CHAPTER THREE: PRIVILEGE

It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot.
-Sarah Dessen

Jason punched one of his teammates in the face and broke his nose, and he was furious.

Oliver and Felix had been there too, and when Tobias first found this out he scoffed about not being able to see a fight but once he gave just a moment's thought about it his snide comments instantly stopped.

This wasn't good, Jason didn't just punch people, in fact he had given the delinquent himself absolute hell for the following weeks after the first few fights he got into.

The other boy wasn't saying anything and refused to talk about it until he got called into a meeting with Priest Hayes.

All three of his best friends knew to be grateful that the priest got control of the situation before Reverend Mother Amelia got wind of it.

Of course Jason being the 'responsible' boy he was, was the first to admit that he did something wrong. The cause of the violence? His teammate had let out a few snide comments about how all of them- -Jason, Oliver, Felix and Tobias- -were privileged, and made a joke about how God loves them more, but will still send Oliver to hell for being a fag.

That last comment, using that fucking slur, is what really set off the lacrosse player.

Jason was privileged and he knew it, he knew that coming from a rich, white family who didn't have to look into scholarships or financial aid to send him to a Catholic school like this wasn't the average experience.

He knew that being conventionally attractive and fit, able to play on a sports team without worry of how it would affect his grades wasn't something many boys experienced first hand. Jason was privileged.

There was no denying that.

Not only was his family wealthy, but they were by far the most accepting out of any of the boy's parents.

But Oliver comes from a second generation immigrant family from El Salvador, his family owns a farm and can barely make the boarding school rent for Oliver, but sends him here anyway because they want him to have a life they never had. They changed their name- -Landaverde- -to his mother's surname Jordan when he was ten because people weren't taking them seriously.

People always complimented Oliver's blue eyes that he got from his mother, and said things like how boring or ugly him having brown eyes like his sisters would be.

It was as if half his heritage was ugly and the part of him- -this skinny, short light brown skinned, blue eyed half-Filipino boy- -that looked white was the only beautiful thing about him.

And Felix has a migraine conditions that will make him stay in bed for days at a time and take medicine every single night to ward off the worst symptoms that will send him to the hospital on bad days. He knows that he uses humor as a shield and that he's actually the most insecure out of them, and when he came out as asexual even though he still romantically loved people before he said he was broken. His parents still say that he just needs to find anyone and he's scared if they tell his school they'll force therapy on him.

Tobias, man Tobias has never had it easy, he wears his family ring every single day but not one of his family has helped him through his trauma. He was sexually abused by a priest at his old church and they didn't press charges because the local parish said they'd take care of the abuser, from then on he didn't believe in God.

When Tobias started to act out and got unmanageable, instead of getting him real help they shipped him off to Saint Agnes and put him in therapy with Priest Hayes -who he was scared to death of until two years passed and nothing happened.

His parents got divorced during the summer before year nine and they all had to help the delinquent get over it, and that was the year he started using the occasional cigarette to cope with stress.

Tobias's parents didn't stop him or cut off his supply, they could never agree how to parent him either, so it was like he was just thrown away.

His best friends aren't privileged. 

Oliver still gets told to go back where he comes from, people still assume he knows Spanish even though he's never spoken a word of it in front of them. Felix still gets letters from his parents that make his hands shake. And Tobias still wakes up shaking from nightmares and quietly wakes up Jason, not wanting to worry Oliver or Felix with burdens when they have their own, and he will talk about it until his body is trembling and hiccups line his speech.

And none of them show it.

They all act strong and hide their fears, they move on with life and they get good grades.

Tobias never tells Oliver that God isn't real and Oliver never asks Tobias to pray with him, they all tell Felix countless times that he's smart and funny, that he's capable of more they give him credit for.

His teammates can say whatever they like about him, they can call him whatever they want because yes, Jason is privileged, but his best friends have had it hard and nobody is allowed to tell them different just because they get good grades, or have a lot of friends, or feel confident about themselves and aren't afraid to boast about that.

And if they want to judge any of his friends for any of their sexuality, even when technically Oliver being gay is just a rumor and a stupid one at that, Jason will be there to protect them again.

He can't tell Priest Hayes half of that, but the father believes Jason when he says he had good reason.

Either way, he still had detention for two weeks and wasn't allowed to play in the next lacrosse game with the boy he hit.

It was worth it though, and Jason left the room with a smile.

-&-

Once the boys got used to waiting around after school for Jason, who had both detention and practice, they picked their usual spot outside around a circle table and bench which were all made out of stone.

It was safe to say that with even less time between seeing the more responsible member of their group, things were more chaotic than normal.

Mouth already full with five, Felix asks "Do you think I get ten of these in without choking?" before stuffing another large marshmallow through his lips.

Oliver give him look, not wanting to be the one to tell Jason that their best friend choked to death on marshmallows and all Tobias did was laugh. "This is hazardous."

"And cowardly." Tobias says. "Try twelve."

So the chaotic redhead does just that and it makes Oliver bang his head down on the table until Tobias pulls the smaller boy into his side, indeed laughing but stopping him from getting a concussion.

