Whiff of Nicotine

five

  Percy slid his fingers through his hair, slicking it back, or attempting to, as it only bounced back. And, boy, was his hair hella fucking greasy; he hasn't washed it for, what, only 5 or 6 days? He shouldn't be touching this much grease before a foods class. Well, technically it was only the first day, and there's sinks to wash hands anyways, but still--
  Oh, right, the hair. Yeah, sounds like awhile, but in all honesty, when you got vibrant and fantasy colors, you do not want to wash your hair every other night. In fact, you want to keep it dry as much as possible. Looks like he wouldn't be able to go without washing it for another night. Percy would just have to launch himself in the bathroom before Ben got in there first. The asshat literally took a hour and a half to take a fucking shower.
  Percy made it in the room just before the late bell rang--thank God, he didn't need a detention on the first day--, and scanned the room. Yeah, another class full of freshmen and sophomores, he snorted to himself--woAH NOW. A sudden grin spread across his lips as he spotted his former victim from this morning.
  "Heyyy," he crooned as he slid into a chair next to the freshman, a smirk taking place on his lips. He could feel the distress rolling off the kid as they planted their face against the table a few times, and took the chance to streak his fingers through their soft hair again. Not for long, he thought, as Adam took his hand and swatted it away, letting out what he supposed was meant to be threatening snarl. He'd say he accidentally let out a snort at this, but he'd be lying, as he found this extremely amusing and cute--no, just amusing. And funny; there you go. "What's wrong, sunshine? Don't you like me?"
  The outrage was evident on their face as they replied with an imposed tone. "Was I sending the wrong signals or some shit? Because I strictly remember asking you to fuck off. Several times. So fuck no, I do not like you." Percy simply sat there, maybe letting a single blink be the only thing to show any movement on his face. Adam sighed heavily, the anger evident in his movements as he whipped around for a moment, trying to look at the teacher without having to look in Percy's general direction; that lasted for maybe a couple minutes before they realized they couldn't do that. "Can you, like, move to a different fucking seat? I can't see the teacher." Lame excuse, but he did anyway; only to the chair on the other side of the freshman, which caused an obvious grunt of dissatisfaction at his choice.
  Davidson continued talking for awhile on the "significance and greatness of baking," and how it was "a gift given by the deities." Okay, she didn't actually say that, but she might as well be, given how enthusiastic she was. By the time she'd stopped talking for a bit due to a phone call, Percy had attempted getting Adam's attention by calling him pet names under his breath, or rather quietly, and touching him on the shoulder, hair and head, back, and maybe their arm several times. He lost count, but knowing them they'd probably counted how many times they stiffened from these attempts, and probably ranged up to 40-something times. He leaned forward and ran his hand down to prod and touch their hand, but instead of putting up with his unnecessary touching again, they promptly stood up and grabbed their bag.
  "Where you goin', princess?" Adam ignored his call after them for a minute, and instead huffed angrily.
  "Away from you, obviously. Literally anywhere would be better than here. I'd prefer the fiery depths of hell, honestly. No offense. Wait, actually, yes offense, because I fucking hate you! Excuse me while I go gently shove a chainsaw down my throat, or any other activity that doesn't involve you." They hissed at him, aggravation clawing evidently at their tone of voice. Adam whipped around and started walking off before Percy called after him again.
  "You know you love me, shortstack!" The teacher gave Adam a look of confusion, before realizing that the student was leaving and, sadly, couldn't do anything as she was stuck on the phone with the principal and had to watch in disappointment as they left. He sat there almost unfazed as an expected slam erupted from the door closed behind them. He blinked and leaned over the table, setting his head on his hand in boredom and maybe a little guilt. Okay, he did feel a bit of remorse for his actions now, but who was to stop him? He certainly wasn't going to quit bothering this freshman, and a part of him wanted to blurt out the reason while the other was going to keep that shit down. There was no way he'd admit why he was always exasperating them, whether to himself or Adam themselves.
  "What?" he almost snapped at the sophomore who approached the table.
  "Yeesh, man, sorry. Just thought I'd come over and talk to you, seeing how you're, y'know," they gestured at the empty seat. Percy rolled his eyes and shrugged, allowing them to sit. Not only did their lips hold a smug grin, but their face was covered in an adornment of freckles very similar to Adam's, except their eyes were a bright blue and their hair reminded him of a strong fire. Actually, this kid reminded him of a fire in general, with their cocky appearance and flaming hair. He'd be lying if he said they weren't hot, theoretically speaking that is.
  "Percy," he simply said instinctively, holding out his free hand in sequence. They shook his hand, replying with a curt, "Harper" in response. Now that he thought about it, Harper, as they told him, looked kind of familiar. "Weren't you in last year's musical?"
  Harper snorted, their grin widening. "Yeah, actually. I played Annie."
  Percy stiffened, his eyes widening for a minute, thinking how a fucking freshman played a main character. "Damn," he simply said, which caused Harper to laugh softly.
  "Yeah. I got held back if that helps to imagine it." They stared for a minute, blues imitating the ocean as he stared right back. He swallowed, not out of a nervous habit but more as to try to say something.
  "So. . ." he was briefly cut off as Harper was called over by Davidson, her finger wagging in the air slowly when she got their attention. The redhead sighed audibly before getting up, rendering Percy a chance to escape. And he did just that. Eyeing the clock for a split second, he noticed at least five minutes had passed during their conversation, and he slunk on by toward the door. He shut the door behind him slowly, making sure she wouldn't hear his escape, as he glanced from side to side, deciding which direction to go. He sniffed, catching a whiff of something that most definitely was not commonly found in the hallways; at least, not with experienced students. "Fucking a, who's dumb enough to not. . ." Percy cut himself off as he cut the corner, his eyes narrowing at the teacher and student walking by. Way to fucking go, he thought, halfway tempted to blurt it out at them. But rather he did something he probably shouldn't have done.
  "Larsen! Thank God! Someone's passed out in A1." The counselor stared at him for a minute, looked at the freshman, then back at Percy, as if trying to decide what she was supposed to do. It was obvious what she decided to do not a moment later, as she took off running in the opposite direction. She didn't take a look back to see if they followed her or not, as she just kept going. "Oh, goody."
  "Are you fucking serious?" Adam snapped, glaring at the junior.
  "You seriously want to go to the principal's office the first week of school?" Percy rolled his gaze over. "Be my guest." He gave the freshman a minute to respond, and when they just stared at him blankly, he snorted. "That's what I thought. The teachers here are gullible," he continued, picking at his cuticles for a moment before looking back at Adam.
  "Your point?" they snapped. The look on their face was obvious: Adam was not happy with Percy still. Actually, they probably won't ever be. "I really don't care whether I'm in the principal's office or suspended, as long as it's away from you. I could be stuck in detention for two weeks for all I care, so long as you're not there." They snorted contemptuously. "Just fuck off."
  Percy blinked before throwing his hands up and shrugging. "Whatever. That works fine." He narrowed his eyes, reluctant for a minute; he knew there was something he was going to say, but obviously disregarded it as he just walked off.
  "Perseus?" Davidson said, her way of saying 'Where were you?' as soon as he stepped into the room.
  He breathed out a sigh before replying, "I had to, uh, use the restroom." She raised her brows, but didn't bother much as she turned to the papers on her desk. He let out a low groan as he sat back down in his previous chair, Harper seated with their legs up. They raised their brows at him, eyes sparkling.
  "You weren't really doing just that, were you?"
  Percy snorted. "Why's that matter? You act like you're my, er, parent, being so concerned." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Don't worry about it. I went to the fucking bathroom, you overly concerned dirtbag." Harper looked taken aback for a minute before snorting, laughing softly with a roll of their eyes. And thank God the bell rang, so now he didn't have to deal with any more fuckwittery in this school. He quickly made for the door and curled around the corner; the only convenient thing about this class was that was near Ben's locker, and that's about it. Percy banged his head against said object, rapping his fingers on the cold metal as he waited for the shorter boy.
  "Goddamnit, you take so long to get here," Percy sneeringly mocked, earning a snort from them.
  "I mean, I'm on the other side of the fucking school, so of course it's going to take longer than for you to get here from your class literally across the hall, dipshit." Ben opened the scrappy door, setting his books on the top shelf and slammed it shut, breathing out a heavy sigh. "I'm ready to fuckin' strangle Jennings already." He rested against the locker, snapping the rubber band wrapped around his wrist. Percy stared at it, desiring to say something against it, but knowing he'd be pretty hypocritical, decided against it and stayed quiet while they continued to talk. "She literally assigned us a name assignment. What the actual fuck?" He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, digging his nails into his scalp. "God, I fucking hate her." They pinched the bridge of their nose, before sighing again and looking back up at Percy, grinning as an attempt to shake off the previous mood. He could only laugh at this attempt.
  "Nothing's going to rid yourself of your hatred of her, let's be real." He blinked, staring at Ben, who only returned the look before deciding it was awkward and started walking off.
  "Okay, let's go." Percy followed suite, averting his gaze from the junior as they made down the hall.

