Pierre laid on his bed with both hands folded behind his head and looked at the ceiling…not that it was anything interesting to look at since there was nothing on it. No, he was remembering the things that happened earlier with the silver haired girl whom he learned her name was December.
'December,' he thought before mumbling to himself, "A peculiar name for a weird girl… Well, that's fitting."
Despite asking the girl to get him a new pair of glasses, he actually had brought a spare one with him in case things like this happened, and for a moment he felt guilty for doing that to her. Pierre really didn't know what made him blurt that out at the time but it was already done. He wondered if she was really going to get it fixed but then shrugged it off. 'So what if she did, anyway? I'll just count that one off as a price for the broken CDs,' Pierre thought.
But the incident with his motorbike, however, was another thing – which brought a memory that began to irk him.
He thought back to how the conversation between his father and him went the day before he had to leave for the academy.
"Pierre, come 'ere for a minute!" His father had called out to him from the living room that morning. Pierre yawned as he walked down the steps while rubbing his bleary eyes with one hand, carrying two duffel bags with the other. He hadn't intended on sleeping late last night – but a sudden phone call from his ex - girlfriend had kept him awake.
"You need me for something?" he asked nonchalantly.
Jonathan Lachlan was a forty-five year old entrepreneur whose exterior seemed to be only of indifference and coldness to others, and while that doesn't really change much even to those closer to him, he did let loose a little bit of emotion only on some occasion. He watched as his son put down the bags on the couch and sat down across from him, looking expectant.
Folding the newspaper neatly, he began. "There seemed to be a change of plans for today."
That got Pierre to raise an eyebrow as he warily asked, "About what?"
Rather than replying him, he just said, "I still have some business left unattended here and since it'd be easier for the both of us, I've had some arrangements done for you."
Pierre leaned back and stared at his father, who returned it back without any caring emotion shown on his face. Pierre had to bite back a scowl and lash out at his father because of the words he had said. 'The only time he'd do something because it'd be "easier for the both of us" was only if it concerns himself more than anyone else,' he thought bitterly.
Seeing how his son hadn't spoken a word of protest – despite the expression of astonishment etched across his face which he ignored, Jonathan Lachlan proceeded to drop the bomb.
"I've decided to put you in a boarding school here in San Francisco."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His father only said he had to spend three weeks here in San Francisco just to see and learn how things were done before he could take over the business someday, but to go so far as to change his schools and everything without consulting him? Pierre felt betrayed.
"What do you mean by that? We had a deal! I was only supposed to-
"There was no deal. I only said I'd consider you going back there." Jonathan Lachlan then gave his son a somewhat reprimanding look and strictly said, "This is a good opportunity Pierre, and you'll take it."
Pierre gave a harsh laugh.
"How is this a good opportunity? You're mad!" After a moment, he took a deep breath and composed himself as he sighed. "Doesn't matter. I'll just go back on my own-"
"And how are you going to do that? I've had your passport and keys confiscated due to that stunt you pulled, remember?" Jonathan Lachlan gave his son a calculating look with a ghost of smirk. It only heightened Pierre's irritation towards his father.
He knew what his father was referring to and he blamed it all on the incident when he went to the music store downtown two weeks ago. If he hadn't bumped into the annoying girl and those CDs weren't broken thus subjecting him to a bad mood, then he wouldn't have accidentally drove his motorbike straight into the side of his father's car – which he hadn't realize was parked there at all in the driveway.
He narrowed his eyes at his father. "I didn't do that on purpose." Then, curious as to why his old man were doing this, he asked, "Why are you so opposed to me going back there? That's your hometown! Besides, I'm already in my senior year-"
"Which is why I thought it'd be best if you finish your high school here, Pierre." His father said while he rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave him a small smile. Well, tried to. "After you graduate, it'd be much easier for you to get used to things around here while you learn about the business. Besides, it'll be a hassle for me to fly back and forth there due to my work so I figured you could just go to a school here and make some friends while you're at it."
That irked him. "Tch. I already have friends. Back at home." Pierre scoffed before he got up from the couch and stormed out of the house.
Although he had been stubborn about not going anywhere, his father too had been adamant on him coming to this academy, so he had reluctantly caved in at the end, which was how he ended up in Black Bridge Academy.
Being so wrapped up in his thoughts made him unaware of someone's presence in the room until they cleared their throat loudly. Pierre snapped out of his reverie and brought his attention to them.
There were two guys in the room and Pierre slowly stood up to greet them. One of them was slightly taller than the other; a dark brunet being the taller guy and a slightly unruly haired sandy blond with a pair of brow line eyeglasses. He was smiling at Pierre.
