the waters of HIGH SCHOOL ( tag: berlus <3 )

[ollie]

she is beautiful like a fresh child. her hair is dark whorls down her back, a deep reddish copper sort of tan dusted with dark, somewhat large freckles. odette is like a whirlwind, made of beauty and sweetness that isn’t truly sweet; it is lovely in the dark way that is just as beautiful on boys. she smiles in a secretive way, bright light eyes opening and shifting to luca. “mom’ll kill me,” she says, voice like gum bubbles, popping and leaving a sweet feeling of rebellion in the air. she shifts her feet, wiggling her toes as they rest on luca’s thigh, rubbing against his jeans.

“y’think?” he asks sarcastically, tucking her hair behind her ear. “get dressed, the bathroom’s open, i think. zenda may be in there, or lore, but it doesn’t really matter. they’re not shy. your suitcase is in my closet, i think.”

odette smiles, kissing his forehead like a mother might, moving out of the bed and opening his closet, taking out her suitcase before going to the bathroom. her hand drifts of the handle of the crisp white door, absolutely unsurprised at the sound of zenda in the shower. lore leans towards the mirror that covers most of the wall, just above the granite countertop, her hair of sunlight curling and almost reaching the sink. her blue eyes shift to odette and she smiles in acknowledgement, but as always, the youth is uninterested in talking with girls her own age. she only seems to gravitate towards zenda, which is why she’s constantly sleeping over, even on mornings as crucial as this.

“hey, odette.” zenda calls from the shower. she returns the word gladly, glancing at the shower before changing. there’s an absolute nonchalance about the whole thing; lore herself is in her underwear and pajama top, and zenda… well, zenda is the shower and nude, but the same idea goes. it’s late—the customary beginning of school since sophomore year, when lore’s older sister drove them in only ten minutes before their lunch period. it hasn’t changed since then; the days after breaks, and so on, they slid by as the “royalty of regina high.” if royalty contains the girl that would only tease but gladly show copious amounts of her skin (lore), a lofty young woman with nudist tendencies (zenda), the captain of two sports teams and appointed fashion expert (odette), and the boy with all the girls and all the information (luca), you can count on them for being the appointed court. members fluctuate, and are kept out at their own safety (adalia abernathy, naturally, since odette refused to have adalia join the partying crowd for fear of her own wellbeing), but they always held their power, since their freshman year.

“whose car we takin’?” zenda asks, free of any grammar as usual. she comes out of the shower, in her own magical way, already wrapped in her towel, white hair curling down her back. she’d dyed it last month, and since then had prevailed to continue to do so—considering her eyebrows were already such a pale blond, it appeared to be, easily, her natural color. against her copper skin and naturally lovely face, she is easily striking, elegant as a swallow.

“luca’s.” lore says, unruffled as she finishes her eyeliner. straightening, her bright eyes survey the three girls before disappearing into zenda’s room, soon followed by its inhabitant. odette savors the silent solitude, eyes flickering around the room that is bright in its simplicity, all cream walls and white fixtures, and she begins her routine humming a lullaby to herself. brushing out her hair and doing her eyeliner (black cat eyes and all, as she prefers), she steps back to look at herself. leggy, angular, curvy in a fractured way, a girl carved from glass, she seems to fluctuate constantly as a prism in the light. finally, she pulls on an exceptionally short pair of khaki shorts, and baggy top that ends above her pierced belly button—which is made of gold and has a small diamond, just peeking out from her belly button—and completes it with a strappy pair of sandals.

“let’s go, people!” it’s luca, at least she believes, and she quickly swipes on violet lipstick and blots of excess before going back into his bedroom. he’s fully dressed, wearing a baggy band t-shirt and equally baggy jeans, with his favorite pair of leather sandals, light eyes glittering mischievously. “the beginning of another year. excited?” he asks, voice deliciously anxious for the spotlight. she nods, picking up her backpack and swinging it over her shoulders. she follows him down the hall and to his van, taking a seat in the back in a circle with zenda and lore. considering it was such an old van, the seats had fallen out and they’d replaced them with a mattress, uninterested in safety.

zenda pops her gum bubble, letting peppermint into the air before speaking calmly, hardly interested in her words. “i hear you have a fan club on facebook.” she leans against lore, glancing at her friend before looking at odette, white hair falling in silken tendrils over her shoulders.

odette giggles somewhat, rubbing her face. “yea, so did i. i didn’t find it, though. anyway, i think it was those weirdos that write the paper. they’re kind of stalkers.” she grimaces, playing with the buckles of her sandals.

“you like someone.” lore says calmly, eying her. odette blushes, and covers her face, certain she hasn’t said anything about this before, not with them.

