Billy Carter

Chapter 12: Victorious

"Show us your glasses!" Cynthia said as soon as I sat down at the start of Religious Education - aka, Nap Time.
"He won't, he refused to wear them in French," Trent told her, still standing. Cyn pouted unhappily from her seat adjacent to mine.
"C'mon Billy, it's not like you look bad in them!" she told me. Trent put his books down on the table next to me and I quickly shoved them across to the other side - Ollie had just walked into the classroom with Tony. R.E is one of the few classrooms were the desk set up is more like the tables we used to sit at in Primary School, were five or six people sat around a table, which I prefer because it's better for conversation.
"Oi!" Trent snapped.
"That's Ollie's spot," I told him. He rolled his eyes.
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you fancied him," Trent grumbled, sitting down across from me. Cyn hid a smirk and glanced at me knowingly. She loved being in on this big secret, she was so smug about knowing something no one else did. Besides Annabelle. And me and Ollie, obviously. Tony and Ollie came over and sat down at our table, mid conversation - Oliver, as I'd anticipated, took the seat next to me, while Tony sat on the chair opposite Cynthia on the end of the table. Tony and Ollie were working out drills for the kids football team they coach together - training was tonight - and simultaneously working out a strategy for their own team's game on Saturday.
"No you can't put Lachy in wing attack, he's fucking hopeless - he should go in defense, he's great in defense," Ollie argued.
"But the kid can kick," Tony argued.
"But he's got no control of the ball! He tries to kick it left and it goes right for God's sake-"
"You guys aren't talking about your kiddies football team, are you?" Jenny asked, sitting down next to Trent and Tony.
"Huh? No, our team," Tony told her.
"Oh, good," she laughed. "I thought for a second you were bitching about the kids losing games."
"No, we don't care if they win or lose," Ollie shrugged. "As long as they have fun."
"In fact I prefer it when they lose, because every time they win we buy sundaes and bring them to the next training night," Tony sighed. "They're cute and all, but it's expensive."
"Well, Ollie, you'll make a great father one day," Jenny told him. Ollie smiled proudly, and Jenny turned to her boyfriend. "Anthony, you could do with some work."
Tony rolled his eyes at her. "Next time they win a game you can buy thirteen kids chocolate sundaes. And I'll have a hot chocolate, since you're buying," he said smartly.
Mrs. Fredericks walked into the room then, and started snapping at everybody. She really is an old bat. We shut up so she could give us our work for the lesson, then she sat at her desk to do whatever the fuck it is she does, looking up occasionally to scowl at someone.
"Hey what's that question?" I asked Ollie, pointing at one of the questions Mrs. Fredericks had written on the board with my pen.
"The seven-"
"Maybe if you put your glasses on you could read it yourself," Cyn told me, interrupting Ollie.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were getting glasses," Jenny said. "Show us."
"No! I look stupid in them."
"Yeah, well you'll be stupid if you don't put them on and fail school because you couldn't read the questions," Ollie pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure you look just fine in them."
"Yeah, why are you so grumpy about this?" Jenny asked.
"Because I don't want glasses!" I exclaimed. "Look at me, I have crooked teeth and a crooked nose - I'm ugly enough as it is," I complained. They all frowned at me.
"You're beautiful, Billy!" Cynthia assured me, with concern in her voice. "You're a very handsome guy - even with your crooked nose and teeth. Besides, Annabel and I thought you looked pretty great in that photo I saw last week," Cyn told me.
"Yeah, with glasses you'll have the whole nerd look going for you, you'll have the Harry Potter fangirls at your fingertips in about a week," Trent sniggered. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
"And you look pretty smart in them," Cyn added. "I'm not saying that you aren't smart, but now you look it."
"Nice save," I said drily.
"Come on, just put 'em on," Tony told me.
"Do you really think we're going to make fun of you for having glasses?" Jenny asked me.
"Yes," I told her.
"Well we won't," Jenny told me.
"I will," Trent said with a devilish grin.
