< HSoS 97 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 99 >
< HSoS 104 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 99 >
Antares The hall is crowded a few minutes before the first period bell, but there's a little bubble around Antares--although maybe that's just because of the vacant locker next to hers. Regardless, she's leaning against both it and hers, slouched forward with her wet hair hanging down to shadow her face.
Altair walks towards the vacant locker, toying with an unlit cigarette between his fingers as if to dare people to take it away from him. He walks into the bubble... and slams both his hands on the lockers on each side of her! "Hi."
Antares Her head snaps up, scabbed bruise on her temple and dark circles under her eyes becoming visible. She had been staring down, expressionless, but now her eyes spark as if welcoming trouble. "You lost?" Her tone suggests that would be a good idea.
Altair "Are YOU?" He grins, not backing off in the least.
Antares A couple of passing girls cast sidelong looks at Altair, one of them whispering to the other, "Heard he's loaded...!" Antares straightens up from her slouch, leaning forward a bit. "This is a bad fuckin' day to get in my face," she says, baring her teeth in a grin.
Altair "Well, every day is a bad day to get in my face, so maybe you should get the cazzo away from MY locker," He leaned foward as well, their foreheads almost touching, his grin feral... and then less, closer, almost a kiss "Or I'll just give you JUST what you want..."
Antares Her eyes glint and she doesn't move her face back from the too-close stance. "Son, you couldn't give me what I want if you took all night."
Antares "Now, you want your locker and not my fist in your face, you move your goddamn arm." First bell buzzed, and the halls began to clear.
Altair chuckles. "Go under it, Donniciola."
Antares balls up one fist, with a grin like it was unexpectedly Christmas--then something catches her eye in the dispersing group of people at the end of the hall, and quick as a flash she ducks under his arm to walk the other way, leaving school supplies and trouble with Altair both behind her for later.
Altair watches her go and shakes his head, opening his locker and emptying questionable contents from his bag into it as he sees her vanishing down the hall. "Nice to meet ya!" He shouted out as she neared a corner or a classroom.
Antares flips him the bird without slowing, then ducks into class.
Altair laughed, his laugh filling the halls, though he didn't follow. However, when she did return to her lockers he was not there... but he DID appear at her side, slamming his shoulder in his own locker. "So, how's class? Fun?"
Antares "Real fuckin' party," she says, throwing open her own locker and ignoring the books inside to take out a candy bar. "What's your problem, rich kid? They don't speak 'back the fuck off' in your country?"
Altair "Some do. Most just run from it, you know. Like you." He flashed a grin. "C'mon, now. You didn't even pay attention to class, you're just thinkin' about whatever the cazzo is eating you. It's an american thing to bottle it all up and then begin shooting everyone on sight, apparently."
Antares rolls her eyes, turning aside with a look like she's too tired to bother, then freezes when he makes the last crack. "What did you say?"
Altair crosses his arms, craning his head,
Altair crosses his arms, craning his head, "That you're just bottling it up like a good american? And then I guess you'll get a gun from daddy or a dealer to shoot everyone in the school? Or just shoot yourself? That's what you guys DO, it seems, I haven't been here for a single day and some idiot put a bullet in her head already."
Antares drops what she was holding without another word and grabs his shirtfront with one hand--her knuckles are scraped and battered--jerking him toward her as she brings her knee up viciously at his gut.
Altair doubles over a bit. His gut is a HARD thing for Antares to punch. "Owwww..." The hall stopped. Everyone was looking at Antares, 'Ohmygod', 'He'sgonnakillher', 'someonecallateacher!' "owww... heeeheeh." He slipped from her grasp and crashed his back on one of the lockers. Laughing. LAUGHING.
Altair "There's hope for you yet!"
Antares Antares, her free fist pulled back for another blow, pauses with a slightly incredulous look on her face--but she also seems to be looking at him, rather than through him, for the first time. "The fuck's wrong with you?" she inquires almost politely.
