off the chill temperature. The hallway was empty save the distant chatter of the students and the teachers themselves were gone though he did see, Mr. Larverne walk past smoothly with a cup of steaming coffee. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and waited silently the paper he had finished last night still held in his hands that he worked on for a total of ten minutes lazily and not caring what he put as if he were rebelling against something. His heart pounded at the thought of Thomas catching on, but he knew that he would get anyway. That was just how things went in this school regardless of whether he liked it or not.


He said hello to a passing freshman and tried to ignore the stares of her as he turned his back on her. He could see the pity in his eyes as she walked by knowing how the morning and the rest of the day would go, He sighed to himself slowly looking about and pausing as he heard the footsteps of a larger boy. He tensed only to relax as Alex Pepperman walked by with a smile and Luke blushed. He was nice boy with a handsome smile who always seemed to make time for Luke. He tried not to notice as Alex came towards him and stood next to him.


"Hey, Luke. How's your morning so far?" His tone was playful.


Luke didn't say anything at first trying to look for something cool to say. "Nothing, just--waiting for Thomas I guess." he could feel Alex's frown, but he didn't comment.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas woke up at 7:42, groaning at the light from the window in his eyes. He got up slowly, taking his time to stretch, then walked over to the closet to grab his clothes. When he'd got dressed, he walked downstairs, texting some girl from a bar whilst trying to tie his tie correctly with just one hand, letting out a huff when it didn't work. He looked up from his phone when his mam barged in, running through the living room. "Oh, honey, I have to go now, but I'll be home for dinner, I promise! Love you, bye darling!" Thomas rolled his eyes, pursing his lips as a sign he wasn't going to reply. He walked into the kitchen, looking at the clock with a yawn, turning the coffee machine on. He knew he'd have to hurry if he wanted to make it into class on time, but class could wait, he thought while waiting for his coffee.


He only left ten minutes later, mug in his hand, checking his watch to see he had only five minutes to get to school. As he started his truck, he thought of Luke, probably waiting for him already. The thought made him grin, then push the gas pedal in a little further. It'd probably be pretty amusing to see the guy decide if he was going to wait for Thomas, or get into class on time.


When he neared school, Thomas turned down his music, quickly parking his car. He hopped out, locking it over his shoulder and walking into school, the mug still in his hand as he took a sip of it. He walked through the hallway, pursing his lips at the younger kids, running to get to their classrooms, and huffed, turning the corner. When he did, he frowned, seeing someone all too familiar next to Luke. "Alex.", he hummed, his voice low.

 

[Ursa Minor]

Alex grinned coldly at him, but didn't greet him. His eyes were dark and he looked at Thomas up and down slowly, his blue eyes glaring at him with obvious distaste. "Hey, Luke." he said, but didn't take his eyes off of Thomas. "Did you want to go get something to eat real quick? I'm sure Thomas can wait for a bit don't you think?" Alex and Thomas were about the same height and had the same build and he felt no fear when it came to confronting Thomas about how he treated Luke. Alex felt a hand tugging on his shirt and batted it away. Luke felt a prickle of discomfort and began to worry.


"Alex, please, let's just go..." Luke began, but Alex glared at him and Luke went silent. He held his gaze though, and Luke didn't take his hand off of his shirt. Alex tried to shrug it off, but he knee that Luke was stubborn when it came to things like this and didn't press it.


"Fine. I have to go, but if he touches you," Alex looked back at Thomas and frowned. "You come get me." Without another word he turned and put a gentle hand on Luke's shoulder. For a moment Luke thought of going with him and slowly the hand retreated and Alex walked away and turned the corner. Luke shivered as he was finally alone with Thomas and looked down at the ground and felt frustration begin to dig it's way into his mind. He didn't want this. He didn't like this. Why did Thomas have to ruin everything? Luke opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. A sharp remark was on the tip of his tongue, but he held it back for fear of the outcome.


"I have your homework...well my homework." Slowly he grippe the paper in his hand and held on to it tightly.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas crossed his arms over his chest, watching the scene play out in front of him. He squinted his eyes at Luke's hand on Alex, even when it was just his shirt. For some reason, it made him feel a pang of jealousy, that confused him a little. He didn't show it, though, he just kept a neutral face.


"Oh, mister goody two shoes, right? Such a gentleman.", Thomas commented once Alex started walking away. He had no fear of confrontation, and even though he knew Alex was a fair match, he could defend himself well. "Will you really go get him when I touch you? And what exactly does 'touching' mean?", he asked, a small smirk around his lips. He reached out a hand, poking Luke's side. "Is this touching?" His hand travelled up, now giving Luke a soft shove so his back hit the lockers. "Is this touching?"


He chuckled, grabbing the paper from the boy. "Thanks, puppy. You can let go of it now. Did you do your best on it?", he asked, squinting his eyes a little, his face coming closer to Luke's.

