Alternia High - Chapter 1

Eridan Ampora was not having a great day.

Waking up to the stench of weed and sweat, the teenager gave a frustrated groan as he reached for his glasses that were on the bedside table. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed slowly and headed to the bathroom. The apartment that he and his brother lived in was tiny, cramped and stunk. He was glad that his family was quite rich, and thus could pay the bills. His brother was a scumbag. He flirted and picked up girls left and right, and often didn't come back home until midnight. He didn't seem to care for Eridan either.

"Oh, Eridan?" His annoying and slurred voiced came.

The purple-eyed male twitched. Speak of the devil. With a sigh, the young boy undressed and went into the shower. Turning the settings onto cold, the teen took a brief but refreshing shower. He then wore his school uniform; with the jacket variant, and put on his scarf. After that, he stormed to the living room. It reeked. Eridan despised where he lived. The Aquarius wasn't given much attention from his brother either - sure, he was fed and all, but never was any affection shown.

"W-what the hell do you w-want, Cronus?" He yelled in irritation. Ever since he was young, he stumbled over his 'w's and 'v's. His no-good sibling was laying on the couch, wearing a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, and some jeans. He had slicked back black hair and lazy blue eyes. Lighting the cigarette that was placed in his mouth, Cronus gave a chuckle.

"Go grab some beer for me, w-vill ya?" He asked his younger brother with a smirk. Cronus had a accent within in his words that made his 'w's sound like 'wv' and his 'v's sound like 'vw'.

"Get it yourself." Eridan growled; however, he stormed off to the kitchen anyways.

"You always come around, Eri." The black-haired 18-year old grinned, letting out a puff of smoke.

With a grumble, the younger brother roughly grabbed a can of beer from the small cooler that the siblings owned. With another sigh, he walked back to the living room and tossed it over to Cronus.

"W-will you hurry up and drive me to school now-w?" Eridan sulked, tapping his foot impatiently as he glanced at the clock.

Taking a gulp of the beer, the scumbag brother nodded with a chuckle as he got to his feet and stumbled towards the door. Once the two of them had reached the car - which was a slick, smooth and shiny violet - Cronus fumbled around in his pocket for a while, trying to reach his keys. Rolling his eyes, Eridan brought out his phone and texted his friend.

"hey fef howw are you" He texted, a soft smile gracing his features.

After a few seconds, a 'ping' sounded to let the teen know that he received a reply.

"Glub glub! )(ello, -Eridan! 38D" The two of them had been friends for as long as they could remember. "Everything's been R-E-EL GOOD! I've been FIN-E! )(ow about you?"

"nothin much has really been happenin" He chuckled at her use of the fish pun, as much as he despised it himself. "just cronus bein a douche as usual"

"-Eridan, you s)(ouldnt be so )(arsh on )(im!" He sighed. She was as innocent as usual.

"i knoww that feferi" He glumly replied. "but it's like he doesn't evven care about me"

Before he could text a single sentence more, Eridan was interrupted by his older brother's IRRITATING, LOUD voice.

"A'ight, Eri-" Oh my god, Eridan hated that nickname. "I got the car up an' runnin, but I'm going to pick up Rufioh, Kurloz and their bros on the way."

The teenager frowned. Cronus, Rufioh and Kurloz were a group who just did a bunch of stuff together, especially smoking...and their brothers? He wasn't too close with them but they were acquaintances.

"Ugh. Fine. But I better not be late." The young boy hissed, scratching the side of his head.

Cronus smirked slyly at him. "Want a cigarette?" He said coyly, offering it to his younger brother despite knowing that he didn't smoke.

"Sod off." Eridan muttered, burying his face in his blue scarf, even further.

---

"Hey little bro...it's time to wake up." A soothing and comforting voice awoke the young boy.

"R-Rufioh?" He muttered with a yawn. "W-what time is it?"

As he opened his eyes, he woke up to the comforting sight of his older brother gently holding his hand.

"Tavros, you're gonna be late if we dawdle." Rufioh smirked. A blush lit on Tavros' face, as the older brother pet him on the head.

Carrying up his brother, the spiky-haired 17-year old carried up his brother and brought him over to a wheelchair. Tavros' legs had been paralyzed, for as long as he could remember. All he remembered of the incident was a girl who loved spiders and falling of a cliff. He himself theorized that he was pushed off the cliff. As he settled into the wheelchair, the jacket-wearing teen looked at the clock in his room. It was 7:40 - he really was going to be late if him and Rufioh didn't hurry up.

"Cronus'll be pickin' us up again." Cronus. Tavros didn't really like him - he was always smoking, and always flirted.

With a sigh, Tavros opened up his phone and began messaging his friend.

"uHHH,,, hIYA,,,, gAMZ,,," He nervously typed, sweat running down the side of his hands.