--

  Percy squealed, locking the bathroom door behind him. He was kindly greeted by a pound on the door. "God fucking damnit, Percy! I need in that shower."
  "Fuck off, I need to wash my hair," he replied, trying not to let out a belt of tears.
  "I need to clean myself."
  "My hair."
  "How is your hair more important than me washing my bo--Percy, you fucking sack of shit!" Ben screamed.
  "You take over an hour to take a shower. For God's sake, let me take the, what, five to ten minutes to wash my hair." He didn't bother listening for a reply as he made in and out with his shower, knowing very well if he went over that ten minute limit he'd be dead. As soon as he was out he was on the floor with hands wrapped tightly around his neck. Nice.
  "I swear to God, Percy, you ever fuckin' pull that again I will not hesitate to slice your throat." Ben hissed, digging their nails into his jugular until he screamed; or tried to, anyway. It came out more as a weakass pterodactyl noise of sorts, as he sat there trying to kick the shorter male off of him. By the time Ben got off and got in the shower, Percy's throat was not a pleasant sight to look at. Let's see, what would he say? Oh, yeah, we got a little kinky last night. Hah, just kidding, Ben just tried choking me to death after getting in the shower before him. Jesus fucking Christ, this kid.
  He dumped himself on the sofa, rubbing his neck; flicking his lighter on, he lit the end of the cigarette he plucked off the coffee table in front of him and pressed it to his lips, inhaling sharply. Maybe a bit too sharply, as he breathed out in a coughing fit, choking on smoke. His mind wandered off to fourth hour, Larsen taking off with Adam. After what, though? He narrowed his eyes before blinking, taking another shorter huff of the cigar this time, flicking it in the ash tray as he let out the bit of smoke. The thought of the freshman brought a sudden heat to him, his face feeling more warm than anything. Just thinking about the scenario suddenly left him feeling nauseous, and that led to him retching on the floor. That was actually really gross and disgusting; then again, when is it not?
  Percy only stared at the floor, his blues wide and brimmed with tears from the sudden rip from his throat. Fuck. He forgot how to breathe for a minute, because it was happening all over again.