“it’s that berlus kid. she’s liked him on and off for about five years. he’s just not her type.” luca said calmly from behind the wheel, catching her eye in the mirror. she averted her eyes, running a hand through her hair. “he’s best friends with adalia. kid’s a brainiac. she think he’s cute and a sweetheart, but he hasn’t ever said a word to her. she thinks he doesn’t like her.”

“wow, so you really do babble when you get drunk.”

“no! anyway, it doesn’t matter. there’s such thing as too smart, and eli is coming back…” she glanced at zenda and lore, who only shook their heads. “he is. and we’ll get back together, soon. i can’t wait to see him.”

“but you’ve liked him for longer. i swear, this is the year.”

odette is silent as they park and open the back door, following zenda and lore out. luca comes to the back, sitting on the mattress beside her before she can get out. “he’ll say something. a man can’t be attracted for a year and be okay. and i know i’ve seen that kid look at you for more than a year. talk to adalia, figure it out.” he says, patting her hand before standing and grabbing his backpack, pulling it on. “i bet you’ll have the same lunch as him.”

odette watches him as he leaves, sitting silently in the van. slowly, she closes the doors and begins the walk, calm and relaxed. berlus. maybe he does. and if he does? do i forget eli? do i forget what i’ve been waiting for all these months? she runs a hand through her hair, blowing a strand out of her face as she shoulders into the cafeteria, since it is her current period. deciding to check herself in next period before the class began, she takes a seat at her typical table, watching as her teammates join her. giving hugs and saying “i’ve missed you” to people she doesn’t particularly miss, she falls into the groove of popularity, pausing when she hears the name she feared she would hear.

“rian felcotti slept with some girl last week. wasted out of his mind. doesn’t it bother you, gracie?” a girl named jennifer asked, looking at gracie. she is a sweet girl, with eyes of a basset hound, far too sweet to be a part of this group, or even be attracted to rian.

“does it matter? he couldn’t care less about anyone.” odette sniffs, patting gracie on the knee and catching her eye before looking at jennifer. the girl falters now, spluttering, before beginning again.

“well, you just say that because you’ve always had a think for him.”

odette laughs, rolling her eyes. “like hell.” she says calmly, standing and taking gracie’s hand. “c’mon, let’s get our food.” she says, and the girl goes willingly, whispering a gracious thank you as she follows odette. her eyes scan the crowd, searching for a face—rian’s, adalia’s, christian’s, berlus’s; anyone that isn’t as superficial as the girls she surrounds herself with. while she hates rian to her last breath, it will be one hell of a break from such superficiality.

“did you hear about the new felcotti?”

“ah, the half-sister? mm, yes, she sounds like just another girl,” odette said, looking at her. “trying not to judge anymore, to be honest. it’s getting… tiring.” she shrugs her shoulders and grabs a tray, grateful for the good food her cafeteria always has.

[dede]

Berlus knew little of the Regina High School cafeteria besides the ever-abundant rumors of lunchtime feuds and territorial squabbles, along with the occasional overheard speculation over the origin of species mixed into the supposedly-beef casserole. Even if he failed to pack a lunch or left it by accident on his kitchen counter, Adalia was never shy of offering to share her delicious myriad of homemade delights. Rather conveniently, Mrs. Abernathy (a most excellent cook, he earnestly lauded whenever lucky enough to enjoy the decadent fruits of her labor) seemed to have an astonishingly keen, if not the slightest bit peculiar ability to always pack extra servings for her beloved daughter, and his dearest friend, on such days.

Besides, he never ate his lunch in hall, except on the rare occasion when meeting a fellow student, more often than not a lab partner, and often frequented one of the moderately empty band rooms or lolled beneath a tree, avidly chatting the lunch period away with Adalia at his side, seated in the trimmed grass or on the steps of a set of riser. So, then, he never had reason to set foot in the spacious dining hall. Though, its central location within the campus made it not only a draining basin for noontime foot traffic, but a valuable and relatively safe intersection for one to use when crossing from one building to the next, at least in comparison to some of the more ominous corridors and routes littered with the less savory aspects of their youth behind the classroom. A cornerstone in the middle of a labyrinth of hallways, it was a short cut of sorts as well, which he utilized every so often, mainly to get to the grounds outside, quite pleasant in the summer heat of the afternoon- as he was at this very moment, matter of fact, edging cautiously around boundaries of overlapping social circles, all too aware that there really was no place or plane to inhabit even the smallest intersection at his leisure.

