The minutes dragged by. Felix Ashkay stared out the window with an intensity born from a deep loathing of his first block physics class. Around him, students took notes and solved problems. He doodled, watched the treetops outside in the courtyard, tapped his fingers and waited.
I haven't seen Eric since I got here, he thought to himself. He's usually busy the first few days, leading freshmen around, fulfilling family duties, destroying things. But I bet he'll be free starting today, since classes have really begun.
I bet he and Cal will be waiting for me, Cal said they were heading to the practice room after class. We've got to get the band started this year, Cal and Eric are graduating.
His internal exposition took up several minutes, but not enough time for the class to end. He fiddled with the tie around his neck, trying to loosen it into comfort without getting in trouble for disrespecting the dress code. Then he gave up and remorsefully thought of his closet full of polyester-blend shirts.
The door to the physics lab room opened, interrupting a long speech by the teacher. "Yes, what?" asked the teacher in annoyance.
"I'm supposed to be here—I mean, they told me—I'm late, but it's not..." A student walked in to the room, shrugged and handed the teacher a pink note. The teacher read it and nodded. The boy was probably a year younger than Felix, and a bit shorter. He had curly hair down to his shoulders, dark brown with a few unnatural pink streaks. He had brown eyes, too, although it looked like he had been punched at some point in the recent past-a fading bruise darkened one. Rather than the school's uniform, the boy wore a pair of flared jeans and an ancient T-shirt with a soap detergent add on the front.
"There's a seat free at the back table, next to Mr. Ashkay. Mr. Ashkay, if you'd raise your handS There." The teacher pointed to Felix, who obligingly waved while examining the new student, noting that the jeans seemed to have come from the girl's section of a teenybopper store.
"Jasper Tulsi," the new boy introduced himself, sitting.
"Felix," Felix said. "Nice wardrobe."
"My uniform isn't—That is, I don't have... I'll have it tomorrow or the day after, but since-I just, I..." Jasper answered jumpily, without actually finishing a single sentence. Felix correctly assumed it meant he was new and his uniforms were still being ordered. It happened to people a lot at the beginning of the year.
Barely another minute passed before Felix raised his arm. The teacher called on him, surprised to see Felix showing any interest in the class.
"Uh, can I be excused to... You know... Show Jasper around or something?" he asked.
"You want to leave.... In the middle of class... With the new student?" the teacher asked, sounding as confused as Jasper looked.
"Well, yeah. He's new, he hasn't seen the campus yet, I figured I could show him around. And, uh, do you really want me here sleeping for another half hour? It just makes you look bad."
There was a pause. "Just... Go."
They left the classroom, Felix more than a little smug. They poked around the building, Felix giving helpful comments like, "That's a drinking fountain."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Jasper replied hesitantly. "Look... It's nice of you to umm... volunteer to show me around. Were you really that bored?"
"Always," Felix replied.
Jasper grinned. "Ah. So you're bad at physics or you just hate it?"
"Hatred, mostly. Force equals mass times velocity, Newton's Second Law, yada yada yada. It doesn't involve playing my bass. So whatever."
"Ah. I get it. I kind of like physics, but not... It's not my favorite class. I'm more of a politics/English/music kind of guy, y'know? I mean, someone has to be worried about the spread of apartheid and racism and downsizing and Republicans. But the teachers never really seem to like me much."
"Why not?"
"I'm usually right."
"Oooh. That's gotta sting." Felix pointed to the left. "That's the cafeteria."
"Where you eat?"
Felix looked incredulously at him. "Well, sure, if you want salmonella."
"Ah. Got it. No cafeteria." Jasper suddenly looked nervous. "But there is somewhere with coffee, right?"
Felix sighed suddenly. "I'm tired of all this character development. Let's go find Cal and Eric. They're good guys; you'll like them."
"Find them now?"
"They'll be skipping too. Don't worry. We don't... we don't attend class so much as observe others attending."
"Cool!"
*
Felix, with Jasper tagging a couple of steps behind, found Eric and Calvin in a large courtyard. They appeared to be looking at a big pile of white rubble on a pedestal. Eric could have been a school-catalogue model, in his crisp pressed uniform, except he was also wearing dark sunglasses. He checked and rechecked the lap-top in his hands. Calvin was bald, and by contrast had the slumpy, unpressed uniform of a devoted hippie. He wore the bemused look of someone who'd seen too many piles of wreckage.
Jasper joined the other three students, who were solemnly observing the rubble in mournful silence. He looked at the debris, and then up at the others, and back at the debris. He cleared his throat.
"So... Rubble, then. Nice. Very nice," he said awkwardly.
"Well," Felix said, "I'm pretty sure yesterday that was the statue of the school's founder."
"Ah. So... Erosion? Giant rats...?" Jasper guessed hesitantly.
