Disclaimer: No, I don’t own Gundam Wing. Sigh. Do you think the Sunrise/Bandai/The Other Creators would trust ME with these characters!? I didn’t think so.
A/N: This one is a definite AU. I can see the Gundam boys in the 60s. Maybe I just have a big imagination, but I can! ^^; What!? Stop staring at me like that!
Rating: R. Drug use, suicidal tendencies, and, well, drug use? Violence, maybe? Language… There’s a lot of heavy yaoi here also. Hm, what else is new?
What’s the point anymore? Addiction, obsession… I’m losing myself in this drug-induced state. Thinking straight isn’t something I’d do often – if at all. I don’t think ‘straight’ is even a word in my vocabulary. I’ve suddenly lost my gift to be able to ‘fit in’ with the crowd anymore. Homo, faggot, flamer, and, of course, Mr. Sunshine… Whatever you want to call those kinds of people: well, I’m one of them. Telling that to one of my friends in the gym-locker room was probably the most terrible thing I could’ve ever done. But it really wasn’t me talking – it was the drugs. I had planned to keep my sexuality a secret until I found that ‘special someone’ but the drugs had to interfere and fuck everything up.
But, then again, nothing really matters. School? Summer vacation finally came. Going onto eleventh grade now – what a surprise! I didn’t think I’d make it. But I did. Depression is no more thanks to the lovely needle lying next to my bed tranquilly… as if it were some kind of Prozac. Hey, I guess it is.
But nothing seems to be making me feel better about myself – my physical appearance – my family – my ‘friends’… my girlfriend. A girlfriend, you ask? I don’t call her that. She’s just something to cover up my identity that everyone seems to know already. Call her a puppet, if you want to. She’s been a friend of mine since we were little kids. We’re probably best friends. She knows I don’t love her the way the relationship is supposed to work. She doesn’t love me, either. But she’s nice and stayed to cover up for me, too.
I’m sick of it.
But school is today. And you know what? I might stay home and lock my door… shoot up.
Heh.
That made me laugh for a moment. But it lasted just a swift moment. I was lying on my bed. My long, long hair sprawled out around my sweaty chest. It was another sleepless night. Mom would be coming to the door by now. I looked at the digital clock that lied on my desk next to the needle. It was six o’ six. No use in staying in bed if I wasn’t going to get any sleep, no matter how hard I tried. I decided I should get to school a little early. Maybe someone will have something on ‘em…
My parents knew about this addiction. It’s not like they would care. My dad shoots up, too. My mom’s a crackhead. Of course, they’re not my real parents. I was adopted. And I hate to see people look at me and pity me because of my parents—because they’re druggies and because I could have been raised differently. I like the way I was raised.
Fuck this. I’d rather be in school than stay at home anytime.
I stood up in bed shakily and jumped off to the ground. I made a loud thump and the house shook for a moment. I was lucky I didn’t fall like I did last time. Ha, that’s what I always do. I wake myself up by jumping off the bed. It works, you know. My room was completely dark except for the faint Prussian tinting glow that the lava lamp gave off. I closed all the blinds last night because, well, I felt like listening to music in the glow of the lava lamp. I was high. It didn’t matter. Opening the blinds didn’t make much difference either. When I did nothing shined through except for a little bit of a light shade of pink from the rising sun.
House of the Rising Sun.
I smiled at the little joke I made in my mind and slipped on a dark green shirt and some black baggy, bellbottomed jeans. Oh, who cares! First day of school doesn’t matter. The other days of school don’t matter either. I wasn’t anyone special, might I add. All the popular kids were the ones who dressed nice, not me. Beads of dark shades of green and blue made their way up my arm as I slipped them on. The bracelets had been lying on the floor, as well as the clothes I had slipped on earlier. I put on a single black-beaded necklace that hid under my shirt.
I realized the music was still playing quietly in the background – Iron Butterfly. They were one of my favorite bands. I kind of swayed my hips to the music for a moment before my mom pounded her fists against the door.
