Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:40:28 -0600
From: Shane Halloran <shhalloran@gmail.com>
Subject: High School: Luca pt. 1

Luca Pt. 1

**********

When I turned 16 I hoped I might get a car, instead my dad got a job
offer. My father is a criminal justice attorney, and when a small but
promising firm in Harris, Pennsylvania offered him a lucrative six-figure
salary and promised him a short track to partner he pretty much had to take
the offer. My sisters and my social life was a secondary concern, as my dad
explained we could go to high school anywhere and get the same education,
but with the salary he would be earning in Pennsylvania he could afford to
send us off to the college of our choice. So the beginning of my sophomore
year was spent knowing we'd be leaving once my parents secured housing and
got our home on the market. When October rolled in we rolled out, packing
everything we owned into my mom's mini-van, my dads car, and a massive
trailer. The drive was brutal, and we got in late Saturday night (or early
Sunday morning) and spent the next day getting some of the more important
stuff put away. I had expected we'd take a few days to get settled before
going to register for the local high school, so you can imagine my pleasure
at being woken up at the butt crack of dawn for school the following
Monday.

J. W. Yeardley High School was less than five years old. It was still in
nearly perfect shape, any damage promptly repaired and graffiti quickly
cleaned. Six state of the art computer labs and a well kept two story
library helped it garner a reputation as a competitive academic school, and
it's stellar athletics teams had afforded the school grants to build a
15,000 seat football stadium, a baseball diamond, and an Olympic sized
indoor pool. The students were diverse, intelligent, and most of all driven
young people who had pride in their school. The faculty was caring and
involved, and the school had plenty of staff to go around with a student to
teacher ratio of 18 to 1. And yet the place was a hellhole as far as I was
concerned.

My dad dropped us off on the way into his new office, ignoring my
complaints about being overworked by the move and reminding us we were
supposed to meet up with our assistant principal, Mr. Schaeffer. My sister
Meery was happy to lead the way, heading into the administrative wing of
the school without even attempting to escape our shared fate. Of course
Meery had plenty of reason to want to move, growing up in a small town like
ours had given her little distinction, the way most of our classmates saw
it Meery was just "Luca's kid sister." To her the move was an opportunity
to make her own reputation, to live outside of my shadow.

Not that it was exactly hard to stand out in our hometown; Vale Texas had a
population of about 7,000, and my high school class numbered at about 70,
in fact our high school had less then 300 students. I had always been
popular; I was a decent enough student, a solid swimmer, and a regular on
the Vale High School party circuit. In fact I was one of Vale's go to guys
for gathering... party favors so to speak. I was well established in the
high school's social hierarchy, which made leaving an even bigger pain.

I guess I should give you some idea about how I look; at 16 I was already
over 6 feet, and at 190 pounds my body was shaping up to have the same
broad, muscular build of my father. It certainly helped that I had been
athletic my whole life, I had been playing water polo and swimming since
about the time I could walk. My eyes are a striking brown so dark that they
almost look black; my hair is a mane of thick dirty blonde curls that
frames my face well.

Meery wasn't a bad looking kid herself; she had a willowy slim build that
had a definite appeal. At 5'7 my little sister was maybe 90 pounds soaking
wet and with her straight auburn hair and pale green eyes she was a looker,
but Meery was never exactly brimming with confidence. Where I was a social
creature, happiest with a beer in hand surrounded by friends, Meery was a
wallflower. I'd tried time and time again to drag her to parties and to try
and socialize her, but she never seemed confident in her own skin, and
tended to shy away and hang out on the sidelines.

Finding Mr. Schaffer's office was no easy feat, the administrative wing was
about the size of my old school, and it was built like a labyrinth, filled
with turns and several unlabeled offices, but we eventually managed to find
it near a break room for the teachers. The man didn't notice us at first;
he was hunched over his computer typing furiously before Meery,
surprisingly impatient, cleared her throat to get his attention. He whipped
around at the noise giving us a harsh look as if we were intruding on his
personal time, and while he glared at us I gave him a quick once over,
noting his receding hairline and too tight slacks.

"Did you two need something," he said impatiently, "Or did you just feel
like you had to tear me away from my work for a quick hello?"