"No," Eric said, shaking his head. "Jet-propulsion. Too much jet-propulsion."
"Of course," Jasper said, nodding uncertainly. "That was my next guess."
Calvin shrugged. "I told him it wouldn't work. It was just like when he destroyed that wall. Except with less screaming."
"Well, that should have worked. The specs seemed right at the time," Eric said defensively.
Felix shook his head. "So what was it supposed to do? Close school?"
"Too easy," Eric answered disdainfully.
"Knock out a secret FBI computer grid?" Felix tried.
"That's in the cafeteria," Eric replied, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. Jasper wondered nervously to himself whether the FBI had a setup in the cafeteria, or if that was just where Eric was planning to... To whatever.
"Kill the drama coach?" Felix guessed with a martyred sigh.
"Of course! Sheesh. That took you three guesses?"
"You're my friend. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt."
"Ok," Jasper said, stepping back, hands on his hips. "What are you talking about?"
"Who's that?" Eric asked, turning suspiciously to Felix. He did a sudden doubletake as he realized other people had joined him in the courtyard. "Hey, Felix! Long time no see! How was your summer? And who's that, shadowing you? A spy for the other side?" Eric demanded suspiciously.
"Umm... This is where I point out that there is no other side, right?" Calvin asked.
Eric waved dismissivley at Calvin. "That's what they want you to think," he declared airily.
"I'm not a spy," Jasper clarified quickly, more than a little nervous about Felix's 'friends' and the destruction that seemed to accompany them. "I'm a transfer student. In fact, I just got here this... This morning, we arrived... No, I mean we've been here for a week but we just moved here, but this morning I... This was the first day of class. But only for me. You see?"
Jasper had a manner of speaking where every sentence fell on top of the one before it. The other three exchanged glances.
"Sure," Calvin said. "So... you're new then?"
"Exactly. Well, not really. I mean, new here. But not... So, yes. Yes I am."
"He's not a spy," Eric said, shaking his head, looking at the shorter student over the tops of his sunglasses. "How would they understand his reports?"
"This is Jasper," Felix said, sighing slightly. "He was in physics with me. I thought he might appreciate... Well, not exploding statues, but, y'know, not being in physics."
"Will any of this involve coffee? I could use some coffee," Jasper added.
"Are you sure you need any coffee?" Calvin asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Sure. Don't I seem kind of tired and withdrawn?"
Calvin sweatdropped. "Ummm... yep."
Felix turned to Eric. "So do you have a super-secret back up plan to kill her?"
"Always," Eric scoffed. "But it doesn't go in to effect until auditions this afternoon."
"There are auditions?" Jasper broke in. "For what? When? Where? Because I've auditioned before—I used to be in drama a lot, I—I know drama."
"This afternoon, for the school musical," Calvin said. "I think it's... What is it? JC Superstar."
"Oh that, I've done that one before. I know the score by heart. I've seen them—I've seen it before, I know—I memorized the score, and what I mean is, I'm not such a Lloyd-Weber fan, but I can, I mean, it's real theatre, but you know, it's not, but—"
"If he keeps talking like that, I'm going to punch him," Eric said to no one in particular. Jasper lapsed in to sulky silence.
"Do I want to know what the back up plan is?" Felix asked.
Eric looked at him seriously. "Do you want to face possible jail-time, and almost certain torture at the hands of the PTA?"
"Uh, no."
"Well, no then." He checked his watch. "But we ought to go-I have tigers waiting for me on eBay."
"Let's go to one of the practice rooms. Uh... You want to come?" Calvin asked, turning to Jasper. "Do you... Play an instrument, or do... stuff?"
"Drums. And tin whistle. And stuff like that. And sing. That kind of-"
"So yes then," Eric interrupted, snapping his laptop shut.
"Umm... yes."
"Cool, c'mon then. We'll go plan our attack strategy for auditions tonight." Calvin, Eric and Felix turned, heading toward the practice rooms in the other wing of the school.
"'K. Cool." There was a brief silence as Jasper followed them, and then ,"Umm... there isn't any coffee there by any chance, is there?" Eric didn't even look up. "Owwwww!"
*
"I don't see why you had to punch so hard," Jasper sulked, perching on the radiator at the back wall of the small practice room. They'd stopped in a band room briefly, and the three other lads had picked up instruments; two guitars and a bass. Jasper tagged along, babbling incessantly. "I mean, it's not like you're... What I mean is... At the public school I-People kept, and then I had a black eye, you know?"
"What?"
Felix sighed and translated. "He got beat up a lot at public schools," he explained, carefully tuning his bass.
"That's what I said!" Jasper exclaimed.
Rolling his eyes, Eric began to play a random melody and was quickly joined by Cal and Felix. It was clearly something they'd played together before, and Jasper watched for a few moments, shuffling around and getting in to the song. However, they also clearly hadn't played together in a while, and the lack of a drummer was getting to them; Cal and Felix had started in at different tempos, and Jasper wasn't entirely sure any of them were in the same key. After a few rough and shaky minutes that failed to ever completely jell in to a song, the jam session broke down.
