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School AU
He's 10, and the youngest student in the entire school. They'd pushed him into the middle school a year early - the elementary school frustrated with him and him just as frustrated in turn. He was years farther ahead than his peers last school year, and the school was happy to make him someone else's problem a year sooner than planned.
He didn't have many friends left at his last school, so the fact he has none at his new school doesn't bother him so much. besides - it's still the first day.
still. he's nervous. He's not just the youngest kid in school - he's the only 6th grader given permission to take metalshop. his fellow peers are in woodshop this year, but once again, he'd proven his worth and they'd let him take the 7th grade elective early.
leaving him completely alone in the class as the other kids trickled in. they all knew each other, all had friends already.
Kidd didn't care. either some poor sucker would sit next to him or they wouldn't.
The poor sucker that ended up next to him was a tall skinny hick - right down to a cowboy hat - that had gotten bullied out of his seat when some of the kids insisted they wanted to sit together and why couldn't he just move.
The only spot left by then was the empty one by Kidd . He didn't look over at all and he slouched on the stool, and Kidd couldn't help the sneer on his face, "you got no spine - you just let them bully you like that?"
The boy didn't say anything at first, but Kidd saw him looking around the room for an empty seat he might have missed. already trying to run away.
Unfortunately for them both, there wasn't any place left to run too. "Just don't get in the way," Kidd grumbled, resigning himself to the boy as his shop partner for the next term.
the teacher came in, and Kidd thought that would be that, as roll call started, relatively uninteresting until about half way down the list.
"MacFergus?"
The boy next to him raised his hand in acknowledgement, but said nothing.
"Hats off indoor Keillan, we talked about this last year."
the room filled with snickers - either from someone getting told off already, for him wearing a stupid hick hat to start with, or the revelation he's already taken - and therefore failed - this class once.
Kidd smirked, but the laugh stuck in his throat when he glanced over - so his table mate raised a hand to slowly pull the hat off. His nails were painted blue - Kidd had never seen a boy paint his nails before - and his hand shook as he removed his hat. a thick blond braid fell down his back, a long one, and he ducked his head down to hide his face under his bangs now that he couldn't hide under the brim of his hat.
He didn't look up as the teacher continued roll call, just remained focused on his hat on the table in front of him.
it was the first time Kidd ever heard someone get called a faggot.
Keillan didn't say a single work to Kidd that first week - Kidd wasn't sure he'd said a word in class at all, as they learned about proper safety in the classroom, learning what to do if and when someone inevitably cut or burned themselves, and slowly learning the tools and their uses.
Kidd couldn't help though, to glance over and watch Keillan take notes - he was left handed like Kidd - always something rare - the blue of his polish chipped and picked at as the classes went by.
None of the other kids ever had a kind thing to say about the strange boy at Kidd's table, though they at least had the decency to not say it around the teacher. it started to piss Kidd off, his desk mate clearly heard them - was clearly hurt by the words - but never said a thing. never even looked up. just let them call him awful things.
Kidd had looked up the things they called him. He didn't understand the insults, but he didn't like the way the god whispered all the same.
Most of the time, they did their own thing, and Kidd found himself liking the quiet boy as his table partner. they didn't want to gossip, or drone on endlessly about shit that didn't matter. He came to class, kept his head down, and did the assignment.
and Kidd was learning that if he had flunked out - he’d at least come prepared this time, easily holding the highest mark in the class.
Kidd noticed though that no one seemed to think highly of him for it, the newest chatter Kidd overheard whispered toward his table was of course Keillan had high marks, he was practically a high schooler. his marks shouldn't even be counted in the ranking.
Kidd noticed that after that, sometimes Keillan just started at his projects, instead of actually working on them. turning them in half finished. The work he did do was immaculate, but he mumbled something about running out of time when the teacher marked him down.
it didn't make the whispers any better. now they just morphed into how stupid Keillan must be. a high schooler failing another intro class. no wonder he kept being held back.
