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“Ow!”
Miss Baker turned from the chalkboard to meet the flurry of snickers and giggles gripping her class in the wake of the exclamation. Following the gaze of her charges, the cause soon became apparent. Jeannie Simmonds had turned a rather impressive shade of red as she crossed her arms defensively across her chest while the boy at the desk behind her sat up overly straight in his seat, making an exaggerated show of innocence with childish amusement tugging at his lips.
“Settle down right now.”
Of course it was him. The boy had caused nothing but trouble since he'd joined her class.
“Karl West. Front of the class where I can see you. Now.” She scanned the rows of desks in front of her until her eyes settled on a boy who was peering over his shoulder at the goings on. “You'll be switching desks with Christopher till I can trust you to behave yourself.”
With an eye roll that only further aggravated her patience, Karl began the seemingly laborious task of gathering up his belongings, taking a frustratingly long time to do so before ‘accidentally’ knocking the book off the desk of the child beside him. Meanwhile, the boy at the front of the class obediently filled his arms with his own things. They passed each other by between the desks as the giggles and murmurs slowly died down. With a loud exhale through pursed lips, Karl took his new seat.
Trying her best to rein in her annoyance, the teacher loomed over his desk. “One more incident and I'm sending you to the Principal’s office.”
Karl remained silent for a long moment then, with a sulky, nonchalant shrug muttered “Yes, Miss.”
~*~
Josh had been engrossed in the pages in front of him right up until Jeannie’s yelp. He hadn't known the reason for it till he saw the culprit sitting there smugly in the desk beside him. A moment later, the pages were gone, his book fallen to the floor beside him. He picked it up with a sigh.
It wasn't the first time someone had picked on Jeannie. He'd heard the snickering in the schoolyard and seen her run off crying on more than one occasion. Okay, so he'd noticed that she was different from the other girls. It was difficult not to. She had… well, you know. But for some reason it hadn't made him laugh like it had the others.
Josh watched with reserved interest as the blond boy placed his things on the desk beside his own. He was dressed in clothes that seemed a little too warm, even for Fall. Blue eyes, seen in part through black framed glasses, scrutinised his new desk. As he sat down, several pencils rolled from the newcomer’s open pencil case onto the floor, eliciting a few giggles from the surrounding desks, but they quickly stopped at the sound of their teacher's raised voice.
“I said settle down!”
The blond winced then stooped down to pick them up. He grabbed two pencils with clumsy fingers then managed to inadvertently kick the last away with the toe of his sneaker, where it rolled under Josh's chair. The brunette hesitated for a moment then leaned down and grasped around till his searching hand found its shape, then lifted his head to find the blond crouching beside him. Wordlessly, Josh held out his hand, the pencil balancing on his palm. With a soft, almost embarrassed smile, the boy took it from him, bunching it up in his fist with the others. “Thanks…”
The class fell quiet and Miss Baker resumed her lesson while the blond sat down and attempted to get more comfortable in his new seat. Josh followed along, the page gradually reclaiming his attention until an instruction lifted his gaze.
“You have…” Miss Baker checked the clock, “...five minutes to prepare, so grab a study buddy.”
Josh looked around the classroom as his peers found a classmate to partner up with. Ugh, he hated this stuff. He always found someone eventually, but this awkward picking and choosing tied his stomach into an anxious little knot. Eventually his eyes settled on the newcomer beside him, only to find that he was being regarded in the very same way.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
The blond was silent for a moment as chair legs screeched against the floor around them and the chatter of their peers buzzed through the room. “You uh… um, you wanna?”
“Yeah.” Josh replied quickly.
He watched the other boy get to his feet and pull his chair over to Josh's desk. “I'm Chris.”
“I'm Joshua… Josh.” he offered up his name and the slightest of shy smiles.
Chris edged his chair closer to the desk and peered down at the open book in front of his new partner. “Did you read the chapters?”
Josh glanced down at the open copy of Charlotte’s Web. “Yeah. Did you?”
“Uh-huh.” Chris looked pretty relieved by that fact, as if such an act were a rarity, then the look faltered and he rubbed his neck through his sweater cuff. “I didn't know there was gonna be a test though.”
He went to say something but shrugged instead. They'd been told they'd be tested, but it seemed that the blond hadn't heard or perhaps hadn't bothered to listen.
Josh opened his book to the page he'd left it at. They'd only been asked to read the first three chapters, but he was ahead by a few. With a resigned huff, he smoothed down the sharp crease in the pages that had fallen victim to Karl’s exit.
“He's a jerk.” Chris murmured.
