When I get home I take a long shower, trying to calm my nerves. Why do I feel so jumpy? I look down at my hands and notice they’re slightly shaking. I let the steaming, hot water run down my skin and I violently scrub my hair with shampoo. Why am I so bothered by seeing Kris fight? Because that could be me being pinned to the ground about to get punched in the face. Why wasn’t that me? I’m the one who threw a stupid ball at his head.

                I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist before stepping into my walk in closet. It’s embarrassing being a guy and having such a big closet. I search for a simple pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt. Once I’m dressed I head downstairs and search for my phone. I want to make sure Luhan’s ok. Texting takes too long, so I quickly dial his number and wait for him to pick up.

                “Hello? Tao?” I can tell he’s surprised I’m actually calling him.

                “Hey, did you get home ok?” I ask anxiously.

                “Yeah, why?”

                “Well… when we were leaving school today, Baekhyun and I saw Kris… fighting,” I can hear Luhan sigh.

                “I had to wait for him to get out of the principal’s office. He would’ve gotten mad if I walked home alone,” I have a little more respect for Kris knowing that he actually looks after Luhan.

                “Do you know what the fight was about?”

                “Hmmm, let me ask,” His voice because faint for a moment, but I can still hear him, “Hey Kris, how did you get into that fight?” It’s surprising how easily Luhan can just ask.  And it’s kind of weird knowing Kris must only be a few feet away from Luhan. “He says that one of the football players was mad at him for shoving his head into a locker,”

                “That started the fight?” I ask in shock.

                “I guess,” Luhan goes silent for a moment and I can hear Kris’ voice in the background, “When school ended Kris was waiting outside when the jock came up to him with a few of his friends. They started cursing at him but then the one jock said something really fresh and got Kris mad. And then Kris punch him in the face,”

                “What did the jock say?”

                “Let me ask,” I wait for a few moments before Luhan starts to speak again, “He won’t say, but he’s getting all cocky now describing the fight which he apparently won,” I have a feeling Luhan’s rolling his eyes at his brother. “I’m talking to Tao,” There’s silence over the phone for several minutes. “Kris is all quiet now,” A bit of humor fills Luhan’s voice, “Kris do you like—” There’s a rustling of noise and I think Luhan dropped the phone.

                “Luhan?” I ask, confused. I hear a muffled ‘’ a moment before Luhan starts speaking again.

                “I think someone wants to change the topic,” He sounds irritated. “Someone wants me to ask you how Suho is doing, because someone is apparently incapable of asking you himself,”

                “He’s ok,” I say. Theirs is another long silence on the other end.

                “You go wash the dishes—well, I’m not the one getting into fights at school— it is fair!” It’s almost comical listening to their conversations like this, “Uh huh, that’s right. You go wash those dishes... Don’t glare at me,”

                “…Luhan?”

                “He’s gone,” He says happily.

                “Oh ok,” I start to laugh a little.

                “Did you see the fight?” He asks, “Kris’ fight,”

                “Just for a few minutes; there was a big crowd circling around them and the security guards were quick at breaking it up.” I say, “I was also there when he… shoved the jock’s head into the lockers,”

                “Really,” Luhan sounds interested, “Why did Kris do it?”

                “I don’t really know… the jock came to my locker and was asking me if I was smart. I think he was going to ask me to do his homework or something. And then Kris just came up and shoved his head against the neighboring locker,”

                “That jock was probably flirting with you,” Luhan says randomly.

                “What!” For some reason I’m extremely taken back by this.

                “That jock was probably flirting with you,”

                “N-no, a football player would never flirt with me. I’m a guy,” That doesn’t make any sense. “He probably was just going to ask me to do his homework,”

                “He probably was. You know how it goes,” I can tell Luhan is enjoying being able to explain this to me, “It all starts with ‘hey, you’re smart right?’ a jock would just go up to a random nerd and ask that, but if it’s a cute nerd, he’d go further.  And since you’re a cute nerd, he would have asked, ‘would you mind helping me with my science project after school today?’ and since all jocks are y and cool, and also a bit intimidating who’d say no? And then he’d take you to the library and keep you there until everyone else left. And when the right moment came he’d make a move try to get it on. The whole nerd thing is a perfect pick up line,” My mouth drops in shock. How could Luhan’s innocent mind come up with that!?

                “L-Luhan!” I gasp. I can hear him begin to laugh but then he quickly goes silent for several seconds.

                “What!” I guess he’s talking to his brother again, “You’re the one who explained that whole scheme to me, don’t act all stunned that I would repeat it. I’m just passing along the warning… Aren’t there dishes that need cleaning?”

                “Kris told you all that?” I don’t know why I’m shocked by that.

                “Yep. I guess he’s never liked jocks,” Luhan says. I suddenly hear the downstairs door close.

                “I have to go. See you tomorrow,” I stand up from my bed and walk into the hall.

