Uptown boys

Chapter 01:

“It’s what you wear from ear to ear and not from head to toe.”

-- Eli’s POV --

“What time do you think it is?!” she exploded in my face as soon as I closed the door behind me. “Where were you?! Out so late at night! Your father and I were worried sick!”

I watched the reddened face of the woman screaming at me with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a short pink dress and matching shoes. Some style my mother had. I knew that speech like the national anthem, I even moved my lips along, mouthing every word she said. Like she even cared that I was out late, the only thing that mattered to her were the neighbors and the gossiping old ladies, with their sharp tongues always peeking out the windows looking for fresh news. Apparently I was the favorite topic in their little meetings. They loved to spread lies about me and the Millers. Fucking witches.

Tired of hearing my mother’s rambling I turned to the stairs.

“Really, I’m beginning to think that a boarding school is...Eli! I haven’t finished talking yet! Get back here!” she screeched. I winced at the horrible sound. It always surprised me that with her little body she could scream so loudly. I kept walking, ignoring her attempts to stop me.

“Eli. Your mother is talking to you.” I freezed at the sound of my father’s voice. What was he doing home? He was supposed to be at work. “Come down now.” I slowly turned to stare at them. I’ve got my mother’s brown eyes and curls but my father’s hair color, also brown. My nose is a little perky, like hers but my jaw is not as sharp. I’m the only one of my three brothers that doesn’t look like one or the other. I’m a mix. A mix of the two people I hated the most. I wasn’t in that ‘I hate the world’ stage. I truly hated them. They only cared about appearances, social status and money. They’d been on my back since I learnt how to walk. My mother always wanted to know where I was, who with, doing what. But not because she cared, no. She was afraid I might ruin her reputation by doing something embarrassing. My father was always working and he talked to me like he talked to his employees, if he talked to me at all. I despised them. I loathed them. I can’t describe how much I hated them.

“I know what she’s going to say...” I said looking away.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s rude to leave in the middle of a conversation.” My father calmly explained as my mother nodded frantically over his shoulder.

“That wasn’t a conversation.” I replied.

“Eli, get down here this instant.” my father snapped. My mother gasped, he rarely raised his voice. I glared at him annoyed but stepped down anyway.

The three of us headed to the living room. My father sat on the big couch and my mother followed him, clinging to his arm. I stood near the door.

“So, where were you Eli?” my father asked.

“Outside.”

“What were you doing?” Didn’t I tell you? Always on my back.

“Walking.”

“Were you alone?”

“... No...”

“You weren’t with those kids next door, were you?! I told you to stay away from them!” my mother yelled. I glared at her.

“Susan, let him answer.”

“No, I wasn’t with the Millers.” I growled.

“You better not be...”

“What–”

“Eli.” My father cut me off. “If your mother says you shouldn’t associate with those people then she probably has a good reason–”

“What do you know?! It’s not like you're around much, or at all!” I interrupted him. “She doesn’t have any good reasons! She’s just a snob!”

“Watch your tone young man! I’m warning you, I’m not in the mood for this today.” You’re not in the mood to deal with your own son? Well, so-rry, bastard. I kept quiet, the sooner this ended the sooner I could run to my room.

“Like your mother was beginning to tell you, before you rudely interrupted her, we think that a boarding school is the best place for you to finish your studies. So, I sent an application to Hughes’s Academy last month and you’ve been officially accepted since last week.” my father explained proudly, I however, was dumbfounded. Boarding school, what the hell?!

“My grandfather and my father went to that school; I always regretted not being able to attend. You should be happy. Besides it’s a good chance to meet some important people.”

“Yes, Eli. This is very important for your father’s career. Maybe you can make friends with someone’s important son and then...” my mother continued. They talked and talked about the benefits of sending me to the school until I had to tune out. When they finally stopped I was so shocked I was speechless...for about two seconds.

“I don’t believe this...I don’t fucking believe this! You’re sending me to a school in the middle of nowhere in order to get contacts?! Can’t you think in anything besides money for once?!” I walked closer to them, waving my arms in the air. “I’m not going. I. Am. Not. Going!”

“Oh, yes you are. I already paid the deposit and let me remind you that you were expelled from your last school.”

“There are other schools, father.” I spat, glaring.

“I am not sending you to a public school when we can afford better,” my father stated. My mother was looking sick at the mention of a public school.

“Money can’t buy everything. But I don’t expect you to understand that.” I flopped down in the other couch, the smaller one. “So you are getting rid of me, finally.” I gave up.

“Classes start in two weeks, but you are going a week early to get familiar with the school grounds. They sent an envelope with all the information you need. It's up in your room. Make sure you read it. Oh! And the uniforms are here too.”

“What about Nate and Dylan?”

“Your brothers are staying here. They want to stay with their friends and we’re allowing them because they aren’t causing problems.” Problems my ass. They just couldn’t handle a little responsibility once in a while. Anyway I was glad my little brothers weren’t dragged along.

“Okay. So the farthest I am from here the better, right?” I asked moodily.

“Don’t be silly. This is for the sake of the whole family.”

“Your mother is right. You should be honored; this is a very important school you are going to.”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

“Watch it.” my father warned. “The bus is leaving on Monday at eight am. Be sure you don’t miss it. You may leave now.” I got up and walked up to my room, glaring one last time to my parents. There I found the envelope my father had mentioned. Sighing I sat on my desk and opened it. Inside were twenty pages about the rules of the school that I didn’t bother reading and a little map that showed all the buildings and sports fields. Leaving that sheet aside I picked up an ID and a little message with my room number. 204.