"You must be our new roommate," said the sandy blond. "I'm Weston, and that one is Jethro."
"I can introduce myself, man." The brunet one said to Weston before holding out his hand to Pierre. "I'm Jethro."
He took it before sitting down. "Pierre."
"Ah, so you're the guy that everyone's been talking about, huh," said Jethro before he flung his bag onto a bed that was situated at a corner across from them. "You practically made all the girls in this academy fawned all over you, dude." His tone wasn't unkind.
Pierre raised an eyebrow and shrugged. What was he supposed to say to that? It wasn't like he noticed any of them earlier, and he was not going to admit it to his roommates either so he just settled on a casual, "Cool."
Jethro looked at him disbelievingly. "Cool? Dude, I would trade places with you to be the new guy just to have their attention on me."
Weston raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You already had that chance last year, Jet."
Jethro only grinned at them both. "And coming here was one of the best decisions I've ever made."
Pierre didn't know what to make of his current situation. First of all, he didn't expect to share a room with a couple of guys, much less two friendly ones at that. Second, despite telling himself not to get too acquainted with anyone in this place, he found himself slowly easing into this whole thing and immediately felt his mood turned sour. He was supposed to hate coming here which he still felt so, and had planned on brooding for a little while, until his roommates showed up with their pleasantries. These things just proved that his coming to the academy was real, in a foreign land and far away from home. He needed to get out of the room.
Grabbing his hoodie, he got up and said, "I think I'm going to look around for a little bit."
"Oh, we could show you-" Weston started but was cut off by Pierre who couldn't seem to want to get out of there fast enough.
"Thanks, but I think I'll manage," was his curt response before Pierre walked out of the room, leaving his two roommates looking dubious.
Black Bridge Academy's yard was like a paradise on earth, at least it was to December. The lush green grass with some unusual, bell-shaped flowers planted around them, the little bumpy hill where a Katsura tree was located, along with a tiny pond across them were in total contrast with the school's dull yet historical red brick building. It was one of the things she loved about the place.
December walked to the spot under the beautiful tree where her friends accompanied. All of them had similar subjects on Tuesday, and since it was the only day where they could all hang out together, December figured they would just eat outside instead of the crowded cafeteria. It was something that they had all agreed on for that particular day.
She sat down between Brooke and Raven, and took a bite on her custard bun which she had bought. "I can never get tired of these." December moaned in bliss after she took a bite of her food.
"I can never understand your obsession with that," said Raven as she looked at her friend quizzically. "I mean, that's literally all you ever ate at school when there's pudding, pizza and spaghetti-"
"And cinnamon rolls!" joined Brooke with a wide grin. "Let's not forget that delicious bun."
"That's what she said," coughed Jethro as he smirked at Brooke. She only gave him a dirty look and said, "Anyways," before she looked at December, "I think what Raven means is that there's a lot of choices to pick from, yet you chose that."
December huffed at her friends. "Oh come on, it's not a big deal. And it's not even an obsession!"
"Yeah, that one is only for our captain of the archery club." Jethro cackled. December widened her eyes and threw her last packet of custard bun at him, which hit him in the eyes. "Ow!" he moaned in pain.
"You know better than to say that out loud!" December hissed in panic as she glanced around, hoping no one heard that remark, especially her crush himself.
"Geez, relax D, I don't think anyone heard that." Weston said as he glanced around as well.
Still, her heart had yet to calm down. She took some deep breaths and when she felt at ease, December looked at a wounded looking Jethro and said quietly, "Sorry about that, Jet." Jethro rolled his eyes but ruffled her hair playfully in which she swatted her hands at him and shrieked, "Not the hair!"
It was about ten minutes before the end of their lunch when Serena walked towards them, looking slightly out of breath. "Sorry, I'm late guys. Library's full of work and somebody," she cast an accusing look towards Weston's way, "went M.I.A on me."
"I thought you didn't need me there." Weston said to which Serena gave him a pointed look before looking at him with a soft expression. "I always need you."
"Sorry, love." Weston grinned at that and gave her a peck on the lips. The rest of their friends mock-gagged at their display of affection.
"Well, at least they weren't sucking their faces off." December muttered but shivered at the mental image of Weston and Serena doing that. The two of them had been going out since sophomore year, and while she was very happy for the both of them, she was also thankful that they weren't like those people in their school who weren't embarrassed to flaunt their PDA for the world to see.
Figuring that the next class were about to start, they started to get up from their spot to gather their things. December had stood up to dust her skirt off the grass blades when she spotted a nuisance in the form of a stony looking student walking in the hallways of the building. 'That reminds me of something,' she thought.
