Together As One

Chapter One - It's Just How it Goes

The seconds ticked by like they were running through honey, pencils and erasers tapped on the wooden desktops as the teacher lectured the class. Hayden sat in the third row from the front, his desk littered with open textbooks and a pad, his hand jotting down as much information as he could. At the back of the class, Samuel Jorgenson was leaning back in his seat currently snoring with his feet resting on his half-open text, drool sliding down his face and onto the floor.

"Mr Jorgenson?" The teacher had turned after finishing his lecture on the biology of a Whispering Death, seeing the young man asleep was something he had come accustomed to. Samuel grunted and choked on his saliva before his coughing sent him crashing into the industrial carpet, his friends snickering.

"Oh, what the Thor teach?!" the greasy black-haired boy groaned and rubbed his back as he set himself down in his chair once again. The teacher and class watched him fuss over the most comfortable way to sit, his friends snickering behind their hands which earnt them each a glare.

"Mr Jorgenson, are you aware of what I am teaching?" the teacher folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at the young man who was whispering to his friend beside him. He looked back up at the teacher, a smug grin sliding across his face, Hayden rolled his eyes and facepalmed, this wasn't going to end well.

"Yeah I'm aware and sure that I'm passing with flying colours," he answered and leaned back in his chair, the teacher sighed and turned to the screen. The other students all groaned at the raven-haired boy, they were just trying to get through one lesson without him screwing it up.

"Then you wouldn't mind telling the class what the three major weaknesses of a Whispering Death are?" the teacher smirked, stepping aside to reveal the holographic image of the Boulder class dragon. Samuel blinked, looking at the image, his brain was fried and his cousin was snickering at how dumb his cousin looked.

"Ah...well, you see...the Whitening Death...obviously isn't a Stocker class dragon..." He awkwardly rambled, the teacher was holding in the urge to laugh, how could this young man be so unaware and inconsiderate. The rest of the class had whipped out their phones, recording the whole failure of an answer, snickering amongst themselves.

"Mr Jorgenson, you can stop there cause I can see that you clearly don't care about your education or future," the teacher swallowed their now receding urge and held his hand up, Samuel sighed as his friends snickered. The boy punched them and grumbled to himself, it wasn't his fault that he got it wrong, it was the teacher who put him on the spot.

"Mr Haddock, do you mind correcting your cousin's mistakes?" the teacher looked at the Auburn haired boy and invited him up the front, he awkwardly pulled himself out of his seat. A few of his sticky notes were flung from his desk and he picked them up, grumbling as his cousin and the other boys at the back chuckled at him.

"The Whispering Death is a Boulder Class dragon, well known for burrowing underground and causing sinkholes," Hayden began, standing in front of the diagram as he adjusted his pine green framed glasses. His eyes passed over the class, they rested on the blonde girl in the second row, Astrid Hofferson's ocean lazuli eyes shimmering with interest.

"Its three main weaknesses correspond to it's biology, with it's main weakness being sunlight, affecting the dragon's ability to see," Hayden pulled his gaze away from Astrid, the teacher nodded at his presentation, noticing that Samuel was snickering with his friends at the back of class.

"The other two weaknesses include altitude and water as its bone and scale structure prevent it from surviving in either environmental conditions," Hayden finished his short speech, and quickly made his way back to his seat, the teacher nodded and smiled returning to the front of the class.

"Thank you, Hayden, that concludes our lesson for today, Mr Jorgenson I'd like to see you after class," the teacher eyed the young man who was trying to hide behind his friends while they started to walk out, instantly cursing under his breath. Hayden picked up his books and slid them into his satchel, Samuel elbowed and sneered at him, the Auburn gulped before quickly making his way out of class.

"Mr Jorgenson, might I remind you that this class is needed for you to have a chance at graduating?" the teacher stood behind his desk, leaning his whole weight onto the surface with a condescending gaze set upon the young man who was busy picking his nose. Samuel shrugged with little emotion or concern showing, he obviously didn't care he would just get his dad to donate money to the school so he could graduate.

"So, it's not like any of this stuff you're teaching would help," Samuel answered while flicking whatever contents he found in his nose across the room, the teacher sighed in both disgust and concern. Samuel Jorgenson was just as oblivious as his father, who would most likely just repeat the same statement, not that any protest to the high-profiled man would prompt him to actually pressure his son to do anything about his grades.

"As it appears to you, nothing I say can change your mind, but if you ever run into a Whispering Death, may the gods above have mercy on you!" the teacher waved his hand and looked down at the pile of papers he had to mark, Samuel walked out of the class with a smug smile, he couldn't understand why all the teachers insisted on him actually trying, he could just solve all his problems with money.

~ Line Break ~

Scurrying through the halls and around other students wasn't the easiest thing, they barely noticed him at all and he was jostled about carelessly. Hayden reached his locker and sighed in relief opening it and grabbed the rest of his books, he was going to spend his weekend studying and far away from his father.

" Hi Hayden," As he closed his locker door, Astrid was standing beside him with a friendly smile, Hayden stumbled a few steps back and gulped. Why was Astrid at his locker, she never came near him normally, she avoided his presence like he was some kind of monster.

"Ah...Astrid...what are you...hi." the Auburn boy cringed as he awkwardly stumbled through his words, why couldn't he talk to her like any other girl. Astrid giggled and adjusted her blue knit scarf around her neck, Hayden rubbed the back of his neck and blushed before a hand slammed between them onto the locker.

"Hey babe, whatcha doing around this pile of book worms?" Samuel elbowed Hayden backwards as his friends surrounded the group, Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes. Hayden was going to make a quick getaway but Eric Eretson and Theodore Meathead grabbed his arms.

"Really Samuel, name calling, that's not your style," Astrid snapped back, jutting her hips out and crossing her arms, she was hoping to stop him from hurting Hayden. Samuel chuckled and placed a hand on her hip, which earnt him a slap across the face.

"Aww, come on babe, you seriously protecting this weakling?" The boy rubbed his cheek to stop the pain that erupted across it and gestured to the squirming Hayden who was being pushed around by Eric and Theodore.

"Yes, just let him go, he didn't do anything," she snapped and glared at Samuel, Eric and Theodore looked over at her, they both knew when Astrid meat business, she meant it. They pushed Hayden into a locker and walked down the hall, waiting for Samuel who looked at the blonde then at his Auburn cousin.

"I'll give him a parting gift," Samuel chuckled, pulling his arm back and clenching his fist, he punched Hayden right in the face. Astrid pushed the boy away as Hayden crumbled to the floor and cradled his face, hissing in pain. Samuel snickered and pridefully walked out of school with his head held high, Astrid went back to Hayden and kneeled down beside him, trying to see his face.

"I'm so sorry about that," she felt bad feeling half responsible for what happened, Hayden sighed and picked himself up. He shrugged and pulled his hoodie over his face, he could feel his face already starting to puff up. With a sigh he left Astrid standing in the hall, she watched him walk out of the school, she wanted to follow him, but she couldn't

"It...it's fine...its just how it goes with him" Hayden replied, a small and thin pained smile spread across his face, he couldn't let Astrid see his pain, his cousin and his other stupid friends targeted him like a seagull to a chip, he couldn't stop them and didn't plan to. If he tried, the result would end in his father getting a call from his uncle and then another month of being grounded, it's just how it goes.