the things (BibleBuild AU)

the things

Bible first noticed the boy during his commute to school. As he parked the car in the teacher's section of the parking lot, Bible nearly hit him as he run across the lot, presumably to catch the class before the bell rang. He laid on the horn, making the boy nearly jump out of his skin before he flipped Bible off and continued his run to the building.

The next time they've met was in the school cafeteria. Bible joined the other teachers at the table to socialise and get friendly with them as he only just started working at this school and they planned a welcoming party for the new teacher and discussing all the details of it. He listened but his eyes were following a group of students who quietly ate their lunch while the other tables seemed to chat rather loudly. The boy was amongst the quiet students, absentmindedly stirring his food with a fork with his head propped up by his left hand. He seemed lost in thought.

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It was only few weeks later when they met again. "I'm your new English teacher, as your current one is on maternity leave. Please put your name tags on the desk so I can remember you." Bible said, writing his own name on the blackboard. As he was dusting the chalk off of his fingers he noticed the tan boy sat by the window, uninterested expression on his face as he looked out of the window, chin resting on his balled up fist. As the other students wrote their names on the paper cards, he didn't move an inch until Bible had enough and threw a crumpled up paper at his desk. "That goes for you too. Name tag." The boy rolled his eyes but complied, scribbling 'Build' on a square piece of paper he propped up against his pencil case.

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He wasn't too difficult to deal with, Bible definitely had students who rebelled and were just a genuine pain in the ass, but Build was still always somewhat in his field of vision. His work in class was mediocre at best, he wasn't loud or obnoxious, he was just...there. And he definitely noticed the occasional looks their new teacher gave him. "We'll be learning the past tense of irregular verbs next. Anyone who could tell me any?" Bible asked the class, but only one hand shot up and he let the girl speak. Several days later there was a quiz and Bible spent an hour in his office to grade the papers. Despite his work in class, Build scored 48/50 and Bible was impressed; the boy barely spoke in class.

"Hey, Prem. You also teach year 10, right?" Bible turned his chair to the other teacher he shared the office with. His senior nodded. "Yeah, history and geography." "I was just wondering, this one student..." "Jakapan?" "Yeah, how did you know? I just...I'm curious what he's like in other classes. He seems apathetic to everything and doesn't put any effort into anything, but whenever there's a test he scores really high and his homework is great too." Bible shrugged. "I just wanna know what's his deal."

Prem stirred his coffee and took a sip before answering the question his new colleague asked. "He keeps to himself. I don't think he's stupid, maybe just a little lazy when it comes to collective work." "Does he have any friends? I don't think I've seen him with anyone except in the cafeteria." "You see...they're not really his friends. I think they're just with him to feel protected." Prem took another sip and wanted to return to his phone but Bible's confused face wouldn't let him. He sighed. "Last year, Jakapan beat up a student twice his size half to death. Those nerdy kids who follow him just sit beside him because he's like a repellent to the bullies."

"He didn't get expelled?" Bible raised an eyebrow. How could a thin boy like Build beat up anyone, let alone someone bigger than him? Prem shook his head. "He got suspended for a week. His dad is some big shot politician who donated lots of money to the school. I don't think Jakapan has any close friends, except maybe someone from the football team, but they're all from year up. He's smart but I don't think he wants to socialise with anyone after what happened." Bible nodded. "Why did he beat up the guy anyway?" "That's the thing; they both refused to say. The kids who witnessed it heard Jakapan shouting something like 'call me like that again and I will kill you' but no one knows what it was." Prem shrugged and returned to his phone, chatting away with his girlfriend. Bible was almost positive that the word was 'fag'.