Diedrich doesn't know much about his grandparents. All he knows about them is that they emigrated from Germany. When he was little - very little - he made up a story of a family treasure his grandparents smuggled out of Germany to England, which his parents used to grow their fortune. But as he got older, when he turned five, he realised that his parents are rich not because of some illicit fortune, but because their positions in the academic field fund a ludicrous, new-money lifestyle with a detached house a few rooms shy of a mansion.
As his parents become richer, and their obsessive disorder becomes more and more extreme, Diedrich finds himself at the age of six, joining a private boarding school deep in the English countryside.
Diedrich and his parents wait in the car park for his entry to the boarding school. Staring at all the other children fires shots of anxiety through his heart. He grips his mother's dress, oblivious to her tensing at the touch of sticky hands. She gently pries him off and kneels down. "I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends. And don't worry about people being mean to you, you can scare them away!"
"Yes, mother,"
Diedrich has always been tall. Perhaps freakishly so. He always stands at the very back in pictures and yet sticks out like a sore thumb. Rather than source of power, it becomes a catalyst for insecurities.
A teacher grabs his hand and pulls him into the boarding school, as he wipes his tears on the scratchy grey blazer that is regulation for this school.
He calms down by the time they reach the classroom. He feels the rest of the children, already in their seats, staring at him. The teacher pulls out her seating plan and of course, Diedrich's height puts him in the very back row.
"Next to Vincent Phantomhive, please,"
Diedrich doesn't like sitting at the back. The scary and rude and annoying kids sit at the back. Vincent Phantomhive is small and non-threatening. But when he looks up at Diedrich and smiles, there's something unsettling in it.
The lesson begins, just administrative logistics really. How to behave in a classroom, where to put their coats, how to ask for help. They begin with reciting the alphabet and counting to ten. Diedrich knows how to do these, but he recites along with the rest of the children.
"A-B-C-D-"
"Oh shut up,"
Diedrich blinks and tunes to see Vincent's attention on him, still smiling. But why is he smiling if he just said something mean?
"We're not allowed to talk," Diedrich whispers.
"You clearly know this but you're still counting. Are you such a goody-two-shoes?" Vincent giggles to himself. Diedrich ignores him and watches the teacher, continuing to recite the letters. Until he feels a jab in his side.
He looks at Vincent who whistles innocently, looking way from him with that same devious smirk. He frowns, annoyed, and goes back to listening.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Diedrich grits his teeth, starting to get irritated. He looks at Vincent again to catch him in the act, but the smaller boy looks more innocent than before.
YOU ARE READING
The House Master
ФанфикIt's the first day of another boring school year. Vincent Phantomhive is left unsatisfied and clinging to the past, until a new object of his interests arrives. And he captivates the stunningly mysterious new boy. It's Vincent's fateful luck that th...