“DUO! Are you up yet?” she screamed through the door.
I shut the record player off and made my way to the door, opening it. I stared at my mom for a moment as I began braiding my long, chestnut hair. I still looked at her. She was a pretty woman, I guess. I don’t see why my dad was such an asshole to her. Well, she could be a pretty woman if she wanted to be. Her eyes were glazed over and her under-eyelids red; and around her eyes were dark, yellowish purple circles. I sighed.
“Get to school early today. Your dad is out. Hilde’s at the door,” she mumbled as she turned and walked down the narrow hall. I didn’t quite understand her, but I did hear that Hilde was at the door. Yeah, she was my ‘girlfriend.’ I shook my head took my hands off of my hair, taking my backpack that sat between the couch and the cat litter box and swinging it over my shoulder. It smelled like cat piss. Now I smelled like cat piss. Hell, I was still all sweaty from last night’s really hot humidity, but when I reached the kitchen, a cool breeze whisked passed me and into my hair.
I realized I still hadn’t finished braiding my hair. My fingers moved as they always did when I braided my hair. I don’t think I managed to brush it this morning either. I had to think about that for a moment as I stared blankly at the empty cabinet that was supposedly keeping food. Nope, I didn’t. Oh well, I’d look like crap. Who cares? No one cared about how I looked. I didn’t either. I finished braiding it and realized I didn’t bring a hair-tie with me. I slipped one of my bracelets off with my right hand, (I had too much on anyway,) and tied my hair with that. I let go of the braid and it fell down to my waist.
I saw a small box of crackers in the corner of the cabinet and I took that out. That’d be nice to eat for breakfast. I opened the front door, stepping out into the cool air, my hand still on the knob. Thank God it felt like it was going to be cool today. Yesterday was scorching hot. I shoved the crackers in my mouth, tossing the box on the kitchen floor, and then shut the door behind me.
“Hey, Duo,” a cheerful feminine voice called out as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to her and smiled as crumbs of crackers spilled out of my mouth. She laughed and put her hands on the straps of her dark blue backpack that hung like a purse. She wore a plain white-collared short-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark red jeans. Her dark black hair seemed to be nonexistent in the darkness of the morning. Her eyes sparked their brownish glow, like they always did, though.
I began walking and she closely followed. She had lived in the house next door since, Jesus… since I first moved here when I was six years old. She was a great friend. Then we got into drugs. It kind of fucked our lives up for a while near the beginning of high school, but we eventually got over it and here we still are.
“Why are you up so early? Helen practically screamed at me to get up.” I blurted.
“First day of school. And I heard, from a very reliable source might I mind you, that we’re having a transfer student from Japan. I’m pretty psyched to meet him.”
Japan, eh? Well, he could teach some of these hippies a thing or two. He could teach me a thing or two. Wait, “Guy or girl?” I asked.
“He’s a guy,” she grinned at me, suspecting what I was thinking. I couldn’t help but smile. She knew me to well.
We were almost at school when she suddenly looked at me. She stuttered for a moment but then spat it out, “You know, you look like shit.”
“I know,” I stated matter-of-factly as I loosened the backpack lower on my back.
She took my arm and examined all the bracelets I wore. I could hear her counting under her breath. “Damn. You’ve got about twenty-five on here!” I cracked a grin and shoved my hands into my pockets. Hilde wasn’t the kind of girl that wore jewelry. But I was the kind of guy that did. Heh, I know what you’re thinking… I’m a hippie.
“Christ, no one’s here,” I said as I stared around at the vacant schoolyard. She shrugged.
“We’ll just hang out around the door, I guess.”
And that was what we did. There was one other kid there. He didn’t look like he was from here, but he did have the clothes. I quirked a casual smile at him and sat down against the pole next to the door. He was sitting under a tree. I could have a decent view of him from here. Since he was the only other person around, besides Hilde and me, what else was there to look at besides the scenery? It was, after all, around six thirty in the morning.
