Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:40:28 -0600 From: Shane Halloran Subject: High School: Luca pt. 1 Luca Pt. 1 ********** When I turned 16 I hoped I might get a car, instead my dad got a job offer. My father is a criminal justice attorney, and when a small but promising firm in Harris, Pennsylvania offered him a lucrative six-figure salary and promised him a short track to partner he pretty much had to take the offer. My sisters and my social life was a secondary concern, as my dad explained we could go to high school anywhere and get the same education, but with the salary he would be earning in Pennsylvania he could afford to send us off to the college of our choice. So the beginning of my sophomore year was spent knowing we'd be leaving once my parents secured housing and got our home on the market. When October rolled in we rolled out, packing everything we owned into my mom's mini-van, my dads car, and a massive trailer. The drive was brutal, and we got in late Saturday night (or early Sunday morning) and spent the next day getting some of the more important stuff put away. I had expected we'd take a few days to get settled before going to register for the local high school, so you can imagine my pleasure at being woken up at the butt crack of dawn for school the following Monday. J. W. Yeardley High School was less than five years old. It was still in nearly perfect shape, any damage promptly repaired and graffiti quickly cleaned. Six state of the art computer labs and a well kept two story library helped it garner a reputation as a competitive academic school, and it's stellar athletics teams had afforded the school grants to build a 15,000 seat football stadium, a baseball diamond, and an Olympic sized indoor pool. The students were diverse, intelligent, and most of all driven young people who had pride in their school. The faculty was caring and involved, and the school had plenty of staff to go around with a student to teacher ratio of 18 to 1. And yet the place was a hellhole as far as I was concerned. My dad dropped us off on the way into his new office, ignoring my complaints about being overworked by the move and reminding us we were supposed to meet up with our assistant principal, Mr. Schaeffer. My sister Meery was happy to lead the way, heading into the administrative wing of the school without even attempting to escape our shared fate. Of course Meery had plenty of reason to want to move, growing up in a small town like ours had given her little distinction, the way most of our classmates saw it Meery was just "Luca's kid sister." To her the move was an opportunity to make her own reputation, to live outside of my shadow. Not that it was exactly hard to stand out in our hometown; Vale Texas had a population of about 7,000, and my high school class numbered at about 70, in fact our high school had less then 300 students. I had always been popular; I was a decent enough student, a solid swimmer, and a regular on the Vale High School party circuit. In fact I was one of Vale's go to guys for gathering... party favors so to speak. I was well established in the high school's social hierarchy, which made leaving an even bigger pain. I guess I should give you some idea about how I look; at 16 I was already over 6 feet, and at 190 pounds my body was shaping up to have the same broad, muscular build of my father. It certainly helped that I had been athletic my whole life, I had been playing water polo and swimming since about the time I could walk. My eyes are a striking brown so dark that they almost look black; my hair is a mane of thick dirty blonde curls that frames my face well. Meery wasn't a bad looking kid herself; she had a willowy slim build that had a definite appeal. At 5'7 my little sister was maybe 90 pounds soaking wet and with her straight auburn hair and pale green eyes she was a looker, but Meery was never exactly brimming with confidence. Where I was a social creature, happiest with a beer in hand surrounded by friends, Meery was a wallflower. I'd tried time and time again to drag her to parties and to try and socialize her, but she never seemed confident in her own skin, and tended to shy away and hang out on the sidelines. Finding Mr. Schaffer's office was no easy feat, the administrative wing was about the size of my old school, and it was built like a labyrinth, filled with turns and several unlabeled offices, but we eventually managed to find it near a break room for the teachers. The man didn't notice us at first; he was hunched over his computer typing furiously before Meery, surprisingly impatient, cleared her throat to get his attention. He whipped around at the noise giving us a harsh look as if we were intruding on his personal