Meery blushed slightly before replying.

"Hello Mr. Schaeffer, I'm Meery Wagner and this is my brother Luca, our
father spoke to you last week about our transferring, and he was told we'd
need to meet with you to pick up our schedules and make sure all our
paperwork was in order."

The assistant principal frowned trying to recall us before turning to his
desk and shuffling through a pile of paperwork and pulling out two folders.

"These are your schedules as well as a map of our school, there?s also an
emergency information card for your parents to fill out and a copy of our
student handbook, now I'm sorry to be curt but I really must get back to
work, if you have any questions please see my secretary, Ms. Myers, and
please have those cards filled out and returned to her as soon as
possible."

Upon finishing this succinct speech the man turned back to his desk,
clearly anxious to continue whatever he was working on. Meery looked ready
to ask him something so I shot her a look and stepped out of the office,
heading towards the commons. I kept a brisk pace to keep Meery from
catching up and launching into a series of questions like she usually did
when she was nervous or confused. It didn't take long to make it out of the
administrative wing and into the commons, which were already filling up
with students. It only took a few seconds for Meery to catch up and take in
the crowd that had formed.

"Luca, their have to be like 400 people here..." Meery said nervously,
"This is insane!"

"It'll be fine Meery, just calm down and let these people know what a fine
young woman I've raised." I said with a reassuring smile (or a reasonable
facsimile thereof), "And if all else fails you've got my number, I don't
mind beating a few brats faces in if they give you any lip."

"You raised me? There's a laugh," she said lightly, "I'll be surprised if
you make it to half your classes Mr. Maturity."

"Words can hurt Meery, you wound me."

Meery gave me a tiny grin seeming slightly more at ease before heading of
in search of her first class. I smiled at her back before slipping away
towards the front doors. The school was big, which was nice since it meant
security couldn't begin to cover the campus and catch a truant like
myself. The weather was colder then I was used to, it definitely felt more
like winter in Vale then early October, so I zipped my jacket up before
walking around the building, scoping things out. Most of my fellow students
were headed towards the school, bright and eager to start the new day, but
I for one needed a few more hours of sleep. Eventually I found what I had
hoped for, around back I spied an old service ladder and started up towards
the roof. Once I made it up I pulled out my pack of cigarettes, and layback
comfortably on the gravel surface of the roof, lighting a smoke and looking
out to the sky. It was to see that the sky here didn't seem so different
from home.  ---------- Waking up from a good nap is never easy, but around
noon it started to mist, and it looked like in a few minutes the rain would
really start to pour. I stood up, a little unsteady from the grogginess
before taking a slow sweeping look below me. Quickly satisfied that no
administrator would see me I headed back to the ladder and quickly
descended, before double timing back to the entrance and into the
commons. The commons served as the cafeteria, filled with uniform long
tables that seated 12, and evidently it was lunchtime. A cursory glance at
my schedule showed that I had first lunch, which had just started, so I
wiped the sleep from my eyes and scanned the room.

I guess Meery had a later lunch cause she was nowhere in sight, so I headed
over towards a close, nearly empty table, the only other occupant was a
slight blonde girl wearing a cute black and white striped sweater dress
over ripped black tights. I gave her an inquiring look and she smiled back
at me before moving her books and purse to the side clearing a space for me
across from me.

"And why have I never seen you around here stranger?" She inquired
brightly.

"I'm a transfer student," I replied "This is actually my first day here at
good old J. W. Yeardley."

"Well then allow me to head the welcoming committee, I'm Amber Layne, your
brand new best friend."

I laughed at her contagious excitement before holding out my hand. She gave
me a grin before taking my hand and giving it an enthusiastic shake. She
patted the spot across from her and I sat down.

"So come on buddy, lets see your schedule, I have to find out everything
about you, and there's so little time."

This girl's excitement was infectious, so I pulled my schedule back out and
handed it to her.

"Huh, evidently you and I have the same French class, and Mixed Media. A
little odd since I didn't see you in either," Amber said mischievously,
"Did someone get cold feet on their first day? Lukey, do you need me to
hold your hand and get you to class tomorrow?"

