Work Text:
Monday Timetable:
Geography (8am to 9:30am)
History (10:30am to 12:30pm)
Classic Literature (2pm to 3:30pm)
Mathematics (4pm to 5pm)
Anya dislikes Mondays. Who doesn’t??
In the weekend, her mama, Yor, has bought a new curling iron and Anya has been her first victim. And don’t the narrative fool you. She looks good. Amazing. But who knows how her friends will react? Becky will make a big deal over it. And what about Sy-on boy? Eh, he’ll probably comment something stupid about it.
People always treat him like an infamous criminal or something. He’s a bit mean but not anything like that bad. Loads of people are pissed at him after his father’s arrest a couple of years ago, when a big scandal was revealed. The Desmond group was accused and pleaded guilty to corruption and bribery. And somehow, despite all this, people still gawk over him. Who knows what kind of idiots drool over someone so.. infuriatingly hot!
Tomorrow isn’t about Damian though. Its about Starlight Anya Forger and her killer new hair style!
Monday Timetable:
Geography (8:30am to 9:30am)
Economics (10:30am to 12:30pm)
Classic Literature (2pm to 3:30pm)
Mathematics (4pm to 5pm)
Ugh. Mondays suck. Its not an opinion, its an objective fact. Everyone knows they do. Even Eden Academy’s celebrity: Damian Desmond. His main fanbase is just piles and piles of girls swooning over him. Why should he care about them, if someone already caught his eye (10 years ago..)?
His schedule today begins at 6:30. Why? Ask that to his stupid brain, who just decided “oh its 6:30am. Lets wake him up!”
Like any person who’s sleep deprived, he tries falling back asleep, but he never seems to truly be “with his head in the clouds”. He gives up his futile attempts and gets up, taking his sweet time to go to the bathroom, shower, get dressed in the same, everyday uniform, and exit his dorm room. By the time he finishes his routine its 7:15 and a handful of morning students are in the breakfast hall. Ewen and Emile are obviously still sleeping. Lucky bastards.
He chooses a quiet table and orders himself a double espresso. The croissants look good.. His impulsive thoughts win and he also orders a peanut croissant. The flavour of choice seems rather interesting, just like someone else he knows.
As he dips an end of the pastry in the high quality, bitter coffee, Headmaster Henderson approaches his lonely island. Damian bows his head in respect, lifting it once the professor begins conversing.
“Good morning Mr. Desmond. Its unusual to see you down so early. I take it you wanted to sleep longer judging by the double espresso. Don’t overdo caffeine. It wouldn’t be very elegant.”
Damian nods. Headmaster Henderson is is favourite teacher amongst the facility. Partly because he enjoys history, mostly because he’s kind of like an in-school father figure to him.
“Good morning Headmaster. Yea, I couldn’t sleep any longer. Emile and Ewen are probably still sleeping so I came down to have an early start to the day. This coffee is needed. How’s your morning been so far, sir?”. Damian can talk easily and pretty freely to the professor. He always keeps a respectful and cordial tone though.
The Headmaster begins describing his morning: a jog, the correction of one of his class’ papers, a check of the academy, to then finally sit and also enjoy a satisfactory breakfast.
By now its 7:40 and Damian decides to retreat to his dorm. He bids his salutations to the Headmaster, then walks back to his bare room. The furniture is given by the school and there are strict rules on poster and any form of decoration.
He goes to brush his teeth and check over his appearance one last time. Wait- Why does he care anyways?
Anya gets to school by bus. She exits and immediately runs up to Becky, who’s waiting for her by the entrance. First thing the brunette notices is her best friend’s hair. The curls look so pretty on her. Anya smiles and they begin heading to their classes together. Becky stops in the bathroom “a second” to retouch her makeup. In the meantime, its only two minutes till’ lesson begin.
The pink-haired taps her foot on the floor impatiently, before apologising to Becky and promising to see each other at lunch. She can’t afford to be late to Mr. Russel’s geography lesson again. She runs in just as the bell rings.