Hilde handed me a cigarette. I stared at her for a moment and she shrugged. It was right before school… on school grounds, too… Oh, fuck it. I snatched it from her fingers and took out a lighter from my pocket. I lit it and sucked the smoke in like it was my only source of air. I leaned my head back on the pole and stared up at the orange sky. It was a beautiful sunrise. I puffed the smoke out and closed my eyes, just feeling the breeze over my clammy skin.
I had to wash clean the sweat off. It felt disgusting. I stood up and made my way over to the wall of the school. They had to have a hose, right? Well, they did. Hilde watched me walk away as if she knew what I was doing – she probably did, too.
I walked passed the boy who sitting underneath a tree, waving a hand that I didn’t manage to lift as I walked by. His face didn’t change its apathetic expression.
I finally found a hose and turned it on, holding the cigarette out in the air and washing the freezing water of my sweaty face. I turned it off, wiped my face with my shirt, that had lifted considerably showing my stomach, and then took another puff of my cigarette. I let out a deep breath, which also came out smoke, and my eyes trailed themselves towards the boy sitting under the tree.
Approaching him, I dropped the cigarette to the dirt and smashed it with my shoe. He looked over at me as I sat down next to him onto the grass under the tree. I was silent for a moment, looking straightforward, his eyes still on me. I turned to face him, my mouth opened to say something but I stopped when my gaze met his.
He had the most hypnotizing eyes. His eyes were the darkest shade Prussian blue I have ever seen. My mouth hung open as I stared at him for a moment. I couldn’t take my stare off of him, no matter how much my mind screamed at me to.
I stuttered, “I… My name… is… My name’s Duo. D-Duo Maxwell.”
He didn’t say anything, his stare still on me. Getting a grip of reality, I finally jerked my head away from his gaze and stared forward at the other side of the courtyard.
“Heero Yuy,” he said, his voice, beautiful.
This was too good to be true. This kid wasn’t real… He couldn’t be!
“Heero? Where are you from?” I said, looking back at him carefully.
“Japan,” he stated simply as he took his eyes off me as I began looking back at him.
I grinned. “So YOU’RE the exchange student!” I declared loudly so Hilde could hear.
I saw her jump up and run towards us. She sprinted to the tree we were sitting under, her backpack hitting the side of her leg every time she strode.
“Hi!” she greeted as she plopped down next to Heero. He sat in the middle of us. Heero’s eyes widened at the girl. He seemed to back away a little closer to me.
“Um,” he looked at me strangely and then back at the girl. “Hi.”
“Wow! You don’t seem to have any accent at all!” she laughed as she crossed her legs Indian-style and stared at him like he was Jimi Hendrix, flesh and blood.
“My parents are from Northern California,” he said, eyeing her.
“Oh, that’s cool! So why are you down here in Southern California?”
“Parents wanted me to get away for a while,” he stated truthfully.
“Oh.” She beamed a smile at him. “Well, I’m Hilde,” she said, putting her hand out to him.
He looked at it for a moment before he inched his hand out and shook it.
“You know, you’re going to be a real popular kid here at this school,” she stated as her eyes gazed over towards me. “All the hippies are going to like you a lot. Isn’t that right, Duo?” She emphasized my name.
The Japanese boy turned to me and my face flushed.
“They’re going to like you a lot,” she stated again, winking at me. I backed away for a moment, embarrassed. How could she do that to me?!
“Why is that?” he asked as turned back to Hilde.
“Well, Japanese culture seems… to be something THEY like… I guess. Why don’t you ask Duo? He’s the hippie here.”
Okay, the hippie part was getting a little on my nerves. I was about to mouth her to shut the hell up, but Heero turned to me and my eyes gazed off somewhere else.
