#bully ship

It was the next day. Peter had been sitting in his room waiting for his mom. He was just waiting for Miss Danvers to call him down to the office so she could pick him up. A moment later, a click was heard from the intercom. "PETER KOWALSKI, PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE. YOUR MOTHER IS HERE TO PICK YOU UP." The announcement then ended with another click. Time to go. He put on his sneakers, a light blue jacket, and a gray beanie with a smiley face embroidered on it. He also grabbed the white canvas bag he came to Bullworth with. He packed it with a pair of pajamas and an extra pair of shoes. He didn't need to bring much with him since he was going back home. He put the straps across his chest and headed out of the boys' dorm. When he entered the main office, his mom was sitting in a chair closest to the wall. Her long, dark brown hair was styled in a messy low-side ponytail. She was wearing a sky-blue, loose turtleneck sweater that stopped right above her midthigh with a pair of black skinny jeans and black matte flats. She was so occupied reading a school brochure that she didn't even notice him enter the room. "Hey, mom." She adverted her attention from the paper and looked directly towards the center of the room. He gave her a little wave and a shy smile. "Gummiworm!" In an instant, she sprang out of the chair and hurried towards him, her arms wide open. She grabbed hold of him and she squeezed him so tight you'd think that he could feel her heartbeat through her chest. "Oh, I've missed you soooo~ much!" "I've missed you too, mom. Can you let me go though, you're kinda squishing me." "Oops- I'm sorry, sweetie, I wouldn't want to turn my baby into a pancake as soon as I get to see his cute, wittle face again." She pinched his cheek as she talked in a way you would to a newborn. Peter was getting embarrassed by this constant coddling. Fortunately, Miss Danvers chimed in and saved him, "Well, I see you two are enjoying yourselves. Well, if that's all, I expect to see you again after the break, right Peter?"  Peter nodded his head. "Very good. Have a wonderful break, you two," She said with a polite smile. They left the office and walked down the main stairs to the car parked out by the school gates. He opened the backseat door and tossed his bag in first, him trailing after. His mom climbed into the car and started the car. "Seatbelt on?" "It's on," He reassured her, but he double-checked just in case. It's been a while since he's been in a car. "Alright, we're ready to roll. Before we go home, we're gonna go to the mall so we can find some presents for the family, 'kay?" "Okay." The closest mall was an hour and a half away, so it would be a long drive. He thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to get Russell a present. Then Peter wouldn’t feel sad for not being able to spend time with him this year. He didn’t know what though. He figured he would probably find something once they got there.

A fifteen-minute gap of popular Christmas songs playing on the radio and cars passing was interrupted by his mom asking him questions. She turned the volume down a little, so it would be easier for them to hear each other. "So, you told me you made a new friend called Jimmy. You guys hang out a lot?" "Yeah. We go to the park sometimes and he shows me how to ride his skateboard. He's pretty cool." "That sounds fun! What about Gary? You didn't really say anything about him in the letter you sent me." Peter hesitated to answer. It's not every day you get to tell your mom that your childhood friend is trying to ruin your life by trying to take over your school. "...we don't...really talk anymore..." Her eyebrows furrowed with concern as she looked at her son through the rearview mirror " Huh? Why not? Something happen?" "It's...complicated..." She glanced back in the mirror at her son sulking by the window. He looked upset, so she backed off of him a bit. "That's alright. I won't force ya." Peter continued to stare out of the window, staring at all the freshly snow-covered trees and hedges. He always liked Winter. When he was younger, he and his dad would go to their backyard and challenge each other to see who could make the most deformed snowman. After being in the snow for so long, they'd rush into the house and drink hot chocolate his mom would make. That was all before he started working at the library two towns over from their house. He would come home so late at night, Peter would already be fast asleep when his dad got home. He would really only get to see him on weekends and certain holidays. "Are there any girls you like?" Peter was so focused on the scenery outside that he was caught off guard with that out-of-the-blue question. His face became so red he practically became Rudolph 2.0. "Wha-, mom, no!" "What~? I saw some pretty cute girls there! I wouldn't mind if you brought one home to us someday." "Mom, can we not talk about this anymore?" he urged, still looking out the window, hiding his reddened face from his mother. Besides, he's already with someone, and that someone was Russell. A boy. His parents never cared about his love life, as long as he was happy with whoever he was with, but they’ve always wanted him to start a family and have kids of his own. He didn't even mention Russell in the letter he sent in response to her asking about his current school life. It’s not like he was afraid to tell her. He just thought it was too early. But Russell's mom knew. She found out when she noticed Russell would come home later than usual some days after school because they would be out on little dates. They would occasionally hang out at his house as well. Peter was the only partner, or anybody, that he has ever brought home so frequently, so it didn't take her long to catch on. She wasn't bothered by it at all, and she was super supportive. How he was going to tell his parents, though? How would they react? It's not like they needed to know right away anyways. Maybe Summer break would be a decent time to tell them. "Alright, I'll stop messing with ya. I know I'm probably acting like a cop the way I'm interrogating you like this." She quietly laughed to herself while she dialed the radio back up to the Christmas songs that played earlier. Peter yearned for this car ride to be over ASAP.