time, and while he glared at us I gave him a quick once over, noting his receding hairline and too tight slacks. "Did you two need something," he said impatiently, "Or did you just feel like you had to tear me away from my work for a quick hello?" Meery blushed slightly before replying. "Hello Mr. Schaeffer, I'm Meery Wagner and this is my brother Luca, our father spoke to you last week about our transferring, and he was told we'd need to meet with you to pick up our schedules and make sure all our paperwork was in order." The assistant principal frowned trying to recall us before turning to his desk and shuffling through a pile of paperwork and pulling out two folders. "These are your schedules as well as a map of our school, there?s also an emergency information card for your parents to fill out and a copy of our student handbook, now I'm sorry to be curt but I really must get back to work, if you have any questions please see my secretary, Ms. Myers, and please have those cards filled out and returned to her as soon as possible." Upon finishing this succinct speech the man turned back to his desk, clearly anxious to continue whatever he was working on. Meery looked ready to ask him something so I shot her a look and stepped out of the office, heading towards the commons. I kept a brisk pace to keep Meery from catching up and launching into a series of questions like she usually did when she was nervous or confused. It didn't take long to make it out of the administrative wing and into the commons, which were already filling up with students. It only took a few seconds for Meery to catch up and take in the crowd that had formed. "Luca, their have to be like 400 people here..." Meery said nervously, "This is insane!" "It'll be fine Meery, just calm down and let these people know what a fine young woman I've raised." I said with a reassuring smile (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), "And if all else fails you've got my number, I don't mind beating a few brats faces in if they give you any lip." "You raised me? There's a laugh," she said lightly, "I'll be surprised if you make it to half your classes Mr. Maturity." "Words can hurt Meery, you wound me." Meery gave me a tiny grin seeming slightly more at ease before heading of in search of her first class. I smiled at her back before slipping away towards the front doors. The school was big, which was nice since it meant security couldn't begin to cover the campus and catch a truant like myself. The weather was colder then I was used to, it definitely felt more like winter in Vale then early October, so I zipped my jacket up before walking around the building, scoping things out. Most of my fellow students were headed towards the school, bright and eager to start the new day, but I for one needed a few more hours of sleep. Eventually I found what I had hoped for, around back I spied an old service ladder and started up towards the roof. Once I made it up I pulled out my pack of cigarettes, and layback comfortably on the gravel surface of the roof, lighting a smoke and looking out to the sky. It was to see that the sky here didn't seem so different from home. ---------- Waking up from a good nap is never easy, but around noon it started to mist, and it looked like in a few minutes the rain would really start to pour. I stood up, a little unsteady from the grogginess before taking a slow sweeping look below me. Quickly satisfied that no administrator would see me I headed back to the ladder and quickly descended, before double timing back to the entrance and into the commons. The commons served as the cafeteria, filled with uniform long tables that seated 12, and evidently it was lunchtime. A cursory glance at my schedule showed that I had first lunch, which had just started, so I wiped the sleep from my eyes and scanned the room. I guess Meery had a later lunch cause she was nowhere in sight, so I headed over towards a close, nearly empty table, the only other occupant was a slight blonde girl wearing a cute black and white striped sweater dress over ripped black tights. I gave her an inquiring look and she smiled back at me before moving her books and purse to the side clearing a space for me across from me. "And why have I never seen you around here stranger?" She inquired brightly. "I'm a transfer student," I replied "This is actually my first day here at good old J. W. Yeardley." "Well then allow me to head the welcoming committee, I'm Amber Layne, your brand new best friend." I laughed at her contagious excitement before holding out my hand. She gave me a grin before taking my hand and giving it an enthusiastic shake. She patted the spot across from her and I sat down. "So come on buddy, lets see your