I wasn't sure if this girl was flirting or if she just this... friendly
with everyone, but I figured it was best to just roll with it and make a
new friend.

"I'm not quite as academically inclined as my bookish good looks may lead
you to believe, a couple hours of sleep seemed more important than a few
classes."

"Well Luca you made a good choice on where to sit, not only am I quite
fabulous, but I am an academic genius ready to aid you in becoming a
functional student."

Amber noticed a few people were headed over to our table, and she waved at
them animatedly, clearly the girl?s friendly attitude was universal. Three
guys and two girls joined the table. A tall (taller then me which is saying
something) boy with a head of messy dark hair and a bored, moody expression
sat beside Amber, and a petite blonde girl in a pretty sundress sat beside
him. A short boy with close cropped light hair in basketball shorts sat
beside me, and another boy sat on Amber's other side. He was a cute guy, in
a glazed over stoner way, and he swung an arm around Amber's shoulder. The
last girl, a curvaceous Hispanic girl in a pair of tight jeans and a beaded
top sat beside me. They all were giving me curious looks, well everyone
except tall dark and broody.

"Everyone, this is my new best friend Luca, he will accompany me everywhere
as my newest manservant, so everyone should treat him with the respect his
position deserves."

Stoner boy quirked an eyebrow at her, seeming more than a little confused.

"Amber, I'm not sure if you can have other manservant's," he said in a
quiet voice, "It might be against the rules of dating or something."

"Luca, meet my boy toy, Joey, he's not much in the brains department, with
all the THC and all, but he's good arm candy. A woman needs to look good
you know. The darling boy to your left is Robert, a lovely young man, but
he's wasting away pining for me."

"Amber is under the impression that all men exist to serve and worship
her," Robert said with a grin, "She's the leading proponent of all male
harems."

"A woman shouldn?t limit herself, I like to keep a few pots on the stove if
you catch my drift, back to the introductions though, the beauty to your
right is my dearest friend Carla, she's descended from Brazilian royalty."

"I thought it was Ecuadorian," Carla said, eying me a little too
friendly-like "You need to keep better track of our life stories."

"I can hardly keep track of my own affairs, how can I be bothered with all
yours? Anyway, enough of these interruptions, I don't have time to keep
dealing with your petty problems with my brilliant narrative. The innocent
little waif two seat over is Katia, and beside her is her brother Piotr,
those two are the last living descendants of the Romanov Family."

"I've always believed I had a striking resemblance to Anastasia." Katia
said with no trace of irony before looking to her brother. "Wouldn't you
say I have royal features Piotr?"

Piotr looked at her irritably before grunting at her.

"Piotr has a policy," Katia said conspiratorially, "If he can't say
something with an animal noise he doesn't bother."

"That's asinine Katia" Piotr said in a gravelly, lightly accented voice,
"Just because I choose to ignore your more ridiculous claims doesn't mean
I'm a mute."

"Wait, you're a mute?" Joey asked with the same note of confusion in his
voice, "But we just had Speech class together, and you gave a three minute
oral...?"

Piotr shot Joey a dumbfounded look, clearly surprised by the other boy's
seeming lack of common sense before uttering another grunt and turning his
head away from the group. I got the feeling he wasn't legendary for his
friendliness.

"Piotr," Katia said, "I've invented this new thing called a joke, learn to
take one."

"Enough sibling love," Amber declared authoritatively, "Don't you animals
want to grill my new BFF?"

"Yeah," Robert agreed, "What's up new boy, where you from?"

"I'm from Vale, Texas, it's a little town about two hours from Dallas."

"Why the hell would you leave all that sun?" asked Carla, still appraising
me.

"My dad got a job offer here." Being curt was probably the best way to give
her the hint.

"What year are you?" Katia inquired.

"Uh, I'm a sophomore, what about all of you?"

"I'm a freshman," Katia answered, "Amber, Joey, and Carla are sophomores,
and my brother and Robbie are juniors."

"You are an athlete?" Piotr asked, his tone showing little interest in my
answer.

"Uh, I'm a swimmer I guess, but I'm more built for water polo, Vale
couldn't field a real team though so I don't play much."

