Smokes and Punk Clothes

A USUK fanfic

Warning: Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV

"Alfred, are you listening to me?" Francis looked at me, concerned. I was spacing out in the middle of his discussion about this school, and whatever was in it. Someone standing outside of the cafeteria's glass panel caught my eye, and I found myself intrigued.

Francis was a senior. Normally, seniors didn't really bother to talk to freshmen like me.

"Well, you seemed like an interesting kid." he shrugged when I asked him indirectly a few moments ago. Indeed, a lot of people thought so. I was one of the popular faces around the campus now, even if it's just been a week. Some girls even told me I was "cute". Maybe it's because I'm slightly muscular and six feet tall and I've got blonde hair and blue eyes and fair skin? Not that I'm bragging or anything, I'm just describing myself. I'm not that perfect and godly-looking if that was the image I portrayed onto your mind.

"O-oh!" I looked back towards him, "Sorry, I, uh, kinda spaced out." I scratched the back of my head as I scooped some of the green Jell-O in my mouth. "Can y' repeat that?"

"As I was saying, there are a lot of clubs you can join in, but make sure you choose carefully; choose clubs whose schedules do not overlap one another." he repeated, this time looking a bit more annoyed since I failed to pay attention the last time. "Tell me, what are the things that interest you?" he asked me. I can feel he's trying to help me out, here.

"Uh... I dunno. Football, I guess? Music? Chemistry?" I shrugged noncommittally. It sounded like an odd combination.

He paused for a while and nodded. "Hmm, yeah, I think you can go for those. It's a real hit with the ladies." he waggled his eyebrows at me. "Well, the football and the music one, at least. If you form a band and perform during school shows and stuff, you could get really popular." he shrugged, taking a sip out of his juice packet, frowning at the orange juice's sourness.

"I'll give it some thought. Thanks, man." I nodded, smiling a bit. Great, now this club thing's got me thinking. Honestly, though, I could really care less if a certain club was more of a chick-magnet than the other.

"Oops, gotta go now. Five minutes until next period. You should get going too, yeah? I'll see you later, Alfred." he stood up and left the table. For a second there, I thought he winked at me. I rolled my eyes. Such a charmer.

My eyes drifted back to the glass panel again, showing a clear view of the garden outside the cafeteria. It was all leaves and fancy-schmancy pathways and stuff. The person I saw earlier was still there. He threw something that awfully looked like a cigarette to the ground and snubbed it with his foot. He then took the cigarette butt then quickly placed it inside one of his leather jacket's pockets, as if he was hiding it. Maybe smoking inside the campus was against the rules...? I dunno. All I knew was that I was going to be late for my next class because I just heard the bell ring and I was one of the few left in the cafeteria. I cursed under my breath and quickly stood up and ran out, throwing my trash into a trash bin along the way.

"Jones?"

"Present..."

I sat in my chair, glad that I made it in class just in time, before the teacher came in. The teacher called out the names after 'Jones', now. I paid him no mind.

"So, how're ya liking this school?" my seatmate asked me. She was blonde with slightly wavy hair. She had a green headband placed on top of her head, and she was quite well-endowed. She also had this European accent; it was kinda noticeable so it was easy to tell.

"It's nice." I replied and smiled at her.

"Cool. I'm Zoe." she grinned at me cheerfully. Zoe's quite a cool name, huh? Not the ones you usually hear around here.

"Alfred." I nodded at her, keeping my smile on my face.

"I know." she silently chuckled. Oh, yeah, I forgot, I'm pretty popular with the ladies as well. That's how Francis put it.

She shut up because the teacher just looked at her with a warning glare. I could still see the smile on her face, though.

English class kinda bored me to death. I'm pretty sure everyone else was, too. Only one girl seemed to take quite an interest. She was small and squeaky-voiced, blonde as well. Lili, as I was told later, wasn't really good with English, so she's trying her best to learn as much as she can.

"Oh, man, that stuff was boring!" Zoe laughed, stretching her arms up, as we both walked out of the classroom together.

I only nodded. My eyes strayed off again, spacing out in the middle of the conversation. It was the same guy from the cafeteria earlier. He was leaning out by the windowsill in the hallway, taking another drag. Must be one of those delinquent-types...

"Who's he?" Zoe asked me, as if she expected me to know him and introduce her to him.

I shrugged, "I dunno, I keep seeing him around, smoking." I kept my voice low so that he won't hear us. I only took notice now, but aside from the leather jacket, he wore leather boots, knee-tattered jeans and a band shirt of some punk band I've never heard of, and multiple piercings on his ear. His hair was messy and sticking out everywhere, and he had this constant scowl on his face. It was the delinquent stereotype appearance.