schedule, I have to find out everything about you, and there's so little time." This girl's excitement was infectious, so I pulled my schedule back out and handed it to her. "Huh, evidently you and I have the same French class, and Mixed Media. A little odd since I didn't see you in either," Amber said mischievously, "Did someone get cold feet on their first day? Lukey, do you need me to hold your hand and get you to class tomorrow?" I wasn't sure if this girl was flirting or if she just this... friendly with everyone, but I figured it was best to just roll with it and make a new friend. "I'm not quite as academically inclined as my bookish good looks may lead you to believe, a couple hours of sleep seemed more important than a few classes." "Well Luca you made a good choice on where to sit, not only am I quite fabulous, but I am an academic genius ready to aid you in becoming a functional student." Amber noticed a few people were headed over to our table, and she waved at them animatedly, clearly the girl?s friendly attitude was universal. Three guys and two girls joined the table. A tall (taller then me which is saying something) boy with a head of messy dark hair and a bored, moody expression sat beside Amber, and a petite blonde girl in a pretty sundress sat beside him. A short boy with close cropped light hair in basketball shorts sat beside me, and another boy sat on Amber's other side. He was a cute guy, in a glazed over stoner way, and he swung an arm around Amber's shoulder. The last girl, a curvaceous Hispanic girl in a pair of tight jeans and a beaded top sat beside me. They all were giving me curious looks, well everyone except tall dark and broody. "Everyone, this is my new best friend Luca, he will accompany me everywhere as my newest manservant, so everyone should treat him with the respect his position deserves." Stoner boy quirked an eyebrow at her, seeming more than a little confused. "Amber, I'm not sure if you can have other manservant's," he said in a quiet voice, "It might be against the rules of dating or something." "Luca, meet my boy toy, Joey, he's not much in the brains department, with all the THC and all, but he's good arm candy. A woman needs to look good you know. The darling boy to your left is Robert, a lovely young man, but he's wasting away pining for me." "Amber is under the impression that all men exist to serve and worship her," Robert said with a grin, "She's the leading proponent of all male harems." "A woman shouldn?t limit herself, I like to keep a few pots on the stove if you catch my drift, back to the introductions though, the beauty to your right is my dearest friend Carla, she's descended from Brazilian royalty." "I thought it was Ecuadorian," Carla said, eying me a little too friendly-like "You need to keep better track of our life stories." "I can hardly keep track of my own affairs, how can I be bothered with all yours? Anyway, enough of these interruptions, I don't have time to keep dealing with your petty problems with my brilliant narrative. The innocent little waif two seat over is Katia, and beside her is her brother Piotr, those two are the last living descendants of the Romanov Family." "I've always believed I had a striking resemblance to Anastasia." Katia said with no trace of irony before looking to her brother. "Wouldn't you say I have royal features Piotr?" Piotr looked at her irritably before grunting at her. "Piotr has a policy," Katia said conspiratorially, "If he can't say something with an animal noise he doesn't bother." "That's asinine Katia" Piotr said in a gravelly, lightly accented voice, "Just because I choose to ignore your more ridiculous claims doesn't mean I'm a mute." "Wait, you're a mute?" Joey asked with the same note of confusion in his voice, "But we just had Speech class together, and you gave a three minute oral...?" Piotr shot Joey a dumbfounded look, clearly surprised by the other boy's seeming lack of common sense before uttering another grunt and turning his head away from the group. I got the feeling he wasn't legendary for his friendliness. "Piotr," Katia said, "I've invented this new thing called a joke, learn to take one." "Enough sibling love," Amber declared authoritatively, "Don't you animals want to grill my new BFF?" "Yeah," Robert agreed, "What's up new boy, where you from?" "I'm from Vale, Texas, it's a little town about two hours from Dallas." "Why the hell would you leave all that sun?" asked Carla, still appraising me. "My dad got a job offer here." Being curt was probably the best way to give her the hint. "What year are you?" Katia inquired. "Uh, I'm a sophomore, what about all of you?" "I'm a freshman," Katia answered, "Amber, Joey, and Carla are sophomores, and my brother and Robbie