Josh glanced up at the blond, surprised by the comment. Chris was smiling at him, like he'd just shared a secret, while his eyes sought out some form of agreement. Was this a trick or something? Josh remained cautiously quiet.
“We um, we can use my book?”
Josh shook his head as he fingered the corner of one of the afflicted pages. “It's okay.”
Chris played with the pencil between his fingers and looked at Josh curiously, like he was trying to figure something out. A moment later he glanced across the classroom. “You're Hannah and Beth’s brother?”
A quizzical little smile. “Yeah…?”
Chris smiled back, pleased that his guess had been correct, “You look the same.” he brushed some strands of messy blond hair from his face.
“I'm not a twin like them though.”
“Oh. Okay.” Judging by his reply, it seemed that perhaps that was going to be the blond’s next question. Chris chewed absently at his pencil, sneakers skimming the floor and his curiosity not quite subsided, as if he still wasn’t entirely convinced by Josh’s answer.
“Back to your desks, children.”
The two boys looked at each other. It didn't feel like five minutes had passed and they certainly hadn't done any studying. Looking less than confident, Chris dragged his chair back to his desk.
Miss Baker began to ask the questions, starting with the easy ones that were obvious just from glancing at the cover. Who wrote the book? What animal was the book about? Who was the main character? Eventually the questions grew trickier and the number of raised hands dwindled until the teacher was forced to call on her students for answers.
Josh knew them, but he didn't raise his hand. He didn't want to draw attention to himself or stand out too much. He knew though, and mentally recited the answers.
“Christopher?”
The blond boy looked a little startled and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Um, what was the question again?”
Miss Baker seemed far more patient than before, now that her most troublesome student was under her watchful eye, so she indulged the question. “How many dollars did Fern sell Wilbur for?”
Josh watched Chris's brow furrow in thought as he chewed his bottom lip. “Uh…” He knew this one too, but it seemed that Chris did not.
A cough.
Chris glanced at its source, to his left. His study partner was looking straight ahead at the teacher, but he didn't miss the slight movement in his peripheral vision. Josh's hands were resting on the leg closest to Chris. All five fingers on his right hand were outstretched yet hidden from the teacher's view, while only his thumb stuck out from the fist his other hand formed. He wiggled his fingers again.
The blond blinked. “...Six?”
“Very good. Now…”
She was talking again, checking her list of questions, but neither boy was really listening now. Chris sank down in his seat a little, relaxed and relieved to be out of the firing line. The blond snuck another look to his left to see Josh peeking back at him. With the teacher distracted, Chris dared to mouth his mute thanks to the other boy and received a furtive upturn of the mouth in response.
Josh didn't need to help Chris, but what kind of study buddy would he be if he didn't? Besides, Chris was right - Karl was a mean jerk - and his new desk neighbour seemed a lot nicer than that idiot.
~*~
“Mom?”
Melinda Washington closed the refrigerator and returned to her son with a glass of OJ. She handed it to him then busied herself with unpacking the groceries. “Yes, Jellybean?”
Josh picked at the crust of bread he'd left uneaten among the sandwich crumbs on his plate. “Can I have someone over after school?”
Mel’s hands stilled inside the brown carrier. “A friend?”
Josh glanced up at her, “Yeah.” he looked down at his plate thoughtfully, “Well, yeah. I guess?”
His mother smiled down at him. The request was a rarity. “Of course, angel. Does your friend have a name?”
He frowned up at her. Everyone had a name.
“Yeah, he does.” As his thoughts returned to the blond boy, the frown became a pensive little smile, “Chris.”
~*~
“That’s so gross.”
Maybe he shouldn't have shown him. Chris sounded just like his sisters did when their faces wrinkled up with disgust. Gross. Horrible. Ew.
“I know. It's...” Josh mumbled, feeling his face grow warm, fingers fidgeting at his sides.
It's stupid.
When Chris turned to him, it wasn't disgust or boredom that dictated his expression. The blond's eyes were wide with a morbid sort of awe behind clear lenses and his mouth was open just a touch. “So. Cool.”
Josh blinked then smiled relief as Chris turned back to the movie poster.
He wasn't allowed in the home office when his dad wasn't there, but he wanted to show Chris. He'd thought about it and worried about being grounded, but there was something about the prospect of showing the other boy that twisted his arm and made him take the risk. And it seemed to have paid off.
