Fandom Class of 2023

[CJWrites]

"Alex! Matthew!"

Matthew looked up. "Claire!" A smile spread over his face. "It's so good do see you again, How was China?"

"Way too hot, boring relatives and I couldn't read anything" Claire complained half-heartedly. "The food was amazing though. How was your August?"

"You know same old same old." Matthew grinned. None of them would admit it but it was nice to have all 3 of them together again. It didn't feel the same when it was just him and Alex.

"Have you picked up your timetable yet?" Alex asked.

"Yeah have you?"

Matthew nodded.

Claire took out her own and looked it over, frowning. "Who the hell's Y. Katsuki? What happened to Hidaka? I thought she was the only one to teach Japanese?"

"Katsuki... I think she's a transfer from Don Mills." Matthew said. "Hidaka's pregnant, isn't she?"

"Look Y. Katsuki teaching English too." Alex pointed to Matthew's schedule.

"Think she'll also take over the Culture Exchange Club?" Claire wondered.

"Geez, I hope it doesn't get canceled because we don't have a teacher"

A pang of disappointment crossed over Claire's face. She loved Hidaka and had been looking forward to finally taking a class with her. Now she was stuck with this new teacher for two classes.

--

Katsuki's English Class

Turns out Katsuki wasn't a she but a pudgy bespectacled man with slightly unkempt black hair and a constant soft smile on his face.

"Hello everyone! I'm Mr. Katsuki. Now please pass along these course notes while I take attendance"

"Why does our English teacher have a Japanese accent?" Claire whispered to Matthew who shrugged and shushed her.

"Matthew Boudreaux"

"Present."

Matthew turned his attention to the course notes.

Reading List for ENG301 Section 4
Hamlet - Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
The Natural - Bernard Malamud
The Windup Bird - Haruki Murakami
Various Poems

"Chad Westwick?"

"Claire Wu?"

"Here!"

"Great. Everyone's here. Now then, we have four literary works to study. Two of which you will probably have heard of and two of which you probably haven't."

As the class wrapped up, Matthew started to pack up his stuff when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"You're Matthew right? President of the Cultural Exchange club?"

He looked up.

"Ah, yes that's me."

"Well, Ms Hidaka mentioned you. Said you were an excellent student and to ask you if I needed any help. Anyways, I'd be happy to serve as the teacher chaperone. When's the first meeting?"

"Tomorrow at lunch, but we usually get new students starting next week after the club fair" Matthew explained.

"I'll see you then."

Matthew moved to pack his bag up and noticed that the new student was still packing up.

"Hi. I'm Matthew Boudreaux, you're Chad Westwick right?" He introduced himself "It's nice to meet you."

--

Alex ran up the stairs and almost skidded into the classroom. He panted heavily as he leaned against the doorframe. "Look, sir, I'm super sorry. See I misread the number in my timetable and I thought-" Vidrih just held up his hand and waved him in.

Alex looked ashamed as he hurried and took the only remaining seat behind Sam Parker and diagonally behind the new guy who had shoulder length blonde hair.

Alex squinted. Was it a girl or a boy? He couldn't tell.

"As I was saying before Alex barged in like that, this semester we will be learning from these books"

Alex tuned out Vidrih as he leaned back in his seat. The first day of school was always so boring.

 

[haharley]

Chad flashed Matthew a perfectly bright smile. "Hey" He ran a hand through his blonde hair allowing one hip to sway to the side and rest on the desk beside him in a feminine gesture. "I couldn't help but overhear something about.. a culture club?" he asked, his high-pitched voice lilting up in a suggestive manor, as if asking the boy for more information in lesser words.
---
Yurio had been trying to focus on his classwork but found himself at a loss. He didn't want to be here, sitting at a stupid desk. All he wanted to do-- all he could think about was ice skating. He allowed his head to rest on his desk, resigning to the fact that focus wasn't going to come.

Whatever. He'd just ask Yuuri to help him catch up later on... knowing a teacher had it's benefits after all.

"Alex Bourdeaux, right?" Sam had turned around in her seat to face him seemingly uncaring of the lecture going on. "Your brother runs the culture club right..?"

Yurio lifted his head at the feminine voice turning his head to look over the interaction. Culture club? oh hell.. he was supposed to join that wasn't he? With those losers? He narrowed his eyes already annoyed at the thought.

 

[CJWrites]

Matthew shifted uncomfortably on his shoes. Was this person trying to hit on him? Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, but Matthew had no idea how to react.

"Um.... yeah. It starts tomorrow. You should come! In fact... you probably don't have anyone to eat lunch with right? You should come sit with us!"

On second thought, it might not have been a good thing to do. Alex was sweet but sensitive he was not. He could just imagine the things his brother might blurt out of his mouth.

"Matt, the next class?"

Claire headed off for Math with Wang while Matthew made his way to the second floor for Biology.