It made for a decent challenge, though, trying not to tread clumsily on these microcosmic structures and hierarchies. The place was positively packed; the relative majority of the student body slowly circulating past rows of tables or joining the winding line, and the air thick with the smell of food, wafting sluggishly from the three stations, churned evenly by the incessant and inarticulate mass of aimless conversation. No wonder, of course, as it was the first day of the semester, but with his numerous insecurities peaking at an all-time high, and the novelty comfort gleaned from his hat draining by the minute, he examined the cavernous hall before him with apprehensions and anxieties comparable to those spawned at the sight of an active and exceedingly bloody battlefield… Shakily, he breathed in. God, it was a really terrifying lot.

If that really was to be his conclusion then, that a gathering of his peers’ en masse necessitated descriptions of warfare and other torturous scenarios, it was only in his good fortune that his dark thoughts were disturbed by a gaggle of underclassmen roughly pushing themselves through the open doorway. In their haste and exuded aloof carelessness, accidently caught his elbow, his arm cocked at the waist and thumb hooked in his pocket. He stumbled forward, and for a slip-second, nearly lost his balance entirely if not for a ridiculous and panicked display as his arms reeled to and fro. In disgruntled hindsight he considered as he straitened fiddling nervously with his hat, that he really should not have chosen the middle of the threshold to carry out his inner monologue in the first place. He did deserve the scathing look from the strawberry blonde as she brushed past him, shared by her legion of heavily-makeuped minions… and the distasteful grunt from the greasy-haired junior trailing at the back of the pack.

After one final tug on his hat, and subsequent adjustment of his glasses, Berlus withheld a hoarse sigh as he plunged into the congested cafeteria atmosphere, his blue Converse shoes squeaking occasionally on the tiled floor as he tentatively carved his way through the meandering crowd. From all sides, tables extended in neat rows, where the students neatly assigned themselves into select groups; they may as well have been color coded, or awarded placards with distinct biological names. And to consciously recognized that he did not belong in any of those seats…

He pulled his wandering gaze from a table from which spilled the underclassmen- freshmen, most definitely, according to plates of waffles stacked in front of them- that had nearly bowled him over at the door and hurriedly found new interest in the fraying threads poking from the left strap of his backpack. At least he should take comfort in the fact that he possessed no merit or status in his class, at least considering social standings, which allowed him great flexibility to pass through unnoticed and without the fear of being regularly accosted. Haunting the backgrounds and maintaining a low-key image, though contradicted by his physical oddities like his height, which had made from succulent bait for teasing in the past, and surely his gray hair, once publicized, would reestablish his role as prey in the high school food chain. But he had no reason to worry about that now. Rather, he simply needed to worry about those familiar with him or remotely resembled friends; he still needed to meet up with Adalia, and dragging through the useless grilling, the offhanded and uninterested greetings and inquiries about summer activities.

But no sooner had he reminded himself of his mission, and that diverting himself with old acquaintances would only delay him further, then one of the last possible individuals he wished to meet, one that would surely occupy what time he had left to spare (and he had none) caught him before he could disappear past the line of tables.

“Hey, Berlus- BERLUS!”

At the sound of his name, he quickly turned around, and greeted his caller with a slight smile of recognition before the insides of his stomach squirmed uncomfortably. Oh, sure, it was only Matthew Aminian; rather stocky, but in working shape, with amber skin and a briary thatch of black hair, he was perfectly amicable in initial appearance. But one merely had to chance a glance at his dark eyes to understand why he was preceded with such apprehension. He was insanely energetic; coiled like a spring that never lost its energy. Captain of the A class in the Regina High Academic Decathalon and Science Olympiad team, there was good reason he seemed guaranteed a spot on the Valedvictorian list since his Freshman year. But he carried the expectation that so should everybody else. And, oh dear god, he had already bought of letterman jacket, which sported an impressive array of patches, each accordingly dedicated to honors won in his Decathlons and related competitions.

Berlus found it difficult to return even the slightest impression of Matt’s beaming smile. “Matt! How’d your summer-“

He practically bounced on his heels, the senior looked so expectant. “Did you get my text?”

“Your, uh, text?” Of course he had. It had been more than two pages long, at the very least. Nevertheless, his hand hovered dubiously over his pocket of its own accord, as if questioning whether or not he really did receive it.

Unsatisfied, Matt’s smile broke in his exasperation. “What the hell, Berlus?” He walked past, gesturing for him to follow as he queued into the nearest food line behind two girls Berlus noted as seniors on a distracted, subconscious whim. Matt tapped his empty tray accusingly against Berlus's chest. “You forgot your packet, didn’t you? First AcaDec. meeting’s after sixth period.”

“Um. “ Grimacing, Berlus shrugged apologetically. “I quit, ‘member?”