They eventually pull into the large mall parking lot. It was jam-packed due to last-minute Christmas shoppers. There were so many rows and rows of cars lined up it looked like a multicolored forest made of metal. They'd be lucky to even remember where they parked their car, let alone find a parking spot. After a long search, they finally found a parking spot, but it was farthest from the entrance. He knew how his mom got whenever she went shopping, especially holiday shopping. When he was younger, he would wonder where she'd get the money to buy all that stuff, and he still does now. Just thinking about carrying all those bags back to the car made his arms feel like jelly. She parked in the spot and turned off the car. They unbuckled their seatbelts and hopped out. She pushed a button on her keys that locked all the doors and they began to walk to the entrance. Upon entering the mall, Peter was amazed by what he saw. Bright Christmas lights were dangling from the second-floor rails. Candy canes and ornaments made of shiny tinsel were randomly located throughout the mall. A strong scent of gingerbread was also floating in the air. But the icing on the cake was the giant, rotating, decorated Christmas tree that stood directly in the middle of the mall. It hasn't been that long since Peter had been to the mall, but he never went when it was during the holiday season. His mom has always done the gift shopping beforehand while he stayed home with his dad. It was kind of weird experiencing all of this for the first time. "Alright, so here's the plan," his mom started, snapping Peter out of his state of awe. "I'm gonna give you $40 to spend on anything you want for a present. It can be for a friend, yourself, anything. Since you haven't been around us as much this year, I gave you a pass." She dug into her purse and pulled out her pink sparkly wallet. She took out two $20 bills and handed them to him. "Spend it wisely because that's all you get, kay?" Peter nodded his head. "Good. Meet me back at the food court when you're all done, alright." She lowered herself and kissed him on the cheek, then walked off. $40. That's all he was given to spend on a present. He already knew who he was going to spend it on but didn't know what. Standing here all day wasn't going to solve anything. Maybe he'll find something if he walks around a bit. He shoved the money into his pocket and started his hunt for the perfect gift.

It'd been a couple minutes, and Peter hadn't found anything yet. 'This might take longer than I imagined...' he thought. He wished to find something and quick. It was as if a genie heard his thoughts because, at that moment, he came across a craft store. Peter idly stood in front of the store entrance, wondering what he could possibly use from here. Then it came to him. Heading into the store, he searched for what he was going to need. The first section he went to was 'Simple Crafts' where he grabbed pink and white felt, crazy glue, and some golden tinsel. He needed some thread for the felt, so he headed to the 'Sewing' section. There he grabbed a spool of white and pink thread, needles, and a pack of colorful heart-shaped buttons. He got everything he needed. If not, he could just look in his basement for supplies. All that was left was to check out. Up at the register, he placed all his items on the counter. A middle-aged lady with short salt and pepper hair was working the counter. "Will that be all, sweetheart?" she asked kindly. "Mhmm," Peter answered back. "Alright, that's gonna be $12.15." She rang him up and put all his belongings in a bright, red plastic bag with the store's logo printed on it. He handed her the money, and she put it into the cash register, "Here ya go," she said as she handed him the bag, "Enjoy your holiday!" "You too!" Peter said as he rushed out of the store, quick to get the final item. Reaching the top of the escalator, he stepped off and began looking for a men's casual clothing store. He didn't see any on the first floor because there were a lot of clothing stores for women and item-based shops. There were some shoe stores, suit shops, and sportswear stores on the second floor. Not anything he was looking for. After a tedious search for a regular clothing store, he eventually came across a casual apparel store for men. This was probably his best and the only option, so he walked inside. The first thing he did was scan through all of the tops. No sweaters here. "Maybe they're by the jackets," Peter said to himself. Jackets and coats were on another side of the store, so he walked over to where they were hung. To no surprise, there they were. That was the first check off his list. Now all he had to do was find one in green. No luck on the first rack, the second one either. Fortunately, the third rack had some. Another check off his list. Now he just had to find the right size. He remembered that Russell wore an XL. He only knew that because they were on a date one day, and they got caught in the rain. Russell took off his shirt and draped it over Peter to keep him dry since he was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt. Thinking about that made him blush a little because Russell was getting completely soaked and he couldn’t stop looking at Russell as water dripped off of him. They had fun drying each other off back at his house though. Peter shook his head to regain focus on what he was doing. He skimmed through a few of the sizes before he came across the right one. Before unhooking it from the rack, he checked the price tag. He had a bunch of cash left since the art supplies were pretty cheap, but he didn't want this sweater to go over his budget. He flipped the tag and looked at the price. Only $20. Perfect. Right on budget. He traveled to the checkout counter, purchased it, and left the store. He now had everything that he needed. 