"Hmm." was all Zoe could say. I shrugged again. "I've got next period in five. Catch you later!" she waved at me before going off into the other direction.

I passed by the punk-dressed guy, just to get a closer look at him. He seemed so... out of place here. He was the only one I've seen dressed like someone who's just been to a punk-rock concert. Apart from that, he didn't seem like he had friends, either. I wonder why no one's tried to do anything about it, though.

I glanced back as I walked past him to the lockers, thankful that he didn't notice me.

The afternoon sun was setting and I was already headed home when I felt a hand clap on my shoulder. It was Francis.

"Hey, Alfred. So, how was today?" he asked me with some kind of fake interest. I seriously don't know why he bothers. All I could hope for is that he doesn't fancy me or anything... Ughhhh...

"It was fine." I replied shortly.

"Cool. Have you decided which club you'll be entering?" he grinned.

"Maybe I'll join the photography club." I shrugged. I only said that just to give him an answer and for him to get off my case. It was the first thing off the top of my head.

"Photography, eh..." he paused in thought. "You can make a killing with that... Secret business... Sell some pictures..." I could hear him mumbling in thought.

We walked in silence for a moment, passing the school's main gate. I remembered something I needed to ask him. I thought he would know.

"Hey, Francis... Do you know that guy back in school? The one who wears all those punk clothes and stuff." I asked him curiously. I could see his face light up in recognition.

He laughed, "Yeah, I do. The blonde, not-so-tall, surly guy, right? He's Arthur. He and I are in the same cooking class, an elective. He's pretty horrible at it." he chuckled, as if the mere idea of Arthur made him laugh.

"Is he a senior like you?"

"Nah, he's a junior. Why do you ask?" he furrowed a brow, looking amused.

"No reason. He just looked kinda out of place."

"He dresses differently, and he's pretty surly, but he's actually really smart. He's always at the top of his class, I hear."

"Really?" I didn't expect that. It just goes to show you can't really judge someone with how they look.

"Mhm. The teachers can't really do anything about his behaviour, because he's full of snark and wit. He's smart like that, he can outsmart teachers out of a detention." he laughed.

"That's cool." I said in awe.

"Yeah, it is." he agreed, but he wasn't broadly smiling now. He looked a bit more sullen, one side of his lips turned up into a half-smile.

I didn't really dare ask him why his mood suddenly changed. We fell silent until we reached the intersection. He goes straight ahead while I need to take the right.

"I have to go now, I'll see ya tomorrow, Francis. Bye." I grinned at him, walking off to the direction of my house.

"Bye." he smiled at me as well, but it was kinda forced. I turned back to wave at him as I continued walking down the road.

I reached the front step of my house. Mom and Dad weren't home, I could tell. Their car wasn't in the driveway yet. My sister was, though. She was sitting inside the living room, watching MTV on our LCD TV, her feet hanging off the side of the couch.

"Hey, Maddie. I'm home." I said as I removed my shoes and placed them at the side, waving a bit at her.

"Hey, Alfred." she replied, not really looking up. I could tell she was smiling, though. Her emotions were pretty easy to tell by using her voice.

She's in the 8th grade and she's blonde, just like me. Her hair was wavier, though, and her eyes were kinda purple instead of the blue eyes I have. She wears glasses just like me, and if anything, she's blinder than me without them. She's really nice to people to the point they can probably step on her like a doormat and likes to cook for them. She's pretty smart for her age as well. When we were young, my parents used to call her a pretentious little girl. Wait, no, I think it was "precocious". Whatever.

"How's school?" I asked her, placing my bag beside the couch, leaning against it.

"It was all right." she frowned. "Why do you ask? It's not like you to actually be interested." she rolled her eyes.

"No reason. Can't I ask my little sister how school was without getting a harsh remark?" I frowned a bit and she only laughed.

"You're pretty sensitive. Anyway, I should be the one asking you that. How was school? I mean, it's just been your first week and all."

"It's okay. I met someone new today. Zoe. She's European, I think. Pretty friendly."

"Ooh." she grinned. "You two get along fine?" she smirked slyly. God, please no.

"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking of, Maddie. Not gonna happen." I said firmly.

She scowled for a split second, before sighing. "Well, I can't help but worry for you, I mean, you've never gotten a girlfriend or anything!" she sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh, like you have!" I laughed, lightly hitting her arm.