The poster that had garnered his companion's attention dominated one of the walls, the gory image looming over them in all its lurid glory. Blood red splashes and splatters framed the movie's title text: Red Death IV: Tower of Sin
He'd heard his mom complain about the contents of this room more than once (there are kids in the house, Bob.) But to Josh it was a treasure trove of intrigue filled with dark, scary things that both horrified and drew him in, inspiring fascination and fuelling a secret compulsion.
“Your dad really made this?”
“Yeah. His name’s on it.” Josh pointed at some text along the bottom of the poster. “See?”
Chris stepped forward for a closer inspection, pushing his glasses up his nose. “So cool…” he murmured again.
Josh's smile reappeared and no small amount of pride and pleasure welled up inside him. “He's made lotsa movies. I'm not s’posed to see them but sometimes he shows me the trailers when my mom's not around.”
He found himself standing beside Chris whose attention was redirected to a glass cabinet containing old props and costume pieces. Curious fingers smudged the glass, but Josh didn't mind, too wrapped up in watching Chris's eyes dance from one item to the next.
Finally, his curiosity somewhat sated, the blond looked over at him. “All my mom's got are figurines in a cabinet. Like, dolls and stuff.” A little grin played on his lips, “Nothing like this.”
A crooked smile was given in exchange before Chris was turning again to take in the rest of the room.
“...There's more if you wanna see?”
Chris didn't reply with words but with a simple, enthusiastic nod. Wearing a mischievous smile, Josh crossed the room and opened an unassuming trunk beside the wall. He knew where the good stuff was. “Check this out.”
The trunk opened to reveal a bloody pile of limbs that left the blond staring slack jawed. “Woah…” he glanced at Josh, “Can I touch them?”
“Uh-huh.”
Chris tentatively reached into the trunk then, with his confidence growing, rooted around. With his fingers gripping wiry hair, he pulled out a severed head and his face took on the expression of someone who'd just found frogspawn in their shoes. The icky look dissolved into giggles as he dropped it back into the mess of body parts and Josh found himself giggling too.
“They're made of um… foam and..” he struggled to remember, “lay techs?” he half-asked. Then he remembered, “My dad has pictures somewhere of this guy who they made look like a zombie with makeup and stuff too.”
On hurried feet and completely forgetting the rules surrounding this particular room, Josh went to his father's desk to look for the photos in question.
He liked this. Opening up a little bit. Sharing something and having it met with such enthusiasm. Showing this stuff to someone else made him feel… good?
“Josh?”
He paused then turned, still clutching a stack of papers to his chest.
Chris was holding a rubber arm, severed at the elbow. Pulling something close to a deadpan expression, he wiggled it in the air to make it wave gruesomely at Josh. “D’you need a hand?”
The poorly executed guise of seriousness quickly evaporated, replaced by a grin that spread from ear to ear while Josh lapsed into a bout of hearty laughter.
“You're not supposed to be in here.”
The voice cut their merriment short. The door had opened while they'd been distracted and Beth stood in the doorway, peering in at them from across the invisible line separating the corridor from the forbidden realm of the office. Josh stared at her, unsure what to do. “We're just looking.”
Chris sheepishly dropped the fake arm back into the box.
Beth looked at the pair, thoroughly unconvinced. “I'm telling mom.”
And with that she started off down the corridor out of sight. “Bee!” Josh rushed to the doorway to call after her. “Beeeeeee…”
But she'd gone.
Urgh, his sisters were so stupid sometimes. They were always so quick to mess up his plans or tattletale to their mom. He hovered in the doorway uncertainly, reluctant to bicker with his sibling in front of his new companion, but eager for her to not alert their mom to his whereabouts. “We gotta go.”
After quickly returning the papers to his dad's desk and shutting the trunk, Chris followed him out to the corridor. Josh closed the door behind them and the pair ran down the hall away from the scene of their meagre crime. He listened from the top of the stairs for voices below, but heard nothing.
“Are we gonna get in trouble?” Chris looked concerned, and who could blame him? He was in another person's house with a different set of rules.
“No… no, it's okay.” Josh didn't sound entirely convincing, but he didn't want Chris to be scared off by his sister's threat, not when they were having fun. His toes bunched anxiously within his socks. It was probably okay?
When he looked at Chris, the blond boy smiled back at him, his eyes bright with relief and the shared secret of their exploits. That little look drew a breathy exhale from Josh and the ghost of a smile. He looked down at his feet. “You um... you wanna see my room?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Wearing that same small smile, Josh met his gaze. “C’mon.”
With a hesitant sort of excitement spreading through him, Josh patted Chris on the shoulder then padded along the corridor with the blond beside him.
Yes, Josh liked this. He liked it a lot.