Mr. Russel, being a boring stickler of the rules, marks her in as late. She huffs in annoyance and just takes her seat, taking a deep breath to control her impulses. What could be a worse start to a monday than this? Oh, well. At least she shares the class with Sy-on boy. She turns to him, her deskmate and waves. He stares at her for a couple of seconds, blinks, before waving back. Anya turns to the board as the lesson progresses painfully slowly.
“damian has stopped responding. unfortunately the brain is overloaded”
He cant’t deny it. Not even to himself. Not for one second. She looks… ethereal.
His porcelain cheeks feel warmer, rosier by the minute, blush blooming like an invasive species.
Everything in the background blurs, the professor’s voice fades, and all that is left are him and her..
A grating voice cuts though his daydreaming.
“Mr. Desmond I asked a question. You could actually face the board. Do you need to be excused?”. Damian apologises and answers the question. He decides he can stare at her later, though his eyes still wander to her, attracted like magnets.
After another stupid lesson (without Anya), its finally lunchtime. The group of five sit all together. Anya and Becky on one side and Damian, Emile and Ewen on the other. The guys are talking about a football match and the girls about going shopping in the weekend. Its mostly Becky yapping away, but Anya doesn’t mind.
Strolling, Tertius comes to their table with a rose in his hand. He’s tried courting Anya in 748 ways since he first laid his ‘royal’ eyes on her. Of course its never worked due to her thick skull. As he stops before the table, he clears his throat and gets the group’s attention.
“Oh, Anya. You look stunning on this fine day. Your hair looks fabulous.”. He bows his head and extends the rose to her. She smiles and takes it, but before she can thank him, or reply at all, Damian scoffs.
"..of course that commoner only needs the minimal to look stunning..". His wannabe insult is left mid-air, followed by uncomfortable silence. And as per usual, the subject of said ‘insult’ is confused.
Tertius breaks the silence, “..Don’t be an arrogant prick to my girl”
He looks at Damian, a daring glint in his eye.
Damian glares at him back, sending shivers down Tertius’ spine. He doesn’t back down though.
“Anya is papa and mama’s girl though..?”. Becky facepalms. Ewen and Emile stifle a chuckle. Tertius turns to her, his resolve softening. He smiles and picks up her hand from the table, kissing it lightly. A vein bulges in Damian’s forehead. If his nerves were to be crossing lines, Tertius is making sure to step on each and every one of them thrice.
“Talk to you some other time, Anya. Enjoy lunch.” and the spikey-haired takes his leave.
Damian mutters something under his breath, along the lines of, “The balls of this asshole”.
And yet, Damian still feels something spark inside him.
‘How can that stupid fake prince make flirting look so easy? How can he just approach her, over and over again, and not give up?’
The bell signalling the end of lunch half snaps Damian out of his anger.
“Its selfish. Absolutely selfish. I can’t do anything about my emotions. I don’t deserve her. I-”
Becky punches his arm. Okay, maybe that’s a bit unnecessary but how else can she get through that thick skull of his? The slow burn she witnesses every day at school is worse than her favourite couple in Berlint in Love. At least they only took 3 years!
Its been 10 years and the two idiots still can’t even around complimenting each other before becoming a tomato garden.
She turns to the dark haired idiot next to him and whispers in his ear,
“You’re right. You don’t deserve her. But I want- no. I need you two to get together. This is so painful to watch that Ewen and Emile want to lock you both in a room until something happens. Be glad I told them not to. It might come to that if you dont hurry. So in last period today, since you share it, compliment her fucking hair. I just know you’ve been dreaming on running your hands through it all throughout today. She might just let you~”
Damian looks at her, his eyes widening.
“Wha- Blackbell don’t you think I would’ve already if I could’ve? Talking to her feels like getting across to an unreachable deity. Impossible. I choke up and freeze. A- And yes. I do want to touch her silky hair, look into her emerald lit eyes, hug her, maybe more. I’ve wanted to for so long. But it feels like there’s a barrier between me and words as soon as I see her..”
Becky sighs. She smiles and pats his arm.
“You’re adorable Desmond. This is what love is supposed to feel like. Inadequacy, jealousy, longing, pining. Would it help more if you guys are alone, or in a crowd? Cuz one way or another, Anya is going to sleep today with a smile on her face and a date planned. Same goes for you Mister.”