 

[Ursa Minor]

Luke jumped as his back was hard pressed against the lockers. He felt the ridges against his back and was painfully aware of how smaller he was when it came to Thomas and just how weaker he was even though Thomas looked as though what he did was swat a fly. He bit the inside of his cheek gently trying hard to resist the urge to get Alex. To his embarrassment he felt a soft blush rush up to his cheek starting from his toes and his eyes widened, trying to hide it. He turned his face away and looked sorely at the ground trying not to gasp as he ears warmed up.


Slowly he felt the heat of Thomas coming closer and closer until his face was close enough that Luke could see the brilliant shine in his eyes. "I-I did good..." Slowly without thinking his hand crept up to place itself on Thomas' shirt. It lay there feeling his heart beat underneath his shirt. It was a somewhat intimate moment for Luke as he slowly turned his face to looked at Thomas in the eye. His breathe came out in smaller pants as he waited for his reaction and a part of him knew that he didn't want this to end. He smiled weakly and didn't press it slowly gripping Thomas' shirt in one hand and with the other he still had the paper.


"I-I did what you wanted....Is there anything else you nee-needed?" His bit his lip softly and stared at him silently.

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas had already parted his lips slightly, ready to make a comment about Luke's redness when he suddenly felt the boy's hand on his chest, making him close his mouth again. He was quiet for a moment, staring into Luke's eyes. What was he doing? Did this mean something? It was only when the boy started talking again that he snapped out of it. Of course this didn't mean something. "Yeah, for you to stop being such a loser.", he said, quickly pulling up a grin, snatching the paper from Luke's hand.


He moved back, waving the paper in the air, shooting a look at Luke. "This better be good, puppy.", he commented. "Shouldn't you get to class now? We don't want the teacher getting mad at you, now do we?"

 

[Ursa Minor]

Luke blinked before staring at him silently. Why in the world would Thomas care if he got in trouble or not? If anything he should rejoice at the thought of Luke getting scolded in front of their peers. He opened his mouth to reply instead choosing to stay silent. He didn't question why Thomas had picked up the nickname 'either'. He assumed that maybe it was because he was obedient even to people who wanted him hurt....he sighed gently and didn't press the issue. He opted for something else. Nodding to himself he was stuck in his thoughts and tried not to think to hard about either of them. Slowly he looked back at Thomas and shrugged before gathering his materials and began to close his locker with a tight click.


"I'll see you later, Thomas."He said quietly. "I hope you like my work..." he bit his lip and slid past Thomas with a frown. Walking towards his home room was easy and quick as it was only a few moments away. He looked back at Thomas--feeling a slight tug--and walked through the door and walked slowly to his seat. No one was in the room just yet and he found himself smiling at that. Sitting at his desk, he pulled out his book from before and without thinking he dove in only scanning the words as he tried to concentrate.

 

[KaitlynD34]

(yeesh this sounds like its geting intense! sorry i need to make 10 posts and already found my ojective. SORRY!)

 

[KadetheGreat]

Thomas watched the boy put away his things with pursed lips, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I'll see you later.", he said lowly, getting out of his way. He stopped when he noticed himself doing it. This wasn't him.


He shook his head, abruptly turning away and walking the other direction, towards his Spanish class. Spanish was a class that was surprisingly easy for him when it came to speaking. The other aspects of the language, reading, writing, all that stuff, were disastrous. Even so, Thomas scored high grades for oral exams, thus keeping his grade at a meagre C, something which he was quite proud of. His mother spoke Spanish with him, that's why he was fluent.


He took a seat, getting out his books and crossing his legs, eyeing the other students with obvious distaste.

 

[Ursa Minor]

----


Homeroom was easy for him knowing that he had already done the work out the book before the teacher started. He looked down at his work wondering if he should say something, but decided against it. Looking beside him he looked at the old watch on the wall and sighed once he saw the slowly minute hand ticking softly against the chatter of the classroom. The teacher talked lowly and quickly to another student next to him helping her solve a problem. Smiling at his friend, Madison, Luke grinned and decided and sit next to her. They only had five minutes before class was over and he knew that he had to get it out before it would eat at him for the rest of the day.


Madison looked up and rolled her eyes playfully at him before putting resting her head on her hand. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged out. Heard you and Thomas were going at it in the hallway today...You can thank my assistant Ebony for that." Her voice was smooth yet he could tell she was slightly angry. Luke knew she hated Thomas with a passion and she could voice her dislike of him all day.


"Madi, nothing's going on and in the hallway...well...I don't know it was like...we spoke to one another. It's hard to describe to be honest." he looked down at her work and saw the scribbles and doodles. Luke knew instantly that she had finished the entire course on her own.


Madison shrugged. "Well, all I know is that if he messes with you, you come get Alex or me alright? Now pack you shit up it's time to go."