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A Bad Case of Senior-itis

7: 10 AM—Before School

Duo was upside-down. And what was weirder than that was that he was on his skateboard, upside down. And what was even weirder was that he was supporting himself with one hand, the other hand holding his CD player.

"Another loser anthem…whoa-oh/Another loser anthem…whoa-oh…" he sang along with his CD.

Suddenly, his skateboard was stopped by a foot. His skateboard swung up and he balanced precariously on the edge until it hit the ground again. He bent his arm and somehow managed to turn himself over, and squat until he was on the sidewalk, sitting Indian-style. He looked up into the Prussian blue eyes of Heero, the local killjoy.

"Hey, Heero," Duo said, waving.

"…Idiot." Heero turned and walked away.

Duo made a stupid face and stuck out his tongue at the retreating form of Heero.

"Real attractive, Duo," someone said. Duo recognized the voice of Wufei.

"Beauty's in the eye of the beer holder," Duo responded.

"That's 'beholder', moron," Heero said from twenty feet away.

Duo rubbed his head. "Jeez, you try to make a funny, and they all rag on ya," Duo muttered, shaking his head. He looked up in time to see a familiar sight. It was of Trowa walking down the road next to Cathy. Cathy was laughing and talking about something, and Trowa was smiling lightly.

"Jeez, Trowa, ask her out already!" Duo said, standing up.

Trowa and Cathy stopped and looked at him. Cathy was giving him a strange look.

"This is my sister, Duo," Trowa said.

"Oh…Well, now that I've made a total creep of myself…" He walked up to the two and offered his hand to Cathy, accompanied by one of his smiles that made you forgive anything he did. "How do you do? Don't believe we've met. I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."

"Cathy Blume," Cathy said, shaking his offered hand. "I…well, I don't have a motto."

"Blume?" Duo shot Trowa a questioning look. Trowa's last name was Barton.

"It's a long story," Trowa cut in.

Cathy glanced around. "Okay, this is my cue to go." (A/N: She goes to college, so she walks half-way with Trowa and then goes off in a separate direction.) "See you later, Triton."

"Triton?"

"Part of that long story," Trowa said, starting to walk off.

And Duo was left scratching his head again.

7: 40 AM—1st Period

Relena's eyes fluttered as she supported her head with her hand, her elbow on the desk. She'd stayed up late revising a government plan with her father. Normally, that wouldn't affect her, because she pulled night shifts helping her father like that, but this class was just SO boring.

Her Humanities teacher, Mr. Yelbom, fixed her with the evil eye. He didn't like her because she was way too advanced for this class, and because she was rich and he wasn't. "Does this class bore you, Miss Darlian?"

'No, I'm falling asleep because this class is absolutely fascinating,' Relena thought. "I just stayed up late, that's all," she said.

"Clubbing, no doubt," Mr. Yelbom muttered, turning. "Just like all rich girls whose daddies can get them out of trouble with a platinum credit card."

Relena dropped her head to the desk. She didn't like him much, either.

And another thing she didn't like. She hated being rich and famous. Being Relena, she tried to make the best of it, but all she found was that it was a tedious, scandalous way to live. Of course, she wasn't a punk in any way, but that song Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous by Good Charlotte really appealed to her. So did Celebrity by Brad Paisley

She started writing the lyrics to Lifestyles on her notepad, mouthing the words as she went.

"…Did you know if you were caught and you were smoking crack/McDonalds wouldn't even wanna take you back/You could always run for mayor of DC…"

"Miss Darlian! Pay attention!"

Relena sighed out a "Yes, sir", put down her pencil, and proceeded to stare out the window and have a mental conversation with the Imaginary Heero Yuy in her mind.

Relena wasn't at all crazy, but when she wasn't answering reporters or attending political meetings, she was often alone. She'd lost touch with her friends when she'd transferred from St. Gabriel's to public school, and practically none of her friends here were in her classes. Only Quatre was in this class, and he sat far away from her, probably because Mr. Yelbom knew that they were friends.

So she often wound up looking to herself for amusement. And soon, just herself got boring, so she conjured up people she liked and talked to them.