But it turned out that she wasn't the only one who had noticed him.
"Hey, isn't that Pierre?" Weston pointed out.
"Yeah, think we should call him over? I mean, after last night..," Jethro had trailed off and left not only December but even Raven, Brooke and Serena curious.
"Last night? What happened last night?" asked Brooke, whom by the glint in her eyes was hoping to find out some juicy stuff about the new guy.
"Isn't he that new guy from our class, yesterday?" asked both Raven and Serena simultaneously before they looked at each other in amazement.
"Hold on. How do you know him?" December finally asked, her brows furrowed.
Both Weston and Jethro exchanged glances before the former slowly said, "Well, he's our new roommate."
December was surprised but she kept her expression masked. 'It's probably a coincidence that they were all roommates, but still.' She then told herself that she didn't care if it was a coincidence or not.
"And, well… he seemed pretty cool, but he's not exactly a talker." Jethro shrugged before he bit into Brooke's sandwich. That earned him a flick at the head.
December scoffed at that. 'Doesn't seem like a talker? Could have fooled me,' she thought remembering to how he had yelled at her in the music store. She snapped out of that when Jethro mentioned something else. "He's definitely not from here though, judging from how he speaks."
"He has an accent." December blurted out the statement, before she could even comprehend what or why she said that. Her cheeks coloured a little.
Her friends looked at her. "You've spoken to him, then?" Weston asked first.
She nodded. December had told Raven and Brooke about the incident involving Pierre, and even filled Serena in too as she wasn't there during the time at the lounge because of a librarian meeting. Feeling incline to recount the story to her male companions, she told them about it.
When she was done, Jethro whistled slowly. "Wow, D. Arguing with a random guy in a music store who then turned out to be your classmate? That says something, alright." Jethro grinned.
With an amused smile, she quirked up an eyebrow at him. "And what does it say?"
If possible, Jethro's grin grew wider. "That it is fate."
While Jethro's statement prompted a laugh from her friends, December didn't join in. Her smile fell and she now had a scowl on her face. "A hopeless romantic, Jet? Didn't know you had that in you."
His grin now was smug. "What can I say? I'm full of mystery."
Brooke laughed harder as she slapped Jethro on the back. "Nice one, Jethro, but because December here is my buddy I'm going to have you to shut up now before she hurt you."
"That won't be necessary since you already did." Jethro winced as he tried to soothe the pain on his back.
December couldn't stay mad at her friends, even Jethro, despite that remark. She joined in the laughter as Jethro was scowling at Brooke while the latter gave a sheepish look as she apologized for hitting him hard on the back. Remembering about the guy who had demanded her to fix his eyeglasses, she looked up only to find that he was already gone.
'I'll give it to him when I see him then,' she told herself before she glanced around her.
Noticing that there were almost no one in the yard except them, she was too late in realizing that classes had already started several minutes ago. Feeling rather panicked, December and her friends quickly made their way to the school's building before any prefects patrolling around had the chance to spot them.
It wasn't until the second last period when she stopped at her locker that she saw Pierre again. December was heading towards the opposite direction he was going, so they were both facing one another from a slight distance. He was walking in the hallway when a couple of giggling girls with coy smiles walked past him as they tried to send coquettish glances, which he were oblivious about seeing as he had earphones plugged into his ears and was looking straight ahead. She wanted to roll her eyes at the girls' antics whenever they spot a male presence within their radius, but resist the urge to do so.
She thought that it would be hypocritical of her when she too, had done something quite similar like that, once upon a time when she was a foolish freshman. Except hers might have been a step too far than that.
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as her mind took her to that unfortunate memory.
A fifteen year old December with a bob haircut came into view. She had heard that a bunch of new students – especially male ones – had been transferred to the academy. Being a newly first year and a hormonal teenage girl, she wanted to check them out and hopefully catch one of their interest.
Hiding behind the bleachers in gym class were never really a good idea because one may never know what might hit them, but December didn't know that at the time. Trying to be discreet but also wanting to catch glimpses of the boys, she finally spotted one in a tall, shirtless brunet with lean body. Grinning and giggling foolishly to herself, as well as hoping to have gained a telepathic power, she "willed" the boy to look her way. 'Please look here, look here..,' was what she muttered before her eyes went wide with shock as she was frozen in her spot.
The boy did looked her way, but it certainly wasn't because of the telepathic powers, nor did he notice her because he felt some sort of connection. No, he was focused on warning her about something as he yelled, "Watch out for the ball!"
