Rotten To The Core (Sander Sides Descendants AU)

Chapter 2

For no sane reason, a part of Virgil thought things would be different. It was after all, the first day of the school year. But Isle High was just as crappy as he remembered it. The walls were covered in graffiti, the lights were dim and only half of them even worked, and the whole place smelled like garbage.

Maybe it's better this way, he thought. A garbage school for living garbage.

Getting shoved to the ground on the in proved him right. The kids who did it laughed at him and ran off, while standers-by merely ignored him. Virgil huffed, picking himself up by muscle memory. He continued on to his locker, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Once he arrived, he let out a sigh of relief. Normally, he would run into trouble before making it this far, so maybe the universe had cut him a break.

"Hey loser!" Virgil got slammed fully into the wall.

Maybe not.

Giles laughed uproariously and took a step back, crossing his arms. Virgil rubbed his sore arm and glared at him. His eyes widened, however, when he saw two lackeys with his attacker. Not to mention, Giles had gotten considerably buffer over the summer. It figured, considering who his dad was.

"How was the summer, Virgin?" Giles spit at him, causing his minions to cackle, "I broke my punching bag, so I've been looking for a new one!" He swung a fist at Virgil, which he barely managed to avoid.

"Look, Giles." Virgil said tiredly, "It's our first day. Can't you just leave me alone?"

"And do what? Study like your nerdy friend?" Giles and his lackeys laughed.

Virgil smirked, "Yeah, you need to know how to read to study."

It took a moment, but Giles face morphed from confusion to pure rage. He grabbed Virgil's hoodie, pinning him up against his locker roughly and breathing on his face. "You think you're better than me? You're nothing. You're weak!" He slammed Virgil against the locker again, Virgil letting out a little cry this time. Gile's lackeys egged him on.

"Excuse me, but it's against school rules to roughhouse in the halls. I recommend you unhand him." Giles, Virgil, and the lackeys all turned to see a neatly dressed young man holding a book in one hand and adjusting his glasses with the other.

Giles snorted, "Oh look, the nerd came along to save the damsel in distress!" Virgil's face heated up at that.

"I'm merely stating facts. You are causing a ruckus in a public area."

"Look around, Brain!" Giles unhanded Virgil and gestured around the halls wildly, "No one cares about your stupid rules!" It was true. All around, kids were smoking, vandalizing, and skipping class.

"That statement is incorrect. I believe I've made clear that I care. Therefore, since I am someone and not no one, you are wrong."

Giles blinked in shock. Then, he furrowed his brows and advanced towards the newcomer. "Why, you little-"

In a flash, Giles greasy ponytail burst into blue flames. The bully screeched and knocked over his friends trying to put it out. The guy with the glasses held up a hand encased in similar blue flames, except they didn't seem to hurt him at all.

"Like I said," he spoke monotonously, "No roughhousing." He closed his fist, putting out the flames both on his and Giles' person. Giles and his lackeys scampered away quickly, the bully wailing all the way.

Virgil snickered. "Doesn't setting someone aflame count as roughhousing, Lo?"

Logan shrugged, "Not according to my definition. Although, I may have overlooked the fire code."

"Thanks."

"You are welcome. Any injuries?"

"Only bruises. Don't worry about it." Virgil groaned. Logan nodded, and opened up his book to resume reading. Virgil lightly smiled as he opened his locker. Logan was pretty much his only friend in the world, and ended up coming to his rescue a lot, even though Virgil wished he didn't have to. It was a wonder they were even friends in the first place. Virgil was a loner, emo kid who nobody knew or cared about, and Logan was a smart, scientific guy who most Isle kids were scared to go near. Maybe they were friends because they didn't have any other friends. All in all though, Logan was a cool guy, way too cool for their school, Virgil thought.

"You must do a better job of avoiding confrontation, Virgil."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like, I'm just letting Giles find me and beat me up."

"You know what I mean." Logan admonished him, "Make less of a target of yourself."

"Easy for you to say." Virgil replied, "You're no one's target."

"Only because everyone knows who my father is."

"Yep, Hades, Lord of the Dead, whoop dee frickin doo."

"So, if you tell Giles your mother is-"

"None of his or anyone else's business!" Virgil slammed his locker shut, earning glares from passersby. Logan stared at him, eyes wide. Virgil realized what must be happening and brushed his bangs over his eyes as he dashed away to the bathroom.

When he arrived, he made sure no one was around and then wet over to the mirror, pushing his bangs out of the way. His normally dark eyes shown bright green with narrow snake-like pupils staring back at him. He squeezed them shut, trying to calm down, but all he could think about were stupid Giles and stupid school and his mom. His breathing hitched when he felt someone touch him, but he calmed a bit when he felt their hand rub circles into his back. He began breathing deeply, letting his bad feelings wash away. When he opened his eyes, they were back to normal, and Logan was standing behind him.

"My apologies." Logan began, "I did not mean-"

"It's okay. It's really okay." Virgil said quickly, "I just... I can't tell anyone. I can't."

"Then I'll bother you about it no further." Logan replied, "Now, I believe it's time for class."

Virgil let out a small laugh, "Lo, you're the only person I know who likes class."

"Correction: I'm the only person you know."

"Touche."

The two exited the bathroom and headed their separate ways for their first classes.

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A/N: I'm perpetually tired, guys. Just in a constant state of wanting to sleep and not being able to. How did I do though? I like writing Virgil and Logan as buddies, it's fun. I'm crying for Virgil, he doesn't deserve the hell I'm putting him through. This isn't even the worst of it. Lol, am I foreshadowing? Whoops.