Chapter Text
The blond propped his brown boots up onto the desk of his principal and leaned back in his chair. Glancing at the clock on the wall, there was a voice from outside just as the hand struck twelve.
“Told yah she’d be on the dot, Freddy.” Hugo mused and watched the man internally groan. He could tell from how he furrowed his eyebrows and his mustache twitched.
“Young man, you are to address me as-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as the door flew open and in walked a tall woman with long gray hair tied back into a low bobble braid. She wore baggy cargo pants that were held up by a black belt, black tank top, and had a green jacket half falling off one shoulder. Her eyes were piercing, like she brought a cold front wherever she went. Most notable about her were the two scars slashed across her right cheek. The principal quickly ducked his eyes, they darted around the room as he tried to figure out where to look.
“Ah yes, Mrs-”
“You wanna tell me why you called me out of work today?” Her tone was sharp and snippy. The man looked over at the boy with this smug expression like he was sure he was going to get a hell of a punishment for this one. Hugo gave his mom a little wave.
Frederick sat down and so did Donella who positioned herself just on the edge of her seat with a stiff back, she gave Hugo’s shoes a forcible shove and had him sitting up correctly.
“I have multiple reports over the last few months of your son repeatedly disrupting his classes,” The man pulled out yellow slip after yellow slip from his folder, watching as Donella scanned over them, “This kind of behavior is unacceptable at Corona High-”
“Why?” Donella looked up and started to organize the papers into a neat little pile on the desk. The man’s face fell.
“Wh-why? Disrespectful behavior is-”
“I’m not asking why is it unacceptable. I’m asking why he’s being written up,” She shuffled through the pile she had made, “All these reports are for talking out of turn or interrupting class. Did you ask him why?”
The man just stared at her, almost dumbfounded before Donella sighed and turned towards Hugo, gesturing for him to explain. He shrugged and crossed his arms, leaning back against the armrest.
“It’s boring. I already read about all this shit in the library.”
“Language,” Frederik warned but Donella just shrugged him off. She turned back to Frederick and arched a brow.
“Well, you heard him. And from his grades he’s right. He’s aceing science and math.”
“He's disruptive for other students who aren’t keeping up. Maybe your son thinks it’s acceptable to push the class faster because he is bored but that isn’t fair to others.”
Pausing for a moment, Donella considered that point and Hugo saw the gears in his mother’s brain turning. “Alright, have him skip the classes and move up a grade then.”
She said matter-of-factly and started to get up, already heading for the door before Frederick called out to her.
“Wait- Mam in order to study at an accelerated level here students need to be excelling in all subjects. Your son is exceptional at math and science but his history is average and his English is even falling behind. Not to mention his 504-”
“My son’s 504 has nothing to do with his intellectual capability.” She interjected and spun around on her heel. His mother was pretty cool and collected most of the time, but when there was this spark in her eyes it could make someone’s stomach do three flips before settling down again. “You understand that’s a stupid rule, right?”
“Excuse me?”
She sighed and walked back over, leaning on the back of what was her chair. “Some students are exceptional at all subjects, but most are not. You want to hold back kids who are amazing at the liberal arts because they’re weak in STEM and vice versa? And you expect them not to be bored?”
“That’s just the rule here, Mam. I can’t change that.” Sighing, Donella nodded. Frederick gave Hugo this look like he won before Donella gestured for Hugo to get up and follow her. He did quickly, grabbing his things and heading for the door with her.
“Very well then, what do we say about rules, Hugo?”
“Only break the ones you can get away with!” Donella half smiled and affectionately cupped the back of his head. She dropped her grin when she turned back to Frederick, opening the door for her son.
“That too, but I was going for- If you don’t like the rules of the game, play a different game. I’ll be pulling him out. Have a day.”
She stepped outside the office and took Hugo’s bookbag from him, swinging it over one shoulder as she walked down the hall.
“Did you mean have a good day?”
“No.” Donella flatlined and glanced over to see the absolute joy on Hugo’s face as they walked out into the parking lot. He jumped in excitement and pumped his fist in the air.
