"Now, we are welcoming a new student today; Jonathan Crane. I hope you'll all be good classmates to him." The teacher said it encouragingly enough. The class didn't look that enthused.
Of course, before when they had only just learned that there was a new boy joining, there had been some hopeful whispering among the girls, wondering whether he'd be hot. A few of the boys may have idly wondered whether they were about to get anyone new for their various team sports.
It broke up the monotony of the day a little, but they had clearly decided that the boy himself wasn't worth much excitement. Built like a stick figure, glasses, the worst haircut known to men and a clothing style that lacked any pizzazz. It was Gotham, even the preps tended to have some of their own flair added.
"Introduce yourself please, Jonathan. Just a few words about where you're from."
Edward had been writing a note to pass over to someone, but he leaned back now. Looking the newcomer over he felt the teacher had given him a challenge - it was how he approached life to not ever get bored with how dull it actually was - and he was trying to work out what information he could before anything was said. Jonathan Crane. He liked the name, there was some poetry there.
"I'm Jon." Jonathan said, short and simple, hoping that it was enough. It was, technically, a few words. He hated this part, he hated standing up in front of his peers and he hated public speaking. The fewer words, the better. He was stuck with the last gift his father had given him and until he had conquered it, he didn't want to highlighted.
Alas.
"Anything else, Jonathan. Where are you from? Any hobbies?" The teacher prompted and Jonathan balled his hands into a fist. He made eye contact with the teacher, irritated and somewhat defeated.
"I'm f-f-f--rom" He got stuck on the first part. Great. Fuck. He went red and hissed out the last part. "Georgia." Was that enough to let him sit down? There, he was a fool, it had been done.
"Welcome to G-G-G-Gotham, Jonny boy." Jack called out from the back, earning some laughs from his fellow classmate.
"Hey, settle down." Harvey prompted, as class president. He took his role very seriously. "He's not done."
Jonathan looked at the guy in bafflement. He wasn't?! He was pretty sure he was.
"Are you a n-n-n-n-nerd?" Barbara asked helpfully, which earned some more laughs. And she blew a kiss to Harvey. No harm meant, right?
Ah, that kind of mockery really was the base form of humour, no wonder Jack took to it immediately. And it looked as if the white knight had found himself yet another windmill to defeat.
Edward decided to cut it short before Harvey had to go full class president. "He's Jon, he's from Georgia - clearly rural - he hasn't been here long and he's not a fan of the rain." That much was pretty obvious. Some people were giving him looks, varying from amused to annoyed. "He likes reading, he's a smoker. He's got an irregular sleep pattern and he really wants to shut up and sit down. There's some free spots, Jonny. Pick one."
"...you might as well sit down, Jonathan. Edward, no one asked you to speak." The teacher sighed, turning to her desk.
"They so rarely do, which is a shame. If someone did, the class might actually learn something..." He sighed, theatrically, then stuck his tongue out maturely at the boy that had tossed a pen at his head and missed. Same old.
Jonathan picked a place as far away from everyone as he could get and sat down, glaring straight ahead at the board. He just needed a stupid high school certificate. Just two more years and it was over.
He idly cast a glance towards Edward. It was... impressive, if not a little weird, that he knew enough to introduce him. Though nothing was excessively hard to read. He supposed his sleeping habits and dislike of the rain were hardly difficult to pull out. The reading was interesting though - how did he get that one?
The lesson began and the class was pretty rowdy, all things considered. There was constant noise, everyone was yelling and sharing in jokes. It was quite the tedious class. Jonathan wondering if it was at all possible to get his GED online.
It would save from the noise, the mockery and being deduced by a theatre kid.
That was all that was written on the rolled up piece of paper that Edward flicked onto Jonathan's desk. He had no way of knowing that that was precisely what was going through the boy's head, but given it was his own thought more often or not, it was not actually an impressive guess.
He felt he had to do it, honestly. He had kept his deductions to a minimum because he had been told before that it was invasive otherwise - a hard-learned lesson in many a case - and now he still had the urge to prove that he was better than that bare bone deduction. Jonathan was new here, he didn't want him to miss out on the depth of his intelligence.