"W-well, that's beside the point." I knew she was insecure about it when it came to her.

"Whatever. I'll be upstairs if you need me, call me when dinner's ready." I picked up my bag from the carpeted floor and walked upstairs, and into my messy quarters. Clothes strewn everywhere, and cans of soda on the floor and in my trash bin, my PS3 still on the floor, and my Marvel comics collection spread out on my desk. Mom says she hates going inside my room, because it gave her headaches. Dad said it "reeked of manliness", which I took to mean that it reeked of socks and teenage body odor. I took the liberty of spraying some air freshener the next morning, much to Dad's disappointment. Maddie said it was gross, and that it gives her cleaning impulses despite my threats towards her if she ever touches my room. She gets that thing from Mom, honestly. I dived into my unmade bed, not bothering to remove my socks and school uniform as I drifted into a nap.

There was smoke everywhere, a glare of two identical green lights, blaring loud music and the sound of metal falling onto the floor. I was seeing this haze, and I was in the middle of it, coughing and hacking due to the thick smoke around me. My eyes teared up, and I can't see anymore, until I fell to the ground and everything turned black.

I woke up with a startled jolt, realizing that I really was coughing. The smoke alarm was trilling loudly and I could smell smoke from downstairs. Shit.

I sprang out of my bed, throwing the door open and ran down the stairs, fearing the worst.

"Maddie, get the fire extinguisher!" I heard my mom call out, with a few sounds of coughing.

"Mom, Maddie -" I sprinted towards the kitchen where the source of smoke was. I skidded to a halt, finding that the problem was taken care of.

"The smoke alarm plays you the song of its people, dear." my dad remarked with a chuckle, before he was met with my mother's stony glare.

"Oh, shush, you." she snapped back at him, and I could hear Maddie chuckling, the fire extinguisher was now put down.

"Mom, you burned something again?" I asked.

"Yes, dear, I'm sorry. It was supposed to be our dinner." she sighed.

"Man, you had me worried. I thought the house was burning down or something." I mumbled, but no one seemed to hear me. My dad laughed again.

"Well, you can't feed that to us now, unless you want to give us cancer with all the carcinogens that dish has." he remarked lightly.

"Well, I'm so sorry, Mister I'm-the-best-chef-in-the-world! I never said I was planning to serve you that anyway, especially since you're such an insufferable prick sometimes!" she snapped back sarcastically. Maddie and I looked at each other, a bit frightened.

"Now, now, honey, it was a joke." my dad tried to soothe her. "I'll make us dinner tonight, why don't you rest? I'm sure you've had a hard day." he smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"I suppose I shall..." she sighed, all anger evaporated as she retreated to the living room.

"Nice save, Dad." I snickered, elbowing his arm a bit. It was one of the nice things about the guy. He could fix things like that up, and avoid unnecessary fights.

"Thanks." he grinned at me as he scraped the charred remains of the food from the frying pan and into the trash can.

Maddie left to go back into her room, a bit disappointed since there wasn't anything to eat yet.

I left as well, sitting beside my mother as she watched the cooking channel (it's ironic and hopeless, I tell you). I spaced out, my mind drifting off to that dream I just had.

Two identical green lights? Thick smoke? Loud music? What was that even supposed to mean? I sighed and sank back into the chair, closing my eyes.

Smoke... Reminded me of that guy. Arthur, right? And loud music... Maybe it's the kind of music he listens to? I don't know. Why am I trying to fit the pieces together anyway? More so, why am I trying to connect it to him? God, I hope I haven't become obsessed about him or something. That would be awful.

Author's Notes: HEEEY! So, this is the new project I decided to work on. I got inspired when I read this fanfic here on FF, the one with whore!Arthur and nerd!Alfred. It was real cute and stuff.

Sorry if it wasn't that interesting in the beginning and stuff... I'm not really good at doing Alfred's POV, since I'm so used to doing Arthur's.

I've planned this to have a lot of chapters. I kinda came up with this while I was eating my McFlurry in McDonalds, a few hours before I was subjected to immense shoulder pain and blood circulation cut-off.

By the way, in case you're wondering and haven't noticed yet, Zoe is Belgium, and Matthew/Canada/le Canadian bro is gender bent to be Maddie/Madeline/le Canadian sis. More characters in the later chapters because I love me some characters.

Rate and review and whatever, tell me what needs to be improved on~ They really motivate me~ By the way, I just edited this to put the line breaks, which I forgot to put before. LOL.

Oh, and NO BURGERS, NO LIFE.

(Alfred: Hell yeah!)