She finally understood then but it was too late as her eyes flew to a flying object before it hit her hard on the forehead. December immediately felt lightheaded and what happened in that moment were a case of blurry as she felt like a herd of elephants were running towards her, coupled with seeing doubles as faces of her peers appeared before her very eyes.
It was then that she went limp and her vision blacked out.
From what she knew and remembered after that, courtesy from the peers that witnessed her demise, the coaches cleared the students that were crowding her and immediately brought December to the infirmary, in which she suffered a mild concussion and had to take a few days off from school.
December was definitely the hot topic in the academy for a freshman, as news about her getting hit with a ball spread around, as well as her apparently not so discreet boy-watching activity. She discovered then that it wasn't a very pleasant situation to be in after all, being the center of attention for such a thing as she was teased mercilessly for both of it.
She also found out that the boy whom she checked out earlier was a junior, who was nice enough to visit her even after he knew from rumours that she had checked him out at the time. He went to see her once just to see how she was doing before he moved on with his life – and gained himself a really gorgeous and kind girlfriend, that December didn't have the heart to hate.
Now, as she finished reliving the awful memory, December stood facing her locker as she shut her eyes tight while mumbling to herself, "Oh my god, that was so humiliating! Why did I have to do that back then? I can't believe that happened. You stupid, stupid girl." With her fifteen year old image still stuck in her mind, as well as the cringing scene that kept playing like a broken record, December groaned before she hit her head lightly on the locker with every mutter, "Go away, go away, go away…"
"What is it that you want to go away?" a masculine voice with an unidentified accent asked.
BANG!
"Ow!" December moaned in pain.
She was lost in her muttering when someone startled her by asking that, so naturally, that made her accidentally hit her head hard on the locker. She touched her forehead gingerly before turning around and narrowed her eyes at Pierre. "You."
Pierre was walking in the hallway, after spending some time in the library searching for some interesting books to read. He had found a couple but after halfway reading one of them, he was soon distracted by some giggling and not so quiet but hushed whispers by a group of girls from the opposite table. He figured then that he was not going to be able to focus on the book so he decided to just walk around aimlessly and try to explore his now new school.
So far, he had discovered that the academy was completely not what it seemed to be, in comparison on the appearance of both the front building of the academy, as well as the inside.
When he first set foot before a very high iron wrought gate, with the name 'Black Bridge Academy' carved onto an arch above it, he didn't know what to expect really, but certainly not what he had found. The exterior of the school was all dull and dark, with the dead, wilting trees as well as dry branches and twigs scattered around it.
The tall gate which reminded Pierre of an eerie, abandoned mansion in the movies, had two big gargoyles posted on each pillar, the only thing that separated it from the whole dark and dead look was the six-story red brick building, although the colour itself had begun to fade as well. As he wandered around, he saw more green in and around the building, more colours which really opened his eyes about how contrasting the whole building appeared to be, and the proverb 'don't judge a book by its cover' came to his mind.
He also knew that there were at least a built-in gym, an archery arena, swimming pools, as well as a music theatre hall and studio occupying the academy. It gave Pierre a bit of an idea on just how grand the academy was, and that was only half of what he had found about the prestigious academy.
He was immersed in listening to a newly found rock band, that when he bobbed his head to the beat, his eyes glanced around and landed on the girl whom he still couldn't believe went to the same school he was now enrolled into. She was also rather preoccupied with an activity that consisted of hitting her head against the lockers multiple times while muttering to herself. He had to smirk at that and thought that she really was odd.
Pierre could just walk away or ignored her even – which would be a very good idea seeing how he didn't want to associate with her in any way – but a nagging feeling urged him to discard that thought and approach her.
He answered sarcastically, "Yes, me," before raising an eyebrow and asked, "Do you always hit your head on the lockers?"
"Do you always surprise people like that?" December retorted with a roll of her eyes. She knew it was a somewhat weak comeback but it was the first thing she could think of.
He answered smoothly which annoyed December further. "Only the ones that I don't like."
"Fantastic." was her sarcastic reply before she sobered and looked up at him with a wide-eyed expression. 'How could I not notice something unusual about this guy when he's practically right in front of my face?' she wanted to scream at herself.
Pierre was bemused at the sudden change of her expression but it cleared up the moment she said, "So you already got yourself a new pair of glasses now, huh?" He didn't miss the biting tone of her voice.
He cleared his throat as he composed himself into one of indifference. "Ah, yes, I actually brought a spare one with me."
December went speechless. But, it was only for a quick moment before she regained her composure and gave him a heated glare. "First, you asked, no, commanded me to go get you a new one and now you're saying you actually had a spare with you all along?" She couldn't believe he had the audacity to do that.