Altair is still laughing, everyone staring at both of them with eyes wide as saucers. "Well, you aren't shooting anyone, that's for sure!" The bell rings. He straightens himself out and grabs her arm, "C'mon, if you wanna know. Not like you're gonna pay attention to whatever cazzata they spout in class anyway."
Antares casts a glower around at the crowd, and several people look uncomfortable and turn away. She winces a bit when he grabs her arm, looks briefly torn, then her visible loathing at the prospect of going into another classroom takes over. "Fuck it. Let's go."
Altair 'Ohmygod, is he going to kill her?' 'No, no, they're totally going to fuck!' 'Wait, wasn't she seeing Furud?' 'Should we call someone?' He took a little bag from his locker and pulled her out of the hall, looking over his shoulder, "So, where's a good place to skip class?"
Antares "I heard his family's in the mafia or something." "God, I don't think the whole country's in the mafia." Antares ignored the grinding noise of the rumor mill starting, pausing only to slam her own locker and retrieve her candy bar breakfast from where she'd dropped it. "Taco stand down a couple blocks, gym roof's closer," she rattled off as if she hadn't just transferred back a week ago....
Antares ... Serious slackers had to learn these things fast.
Altair "Roof." He nodded, walking towards it, ignoring anyone who might tell them otherwise. As soon as they were outside of the main building he took a cigarette pack and handed it to her, "Want one?"
Antares grunts and waves off the cigarette, busy wolfing the candy bar like it's her first meal in a week. Then she changes her mind. "Gimme. Wait, hold onto it." She digs around in the pockets of her army jacket, extracts the copied key, and lets them out onto the roof. Immediately outside she seems to breathe a little clearer, tilting her face up to the sky.
Antares "So what's your deal?" she says with closed eyes, holding her hand out for the cigarette.
Altair pulls out a lighter, a very fancy one in black and gold, lighting hers' and his'. "That's the big question, isn't it?"
Antares "If you can't answer, it means you've got nothin' to say. So what's your excuse for still living?" She blows smoke in his direction, the dead look back in her eyes.
Altair "Whatever. Fun. Games. Isn't that for YOU? You were near my locker, looking as if someone had just killed your puppy. And honestly, you needed to fuckin' hit something." He walked back to the rails, leaning on it, as if he was about to fall. "... and there's that again. You wanna know what's up with me? I hate seeing people wallowing on self-pity."
Antares looks at him, her eyes narrowing a bit. "I remember you. Two summers ago, you crashed that Maserati into Johnstone's station wagon. I heard all about it from--the friend I was crashing with. You think you know a lot about what people need?"
Altair A shadow goes over Altair's eyes, and he blows his smoke to the sky. "Maybe he needed that. I sure as fuck thought he did." He took off the cigarette, covering his face in his left hand for a moment, "But his son didn't, ok?"
Antares "No? Seems to me like you shoulda bottled it up like a good American, waited a few years and shot yourself instead. But, hey, what do I care, right? Johnstone's an asshole." The mean smile is back, hard and flinty in her eyes.
Altair "Ain't that the truth. And now I'm stuck his fuckin' private hell so the cacasenno can screw me over." He sighs. "I guess I deserved that. And I don't have a reason to bottle it up. It was a MISTAKE."
Antares "Yeah, you deserved it," she says judiciously, then shrugs and seems to let some of the anger go. "Anyway, Johnstone's been in the hospital for a couple of days, but he'll be back for you to take another shot at."
Altair laughs. It is a sad, sad laugh, agreeing with her assertion that he, indeed, deserved it. "Oh? What happenned to the old bastard? Someone finally got the guts to shoot him?"
Antares "You think everything's about guns here? Man, you watch too many movies." To avoid the question she looks at him with narrowed eyes, smirking a bit. "Is your older sister back too? Furud said he really missed her."
Altair narrows his eyes shooting a glare of bloody murder to Antares. He proceeds to pick a bottle of wine from his bag and take a long gulp from it, as if to clean some bitter taste left in his mouth. "Still back home. He'll be disappointed."