Jonathan frowned at the paper and expected to see a slur or an insult but it was just a very simple statement from some boy he hadn't even spoken to yet and had no real intention to speak to. He turned and looked at Edward, frowning. What did he even do with such a comment? He looked at the paper for a while, just studying it and wondering why this fucking kid wouldn't get out of his head.
He didn't like mind games. He would have preferred the slur, honestly. Less dangerous. Games like this were dangerous.
Jon looked at Edward for a few moments and then looked back at the board. He tried to focus on the lesson and not on Edward, who's eyes seemed to burrow into him.
Honestly, it was a relief when the bell rang and everyone started to get up. Jon grabbed his back and made a dash for the door.
Edward was going to make some subtly teasing remark to Harvey for the illuminated idea of keeping the spotlight on the new kid with the stutter. However, said new kid was making a run for it and he still hadn't quite let go of all of that information in his head, so he followed behind him, deciding that he could mock Harvey later.
He didn't think he'd have to look for long. There was a door to the outside staircase not far from their classroom and the new student was, as he'd deduced, a smoker.
Edward managed to catch the door just after Jonathan had stepped out, before it could close entirely. He took a deep breath of the fresh air - as fresh as it got in Gotham - before Jonathan would ruin it with cigarette smoke, then he leaned back against the door, so he'd have an early warning should anyone else come and join them out here.
"I've introduced you and neglected introducing myself. Edward Nashton." Until he could change it, anyway. "Nice to meet you."
Jonathan made some vague noise of greeting, not even surprised that this annoyingly peppy weirdo had followed him outside. He seemed to be on some sort of mission to impress or something. Jonathan looked him up and down and then nodded, gesturing behind Edward in the direction of the door.
"Kay. Bye."
He kept his words short and to the point, sticking to words he knew he didn't stutter over. He may not have been able to express himself properly but he could make it very clear that he didn't want Edward here.
Not surprising. Of course it wasn't. "Don't worry, you don't have to talk." Gave him all the more room to hear himself speak, after all. And he was certainly fond of his own voice, he had never understood why that was supposed to be an insult. His voice was like honey and whatever he chose to say was gold nine times out of ten.
"My condolences, for the record. For your loss." That wasn't much of a thing to shoot with, given all the information he had gathered so far. He knew where Jonathan lived, based on what route he had taken to school - easy to figure out looking at his shoes - and he was starting at a new school now. He obviously lived alone and then it was just well-educated guessing. "Although it doesn't seem to be too tragic a loss. Still, social graces and all that. I'd tip my hat to you, but they don't let me wear hats to school."
"Ssstop." Jonathan struggled out as he glared at Edward, not sure what game he was playing but he wasn't enjoying it. It was like his father all over again, always in his head and holding all the cards. He didn't like someone exploiting his tells and making his existence a piece of work to be studied. "Fucking Sher--- fuck."
Jonathan moved further away from Edward and inhaled the smoke deeply. God, he had been craving this. He needed this to get him through a day of mockery, misery and whatever the hell this dickhead was bringing to his life. Why the fuck would he tip his hat? What lines should he read between? He wasn't really in the mood.
"Sherfuck? I like it, actually." Edward had to laugh to himself. He was definitely hanging on to that one. He watched Jonathan and then he did feel some sympathy, empathy, whichever one it was. He knew he was a lot. Too much, most the time. "I will stop. Apologies."
Obviously, he couldn't stop. People thought that sometimes, that it was like a flip he could switch. That it was a choice to know all he did, to notice everything. Sure, he could focus in on someone or something, but a lot was just always there. His brain working away. Still. He could stop obnoxiously bragging with it, now that he'd gotten it out of his system.
"I meant no harm with it." He lifted his hands to show his innocence.
Perhaps there was no harm, perhaps it was just a game to show off but Jonathan wasn't so sure. He didn't trust people. People were dangerous, cruel and always one step away from their worst instincts. Even so, Jonathan was in a gaming mood. He wanted to test.
