Chapter Text
Arthur Parker had always loved Greek Mythology, so having that be his first class at a new college came as somewhat of a comfort for him. Especially since his girlfriend Mila was in the class with him. They had been together for a year now, having met in Secondary school, though Mila was never as into classics and only really picked it because of Arthur.
As he stepped into the classroom, he looked around at the people he would be spending the next two years with. There were two girls already whispering and giggling to one another on one side of the room, while on the other side a ginger girl was sat quietly unpacking her things. Next to the curly haired girl, still chatting away, was a nerdy looking boy wrapped up in conversation with a pretentious looking friend.
The nerdy boy had a strange looking haircut and seemed quite tall, though it was hard to tell from his sitting position. He had a flamboyant, purple shirt on and a plain pair of beige shorts with his legs stretched into the middle of the room. The boy was speaking loudly with his friend and gesturing like a madman, seeming very passionate about the topic.
After making his review of the classroom, Arthur made his way over to the ginger girl, sitting down with Mila on his other side. Just as he did that, the teacher rushed in like a hurricane, drawing the class to silence before introducing herself as Beatrice. The lesson went on as they were brought through what they would be learning about for the next year. Arthur took special notice of a trip to Greece that was mentioned, turning to Mila excitedly.
Soon enough the lesson ended with the students spilling out of the class chatting eagerly about the upcoming trip, Arthur noticed the ginger girl, who had introduced herself as Alice, was talking to the two girls from earlier, who he later found out were called Josie, who had long brown hair, and Mable, the curly-haired girl.
As he walked out, Arthur turned to Mila and asked whether she had noticed the geeky guy who wouldn’t stop talking the whole lesson.
“No, I wasn't really looking,” She replied casually, causing Arthur to roll his eyes good-naturedly.
“Of course you didn’t, too caught up in your daydreaming again,”
“Oh Ha. Ha. Like you’re any better yourself.” She laughed as he shoved her lightly into the wall.
~~~
By next lesson, Arthur had pretty much forgotten about the nerdy boy that sat directly across the class from him. Only being reminded when he sat down across from him, immediately noticing that the bright shirt from the day before had been replaced by a graphic t-shirt with a Spiderman design on the front, though it was still accompanied by the same plain shorts as yesterday.
When the lesson started he quickly forgot again as he became absorbed in his own work (though not without getting a little distracted with drawing in the corner of his Iliad). As the lesson progressed there was quickly a growing disagreement between Josie, Mable and the boy and his friend. The two girls were proclaiming their distaste for poetry and Homer himself, but the pretentious friend was adamantly defending the dead poet (a/n society?) while the nerd joined in on his mate’s side.
As the argument developed, more and more voices joined in from throughout the class, until Arthur himself felt compelled to speak.
“There’s so many better forms of art than poetry. It’s outdated,” Arthur said, slouched back in his seat. This clearly rubbed the nerd the wrong way as he jolted up in his seat, slamming his hands on the table.
“Just ‘cause you prefer your silly doodling doesn't mean there aren’t so many great poets,” He retorted, anger clearly rising in his face. The rest of the room falls quiet in anticipation for Arthur’s response.
“My drawings aren’t stupid, I’m just not obsessed with some guy who died thousands of years ago.”
“Why are you even in this class then? Or did you not read the specification?”
“I love the myths, I just don't see why I should care so much about the guy who wrote it.”
Just as Beatrice tries to get the class back under control, she is cut off by the pretentious looking guy, who started the argument in the first place.
“All I’ve read is poetry and philosophy since I was six and I don't appreciate you insulting it.”
“It’s not worth it Lucas,” the nerdy boy interrupts, “He clearly doesn’t understand-”
“I’m not stupid, I understand just fine, I just don’t care,” Arthur responds before slumping back in his seat from where he had started to rise up as the argument went on.
Beatrice finally gets the class back on track, but neither of the boys speak again, both stewing in their anger.
After the lesson, Josie and Mable walk up to Arthur and Mila as they’re packing up.
“That certainly got heated between you and Caleb there,” the brown haired girl said, as she was closer he could see the underneath of her hair had been dyed bright red.
“I definitely didn’t expect that from only our second lesson,” added the curly girl, her blonde hair going well with the dark purple top she was wearing. A much nicer purple than the horrible one Caleb had worn the day before, Arthur thought.
Ugh, Caleb. What a stupid name, no wonder he’s such a prick. Who even cares that much about poetry.