Antares watches him him drink with a brief cold appraising look, as if deciding whether she's inflicted enough return damage to make up for his jab about Maia. She shrugs after a moment, leaning on the rail herself. "Johnstone ran into a door, I guess."
Altair "Must have been a heavy door." He offers the bottle, though the camaraderie he'd shown before was gone.
Antares "Yeah, well, that's why people should watch where they're walking." She takes the bottle and drinks, her hand shaking a bit.
Furud There is a scraping noise from back where they'd come from, and movement. In a moment, Furud appears around the edge of the door, dressed in black as usual, but looking pale and exhausted. His hair falls down over his face, and he heads for his usual sulking spot before noticing that there are people on the roof with him. For a moment, he smiles. "Antares, I didn't think you'd be up here yet." His gaze shifts to the one accompanying her, and he stares, trying to place him.
Antares "Oh hey, it's the International Manwhore of Mystery himself." She salutes Furud with her cigarette, though there's a flicker of a real smile in her eyes.
Altair "No one ever does." He looks at her, "Though I'm willing to bet it's got something to do with your cacasotto of a frie..." he stop as he sees Furud, the bottle is out of Antares' hand and swung towards Furud. And NOT in a friendly fashion.
Furud "Oh fuck!" He stumbles backwards, lifting his arms to fend off the bottle. "What the fuck!"
Antares "Shit!" Gamely, she grabs Altair from behind, trying to pull him back.
Altair shoves Antares aside! "Let GO of me! You're DEAD, Furud. DEAD."
Furud "Get in line!" He gets over his intial shock, and an angry fire lights in his eyes. "It's a long damn line and I don't fucking need you right now! Go back to your mommy"
Antares stumbles against the railing and hangs on for a moment, swaying. "Oh, great, bring his mom into it," she mutters with an eyeroll, ignoring that she sort of instigated this one.
Altair "FUCK YOU." He rushes towards Furud, his jacket out and thrown on the other man's face before the punch comes! "You've had this coming!"
Furud runs towards him, his stride off-kilter as he favors his left leg, and stumbles again as the jacket hits him. It takes precious seconds to try to get it off his face, and the punch knocks the breath from him. He gasps for breath, gritting his teeth. "That... the best... you can do?" He flings a wild punch at Altair's gut. "I haven't... been... worked over nearly enough yet this week."
Antares Leaning heavily against the waist-height rail, Antares is about to push off to jump back in, then pauses to wipe the blood dripping from her nose. "Oh fu--" she says, then slumps over as her hand slips, leaning far over the edge.
Altair doubles over, farther than he had when Antares hit him, striking Furud back with a headbutt. "You... still... hit like a girl." He pulled his shirt and was about to him again when he saw Antares, and stopped, his face going blank.
Altair "HOLD ON!" He cried out, running towards her... a little oddly, with Furud's punch hitting JUST right.
Furud starts to growl a reply when he notices her out of the corner of his eye. "Antares! No!" He runs, pushing himself to reach her in time - in time, this time, please! - and they reach Antares' side at the same time.
Antares "M'head's on fi--" she mumbles, pitching backwards.
Altair holds her arm, his hand around and Antares holding her together, and he breathed a sigh of relif - in time, this time, thank god. - as he helped her up, being stronger than he looks. He was pale, he was shaking.
Furud grabs hold of her other arm, and pulls her head against his chest, "It will be okay... it'll be okay..." He's not sure if he's telling her, or himself.
Altair sits down, his back against the rail, shaking still, holding his hand with one hand, silent.
Antares "Ooh. Woah." After a few seconds Antares pulls back, blinking groggily. Then she squints at both of them. "When did you stop kicking each other's asses?" she says, her eyes still a little off-focus.
Altair "... sorry." Almost, almost again. Almost someone dying because of him again. STUPID.
Furud blinks, his eyes suspiciously shiny, and clears his throat. "We uh. You know. We're taking a break. Are you ok?"