Now he just had to head back to the food court and wait for his mom. He didn't know where it was at, though. Coincidentally, there was a map of the mall a bit farther down from where he was standing. The blue dot on the screen indicated where he was now. The food court was on the second floor, so he didn't have to walk too far. All he had to do was go straight from here, and he'd be there in no time. He must've got there before her because she was nowhere to be found. There wasn't a big crowd, so if she was here, he would've spotted her almost immediately. She was probably still shopping. He then heard a weird gurgling noise. It was his stomach. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten anything all day. Might as well get something before his stomach eats at itself. Peter used the remainder of his money to buy himself a slice of pepperoni pizza. He found a seat, placed his bags next to him, and ate while he waited for his mom to show up. Five minutes passed as Peter watched the corner, waiting for her to pop up. His wait was shortly over because she finally arrived. And she was holding some bags. A lot of bags. Too many bags. She looked around for a second before she spotted him. "Oh, there you are!" She began to approach him, and with every step, he could just feel his arms began to give out. "Looks like you beat me here, huh?" she inquired as she set her bags next to his. "Yeah. I didn't know how long it was gonna be before you showed up, so I got lunch." "Oh, that's right. You didn't eat anything this morning, did you? I knew we should've picked something up before we got here." "It's fine, mom. All that walking made me hungry. I was fine earlier." She rested her cheek on her palm and gave him a worried pout, but soon replaced it with a soft, closed-lip smile and pet his head, flattening his beanie. "Well, if you say so, Gummiworm. Well, It's time to go, so grab a couple of bags to help carry to the car." Peter carried six bags, three for each arm, including his two bags. His mom took six as well. They pushed open the doors and were hit with the cool winter air. It was lightly snowing as well, and as they walked, snowflakes landed in and on the bags. Some, melting instantly and others coating the items in a fine layer of frosty powder. His mom pressed some buttons on her key that unlocked the trunk and the doors. They stored the bags into the semi-full trunk of wrapping paper and boxes and hopped into the car. Their house was a 20-minute drive from the mall, so it wouldn't take them long to get home.

At last, they were finally at home. His mom backed into the driveway and parked the car. Unlocking the trunk again, they grabbed the bags, wrapping paper, and boxes and carried them to the door. Fishing the key out of her back pocket, she unlocked the door and turned the knob. "Honey, we're back!" she called out to the person in the house. They walked in and placed all the items on the living room carpet and couches. A moment later, there was a sound of footsteps coming down the wood stairs. "I see you guys went shopping today." said the familiar voice. Peter knew that voice. "Dad?" Peter questioned, looking up from the bags. "Hey, Kowboy!" Peter ran to him, soon binding him in a tight hug. "I've missed ya, bud" "I did too." After a hug that seemed to go on forever, he freed him from his grasp. "You still haven't changed since yet?" His mom complained as she grabbed his mix-matched pajamas. "I don't see why I have to. The only people who are going to see me are you guys and the rest of the family," he stated. "Jeremy," her tone now more serious. "Alright, I'll go change. But I'm only changing the shirt." "That's fine," she said and she pecked him on the cheek. He hiked up the stairs to their bedroom to find a presentable shirt to wear. "Peter, honey, could you help me wrap these presents? I wanna get this done before the rest of the family get here." she requested. "Sure." He hung up his jacket and kicked off his shoes, then walked to the couches. Peter already separated his bags from the others so his mom wouldn't accidentally wrap his stuff. They wrapped the various gifts one by one. Cutting and taping the assorted wrapping paper around cardboard boxes. Labeling who they're for and from. They finished in an hour. "That appears to be all the presen-" she paused when she saw Peter's bags still on the couch. "Must've skipped over these." She reached to grab them but was interrupted when Peter snagged them away. "Ah- ma, you can’t wrap these," he explained. She raised an eyebrow, "And why not? You hidin' something from me?" she teased. "Uh- no. It's just I have to make it first; that's all." "Oh alright, hon. I still got more stuff to do, but I'll make your dad help me. You can go on upstairs and make your gift." Peter grabbed a box and a ribbon then walked up to his bedroom.