Matt’s eyes widened.“What the Hell-”

“I quit at the end of last semester, remember?” Not like it had been an easy decision. Quite the opposite; as if choosing between work and an extra-curricular activity he enjoyed immensely was a difficult choice? But, along with his clarinet and a few other clubs, like Science Olympiad, the Academic Decathlon had devoured his time and required the most attention, to which Berlus had previously donated every second he could muster with great enthusiasm. However, none of his diligence had gone to a paycheck at the end of the week, which he severely needed. He had taken college classes over the summer just for this reason. This semester had to be low key if he was going to pick up more hours at the organic market near his house. And, on the side, perhaps discover one or two revolutionary methods or devices to hide or permanently alter his graying hair. Course, not that Matt would understand. Obviously.

“No, I don’t- shit, Berlus!” Disgusted with his resigned teammate's answer, Matt focused on the task of ladling food onto his plate. “I thought you were just going suicidal over your Impromptu score.”

Berlus had to chuckle at that. And the end of last year’s competition, he had been rather sore over the said score. Though, in reality, he had always been rather terrible with Impromptu Speeches, anyway, and had thrown around the idle threats of removing himself at the team out of his own misery. But by then, he had already planned that he was going to quit, so the threats were not necessarily empty in their basis of truth. He probably should have assured them then that he really was quitting, instead of endure the heartbreak from his teammates now, let alone from the captain himself. “Dude, no. I’m taking a night shift at Katarina’s.”

Matt snorted, shuffling forward with the line, Berlus following reluctantly. “You still work there? And why the hell do they even have a night shift? I didn’t think they made money to open more than once a week.” After all, it was a small organic food store. The prices were god-awfully steep, and seemed to cater only to the upper crust who could actually afford meals made from free-trade products and natural foods.“Berlus you can’t quit- shit, they’re doing American Jazz this year. You’ve been bitching about this since freshman year-“ Looking back at Berlus, he adopted a sarcastic, whining drawl. “-when the hell are they gonna pick a theme about music nobody cares about.”

Again, Berlus laughed stupidly. Not his exact words, per say, but certainly summed up nicely. “I can’t manage it. I gotta make some extra money this year for college.” And discover a miracle cure for prematurely graying hair on the side, if he could manage.

Unsatisfied, Matt gave him a nonplussed expression. “Nothing ever happens at that store; study when you work”

“Matt, my boss would skin me. And she’s vegan.”

The effects of the horrible attempts at a joke lost on the hyper-attentive Decathlon captain, Matt scowled. “Bullshit, Berlus. Does Meyer know? Does this mean your quitting the Olympiad too?”

The Academic Decathlon coach, Mr. Meyer, had not exactly been pleased when Berlus asked to leave the team. Though he accepted Berlus’s reason with more understanding and grace than Matt presently seemed capable of, Mr. Meyer had been rather disappointed that one of the assets to his A Team was quitting his final year; a year which always seemed to prevail with higher personal testing scores for those graduating later in the spring. “Mr. Meyer’s known since last semester, I already told him-“

“Damnit, Berlus-“ Matt dropped an apple onto his tray with emphatic force. “We need your quiz scores- hold on.“ Staring past Berlus’s arm (Matt was more than a head shorter than Berlus), he started as he saw another teammate walk through the dining hall. “Steph-- STEPHANIE!“ Before taking off after Stephanie, a willowy girl with dark brown hair and, not surprisingly, another Decathlon teammate, he pointed at Berlus in an executive manner. “Save my place- and get me a waffle.”

And before Berlus could protest, or tell his prior team captain to stand in his own damn line, and get his own damn waffles, Berlus was left with only a tray stacked with food for company. “Oh my god.” He hissed to himself, dragging the tray along the counter as the line lurched forward again. Knowing Matt, which he did, all too well, he probably would not finish interrogating Stephanie until Berlus had gotten out of the line and paid for the meal himself. Grumbling, he took out his wallet, counting out a few dollar bills in case the scenario played out accordingly; and spotting the waffles to his left, he leaned past the Senior girl he now stood next to (since Matt had just about thrown himself from the line), offering a noncommittal smile in apology as his large hand reached for the tongs, passing his gaze across her pretty face with little attempt at recognition in his private frustration. “S’cuse me-”

It was rather difficult for one to execute a double-take when his head was underneath the glass shield overhanging the buffet of food. In his haste, he clipped the back of his neck on the edge, knocking his ragged hat askew as he did so. But the stinging pain hardly registered as he rigidly straitened up and stared, rather rudely, at the girl next to him. That girl, being Odette Notham, only his crush and unending source of romantically-challenged teenage angst, in the flesh- gorgeous, as always. At least, she had always been, from afar. Now, standing right next to her, she might as well have achieved divinity; he was standing next to Odette Notham. He was standing next to Odette Notham.

