Bad Habit | Armin Arlert

Prologue

There was but one thing that kept me alive. 

The same thing that pumped blood into my veins, that got me out of bed each morning and through each dreaded day of high school. The one that drove me to spend endless hours hunched over my desk well beyond midnight, reading through seemingly infinite paragraphs like it was my holy grail. 

"Hey-"

The epitome of my very existence. 

"School's out,"

And the drug that was slowly seeping my youth away. 

"Wake up!"

The title of Valedictorian.

"VIVIENNE WOODS!"

My head rose from the hard, unforgiving surface of the table. I blinked once, then twice; waiting for the black clouds in my field of vision to dissolve into the air. In front of me, a large, and even thicker book was slammed against the wood of my desk. On it, in ominous, bold and threatening writing, was 'The Great History of Titans'.

I internally groaned upon seeing the person standing before me, and I could already feel my headache paying it's daily visit. 

With dark, dusty blond hair and hazel eyes that I would've admired if not for the fury that forever seemed to lace behind, Porco Galliard wasn't lacking too much in the aesthetics regime. Nevertheless, I wasn't too fond of him at all. No, his obnoxiousness and tendency to start unnecessary arguments with quite literally anyone wasn't exactly endearing. The memory of him arguing with some brunette during the rugby match last month replayed in my mind, and I cringed at the thought.

Though, I had no right to say so myself. 

"I called your name five times."

"I only heard it once." I shrugged, glancing down at my notebook, which was well, pretty empty. I closed it quickly, not wanting him to notice that I hadn't written anything down for our assignment. It wasn't my fault that history class emitted a certain energy that made my eyelids particularly heavy. The fact that I chose not to sleep last night didn't help my case either. 

"I still don't get how Mr. Yeager hasn't kicked you out of class yet."

He wouldn't, I knew that for a matter of fact. Actually, all the teacher's didn't care much for what I did in class. I mean, why would they? I would be the one getting the highest score in their respective subjects, so it's do them well not to hold a grudge against me. 

Then, there was also my family, or at least, the name I carried after my first. 

Westwood wasn't a family you wanted to mess with. The history of that name could go on for centuries, and just the weigh of it's meaning could fill up each page of the textbook on my desk,  even leaving more left untold. 

"Maybe he's taken a liking to me."

Porco made a face. "No way. All the teacher's are just scared of you."

I rolled my eyes as I stuffed all my belonging's into my bag. The sound of my chair being pushed back as I stood up echoed off the walls. Most of the other students had already left, leaving me to walk out alongside Porco and his line of angry complaints. Today, he was telling me about a fight he had with a certain brunette. 

"Again?"

"He just keeps getting on my nerves!" he bared his teeth as he ran his fingers through his hair, which was kept in an undercut. I wasn't a big fan of that kind of haircut, but he pulled it off quite nicely. 

"It's the second time this month."

"It's not my fault that we keep meeting. The new kid here doesn't make it any better. Apparently, they're friends."