He turned the knob and opened the door. The room looked the same as the day he left. His bed was still neatly made. His figurines and trinkets on his desk were where he left them. He plopped down on his bed, dumped out all of the craft supplies, and took out the sweater. He spread it out across his bed and tore open all the supplies, separating them into individual piles. Grabbing a Sharpie and a pair of scissors off his desk, he outlined the letter "P" in the pink felt and the letter "R" in the white then carefully cut them out. He set them in the middle of the sweater. Next up, tinsel. There was so much of it, but he managed to form it into a heart. He snipped off the excess and put it away. He took a red, medium-sized heart button and placed it right between the P and the R that made a message that reads "P heart R," which meant "Peter loves Russell." Lastly, he picked out a handful of tinier buttons and randomly distributed them on the green, wooly fabric. Now that he had his design planned out, all he had to do was make it stay there permanently. First, he super glued the tinsel, careful not to get any on his fingers or anywhere else on the sweater. Then he took out the white and pink spools of thread and the needles and threaded them. Peter was pretty skilled at sewing. Whenever he went to his aunt's, she would teach him how to sew. Sometimes he would fix a button or sew a hole close on an old pair of jeans or shirt. He even took a sewing class in the summer. He started with the tricky part, which was the letters, and the buttons last since all he had to do was crisscross the thread in the holes. After he was finished, he held up the sweater and admired his work. Picturing Russell wearing it made him smile so wide that it stretched ear to ear. Peter folded it up and neatly placed it into the purple box, then closed it. He took the green ribbon and tied it into a neat bow. He carried the to his desk, then walked downstairs to the kitchen. His parents were busy putting the presents under the tree and hanging up some extra ornaments. "You finished your present?" his mom asked while she tiptoed to hang a sparkly red and gray ornament on one of the tree branches. "Yeah. I just need to get it to them before Christmas." "Okay, I'll take you tomorrow. Where do they live?" "Old Bullworth Vale, back by the school." "I'll take you at some time around 10, so be ready by then, alright." "Alright," Peter responded. Not even a second later, there was a ring from the doorbell.

"That must be them. I'll get it." His mom skipped over the presents and rushed to the door. When she opened the door, she was greeted by his aunt and twin cousins. "Lily!" his aunt squealed. "Amber!" his mom squealed back. They hugged each other as if they hadn't seen one another in ages. "It's great to see you again. Where's Daryll?" "Oh, he's getting the bags out of the car. He'll be here in a bit." "Why don't you guys come inside then. It's freezing out there." They stepped inside and hung up their jackets and scarves. His cousins noticed him first. "Pepper!" [A/N: They call him "Pepper" because they're both like 4, and they can't really pronounce "Peter" or "Petey". i'm not gonna nickname him "PeePee" lol(i was low-key tempted to tho👀). even tho that would be more appropriate for their age. also, a little fun fact: they're actually twins] They both raced up to him and clutched onto his legs, almost causing him to lose his balance. "W-Woah! Hey guys." His aunt noticed him next due to the noise they made, "Polar bear!" She walked over and hugged him while planting a kiss on his cheek, leaving a red lipstick stain. "You've grown so much! The last time I've seen you, you were this small." She raised her hand to her midthigh to symbolize his past height. He wondered if it had actually been that long since he had last seen her. "What, am I invisible now?" his dad's voice piped up. "Oh-I didn't even notice you, Jeremy. You were hidden by the tree." "Well, now I know I'd win a game of hide-'n-seek." Eventually, his uncle paraded in, multiple bags in hand. "Need a little help here." "Ay, Daryll! Hang on, I'll help ya." His dad walked from behind the tree and rushed to help with the extra luggage. The adults separated and left Peter alone with his cousins. His mom and aunt were in the kitchen and his dad and uncle downstairs in the guest room. The chaos had now started. His first day home consisted of him playing a long game of tag with his cousins with him being 'it' the whole time. Making sure they didn't get hurt or into any trouble. This went on until the sun went down, and the little ones got tired of hearing their own footsteps. He called his aunt upstairs to collect them, for as they were growing sleepy, and she took them to get ready for bed. Peter was so tuckered out that as soon as his head hit the pillow, he blacked out. He didn't even get to change out of his clothes.

