Of Thieves And Do Gooders

An eating contest didn't sound like it was in my best interest...and yet at that moment I was up for the challenge. I smiled back at Leon,

"Bring it on, I can probably eat three times as much as you," I scoffed haughtily. That’s what boys did right? Egged each other on with comments that were only slightly true?

Leon grinned, an excited glint in his eyes. "Ohhh, them's fightin' words!" he exclaimed accentuating a sudden hillbilly accent, glancing at Hayden he asked, "How 'bout you Hayden? You in?"

Hayden snorted, "No thanks, you can gain twenty pounds before Agility Class, it'll be funny watching you try to sneak around while cracking the floor boards," he commented with a short laugh.

Leon continued smiling. "Humph, what can I say? I love to eat." He turned to me and tapped my arm in a friendly gesture and then said, "Guess it's just you and me, eh?" Leon turned back to Hayden quickly and proposed, "Looks like you'll be the judge then."

Hayden didn't reply, he just nodded instead, pausing in front of a large oak door he pointed to it. "This is the Dining Room," he stated flatly.

I cocked my head to the side, "I thought you said the Café had its own building?"

"It does, but this," Leon gestured to the door, "is the Dining Room, there’s a difference. Every student attending Shadowstep Academy eats dinner together, it's required by the Headmaster. In case he has any announcements, everyone's in one room to hear it," Leon explained, turning the doorknob, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, shortly followed by Hayden, and then me.

The moment the door opened, sound filtered out like a raging river. I nearly flinched as I entered the room. For a school full of thieves they were incredibly loud.

The room was beyond huge. Imagine a football field and then lay one more of them along side it, then you've got about the right size. There were tables in neat lines horizontal from one side of the room to the other. And every table had hundreds of benches and every single table was filled with students. There was a stage on the opposite side of the room, with a large desk upon it, and at that desk sat Headmaster Wilkins and on one side of him was a younger man--maybe in his early thirties--and on the other side of him was a younger woman, about the same age as the man.

Hayden and Leon began walking to a table to sit down and I quickly followed, realizing that Damion was already seated and waving frantically in our direction. I sat next to Leon, and Hayden sat on the other side of him, while on my other side was Damion.

"Hey, way to barely make it in time, you know how the Headmaster is," Damion scoffed, hitting my shoulder lightly. I twitched inwardly.

That hurt! Obviously it was a guy's tradition to abuse one another. I kept that in mind with a slight grimace. I was going to have to toughen up if I was going to be around these meat heads for so long.

I smiled back at Damion, then roughly punched him in the arm, "What can I say? I'm a buzzer beater."

Damion smiled and then looked past me to Leon, "Trying to make the new guy late already Lee?" he asked jokingly.

Leon grinned sheepishly. "You know it."

There was a ringing throughout the room and within instants the room fell completely silent. I looked from left to right, and everyone was looking up in the direction of the Headmaster. Quickly, I followed suit, watching the Headmaster intently as he stood from his seat.

"Thank you," he began, clearing his throat he continued, "as some of you may have noticed already, we have acquired three new students to Shadowstep Academy." Headmaster Wilkins began to skim the crowd and then paused, "Ah, there you are, Troy Velen, please stand." He made an upward motion.

A young man stood up hesitantly and stiffly remained so, glancing with nervous eyes in the direction of the Headmaster.

"Everyone, please give Troy a warm welcome." Headmaster Wilkins ordered kindly, clapping his hands together, leading to a round of applause from every student in the room. When the applause slowly died away the Headmaster searched across the sea of students once again. Troy Velen gratefully took his seat again, a look of relief engulfing his features. I felt a ball drop in my stomach and I sunk down slightly, hoping the Headmaster wouldn't see me.

Instead, Headmaster Wilkins said, "Laura Harding, please stand so everyone can see you." He made an upward motion, and a young woman stood up from only one table over, surrounded currently by several girls, who began the applauding even before the Headmaster ordered to do so. Laura nodded her head shyly and quickly sat down again, her cheeks a small shade of red.

I heard Leon whistle beside me and I turned to look at him curiously. "Check out the new hottie." He smiled nudging my side with his elbow. I squirmed away from the contact instinctually, but took note of his words.

I peered over Damion's shoulder, catching a better look at the girl, since I hadn't been looking for a so-called "hottie". Laura had a delicate face, with a stubborn chin with a small button nose. Her hair was curled and long, as well as an auburn color that would apparently catch any boys' attention. Her eyes were a darker brown, blending strangely well with her auburn hair. Indeed she was pretty, or in this case a "hottie".

