Vanilla & Smoke || A.I.

Atramentous.

Atramentous
/,ætrə'mEntəs/
adjective
similar to or as black as ink

~~~

Thora leant against the wall as a sweet curly haired junior kissed her boyfriend, a varsity soccer player, sweetly.

A teacher came up to the innocent pair and wrote them both up, claiming that public displays of affection were not desired nor allowed in the hallways of Parkside Preparatory School. Males and females, females and females, males and males, and any other gender mix were strictly forbidden to have intentional contact with each other on school property.

Yet when Calum came up and leant against the wall next to Thora, his body so close their shoulders rubbed, no one batted an eye. The faculty turned a blind eye to them, having eventually decided that as long as they didn't commit any dustubances and passed their classes, they would be in most part ignored. When the teachers realized that Calum would be staying for another year instead of graduating as planned, it became apparent that they needed to do something. So a silent agreement was formed- as long as Thora and Calum passed their classes, they'd be allowed to get away with more.

Apparently no one had informed Mr.Irwin about this, as he seemed to generally dislike them.

Calum chuckled as he watched Thora's gaze follow the couple scurrying away. "You look jealous."

"I am," she muttered, not bothering with subtly.

He snickered, watching the embarrassed couple step apart from each other, the teacher leaving with a condescending nod. "Poor little ace, with no one to kiss."

"I don't want anyone to kiss," she muttered, forcing herself to look away. "And I've got an excuse for being single. I don't see you dating anyone."

Calum grinned, looking at her with pride. Thora knew how much he liked being reminded. "I'll date anyone at the same level as me."

"Oh please," she teased, nudging her best friend lightly. "The world couldn't handle two of you. Already your ego is a bit too much to handle."

"That's not the only thing about me that's too big to handle."

She kicked him lightly as someone walked over to them, hands in his pockets comfortably. "'Sup Cal."

"What do you want, Hemmings." Calum's amused expression dropped immediately at his first glance of the boy, eyeing him up and down.

Hemmings was definitely... something. He had a blond fringe that he was constantly brushing aside, and whenever the teacher wasn't looking he'd take off his blazer, like he was some sort of rebel.

But he was no rebel. He was Luke Hemmings, wannabe badboy. Luke had tried smoking before, but couldn't stop coughing, and ended up tripping and giving someone a third degree burn. They didn't sue because what they were smoking wasn't legal, but even if they did it wouldn't matter to Luke. His trust fund grew bigger and bigger everyday; his mommy and daddy were making him go to school until he graduated high school, and then he'd go on to become a doctor. But everyone knew that wasn't true. No, when Luke graduated he'd take his trust fund and go.

He was a dweep in a blazer too large and slacks too small, but here he was walking up to Calum like they were best friends. Which, to clarify, they weren't.

"What, can a bro not say hi to another bro anymore?" He said friendily, sticking his hands deeper in his too small pockets.

Rumor had it that his pants were actually girls pants.

Calum's face was completely emotionless as he stared down at the boy. "Were not 'bros'. Cut the crap, what do you want."

Weed. Luke knew who the school dealers were, but he still asked Calum every week where he could get some.

Luke was sweet, in a weird-cousin-you-don't-know-you're-related-to sort of way. He'd even had a few girlfriends, but who knew how those relationships worked out. Most of them probably broke up with him after realizing the bad boy act was a charade, and that he threw out his weed as soon as he got it.

"Thora, looking good," Luke muttered, looking Thora up and down obnoxiously. There was a word that describes him, but it can be hard to remember.

Annoying? No, that's not it.

An ass? Yes, but no.

Oh, right.

Fuckboy.

Luke was a fuckboy.

And while he stared condescendingly at Thora's black skirt, smiling as if his compliment was genuine, Thora found herself digging her painted black nails into the pale skin of her arms. "I know I look good," she replied snidly. "You should try it sometime. A bath and some quick lice treatment would work wonders for you."

But he barely even heard the insult, he was too busy smiling cockily and grinning at Calum. "You two dating yet? If not, I might just snap her up myself."

"I'll snap you up, chew you up, and spit you out."

"But darling, spitters are quitters."

"Your mom should've quit after having your two older brothers. There's a reason you don't have younger siblings, Luke. Your parents finally learned to wrap it before they tap it."

It was a good insult, but Luke was completely uneffected, leaning backwards with his hands in his pockets like a complete douche. "Maybe, maybe. But I gotta warn you, when we fuck, you'll have to be on the pill or something, cause they don't make condoms in my size."

"Try using a thimble," Calum suggested helpfully.

Luke shot him a glare before returning his attention to flirting with Thora. He moved a little closer, his hand reaching out to touch her knee. "I like the black look. Lips, skirt, hair. I wonder if your panties are black too?"

His hand caressed her skirt, and Thora slapped his hand painfually, shoving him backwards just hard enough to keep him from falling but not hard enough to get him completely out of her face. Thora seemed to find the boy amusing, however, and sent a sweet smirk his way. "I was about to ask you the exact same thing. Or are your panties a different color? Really, I'm dying to know."

His face was turning slightly pink from the conversation, but he remained grinning from ear to ear. "They're red," he joked, his smirk ever present.

Thora gave him another light shove and he stumbled slightly before righting himself, turning and giving her one more obvious glance over. "Same time next week?"

"It wouldn't be Wednesday without you."

"You know it baby."