The disabled teen immediately received a reply. "hEyA tAvBrO, yOu ReAdY fOr ScHoOl NoW?"

"yEAH,,, uHHH,,, wE'RE JUST WAITING FOR,,,, CRONUS,,," Tavros typed back, a smile adorning his features.

"sAmE hErE bRo, ThAt MoThErFuCkEr CrOnUs Is PiCkInG mE aNd KuRlOz uP."

"gAMZEE,,," He started with a nervous smile. "kURLOZ,,, iS YOUR,,, bROTHER, uHH, rIGHT?" Yeah...he reasoned, Kurloz and Gamzee looked like twins. They both had messy hair, although Gamzee's was a bit more well kept.

“yEaH, kUrLoZ aNd I aRe SoMe ClOsE aS fUcK bRoS.”

“Tavros?!” Came Rufioh’s voice. “Cronus and Eridan are here now.”

With a soft grin on his face, the disabled teen typed a last reply to his friend before going over to his older brother.

“uHH, gAMZEE,,,, eRIDAN AND CRONUS ARE HERE,,, sO WE’RE PICKING YOU UP NOW. sEE YOU,,, uHHH,,, lATER!”

Placing his phone in his jacket's pocket, the taurus drove his wheelchair over to his brother, where he was helped into the car seat. Looking at the depressed scarf-wearing boy next to him, Tavros gave a nervous smile. “Uh, heya, Eridan.” He mumbled.

With a small jump, Eridan turned to stare at his brother’s friend’s brother. The two of them were acquaintances, along with Gamzee. “Oh, hello, Tav-v.” He muttered, a bright blush on his face. Giving a small laugh, Tavros swung his arm around the taller boy.
“Er, so, do you wanna just talk about some stuff?”

The glasses-wearing teen’s eyes widened. “Ah, gee, uh, sure, I guess?” Hearing Eridan stutter made Tavros’ smile widen even further.

The two of them were great friends, he realized.

---

Gamzee grinned as he climbed onto the top of the balcony, and swung around to where his legs were dangling over his yard. Reaching into his pocket, the teenager grabbed a cigarette and a lighter as his sleepy eyes drooped even further.

Lighting it, the messy-haired male gave a sigh of relief as he placed it in his mouth. He never really cared about anything when he was high. All the worries weren’t there.

With a chuckle, he brought out his phone and began messaging his best friend. The two of them had been friends since they went to the principal’s office together. He still remembered it like yesterday…

“Mr Vantas,” Began the stern-looking principal. “And Mr Makara. Do you know why you’re in here?

The boy sitting next to Gamzee snorted. He had a grumpy look on his face and dark bags underneath his eyes. He was wearing the long-sleeved variant of the boy’s uniform, and on his shoulder was a Prospit pin attached.

“No, why would I?” He yelled, growling. “Of course I do, you incomprehensible mind-boggling douche-fucker!”

The principal rolled his eyes. “That is exactly why, Mr Vantas. I’m afraid I will have to call your guardian.”

“Fuck you!” He hissed, stomping his foot. “See if dad cares! He doesn't give a fuck! And stop calling me that! My name’s Karkat!”

With an infuriated sigh, the headmaster ignored his continuous spewing of insults and turned to Gamzee. “And you, Mr Makara?”

The young boy stared blankly at the principal. “I don’t know what the ever loving fuck…” His stare turned into a fierce glare. “I MOTHERFUCKING DID WRONG!”

The principal groaned. “You are here for excessive use of vulgar language, as with Mr. Vantas.”

With a roll of his eyes, he continued. “You two will be in detention for 3 weeks.”

“FUCK EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING!” Karkat screamed, pulling at his hair. “INCLUDING YOU, YOU FUCKBAG PRINCIPAL!”

Before long, the two of them were kicked out of the office; Karkat was still screaming.

The messy-haired 10-year old turned to look at the screaming child. “Uh, at least we’re not alone for motherfucking detention, AREN’T I RIGHT?”

The tired-looking boy paused and gazed at the other boy in the room. “Well, there’s that.” He stuck out a hand. “Name’s Karkat Vantas. My father - you may have heard of him - he’s the preaching guy at the local church. He always talks about equality and all that horseshit. He still loves me and Kankri though. Oh yeah, Kankri’s my brother.”

Gamzee shook his hand with a wide smile. “Name’s MOTHERFUCKING GAMZEE MAKARA. My dad’s a really FUCKING BRUTAL GUY who beats up a MOTHEFUCKING load of people. My bro, Kurloz - he’s mute now, but he used to be MOTHERFUCKING EPIC.”

This was just the start of a blooming friendship.

A tap on the shoulder broke Gamzee from his stupor. His mute brother, Kurloz was standing there with this permanently etched grin on his face. Signing with his hands, the older brother had a smirk on his face. With a quick nod, the younger brother gave him a thumbs up with a grin.

“Let’s get going, bro.”