"What could have possibly led you two to pull a stunt like that?" the Principal, who I have come to know as Miss Johnson, asks us.
She looks pissed as hell, and I'm starting to regret doing Magic for Alfred in the first place.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I was getting bullied?" I answer nervously, trying to meet her piercing, brown eyes, but I was failing miserably.
She sighs, obviously trying to calm herself down due to mine and Alfred's stupidity.
"Listen, I'll take care of Rikki, Dax, and Claire, believe me, I will," Miss Johnson promises, "but from now on, no more Magic, no more Spells, and certainly no more pranks, do you two understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," I nod in agreement while Alfred just smiles.
I can already tell that he's not going to obey her rules, but that's his grave he's digging, not mine.
"Good," she nods back. "Now, run along you two, and I mean what I said. If I see you so much as twitch a finger and cause any more trouble, there will be consequences."
We nod again before standing up and leaving her office, and I truly feel like the stupid idiot that I am.
Why can't I ever take a beating? I think to myself. It shouldn't be this hard. All I wanted to do was get away from all of this. Not experience it all over again.
"School rules, am I right?" Alfred laughs.
"Excuse me?" I glare at him. "If the school didn't have rules, this would have been a lot worse than it already was! I shouldn't have even agreed to do this at all. I should have just let it go, like I had told you that I was going to do yesterday."
"Hey, at least it was fun," Alfred grins.
"Whether it was fun is not the point!" I argue. "The point is, we shouldn't have done it all. That's what Miss Johnson was saying."
"Well, you can say that you did a prank, at least," he offers, and I just shake my head with a laugh.
He was really something, but...it was a good something.
Perhaps he's going to be a great friend after all, I think to myself as we part ways to our next class.
~~~~~~
"Hey, Arthur," Rikki starts off with an awkward smile, "we're really sorry for what we did to you during the past few days."
"Yeah, we didn't mean it, and you're actually a pretty cool guy," Dax agrees.
"Since we have a group project coming up, would you like to join our group?" Claire offers, a kind smile gracing her tanned face.
"Sounds tempting, and apology accepted," I smirk as I continue writing some notes down in my notebook from the board, "but no thank you. Alfred, Madeline, and I are already a group."
"Oh, well," Rikki giggles, "if you ever want to just hang out or something, feel free to ask us."
"I'll think about it, but I'll probably be too busy with other stuff," I tell them as they walk off, almost a little sad.
"They were just being nice," Alfred laughs.
"I know," I reply, "but I like hanging out with you more."
The bell for class rings, and our teacher walks into the room and immediately starts the lesson.
I didn't want to admit it to Alfred, or the others, but ever since I had lost touch with Francine, I've never wanted to do anything fun anymore.
Not even with my new friends that I've started making here at University.
Without her in my life, I feel empty and full of nothing.
~~~~~~
"Jeez, the halls are crowded today," I point out as I see what looks to be the entire school gathered in the hallway.
"Yeah, I wonder what the fuss is about?" Alfred agrees.
"It's only because of the cutest boys ever!" a hyper girl tells us. "Oh, what I wouldn't do to touch them up close!"
I almost gag, my mind going into dark places that I don't want it to go in.
"Oooh," Alfred smirks in realization, looking at the girl. "You mean-"
"Si!" she giggles, and I can tell that she's from Italy. "They're honestly so hot!"
"Who are they?" I ask her, suddenly becoming more interested.
If they're 'to die for' like she's saying, then they must be pretty attractive.
As if on cue, three males come into my view, with a fashionable, blue-eyed blonde in the front.
All of the girls immediately start swooning over them, and I see some other guys trying not to look at them as well.
I see the blonde look at me directly into my eyes, and they start walking closer to Alfred, the girl, and I.
Too close, for my liking.
"Well, hello there," the blonde smiles at me, and I can tell that his French accent is butchering through his English.
"Um...hi?" I awkwardly reply, looking up at him.
He's tall, and attractive, so I'll give him that much.
Guys?
Not my type.
Girls?
Yes.
I may be trans, now, but I'm still straight.
I notice that his two friends are a green-eyed brunette and a red-eyed albino, and they start to close in around me.
The hallway goes dead silent, and I can feel my heart rate increase as I stand closer to the wall.
"He's so short," the brunette chuckles. "Must have bloomed late."
"I think he's scared to see us, too," the albino smirks. "Probably hasn't been in the presence of hot guys such as us."
I feel my face burn, and I can tell that the other two are just as attractive as the blonde standing before me.
"Do you have a name?" the blonde smirks, amused by my reactions to their words.
He was close, almost...too close, like before when he was walking up to me.
"Arthur Kirkland," I answer, not really sure why he was talking to me of all people.
There are cuter people around, like Alfred and the hyper girl from earlier, so why is he wasting his time and breath on me?
"Oh?" he chuckles. "So you're the 'Magical Wizard Boy' that everyone is talking about, oui?"
"I didn't know that people were talking about that still," I say with honesty.
Jeez, why can't people just keep their mouths shut about certain things?
"You're cute," he grins, putting his hand on my head and stroking some of my hair through his fingers. "Your hair is so soft, and you dress so modestly. I like that."
Creep.
Who does he think he is?
Touching me seductively like that, and without my permission, too!
"I don't think that I got your name, mate," I sass bravely. "It's not nice to touch people without their permission, either."
"You're a fighter," he laughs. "I like that. And to answer your question, Arthur, I'm Francis Bonnefoy."
"Nice to meet you," I interrupt quickly, "but I have to go to my next class now, so I'll see you around."
I get out of the small, semi-circle that him and his friends made in front of me, but I realize that a few papers are missing from my English folder.
Damn!
Right in front of everyone in the hall, too!
"I have the same class next period as you," Francis smirks, waving the papers in the air. "Why don't I walk with you?"
"If I refuse, in front of everyone, will you care?" I ask, a small grin on my face as well.
"Non, I suppose not," he answers, a little confused as the smirk on his face falters.
"Good," I smile sarcastically, taking my papers back.
I turn on my heel and walk away, leaving everyone, including him, in a stunned silence.