"You play polo?" Robert said, seeming pleasantly surprised, "That's good
news, the teams been hurting for talent this year."

"Robbie is Yeardley's number one sports fan." Amber said affectionately,
"He likes to think of himself as our talent scout."

"A little school spirit is hardly a bad thing." Robert replied, "And as the
fuehrer always says, every student should consider it his duty to offer his
talents to the school."

"The fuehrer?" I asked, "Did I wander into some neo-Nazi club here?"

"Mrs. Oberlin, the principal," Carla explained "She's pretty intense, the
Nazi comparison isn't all that hard to-"

"Have you even found your locker?" Amber interrupted, "Luca here has gotten
off to a good start and skipped his morning classes."

"Actually no," I answered, "I hadn't bothered to head that way, I'm not
even sure where it is, wherever the C hall is."

"Piotr," Katia said brightly, "Isn't that right by your locker?"

"It is, isn't it!?" Amber answered for him. "I'm sure your ready to do your
part for the welcome wagon and show Luca his locker, aren't you my dear."
The only response she got was another non-committal grunt; clearly this boy
relished the opportunity to get some one on one time.

The group continued to talk, occasionally asking me a question. They were
friendly enough group, and they seemed happy to bring me into the fold. As
the lunch period drew to an end I felt reasonably comfortable that I had
made a few friends.

When the bell rang everyone said their goodbyes and headed off towards
their next classes. Everyone except Piotr that is, he stood leveling an
indifferent glance at me.

"If you want me to show you your locker come on, I don't care to be late."
The warmth dripping from this guy was palpable, but I wasn't about to
refuse help navigating this place so I grabbed my bag and followed my
guide.  Piotr walked at a pretty steady clip, and it was no easy feat to
keep up with him in the crowded halls. The upside to following Piotr was I
got to get a better look at him, and was it ever a nice look. Piotr was
even taller then I'd thought, he was at least 6'4, and he was well built,
his broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist. He also had a nice bubble
butt that his tight jeans showed off well. This guy may not have been the
type I'd like to deal with, but I wouldn't mind watching him walk.

It didn't take to long before we were in C hall, so I pulled out my
schedule and took a look at my locker number; 1193. I took a quick glance
around before realizing we had stopped right by it. I wondered how Piotr
knew where my locker was since he hadn't ever seen my schedule before I
noticed him standing in front of locker 1191. Just my luck, tall dark and
surly would be a regular facet in my life. I gave him a nod before yanking
out my schedule and setting off for my sixth period class.

----------

By the time my seventh period came I was ready for it. Double photography
had been one of the few reasons I thought I might enjoy attending
Yeardley. I showed my schedule to the teacher, a striking woman in a
colorful skirt and a black turtleneck

"Hello Luca, my name is Mrs. Ferrer, I'm so glad you've chosen to take
photography." She said warmly, "I'm not sure if you had any photography
classes at your previous school, but I must warn you, this is a very
nontraditional class. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are spent out of the
class; my students check in and then head out to work on projects. I don't
have a syllabus or anything with me, so for today I'll just pair you with
another student so they can explain the curriculum to you. I'll put you
with one of my better students so I know your not getting a half assed
explanation... Ahh, speak of the devil, Luca, meet my best photographer,
Piotr."

'Lucky me' I thought as Mrs. Ferrer explained the deal to Piotr. He nodded
a few times, before motioning for me to follow him. We walked silently out
of the room and towards the parking lot. The silence was killing me, did
Piotr have something against conversation, or was it just-

"Do you have a car?" He asked suddenly without even looking at me.

"No," I answered, "I didn't realize it was a requirement for the class

"It's not exactly, Mrs. Ferrer doesn't require us to go off campus to take
photos, and she just gives us the option."

We made it to the parking lot without saying anything else, and Piotr led
me to his car, a beat up old station wagon, and told me to hop in the
passenger side. We both climbed in and Piotr looked at me.

"You don't have a camera or anything yet, but lets go to the park, I can
take some photos and explain the class to you a bit."

"I'm just along for the ride, whatever you had planned is fine with me."

"Then the park it is."