(A/N: I'm getting this from the first episode, when Heero was driving away in the ambulance and she offered her hand to air and said "My name is Relena Darlian. What's yours?" and also when she was yelling at her father when he was back at the government building and she was by the beach. This, in no way, is a Relena-bashing fic. I like her)

The bell rang. Relena was startled out of her thoughts and looked at the clock. Doing some quick mental math, she realized she'd wasted 31 minutes not paying attention to her teacher.

'Well, I didn't miss much,' Relena thought, picking up her bookbag and running out. She had Principles of Law III next.

8: 15 AM—2nd Period

Quatre was tuning up his violin in the band room, waiting for Trowa to show up.

Someone from the Tuba section reached into his backpack and pulled out a straw and a wad of paper. He worked the paper in his mouth, then took it out and stuck it in the straw.

"Yo, Winner!" the guy called.

"Yeah?" Quatre turned to look.

"I got a little present for ya!" The guy put the straw to his mouth.

A hand suddenly descended on the straw, pinching it shut. The Tuba player looked up to see Trowa holding the straw shut, giving one of his emotionless look that scared the pants off anyone. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Not unless you want 4 people jumping you after school."

"That a threat, Barton?"

"No, a promise," Trowa said, and then took his seat in the clarinet section, close to the violin section.

"Thanks, Trowa," Quatre said.

Trowa shrugged. "Not a problem." Trowa often took it upon himself to guard Quatre, the smallest of their group.

The group had been formed in their early Freshmen year, comprised of Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, and Wufei Chang. They had a sister-group to them, made up of Relena Darlian, Hilde Shubeiker, Dorothy Catalonia, Middie Une, and Meilan "Nataku" Long.

The orchestra leader, Mrs. Darbedli, entered the room, and they quieted down.

9: 24 AM—3rd Period

Hilde sat in the middle of her German V class, behind someone a lot taller than she was, so she could not pay attention and not get caught.

She already knew German. She WAS German, for God's sake. She'd moved here from Germany when she was a little girl. Her parents had just made her take the class. She wished Duo took it, too, but he was in Spanish IV.

She began staring at the door, with lack of anything better to do, waiting for the bell to ring.

Suddenly, from the glass rectangular window on the door, she saw a flash of black and brown. She took a double-take, and saw a long braid trailing behind. Only one person in the school had that hair, and that was Duo Maxwell.

Her hand shot up. "Mr. Kelarud, can I use the bathroom?" she asked, in perfect German

"Five minutes," he said, also in German.

"Thanks."

Hilde got up and went for the door. As soon as she had shut it, she ran after the shrinking form of Duo.

"Hey, Duo!"

He turned around just in time to catch her as she jumped on him. You'd think they hadn't seen each other for a year, when they'd really just seen each other last night. Granted, they only had Band together, and in Band they played two different instruments, so the long school days made it feel like years since they last saw each other.

"Hey, Hilde," Duo said, smiling at his girlfriend of almost four years.

"Duo Maxwell, are you cutting school again?" she said, mock-scolding.

"Nope, just Spanish. God, Miss Idlab is boring!"

"Duo, if you keep cutting, you're going to flunk Spanish. Then they'll probably hold you back. I don't wanna go to college without you."

Hilde was worried. She had a feeling that Duo wasn't cutting Spanish because it was boring. She had noticed that he was always coming to school bruised and disoriented, and try to hide it though he may, she'd watched him hold on to every penny that came his way.

'The rate we're going, I probably won't get into college,' Duo thought grimly, masking it with a bright smile. It would never do for Hilde to know about the financial crisis he, Sister Helen, and Father Maxwell were facing, and what he was doing to try to get money for them. She would just worry and upset herself because her family, not being exactly rich themselves, would not be able to help.

(A/N: His job probably isn't what you're thinking, but it's just as dangerous to his health)

"Don't worry about me, Hilde," he said. "I'll go back to Spanish." 'Eventually' he added in his mind.