                “Ok, see ya!” With that I quickly hang up and shove my cell phone into my pocket. I straighten out my shirt and head down the stairs. I turn the corner and see a tall man, wearing a black suit walking around the kitchen.

                “Hi Dad,” I wait for him to turn around. He glances at me for a moment and then turns back to the paperwork on the table.

                “Tao,”

                “How was work today?” I hope I’m not annoying him, I can tell he’s more interested in his work papers.

                “Productive,” He takes off his tie and sets it down on the table with the pile of the rest of his things, “How was your History test?”

                “Good,” I’m surprised he remembers me talking about that last week.

                “Did you know all the answers?” He starts to go through his suitcase, obviously looking for something.

                “Yes. I studied all week for it,”

                “Have you finished all your homework?” He looks up at me and I can see the frustrated look on his face. He’s always frustrated; hopefully it’s because of work, not me.

                , I haven’t started my homework. “Just about,” I say nervously, as if he can tell I’m lying.

                “Well, get to it then,” He looks away and sits down, studying a thick folder with several official looking papers inside. I look down at the floor.

                “Yes father,”

***

                                I walk to school alone, looking over a math study guide for the fiftieth time this morning. I spot Sehun down the road and hurry to catch up with him, folding the math paper away. We walk to school, chatting about the usual. The moment we walk through the front doors the principal steps out of his office and stares at us. “Huang Zi Tao,” I look up nervously at the sound of my full name.

                “Yes?”

                “Would you step into my office for a moment,” He turns and walks off. I glance over at Sehun and he gives me a nervous smile. I hurry after the principal, hoping I won’t be late for homeroom. “Take a seat,” He motions to the chair across from his desk. “Do you know why you’re here?”

                I shake my head, “No, Mr. Kim,” Yes. Damn you Baekhyun.

                “Why weren’t you in detention yesterday?” I raid my brain for a good accuse, but come up empty handed. I decide to just tell the truth.

                “I wanted to go home,” I stare down at my shoes, feeling like a small, pathetic child.

                “Well, that’s an honest answer,” He says bluntly, “I guess I shouldn’t have expected an excuse from you.”

                I’m not sure what to say so I stay silent.

                “You’re a good student, Tao. But I’m going to have to give you a double detention for missing your first one. Instead of staying half an hour, I’m going to need you to stay a full hour after school today. Just bring your homework or a book to the library after the final bell,”

                “Yes sir,” I look up at him and then glance over at the clock.

                “You may leave now,”

***

                The day goes by extremely slow and I’m completely dreading detention. When the bell rings, signaling the end of sixth period I slam my head against my desk. Detention is going to be so boring. I head to my locker and shove all my binders inside my book bag. Baekhyun walks by flirtatious talking with Chanyeol. He looks over at me and makes a heart with his hands, hoping for forgiveness. I roll my eyes but smile. He spent the entire lunch period begging for my forgiveness, and considering that he bought me a cookie I won’t hold my detention against him.

                I turn and walk down the hall, heading towards the library. I already have this week’s homework done so I guess I’ll just find a book to read or something. I stop in front of the teacher near the doorway and hand him my new pink slip before walking inside. I sit down at a random desk and look around to see a few other students scattered among the large, wooden tables. I set my bag on the table and decide to look through all the things I have inside.

                After a few minutes I hear the library doors slam open and the sound of many people shuffling into the room, a moment later Kris hastily sits down in the chair beside mine. We both watch as several of the football players pass our table, and Kris returns the glare the leader of the group gives him as they file in. They sit down at the table a few feet away from ours, staring. Kris turns and looks at me but I quickly look away. “Why are you here?” He asks.  I look up at him cautiously and realize he looks genuinely confused.

                “I got in trouble for throwing a ball at your head,” I say quietly.

                “…Oh,” Kris leans back in his chair and pulls his bag onto the table, beginning to go through his things. His bag is extremely messy and there are papers following out of almost all his folders. So unorganized.

                I look over at the adjacent table and realize the leader of the jocks is staring at me. It’s the same jock who had started talking to me at my locker. He smirks and I quickly look down, feeling awkward. Could he have really been trying to flirt with me yesterday!? Kris suddenly slides one of his binders in front of me, sliding all my stuff to the end of the table. He reaches over and opens up to a certain section.  “Do my homework,” He says and I look him in the eyes. He usually looks so scary, but his eyes actually look… caring? It must just be the lighting.

                I stare down at the papers in front of me and then turn back to him. He already has his earphones in and is scrolling down the list of songs on his iPod. He really wants me to do his homework!?

                I stare at him for several minutes and he eventually glances over to raise an eyebrow and then motion his hand to his pile of homework in front of me. I let out a long, frustrated sigh. Fine then, I guess I’ll do his homework. I flip through his binder and find the notes that go along with his math homework and then make a separate pile for all his other classes. I look through his agenda and see what needs to be done. Maybe this will get him to leave me alone.