Cal turned to Jasper and said, "We've been trying to form a band for two years now, but it hasn't really gone anywhere. I've been playing the drums because I can, but I'd rather be on guitar. You said you drum, right?"
Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I'm a decent drummer." He didn't fake modesty very well. "I'd be happy to join you guys sometime, maybe. So, how did you guys meet?"
"We've gone to school together for years," Eric replied.
"So you're all from around here?"
"No, we're from all over the country, just rooming here. Cal and I met freshman year, but Felix didn't get here until our sophomore year."
"Oh, are you all in the same year?" Jasper asked.
"No, Eric and I are seniors, but Felix is a junior. The same year as you, actually," Cal explained. "Felix's parents aren't too in to him being in a band, but mine are thrilled. Just so everyone knows."
"Everyone who?" Eric asked.
Cal shrugged. "The readers," he said. "I mean, Exposition Boy over there can't ask about everything. It'd sound weird." He nodded towards Jasper, who waved brightly to the readers, then paused and wondered what the hell had just happened.
"Sure," Felix shrugged, picking out a bassline. He was cut off when the door to the practice room swung open. Framed in it, arms crossed over her chest and looking annoyed, stood a girl. Eric rolled his eyes at the sight of her, and it was clear they were relatedÐthey shared similar curly black hair, although hers was significantly longer. She wore dark sunglasses just like her older brother's, but hers were up on her forehead, used more as a headband to hold back her long black bangs.
"Is that the sound of losers pretending to be a band?" she asked. "Hey, Felix, Cal..." Her eyes stopped on her brother. "Loser."
"Did you want something?" Eric asked in annoyance. "Or couldn't find any of your own friends? Oh, wait, that's right, you don't have any."
She ignored him, glancing at Eric's friends. Cal was still bald, Felix was still tall and doofy looking, and Jasper—she blinked. Jasper hadn't been there last year. "Who's that?" she asked, noting he looked good in a pair of jeans which could have been stolen from her wardrobe.
"Jasper..." he introduced himself, for the first time hesitant to speak because he wasn't sure who had just invaded the room. "Who're you?"
She seemed annoyed that he didn't recognize her on sight. "My name is Lisa. Lisa Donnely," she said patronizingly.
"Neat." Jasper didn't seem impressed. "So?"
"Donnely? Like, Eric's sister?" she suggested sharply. "Y'know, my family owns the school?"
"It's Exposition Boy's sidekick, 'Background Information Girl,'" Cal muttered under his breath.
"Look, it's the first episode, there has to be exposition!" Jasper snarked back at him.
"Yeah, but hasn't it been a bit gratuitous in this scene?" Cal shot back.
"Well, would you rather have the readers be confused?" Jasper demanded, standing.
Lisa cleared her throat much louder than necessary. "Ahem. What. Readers." There was a pause. Jasper and Cal looked guiltily at the floor. Jasper bit his lip and Cal began to whistle.
"Uh, I mean... Lisa... Didn't you have something important to say?" Cal asked.
"Uh, yeah," Lisa said. "Madam Blanche is... " She stopped, folded her arms and righteously lectured, "just so you know, Mom and Dad are going to freak when they see that statue gone, and it's not like they won't be able to guess how it happened! Only one person on campus blows things up."
"Two," Eric objected. "There was that janitor."
"It doesn't count if you set the bomb to go off. All he did was open the door."
"Still, he's the one who made it explode!" Eric said.
"Is he mentally stable?" Jasper whispered to Cal, who he thought might know what was going on.
"Not very. Evil genius type," Cal explained. "Fun at parties, though." Then, aloud, "Lisa, weren't you going to say something important? So the next scene can happen?"
"Just that if you kill Madame Blanche—" she rolled her eyes at the name— "this early in the year, you'll run out of sport."
"Yeah, but she has to die," Eric said, turning to Jasper. "Don't bother to ask, I'll explain. Madame Blanche is evil. She's... Evil."
"Um."
"Okay, look, every year I try out for a minor part in the school musical and get the lead," Eric started. "Which I realize most people wouldn't mind, except that I end up with the romantic role, and it's only because my parents are her bosses... And, as the same thing goes for Lisa, she gets the female romantic lead."
"Ewwwww."
"Yeah. So this year, I'm trying to kill Madame Blanche before the cycle repeats... Also, she always gives Cal and Felix really crappy parts, and they're both really talented singers."
Jasper nodded. "So she's our arch-nemesis?"
"One of them."
There was a pause. "Anything else I should ask about?" Jasper asked.
Everyone else considered. "Not right now. We'll save some suspense," Cal promised. "Don't worry."