Kidd saw the way the boy's jaw clenched so keep from saying anything. the way his hands shook, fists tight under at his side or under the desk - away from the prying eyes of the class.
Kidd was disgusted just having to share a space with such a spineless coward.
halfway through the term, and Kidd was doing good - but not as well as he thought he should be. He had a 4.0 in the rest of his classes, but he hadn't yet topped the board for shop class. His works were more creative than anyone else's, and more complex. but he just couldn't seem to get the coveted perfect marks.
and then the weirdo he'd been stuck with did something no one saw coming. He still had his hat on - it started on, everyday, until roll call. and it went back on the second they were dismissed. Admittedly, Kidd was curious if he did that for every class, or if he'd actually managed to get a teacher or two to let him keep wearing it. but he also had something in his hands, twisting them nervously under the desk as Kidd took his seat next to him.
and then, Keillan MacFergus said his first words to Kidd Eustass, after half a term of sitting only a foot or two from him. "These are smaller than the class gloves. They should fit you better." and then set a pair of well worn and broken in leather work gloves at Kidd's elbow. He never looked over, still staring at the table in front of them.
They were just as thick as the class gloves, but much smaller, and Kidd understood the phrase 'fit like a glove' for the first time when he hesitantly tried them on. He looked at his seat partner in confusion.
Keillan didn't look back, seeming to slouch once he felt Kidd's gaze on him, "should make it easier to hold the tools, give you better control."
and they did. Kidd turned in his cleanest piece. got his first perfect score. the teacher had looked over his gloves and approved them, "glad to see you taking initiative to get your own pair."
Kidd couldn't help but notice that Keillan still used the class gloves.
His classmates even oohed over his new gloves, complimenting them. saying how expensive they musta been.
When the bell rang, Kidd asked Keillan to wait, he wanted to talk to him. Saw him flinch when his classmates snickered, when one of them was leaning into Kidd's space, and warned him about being alone with the boy - he was so poor, he might try to steal Kidd's gloves. He's so gay he might try to assault him.
Kidd wasn't impressed with either variation, and lost any chance of making a friend with those boys when he sneered at /them/ in disgust instead of Keillan.
"You'll have to talk fast," Keillan said finally, coiling his braid back up to put on his hat "Before the teacher leaves. I'm not supposta be alone with any other kids."
Which was a weird ass statement if Kidd ever heard one.
"What the deal with the gloves" Kidd settled for, even though he had a million other questions he'd rather ask.
he could tell by the way Keillan's hat moved he was looking at Kidd , before, "they don't fit me no more, and i saw the class gloves were too big. you can throw them away if you don't want them."
and then Keillan hurried to leave, and Kidd saw the calculating look on the teacher's face as Keillan shuffeld past him.
Kidd kept the gloves.
They were working on their final project, only a week or so left of the term, when Kidd turned away from the door when he tried to go to class. Infact, all of them were turned away, all but Keillan.
He alone was asked to come in the shop room, the rest waiting in the hall, for a good ten minutes.
When the rest of them were finally allowed in, Keillan was sitting in his usual spot. hat off, head bowed. but as the rest of them got to work after roll call, only Keillan remained unmoving.
there were harsh laughs in his direction, whispers of things Kidd didn't quite catch.
he did see Keillan’s jaw trembling a few times, heard his unsteady harsh breathing as he sat and just stared at his empty workspace. "dude" Kidd whispered to him at the halfway point of class, "are you gonna even attempt to work on anything today?"
the table behind him laughed rudely, muffling it when Kidd turned to glare at him. Keillan didn't move. didn't even pretend to hear his question. Kidd got to work on his one piece.
he turned back one last time as the class was cleaning up.
Keillan was crying.
he never made a sound, tears dripping silently down his face, dripping off his nose and he sat ramrod still.
Kidd pretended to leave with the rest, Keillan left behind. He only finally got up and moved to get his project when he thought the room was empty. He looked under the drop cloth for a moment, before taking the whole thing and dumping it in the trash.