                I do his math homework without a problem and then realize he hasn’t finished his homework from a few nights ago. I decide to do that as well. What else am I going to do for an hour?

                I used to hate math as a kid, but I’ve finally conquered all its confusing formulas and equations through intense studying. I can’t do his history report since I can’t research anything at the moment, but since it’s due next week he’ll probably have enough to complete it. I turn to the English section of his binder and begin finishing the lesson’s vocab. God, Kris doesn’t get anything done. I try to make my handwriting as neat as possible. It’s actually kind of interesting to see what kind of classes Kris is in. Even though he doesn’t seem to do his work, his test grades are pretty high; mostly A’s and B’s with the occasional C. He must be smart; he got into this school with a scholarship just like Luhan. And considering that Kris has many part time jobs, and probably little time to study, makes his grades even more impressive. I guess he’s not exactly the person I thought he was.

Math, History, Science, English, etc.

                I finally finish and glance over at the clock, realizing there’s still twenty minutes of detention left. Now what should I do? I look over at Kris and see that he has resting on the desk. “Kris,” I say, hoping to get his attention. “Kris,” still no answer; is he sleeping? I gently begin to tug on his arm. I quickly pull my hand away the moment his head shoots up.

                “What?” He looks over at me, appearing to be half out of it.

                “Were you sleeping?” I ask, curiously. It takes him a few minutes to process my question.

                “No,” He rubs his eyes and yawns. He was sleeping. He looks over at the binder in front of me and makes a weird face. “Is that my binder?”  I took the time to reorganize all his stuff. I unwrinkled and filed all his loose papers and then proceeded to make dividers for each of his subjects. I guess his binder doesn’t exactly look like his binder anymore. It looks nicely organized like all of mine.

                “Yeah,” I push it over to him and he inspects it cautiously.

                “You actually did all my homework,” I’m not sure if he’s asking a question or stating the obvious. Of course I did.

                “Yeah,” I look at him, confused, “You told me too,”

                “I just wanted you to the stupid crossword puzzle I put on top of the pile,” He looks surprised. “I can’t believe you did all my other stuff,”

                “Oh… well I did do the crossword puzzle,” I say.

                “How did you know the answers to everything,” He looks at me suspiciously, “You’re only a second year student,” For a moment, I’m not sure how to answer this.

                “I study a lot,” He doesn’t look pleased with my answer. He’s probably going to make fun of me for this, but I guess I’ll just tell him, “I study a lot in the summer, so I already know a lot of the curriculum for next year,” He blankly stares at me for several minutes.

                “Why?” I’m surprised he didn’t say something like ‘well, that’s stupid,’ or ‘wow, you are a nerd’.

                “I don’t know… I guess I just do it to please my dad,” that is the honest truth. My grades are one of the few things my parents actually take an interest in. Kris nods his head in understanding.

                I suddenly realize I’m having a conversation with Kris, the creepy third year student that likes to harass me. The realization washes over me like a cold wave and I quickly feel very awkward and a tiny bit frightened. The truth is I don’t know Kris. I don’t know what he’s capable of.  Sure he seems fine right now, but he’s capable of getting into a fist fight pretty easily. If I say something that offends him, how do I know he won’t punch me in the face or tackle me to the ground? I nervously glance over the clock again and then at my hands resting on top of the table. I can sense Kris feels just as awkward as I do for some reason.  

                The detention teacher walks into the room and clears his voice, “You are all dismissed,” Everyone stands and begins to make their way out of the library. The jocks pass our table with their usual stares and I quickly stare at Kris’ back rather than any of them.  I follow after Kris and we silently make our way down the empty hallway. I pull out my cell phone and realize Dad sent me a text message saying he would pick me up when ‘study hall’ ended. I figured he didn’t need to know the exact details of my after school activity.

                When we reach the entrance of the school and walk through the doors I see Dad’s Mercedes parked on the street. I look up at Kris and consider asking him if he would like a ride home but then decide against it. I don’t think Kris or my dad would be very fond of that idea. I’m surprised he doesn’t really pay much attention to me as I pretty much cling to his side. I’d prefer take my chances with Kris rather than one of the erted jocks. I could feel them staring at me as I walked out of the library so I quickly followed after Kris hoping he could provide some kind of protection.

                When we make our way down the street I begin to deviate away from Kris and head towards Dad’s car but Kris glances over to watch me leave his side. I look at him for a second and then decide to say, “Bye,” I surprised how much courage that simply word took.

                “Bye,” He turns and continues down the street. I hurry across the road, clutching my backpack and get into the black Mercedes.

                “Who was that?” Dad watches Kris suspiciously as he crosses the street ahead. I’m surprised and suddenly irritated by the disapproving tone in his voice.

                “A friend,” I’m even more surprised by the snippiness in my voice.

***

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A/N- Hey guys! Check out my sister's TaoRis fanfic!! :D [Link]