It had to be a quarter before 10 when Peter was rudely interrupted from his sleep by his cousins jumping around him on his bed. "Pepper! Pepper! Wake up!" the two shouted. He gradually raised his head off the pillows. His eyes still practically closed. His cousins climbed off the bed giggling and ran towards his mom, who was standing at the door. "They woke up early today, so they helped me wake you up." Peter responded with a short grunt as if to say, 'Oh.' "It's almost 10:00, so you should start getting ready. I'll be downstairs." she instructed. She picked up one of his cousins and went downstairs. Peter moved his legs off the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He got up, walked into the hallway, and grabbed a pale-yellow towel out of the linen closet. Walking into the bathroom, he turned the faucet and waited for the water to warm up. When the water was at the right temperature, he removed his clothes and hopped in the shower. After, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He collected his clothes off the tiled floor and walked back to his room, shutting the door behind him. The twins had him so tired out last night that he wasn't even able to pick out an outfit beforehand. He decided he would go for a simple look today. Peter opened his closet and took a look at his wardrobe. He grabbed a white dress shirt, a navy blue sweater with a gold stripe near the collar, and a pair of beige dress pants. He finished the look with a pair of long white socks and black and white canvas sneakers. After getting dressed, he grabbed Russell's present off the desk and stuffed it under his arm. He left his room and walked downstairs. His mom was waiting in the living room reading a fashion magazine, his aunt busy in the kitchen feeding the kids breakfast. His dad and uncle, surprisingly, weren't here. "Hey, mom, I'm ready," he called out. "Alrighty!" She closed the magazine and laid it on the coffee table beside her.  She got up from the couch, and they both went to grab their coats from the rack by the door. His mom reached for the doorknob to leave, but as if on cue, they were immediately stopped by his aunt. "Ah- before you guys go, Polar bear, I have something to give you." She walked to the guest room to retrieve whatever it was she had. She came back a few seconds later, holding a pair of brown mittens with white snowflakes decorated on them. "Here! Consider it an early Christmas present~." She said as she handed them to him. "Oh, thanks," Peter replied, slipping them onto each hand. His mom opened the door, and they headed out to the car.

Kids were darting left and right, frantically trying to avoid the person that was coming their way. Cheerful conversations were replaced with gasps and footsteps tapping against the floor. It was Russell and he was heading straight towards Peter's locker. His head hung low, his face dull and ominous. His power-walk made him look even more threatening. It wouldn't take him long to get there. "... and make sure to be prepared the day before the due date. We don't-" Derby was cut short after he took a glance up from his hand, seeing Russell storming towards them. He quickly fled into the bathroom that was close to the lockers.

Peter, on the other hand, was still rummaging through his locker. He was looking for his book for the project. He could have sworn he had put it on the top shelf. He had already toned out Derby earlier, which was for him, but it was a little too quiet. "Sorry, what were you saying?" Peter asked as he closed his locker, pretending as if he was listening. He'd imagined Derby would be standing there with his arms crossed with an impatient look on his face. Strange enough, he had completely disappeared. "Derby...?" Peter called out while he looking around, but no response. He just shrugged it off; more time to work then. He decided to use a copy online until he can find his.

He turned from his locker and was greeted by Russell looming over him. His tan skin slowly faded into a sickly white as he locked eyes with the taller and significantly larger pupil. His face was red, and his eyebrows were burrowed. Was he mad? But why at him? He greeted him nervously, "Uh...h-hey Russell," his voice small and shaky. Russell suddenly slammed his giant hand against Peter's locker, trapping the petite boy in between himself and it. The noise of the metal clashing together made Peter jolt and hiccup a gasp. There were so many thoughts were racing through his head. 'What is happening?' 'Did I do something wrong?' ‘Is he going to shove me in the locker?' ‘What does he want from me?’ Russell had begun to raise his tightly balled fist. Peter just flinched beneath him and waited for whatever was to come. A minute passed before he realized that he was still in one piece and wasn't smooshed into someone's messy locker. Peter slowly opened his right eye to see if it was just some prank to scare him. Well, that's what he hoped. To his surprise, he saw a little, white, wrinkled envelope resting in Russell's large palm. "For...Petey," Russell said, who was now looking away from the smaller boy, his face slightly flushed. Peter carefully took the envelope out of his hand. "Ah- t-thank you," he said, with a fearful grin. Russell removed his hand from the rusty green locker and shoved them into his dirty, jean pockets then walked away from Peter, leaving him lost for words.

Peter watched as Russell walked away until he disappeared behind the hallway walls. After grasping what had just happened, he slammed his body into the locker and slid down to the tiled floor. A sigh of relief escaping his lungs. He looked at the envelope in his hand He turned it around in his hand. 'What could be in this?' he thought as he studied the envelope. Knowing Russell, surprises from him either left you injured or eternally traumatized. "Is he gone?" asked a voice coming from the right of him. He turned his head towards the bathroom to discover the once obnoxious and over-confident prep cowering behind the boys' restroom wall. It was kind of funny. He couldn't blame him, but still. "Yeah," Peter answered back. He was trying to hold back laughter. "Good. Speak of this to anyone, and I'll have daddy sue you." Derby threatened while he brushed off his Aquaberry vest and recomposed himself. Peter quickly cleared his throat and put on a straight face. “Well, now that that's over, I'll be seeing you tomorrow in English, so be prepared.” He then proceeded to walk down the hall towards the main doors. Peter decided it was his time to leave as well and because he was getting sore from sitting on the hard floor for so long. He pushed himself up and headed for the boys' dorm.