Kidd watched from the hall, ducking away only when Keillan turned and left. He reentered the room, unable to look away from the bin. if it was that bad, why the trash and not the scrap pile?
Kidd pulled the drop cloth away. Keillan’s project had been defaced, all the awful slurs thrown at him all term having been carved and engraved into the once smooth surface of his final.
Keillan did the same the next class, the days left for him to turn in anything slowly trickling down, him with nothing to show for it.
the ugly words continued, seeming louder now that Kidd had seem them written out
"you..." Kidd hesitated, the tables next to him seeming to fall quiet, and he could feel them looking at him, "should still try and make something to turn in. anything, just to show you know the basics."
There was laughter behind them, Kidd trying hard not to look.
"worry about your own project." was all Keillan said
Kidd passed with the highest marks in the class, having more than proven his skill once given tools that were small enough for him to work with.
Keillan didn't even show up for the last class before mid year break. Kidd snooped. He'd passed - barely. lowest possible score and still able to advance to term two.
Kidd wanted to talk to someone.. anyone really, about what he'd seen in the trash, but surely, it was already known. the teacher had clearly seen it.
but something still felt... off.
and it followed him though the whole day, as hour by hour ticked down until mid break. three weeks of no classes.
His mom picked him up that day - a rare treat - with the intention to take him out for ice cream.
A drive that would take them passed the highschool.
With about two blocks to go Kidd noticed a crowd of kids milling around on one of the grassy embankments, a few familour from shop class.
actually. a bunch from shop class. "mom... mom pull over a sec."
She stopped, following his gaze, where it was clear something was up. The kids were closing ranks, and Kidd was out of the car before he knew his feet were moving.
/fight fight fight/ started to echo as he got closer. fight turnign to /hit him/. to /kick him/. to /jsut punch the fag aleady./
Kidd was fighting his way into the group, his mom not far behind. the outer circle scrambled at the sight of an adult.
Keillan was fighting against a choke hold from one of Kidd's classmates, kicking at another boy with a bloodied nose. his own face was a smear of blood, but despite being outnumbered, he was holding his own quite well.
He didn't have many friends left at his last school, so the fact he has none at his new school doesn't bother him so much. besides - it's still the first day.
still. he's nervous. He's not just the youngest kid in school - he's the only 6th grader given permission to take metalshop. his fellow peers are in woodshop this year, but once again, he'd proven his worth and they'd let him take the 7th grade elective early.
leaving him completely alone in the class as the other kids trickled in. they all knew each other, all had friends already.
Kidd didn't care. either some poor sucker would sit next to him or they wouldn't.
The poor sucker that ended up next to him was a tall skinny hick - right down to a cowboy hat - that had gotten bullied out of his seat when some of the kids insisted they wanted to sit together and why couldn't he just move.
The only spot left by then was the empty one by Kidd . He didn't look over at all and he slouched on the stool, and Kidd couldn't help the sneer on his face, "you got no spine - you just let them bully you like that?"
The boy didn't say anything at first, but Kidd saw him looking around the room for an empty seat he might have missed. already trying to run away.
Unfortunately for them both, there wasn't any place left to run too. "Just don't get in the way," Kidd grumbled, resigning himself to the boy as his shop partner for the next term.
the teacher came in, and Kidd thought that would be that, as roll call started, relatively uninteresting until about half way down the list.
"MacFergus?"
The boy next to him raised his hand in acknowledgement, but said nothing.
"Hats off indoor Keillan, we talked about this last year."
the room filled with snickers - either from someone getting told off already, for him wearing a stupid hick hat to start with, or the revelation he's already taken - and therefore failed - this class once.
Kidd smirked, but the laugh stuck in his throat when he glanced over - so his table mate raised a hand to slowly pull the hat off. His nails were painted blue - Kidd had never seen a boy paint his nails before - and his hand shook as he removed his hat. a thick blond braid fell down his back, a long one, and he ducked his head down to hide his face under his bangs now that he couldn't hide under the brim of his hat.