Damion nudged my other side, "I saw that Raymond, already checking her out huh?"

I felt my face distort, knowing my sexuality quite well, I knew I wasn't "checking her out". Then again, if I was going to pretend to be "Raymond Frost", then I guess I kind of had to pull a gender bender. Quickly, I reestablished my normal facial features and smirked slightly. "Hey, not like you weren't doing the same," I pointed out to Damion.

Leon laughed a little. "He got you there Damion," he admitted and Damion reached over me to slap him in the back of the head.

"Shut up, man," Damion grumbled, swatting Leon’s hand away and poking his fork at a lump of mashed potatoes on his plate.

My attention was pulled back to the Headmaster again as he waved a hand for silence across the muttering of the room. "And the last student..." He began to skim the room and my nerves got the best of me, I slid very quietly and carefully beneath the table, without Leon, Damion or even Hayden noticing. Once down there, I crawled on my hands and knees between each row of benches as quietly as possible, heading in the general direction of the exit.

"Raymond? Raymond Frost? Are you here?" Headmaster Wilkins called over the crowd and I heard Leon mutter, "Raymond, that's you--What the?"

Moving more swiftly I skittered along the floor, closer to the door than before. However, before I could reach the other end of the table, something caught my foot. My breathing paused shortly, and I turned my head curiously, to see a hand wrapped around my ankle.

What in the hell...?

Before I could even react to the strange hand, another arm shot underneath the table and caught my other ankle, causing me to yelp. Next thing I knew, I was yanked out from under the table and into the middle of the Dinning Room hallway. I felt my face redden slightly, as Hayden pulled me to my feet by my shoulders, "Here he is," he stated with a large grin on his face, looking very smug and proud of himself. The ass hole.

There was an awkward silence that practically screamed: "What the hell was he doing under the table?" Then, from Damion and Leon came the beginning of clapping and a barrage of whoops from Leon. The rest of the room fell in sync and began to clap, while Hayden led me back to the seat I had escaped from.

After I sat down Leon whispered as the Headmaster continued with other announcements, "That was pretty slick dude, but where were you going?"

"Away from the spotlight," I muttered in return, turning my eyes to the plate full of food sitting in front of me, When had they served food? Probably some time after I had decided to attempt and fail at hiding under the table.

Leon chuckled and shook his head, turning his attention back to the Headmaster. I did the same, suddenly paying attention.

"...Mrs. Lilany will be teaching Agility class tomorrow morning for Juniors and Seniors, so I will pass the speaking to her for the moment." Headmaster Wilkins sat down as a round of applause invited the woman to rise and then call for silence.

Mrs. Lilany was an older woman, probably in her mid-thirties, with blonde hair that was shoulder length and wavy, not exactly straight and not quite curly. She had green eyes and a pointed, derisive nose, while her mouth was a thin line, demanding obedience. I could tell already that learning from this woman would blow--for a lack of a better term.

"Thank you Headmaster," she began, "students, I urge you to eat lightly tonight, if you wish to pass the exam tomorrow. Also, class will begin at five in the morning so, get to sleep early tonight if you wish to be on time. And if you are late, you will automatically fail the exam." Mrs. Lilany nodded her head in finality and sat down again.

"Thank you Mrs. Lilany," Headmaster Wilkins remained seated and gestured to the man on his other side, "Mr. Jager." He waved for him to stand.

Mr. Jager stood up and skimmed across the room, "Tomorrow after Agility class Juniors and Seniors will meet at the dock to run through scuba diving training." He smiled glancing in the general direction of the other two new students and myself, "The three newest students, your gear has already been sent to your rooms, so no need to freak out." He sat down again. "And that's it." Mr. Jager waved for the Headmaster to speak again.

Mr. Jager was younger than Mrs. Lilany, and by far much nicer or at least he seemed more pleasant to be around. He had short cut black hair, that was spiked upward with gel and hazel, almond shaped eyes. His head was more oval shaped than most but not noticeably so, and the small soul patch on his chin was an odd shade of neon green, obviously dyed.

The Headmaster didn't bother to stand again but instead made a shooing motion in the direction of the students. "Go ahead and eat. That will be all."

Instantly the noise erupted in the room again as everyone began to talk at once. This startled me, but only slightly. Then, on my right, Leon tapped my shoulder and I turned to listen to him. "Well, let's get this eating contest started!" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Leon turned to Hayden, who was slowly eating everything on his plate. "You paying attention?" he asked and Hayden quickly nodded, setting down his fork.

