PYA: Chapter 1

                Danny didn’t really want to enter the classroom just yet. Brayden was already in there, sitting in his assigned seat in the back and talking to a nearby blonde. Danny had already tried killing time before the bell would ring so he wouldn’t have to go in so soon, but now there was less than a minute left, and he couldn’t skip. This was his last year of high school. He couldn’t afford to let his grades slip.

                With a sigh, Danny walked in, keeping his green eyes fixed to the carpeted flooring as he walked to his seat"the one that was right in front of Brayden’s. He dropped his blue backpack to the floor before sitting down and facing forward. Behind him, Brayden’s voice faded, and Danny could feel eyes locked onto him, sending a chill down his spine.

                “Hey, Danny,” Brayden said.

                Danny let his attention drift to the William Shakespeare poster taped to the wall next to the blackboard.

                “Hey, what’s the matter?” Brayden asked, but not in a sincere way. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to speak to people when they speak to you?”

                No reply. Danny could hear the chair behind him creak a little.

                “Hello?”

                A poke on the shoulder came next, followed by many more.

                I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, Danny thought to himself as he kept his eyes glued to the poster. I wish you would just go die.

                The lack of response clearly wasn’t satisfactory for Brayden. The poking stopped, but, a couple seconds later, a slim body appeared in Danny’s vision as two hands planted themselves on the top corners of his gray slate desk. He looked up to meet Brayden’s face. His blond hair was buzzed. For some reason, his rather big nose, complete with a thick bridge, vaguely reminded him of a panther’s.  A pair of lips was curved into a subtle smirk, one that Danny had been so used to seeing during these past three weeks. Lastly, gray eyes met his. They twinkled a little in the fluorescent light with both humor and a playful mischief.

                “Leave me alone,” Danny said, but there wasn’t much conviction in his voice.

                The smirk on Brayden’s face seemed to widen infinitesimally. “Make me, f*g boy. What are you going to do about it?”

                Danny stared at him for a moment, and then looked down with a quiet sigh.

                Brayden chuckled a little. “That’s what I thought.”

                Danny braced himself for what was to come, but, to his relief, the bell rang, and the teacher entered the room, closing the door behind him.

                “Please take your seat, Brayden,” the heavyset middle-aged man said as he walked to the front of the room.

                Brayden moved to his desk, but not without smacking Danny on the side of the head as he passed. Danny glanced at him, shooting a glare at his back, before unzipping his backpack to pull out his English textbook and get ready for today’s short story discussion.

                Not entirely to his surprise, only two minutes had passed before he felt something small and light bounce off the back of his head.  He looked over his shoulder, catching those gray eyes. Brayden slightly quirked a brow, an innocent look on his face. Danny turned back around, but he was not able to keep facing forward for long: something else pelted the back of his head. Once more, Danny looked back at the blond-haired male, but only to receive the same look.

                “What?” Brayden whispered.

                “…Nothing,” Danny whispered back as he let his eyes trail down to the male’s desk, seeing the blank sheet of paper that he had laying on it along with his textbook. One of the top corners had been torn off.

                He faced forward again, trying his best to ignore the giggle he heard coming from the blonde Brayden had been talking to earlier. A minute later, something hit his head again, but he did not give Brayden the luxury of having a response this time"other than him brushing his fingers through his short, brown strands of hair to make sure none of the paper balls were getting stuck in them.

                Fifteen minutes slowly passed. Danny took to lightly tapping the eraser of his pencil on his opened textbook. The teacher droned on about the story, and Danny couldn’t pay attention to what he was saying. His mind was too focused on waiting for the moment one of those wads of paper would strike his head or neck. When one more did, he was pushed a little too far over the edge.  He spun around in his chair.

                “Stop!” he spat"a little bit louder than what he intended.

                “Is there something wrong, Danny?”

                He froze for a second before slowly turning around, noticing the stares he was getting from the rest of the students. He looked at the teacher, but took a second to respond.

                “Brayden’s throwing paper balls at my head.”

                “That’s not true,” Brayden said.

                “Then what’s with all the paper around me?”

                “Do you want to move to a different seat, Danny?” the teacher asked.

                Danny nodded, and the teacher told him to sit at a desk in the front right of the room. After gathering his things, he quietly walked over to it and sat down, glad that he would now be able to pay attention to the class discussion without having something thrown at him.

 

                When the bell rang, Danny packed up his book, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and walked out of the room as quickly as he could, wanting to get as far away from Brayden as he possibly could. He needed to stop at his locker, anyway, and needed to make sure he could get to class on time after doing so. He climbed the stairs and walked down the hall until he arrived at the right number. After entering the combination and opening the door, he set his bag on the tiled floor and unzipped it. He pulled out two textbooks, about to place them inside his locker, but the door to it was shut. Danny glared at Brayden.

                “So now you tattle on people, huh?” Brayden asked, keeping his hand firmly planted on his locker. “Gee, that’s real childish of you, f*g boy.”

                “And harassing me isn’t?” Danny asked, trying to hide his hurt from hearing that derogatory term.

                Brayden shrugged. “Maybe.”

                “Just f**k off, alright?”

                “Make me.”

                Danny stood there for a few moments, staring at that mocking, subtle smirk. Brayden was about a few inches taller, and, while he himself was slender, too, he was sure the blond-haired male had more muscle than him. Although it was hard to say that because of how Brayden’s slightly baggy blue T-shirt hung on him, Danny felt comfortable making that bet. He could see the way the male’s biceps slightly bulged, just barely noticeable where the sleeves ended on his arms, and Danny did not work out at all.

Regardless of this knowledge, he allowed himself to cave in to his anger. After freeing a hand, Danny shoved him back. At first, Brayden appeared surprised by the retaliation, but the smirk returned, wider this time.

“You push like a b***h,” he said as he stepped back towards Danny and pushed him into the lockers. Danny remained against them, and just glared at him. “I’ll see you fourth period.” With that, Brayden walked away.

Danny watched him for a few seconds before sighing and looking at the clock. He had one minute left before third period would start.

“Great,” he muttered to himself as he turned to face his locker again and quickly enter his combination.

                By the time he was ready to go to class, the bell rang, echoing throughout the nearly empty hall.

                Thanks, you prick, he thought, and began the walk to the room.

Author's Note

So, any thoughts?

Reviews

[Tamelia Jade]

Yay! :) I can't wait for more! :) I enjoyed this because the characters were developed straight away and were so distinct. Danny is nice :)
Just two things I was unsure about - He needed to stop at his locker, anyway, and needed to make sure he could get to class on time after doing so.
The sentence was a little awkward. I'm not sure how you meant for it to sound but I would have lost the first comma. Also, at the last bit, the font changed. I'm not sure if you meant that though.
Anyway, loving it. You engaged me and got off to a fantastic start. Thank-you :)

[ღ.яαg..]

Awesome!!! Can't wait to read more.

[Jonathan Biswell]

it is nice cant wait for the next chapter

[Que]

I really like this, it is very well written and the characters immediately draw the reader in.
I'd really like to read more of this, so if you ever post another chapter, please let me know. :)
Cheers.

[Amber-The-Panda]

I really like it :3
I think you should write more because if you don't I will die :)