When Peter entered the dorm, it was quieter than usual. It was practically empty. Well, it would be if Gary and Jimmy weren't sitting on the couch watching some cartoon on the tv that he didn't care to recognize. ‘Just great…’, he thought. If they spotted or heard him, especially Gary, they'd probably hassle him about the letter. He had to figure out a way to get past them quietly. Then it came to him. As ridiculous, and probably unsanitary, as it was, he got down on all fours and started crawling to his room. Since he was small enough, it would be easier for him to sneak past. Successfully making it past the entrance to the living area, he now had to make the final stretch. As soon as he was far enough from the doors, he tiptoed the rest of the way to his room. When he got to the door, he slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door wide enough so that he could quickly slip in. He slid through and gently closed the door.

The duo continued watching tv in the living room, but Peter's plan didn't necessarily go as planned. Unfortunately, the main doors weren't as quiet as he was. "He does know that we heard him come through the front door, right?" Gary asked before taking another sip of Beam Cola. "Just let him have his fun," Jimmy replied, still focused on the tv. There was a moment of silence until Gary placed the can on the floor next to him and leaped over their couch, "I'm gonna see what he's doing," Gary said. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and headed towards Peter's room. Jimmy sighed, then t switched off the tv.

Safe and sound he hoped. Peter plopped straight onto his bed. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the envelope. He examined it a bit closer than when he was in the school halls. It was sealed with a barely sticky, small, pink heart sticker, and on the back was a note that read 'For Peter' written in three different shades of red in colored pencils. He lifted the sticker from the paper and pulled out the neatly folded piece of notebook paper stored inside. But before he could even read it, it was snatched out of his hands. "What'cha got here, femme boy? A love letter? Let me guess... it's for Beatrice, isn't it?" Gary teased, "Or wait, maybe it's for one of the jocks. I know how much you love to watch them during football practice in those tight pants." Gary pestered, causing Peter's face to go red. He didn't even hear him come in. He knew he should've locked the door! He had to get that letter back before he read it. "Hey, give that back!" he cried, stretching his arms up to grab the piece of paper Gary was taunting him with but was failing to reach it. "And it's not mine; someone gave it to me," Peter explained, still stretching for the paper. He knew he shouldn't have said that, knowing it would only make this worst. "Ooh~, a secret admirer, huh~?" asked Gary, seeming even more interested, "It can't be any of the girls. Hm...maybe one of the nerds or, better yet, one of those idiotic bullies! That seems right up your alley." Gary insulted. A sly, toothy smirk painting his face. Peter had stopped reaching for the paper bowed his head, tightly balling his fists up in his lap, almost digging his nails into his palms. His vision became blurry, and his face was hot.

"Cut it out already, would ya? Geez." Jimmy instructed while propped up on the door frame, his arms folded. "What? I was just playing around," Gary shrugged. Peter quickly snatched the paper out of Gary's hand, secretly wishing it would have given him a paper cut. "You're such a jerk, you know that?" Peter snapped back, clearing his watery eyes. "Aw~ did I hwurt da baby's feewlings? Here let me kiss it better." He extended his arms, attempting to hug the smaller boy but was restricted by a hand pushing on his chest. "Shut up..." Peter responded irritated, dodging eye contact.

"Well, when you two are done making out, I would like to know what's going on here," Jimmy said impatiently. "Little Petey here got a love letter," Gary said, pushing himself away from Peter. Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "A love letter? From who?" This was the part that Peter didn't want to happen. He knew if they found out, they'd probably, no DEFINITELY, laugh at him. Especially Gary. That's why he wanted to get to his room unnoticed. But he couldn't just sit there in silence, wishing he could turn back the time. He took a deep breath and spoke, "...it's…from Russell..." the boy softly answered.

"Russell?!" the duo exclaimed, jaws practically dropping to the ground. "So I was right! Haha, that's hilarious!" Gary laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. Jimmy elbowed him in the arm, almost causing Gary to fall. The taller boy glared back at Jimmy while rubbing his arm. "What does the letter say?" Jimmy asked. Peter uncrumpled the paper from when he snatched it out of Gary's hands so that he could read it. The handwriting was really neat, but the grammar was close to illegible. He tried his best to decode the message. "Meet Russell at...Old Bullworth Vale Garden tomorrow... at 4:00 pm." ‘4:00?’ 'What does he want to meet up for?' Peter thought about the incident that went down at the lockers and it sent shivers down his spine thinking about it.