The park wasn't too far of a drive, it was probably about 5 miles away so
it only took us about 15 minutes to make it there and park, but the silence
made the time drag. Piotr reached around back and grabbed a camera, then
opened the glove compartment and pulled out a leather wallet or something
before hopping out of the car. I followed his lead and we headed towards
the woods.

"Mrs. Ferrer is pretty laid back," he said offhandedly, stepping over a
patch of thick mud, "We're expected to turn in a three photos a week, and
she usually gives us a monthly assignment to showcase whatever new
techniques she's showed us."

"She mentioned a syllabus, I'm just hoping I can get into the swing of
things quickly enough."

We walked for a while, Piotr occasionally explaining something about
Mrs. Ferrer?s Photography class. Piotr seemed to be thawing slightly, I
figured he was just a little tightly wound. Eventually we came to a small
clearing surrounded by thick foliage. With several stumps and logs to serve
as seats it was clear that this was some kind of gathering spot. Piotr sat
on a tall stump before replying.

"Trust me, you don't have much to worry about, double photography is a
legendary blow off class, I doubt you'll get less then a B for any
project." He gave me a calculating look before continuing, "I'm not sure
about your preferences, but you didn't seem to appalled by Joey's constant
state of stoned bliss, do you care to smoke?"

Before I could agree he had pulled out a cigarette case, which I had
mistaken for a wallet earlier, and opened it, pulling out a fat joint and
bringing it to his lips to light it.

"You don't mind do you?"

"Of course not, I was actually hoping I'd meet someone with a hook-up so
this is pretty great."

He gave me a small grin, and I noticed a tiny chip in his front tooth that
gave his smile a cute, lopsided look. He pulled a lighter out of his back
pocket and lit the joint, inhaling deeply and holding the hit for a beat
before exhaling slowly.

"You got lucky then," Piotr said, smoke curling around his face; "Joey
grows his own pot in his basement. His parents are pretty relaxed about his
habits."

He took another puff before passing to me, and I gratefully accepted,
taking a generous hit. The sweet smoke was pleasant, and a tried blowing a
smoke ring, a trick I was working on mastering. After a few warm ups I
managed to blow several good, clearly defined rings.

"Huh, I've never managed to learn how to blow smoke rings, I'm a little
jealous."

"Seriously? It's not that hard, here watch my mouth."

I took another hit before forming a small o with my lips and curling my
tongue, and we passed the joint a few times, Piotr trying to imitate my
technique. I was enjoying myself, in fact I was so intent on showing off
that I didn't even notice Piotr lift his camera and snap a picture of me.

"Shit!" I yelped, "You can't go around taking pictures of people smoking,
that never ends well."

Piotr laughed at me, a good-natured hearty laugh this time, before reaching
for the joint and explaining.

"I'm not taking a picture to put in the school paper or anything, you just
looked cute with your tongue curled like that, I couldn't resist."

It took me a moment to realize that this guy who had said maybe five words
to me during lunch was now smoking me out and calling me cute, I mean can
you say complete 180? Piotr took his first hit before pulling the same face
I had a few minutes before and trying to blow a ring, but he exhaled to
hard and ended up blowing out all the smoke he'd taken in.


"Dude, you can't blow so hard or that'll happen, hold the smoke and release
it in tiny breaths, its surprisingly delicate work."

He tried again and this time managed a few lopsided, but passable rings
before offering the joint back to me again. I gave him a little more
coaching and by the time we'd reached the roach Piotr was blowing some
passable smoke rings.

"Fuck." He said, "I'm pretty stoned, how about you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty baked" I replied, stretching and standing up.

The sun was starting to peak out from behind the clouds, and the afternoon
was warming up, so I unzipped my jacket and shrugged it off, wanting to
soak up as much good weather as I could.

"Hmm," Piotr said, seemingly checking me out, "I was right, your upper body
is pretty well built, have you considered trying out for lacrosse?"

"I've never even played, it's not exactly big where I'm from."

"You have the ideal build for it, maybe if you want I could show you a bit
about the game, and if you like it you could come try out for the team."

"Yeah, maybe we could do that..."