are juniors." "You are an athlete?" Piotr asked, his tone showing little interest in my answer. "Uh, I'm a swimmer I guess, but I'm more built for water polo, Vale couldn't field a real team though so I don't play much." "You play polo?" Robert said, seeming pleasantly surprised, "That's good news, the teams been hurting for talent this year." "Robbie is Yeardley's number one sports fan." Amber said affectionately, "He likes to think of himself as our talent scout." "A little school spirit is hardly a bad thing." Robert replied, "And as the fuehrer always says, every student should consider it his duty to offer his talents to the school." "The fuehrer?" I asked, "Did I wander into some neo-Nazi club here?" "Mrs. Oberlin, the principal," Carla explained "She's pretty intense, the Nazi comparison isn't all that hard to-" "Have you even found your locker?" Amber interrupted, "Luca here has gotten off to a good start and skipped his morning classes." "Actually no," I answered, "I hadn't bothered to head that way, I'm not even sure where it is, wherever the C hall is." "Piotr," Katia said brightly, "Isn't that right by your locker?" "It is, isn't it!?" Amber answered for him. "I'm sure your ready to do your part for the welcome wagon and show Luca his locker, aren't you my dear." The only response she got was another non-committal grunt; clearly this boy relished the opportunity to get some one on one time. The group continued to talk, occasionally asking me a question. They were friendly enough group, and they seemed happy to bring me into the fold. As the lunch period drew to an end I felt reasonably comfortable that I had made a few friends. When the bell rang everyone said their goodbyes and headed off towards their next classes. Everyone except Piotr that is, he stood leveling an indifferent glance at me. "If you want me to show you your locker come on, I don't care to be late." The warmth dripping from this guy was palpable, but I wasn't about to refuse help navigating this place so I grabbed my bag and followed my guide. Piotr walked at a pretty steady clip, and it was no easy feat to keep up with him in the crowded halls. The upside to following Piotr was I got to get a better look at him, and was it ever a nice look. Piotr was even taller then I'd thought, he was at least 6'4, and he was well built, his broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist. He also had a nice bubble butt that his tight jeans showed off well. This guy may not have been the type I'd like to deal with, but I wouldn't mind watching him walk. It didn't take to long before we were in C hall, so I pulled out my schedule and took a look at my locker number; 1193. I took a quick glance around before realizing we had stopped right by it. I wondered how Piotr knew where my locker was since he hadn't ever seen my schedule before I noticed him standing in front of locker 1191. Just my luck, tall dark and surly would be a regular facet in my life. I gave him a nod before yanking out my schedule and setting off for my sixth period class. ---------- By the time my seventh period came I was ready for it. Double photography had been one of the few reasons I thought I might enjoy attending Yeardley. I showed my schedule to the teacher, a striking woman in a colorful skirt and a black turtleneck "Hello Luca, my name is Mrs. Ferrer, I'm so glad you've chosen to take photography." She said warmly, "I'm not sure if you had any photography classes at your previous school, but I must warn you, this is a very nontraditional class. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are spent out of the class; my students check in and then head out to work on projects. I don't have a syllabus or anything with me, so for today I'll just pair you with another student so they can explain the curriculum to you. I'll put you with one of my better students so I know your not getting a half assed explanation... Ahh, speak of the devil, Luca, meet my best photographer, Piotr." 'Lucky me' I thought as Mrs. Ferrer explained the deal to Piotr. He nodded a few times, before motioning for me to follow him. We walked silently out of the room and towards the parking lot. The silence was killing me, did Piotr have something against conversation, or was it just- "Do you have a car?" He asked suddenly without even looking at me. "No," I answered, "I didn't realize it was a requirement for the class "It's not exactly, Mrs. Ferrer doesn't require us to go off campus to take photos, and she just gives us the option." We made it to the parking lot without saying anything else, and Piotr led me to his car, a beat up old station wagon, and told me to hop in the passenger side. We both climbed in and Piotr looked at me. "You don't have a