--

Alex nodded. The two had never really talked. "Yeah. Uhh... What about it?"

The bell rang. "Oh shoot, I'm late again." He slapped his forehead. "At least Mr. Wang is nice." He grimaced as he thought of his Econ teacher. "Hey, join us for lunch will you? We'll tell you all about it then."

 

[haharley]

Chad grinned biting into his lip and waving after Matt. "Sure thing!! See you then" he called, waving all though the boy couldn't see him. He gathered his bags then, walking down the hall to head to his drama class.
---
Sam shrugged her shoulders. She was still getting used to communicating with new crowds, her heart racing in her chest as a blush colored her cheek. "okay, I'll see you then."

"Pathetic" yurio grumbled to himself as he watched the blushing girl walk away. The red color of her cheeks gave away everything he needed to know about the interaction. Digging through his jeans he found his crumpled schedule in his pocket. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. "Mathematics... really.." he groaned to himself softly walking down the halls and getting lost a few times before he was able to successfully find the classroom. He walked in late without apology quickly walking to the first visible empty seat of the classroom recognizing the boy, Andrew.. Al.. Alex?, was seated next to him. He tossed his bag down and rested his head in his arms again, not caring about the attention he drew to himself. He didn't want to be here.

 

[CJWrites]

Alex blinked as Sam rushed away, blushing. What was her deal? He frowned and scratched his head. He supposed that being star of the hockey team among others would attract some attention, but it wasn't as if it was a big deal. It was more just the team and their close friends and family that came and watched the game from the sidelines.

He shook his mind off of Sam as he sat next to Claire, who already had her notebook open and was waiting impatiently for the class to start. Unlike Alex, she was excited to be in Wang's class.

"You're new right?" He asked the boy who sat down next to him. "You were in English too. I'm Alex, and you?"

 

[haharley]

The Russian boy lifted his head ever so slowly, his hair creating menacing shadows under his eyes. ".... I am Yuri" he said slowly as if he knew how intimidating he could come off. He pushed himself back in his chair suddenly, his blonde hair flipping out of his face as he took in the rest of the class, eyes landing on Claire. "Is she serious? I've never seen someone so excited for a math class.." he crossed his arms over his chest, slouching. His whole demeanor and attitude screamed 'I don't want to be here, I am above this.' But for the sake of a 'back up plan' (As Yuuri had called it whilst lecturing him to take up classes), he was doing his best to 'make the most of it'.

 

[CJWrites]

Alex rolled his eyes "I know right? And trust me I know how you feel."

He wanted nothing more to be done with this, graduate and start playing.

"Wang's a hardass" He complained. "You won't know how to answer half the questions on his tests. Claire does though. She thinks it's fun" He mimed quotes in the air with his hands. "Your accent... where are you from? You should join us for lunch!" Alex slammed his hands down, Claire gave a jolt and glared at him. "You've got no friends right? It'll be great!"

But before Yuri could answer, Wang started to talk, and it was evident that the teacher and Alex had a lot in common. His giddish excitedness, however, was directed at Math instead of Hockey.

After the Alex beckoned Yuri to follow him. He was bouncing up and down on his toes, eager to introduce his new friend to his brother.

"Sorry you got dragged into this." Claire said to Yuri. "You can leave you know. We'll calm him down."

Matthew joined "I hope Chad can find us... you know that new guy in English?"

"This, is Yuri" Alex said proudly, as if showing off a drawing he'd made to his parents. "He's new too."

 

[haharley]

Yuri waved his hand ever so slowly in a small salute yet said nothing. These people were a bit.. much for him. As soon as they were at a table he took a seat, tossing his bag to the floor.

"Hey Matt" Chad cooed offering a small wave as he approached table, all holly-wood style as if he was a celebrity on a red carpet. "Hi everyone I'm chad" he sang. Yurio looked up and raised a brow saying nothing and Chad slowly mouthed 'okay' taking seat beside Matt. "He's a bit grumpy huh?"

"I'm not grumpy" Yurio snapped before realizing that that only proved the other man's point. He sighed pushing his fingers into his brow bone and cursing under his breathe in Russian.

"Hello, Yuri. Alex.." Sam said softly as she took a seat beside the Russian giving Claire a small wave. She'd never really spoken to the girl but if she could recall correctly, she had had a class with her once before. She had a few classes with Yuri and was already used to his somewhat pessimistic attitude towards the school thusfar, so it didn't bother her that she didn't get a greeting back.

"sooooooo.... culture club?" Chad asked, straight to business.

 

[CJWrites]

Claire nodded at Sam. They were on the same hockey team but never really spoke much even at practice. She opened her lunchbox and pulled out a thermos of noodles. Cracking apart a set of disposable chopsticks she began digging in. Matthew and Alfred opened their lunch boxes to pull out identical sandwitches.