“Um. Ah,” I let out a nervous laugh and put a hand behind my head, tugging on my braid. “Well… I guess it’s cool. You’re pretty groovy… I guess my ‘friends’ will like you… I mean, if you want to meet them…”
He looked at me for a moment, his apathetic expression never changing. “I guess,” he muttered.
I swear I could feel a million pounds get lifted off my back. “Radical,” I said, letting my hand slip off my hair and lean against the tree, supporting me up. There was a moment of silence before I spoke up again, “What’s your first class?”
“English,” he said monotonously.
I smiled at him for a moment before taking a piece of paper out of my pocket. I stared at the paper for a moment before saying, “Mine too.” I think he rolled his eyes at me before turning to Hilde. Maybe he didn’t like me much…
“What’s your first class?” he asked her quietly.
“Oh, I think,” she bit her bottom lip for a moment, “it’s geometry.”
He nodded and then looked back forward. For a moment I stared at him. He wore a dark blue shirt, sort of like mine, with the collar and all, except it had longer sleeves. His pants were normal jeans, sort of ripped at the knees. His shoes were, well, just shoes like my black sneakers – except yellow.
For a while Heero, Hilde and me just seemed to talk about little things like concerts and people at school. Well, it was more like Hilde and I talked because Heero didn’t talk much. The courtyard began to fill with random people who stood in clumps of groups and cliques. The three of us still sat under the tree – I guess we were quick friends… Even if Heero did think I was a stupid hippie. I laughed to myself.
___xx
Finally the bell rang. Sitting under the tree, Heero had explained what it was like to live in Japan. It was a little different than it was here, but he said some people dress the same. That got me feeling a little better. He also explained how they didn’t live under rocks either. I guess I kind of put that in his head that I believed that was really true. I never realized how ignorant I was to their culture.
For a moment we just kind of lolled in our spot for a moment. It was pretty nice where we were. No one was near us and it felt good to be under a tree, in the shade.
“I think I better get going to class, guys,” Hilde said, standing up. “See you later, Duo,” she said as she put her hand on the top of my head, messing up my bangs – as if they weren’t messed up already…
I watched her leave towards her friends. I looked over at Heero who was staring at a group of popular girls that were making their way in the building. I smirked and stood up.
“Hey, man,” I said, putting my hand out to help him up, “we should get going to class, too.”
He took my hand and I pulled him up. He grabbed his backpack that hung from the limb I was sitting under. I didn’t even know it was there. I looked at the huge crowd making its way inside the building. I stopped and quirked my bottom lip.
“Hey,” I looked over at Heero who was also staring at the huge crowd trying to fit through the two doors. “I have a better idea.”
I made my way towards the place where I had washed my face with the hose. Before I noticed a window held ajar next to the hose. Pushing the window further open, I jumped up, my shoes scratching on the cement wall as I tried hauling myself up with my hands hanging on the windowsill. I finally made it up, barreling out the window and onto the hard floor lying on my soft backpack. I quickly got up and poked my head out the window, looking down at Heero. I put my arm up again and he grabbed it, this time we both toppled over onto the hard floor when we were inside the empty classroom. I smirked as I stood up.
“That,” I said, putting my index finger in the air, “is the way to get through high school. Always find the shortcuts.”
I could’ve sworn Heero just cracked the faintest grin—but, god, it was a GRIN. I smiled brightly at this and we made out way out of the empty classroom. When we reached the crowded hallway we realized our English classroom had the lights turned off. I opened the door and poked my head in, like I did in the window.
“Come on in,” said a voice in the back of the room, “You’re the first kids in here.” I made my way in, thinking it was the teacher. But when I took another step, I was grabbed on the shoulders and shoved into the wall, knocking a few papers onto the ground off the desk I had been smashed against. My back was crooked since half of it was against the desk that was leaning against the wall, as well as my head. It wasn’t really that comfortable.
“Hi?” I choked out in surprise, squinting. This position was really, really painful.