I soon realized there was a good-sized plate in the middle of the table, in fact there were several large plates in the middle of the table, holding several types of food, from mashed potatoes to steak, to green beans.

Leon set his fork next to his plate and let his hands hover over the plate. We were doing this without forks? Quickly I did the same, smiling widely, although I was a bit skeptical, since it seemed Leon had had several eating contests in his lifetime, whereas I had had none.

On the other side of me Damion began counting down, "Okay...three," he dropped one finger out of three, "two," he dropped another finger, "one," he let his last finger drop and then practically shouted, "GO!"

I was shocked a bit at the ferocity Leon began eating, stuffing anything in his reach into his mouth. It was no wonder he moved his fork, I think if it was nearby he would've eaten that too. I hastily began putting things into my mouth as well, smearing mashed potatoes and corn all over my face. But I didn't care, for the moment I felt adrenaline and excitement rushing through my veins, I was determined to win this damn competition against a guy I had barely met.

Three minutes passed and, I vaguely realized there was cheering around the table...then the table next to ours...then the table on our other side...then a table next to that one...holy crap. The entire room was encouraging our eating contest. I was a little embarrassed at first, but then Hayden shouted over the cheering, "Looks like Leon's winning!"

Quickly, I began stuffing food back into my mouth, smearing even more food on my face, although without much notice. On the other hand, Leon had somehow gotten food in his hair and plenty of it on his shirt.

A few more minutes passed and Hayden whistled loudly beside Leon, immediately, Leon stopped eating and began to chew what was in his mouth at the time. I did the same, my hands hovering over my plate so I did drop food everywhere.

Hayden stood up, facing the rest of the students, "So what do you think?" He put his hand on Leon's head, "Did Lee win?" An immense amount of cheers filled the room, followed by clapping and even more whooping. Hayden transferred his hand to my head, "Or the new guy, Raymond?" Even more cheers and clapping, but it was more out of excitement rather than actually choosing someone who would be the winner.

Hayden looked to be in contemplation, then he snapped his fingers, "And the winner is..." silence fell suddenly as everyone listened. "…Leon!!!" He shouted and the rest of the students went crazy, clapping and whooping so much, I wondered if the Headmaster would tell them to shut up. But, much to my surprise the Headmaster and the two teachers were gone.

Hmm...Unsupervised dinner...I like it! I thought with a lopsided grin. Better than lunch time at any other school, which usually had yard narks running around surveying the students.

I grabbed a napkin and wiped off my hands quickly and patted Leon on the back, "Man, you kicked my ass," I commented with a smile, neglecting to wipe the food off of my face as well.

Leon smiled back, looking ridiculous with the numerous amounts of food on his face, clothes and hair. "You were the first challenge I've had in awhile," he replied punching my arm playfully.

Ouch! My god, these guys don't know their own strength. Next thing I knew, one of them was going to full on punch me in the face and send me flying through a wall.

I flinched very slightly, keeping any notice from reaching me. I laughed and felt Damion nudge my other side. "Nice try man, but Leon hasn't lost an eating contest in seven years!" he shouted over the continued cheering.

I shrugged, I didn't care, all I knew was that, that was the first fun I'd had in awhile.

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After dinner, Hayden, Leon, Damion and me headed back to our dorm rooms. As unlikely as it was, Damion and Leon both shared a room and it just-so-happened to be only three doors down from me and Hayden's room.

"Man that was an awesome dinner," Leon commented, patting his stomach gleefully.

"Dude, you shoveled it down so quick, I'm not even sure you tasted it." Hayden commented with a chuckle.

Leon shrugged, smiling good-naturedly and said, "Hey, I like food whether I inhale it or not." Although Leon was definitely a big eater, it surely didn't show, he looked like he was in pretty good shape, almost thin for his height. Or at least he might have been considered thin if he didn’t have the muscles on his body to say otherwise.

Damion piped in, "Well, since Lilany is starting Hell Week early," he was referring to the five ‘o clock wake up call, "I'm heading to sleep." Damion waved over his shoulder, disappearing into his dorm room.

"Yeah, I guess I should be getting to sleep soon too, Agility isn't exactly my best subject." Leon rolled his eyes, inferring he sucked at agility. "Night Hayden, Night Raymond." He waved over his shoulder and disappeared into his dorm room as well.

Without even a word, Hayden began walking off to our own dorm room, and I quickly followed before he could lock me out or something else along those lines. I don't know why, but Hayden seemed like someone that would do that.

