Glutton for PUNISHEHNT ~josh

[lili]

Demetri shuffled down the hall towards the
classroom reserved for detention periods, his eyes were down on
the screen of the iPod attached to his headphones. His thumb slid
across the touch screen, scrolling through the hours and hours of
music stored on the tiny device till he found the one he wanted,
Animal - Def Leppard, for someone who was girl shy and sucked at
relationships in general he sure did love his classic rock ballads. He
slipped the mp3 player back in his pocket, re situated his hair so
that it hid what little bit of headphone chord that wasn't tucked in
his shirt, and walked through the classroom door. His pouty lips
crept down into a frown as his sharp eyes scanned the room for
any potential problems. He walked to the teachers desk and
handed her the slip he'd gotten from his third period class teacher
explaining his reasons for being there in the first place. He'd been
caught smoking in the bathrooms again. He didn't even know what
the big deal was, not like he did it with other people in there, he
always waited till everyone left. And if they didn't want him
sneaking around to smoke on campus they shouldn't have it to
where he had to walk all the way off campus just to get a nicotine
fix. At least that's how he saw it.

He walked to a desk in the back corner of the room and flopped his
bag down on the floor and pulled out the biggest book he could
find then kicked the bag under the desk. All the while getting glares
from people here and there, water or earth students who were in
the class as well. Things had been so crazy around the academy
recently, and in his opinion it was all cock and bull. He didn't really
know weather or not he believed that Nell actually had it in her to
kill anyone but he knew where his alliance was and it was with his
people in the fire and thunder elements. Even if he truly thought
Nell was innocent he probably wouldn't have been able to tolerate
an alliance with the earth and water hippies for long anyway.. And
it kind of surprised him just how many people were siding with Nell
and the others like her, this whole thing was ripping the elemental
groups in half really, and everyone was playing into it, and most of
all he hated thinking about it. He sighed and propped the book up
open on the desk and shook his hair down into his eyes. Nap time.
He slumped down in the uncomfortable seat and sighed letting his
eyes close trying his level best to ignore all the eyes still on him.

[/size]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Perhaps he should have been expecting it, but when the Thunder students struck again, Joshua was completely unprepared. They surrounded him after lunch that day, demanding the very same thing they'd demanded the first time--answers to the stupid test which they apparently couldn't study for themselves. Josh wasn't any more ready to be their living cheat sheet than he had been the first time they'd hounded him, so he tried to shove past one of them and walk away. "Lay off, I'm not giving you the answers." But they did not lay off. Instead, he felt himself shoved against the wall in what was fixing up to be a perfect repeat of the last time, except this time without a teacher to save his ass at the last minute. Joshua's breath caught in his throat for a moment, expression contorting as he tried to hide the fact that in a group, these guys actually scared him. It reminded him of the gang and how they always insisted on attacking in groups, never taking on a single person alone.

"We don't think it's cool that you've been avoiding us, Dale," one of the boys hissed as he pinned him with a muscled forearm. "We also don't like that your little professor friend bailed you out," another added in a sneer. "I thought only the girls slept with their teachers, man. Telling us you're gay now?" Joshua rolled his eyes at the childish insults. Really? They were so desperate for insults that they were going to attack his sexuality? He'd had enough of that bullshit in public school and from his own damned grandfather. He knew what he was attracted to, and it definitely wasn't his own gender. "I'm not telling you shit," he said, "especially not the answers." Then he smirked a little. "Besides, how could I provide the answers to the test if I was hitting on the professor for my good grades, idiots?" That seemed to stump them, and that split second was all he needed. They faltered, Josh saw his opening, and then he did something he normally would have looked down on--he fucking ran.

Josh hated ditching a fight. It felt like admitting he was the weaker man and it was a serious blow to his pride. But even though these guys were Thunder elementals, they outnumbered him, and they were in the same grade. One on one he might be alright, but in a group Josh was as good as dead. Shit, where the hell was he even going to run? He had no plans, just a desperation to get the fuck out of there before something bad happened.

Speaking of one on one...

He came out of nowhere, intercepting Josh so quickly that the Fire graduate nearly ran straight into him. As it were, he skidded to a halt and glanced over his shoulder in trepidation. "They're not here yet," the boy hissed in an almost predatory tone as he stepped closer. Josh whipped his gaze back around to glare. Oh they weren't, were they? Then this guy was an idiot. "But they will be soon, and I'm sure they'll be happy if I keep you here a little while longer." Static prickled the air, but Joshua was tired of it. "Yeah, ha, I don't think so," he muttered. A burst of fire flowered in the air and burned the other boy's hand, making him cry out and stumble back. Joshua readied another blast and scowled. "Doesn't feel so nice now, does it?" he growled.

"Dale! Just what do you think you're doing?"

Shit.

"I--"

"He attacked me, professor!" Instantly the Thunder student was playing the victim, wincing and acting as if he might cry. And--shit, this was indeed a Thunder professor. Jade eyes narrowed fiercely at the Fire graduate, critically. "It really hurts," the Thunder boy whined, playing it up. "I didn't even do anything!" And of course the professor bought right into it. He'd never much liked Joshua. Even before the alliance had forced Josh to turn traitor, he'd always been tough on him. "Go to the Medical Wing," he ordered the student. "As for you, Dale... Detention Hall. Let's go."

Josh was affronted. "But I--"

"No arguments."

Joshua's jaw worked as he fought the urge to attack him, yell at him, do something. But if he had learned one thing from his slew of private schools, it was that you never challenged the authority of the professors. Glowering, he nevertheless gave up the fight and allowed the professor to literally accompany him to the hall, clearly not trusting him to go on his own. Well... on the bright side, at least it got him away from the Thunder students for a while. Scowling, he stalked over to a free desk and sat down, dropping his bag unceremoniously on the desk. Due to the large number of textbooks, it gave a loud crash that earned him a glare from the professor. But would it be enough to wake the person sleeping near him...?