“Hey, Duo. How was your summer?” laughed the voice I couldn’t mistake. Mueller was an asshole. He’s always been an asshole. He always will be an asshole. He’s been this bully ever since the fourth grade. He was the kind of kid that stole your lunch money and took metal shop class.
“Good,” I managed to snigger as his hand reached around my neck.
“Faggot, how much you got on you?”
“Not much.” He must have found out about my faggot-ness over the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole school didn’t know by now. I suddenly remembered Heero standing in the doorway. I could hear Mueller’s friends smirk in the back of the dark classroom.
“Jesus,” I swallowed hard.
“Don’t talk, hippie,” Mueller growled as he knocked my head against the wall.
“Christ,” I finished as I got hit in the back of the head. I squinted again as I looked up at him, grinning. “Welcome back to school.”
“Hey, Mr. Sunshine, will you give me the god damn money already?” he shouted as he reached his hand into my pocket, taking out my wallet.
Well, did it look like I had a choice here? He left our little visit with a memory of a hard punch against the face as he took a twenty out of my wallet. He let me go and threw the wallet back at me. I sighed and shoved it back in my pocket.
“Nice seeing you again, Mueller,” I waved as he left the class. I still don’t know how he managed to find me anyway.
“Tell your BOYFRIEND that if he doesn’t keep shut about this, we’ll be at his house, too,” he snarled as he made his way out the door.
I rolled my eyes.
His three other zombies followed him out of the classroom, giving Heero dirty looks and then they made their way out in the crowded hall. I rubbed my cheek and tossed my stuff out on the desk in the back of the room. Heero did the same, tossing his backpack on the chair next to me.
“Who are they?”
“Mueller and his crew,” I said, cracking my jaw with my hand.
“Why’d they do that?” he asked, looking at me questionably.
“Oh, he’s always been an asshole.”
“No, I mean why’d they say boyfriend?” he still looked at me oddly.
Well, I figured I had to tell him sooner or later. I let out a deep breath. “I like boys, all right?”
Heero shrugged and sat down at his desk. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out for a few moments. I sat down at my desk and looked over at him.
“You mean… you don’t care?”
He looked over at me, “No. Why would I?”
I smirked. “Hey, maybe you will fit in with me and my friends.”
He took my arm and slipped off a bracelet gently. I looked at him skeptically as he slid it on his arm. He put his two fingers up in the peace sign and said, “I guess I would.”
I let out a bark of laughter and placed my hands behind my head and stared up at the ceiling, kicking my feet up on the chair in front of me, waiting for kids to come in and the class to start.
~
Lunchtime, well, it wasn’t that good. Since Mueller had taken all my lunch money I waited for Heero to get his lunch and he ate while we walked, trying to find a few of my friends. Heero never did give me back my bracelet. Oh well, the blue beads matched his eyes. I chuckled at that thought.
Someone tackled me from behind and slapped their arms around me. “Duo!” she screeched.
“Hi, Hilde,” I smiled as I flipped her over in front of me.
“You seen Quatre and company?”
“Oh, yeah! They’re over by the tree where you were this morning. Hey, Heero, can I have a bite of that pizza?” She was now standing in front of Heero in lightning speed with those huge, watery puppy eyes. “Man, I’m SO hungry.”
Heero shrugged, taking a huge bite and then holding it out for Hilde. Heero and me were walking towards the tree and Hilde was walking backwards. Lunging her face forward, taking a huge bite out of Heero’s pizza. Heero’s eyes widened as he watched her. He looked like he was feeding her like a child.
I laughed and shoved her out of the way running towards Quatre who was sprawled out under the tree with a few of his friends surrounding him.
“Hey, Quatre!” I yelled out as I stumbled across the grass and rolled over to him, my head hitting the tree trunk.