"Trent will, but we won't, and you can just beat him up if you want," Jenny said. I looked around at all of them and sighed. I opened my pencil case and took my new glasses out of it. I cleaned the lenses on my shirt and put them on. I could immediately see an improvement in my vision - the whole world sharpened around me, and I could see Mrs. Fredericks' writing on the board clear as anything - of course my struggle to actually decipher the old-fashioned cursive came from my Dyslexia, not my shitty eyesight.
"Aw, you look good!" Jenny told me.
"See, I told you you looked great!" Cyn said, smiling at me.
"Yer a dweeb, Billy," Trent said in a very bad Hagrid impersonation.
"Fuck off," I snapped.
"I think you look fine," Tony told me with a shrug. "For what it's worth, I mean. Ollie?"
"I think-"
"Yeah Ollie, you'd fuck him, right?" Trent asked. He was teasing us both, and neither of us appreciated it.
"Fuck off, Trent." Ollie rolled his eyes. "He's Billy, you know, he's like my brother, I'm not attracted to him like that, it's just weird." Ollie told Trent. My heart sank. I tried to tell myself he was just keeping our cover, but how he looked at me... I started to think perhaps he was telling the truth - maybe he didn't like the glasses, maybe all my worries about how they made me look were real. I couldn't get them off quick enough then.
"Hey, we just said you look fine!" Cynthia told me.
"I don't need them," I snapped, throwing them back into my pencil case. "I can see just fi-"
Suddenly I was flat on my back, still half sitting in my chair. I looked up and saw Lucifer himself, grinning down at me and laughing with his idiot friends. His brown eyes gleamed, and I didn't like it.
"Oh, so I can start calling you four-eyes now, Bill?" fucking Kenny Leary asked, and I got to my feet. "Jesus, so what's that make you now? Abandoned, Four-eyed, son of a whore, poor, idiot, futureless bastard. I guess I need to find a way to shorten all that, huh? Maybe I'll just call you... John Doe. You know, because when you finally do the world a favour and jump off Tower Bridge there'll be no one who cares to identify you when the cops drag your body out of the water," he told me. I raised my fist and was about to throw a punch at Kenny when Ollie grabbed my arm to stop me.
"Fuck off, Leary," Ollie snapped.
"Or what, bender?" Kenny asked, getting in Ollie's face. I shoved Kenny away and I heard Mrs. Fredericks start telling us off in her high-pitched, irritating voice.
"Sit down boys, or I'll-" she kept talking but I couldn't hear her over Kenny.
"You too scared to face me on your own, Doe?" Kenny asked me.
"You gotta hide behind your faggot friend?" Sean added.
I wanted to hit Kenny so much, I wanted to hear his nose crack and see blood spurt from it.
And I did - those last two things, at least. I wasn't the one who hit him; to everyone's surprise (including his own, I think) Ollie took the honour for himself. And it was magnificent. I don't think I'd ever been more turned on.
"Oliver Connors!" Mrs. Fredericks shrilled. "William Carter! Kenneth Leary! To the Principal's office now!"
She marched us to the main office where we waited out in the lobby, glaring at each other, while she spoke to Principal Connors in his office. Finally she walked out, glowering at us like we were some strange icky contamination. She continued on the the main desk, then spoke to the receptionist, Miss Earie. Principal Connors soon appeared, hands on his hips and looking at us all crossly. I could see Ollie was nervous - he wouldn't meet his father's heavy gaze. In saying that, Ollie didn't get in trouble very often - or at all, really. Principal Connors beckoned us all inside with his finger, and we trudged inside to sit in front of the desk. Principal Connors sat down in his big wheely chair and looked at us. There was silence for a few moments, and Kenny - pressing tissues to his bleeding nose - opened his mouth to start speaking when Principal Connors finally broke the silence.
"I am sick to death of the ridiculous feud between you two," Principal Connors said, looking at me and Kenny.
"What about Ollie!" Kenny exclaimed indignantly.
"I'll get to Oliver, don't you worry," Principal Connors snapped. "Right now I'm talking about you and Billy. I don't know how this started, but it ends today! If I have to sign off on one more incident report I'm going to lose my mind! I'm this close to expelling the both of you!" he exclaimed, holding his thumb and pointer-finger about a centimeter apart. "I've asked Miss Earie to ring your parents, and we'll discuss the matter further when they get here. Until then, I want to know exactly what happened just now in class."