"Oh yeah! Sam was asking about the culture club too." Alex said. "Yuri! You should join too."

Matthew nodded. "At the Culture Exchange Club, we often organize events to raise awareness around different cultural holidays. Like last year we folded paper cranes in remembrance of World War Two and did henna during Diwali, stuff like that. We often go out during lunch to different restaurants. Once a week after school we host a language exchange but it’s a lot of people asking for help with French homework. I'm president, Claire's treasurer, and Parvati's secretary."

"What got you interested in this club all of the sudden." Alex abruptly asked Sam.

Claire facepalmed. It was so obvious.

 

[haharley]

Sam's cheeks instantly flushed with color. "I-I..Uhm.. I..."

Chad couldn't help a little laugh that slipped out of his mouth. He quickly hid it with his palm as he noticed Sam looking in his direction.

Yuri felt bad for the girl and.. well.. she had been the first person he had met here. So he cleared his throat. "I told her Katsuki is forcing me to join for extra curriculars and she should join with me." He quickly turned back to the table playing with the edge of his jacket.

Sam looked over at Yuri a bit suprised at the grumpy kitten's generous saving. "... y-eah.. what he said."

Yuri met her eyes a brief moment before looking over at the rest of the group. "Da? You got a problem?"

Sam giggled at his angry exterior.

Chad chimed in "So he does speak?"

Causing Yuri to grit his teeth and look away from everyone once more.

"Oh lighten up, I was joking" Chad chuckled before looking to the rest of the group with his signature bright smile. "Sounds fun, when do we start?"

 

[CJWrites]

"Katsuki?" Claire sat up a bit straighter. "Why would our English teacher tell you what club to join?"

Alex's eyes glazed over and his mouth formed a perfect o. "That makes sense," he muttered. Claire stared at him in disbelief.

Matthew grinned. "Tomorrow's the first meeting, but we're not really expecting new recruits people until after the club fair so you don't have to show up till then."

Then he had a thought "Hey! you guys are new to the city right? We should show you around downtown after school, go to the mall. Once club activities, hockey, and homework start piling up, we won't have that much time anymore."

 

[haharley]

Yuri murmured "Hockey hasn't started?" perking up as if he'd been given candy.

Sam blinked at him in suprise, like she was afraid he might jump out of his seat and do something crazy. "Hockey doesn't start for another week or so.."

Yuri tried to contain his excitement. "Ahh.. er.. mall after school.. I'm sorry I can't go." He stood himself up walking away from the table.

Chad watched him go. "Is it just me, or is that new kid extremely weird.."

Sam murmured "Be nice, Chad... the mall sounds cool, Matt. I'm down to go... I could use a break from all of this.. school stuff already.." she rested her chin in the palm of her hand with a soft sigh.
-----
Yuri hurried down the hallways in search of a familiar face for far too long. He was afraid the bell would ring before he had the chance to find him-- there. He skid to a halt, his shoes squeaking against the tiles with the sudden force of it. He let himself into 'Mr.Katsuki's' classroom without a seconds hesitation. "You can book me the ice rink, da?" he threw his book bag off his shoulder in the corner of the classroom walking closer to his former competitor. "Da?"

 

[CJWrites]

Claire looked mildly offended at Yuri ignoring her statement.

"What a jerk." She commented, crossing her arms and frowning at the door through which he had exited.

"Oh don't worry, the new kid is weird" She muttered, glancing at Chad.

--

Yuuri blinked as a student came barging into his classroom just before the bell rang.

"Ah, Yurio" He said. "The club rink? Why don't you just book it yourself? I'll drive you."

 

[haharley]

Chad grinned a little bit. "She's my favorite so far.. sorry losers." he pushed himself out of his chair. "Alright see you at the mall. Meet at the front of the school?"

"It's like he already thinks he's in charge or something" Sam muttered under her breathe as she stood collecting her bags as she realized the bell was likely to ring any moment.

-----
"I can.. book it?" Yurio asked a sigh of relief passing his lips. "Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll run. Good excersize and all.." His real motivation was to cut class, but he wasn't about to tell that to his teacher. He shook his hair out grabbing his bag once more. ".. this never happened." he pointed a finger at Yuuri backing out of the classroom slowly.

He ran down the hallway swerving between people left and right-- his skill as an athlete showing ten fold.

"Yuri-- whoa.." Sam jumped as he dogdged past the culture club and out of the building. She looked over her shoulder, eyes following him out the double doors of the front enterance. "I wonder what that was about.."

Chad shrugged from his place a few steps in front of her. "Beats me.."

-----

It's my first day of class and I'm already skipping... ha. I guess I was never meant to be anything other than an athlete. Yurio knew that that wasn't true. He had loved studying during his breaks at the rink. However, sitting in class all day was more draining then any practice session, and it left him itching to return to the ice. He put in his headphones jogging the final steps into the ice rink. "I'd like to book the rink for as long as you've got..." he said panting, dropping his backpack to the ground in front of him and using one hand to wipe sweat away from his face.