She leans over closer, whispering scene and date ideas. He nods, trying to keep track. But none of them seem adequate or authentic enough for her.
The lovestruck idiots cross paths halfway to their designated class. They walk side by side, comfortable(ish) silence between them. At the door, he opens it for her. They take their seats and begin taking their materials out. The class is mostly talking since the lesson hasn’t started yet and won’t for a few more minutes.
Damian takes a deep breath and turns to her, trying to be ready for whatever may come his way. His heart is nearly beating out of his ribcage.
“Anya.. I- I forgot to tell you, your hair looks.. good.. yeah.”, he internally facepalms. What the fuck did he just say? God, he’s a fucking mess..
Surprisingly, she doesn’t seem to realise his inner turmoil. Anya just smiles and mouths a ‘thank you’ since the professor just entered.
And like every slow lesson that has been in this torturous day, this one isn’t moving any faster. The hamster wheel in Anya’s head isn’t spinning. Its doodling, and sneaking glances at the good looking, overthinking scion next to her. She slides a piece of paper to Damian.
“you’re thinking too lou hard. your forehead is creasing. what are you thinking about?”
She mimics the folds on his forehead with her finger on her own head. He quickly writes back, “You look like a dummy. Anyways I’m sorry I sounded like a fool earlier”
Anya scribbles on the paper and passes it back to him.
“its ok, Anya still apr appri appreciates the compliment :D”
Damian takes a second to read it, before writing back.
“No, its not. All day I’ve been trying to say something nice to you, and thats all I could manage. I can’t even speak to you without my heart pounding and my thoughts going haywire. And the fact that the most we’ve talked today is right now, through stupid little notes, says it all.”
Anya looks at him for a few seconds, he looks at her too. She scoots closer to him on the bench and, without warning, places a hand on his chest. Damian goes scarlet. His breathing goes shallow. “What the fuck- Is she trying to kill me?!”
“Its not that bad..-”. The pink haired feels a strong glare coming from the professor. Before she can retreat to her side of the work bench again, strict Mr. Sorren points to the door. Not wanting to possibly get another tonitrus, Anya complies. The professor is still shooting daggers at Damian and pointing at the door. He takes it as his cue to also get up. They both get kicked out of the class.
And suddenly, they both begin laughing. It takes them a shush from Headmaster Henderson passing by to get them to calm down. Anya uses Damian to stand up straight again, sort of. He is too busy trying to remember how to breathe to mind.
A few seconds later they have both regained their composure and are standing face to face in the empty hallway. Its time.
He closes his throat,
“Your hair does look stupendous today. Like the thinnest satin stripes, glowing in the light. I should’ve said this so much earlier too. I… like you.. Yes. I l-love you. I do. And.. I’m hoping you’ll join me for tea cakes this Saturday at ‘Pearl’s Imperial Cake Imporium’? My treat.. Yes they have peanut cakes too.”
Anya looks into his eyes, reading into his mind. No lies, no filter. Everything he’s saying is coming from the heart. Her emerald eyes sparkle and she nods.
“Goddamn it.. Her eyes.. She’s got me so wrapped around her finger..”
In the blink of an eye, Anya’s hands fly to cup her Sy-on boy’s cheeks, as he places his hands on her waist, and their lips meet in the middle. Everything both of them have ever wished for and more..
Bonus !!
Becky catches up with Anya as they’re both exiting school.
“Anya! Did something happen in maths?”, she asks excitedly, seeing the faint blush and glint in her eyes.
The pinkette looks at her bestfriend and smiles.
“Damian.. confessed.. and we might meet up on Saturday for tea cakes..”, she prepares to cover her ears. As she should.
Becky squeals and grabs her arm.
“Fucking finally Desmond did something!”
Anya nods, then groans,
“Yea.. he did.. but now we both have extra maths homework..”
Her friend doesn’t miss a beat, wiggling her eyebrows,
“More reason to spend time together~”
The pinkette blushes a deeper red and punches Becky’s arm. Well deserved after that ‘not so terrible’ idea. She might take up on that ;)