He didn't look up as the teacher continued roll call, just remained focused on his hat on the table in front of him.
it was the first time Kidd ever heard someone get called a faggot.
Keillan didn't say a single work to Kidd that first week - Kidd wasn't sure he'd said a word in class at all, as they learned about proper safety in the classroom, learning what to do if and when someone inevitably cut or burned themselves, and slowly learning the tools and their uses.
Kidd couldn't help though, to glance over and watch Keillan take notes - he was left handed like Kidd - always something rare - the blue of his polish chipped and picked at as the classes went by.
None of the other kids ever had a kind thing to say about the strange boy at Kidd's table, though they at least had the decency to not say it around the teacher. it started to piss Kidd off, his desk mate clearly heard them - was clearly hurt by the words - but never said a thing. never even looked up. just let them call him awful things.
Kidd had looked up the things they called him. He didn't understand the insults, but he didn't like the way the god whispered all the same.
Most of the time, they did their own thing, and Kidd found himself liking the quiet boy as his table partner. they didn't want to gossip, or drone on endlessly about shit that didn't matter. He came to class, kept his head down, and did the assignment.
and Kidd was learning that if he had flunked out - he’d at least come prepared this time, easily holding the highest mark in the class.
Kidd noticed though that no one seemed to think highly of him for it, the newest chatter Kidd overheard whispered toward his table was of course Keillan had high marks, he was practically a high schooler. his marks shouldn't even be counted in the ranking.
Kidd noticed that after that, sometimes Keillan just started at his projects, instead of actually working on them. turning them in half finished. The work he did do was immaculate, but he mumbled something about running out of time when the teacher marked him down.
it didn't make the whispers any better. now they just morphed into how stupid Keillan must be. a high schooler failing another intro class. no wonder he kept being held back.
Kidd saw the way the boy's jaw clenched so keep from saying anything. the way his hands shook, fists tight under at his side or under the desk - away from the prying eyes of the class.
Kidd was disgusted just having to share a space with such a spineless coward.
halfway through the term, and Kidd was doing good - but not as well as he thought he should be. He had a 4.0 in the rest of his classes, but he hadn't yet topped the board for shop class. His works were more creative than anyone else's, and more complex. but he just couldn't seem to get the coveted perfect marks.
and then the weirdo he'd been stuck with did something no one saw coming. He still had his hat on - it started on, everyday, until roll call. and it went back on the second they were dismissed. Admittedly, Kidd was curious if he did that for every class, or if he'd actually managed to get a teacher or two to let him keep wearing it. but he also had something in his hands, twisting them nervously under the desk as Kidd took his seat next to him.
and then, Keillan MacFergus said his first words to Kidd Eustass, after half a term of sitting only a foot or two from him. "These are smaller than the class gloves. They should fit you better." and then set a pair of well worn and broken in leather work gloves at Kidd's elbow. He never looked over, still staring at the table in front of them.
They were just as thick as the class gloves, but much smaller, and Kidd understood the phrase 'fit like a glove' for the first time when he hesitantly tried them on. He looked at his seat partner in confusion.
Keillan didn't look back, seeming to slouch once he felt Kidd's gaze on him, "should make it easier to hold the tools, give you better control."
and they did. Kidd turned in his cleanest piece. got his first perfect score. the teacher had looked over his gloves and approved them, "glad to see you taking initiative to get your own pair."
Kidd couldn't help but notice that Keillan still used the class gloves.
His classmates even oohed over his new gloves, complimenting them. saying how expensive they musta been.
When the bell rang, Kidd asked Keillan to wait, he wanted to talk to him. Saw him flinch when his classmates snickered, when one of them was leaning into Kidd's space, and warned him about being alone with the boy - he was so poor, he might try to steal Kidd's gloves. He's so gay he might try to assault him.
Kidd wasn't impressed with either variation, and lost any chance of making a friend with those boys when he sneered at /them/ in disgust instead of Keillan.