"Ooo~ little Petey's going on his first date." "Would you cut it out already?" Petey shot back. He was growing tired of Gary's little comments. That combined with the thoughts of Russell potentially trapping him a port-a-potty only gave him a headache, and Gary wasn't making it any better. "Could you guys just go…please?" He said while rubbing his forehead. This was stressing him out. The two said their goodbyes and left Peter to drown in his thoughts. He could hear them arguing outside his door, but he wasn't paying much attention. He was still thinking about the note. He laid down on his bed and stared up at the broken ceiling fan. He thought to himself, 'Why did I read it?' 'What if I just threw it away? Then what?'. Peter didn't have time to worry about the ‘what-ifs’. He had a project to do. He groaned and rolled out of his bed. Sitting at his desk, he opened up his laptop and began working. Hoping that this would keep his mind off of it.

It was the next day at school. The day was nearly over, and Peter felt as though he had made no progress at all. All his day his mind was fogged up with recurring thoughts. His thoughts had shortly came to a stop because a faint voice was coming into tune through his right ear "…ey. Hey! Snap out of it!" It was Derby who was snapping his fingers, trying to pull the dazed boy out of his trance. "Hm? Oh, sorry, I got a little distracted..." Peter explained. "A little?! You've been "distracted" almost during the entire class! This is the third time I had to wake you back up!" Derby responded sharply. "I said I was sorry, alright? I just have a lot on my mind right now..." Peter explained. “Ha! What exactly could poor people even think about? Now is not the time for jokes, Kowalski.” Peter stared him down, now even more annoyed. He wished he was daydreaming again. Derby rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever, let's just get back to work," Derby instructed. They continued to work on their separate slides, Peter trying his best to keep his head out of the clouds.

*RING* The sound of the last school bell. To Peter, it sounded like the final gong before disaster struck. He stopped by his locker to put his stuff away before heading to the dorm. When he got to the dorm he headed straight to his room. He entered his room and sat on his bed. He sat there for a while. He scanned the wall in front of him until his eyes landed on the clock. A couple more minutes until it was time to meet up with Russell. He stood up and walked to the mirror behind the bed. He stared at his reflection. He looked drowsy. He hardly got any sleep last night. It was because of the note. That stupid note kept him in and out of sleep. Even when he was doing his work, that couldn't take his mind off of it either. And this was all because of a piece of paper. More so the person who wrote on that flimsy piece of paper. He slapped his face a bit to wake him up a bit and bring the color back to it. He contemplated whether he should change his clothes or not, but he decided that was unnecessary. It's not like he was going on a date or anything, despite what Gary said, so he just took off his vest and fixed up his shirt collar. He looked back at the clock. It was about time. He looked in the mirror and gave himself a reassuring nod. He headed out his room and straight to Old Bullworth Vale Garden. At least he would've been if he didn't have an unexpected visitor.

Gary was standing in front of him, his hand raised to knock on the door. Great, another person he didn't want to see today. They stared at each other for a while. “Look. I have somewhere to be, so if you have something important to say, hurry up.” the smaller boy explained. “Rushing to see your new boyfriend, huh?” Gary teased. Unsurprisingly, he only came to annoy him. Peter tried to walk past him, but Gary quickly blocked his path again. Peter sighed, “What?” he asked impatiently. “Look, I'm sorry, ok. For yesterday.” “You really think I'd fall for that? I know Jimmy told you to do this.” “Well, yeah. But if I didn't, then you'd ignore me for the rest of the week. Then teasing you won't be as fun. So…apology accepted?” Gary asked with a crooked smile. Peter shook his head. “I'll think about it.” He responded firmly. He pushed past Gary and continued on his way.

Well, here he was. No turning back now. He scanned the park looking for Russell, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Fortunately, he brought the note with him. Peter pulled the note out of his back pocket and unfolded it. He re-read it to see if there were any directions. Nothing on the front. He flipped it over to the backside. In blue-colored pencil was a message in the middle of the paper that read: 'Meet by soda machine' He stuffed the paper back into his pocket and treaded up the long stone path. When he reached the stone wall before the picnic area, he paused for a bit. There he was. He was sitting on the far left of the stone bench, staring out into the distance. He puffed out his chest then walked over to him. "Hey, Russell!" Peter greeted with a tiny wave, trying not to sound scared. Russell spun his head around and directed his vision to the smiling boy. Hi, Petey..." the red-head replied meekly, his cheeks a little flushed. "Mind if I sit here?" Peter asked, pointing at the vacant spot on the bench. Russell shook his head which allowed Peter to pop-a-squat right next to him.