“Him and that pretentious friend of his can fuck right off,” Arthur exclaimed.
“Woah, bit extreme, you’ve only known the guy for a couple days,” Alice laughed, surprised by Arthur’s extreme response.
“I’m pretty sure ‘that pretentious friend of his’ is called Lucas by the way. Might wanna know their actual names if you wanna go on hating them so much,” Mila adds, glancing between Arthur and Caleb with an unintelligible look on her face. Of course it is, pretentious name for a pretentious guy, thinks Arthur.
~~~
As the weeks passed, Arthur and Caleb’s rivalry got more and more heated. With numerous altercations including further arguments in classics, such as the time they argued over whether a pot had a proscenium arch or not (Arthur would like to add that he was right in that particular debate). Or the time Caleb bumped into Arthur in a corridor, claiming he couldn’t see him because he was too short, much to Arthur’s chagrin.
And it happened again… and again… and again.
Until the tension finally exploded after class one day.
Arthur had been in a strop since the beginning of class when Caleb had yet again undermined him about one of his points. As they walked out, Arthur was still noticeably seething and Caleb apparently decided this was the perfect time to provoke him.
“Still upset about earlier, Parker?”
“Oh shut up Sherman, don’t act all high and mighty,” Arthur spits back at him.
“Calm down sweetheart, it was just a joke,” Caleb smirks, eyes tracking Arthur’s every move.
Hearing the mocking pet name, Arthur lunged at Caleb yelling loudly, before being held back by Mila and Alice. Mable and Josie watched on in shock as Caleb backed off teasingly, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.
“Woah, no need to resort to violence, Parker,” Caleb said, chuckling as he walked off with Lucas.
“I’m gonna fucking kill him! Why the fuck would he say that?!” Arthur screeched, shaking Alice and Mila off of him.
“Calm down, I'm sure he didn’t mean it like that, don’t worry about him,” Mila says soothingly.
“Are you kidding? How else could he mean it? Ugh, I'm going home, I can’t be bothered with this shit.” He stomped off, down the stairs and out of the college.
“I knew something was gonna happen today, I saw a smashed mirror on my way to college this morning,” Mable hummed. The others looked at her in confusion, but brushed off what she said. Mila sighed before following Arthur out, calling back to the others to tell them she’ll deal with him.
~~~
A few weeks later, things had calmed down a bit, with the two boys mostly ignoring each other, Arthur unable to get Caleb’s voice calling him ‘sweetheart’ in that mocking tone out of his head.
It was February now, Christmas and New Years had been a refreshing break for everyone in the class. But now they were all buzzing with excitement at the thought of the upcoming Greece trip in May as they talked amongst themselves about who was planning to go.
Arthur had tried to convince Mila to join him on the trip, but she was unable to go and assured him he would be fine without her.
“I mean, Mable, Josie and Alice are all going, so it won't be that bad, some time away would do you good.” Mila comforted him.
Just then, Beatrice walked up to Arthur with a nervous look on her face.
“So, Arthur, we only have rooms of three for this trip. I know there’s been some tension, but would you mind sharing a room with Caleb and his friend Barry?”
Without thinking Arthur agreed, unable to say no to Beatrice who had been such a kind teacher, especially putting up with them. As Beatrice turned away to give the others the good news, Arthur turned around to see Mila staring at him with a curious look on her face.
“What?” Arthur said defensively.
“Nothing, I just thought you hated Caleb,” She questioned.
“It was nothing I didn't do it for him, I just didn't want to cause trouble for Beatrice.”
“Sure… Well try not to cause too many problems while sharing a room with him. I don't know how you’re gonna manage it.”
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered, mind already drifting to the fact he would soon have to share a room with Caleb for four whole days.
~~~
With the Greece trip fast approaching, tensions began to rise again between Caleb and Arthur, with the two aggressively comparing test scores every time they got one back. Josie, Mable and Alice watched on, wondering how the three of them would survive this trip if they kept their feuding up.
When the day of the trip finally came, everyone was gathered in Gatwick Airport, rubbing sleep from their eyes as rosy fingered dawn had not even emerged yet. The students gathered in groups, talking quietly amongst themselves. Arthur stood quietly, not engaging much in the conversation being held by his three friends and Caleb, still eyeing the other man with distaste.
The day of the trip had come and yet it had brought no solution to the tension between the boys, leaving only anticipation for what would come.