“Does this mean I don’t have to go back to school?”
“Are you insane?” She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes, unlocking the door to her pickup and hopping in the driver’s seat, tossing Hugo his bag to hold. “I’m enrolling you at Eternal Prep. You have the numbers to get in. They have a great individualized curriculum. You’d have more opportunities there.”
Hugo blinked for a second as she turned on the keys to their truck, hearing the engine spur to life as they started to drive out of the school parking lot. “Are you serious? With all the rich prissy kids?” He made a gagging sound and pushed his seat back lower so he could almost lay down.
“I’ll die in there, Don!”
“You’ll die at Corona High if those shit teachers don’t give you the learning you need. So enjoy your week vacation from school and then get prissy.”
Hugo huffed and turned on the radio, groaning when the cheesiest song played, and quickly shuffled the music around.
“Hey, remember Hugo. They’re just kids whose parents have money. That doesn’t make them any better than you.”
He sighed and nodded, rolling down the windows to let the breeze in. Taking a breath that reached down into the deepest parts of his lungs, Hugo smiled softly and leaned over. He put his hand on top of Donella’s which was resting on the center armrest. Her hand was cold so he gently patted the back before slipping his fingers between her own.
~~
Adjusting his tie for the tenth time in the visor mirror, he sighed to himself as Donella pulled into the parking lot to drop him off. All around were other kids dressed in the same colors, heading up to a building made out of teal glass that almost glowed with light. It even looked prissy, which was something Hugo didn’t realize a building could do.
“You’re messing it up again just- let me.” She parked quickly, their car stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of luxury brands. Leaning over, Hugo straightened up as Donella made tying a tie look like child’s play and finished in less than a minute. She pulled his collar down neatly and straightened out the rest of his uniform.
“How did you-”
“Don’t worry about it. Now, Hugo,” Taking his hands into her cold ones, Hugo stared down at her fingers. They were long and slightly knobby, the hands of someone who was a craftsman. And his mom was in a way. They were cold and always seemed to ground him when he was panicking. He used to say they were like built-in ice packs. “What do you do if someone’s mean to you today?”
“Tell them to stick their designer bag so far up their ass they’re picking real leather out of their teeth.”
There was a bout of silence before Donella snickered, covered her mouth with one hand, and leaned back. Hugo always noticed how when she covered her face her hand reached further to her right but he never mentioned it. He wouldn’t ruin one of the rare times his mother was laughing, this sound that came from down inside her so much so that he knew she meant it.
“Oh my god I- I was going to say walk away but yes do that. That’s so much better.” Giving him a little shove, Hugo opened the door to the truck and stepped out.
“I’ll be here later to pick you up. Have a good day.”
“Bye, Don!”
He closed the door and turned, shifting his backpack as he walked up the steps to the school. For the most part, things went rather smoothly. Who knew at a school for loaded smart kids bullying wasn’t exactly a thing. No one picked on the nerds because- well they all were.
He kept his head down for the most part, well- still up enough to see what interesting rich kid toys the other students brought in. Not because he wanted to steal them though, or not just because he wanted to steal them.
Walking by the school bulletin board, a sign caught Hugo’s eye as he pulled himself to the side and squinted at the letters. Science club, oh cool- Suddenly he was bumped hard from behind and his glasses knocked off his face.
“What the- hey!” He snapped and spun around with his arms up like he was anticipating some sort of punch or hit to the face. That’s what growing up on the streets did to a kid, or being a brainiac in public high school. But squinting around he didn’t see a looming figure and diverted his gaze down to a blur of black hair.
“I’m so sorry!” The shorter boy exclaimed and scurried around Hugo, grabbing his glasses off the ground, checking to make sure it wasn’t broken, and opened them, putting them back onto Hugo’s face for him. He blinked when the world came back into focus again, and then went out of it in a completely different way.
Woah- that was an incredible shade of blue. He blinked at the boy in front of him and his blue streak of hair that Hugo found oddly amusing. How long had he been staring? And why did the axis of the world suddenly shift so that everything around them was spinning out of focus compared to the boy who was standing there in utter clarity?