There's no use in two of his best friends dying today away.

After practice Jason had to serve his detention with one other boy, Perseus Sullivan, who was on his lacrosse team and who he actually liked.

Apparently the boys who called his best friends privileged and called Oliver a fag were taught an equally violent lesson by Percy, who was a very protective defender who are apparently dating their best goalie under the radar and he, Ashtyn Nicolette, didn't take to the wording very well.

Percy didn't put up with any homophobia and the bully didn't seem to realize that until he had a fist knocking the air out of his diaphragm.

Ashtyn was a very tall but slim boy, with a thin frame and kind green eyes, messy brown hair that just stuck up any way the wind blew but being on the lacrosse team, there wasn't much he could do about that right after practice.

On the other hand, Percy had cold grey eyes and pale skin, taking matters much too seriously or not seriously enough and he didn't have many friends -something that didn't bother him; he wasn't very friendly. 

He had Ash, that was good enough for him, even if the defender did get annoyed with being a mere three inches shorter than his boyfriend.

"Natural selection will come for you one of these days," Tobias tells Felix, patting him on the back as he starts to cough. "And I for one can't fucking wait."

"Yeah?" The redhead rebuffs, chin pointed up even as his eyes water. "Well I hope you step on a Lego."

It was at this moment Jason is close enough to catch what his best friends are doing, and regrets instantly inviting Percy and Ashtyn to meet them.

First of all, Felix went right back to coughing but between tears was continuing to try and eat as many marshmallows as he could just to prove to the delinquent he wasn't a coward.

Oliver was repeatedly hitting his forehead with a bible, pulled onto Tobias's lap after a few attempts at escaping and Tobias himself is laughing, arm curled around the smaller boy and face red at the simple notion of his best friend actually dying because of marshmallows.

Things like this happened often enough that Jason could only apologize for them, instead of try to convince anyone that they weren't normally like this.

Hell, them being sitting calmly would probably be so abnormally at this point the lacrosse player would have run over to see what happened.

"I should put them up for adoption." Jason thinks aloud, then makes a face and backtracks as soon as he realized what he said. "I don't legally own them."

Percy chuckles, eyebrow raising. "Are you saying that parents own children like they're slaves or something?"

"I don't know at this point." Jason just sighs and shrugs, shooting the defender an exasperated look. "The dying and eating marshmallows at the same time is Felix, the one laughing about it is Tobias, and the one hitting himself with a bible and on Toby's lap is Oliver."

"Felix, Tobias and Oliver?" Ashtyn, who is surprisingly polite, confirms with the nod of his head. "Should we introduce ourselves?"

"Are those two fuckwits-" Percy motions to Tobias and Oliver, who were starting to argue but that only ended in more insults and laughter. "-dating?"

Jason shrugs again, "They might as well be. Idiots are in love."

"And happily so?" Wincing, Ashtyn adds this cautiously and shoots a furtive, hopeful glance to his own boyfriend. 

Oliver, who started to hit the delinquent with the bible instead after he accidentally squeezed the smaller boy's ass trying to control his laughter, finally gave up of trying to control the situation and sunk into Tobias's chest as soon as he noticed Jason's approaching figure.

This time the lacrosse player grins. "Now that's debatable."

Making it to the table, Jason sits in the empty bench across from Felix and motions up to Percy and Ashtyn, who sit across from the other 'couple'.

"This is Percy and Ashtyn," He says. "They're on my team and really chill. Please, for the love of God and my mental health, behave."

Felix attempts to smile but the marshmallows almost fall out of his mouth, making him throw his head back and try to swallow them all at once, just leading to him choking again.

Leaning over, Jason wonders why he would even attempt to get away with a request like that without something happening and knocks his best friend on the back until the redhead is breathing good again.

In the meantime, Ashtyn holds his hand out for the other two to take, and Oliver is the one to do so. "I'm Ash! You have a really good best friend, he got into a fight for you, you know?"

"I know, he's always been like that." Oliver responds with a smile, glancing at Perseus. "You're Percy, right?"

"Yep." Percy says.

Ashtyn pouts right at him, "Can't you be nice for once?"

"Can't you fuck off for once?" Came Percy's instant reply, but instantly started to back track once his boyfriend's pout deepened and his green eyes got a sad puppy dog look to them. "Fine, fine, I'm sorry. I'm Percy, yeah. And you?"

Though sounding overly sarcastic, he still tried and it made Ashtyn smile.

Oliver, taking the chance to tease Tobias, looks up at him and asks, "Why can't you ever treat me like that?"

The delinquent- -who can tell the two are dating and having a relationship different than their own even disregarding that fact, given how easily Percy caved- -just snorts. "Because you're an idiot, and I'd rather stab myself. I dunno, maybe I'll be nice to you if you stop hitting me with bibles."

"Well maybe if you stopped doing things that require a little of paper-made divine interference, I could stop abuse my bibles and you."

They start bickering about this and Felix easily takes over the conversation, now that Jason took his marshmallows away anyway.

Getting detention was definitely worth it.