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A sleek black vehicle pulled up to the school, Ryan carefully observed the students that lingered around the front lawn. The school itself was a large square building with two slim towers that hung off the sides and a bell tower that sat at the top of each one. The entire exterior was built out of sandstone bricks and were practically overgrown with vines and plants of all sorts. The trim that laced around the edges were painted in a baby blue. The whole scene seemed to have popped out of a fairytale, but the institution was anything but a fantasy. Ryan exited the vehicle with an uneasy feeling as he smoothed out the creases that were present in his light grey hoodie, he was almost tempted to throw the hood over his head but decided against it. He settled on adjusting the match grey mask that barely covered his eyes, his siblings wondered how he could see through the opaque fabric that he wore on a daily basis. Ryan clutched the backpack that clung heavily to his shoulders, feeling as though his parents sent him to a boarding school rather than a private academy. Nonetheless, he would try to represent them to the best of his abilities, even though he could barely read or write for that matter. He ran a hand through his brown hair as he made his way over to an odd looking pair. One was standing to the side, tightly holding onto a stuffed toy that appeared to be an ordinary bear. His entire face was painted as if it were a clown's, and his cheeks were dusted in red as he impatiently shuffled around in his blue sweater. The other boy was a polar opposite, a permanent scowl was etched onto his face as he fumbled around with what appeared to be an empty lighter. He wore a red hoodie that was smudged with dirt and his face displayed an eye patch that went over his right eye.
Before he could get any words out, the boy in red glared at him angrily, "What the fuck do you want?"
Ryan was almost speechless, even the kids at his old kindergarten didn't mouth a single swear word and yet the existence of the very kid in front of him had proved him wrong. "I just-"
The boy in red narrows his eyes, "I just what? Exactly. Now unless you can get me a brand new lighter before the bell rings, don't even think about talking to us." The other boy looked hesitant but didn't make any move to apologize for his friend's unruly behaviour.
Ryan let out a sigh, "And where the hell am I going to find a lighter?"
The boy only shrugged, "Get it from nerd boy over there," He gestures to a pale, asian boy who was probably half Ryan's size and carried a large pile of books around, "Give him a wedgie or something. I don't care how you fucking do it, I just want my cigarette lit before school starts."
Ryan reluctantly walked over to the kid that he was talking about, he wore a red t-shirt and shorts that were held up by suspenders. He scanned me from head to toe in suspicion before confronting me, "I haven't seen you around here before, you're the new kid, right?"
"Is it that obvious?" Ryan asked nervously.
The nerdy boy nods to confirm Ryan's anxious exterior, "I'm Evan, the walking market and the local intellectual, and judging by the way demon boy over there has been eyeing me this whole morning, you want a lighter dontcha?"
"Ryan..." Ryan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly."And yeah, I kinda need it."
"I'll give you one, but for a price. Got five dollars newbie?" asked Evan, he sets down his books and starts digging through his bag.
Ryan let out a breath of air before taking out his lunch money, flipping through the papers before handing it over. "It almost makes me wonder why he didn't buy it himself."
Evan chuckles before placing the flammable lighter in Ryan's hand, "He's not allowed to go near me after last year's incident, at least in front of the teachers."
Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at the boy's response, "Last year's? But I thought we were in-"
"Time's ticking, so unless you wanna get your ass kicked, move along kid." Evan picks his books off the ground before adjusting his glasses, "If you need anything, I'm always selling stuff just as long as you can keep money from flowing out of your pockets."
Ryan walks back over to polar opposite duo and handed the boy in red his precious lighter, "Here."
"Thanks!" He snatches it out of the palm of Ryan's hand and flicks his thumb to light the end of the white stick. The boy takes a short drag, "I was about to fucking sock a kid in the gut I swear, I didn't realize that I was out until this mornin."
"That would certainly be quite bad..very bad.." Ryan laughed nervously.
"I'm Luke, people around here like to call me demon boy on bad days." Luke's lips curled up into a smirk. "And the guy behind me is-"
"Delirious's name is Delirious!" The boy in blue blurted out simultaneously, he grins brightly as Luke sighed.
"Actually, his real name-" Luke began to explain but was cut off by Delirious's incoherent babbling.
"Are you willing to accept our friendship? Delirious knows that his friend can be quite harsh sometimes but Delirious was hoping we could set that aside?"
Luke coughs loudly as if to clear his throat before speaking," He has a real name, but I don't think his crazy ass will let me say it. For now, he goes by Delirious, or Del for short."
Ryan reluctantly nodded in acknowledgment, slightly weirded out by the situation but he wouldn't let that deter him, "I'm Ryan..?"
Luke slings an arm around Ryan's shoulder before a smug grin overtakes his features, "Well Ryan, welcome to Kindergarten 101.
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