"Sooo, what did you want to talk about?" Peter asked. Russell was nervously twiddling his thumbs, avoiding eye contact with the smaller boy. He never felt this anxious about someone, especially someone who he deemed as weaker than him. And that was nearly everyone! But for some reason, Peter was different. "Well...," he started, slowly, "Russell has been feeling weird. Towards you…" "Weird? What do you mean?" Peter asked curiously. "Whenever I see you...Russell get a weird feeling in my stomach, and heart goes fast," he answered. He could feel his cheeks getting hotter. It took Peter a while to realize what he meant. When he did, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait, are you saying that you like me?" Russell nodded, his cheeks becoming darker by the second. "For how long?" "A while," Russell responded shyly. Peter was still shocked about the unexpected confession. He didn't know whether to feel relieved that Russell wasn't going to make him walk home smelling like the boys' gym locker room or surprised that Russell had admired him.

He never considered Russell to be his type, not that he had one, but he's pretty sure not many people's types are destructive bullies. But he had to admit when Russell wasn't threatening other students for their lunch money, he was kind of… cute, when he was like this, in one way or another. That's one thing he never thought he would think about Russell."It's okay if you don't like-" Russell began before being cut off by Peter, "N-no, it's fine. I don't mind..." he said while rubbing the back of his neck. A little splash of maroon now tinting his cheeks. Russell was surprised by the response a bit, but it shortly turned into a soft smile.

It was starting to get late, and Peter didn't want one of the prefects reporting him for being out after curfew to Dr. Crabblesnitch. "Well, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I should be getting back to the dorms." He explained. "Russell give you ride back," Russell offered. Thinking about it now, Peter didn't have any way to get back to the dorms, and he didn't like walking around at night. "Oh, okay. Thanks." Peter followed behind Russell towards the entrance gates to retrieve his bike. He stepped onto the spokes and tightly wrapped his arms around the bigger boy's waist. "Ready?" Russell asked. "Yeah," Peter replied. Russell raised his foot off the ground and started pedaling.

Russell was biking slowly just in case he went over any bumps, Peter wouldn't go flying off. The smaller boy was resting his head on his back and his arms wrapped around him gave his butterflies in his stomach, but the good kind. Peter was able to take in the scenery from the beach. The sunset made the town look so peaceful, especially the beach. With little speckles of the sunlight bouncing off the water, it was as if the sea were a peach that contained all of outer space. The scent of Russell's cologne and the view made Peter feel calm. He involuntarily nestled himself closer into his back which caused the redhead's heart to beat faster it could nearly pop out of his chest. He smiled to himself as he continued pedaling towards the school purposely going a bit slower so that the moment would last longer.

They arrived back at the school not long after. Russell parked his bike near the first step of the boys' dorm. Walking up the stairs, Peter stopped at the highest step and Russell two steps behind him so that they were at eye level. Or at least where Peter wasn't bending his neck to see not even half of his face. “Thanks for giving me a ride back.” the tiny boy praised with a gentle smile. “You're welcome," Russell replied sheepishly, blushing. There was small silence between them. The whooshing of the lukewarm early autumn wind filling in for some of the white noise. Before anyone could say anything to break it, Russell planted a little peck on Peter's forehead before walking back down the stairs to his bike. Russell waved back at Peter before getting on his bike and hitching it back home. Peter watched as Russell rode out to the courtyard as they waved at each other. When he was completely out of sight, he slightly touched his forehead and smiled to himself before entering the boys' dorm.

As soon as he got to his room, he fell onto his bed. He took one of his pillows and covered his blushed face in case someone walked in him. Little giggles passing through the pillowcase. He rolled around joyfully, completely messing up his bedsheets. The excitement letting loose throughout his body. He finally had calmed down after a session of frolicking all over his bed. He had almost forgotten to finish the rest of his slides. Now that his mind wasn't as cluttered as before, it would be easier for him to work. But considering what had just happened, he'd probably be distracted thinking about that now. He headed to his desk so he could get started, but before he even sat down, he noticed a book on top of his laptop. There was a piece of paper attached to it with clear tape. He picked it up and sat at his desk chair. Pulling the paper off revealed the cover of the book. Romeo and Juliet. He took a look at the note the was stuck to it. It read:

['Hey femme boy. I stole your girly book. I realized that I didn't want any of your girliness or any of you rubbing off on me, so I decided to return it. Be grateful.'

Sincerely,

You're BFF Gary Smith ;) ]

'So that's where it was huh?' Peter thought. He tongued the inside of his cheek before releasing a slightly annoyed laugh. At least he got his book back. That's all that really mattered. He'll get him back later, but for now, he had work to do. He flipped open his laptop and continued his previous work.

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