When I closed the door behind me, I turned to see Hayden digging through a small bag on his bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a bitchy tone set to my "guy voice".

"Here." Hayden tossed something at my head, and a barely got my hand up quick enough to catch it.

Suspiciously, I opened my hand to examine whatever he'd thrown at me. My eyes lit up at the sight of my Celtic necklace. Quickly I pulled the string over my head and turned the pendant over in my hand before looking up at Hayden again. "You stole it that night!" I accused, although there wasn't much malice in my voice, since I had gotten it back.

"Yeah," Hayden admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that, you know, I'm a thief, I can't resist jewelry." He paused and then added, "Sorry, I guess I misjudged you a little."

I thought for a moment, then said, "Damn right you did!" Hayden looked up, a little shocked at my reply, "But I guess I might've thought you were a pompous ass at first, so, I guess I misjudged you a little too," I added with a small smile. Quickly I dug into my pocket, pulling out the heart shaped necklace, I tossed it in Hayden's direction.

He frowned, looking curiously in my direction even before looking at what I'd thrown, "Payment," I explained, "for returning my necklace, besides, I think that's worth a bit more than this thing." I gestured to my necklace.

I saw surprise leap onto Hayden's face at the sight of the heart-shaped diamond. "T-this, this is mine!" He said loudly, almost shouting. "Did you steal it?" he asked suspiciously and I stood up taller beneath his heavy gaze.

"No!" I replied indignantly. "I found it on the ground at that old fart's mansion," I scoffed. "Maybe you should be more careful with your stuff," I advised, crossing my arms over my chest.

Hayden snorted, tossing the necklace into the nightstand beside his bed. "Whatever." Was his only reply.

"Isn't that thing kinda girly for you anyway?" I asked mockingly, causing Hayden to glare at me.

"Shut up, it's none of your business," he replied icily, falling onto his bed, he rolled so that his back was facing me.

"Fine, Miss Prissy Britches," I mocked quietly, so Hayden wouldn't hear me.

Man, he's more emotional than me sometimes...and I'm a girl.

"Tch." I wandered to my closet where I grabbed some baggy flannel pajamas and a T-shirt. Next I stalked into the bathroom, locking the door behind me, finally I had time to take a shower.

Once I finished with my shower, I began rummaging through the drawers in the bathroom. After digging through normal bathroom supplies such as fingernail clippers, band-aids, bandages, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and other things I finally found what I was looking for. A pair of scissors, and no, I wasn't going to cut myself.

Using the long mirror hanging over the bathroom sink, I carefully began to cut my already slightly short hair. I didn't want to keep wearing a hat everywhere I went, and tucking my hair up was already getting annoying. I had to improvise on the back when I couldn't see, but other than that, my haircut looked like any other guy's haircut. I wasn't about to spike it or anything, but I was satisfied, feeling more like a guy--freakishly enough--already.

I came out of the bathroom, drying my still sopping wet hair. I tossed the towel in my closet, figuring I'd wash it later. I walked over to the light switch, glancing over where Hayden lay, unmoving. I assumed he was already asleep and flipped off the light. Clumsily, I stumbled over to my own bed, crawling under the covers, I yawned and rolled over to look at the digital clock on the wall. It flashed 9:38 P.M. and I slowly let my eyes drift shut, wondering silently how this school was going to turn out to be.

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I awoke the next morning to an obnoxious someone poking me ferociously in the forehead. I snorted and rolled over, brushing the hand away with a disgruntled, “Lay off ass hole.”

"Hey, get the hell up, you're gonna make us both late," Hayden insisted, suddenly pinching my nose closed so that I couldn't breathe.

I wheezed and sat up quickly, slapping his hand away, "What the hell...?" I asked groggily, shaking my head to wake myself up more.

Hayden stood next to my bed, tapping his foot impatiently, "Come on, get dressed and let's get out of here, I have to show you where Agility class is at."

I stumbled out of bed and over to my closet, where I grabbed out a black tank-top and a bright red sweatshirt with "No Fear" written in bold letters. While I was at my closet I grabbed some loose jeans and just for the hell of it, a black baseball cap and put it on backwards.

I stumbled quickly into the bathroom where I changed into my clothes within a few minutes. I was out of the bathroom and then Hayden pushed me out the door muttering, "Come on, come on, come on! We're gonna be late!" The door slammed behind us and I was still partially asleep as Hayden urged me to jog with him to wherever the hell we were going.