10: 02 AM—4th Period

Middie sat at the lunch table, waiting for Relena, Hilde, Dorothy, and Nataku to show up. Lunch was the one period their group and their brother-group had together with every member present.

She glanced up to see the familiar sight of Trowa and Quatre walking towards the table she was sitting at. She dropped her head and twiddled her thumbs.

She'd had a massive crush on Trowa since 5th grade. But her family, which had then consisted of a dead mother, a father severely ill with pneumonia and grief, triplet baby brothers, and her older cousin Lady who had come to live with them since her parents' death in a car accident, was destitute, despite Lady's job that kept her from school. Desperate, Middie had gotten close to Trowa and as soon as she had gotten into his house, she had stolen every dime she laid her hands on. She had even stolen the Captain's—the big ex-army captain that Trowa had taken up residence with ever since he was 4 years old, who was always referred to as "Captain"—credit card to buy food.

Of course, her scheme was uncovered soon enough. The Captain hadn't pressed charges, but Trowa had henceforth ignored her existence. Now, they only hung out with their respective groups, and never together.

"Hi, Middie," someone said, and Middie flashed a small smile at Quatre. She liked Quatre. She thought he was a sweetheart. Plus, she could probe him, discreetly of course, for news on Trowa's life. No, she couldn't manage without Quatre…

A sudden though flashed in her mind, and her face lit up in a devilish smile. Yes, she couldn't manage without Quatre…

"What are you smiling about?"

Middie looked up to see Dorothy standing over her, holding a lunch tray.

"Nothing," Middie said.

Dorothy raised an eyebrow. (A/N: That must look like a bug rearing its head, huh? *Snicker*)

"What's nothing?" Nataku slid into her seat, putting her tray down.

"Middie's planning something," Dorothy said.

Trowa cocked an eyebrow. He never trusted Middie and her plans.

"Hey," Hilde sat down, putting down her tray. "Have you guys seen Duo?"

"No," Quatre said.

Hilde pressed her lips in a thin line. "He promised he'd be back this period. Have you seen him, Middie?"

But Middie was staring at Quatre. 'Quatre has never had a girlfriend,' she suddenly thought. 'That's weird. He's so sweet…but that means he won't recognize any feminine tricks. God knows the tramps in this school use enough of them. So he won't realize that I'm fooling him. And I can't tell him, either, he wouldn't want to play a trick on Trowa…'

"Middie?" Hilde said. "Have you seen Duo?"

"Huh? Oh, no."

"I last saw him when he cut Spanish," Trowa said, who shared the class with Duo.

Middie stood up. "Hey, I've got to go." She lifted her tray up an inch and turned to look at Quatre. "Hey, Quatre, mind coming with me?"

Quatre looked surprised, but stood up. "Sure, I'll go with you. See you guys later."

"Lovebirds," Nataku said, coughing into her fist at the same time.

"Please," Dorothy said. "We all know that Middie is still stuck on Trowa."

Trowa cocked an eyebrow. Just what was Middie up to and how was she ensnaring Quatre in her trap?

10: 34 AM—Inbetween 4th and 5th Period

"Heero?"

Heero looked up from his locker to see Relena standing over him. "Yeah?"

'Now or never,' Relena thought, bracing herself. "I know we're busy tonight with the half-time show and all, but since we have nothing to do tomorrow do you think we could…go out?"

He gave her a strange look.

"I know you're not really interested in anyone right now, but we've been hanging out for a few years, so what's the harm in us two hanging out together alone? It doesn't even have to be a movie or something. We can just walk around downtown or whatever."

Heero stared into her face. He knew that she was in love with him and had been so ever since they had shared their first class in 6th grade, when they had both gone to St. Gabriel's. In truth, he liked her as well.

"No promises. I'll come if I don't have work."

"Good. That's great. Well, if you can, meet me on South Main at 6, okay?"

"Fine."

"OK then…" Her hand reached out and held his arm for a split second, and she brought her hand away. "I'll see you tonight at the show."

Next up will be 5th though 8th period and the band show. You'll find out what Middie is planning. But don't expect to find out about Duo till a few chapters more. Heero and Relena's date will be in chapter 3.