Avenging Maria

Chapter One-I'll Leave You Guys to It

 Mazon Han was not a morning person. In fact, near to nothing could get him out of his bed before the crack of dawn. It was then fair to assume that he loved music, since he woke up at precisely six in the morning every day so that he could go to band--a class shamefully unfitted into the regular school day.

One particular Wednesday morning Mazon rolled off the bus, dragging his way to the band room as usual. He immediately went to the coffee table Mr. Schod had set up for them, grimacing as he poured himself a glass. Coffee was, in Mazon's estimation, a pile of utter shit, but a necessary pile of utter shit. To help with this, he put in five spoonfuls of sugar and two cups of creamer. He did this every day--never more, never less.

When he had finished the process and taken the first sip, he turned to go to his seat--but it was taken. A boy, probably his age, was already seated, piecing together his golden clarinet with pride. Mazon gawked at him--well, at his clarinet, which was obviously borrowed from the school and in much better condition than Mazon's first one. Mazon rolled his eyes, taking his gaze up to the boy's face, which was unfairly handsome. His pale skin made his rosey lips stand out, and his cheekbones were sharp enough to cut anyone who dared to look at them. His icy blue eyes were so drastically different from his charcoal hair, and the contrast of all his features made him impossible to look away from. Mazon hated it.

"Good morning, Maze," Schod said brightly, coming up from behind and patting him on the back. "This is our new student, Ezekial. I'm sure you'll be glad to get some help on first clarinet."

Ezekial looked up at the mention of his name, and as soon as he caught Maze's eye he turned to Schod. "First clarinet?" Maze asked.

"Yes, we've finally found another soul capable of your skill level," Schod chuckled, giving Mazon another pat. "Why don't you take the seat next to him, yeah? I'll leave you guys to it."

As Schod walked away, Mazon did take the seat beside Ezekial--but not happily. He pouted the entire time, actually, and it only got worse as Ezekial decided to spark up a conversation as Maze pulled out his instrument.

"So, you're the only person who plays first part?"

"Yeah, not many kids want to play clarinet, and the ones who do don't have any background in it and tend to learn slowly," Maze explained, sticking the reed into his instrument. There was a few beats of silence. "It must suck to come into a school a few weeks into the quarter."

"Yeah, I guess," the boy shrugged. "It's not so bad."

"Right. Well, good luck learning all the new music, we're already started on it."

It turned out Ezekial did not need the luck. In fact, Mazon was the one who ended up behind in the pieces. He was not used to hearing his part next to him, and Ezekial's volume drowned out the drums he needed to stay on track. By the end of the class Maze was fuming, and Schod definitely was not helping with the neverending praise.

When the bell rang, Mazon packed up his things in a huff and scurried off to first hour, dropping in the seat next to Elijah.

"I cannot believe this," he grumbled, making Eli and Charlie turn to him at once. "He comes in the first day and takes my seat and my part, and that wasn't enough, so he took my praise too."

"Maze," Eli said, chuckling. "Your obsessive need to be the best is showing."

"Your tendency to be an unnerving smartass is showing," Mazon grumbled, sinking down in his seat. "He's completely awful, I don't know how Schod can like him."

"Who, a new kid? Is he attractive?" Eli asked, raising his eyebrows and smirking. Charlie hit his arm. "Hey! I was just asking."

"Ridiculously attractive, which makes it worse," Mazon sighed. "Everyone is going to love him, they'll fall at his feet for his stupid looks. No one will even care that he's a dick."