“Oh um hi uh-”
“I’m Varian!” The boy said in this dorky voice that made Hugo’s lips pull into a grin. It looked smug with how lopsided it was but really he was starstruck. Varian gave him a toothy smile and stuck out his hand, Hugo just stared at it for a moment before quickly reaching out and taking it, giving it a little shake.
“I’m- I’m Hugo.”
“Oh yeah! You transferred here right?” Maybe he was just imagining things but it really felt like the other kid gave his hand a small squeeze before letting go. Blood rushed to his ears and he felt his heart racing in his chest, every beat sending ripples through him. So much so that Hugo was actually worried about Varian feeling his pulse through his hand.
Still, Hugo stiffened slightly before leaning back against the bulletin board. What did Don always say about attraction? Not even romantic attraction, just an attachment to people in general. It clouded the mind. He didn’t really get that until now when staring at this boy with his stripped hair made him feel like his head was stuffed full of cotton.
“Yeah- yeah I did. What’s it to you?” His tone was almost aggressive as Hugo narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. The boy gave him a confused look.
“It’s… nothing to me? I just wanted to ask if you wanted to join the Science club. We don’t really take new members this late in the year but I think I can convince the president to make an exception.”
Hugo’s face lit up and all of his perpetual- what would you even call it? Coolness? Disappeared. “Really? You’d do that?”
The other kid nodded and turned to the side, speaking to the air. “Yup! What do you say, Mr. President?”
He turned around and walked to the side. “Hm, well it’s against Science Club policies but seeing as this new kid is both cool and smart, I think we can make an exception.”
Varian turned back to Hugo who was running through stages of thinking Varian’s a psychopath to finding him unbelievably dorky in the best way, and gave him the thumbs up. “You’re in!”
“You know you could have just told me you were the President of the Science Club.”
With a small shrug, Varian waved his hand for Hugo to follow and started to walk down the hall. “As my mom always says, sometimes presentation is just as important as substance. We have a meeting right now if you want to come.”
“Sounds like a date, Stripes,” Hugo replied without thinking and instantly glanced over at the boy who laughed and nudged his shoulder. If Donella’s touch was calming then Varian’s was the opposite and made his blood pressure spike. “But I uh- I would love to! Just have to ask Don.”
They stepped outside into the parking lot with all those immaculately shiny cars and Hugo squinted to find the pickup.
“Who’s Don?” Varian asked and then jumped at the sound of a car horn.
“Her.”
“Don’s a girl?” Varian muttered under his breath but hurried to catch up.
Walking over to the truck, Hugo stood on the running board and tapped on the window.
She gave him a confused look and wrinkled her nose before rolling it down. He glanced inside and smiled softly at her thermos filled with presumably hot black coffee. When did she not want coffee? Hugo leaned his arms against the door.
“Hey! Do you mind if I stay after school? I got invited to Science Cub by a new friend.”
There was a strange look in Donella’s eyes, something he never really saw before. It quickly faded and she cleared her throat, a new teasing glint replaced it. “So the prissy kids aren’t all that bad?”
“Prissy?” Varian piped up from next to Hugo and made him jump halfway out of his skin.
“Wha- I- Don, come on.”
“Oh is that your new friend? Come up here lemme get a look in case Hugo turns up dead and I have to identify you. Hugh scoot over.” Sighing, Hugo shuffled to the side and reached down a hand to help Varian up. The boy gave him a confused but also amused look and took his offer. He felt his breath catch for a moment before quickly pulling Varian up and helping him to grab onto the edge.
There was that look in her eyes again.
Donella felt her throat tightening and her vision darkening at the edges. Crap that was an incredible shade of blue, she only saw it one other time in her life. She inhaled but nothing happened, and it was like she was forgetting the very basic human instinct to breathe. That’s what regret did to someone, wasn’t it? Take away their unconscious abilities to make every breath labored?
She blinked again and filled her lungs.
