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Chuck rocked his chair back and forth. The class was full and there wasn’t any free seats near his friends so he had to go to the back of the class. There were a few seats left so Chuck decided on plopping down next to this quiet nerd kid. Okay, he was on the same year as Chuck but he was still a kid. So, sat next to a quiet kid who was frantically writing something in his notebook, Chuck had absolutely nothing to do but to rock on the edge of his chair and look bored. Bored but cool. The teacher babbled something in the front of the room and set some papers to go through the class room.
Chuck looked at the nerd kid without turning his head too much. Not that he would have noticed, he was too focused on his writing. Chuck knew his name: Raleigh. They had been in a few same classes, they once had to do a science project together in a class. Raleigh had been really outgoing then, he had jumped around and basically worshipped his older brother, who then got hurt or something, and Raleigh had practically turned into a different person. Not that Chuck had been watching him quietly when his friends chatted around him and Raleigh happened to pass them, not at all, or when they had the same class he didn’t choose to sit next to him or anything.
The papers reached them as the kid in front of them slapped the papers on Raleigh’s desk. Chuck waited for Raleigh to finish his sentence and hand the papers forward, but he just started another one. Chuck wasn’t very patient and when he got the chance to talk to someone he wanted to talk to, he wasn’t going to let it pass.
“Hey, fuckface. The papers, you idiot”, he spat out and slammed the desk. Raleigh didn’t flinch much, just raised his eyes from the notebook.
“You slow or what?” Chuck said.
“What’s the hurry?” Raleigh asked calmly, still not handing the papers to him.
“I’m so fucking excited to start working in this class, man.”
“Sure.”
Chuck tried to lean past him to get the papers, but the desks were slightly separated to he could only brush them with his fingertips. Raleigh shoved him away and Chuck almost fell off his chair. He stared at him for a moment before leaning over again but this time shoving him back. He looked like he was going to punch him right in the face and Chuck was prepared to brawl on the floor of the room in front of everyone, but the teacher ran across the room to them.
“Stop it! Stop it, this the first lesson, boys!”
“Well he didn’t –“
“I don’t want to hear it. You know getting physical is strictly forbidden, so off to the principal’s it is.”
“But –“ Chuck protested. The teacher just moved and pointed at the door. Chuck took a cool expression and pushed his chair from under him and stood up. He swung his backpack to his shoulder and left the room with applause and whistles from his friends. He winked at them and tried to play it cool. He marched to the principal’s office without looking back, but once he was there, he turned to see Raleigh just behind him. They stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Okay. What do we say?” Chuck asked.
“We’re over it. Boys will be boys, something”, Raleigh shrugged.
“Right. We’re all good”, he said before knocking on the door. It opened and the principal rubbed his face when he saw Chuck. He just flashed a smile.
“Morning, sir. We were sent here by Mrs. Cullen”, Chuck said charmingly. The principal, old man with grey beard and glasses waved them in. Chuck and Raleigh sat down in front of the principal’s desk.
“What now? Don’t tell me you got into a fight”, the principal said tiredly.
“It was nothing. Just a bit of rough-housing”, Raleigh said carelessly. He knew how to play this better than Chuck, the teachers liked him and he had good grades. Chuck was a troublemaker, with his jockey jacket and countless of girls around him. He was charming, sure, but teachers knew his type. They thought he was as dumb and assholish as his friends, but they didn't know he was actually struggling. Nothing big, nothing he couldn’t hide, just trying to look as tough and rough as he could to stop people from seeing who he really was.
"Rough-housing so rough your teacher sent you here?" the principal asked.
"Anything is enough to get people sent here, prof", Chuck said and stretched his legs.
"Well then, boys. I want you to shake hands and make it up, okay? I'll let you off the hook with that this once", the principal said. "So..."
Chuck looked at Raleigh. They both disliked the idea of touching each other, clearly, that was so obvious it couldn't be more obvious. But they got up and Chuck grabbed the hand stretched out for him. They leaned close and bumped their shoulders together, all the while trying to squeeze the other's hand harder. The principal let them go with that, and quietly they walked out of the room. They got about halfway to the class before Chuck opened his mouth.
"You're still a shithead", he said. Raleigh snorted.
"Fucking cunt", he said.
"Me? You’re a shitty... dickhead", Chuck said. "You look like you crawled out of a pile of shit and oversized sweaters."
"You insulting my clothes with that jacket? It's practically the clearest sign there is that someone's an asshole", Raleigh said. "And fucking stupid. Apparently you can't be athletic and clever at the same time."
"Yeah, and apparently you can't be anything but a fucking nerd", Chuck said, his face heating up. Raleigh stopped and they stood a bit too close to each other, both angry and ready for another fight. Raleigh looked tough, his hand squeezing his backpack, and he clearly wasn’t afraid of Chuck. It felt a bit like a current of electricity running through him.
"At least I'm a decent human being", Raleigh spat out.
"I don't care if I'm decent. You're... you're like a fucking..."
"At least I'm clever", Raleigh said.
"Yeah, maybe, and a fucking idiot. You think I might stupid?" Chuck sneered.
"Not really, you’re just - kind of - cool."
"....cool?"
"As in an asshole way", Raleigh added.
"Well, yeah, chicks think it's attractive", Chuck said, utterly confused but determined to say something.
"It is. I mean - you're still a fucking idiot but - yeah", Raleigh said.
"Well, you are too", Chuck stammered.
"Cool, attractive or an idiot?" Raleigh asked.
"All", Chuck admitted. They stared at each other for a few seconds, still very close to each other and both swaying a bit as if they weren't quite sure where to go from here. Adrenaline was still running through Chuck, burning his veins. Maybe that was what was going through Raleigh’s mind too when he suddenly closed the distance between them and kissed him.
It was sure surprising, but he couldn't say it was unpleasant. The opposite, actually. It was a bit rough, both trying to go for dominance, and in the end Chuck lost. It left him way more flustered than the fight, the slide of lips and hands grabbing, in the end him against the lockers with their backpacks on the floor next to them. When Raleigh finally pulled away from the relentless kiss, Chuck decided it didn't matter if he looked a bit out of it. Again, they stopped to look at each other.
"Okay. Uh, nice", Chuck said. Raleigh burst out laughing.
"Yeah. Nice", he said. "How about we stick with cool and attractive."
"Fine with me", Chuck nodded.
"Wanna go back to class?" Raleigh asked.
"Nah. How about we go make out in some closet or something?" Chuck suggested.
"Let's go."