Damien Carmichael leads a double life. By day he's a high school senior at an elite prep school, just trying to get through his last year without any trouble. He has a girlfriend and up until this year, he was the star player of the lacrosse team.
...
"His name is Oliver," Carrie announced at breakfast the next morning. Damien looked up from his eggs, and his notebook, in which he'd been jotting down several ideas for his college!AU fic for the last ten minutes.
"Pardon?" Damien asked, feeling thoroughly confused. He had slept only mildly better than the night before, and the only positive thing he had going for him was that it was Tuesday which meant he only had one class today. P.E. It had always been his least favorite class, but the fact that after a full ninety minutes he would be home free, he supposed he could tolerate it.
"Oliver, the new boy who looks like Adam Spellock. His name is Oliver," Carrie said with a triumphant smile.
"Okay," Damien returned to his notebook, unsure what to do with this information. It wasn't as though Oliver and he would be talking any time soon.
He had barely crawled out of bed and pulled on his gym clothes, making his way sleepily from the dormitory and into the central living area when he had overheard Phi and Tyler very loudly telling Oliver just how much of an asshole he was as he walked past.
"You'd better watch out for him," Phi had said, nudging Oliver's shoulder.
"A homophobic prick, and, he'll ruin your relationship to boot. Not to mention he's a pretty shit friend too," Tyler had added. Phi and Tyler had giggled to themselves as Damien walked past. He had refused to engage or stoop to their level, so instead he walked with his head held high, simply pretending as though he hadn't heard them.
He did his best to avoid them at all costs which was next to impossible considering they all shared a central dormitory and living area, but with noise canceling headphones, he could almost block out anything. Anything except his own mind.
Carrie eyed him, "How long are you planning to keep up the charade that you weren't totally checking him out?" she asked, taking the empty seat beside him. Damien's eyes widened, he looked around the dining hall nervously, trying to make sure no one had heard her.
"I have a girlfriend!" he replied furiously. "Whom I like... love," he corrected himself quickly. "Very much." Damien groaned inwardly, idiot!
"No one said that you didn't, but that doesn't mean you can't be interested in both."
"That's all well and good, but I'm not, thank you very much," he snapped, slamming his notebook closed. To his credit this was true. Damien wasn't interested in both. He just wasn't interested in girls, which didn't help.
Carrie shrugged, "No need to get so defensive, I was just saying he was cute and maybe you should talk to him, but if you don't want to play nice, then I will."
"What?" Damien eyed her nervously, he was beginning to realize that perhaps trusting her might not be such a good idea after all. Carrie stood up suddenly, waving her arms in the air, confirming his suspicion. Damien turned to see Oliver standing in the doorway. Oh bloody hell, he thought, desperately wishing he could vanish into a hole in the ground. He turned around quickly, hoping he hadn't been caught staring as Carrie waved Oliver over to them.
"What are you doing?" Damien hissed between clenched teeth.
"Making friends," Carrie replied with a smile, obviously unbothered by Damien's clear discomfort. Damien sighed, resigning himself to his fate of having to deal with Carrie's attempts to make friends. She meant well, or at least, Damien wanted to believe this, but her tactics were going to drive him mad.
"You know what your brother has been saying about me to him, don't you? He probably already thinks I'm a prick!"
"Well then be nice," she said, smile never fading as Oliver approached the table against all odds. "Hi," she stood up quickly and all but ran around the table to hug the poor unsuspecting boy. Damien refused to turn around. "I'm Carrie, and this wallflower is Damien." Damien offered him a polite but quiet wave. "Come sit with us," she said excitedly. Damien cringed. How was she always so bloody cheerful? He wondered.
"No er... that's alright thanks, I was actually planning to sit with my friends just over there," he said inclining his head in the direction of Tyler's table. Damien chanced a glance over at the other table. Tyler glared, and Damien wanted, even more, to vanish into thin air.
Damien turned back towards Carrie, who frowned at Oliver's refusal, he had the very distinct impression that she usually got her way with such a frown. "Well if you wanna sit with us sometime, you're always welcome at our table. Just a word of advice, take whatever my brother tells you with a grain of salt," she said with a conspiratorial sort of whisper.
"Who is your brother?" Oliver asked.
"The loudmouth with the obnoxious pink hair," she replied, pointing him out for good measure. Damien snorted in spite of himself.
"Tyler?" Oliver looked back and forth between them, clearly confused.
"He's adopted," Carrie explained. She was always quick to drop that little tidbit of information whenever she could. Damien supposed he wouldn't want to admit he was related to him either if he were her. "Anyway, I'm just saying, he's not the angel he makes himself out to be so just... be careful who you trust, you know?"
Oliver eyed her for a second longer, then nodded, "Sure. Thanks, I guess," he said. And with that, he walked off towards the other table. Carrie sighed, far too loudly and dramatically for comfort and resumed her seat. Damien wanted to die.
"We'll get him," she said.
Damien shook his head, "Your brother's already poisoned him against me. God only knows what he says about you."
Carrie rolled her eyes, "I'm not afraid of him. He knows I can still kick his ass if I need to." She turned back to her food, stabbing at the salad rather aggressively.
Damien chuckled at that despite himself, "Now that I would love to see."
Carrie smirked. "Oh I can make it happen, frankly it would serve the little shit right." Damien couldn't agree more. "I don't know who he thinks he is. The last few years he's just gotten very ungrateful and my parents are too nice to say anything but frankly, it's out of control."
Damien sighed, "Yeah well, I don't really want to start any more drama with him than I already have." Their feud had ended with Damien losing all of the friends he had ever had and a mounting tension on the lacrosse field. He had opted not to join the team for his senior year. His father had worried that it wouldn't look particularly good to Oxford admissions boards, but frankly if his above average grades, and above average SAT scores and various other extracurriculars from the past four years, and the fact his father and grandfather had both attended the school weren't enough, he was fairly certain nothing would be. It was just as well, Damien had never particularly liked lacrosse, but it had served the dual purpose of being an extracurricular he could add to his transcripts while simultaneously giving him the benefit of appearing as though he were something of a jock. The fact that there were a few gay members on the lacrosse team was irrelevant in his own mind.
"Leave it to me, I've got your back," Carrie said with a smile. Damien couldn't help but smile back at her, at that. The year had already gotten off to a rather lonely start for him and the thought that there was somebody who might actually have his back was comforting. Not that he would ever dare admit as much.
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