"You'll have to talk fast," Keillan said finally, coiling his braid back up to put on his hat "Before the teacher leaves. I'm not supposta be alone with any other kids."
Which was a weird ass statement if Kidd ever heard one.
"What the deal with the gloves" Kidd settled for, even though he had a million other questions he'd rather ask.
he could tell by the way Keillan's hat moved he was looking at Kidd , before, "they don't fit me no more, and i saw the class gloves were too big. you can throw them away if you don't want them."
and then Keillan hurried to leave, and Kidd saw the calculating look on the teacher's face as Keillan shuffeld past him.
Kidd kept the gloves.
They were working on their final project, only a week or so left of the term, when Kidd turned away from the door when he tried to go to class. Infact, all of them were turned away, all but Keillan.
He alone was asked to come in the shop room, the rest waiting in the hall, for a good ten minutes.
When the rest of them were finally allowed in, Keillan was sitting in his usual spot. hat off, head bowed. but as the rest of them got to work after roll call, only Keillan remained unmoving.
there were harsh laughs in his direction, whispers of things Kidd didn't quite catch.
he did see Keillan’s jaw trembling a few times, heard his unsteady harsh breathing as he sat and just stared at his empty workspace. "dude" Kidd whispered to him at the halfway point of class, "are you gonna even attempt to work on anything today?"
the table behind him laughed rudely, muffling it when Kidd turned to glare at him. Keillan didn't move. didn't even pretend to hear his question. Kidd got to work on his one piece.
he turned back one last time as the class was cleaning up.
Keillan was crying.
he never made a sound, tears dripping silently down his face, dripping off his nose and he sat ramrod still.
Kidd pretended to leave with the rest, Keillan left behind. He only finally got up and moved to get his project when he thought the room was empty. He looked under the drop cloth for a moment, before taking the whole thing and dumping it in the trash.
Kidd watched from the hall, ducking away only when Keillan turned and left. He reentered the room, unable to look away from the bin. if it was that bad, why the trash and not the scrap pile?
Kidd pulled the drop cloth away. Keillan’s project had been defaced, all the awful slurs thrown at him all term having been carved and engraved into the once smooth surface of his final.
Keillan did the same the next class, the days left for him to turn in anything slowly trickling down, him with nothing to show for it.
the ugly words continued, seeming louder now that Kidd had seem them written out
"you..." Kidd hesitated, the tables next to him seeming to fall quiet, and he could feel them looking at him, "should still try and make something to turn in. anything, just to show you know the basics."
There was laughter behind them, Kidd trying hard not to look.
"worry about your own project." was all Keillan said
Kidd passed with the highest marks in the class, having more than proven his skill once given tools that were small enough for him to work with.
Keillan didn't even show up for the last class before mid year break. Kidd snooped. He'd passed - barely. lowest possible score and still able to advance to term two.
Kidd wanted to talk to someone.. anyone really, about what he'd seen in the trash, but surely, it was already known. the teacher had clearly seen it.
but something still felt... off.
and it followed him though the whole day, as hour by hour ticked down until mid break. three weeks of no classes.
His mom picked him up that day - a rare treat - with the intention to take him out for ice cream.
A drive that would take them passed the highschool.
With about two blocks to go Kidd noticed a crowd of kids milling around on one of the grassy embankments, a few familour from shop class.
actually. a bunch from shop class. "mom... mom pull over a sec."
She stopped, following his gaze, where it was clear something was up. The kids were closing ranks, and Kidd was out of the car before he knew his feet were moving.
/fight fight fight/ started to echo as he got closer. fight turnign to /hit him/. to /kick him/. to /jsut punch the fag aleady./
Kidd was fighting his way into the group, his mom not far behind. the outer circle scrambled at the sight of an adult.
Keillan was fighting against a choke hold from one of Kidd's classmates, kicking at another boy with a bloodied nose. his own face was a smear of blood, but despite being outnumbered, he was holding his own quite well.