camera or anything yet, but lets go to the park, I can take some photos and explain the class to you a bit." "I'm just along for the ride, whatever you had planned is fine with me." "Then the park it is." The park wasn't too far of a drive, it was probably about 5 miles away so it only took us about 15 minutes to make it there and park, but the silence made the time drag. Piotr reached around back and grabbed a camera, then opened the glove compartment and pulled out a leather wallet or something before hopping out of the car. I followed his lead and we headed towards the woods. "Mrs. Ferrer is pretty laid back," he said offhandedly, stepping over a patch of thick mud, "We're expected to turn in a three photos a week, and she usually gives us a monthly assignment to showcase whatever new techniques she's showed us." "She mentioned a syllabus, I'm just hoping I can get into the swing of things quickly enough." We walked for a while, Piotr occasionally explaining something about Mrs. Ferrer?s Photography class. Piotr seemed to be thawing slightly, I figured he was just a little tightly wound. Eventually we came to a small clearing surrounded by thick foliage. With several stumps and logs to serve as seats it was clear that this was some kind of gathering spot. Piotr sat on a tall stump before replying. "Trust me, you don't have much to worry about, double photography is a legendary blow off class, I doubt you'll get less then a B for any project." He gave me a calculating look before continuing, "I'm not sure about your preferences, but you didn't seem to appalled by Joey's constant state of stoned bliss, do you care to smoke?" Before I could agree he had pulled out a cigarette case, which I had mistaken for a wallet earlier, and opened it, pulling out a fat joint and bringing it to his lips to light it. "You don't mind do you?" "Of course not, I was actually hoping I'd meet someone with a hook-up so this is pretty great." He gave me a small grin, and I noticed a tiny chip in his front tooth that gave his smile a cute, lopsided look. He pulled a lighter out of his back pocket and lit the joint, inhaling deeply and holding the hit for a beat before exhaling slowly. "You got lucky then," Piotr said, smoke curling around his face; "Joey grows his own pot in his basement. His parents are pretty relaxed about his habits." He took another puff before passing to me, and I gratefully accepted, taking a generous hit. The sweet smoke was pleasant, and a tried blowing a smoke ring, a trick I was working on mastering. After a few warm ups I managed to blow several good, clearly defined rings. "Huh, I've never managed to learn how to blow smoke rings, I'm a little jealous." "Seriously? It's not that hard, here watch my mouth." I took another hit before forming a small o with my lips and curling my tongue, and we passed the joint a few times, Piotr trying to imitate my technique. I was enjoying myself, in fact I was so intent on showing off that I didn't even notice Piotr lift his camera and snap a picture of me. "Shit!" I yelped, "You can't go around taking pictures of people smoking, that never ends well." Piotr laughed at me, a good-natured hearty laugh this time, before reaching for the joint and explaining. "I'm not taking a picture to put in the school paper or anything, you just looked cute with your tongue curled like that, I couldn't resist." It took me a moment to realize that this guy who had said maybe five words to me during lunch was now smoking me out and calling me cute, I mean can you say complete 180? Piotr took his first hit before pulling the same face I had a few minutes before and trying to blow a ring, but he exhaled to hard and ended up blowing out all the smoke he'd taken in. "Dude, you can't blow so hard or that'll happen, hold the smoke and release it in tiny breaths, its surprisingly delicate work." He tried again and this time managed a few lopsided, but passable rings before offering the joint back to me again. I gave him a little more coaching and by the time we'd reached the roach Piotr was blowing some passable smoke rings. "Fuck." He said, "I'm pretty stoned, how about you?" "Yeah, I'm pretty baked" I replied, stretching and standing up. The sun was starting to peak out from behind the clouds, and the afternoon was warming up, so I unzipped my jacket and shrugged it off, wanting to soak up as much good weather as I could. "Hmm," Piotr said, seemingly checking me out, "I was right, your upper body is pretty well built, have you considered trying out for lacrosse?" "I've never even played, it's not exactly big where I'm from." "You have the ideal build for it, maybe if you want I could show you a bit about the game, and if you like it you could come try out for the