“Odette!” His hands desperately clutched the side of Matt’s tray, as if the plastic could offer him support. It really did feel as if his knees were going to snap at any second. Well, damn good reason if they did. He was standing next to Odette Notham.

“…O-Odette!” Was all the poor schmuck could manage, half way between a strangled croak and diminutive squeak, gaping like an absolute fool. As such, he would not blame her if she decided laugh at him, or leave him standing there, floundering like a fish out of the waters it had known its entire life.

[ollie]

odette had not noticed berlus to begin with, until she heard him – “s’cuse me.” – and then she looked, recognizing the voice from years of running it over and over in her head, analyzing his every word to her. he’d grown, berlus – it seemed that he always did, but then again, the last time she’d had the pleasure of seeing him was the end of their junior year. it had been somewhat agonizing, going this long; and with her luck, it just so happened that he was in the same lunch period as her. go figure. her eyes studied him a minute before she stood on her toes and pulled off his hat, before he could notice that it had been knocked off its spot, and she paused when she realized that his hair had changed shades. he had always been a lovely pale blond, but now his hair was not perfectly blond – the roots were most definitely gray. “odette!” berlus exclaimed, and she almost asked yes, until she realized he was finally recognizing her, rather than asking her a question. her stomach dropped a little, her heart drooping – did he not recognize her as quickly as she had? it was unfortunate, really. “…o-odette!”

“now that you’ve said my name twice, dear berlus,” she said, turning his hat over and over in her hands, studying it with an amused smirk, “you may want to begin an actual conversation. i would love to have one with you, actually.” she looked up at him, and executed the slow and flirtatious smile that she had always been very good at, hopefully good enough for him, as she studied him closer. he was always handsome, in his own individual way – and she liked that. the fact that he was individual, that is; not a cookie cutter creation that couldn’t tell jazz from blues. “so let’s begin with this conversation starter, yes? i like your hair. gray makes you look… like you, i guess. original, a work of cosmic goodness. actually, i think it would look better entirely gray.” she began, and placed the hat down next to her bowl of salad, since while it would be an easy trick to put it on her head and tell him she would wear it always, if only to know she had maybe a strand of gray hair mingling with her dark mane, the smell that was coming off the hat warded off any of her interest in doing so.

fishing her money out of her back pocket as the woman asked her for it, she handed it over. she glanced to her side, admittedly surprised to find gracie still waiting for her. “oh, i’m so sorry. um… could you go back to our table and tell them i might come back later on in the period? i want to catch up with berlus.” she nodded his way, and gracie studied him skeptically before leaving. odette watched her go back to the table, making sure she didn’t look attacked, before she looked back at berlus. “where are you sitting? i’ll join you. adalia told me you did something over the summer? obviously you did, but i mean… ugh, what was it?” she bit her bottom lip, thinking it over, before it came to her. “a chemistry project, right? or classes, something like that. she was complaining that you were never around to see her. but i got her for the summer, at least. thank you for that.”

stepping back, towards the tables, she waited for him to pay, not lying when she said that she wanted to catch up. she glanced at the line, finding a few people watching in shocked silence – people aware of the hierarchy at their school. odette on top and berlus… well, he was mainly anonymous. honestly, she would kill to be able to blend in – have no catty fights to stop, or rumors to squish under her heel. it was all very tiresome, and she’d spent all of her summer with adalia to avoid it all, but now that she was back in school, she was submerged in all the bitchiness that seemed to pertain only to high school. she’d complained to adalia most of the summer, though she’d always fallen silent when adalia had brought up berlus, if only to know that he still existed and that the fact that she never saw him didn’t mean he’d left town. what a heart breaking time that would be – she wouldn’t let adalia out of her sight if that was true. she was extremely thankful, though, that her best friend was such good friends with maybe her only conquest – other than eli, no one had ever piqued her interest. eli was, admittedly, more of an interest because he’d always been so handsome and made her feel beautiful in a different way. they were a destructive couple, really, but she at least missed him – they’d talked through e-mail most of the summer, though that was hardly enough to make her feel like he still existed. but here was berlus in the flesh… and she was really expected to wait for a boy she’d always been able to have? odette had always been an advocate for the forbidden fruit – and eli had never been forbidden. berlus, on the other hand – he was like the elusive, undiscovered fruit that you had to find in a rain forest, the kind you heard about in fairytales. and here he was, right in front of her.

damn, sometimes she really had some fantastic luck.