Remedy

Dear diary, I met a boy.

That was it. John had had it, and getting on the bus that day, he grabbed a window seat and the bus was moving before Dave could move to sit by him. He could feel the Strider's eyes burning holes into the back of his head, but it didn't bother him so much anymore; performing arts school does that to you. He liked that they also had academics there. Dance was just a class, and he was cool with it.

Dave was there because, no matter what, he would always think John had the best ass, although he'd never admit it. The bus stopped at their rival school as well, and bitter rivals the schools were, up to the point that the students were prissy to eachother. They just didn't talk to eachother, but the stop would change John's entire highschool career; he just didn't know it.

>>>!

The kid who dropped down beside John definitely looked like a rough guy. Three piercings in one ear, and a lip ring on the opposite side of his face. John tensed as the guy's amber eyes shamelessly brushed over his features. It was unsettling, but their eyes met as John glanced over, and the other guy smirked. The blue-eyed boy looked back at Dave uncomfortably, and he moved to the seat behind them, tapping the guy's shoulder. "Yo, you're ... Vantas!?"

"Strider." His voice dripped with venom, and he barley caught John's quiet, "you know eachother?" The sunshade-clad blonde replied, "John, this is Karkat. That kid that used to beat you up in sixth grade, remember?" John bit his lip. "Oh." Dave nodded. "Yeah."

For a while, the ride was taken in silence, Dave glaring daggers at Karkat and Karkat occasionally looking John over, just to spite the Strider. John eventually popped some headphones in, hoping to distract himself. Alas, it didn't work, and he could feel two sets of eyes on himself as he straightened his glasses.

Dave was first off, shooting Karkat a look of warning, and John of sympathy. Then he stepped off, and John glanced at Karkat, who was once again looking at him. "Can you stop looking at me? It's making me uncomfortable." Karkat snorted. "Why? Because I used to beat you up when we were, what, 11? Are you seriously still scared?" John stared at his lap. "I might be."

Karkat's raucous and sarcastic laughter made John look up, and then there were his amber eyes, terribly dark and incredibly close. "Don't you think that if I wanted you hurt, I would've hurt you by now?"

John pressed himself against the side of the bus, frowning when Karkat closed the gap - persistent fucker. John frowned. "Maybe? I don't know." Karkat rolled his eyes. "The answer is yes, I would've already hurt you,"he explained, as though John were an idiot, "Strider doesn't scare me and I could easily kick your ass, but I won't." The pierced boy looked up. "This is your stop. Sit in my seat more often."

>>>!

His words unnerved John as he lay in bed after school. 'Sit in my seat more often'? What was that supposed to mean? One thing was for certain. He was still mad at Dave, although the Strider had earned a little respect for the save, so he wasn't going to sit with him. However, it didn't seem like sitting with Karkat was a good idea. Screw it. He was curious, and, he wasn't going to lie, Karkat had become slightly attractive in the six years since John'd last seen him.

Perhaps he'd changed too?