team." "Yeah, maybe we could do that..." We both seemed to be out of things to say, and I started to take in the scenery, appreciating the thick trees and the earthy smell of the rained out woods. "Come on," Piotr said standing up as well, "We should do something, I didn't anticipate taking this long to smoke and sit around." "What did you want to do? I'm not a big expert on heavily wooded entertainment." "Are there not trees in Vale?" "Of course there are trees dudes, but not like, forests of them. This is new territory to me." He laughed again, the same loud happy laugh he'd let out after taking a picture of me before sitting back down. I realized I could really get used to hearing him laugh before sitting down as well. "Lets just take the scenery in then, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you." We sat in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the woods. I hadn't been kidding about these woods being foreign to me; the closest I've ever gotten to a forest was when I saw someone's yard with three trees in it. It was pretty awe inspiring to see the ancient trees that called this park home. "So what do you think of Amber?" Piotr asked suddenly, interrupting my reverie. "Uh, she's cool... maybe like a tad flamboyant." That earned another laugh, and I grinned at the sound. "A tad would be an understatement,? he said, still chuckling, "Amber is a special kind of woman though. How about Carla? She seems to have a thing for you." "Carla? I'm not sure how I can get the back off signals her way fast enough." "She's a bit of a man-eater I admit, but why wouldn't you be interested in her?" "Let's just say bro, she's not my type." "Oh?" he said, suddenly serious, "Am I your type?" I gaped at him for a minute, was I that obvious that he'd figured me out in the span of a few hours? I wasn't sure how I should play this off, was he trying to get me to out myself so he could hand me a beat-down? I was pretty sure I couldn't take Piotr in a fight so this could be bad... Before I could decide on a course of action he spoke again. "I'm not asking so I can like, lynch you," he said, grinning sheepishly, "More like because I'm interested maybe." I said I gaped before, but after hearing this I swear my jaw must have touched the ground. Piotr looked at me, his face falling a little bit, interpreting my shock as disgust. "I mean, I don't mean to put you in an awkward position or anything, if I jumped to the wrong conclusion or something I'm sorry, of course I understand if your a little upset, I'm not usually so forward, it's the weed, it makes my mouth move at light speed and my mind-" I cut him off by leaning forward and giving him a small peck, our lips barely brushing, but it was like an electric current ran between us. He gave me that same sheepish grin before leaning in to kiss me again. That first kiss was sweet, barely more then a peck, but this next kiss was something else entirely. Our lips met again and that same feeling struck me, I moaned a little and he wasted no time in swiping his tongue across mine. We made out feverishly for a minute before I pulled back, it was a little awkward kissing while sitting on a stump, and my more rational mind was reminding me that I'd just met the guy, and getting fucked up and hooking up with strangers wasn't really my speed. We looked at each other, both trying to get an understanding of what had just happened. Our staring contest was interrupted when something starting ringing. Piotr pulled his phone out of his pocket before whispering a "Fuck." and answering. "Katia? Yes I realize what time it is." He said, sounding gruff and more familiar, "I'm sorry, I got distracted working... Of course, I'll come by to get you... No it's no problem, and you don't need to bother Robert... Katia, I will be by in twenty minutes, and you better be there... End of discussion Katina, good bye." He hung up abruptly looking a little upset, before turning to me and letting the scowl on his face soften a hair. "I'm afraid we've been out a bit longer then I realized." He said guiltily, "You were supposed to catch a bus right?" "Yeah, but I can probably call my mom and explain I'm sure she won't mind-" "Nonsense, I don't mind giving you a ride, unless you mind riding with me?" "Uh no, of course I don't mind, I mean truth be told I'd be fine with spending a little more time with you." That made turned Piotr's gruff look into a pleased one. "I mean, shit, I mean I wouldn't mind hanging out a little longer." "Of course you do." He said with a self satisfied grin, "Come on, we need to go get my darling little sister." ********** If you liked this feel free to send me a review at ShHalloran@gmail.com, and please send whatever constructive criticism you have.