Quatre laughed and stared down at me. “Coordination,” he stated as he shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth and tackled me. I let out an ‘oof’ as he shoved me down the hill, running after me. Now we’re going back to the good times. I remember when we used to do this last year, then we’d end up at the bottom of the hill with a whole bunch of our friends and we ended up coming to class with mud all over us. I tried to get up, but every time I did, I lost my balance and fell back on my hands and knees. This lasted until I reached the bottom, where all the mud was.
“Quatre!” I yelled as I took a handful of mud and grass and ran towards him.
He squealed and started running the opposite direction towards the football field. Since I was faster than he was, I ended up tackling him and shoving the mud in his face. Moments later we were panting, sitting back to back, mud smeared all over our faces. Heero walked down to us, every now and then he looked down at the mud that got on his pants and he curled up his nose. I laughed at his reaction. I was about to lean back on Quatre when he got up and my back landed on the ground, absorbing all the mud.
Quatre realized what he had done and burst out laughing, falling into the arms of one his friends, Trowa. Trowa smiled slightly as he looked down at me. He was the quiet kind of guy. I remembered him from last year… Yep, he was quiet.
I laughed for a moment or two, too tired to get off of my lazy ass.
“Mr. Sunshine!” yelled a deep, vexed voice. I turned my head to the side, letting my ear sink into the mud, facing towards where the voice had supposedly came from. I saw Mueller stumbling down the hill as he tried to walk straight and still look cool. His three friends were following him. I sighed and stood up. Jesus Christ, did they always have to embarrass me in front of Heero? I just met the kid today too, and this is how he gets to see me – beaten up by the school bullies.
“Duo?” said Heero as he saw my smiling face disappear an exhausted and annoyed one.
“Eh… Hey, I might be gone for a while, Heero,” I said, turning to face him, mud sliding off of my shoulder. “Want to meet me at the beach at six? How ‘bout you Hilde?” I said, realizing she was standing behind me.
“Sure,” she smiled and cocked her head. Heero nodded and shrugged his shoulders lazily. I smiled at him and Hilde.
“Show him where my spot is, Hilde. I’ll be there,” I said as I made my way over towards Mueller. I knew what he was going to do.
I could hear Hilde’s voice as if she wanted to lure Heero away from where he could still see me. I mean, that’s what I tried to signal her to do by walking away. Quatre did the same with his friends, because they were already gone. I made my way up the hill and near the chain-link fence where he had stopped walking when he noticed I was coming towards him. Mueller glared at me as I stood in front of him.
I resorted to the peaceful kind of way to solve the problem. “Come on, Mueller. Can’t we work this out? What have I ever done to YOU, man?” I shoved my hands in my pockets as I stared at him straight in the eye.
“Shut up, fag. You know you’re just doing this so you wouldn’t get beat up, hippie.”
“Of course I am. Why would I want to get beat up? And will you please stop calling me that?” I narrowed my eyes at him tiredly.
He raised his arms up and pushed me hard backwards. Someone caught me right then and pushed me back up on my feet. I turned around to see who it was and a sloppy grin twisted its way on my face.
“Hey, man, what’d this kid ever do to ya? Why’s can’t you just shizzle this out over a joint, man?” the boy said to Mueller.
It was Tyrone. I haven’t seen that guy since the grade eight. He was the greatest guy ever. We smoked together, surfed together, and he took me in as one of his psychedelic friends. Even though I wasn’t the shade of their skin, but, hey, they were radical all the way down!
“I don’t want any trouble from your… people, all RIGHT?” I heard a slight tone of fear in Mueller’s voice – racist? – Or was he just afraid?
“Ah-uh! What d’ya think you’re doin’ with this kid? Giving him some trouble – first day of school, man? Nah, people don’t need this shit on the first day ‘a school.” He gave Mueller a stern look as he put his hand on my shoulder.
Tyrone was a kid that you didn’t want to mess with. He would get every kid in school to plan against you. He was just someone you could be best friends with; no matter how many friends he already had – even if they weren’t the popular kids. He was also a go-getter for the girls too. I don’t think any girl could resist his charm. He was almost a Jimi Hendrix clone – with is funky bandana around his forehead and beaded necklaces.