"D-D-Daddy issues." Jonathan stuttered out and then looked at Edward, meeting his eyes. There was mischief in his eyes. "ADHD. Com--Comp-pulsions. Try meth."
Jonathan turned to the side and took a drag of his cigarette. "Then you'll ssstop."
"Eh, I never stop. I just get tired. You'd think that would stop me, but it mostly just seems to remove my filter. My first girlfriend broke up with me over that, believe it or not. I was just observing the fluctuating weight, not passing any judgement." He'd have probably been smart enough to keep it to himself if he'd been entirely sober. "Anyway, I'm saving my drug experiments for after school."
Well. "Mostly. Further experiments, anyway." He smiled at Jonathan, amused by being diagnosed. "Daddy issues though... Around here, you can't shake a stick without hitting one of those. That's an easy guess. Suppose all of those are. I'm not one for subtlety."
Jonathan nodded his head in agreement and sucked in as much more tar and ash as he could before he flicked his cigarette onto the floor and stomped onto it. He looked at the door and sighed. He wasn't enjoying any of this but he was just going to have to push through. He'd had worse school experiences.
Jonathan started up the stairs and opened the door, then decided to hold it open for Edward. Southern manners were hard to remove, even if he was using them for an attention seeking punk like this.
"Thank you ever so, Jonny." Edward grinned at him as he stepped inside the school again, sliding both hands into his pocket and starting to walk to his next class. There was something to Jonathan. More than he had deduced so far. It was obvious from the few words he had gotten out of him.
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icebergloungers2024-05-02 05:52 pm
no subject
Of course, before when they had only just learned that there was a new boy joining, there had been some hopeful whispering among the girls, wondering whether he'd be hot. A few of the boys may have idly wondered whether they were about to get anyone new for their various team sports.
It broke up the monotony of the day a little, but they had clearly decided that the boy himself wasn't worth much excitement. Built like a stick figure, glasses, the worst haircut known to men and a clothing style that lacked any pizzazz. It was Gotham, even the preps tended to have some of their own flair added.
"Introduce yourself please, Jonathan. Just a few words about where you're from."
Edward had been writing a note to pass over to someone, but he leaned back now. Looking the newcomer over he felt the teacher had given him a challenge - it was how he approached life to not ever get bored with how dull it actually was - and he was trying to work out what information he could before anything was said. Jonathan Crane. He liked the name, there was some poetry there.
no subject
Alas.
"Anything else, Jonathan. Where are you from? Any hobbies?" The teacher prompted and Jonathan balled his hands into a fist. He made eye contact with the teacher, irritated and somewhat defeated.
"I'm f-f-f--rom" He got stuck on the first part. Great. Fuck. He went red and hissed out the last part. "Georgia." Was that enough to let him sit down? There, he was a fool, it had been done.
"Welcome to G-G-G-Gotham, Jonny boy." Jack called out from the back, earning some laughs from his fellow classmate.
"Hey, settle down." Harvey prompted, as class president. He took his role very seriously. "He's not done."
Jonathan looked at the guy in bafflement. He wasn't?! He was pretty sure he was.
no subject
Ah, that kind of mockery really was the base form of humour, no wonder Jack took to it immediately. And it looked as if the white knight had found himself yet another windmill to defeat.
Edward decided to cut it short before Harvey had to go full class president. "He's Jon, he's from Georgia - clearly rural - he hasn't been here long and he's not a fan of the rain." That much was pretty obvious. Some people were giving him looks, varying from amused to annoyed. "He likes reading, he's a smoker. He's got an irregular sleep pattern and he really wants to shut up and sit down. There's some free spots, Jonny. Pick one."
"...you might as well sit down, Jonathan. Edward, no one asked you to speak." The teacher sighed, turning to her desk.
