"Shit are you serious? A 'D'? C'mon Mrs J!" Will whines from his seat at the back of the lecture hall after he's handed back his test, "Hey man what did you get?" He asks his friend Derek who's sat next to him.
The answer isn't audible but Will's reaction makes it clear that it wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"Are you fucking kidding me! Even you got a higher grade than me!" Will exclaims, throwing his paper away from him, dismissively, "I demand a redo. That test was too damn hard, I should have aced it."
Harvey shakes his head and mutters under his breath, "No it wasn't, you're just an idiot." The people around him chuckled quietly in reaction.
"What was that LabRat? Did you squeak?" Will snaps, getting up and walking towards Harvey menacingly. The pair had known each other since they were kids. It was only coincidence that they'd ended up in the same university. Will had been Harvey's tormentor for more years than the latter would care to count. It was sad really. You would have thought that by 21, the guy would've grown out of that behaviour.
"Mr Teal. Please sit down." Mrs Jaffry, Harvey's film production lecturer asks calmly, though it shows in her face that Will was slowly frustrating her.
"No. This little asshole just said something funny. Let me in on the joke." Will grins fakely and takes the open seat beside Harvey. He turns in his chair and rests his right arm on its back, "Go on."
Harvey exhales deeply and faces his end, "I said that it wasn't hard." He pauses and sighs, "You're just an idiot."
As soon as the words leave his mouth, so does his breath. He's knocked backwards and into the girl sat next to him.
"Oh shit." He hears her mumble and feels her scramble to get up and out of the vicinity of the scuffle.
"Really?! You've got some nerve, Four eyes!" Will pushes Harvey again and Harvey can't help but snicker at that.
"Four- eyes? Really? Bullies these days are really losing their edge." Smack.
Harvey's pretty sure he has a death wish, but he continues nonetheless,
"And isn't it a little immature to be picking on the smart kid. I mean that school boy attitude should have gone a while back, but oh, I forgot; You have the mentality of a fourteen year old!"
And that does it. Harvey's sent tumbling to the carpeted aisle and Will follows him, jumping to stand above him.
"Take that the fuck back, you little faggot." Will means to hit close to home; it was common knowledge that Harvey preferred guys, but no one really bothered to care. But the insult didn't phase him. It just added fuel to the fire.
"Faggot? Honestly where are these insults coming from, 'the book of 90s tragedies'? And it's a little contradictory to call me little.. I mean I'm like 4 inches taller than you, Little Man."
He gets pushes down the aisle and feels every bump of the stairs on his spine. It doesn't do much damage, the stairs aren't steep at all, but it still hurts a little.
Harvey's tumbleweed impression is halted by a pair of legs at the bottom on the aisle. They are clad in dark blue jeans and expensive shoes. Harvey looks up. He sees a blurry figure with light hair, but can't make out a face. Not without his glasses.
"Shit, my glasses." Harvey turns away and tries to look for his glasses. He vaguely wonders why everyone is quiet, but his thoughts are interrupted by a hand in front of his face, holding his thick-rimmed glasses.
"Thanks man." He says to the mysterious hand.
"No problem, Harvey." Harvey would know that voice anywhere, and he stands and looks straight into the now visible blue eyes. They're striking, as usual.
"Uh... hi." He rubs the back of his neck, face burning.
"Hey." Jefferson releases a slow smile. He looks at Harvey for a moment then turns to face the bully, "Is there a reason why you're disrupting my frankly fascinating tour of the campus."
Everyone in the room sucks in a breath.
"If it isn't the famous faggot here to rescue the nerdy faggot."
"Really? That word is so overused its lost its effect."
"That's what I said!" Harvey interjects, lightly smacking Jeff on the shoulder encouragingly. Jeff looks at him quickly, taking in the bruising on his cheek and his disheveled hair. He frowns and looks back at the bully.
"You did this to him?"
"That little shit deserves it."
"William! Have some respect!" Professor Jaffry reprimands the bully,
"I think you should listen to your professor." The actor steps closer, "Because I, and a whole class full of university students, just saw you punch your classmate, then proceed to push him down the stairs. I'm no lawyer, but I'm sure Professor Jaffry would agree that that's assault."
The room silences and Will's eyes widen.
Jeff continues, "So I suggest that you leave Harvey alone... No everyone you've been bullying, alone. It only takes one call to get you arrested. Who do you think the jury would believe? A world famous actor, a straight-A student and a room full of students, or," Jeff scoffs mockingly, "You."
Will looks him in the eye and exhales deeply, with ugly, furrowed eyebrows. He pushes past Jeff then stops at Harvey, who's behind him.
"You're lucky." He says. then leaves without another word.
Harvey releases a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"You just can't help falling at my feet." Jeff jokes when the room erupts in chatter.
"To be fair, you fell on top of me that first time."
YOU ARE READING
National Icon (BoyxBoy)
Teen FictionAs the son of a Hollywood star, Jefferson Blake was born into fame. From the get go he was a national icon. He was poised and privileged, prepared for any situation the press threw at him. But he was never ready to meet Harvey King, a college sophom...