We both seemed to be out of things to say, and I started to take in the
scenery, appreciating the thick trees and the earthy smell of the rained
out woods.

"Come on," Piotr said standing up as well, "We should do something, I
didn't anticipate taking this long to smoke and sit around."

"What did you want to do? I'm not a big expert on heavily wooded
entertainment."

"Are there not trees in Vale?"

"Of course there are trees dudes, but not like, forests of them. This is
new territory to me."

He laughed again, the same loud happy laugh he'd let out after taking a
picture of me before sitting back down. I realized I could really get used
to hearing him laugh before sitting down as well.

"Lets just take the scenery in then, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you."

We sat in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the woods. I
hadn't been kidding about these woods being foreign to me; the closest I've
ever gotten to a forest was when I saw someone's yard with three trees in
it. It was pretty awe inspiring to see the ancient trees that called this
park home.

"So what do you think of Amber?" Piotr asked suddenly, interrupting my
reverie.

"Uh, she's cool... maybe like a tad flamboyant."

That earned another laugh, and I grinned at the sound.


"A tad would be an understatement,? he said, still chuckling, "Amber is a
special kind of woman though. How about Carla? She seems to have a thing
for you."

"Carla? I'm not sure how I can get the back off signals her way fast
enough."

"She's a bit of a man-eater I admit, but why wouldn't you be interested in
her?"

"Let's just say bro, she's not my type."

"Oh?" he said, suddenly serious, "Am I your type?"

I gaped at him for a minute, was I that obvious that he'd figured me out in
the span of a few hours? I wasn't sure how I should play this off, was he
trying to get me to out myself so he could hand me a beat-down? I was
pretty sure I couldn't take Piotr in a fight so this could be bad... Before
I could decide on a course of action he spoke again.

"I'm not asking so I can like, lynch you," he said, grinning sheepishly,
"More like because I'm interested maybe."

I said I gaped before, but after hearing this I swear my jaw must have
touched the ground. Piotr looked at me, his face falling a little bit,
interpreting my shock as disgust.

"I mean, I don't mean to put you in an awkward position or anything, if I
jumped to the wrong conclusion or something I'm sorry, of course I
understand if your a little upset, I'm not usually so forward, it's the
weed, it makes my mouth move at light speed and my mind-"

I cut him off by leaning forward and giving him a small peck, our lips
barely brushing, but it was like an electric current ran between us. He
gave me that same sheepish grin before leaning in to kiss me again.

That first kiss was sweet, barely more then a peck, but this next kiss was
something else entirely. Our lips met again and that same feeling struck
me, I moaned a little and he wasted no time in swiping his tongue across
mine. We made out feverishly for a minute before I pulled back, it was a
little awkward kissing while sitting on a stump, and my more rational mind
was reminding me that I'd just met the guy, and getting fucked up and
hooking up with strangers wasn't really my speed. We looked at each other,
both trying to get an understanding of what had just happened.

Our staring contest was interrupted when something starting ringing. Piotr
pulled his phone out of his pocket before whispering a "Fuck." and
answering.

"Katia? Yes I realize what time it is." He said, sounding gruff and more
familiar, "I'm sorry, I got distracted working... Of course, I'll come by
to get you... No it's no problem, and you don't need to bother
Robert... Katia, I will be by in twenty minutes, and you better be
there... End of discussion Katina, good bye."

He hung up abruptly looking a little upset, before turning to me and
letting the scowl on his face soften a hair.

"I'm afraid we've been out a bit longer then I realized." He said guiltily,
"You were supposed to catch a bus right?"

"Yeah, but I can probably call my mom and explain I'm sure she won't mind-"

"Nonsense, I don't mind giving you a ride, unless you mind riding with me?"

"Uh no, of course I don't mind, I mean truth be told I'd be fine with
spending a little more time with you." That made turned Piotr's gruff look
into a pleased one. "I mean, shit, I mean I wouldn't mind hanging out a
little longer."

"Of course you do." He said with a self satisfied grin, "Come on, we need
to go get my darling little sister."

**********

If you liked this feel free to send me a review at ShHalloran@gmail.com,
and please send whatever constructive criticism you have.