Antares "'M fine." She wipes again at her nose, frowning. "Third goddamn one since last ni... uh. Yeah, I'm fine. Jesus Furud, don't be such a girl." Embarrassed, she scoots back against the railing, sitting sullenly--then she smiles, brief but brilliant. "Beats going to class, right?"
Furud nods and lets go, a tad reluctantly, then turns back to Altair. "Are you still gonna try to kill me, because I could really use a break right now."
Altair begins to giggle, then begins to laugh, a weird, deranged laugh. "No, No, I won't."
Furud "Thanks." He smiles a little, a little unnerved by his laughter. Then he slumps down against the railing, glancing occasionally over at Antares.
Antares "Great. You two can swap fuckin' friendship bracelets later." She leans back, closing her eyes. "'M Antares, by the way," she adds to Altair. "Sorry about the... oh, fuck it. Look. Just don't ever goddamn joke about Maia goddamn shooting herself again, okay? Not where I can hear you."
Altair "So she's your friend." He nods. "Well, that explains a whole fucking lot."
Furud "What? What'd he say?" He's back to anger now, though it's at a low burn.
Altair lights a cigarette, still shaking. "What do you THINK I said, loverboy?"
Antares "Why did you say it, anyway?" She's curious enough now to open her eyes and look at Altair sideways. "People lookin' to pick fights their first week don't do it with girls," she adds with the decisive air of an expert.
Furud "Somethin' about her 'having it coming' or some shit?"
Altair "I told you. You looked depressed. You looked blue." He blows the smoke away. "Punching something - ANYTHING - always helps." He begins to laugh a bit, once again, "Isn't that how you feel? Powerless? As if there isn't anything you can do about... whatever it is? And all that you want is for there to be someone, SOMETHING you can... do something about."
Antares "He said she was an idiot for doing it," she says softly in answer to Furud, staring at her clenched hands as Altair speaks.
Altair "You're saying she wasn't?"
Furud "you have no idea."
Altair "The first thing I'd do is punch her and tell her she's an idiot. She sought the easy way out, not knowing - not THINKING - that you two would be left a wreck on its wake. How smart is that?" He points the cigarette to Furud, "By the way, your lip's bleeding."
Antares "She looked like a doll, all flopped over. I've never seen her look that small." Antares stares into space, barely hearing the two of them.
Antares (temple's bleeding)
Furud looks away, reaching up to touch his temple, his fingers coming away wet with blood. He shudders, seeing Maia's temple - bone white, blood red - "Fuck. Yeah.. she was selfish maybe, but the jury's still out on smart."
Altair "See? SEE?" He points to Antares. Angry at whoever made that girl get so...
Antares frowns over at the bleeding Furud, reaching up with one slightly scorched jacket cuff to dab at it. "Look," she says to Altair. "The thing with Maia... you don't want to get involved."
Altair "Too late." He sighs. "It's not like there's anything more interesting around here, anyway."
Altair "So, why DID she do it?"
Furud "Thanks," he mutters to Antares. "Ask her yourself."
Altair "That's a little hard right now, isn't it?"
Antares pushes up to her feet, scowling. "I gotta go. I don't make half my classes today, they'll probably try calling my mom."
Altair "And your mom will say your friend just shot herself in the head, I imagine. Sit down."
Altair "She gave you at least this much."
Antares laughs at that, a little harsh, not sitting but turning around to walk backwards away from them. "She was pissed enough to kick me out of the house, before the thing with Maia. I just don't want to deal with it right now."
Altair "... I guess." He looked at her going. "I just wanted to help, y'know."
Furud "Dream on."
Altair "Shut up. You."
Antares "You can't, but it's okay. Thanks, I guess." She smiles crookedly and throws him a salute, disappearing into the door to the stairs for half a second before swinging back out. "You still want to kill each other, do it somewhere else. Don't turn a good hideout into a fucking crime scene." Then she's gone again.
Altair "So." He looks at Furud, "You were right. The US sucks."
< HSoS 97 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 99 >
< HSoS 104 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 99 >
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