He was a model student to the ice, and nothing else. Yuuri should have known better than to lead him to highschool.

 

[CJWrites]

Claire and Alex both shot glances at Matthew for confirmation. It was clear they viewed him as the leader, as much as anyone could lead a group of teenaged friends. Matthew never sought out leadership but people naturally liked him

The younger twin nodded "Sounds good. I'll see you after school."

"I know right, who does he think he is." Claire muttered back, shoving her lunch bag back into her backpack. She got up to head to the next class

As Claire walked, it wasn't long before she noticed she and Sam were walking in the same direction. "Do you also have Japanese?" She asked.

--

"Hold on, Yurio, you can't just-"

The bell rang and Yuuri watch helplessly as his... student? Charge? Left the room. He sighed, realizing there was nothing. He glanced up to see his Introduction to Japanese class file in through the door.

 

[haharley]

"Yeah" Sam nodded her head offering Claire a small smile. "I'm a little bit nervous about it.. I'm not great at foreign languages.." She admitted softly, thumbs hooking under the straps of her back pack to twiddle with them nervously. She and Claire had never seemed to be cut from the same cloth. She pushed some hair out of her face offering the other girl a polite smile.

 

[CJWrites]

Claire nodded, but she didn't look at Sam when she spoke. Instead, she was focused on weaving through the crowd to her destination.

"Well... you're joining the cultural club, right? Learning new languages is one way to broaden your understanding of the culture."

She walked into the classroom and sat at a desk near the front. She pulled out her laptop and opened up her text editor to take notes.

 

[haharley]

Sam took a seat beside Claire looking a bit uncomfortable in the front row. She opened her notebook slowly, mostly full of doodles from her other classes and pushed her hair behind her back. "..Any study tips?" She asked softly "You are one of the school's genius' right?" she said curiously.

 

[CJWrites]

Claire blinked at her. "I guess..." She said slowly. She knew she was smart, but she'd never thought of it that way before. "I don't really study all that much though, and my English grades suck. I just pay attention in class, do my homework and it kinda... comes to me. You should ask Matthew. He studies really hard."

 

[haharley]

"I'll keep it in mind.. thanks" Sam offered Claire a kind smile as she picked up her pencil to start doodling absentmindedly.
--
After class Sam hurried down the hall stepping beside Alex but... she didn't really know what to say to him. She was a fumbling idiot when it came to these things. Instead, she just listened to them talk to eachother. Her jealousy pushed through her in an almost ridiculous fashion.. she'd barely talked to the guy.. and Claire didn't really seem like his type, anyways.

Eventually Chad met them at the front of the school, sunglasses and bright smile slipping onto his face. "Who's ready to go shooooppppinnnggg?"

 

[CJWrites]

Claire sighed and muttered a "Not me" under her breath. She hated shopping. Sometimes it seemed like she exclusively wore grey hoodies and blue jeans.

"Dude, what kind of guy likes shopping?" Alex complained. "I don't wanna"

"It might be fun!" Matthew exclaimed, always the arbitrator, "But... I don't really think most of us can afford it. Usually, when Al, Claire and I go to the mall, we just hang out there."

 

[haharley]

Chad's lips curled into a frown. "..oh."

Sam chuckled, "You were really excited weren't you?"

"Did the sound of me dying inside reaffirm that for you?"

Sam pushed her bronze hair behind her ear and murmured "Yknow, we're not all californians like you.. "

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Chad huffed putting his sunglasses onto his head.

"We don't all have the money to spent on clothes, tans, cars, and booze.."

"Excuse you, I'll have you know I work for every cent." Chad rolled his eyes hard looking away from her with a huf and crossed arms.

Sam's lips curled into a soft smile at his dramatics, allowing their little 'argument' to die.

 

[CJWrites]

Alex laughed at Sam and Chad's banter. He grinned at Sam, trying to catch her eye.

"Let's go then," Matt said, "I'll lend you some bus tokens if you don't have any."

Claire hadn't noticed Chad's accent below his over the top voice, but now she could hear it. She purposefully sat beside him on the bus.

"You're from Cali?" She asked him. There was nothing more Claire wanted to do than go to Silicon Valley. "Where? What's it like"

 

[haharley]

Sam sat across from Claire and chad, lost in her own little world as she pulled out her notebook to doodle again. As Claire began talking to Chad she looked up, curious about what the blonde boy had to say.

"Silicon Valley" Chad smiled leaning back against the seat more. "I spent most of my time in Los Angeles though.. it's... " He thought for a moment before deciding on "Interesting.. a lot of cool people.. a lot of poor people.. a lot of talent."