"They so rarely do, which is a shame. If someone did, the class might actually learn something..." He sighed, theatrically, then stuck his tongue out maturely at the boy that had tossed a pen at his head and missed. Same old.
no subject
He idly cast a glance towards Edward. It was... impressive, if not a little weird, that he knew enough to introduce him. Though nothing was excessively hard to read. He supposed his sleeping habits and dislike of the rain were hardly difficult to pull out. The reading was interesting though - how did he get that one?
The lesson began and the class was pretty rowdy, all things considered. There was constant noise, everyone was yelling and sharing in jokes. It was quite the tedious class. Jonathan wondering if it was at all possible to get his GED online.
It would save from the noise, the mockery and being deduced by a theatre kid.
no subject
That was all that was written on the rolled up piece of paper that Edward flicked onto Jonathan's desk. He had no way of knowing that that was precisely what was going through the boy's head, but given it was his own thought more often or not, it was not actually an impressive guess.
He felt he had to do it, honestly. He had kept his deductions to a minimum because he had been told before that it was invasive otherwise - a hard-learned lesson in many a case - and now he still had the urge to prove that he was better than that bare bone deduction. Jonathan was new here, he didn't want him to miss out on the depth of his intelligence.
no subject
He didn't like mind games. He would have preferred the slur, honestly. Less dangerous. Games like this were dangerous.
Jon looked at Edward for a few moments and then looked back at the board. He tried to focus on the lesson and not on Edward, who's eyes seemed to burrow into him.
Honestly, it was a relief when the bell rang and everyone started to get up. Jon grabbed his back and made a dash for the door.
no subject
He didn't think he'd have to look for long. There was a door to the outside staircase not far from their classroom and the new student was, as he'd deduced, a smoker.
Edward managed to catch the door just after Jonathan had stepped out, before it could close entirely. He took a deep breath of the fresh air - as fresh as it got in Gotham - before Jonathan would ruin it with cigarette smoke, then he leaned back against the door, so he'd have an early warning should anyone else come and join them out here.
"I've introduced you and neglected introducing myself. Edward Nashton." Until he could change it, anyway. "Nice to meet you."
no subject
"Kay. Bye."
He kept his words short and to the point, sticking to words he knew he didn't stutter over. He may not have been able to express himself properly but he could make it very clear that he didn't want Edward here.
no subject
"My condolences, for the record. For your loss." That wasn't much of a thing to shoot with, given all the information he had gathered so far. He knew where Jonathan lived, based on what route he had taken to school - easy to figure out looking at his shoes - and he was starting at a new school now. He obviously lived alone and then it was just well-educated guessing. "Although it doesn't seem to be too tragic a loss. Still, social graces and all that. I'd tip my hat to you, but they don't let me wear hats to school."
no subject
Jonathan moved further away from Edward and inhaled the smoke deeply. God, he had been craving this. He needed this to get him through a day of mockery, misery and whatever the hell this dickhead was bringing to his life. Why the fuck would he tip his hat? What lines should he read between? He wasn't really in the mood.
no subject
Obviously, he couldn't stop. People thought that sometimes, that it was like a flip he could switch. That it was a choice to know all he did, to notice everything. Sure, he could focus in on someone or something, but a lot was just always there. His brain working away. Still. He could stop obnoxiously bragging with it, now that he'd gotten it out of his system.
"I meant no harm with it." He lifted his hands to show his innocence.
no subject
"D-D-Daddy issues." Jonathan stuttered out and then looked at Edward, meeting his eyes. There was mischief in his eyes. "ADHD. Com--Comp-pulsions. Try meth."
Jonathan turned to the side and took a drag of his cigarette. "Then you'll ssstop."
no subject
Well. "Mostly. Further experiments, anyway." He smiled at Jonathan, amused by being diagnosed. "Daddy issues though... Around here, you can't shake a stick without hitting one of those. That's an easy guess. Suppose all of those are. I'm not one for subtlety."
no subject
Jonathan started up the stairs and opened the door, then decided to hold it open for Edward. Southern manners were hard to remove, even if he was using them for an attention seeking punk like this.
no subject
He'd find out, sooner or later. He always did.