Chapter Text
The sound of pens being nibbled, hopeless sighs and uncontrolled sobs, this was the music Mr. Uhl most loved to hear in the first hour of any Monday, when the polls were close and the fates of many students hung on the edge of a thin rope. The man sat at his desk with his legs resting on his desk while in one hand he held a magazine about pick-up trucks, disguised as the cover of a historical novel, and with the other he sipped good coffee brewed in the teachers' lounge a few minutes earlier.
Haruki was among those gnawing on pencils, although he would have very happily been part of the " sob team." He looked at the words in Spanish written on the paper and wondered why on earth his mind refused to cooperate with him at such a critical moment. He would have liked to tear up the paper or all the better to make a plane out of it to throw in Mr. Uhl's face as revenge, but he knew he could not do that. On that task depended his survival, his summer! And all the more his future since he needed good grades in everything to get into college.
He was about to resign himself and throw in the towel when a clicking of a pen against the desk drew his attention.
Haruki turned his gaze to the girl sitting in the desk next to him, who despite keeping her eyes fixed on the professor held a note in her bottom hand, discreetly facing the boy.
He reached out with a swift momentum and grabbed it just in time, before Mr. Uhl could lower the "historical novel" to cast a glance at the pupils sitting in the deepest seats to see if they were cheating.
Nicole Brown, the girl from the note card, gave him a relaxed smile, keeping both hands under her chin and her elbows resting on the class assignment she had just finished. Haruki, on the other hand, tried not to meet the professor's gaze; he turned his head back to the paper and when Uhl returned to his magazine the boy unrolled the note to see what it was about.
"Need a hand Haru? ;)" -N
Haruki cast a discreet glance at the girl, who meanwhile had been scribbling on the counter waiting for a response. He tapped his pen twice on the desk to convey to her the signal they had decided together during those school years that meant an affirmative answer.
Her eyes lit up like precious gems and a mischievous smile spread across her face. She started slowly, pretending to have symptoms of a sneeze, and the moment she pretended to have one, she hurriedly grabbed the paper Haruki had held out to him under the desk so as to hide the sound of the air being cut by the thin foil of the class assignment.
"Salud." Pronounced Professor Uhl without looking up from the magazine.
"Gracias." Nicole replied, winking at Hideki before starting to work on her class assignment to copy all the answers.
The boy could not express his gratitude except with a look of recognition, if he dared to breathe they would probably be found out so it was better to keep quiet, however he was really grateful to his deskmate. It was not the first time she had helped him with Spanish and she had never asked for anything in return.
The two had been friends for years, had backed each other up during difficulties, and had always been there for each other, even in the darkest moments.
Haruki would never admit it to a soul, but he found Nicole the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her brown hair kept in a disheveled bob, her black beret always on her head, her green eyes, the freckles on her peachy face, and her smooth pink lips almost always curved into a playful smile. She was the smartest girl he knew. She loved subjects like math and science (although she was not very good at history) and had a great talent for mechanics. She spent her days inventing models and studying contraptions; perhaps that was why she dreamed of becoming an engineer....
She did not take long to finish the paper, only time to copy her own answers and change some of them so as not to arouse suspicion and then, just as it had been the first time, with a fake sneeze the paper returned to its rightful owner.
"¿Está bien, señorita Brown?" Mr. Uhl asked, frowning.
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. "Solo un poco de resfriado, nada de qué preocuparse!" And then she stood up, heading to her desk to hand in her class assignment.
Haruki meanwhile double-checked his answers and exactly two minutes before the bell rang, he got up to turn in his paper as well. The Spanish professor eyed him suspiciously, but he accepted the assignment sufficiently before setting about checking some of the answers.
If something was wrong, he did not give it away. He mumbled something and Haruki returned to his seat, casting a look of desperate admiration for his best friend. She smiled slyly at him and winked.
When the bell marked the end of class half the class catapulted out of the classroom to escape Mr. Uhl's nasty comments, while the other half begged the professor to let them write for two more minutes, as if these could mean the difference between life and death.
Haruki and Nicole came out first. He with his hands in his pockets and she behind his head. Once the classroom door closed behind them they clenched their knuckles.
The boy breathed a sigh of relief. "I owe you my life. I can't afford another failing grade in Spanish... Hopefully I'll get promoted without having to take summer classes."
"Don't worry, I'm always available to save your butt!" She giggled, leaning against the wall of lockers as Haruki opened his and placed the textbooks he didn't need inside. "Besides...you would have done the same." He smiled.
"You don't need help, you're good at everything. The subjects that are a nightmare for others are bread for you. I would love to return the favor but I never know when to do it!"
She looked up with a bright smile on her face. Her freckles danced on her nose when she smiled.
"For starters, you could do my history homework for me! Mr. Strickler filled me with exercises and chapters to study. It's almost like he's mad at me."
Haruki laughed at this.
"...Or... You could invite me to the movies."
Their gazes met for a moment. Her green eyes against his brown ones.
The boy felt himself blush slightly as the intensity of that gaze made it hard for him to think.
Was that what it looked like? The proposal of a...date?
Nicole seemed to regret having spoken, so she hastened to add, "I saw that the seventh chapter of the Gun robot saga came out. That could be fun!"
Haruki tried to compose himself quickly; he couldn't let his shyness make him look stupid. "A sci-fi movie full of explosions and gunfire? I'm in."
Nicole smiled and moved from the lockers. "Great then. I'll see you tonight at nine at my place, make sure you're not late mister." She used her fingers like guns and drummed on the air in a cheerful manner. "Now I run away that I have algebra class. I don't want to lose Miss Janeth's admiration."
Haruki nodded and watched her walk away as the scent of her hazelnut balm filled his nostrils and clouded his thoughts.
Was that a date? He should have asked her. I mean, this was not the first time they had gone out to see a movie or done something after school, and yet...and yet something in Nicole's voice had made it sound like something more solemn, more important.
Haruki shook his head and forced himself to close the red locker.
He could not feel certain feelings; it was not in his nature. He knew he had a crush on that girl but he still kept wondering how long this would last. I mean it had been years now! Years of redness, pining, sublinar messages, heartbeats and sleepless nights.
She was the only person he liked to talk to at school. The only one who seemed interesting to him, likable, charming, though with her flaws; such as being an uncontrollable busybody due to excessive curiosity...and yet Haruki loved that as well.
He couldn't, though. She didn't have to.
Mr. Strickler's voice came back to him. "Changelings are not meant to feel love. They were born without it and will die the same way. You can be fooled into believing it is true love, but believe me, those like us are destined for a cruel fate. No human or troll could ever love a being half-heartedly, you'd better remember: you live only to serve her, that's what you were created for, the rest is ephemeral."
He closed his eyes and tried to remember the last time he had heard her voice. That she who had made him a half-breed, who had instructed him and granted him freedom. Only two green eyes came back to his mind, and the phantom echo of a sweet melody made him shiver.
"The rest is ephemeral." He repeated as he crossed the hallway in search of the history classroom. "I cannot let love distract me."