Pierre sighed inwardly. He didn't think that would be such a big deal to fuss about, but as he thought about it further, he realized that it was definitely a dick move. He was also not going to admit that simply because his pride wouldn't let him, so he scoffed, "Why does it matter? What, did you get it fixed or something?" He taunted, hoping she didn't. 'She wouldn't have gotten it fixed. Not everyone is that nice – no, she just wouldn't,' Pierre assured himself despite the nagging feeling in his mind that told him otherwise.
December was already at the brink of losing her temper but reined it in as she inhaled and let out a deep, exhaled breath. She looked up at him and said with a much controlled voice, "It matters because when I said I'll fix it, then I really would try my best to do so."
'Damn it all,' Pierre thought. He scowled at her, knowing that she had succeeded in making him ten times guiltier than he had been last night, when he had realized it. He really ought to apologize to her because it's the right thing to do, and he wasn't a complete jerk, but again, the damned pride of his refused to let him do so. "So… you actually did fixed it?" He asked stupidly.
December threw her hands up in exasperation before she opened her locker, "You know what, Pierre," his name rolled off her tongue in an attempted French pronunciation because it sounded French to her although she didn't think he sounded like one.
She took a paper bag out, closed it and shoved the item to his chest. "There's your stupid glasses. Oh, and by the way, there's this thing called common courtesy, something which I'm sure you aren't familiar with considering how you lack some." With a blank but annoyed look, she said, "I don't think I owe you anything now so let's just pretend we don't know each other, okay?"
Without waiting for his response, she turned from him and walked away briskly, hoping for the umpteenth time that she would never cross paths with him again.
December walked through the hallways with a frown on her face, her mind still mulling over what Pierre did. "Sure, it's just an information that he didn't mention, but it was still a jerk thing to do," she muttered to herself.
To the public's view, what he did might not seemed like a big deal to fuss about, and both of them weren't even on the best of terms, but she thought that he could have at least had the decency to tell her. 'And he didn't even try to apologize or give a reason for that!' December rolled her eyes to no one in particular. "Oh whatever. I'm just glad I don't owe him anything-"
"Talking to yourself, again, December?" a feminine voice giggled.
December stopped in her tracks and paled slightly. She knew the voice, heck, she could even tell what kind of expression the person was wearing at the moment, and that showed just how familiar she was with the person who said those sentences in ridicule. Calming herself, she turned around with a look of indifference on her face.
"Karen." December said coolly.
Karen Joyce smirked at the silver-haired girl in front of her. She really couldn't stand the presence of her ever since the English girl came to the academy during their freshman year, and had made it her mission to tyrannize December. She was walking towards the girl's lavatory when she saw her foe arguing with a tall, military haircut guy. At first, Karen was surprised because she hadn't known that there was a new male student, not to mention that he does looked prepossessing to her, but then her expression darkened because December was the one who were in close proximity to him, instead of her. She felt her blood boiling already.
"I saw you talking to this cute guy earlier. Do you know him?" Karen's threatening voice did not went unnoticed to her.
December only shrugged as she plastered a blank expression on her face. She wasn't lying because she and Pierre were practically strangers. 'What does it matter to her anyway?'
Karen continued, oblivious to December's own musings. "You know, I can't believe I didn't hear any news about a hot transfer student coming here, considering how fast the rumours spread here." Fixing a look at December, she asked, "It's odd, isn't it? I mean," Karen flipped her hair in a I'm-better-than-any-of-you-losers way and chuckled, "I was in Capri having the time of my life so I completely missed the first day-"
'She sure laughs a lot at something that isn't even funny…and what's the point of me standing here again?' December mused silently before she decided to interfere in Karen's long-winded talk.
"Yeah...odd. I'm gonna go now." December made a gesture of pointing to her left before proceeding to walk away. She thought that it was best to just steer clear of Karen Joyce's way before the girl had any ideas to make her life hell. 'It's pretty shocking to find her in quite a pleasant demeanor considering how evil she could be. Huh, maybe the vacation to Capri did something good to her,' she thought before adding silently, 'Still, I need to always be on my guard.'
"I'm calling him mine so just stay away from him, you hear me? You don't want to piss me off." Karen's menacing voice bounced off through the hallway as December was about to turn around a corner.
December had to resist the urge to stop in her tracks, turn around with a hand cocked at the hips as she send the girl a haughty look with a 'you and what army' remark. However, she knew in a way that Karen Amelia Joyce had an army along with the power to destroy her should the girl want to and she hated how weak and vulnerable it made her feel. Despite putting on a composed exterior, she walked faster, in hopes of getting away from the girl who made it her mission to taunt her for the past three years.
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