[ 17 ] 2013 

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"Shakespeare sucks and is a fucking waste of everyone's time. No one gives a shit about him."

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The first class where he would be seeing her was Shakespeare, where all they did was read the plays and sometimes did partner assignments in which they had to perform a scene in front of the class. This was Calum's least favorite class. Somehow, he saw performing scenes from Twelfth Night, Hamlet, or Taming of the Shrew to be absolutely embarrassing and ridiculous. What did it really matter what Shakespeare was trying to portray when Hamlet gives his famous To Be or Not to Be monologue anyway? How would that help anyone perform any kind of task at their future job? Calum didn't think school was of any use to him, especially when he was a senior in high school and had no idea what he enjoyed enough to do as a job.

He walked to his first period class in the english hall on his own. All around him were crowds of athletes with their friends, popular girls applying yet another layer of make-up to their already fake appearance, and honors geeks discussing the readings which would be talked about in class discussions that day.

Calum walked into the school gym from the math hall. On the other side of the gym was a door that would take him out onto the history hall, from which he would eventually reach his first class. Dirk Van Rankin, a Dutch student who had moved to Australia from the Netherlands a year before, caught up with the raven haired boy. When Calum told the coach he would be leaving for a few weeks, the coach asked him to choose the best candidate to take over the captaincy in his absense. 

Calum had opted for the Dutch boy. Of all of his other team mates, Dirk was the most skilled and Calum appointed him as captain. "Back so soon?" Dirk asked curiously, in a thick accent. Clearly, he had been enjoying his role as captain of the team. And he had only been in the position for a few days.

Nodding, Calum said, "Yeah."

"I thought you'd be gone longer." Shrugged the Dutch student.

"Things came up." The raven haired boy informed him. Sighing, he added a question, "What do you want, Dirk?"

"We have an important game today." Dirk informed him. "I just wanted to know if you'd be returning today." He noticed Calum didn't have his training bag with him and wanted to know if he would even be present at the game.

But Calum had no mind for the team of the blonde haired Dutch boy who was talking to him. He waved a hand in front of his face and told him, "Take care of everything on the team for the next week. I have other things to worry about. Go." He ordered. Suddenly stopping in his stride beside Calum, Dirk nodded and was on his way.

The raven haired shifter made it to class with seconds to spare. He entered the class room and went to his usual seat. It was a small classroom that had once been part of the school library. When the school had opened long ago, there had been a library in the east hall of the school. As they adquired more books over the years, they needed more space to put them and eventually had an entire building put up for the library. Now having an empty space, they split it into two small classrooms for elective classes.

Inside there were twenty five seats for seven students and noticed that when he reached his seat next to Harley, it was already taken.

"Oi," Calum stood over them with a glare. "That's my seat." He said to Jack Quimby.

"Calum," The elderly man who taught the class called to him, "Take a seat."

"I can't." He shook his head. "How can I sit when someone's in my seat?"

"Just sit somewhere else." The teacher suggested.

"You're the authority figure in this room, aren't you?" Calum challenged. "Is this not what assigned seats are for? I demand that you tell this guy to move." He stood his ground. It wasn't the seat he cared so much about. All he wanted was to sit next to Harley.

With his hands on his hips, the teacher warned, "Do you want to be sent out to the principal's office?"

"Yeah, I do." He nodded, "I'd rather be there than in this classroom where there is no type of justice."

The teacher waved him over while the rest of the students in the room watched the rebellious student make his way back towards the exit, where the teacher's desk was close by. He stood by the door while the teacher got the slip ready to send him out. He handed it to Calum and he took it from his hand. Before he left, he told his teacher, "Shakespeare sucks and is a fucking waste of everyone's time. No one gives a shit about him."

He took one look at the words written on the slip and tore it to shreds, throwing it up in the air as he walked down the hallway. He hadn't actually planned to go to the principal's office.

Calum spent the rest of the two hour block with the physical education freshmen in order to avoid running into the school deans who would hand him a detention slip for wandering the halls before returning him to his first class. The teacher was also the soccer coach and since they were in their soccer week, he allowed the captain of the team to stay. His task was to teach the girls to play, but was unsuccessful for the most part. There were few who actually had skill, while the rest cowered away from the ball as though it were something dangerous.

After the first block of classes was a half hour assigned for breakfast.

When the bell rang to dismiss the students, he didn't know where to go. He didn't want to go back to spending his free time on his own. He was too used to seeing Harley already and saw some hope in finding her at the large school when he spotted Hazel, surrounded by curious students. Calum rolled his eyes at them. Now that Hazel and her brother arrived, surely Billy and Harley would become old news.

She was accompanied by Luke Hemmings, who was forcing a smile on his face through the pain he was feeling. They seemed to be having a conversation, but Calum noticed she was only responding to be polite.

Calum weaved through the crowd to reach her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him and said, "Column." Everyone around her who had heard her mistake laughed, not at her, but at him. Everyone seemed to be intrigued by the new girl who looked so much like their last new girl Harley Quinn.

The raven haired boy glared at her. "Calum." He corrected.

"Oh, sorry." Her face contorted in apology.

"How do you know Harley's cousin?" Luke wondered. There were no bad intentions in his tone. Even though the whole thing had felt like a dream to him, he felt grateful to Calum for saving his life.

"I don't know any cousin of Harley's." He dismissed the boy with ocean blue eyes. Grabbing her by the arm gently, he took her away from the crowd and said to her in a whisper. "Where are Harley and your brother?" Luke tried to call after them, but he was ignored. Calum was relieved. At least now that he was interested in Hazel, he would stop trying to get Harley. And he wondered if he wanted Harley because he actually liked her, or because she was a new student who wasn't throwing herself at him like most other girls at St. Genevieve's.

"I was just about to meet with them." She replied.

"Then let's go." Calum insisted.

The Canadian led him out to the fields where the physical education classes played sports. In the very back, hidden in the row of trees before reaching the fence. It was the place he and Harley shared when she was okay. They found Michael along the way and arrived at a spot between two trees where Harley and Jack were having breakfast. Ashton stood a few feet away, hazel eyes full of hurt. And Calum took a closer look at them and found just why Ashton was feeling that way.

On her face was a bright smile as she and Jack talked. He was helping her eat the food on her tray, some cold pancakes the school had served for breakfast. He brought a forkful to her lips and she opened her mouth to eat the flavorless school food as though it had been made by the most renowned chefs. It was clear that she would do anything for him. She was genuinely happy, or at least it looked that way.

Hazel looked at each of the three boys as they saw her and she could almost hear the breaking of three hearts for Harley Quinn.

-

i know i keep saying i'll update often and then i apologize later cause i couldn't keep my promise. but i have a very good reason this time. i started a new semester at the university two weeks ago, which is around the time i stopped updating here.

and i got a job, and i'm taking seven classes. so i have like no time to write anymore and it hurts cause i love writing. but at this moment those are my priorities.i will still try to update at least once a week, but i can't promise anything. what I CAN promise is that i won't go over three weeks without updating. does that sound reasonable?

and guys! remember i was bitching so much about wanting a car? MY DAD GOT ME ONE. ITS A 2007 PT CRUISER AND I NAMED HIM BASTIAN AND HE'S LIGHT SILVER. AND I LOVE HIM AND I GOT HIM YESTERDAY AND IM SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO HAPPY. 

anyway, thank you all so much for reading and supporting as much as you do. it means so much. and guys, i have a twitter now. follow me @brizueia :D i promise i always follow back.

i love you. have an amazing day!

-clary xx