“Hi, I’m Varian. It’s nice to meet you Ms…”
“Oh drop that,” She scoffed and held out her hand. Varian perked up and took it briefly. “Just call me Donella.” Turning her head towards the blond, she nodded.
“Text me if you need anything. You two have fun.”
“Thanks, Don!” Jumping off the truck, Varian landed next to him and they two started to walk back towards the school.
“So,” Varian started as he opened the door, “That your mom?”
Hugo paused for a moment before shrugging. “I mean- technically but we don’t really… She’s more like a friend with authority.” He looked over at Varian, not exactly sure what to expect from the boy. The other just smiled and nodded, getting an almost wistful look on his face.
“That must be nice. Is your dad the authoritative one?”
“It is. And I don’t have a dad.” Was he talking too much about himself? “Well uh- what about you? What are your parents like?”
Varian blinked at him, not sure if he should apologize for assuming but it didn’t seem like the taller boy minded. He was- cool. Laidback. Pretty much everything Varian wasn't, and he liked that.
“Well, they’re separated. I live with my mom for the school year. She’s kinda… she really wants me to do well. My dad’s more for the summer but he doesn’t really get the whole science thing.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Hugo replied on instinct because he was. He couldn’t imagine not being able to talk to Don over dinner about everything he was reading. Even if she wasn’t a scientist like Varian’s mom she could still keep up and talk with him about it. Maybe he was taking that for granted given how defeated Varian sounded.
“Don’t be! It just gives me more things to talk about with Science Club, speaking of,” they walked into the library and the introductions began. They had Nuru who had an interest in astronomy and Yong who’s excitement was almost as explosive as the reactions he wanted to study.
Hugo found himself laughing and smiling, despite how he and Nuru were clearly going to butt heads. But for once he was around other kids who truly loved this- not just science but talking about their interests and actually listening to others. Sure Don always heard him out but this time was different- this time he felt like he actually fit in. And yeah Donella always said that normal was a nice way to say boring, but sometimes he wanted to feel boring.
~~
“Hey, when’s your mom- I mean, Don coming to pick you up?” Varian asked and sat down next to Hugo. The other two kids had already left, leaving them in the library alone.
“She should be here in ten, what about you?”
“Oh, I walk home.” The other boy muttered and Hugo looked confused.
“It’s getting dark. Do you want a ride?”
Shaking his head quickly, Varian scoffed. “No no, it’s uh- it’s fine I swear. Hey! I wanted to show you something.”
Grabbing his hand, Varian pulled Hugo over to the yearbooks and took out a bunch, bringing them over to the table as he set them down.
“Woah- Stripes you said this was Science Club, not History-”
Flipping the first open, Varian found the specific club page with pictures of the Science Club. Going through he started to find the same page in other books. “It is, but in Science Club, it’s tradition that on the first day new members look at Science Clubs of past times! And since today is your first day I thought you could.”
Hugo laughed but- oh he was being serious. Fine, he helped Varian flip through the books until they were all spread out on the table.
“So do we just- look at them?”
“Usually, but at this point, I mention that my mom was also president, well co-president but that counts. Right here.” Varian reached over and pointed out his mother in one of the books. Hugo stared at her fiery red hair, Varian must have gotten his hair from his dad, and her bright blue eyes. Even on the page, they were filled with life, yup. She was definitely his mom. His eyes flicked down to his mother’s hand, locking pinkies with the other co-president.
The other girl was tall and almost scrawny looking, with a stern face. She held herself with this poise that made Hugo’s brain scream prissy. They were both wearing matching uniforms, ties, blazers, and skirts.
“All Science Club presidents go on to do great things!”
“What happened to her co-president, then?” Hugo asked and pointed to the girl with the odd familiarity. Varian tilted his head and shrugged.
“I’m not sure, what’s her name say?”
Hugo leaned in closer to read the small text identifying the girl, and his face morphed rather quickly.
“What? What is it?” Varian asked and leaned forwards to try and decipher Hugo’s expression.
“That’s Don-”