“Fine, fine,” Mueller looked at Tyrone and then stared coldly at me. “I’m just letting him go because it’s the first day of school, like you,” he looked back at Tyrone and stepped back, “said.”
“You better get goin’, son!” He picked up a crushed Coca-Cola can as Mueller started to walk away and he threw it at him, hitting him on the top of his head. Mueller growled and kept on walking away, not bothering to turn around.
I looked at Tyrone and folded my arms against my chest. “Thanks, man. I really needed that.”
“No prob’, son, no prob’,” he said reassuringly as he patted me on the shoulder. “I wanted to give ya this,” he muttered as he reached in his pocket taking out a feather from his pocket. “You left it over my house, man, just wanted to give it back.”
He stuck the feather in my muddy braid and turned to walk away.
“Thanks,” I said, grinning. I remember I had left that over his house when Tyrone, some of his friends and me went a little crazy, if you know what I mean. His girlfriend gave that to me, saying I was a cute kid. Tyrone was older than I was, so he didn’t take it personally. I don’t think she did either – and I didn’t. So it was good.
“Oh, and…” Tyron turned around, running his fingers through his Afro, “Quit playin’ around in that mud down there, all right, son?” he smirked.
I laughed slightly and rubbed the back of my head. “Sure, all right.” He gave me a peace sign with his two fingers as he turned around to walk off.
~
The beach was a great place to be. I couldn’t choose to be anywhere else. I managed to get through school without getting picked on, but I also got complements from random girls saying they liked my muddy braid. I liked it too. I said I already had a girlfriend though, which got them off my back. I also accomplished to get rinsed off, too, by just surfing around on an abandoned board I found on the shore. It was pretty dinged up but I managed to catch a few waves.
I also liked being alone. I liked people, too, but not especially in places and times like this one. The only person I could stand being alone with at the beach… just staring up at the sky… would probably be Hilde. We’ve done it before. But she’s been my best friend since forever. I could do practically anything with her – almost anything.
My eyes were closed as I just let the sun’s rays bathe over me. The soft, warm sand seemed like it was crawling over my skin as I buried my hands and feet deeper into the warm grains. My right hand held a cigarette up to my mouth, every moment or so I took a deep breath, taking the smoke deep within my chest. Salt water was still present on my bare chest and my ripped up jeans but hey; I didn’t really care at the moment. This was just too good to be true. Being here alone just feeling the sun on me.
But a shadow had just began to loom over me. I moaned as I strained to open my eyes.
“Duo! Get up!” I heard Hilde yell as a foot lodged itself in my ribs. Ow.
“I’m up, I’m up!” I rolled off the sand, my eyes still getting adjusted to the not-so-bright-sun anymore.
I brushed my knees off and shaded my eyes to look at Hilde. “Whaat?” I complained taking another deep breath of the smoke and nicotine in my right hand.
“Heero’s here,” she stated simply with a grin on her face. I looked behind her to see Heero staring at a group of girls. He didn’t look too happy about them either. Those girls were the popular ones – the goody-two-shoes.
“Hey, Heero,” I grinned, grabbing onto his wrist.
“That girl’s been following me all day,” he stated.
“Really?” I grinned; staring at the girl called Relena Peacecraft whom was the leader of… that pack.
I sucked in the smoke from my cigarette and blew it in Heero’s face. He looked over at me, surprised. I smiled at him. He didn’t flinch when I grabbed his wrist. Hilde took this as her leave-away so she walked off, snickering.
“She’s the most popular girl at school. If she likes a boy, there’s no stopping her. She’ll stalk you until… until you get someone.”
“Get someone?” he asked questionably.
“Girlfriend… boyfriend. You know.” My face got a little warm. I turned away, letting go of his wrist, embarrassed.
“Boyfriend?” I could have sworn he was glaring at me.
I shrugged, taking another puff. “Whatever floats your boat, Heero.”
He snorted, looking over at the crowd of girls who were making their way towards … us—towards Heero, not me. I felt something inside me tighten as Relena stopped in front of Heero, her crowd of friends behind her, watching intently. Heero took a step away from me as he watched Relena.
The blonde in a pink sweatshirt smiled at him gently. “Hey, Heero. I’m having a birthday party this weekend. Since you’re new,” she spoke slowly, “I was wondering if you’d like to come and meet some…” Her eyes trailed towards me and her lip almost curled in disgust. Then she quickly looked back to Heero. “If you’d like to meet some new people?” She handed him a letter, one hand on her hip.
Heero looked at the letter, and then to her. He held out his hand and she placed the letter in it. She smiled warmly at him and turned around. Her friends began chatting with her as she walked away.
And I felt something inside me clench. Heero was so cold to me when I first met him that I thought he hated me, really. But how could he… Heero turned his eyes to look at me. I realized that I was staring at him, my mouth ajar and my eyes wide in shock. My lip was twisted in disgust—the look Relena almost gave me. He had excepted Relena’s invitation.
He stared back at me, narrowing his eyes. Then I turned away, staring to the beach where Hilde sat, listening to the far off drone of music coming from someone’s car radio. “You really going to her … party?”
I then turned around, hearing the loud rip of paper. “Yeah,” Heero answered as he watched the ripped invitation fall to the sand. “I’m going.”
“Heero…”
I stared at him dumbly. That was the weirdest reaction I have ever seen from any human. Sometimes Heero could be so cold, so misunderstood. Sometimes I think he… Enough self-pitying, Duo Maxwell! Just because Heero just happens to like the most conceited girl I have ever seen, doesn’t mean he hates me. It doesn’t mean he’ll ditch me for … them.
I found myself swallowing, my hands sweating. I placed a hand over my bare stomach, trailing my gaze away from Heero and setting my eyes on the horizon. God, the ocean was beautiful. I felt my stomach turn, my face flushing. So was Heero.
“Sh-shit,” I cursed as I dropped the cigarette I was holding onto the sand. I sat down, my vision blurring, head spinning. “I don’t—feel so good.” My hands made their way to cover my face. Oh, God, I felt sick. I suddenly didn’t want to be here. I suddenly craved—needed something else. God, it’s been a while since I… Oh, shit. What would I do next if I started hallucinating? “Heero—get Hilde—”
“Duo, what’s—oh, God. Heero, we have to take him back home…” I heard her say, then I blocked everything out.
The next thing I felt was something against my skin. I obviously passed out because when I opened my eyes, I was in my room and Hilde was hovering over me. She was telling me something, but my mind couldn’t comprehend her words at that moment, they only sounded like a low mumbling that I couldn’t understand. My eyes strained not to roll back into my head so I can fall back asleep as I began to look around the room. Was Heero still…
Heero sat on the edge of my bed that I was half-lying on, half-leaning against the wall my twin-size bed was pushed up against. I forced a smile towards him. He looked really pissed off, but I guessed he was just confused. After spending today with him, I did figure out he responded oddly to situations. It’s not like he was the only one—I do, too. I laugh at inappropriate situations, as well as other strange times. Maybe I just cover up for myself with that smile. I really don’t want anyone to worry about me. No, not at all…
He just stared at me, his eyes narrowing. Maybe he was really pissed off at me. I mean, I lay on the bed, body slightly twitching from the drug injected in me. This is his first impression of me: a twisted, lovesick drug fiend. I suddenly didn’t feel so good again.
Hilde snapped off the rubber band that was around my arm. Funny thing was, I felt numb and didn’t feel it. It’s been so long…
“Sorry, Heero,” I slurred as I closed my eyes, fighting to stay awake. It was no use. I was out cold a second later.