I shoved everything inside the desk drawer and walked to my closet. I packed everything. For winter and for summer. For rain and for snow. I packed my books, my cds, my pictures, everything. I put my school books in a backpack and I left the three suitcases by the door. Finally, at four am I went to bed, for the last time in that damned house.

--

The next morning I woke up early. After changing I dragged the luggage downstairs but heard noises coming from the kitchen. Hoping to find one of my brothers I went that way. I wanted to say goodbye at least at one of them. My face dropped when I found my mother starting breakfast.

“What are you doing up so early?” She asked in a yawn. I scowled.

“I’m off to a friend’s. I’m staying there until Monday.” She looked at me questionably but I didn’t give any further explanation so she kept on making her waffles. I could say my mother was an applied housewife that cooked for her children and was home when they returned from school… but that would be a lie and I am not going to lie to you. The reason my mother was making the only thing she could without burning the house down was because she had fired the third maid that month. I believe it was because she had waked her up at six instead of six thirty or something like that.

I turned to leave but her screechy voice stopped me.

“Do I need to tell you how to behave?” I groaned. “I don’t want any calls from your principal. I want your grades up and no red marks. Did you read the rules?”

“Yes…” I lied.

“So I’m assuming the account part caught your attention.” I had no idea what she was talking about. “Your father sent a pretty big check so I hope you use that money wisely. Did you pack the uniforms?”

“Yes, mother. Everything’s fine, can I please go?” I grunted and she glared at me.

“I hope they straighten you up in that school, you’re so spoilt. I can’t believe you are my own son.” she hissed.

“Neither do I,” I replied shortly and left the room. God, how I hated her!

I managed to grab all of the suitcases and I went out the front door. The morning was clear and sunny. Panting I reached the house next to mine and rang the doorbell. A ten year old girl opened the door, still in her pajamas. Sarah Miller smiled at me.

“Hi Eli.”

“Good morning, Sarah. Is your brother up?” I asked smiling as well. She scrunched up her freckled nose.

“Which one?”

“Well the ugliest one, of course!” I rolled my eyes and she giggled.

“No! That one is still sleeping.”

“Oh, what a shame,” I placed one of my hands on my hip. “I tell you what… I’ll give you a candy bar if you throw a glass of water on him,” I proposed.

“Okay!” She agreed way too fast and ran upstairs. I listened carefully to her footsteps above me. A few seconds later I heard my friend curse and Sarah came running down to hide in the living room. Peter came down right after her.

“Next time tell her it's the water she has to throw, not the glass…” He said rubbing his forehead and running the same hand over his dyed blue hair. “Or better yet, don’t tell her to throw anything at me!” I laughed silently. “What’s with those bags?”

“What’s with that t-shirt?” He looked down at his attire. There was a cat kissing a mouse and little hearts all around them plastered on his white t-shirt.

“What about it?” He grinned. I shook my head.

“Can I stay here ‘til Monday?” I asked stepping further inside and dragging the bags with me.

“Sure. Why? What happened?” Peter asked grabbing one of my bags and we started our way upstairs. We went in the first room to the left and I flopped down on his bed, hitting my head with the wall. I cursed and sat up. Peter sat cross legged in front of me.

“The bastards are sending me to a fucking boarding school!” I explained. His soft blue eyes widened. “I’m off on Monday and I don’t plan on returning…ever.” We stayed silent for a few minutes, Peter seemed thoughtful.

“Do you really have to go?” he asked sadly leaning towards me to rest his body against mine and making me fall backwards. I bumped my head again but stayed down anyway. “Maybe you can go to the school I went to…you could shoot the principal and you wouldn’t be expelled.”

“You know my parents. It’s this or military school.” Peter started nipping my ear lobe in thought. I held him tight. I’d miss him, he was my best friend and though my occasional fuck buddy, our feelings for each other didn’t go beyond friendship. I had met him a few years ago as an act of rebellion against my dear mother. I remember that day, it was raining and Mrs. Miller had just died in a car accident that very morning. I watched as all the crying relatives arrived to the house next door and gave their condolences to Mr. Miller. I went out the back yard and climbed the fence that separated our properties. Eleven year old Peter was sitting there, crying. I walked towards him and sat by his side, making him jump surprised. He asked me who I was and I told him my name. He asked me what was I doing in his house and I shrugged. We’ve been friends ever since.

“I’m surprised you agreed, what happened to the Eli I used to know?” he teased setting his head back on my shoulder.

“There was no way I was going to win on this one. When it comes to money they always get their way.” I growled and Peter sighed.

“True, but what about me? I’m gonna miss you! I don’t want you to go!” he cried kicking the air and pouting. Sometimes I couldn’t believe he was older than me.

“I’m going to miss you too. But I can call; we can send each other e-mail, maybe you can go up there some time to visit…? I don’t know if I’m going to be capable of standing all those spoiled rich brats for too long…” Peter chuckled.

“I’ll visit.”

The rest of the day…and week we spent mostly in bed. When Monday came he drove me to the bus station in his car. We waved goodbye and he drove away without looking back. If I would have known that that was the last time I’d see him I would have said something more profound than ‘You should have that carburetor checked.’ But oblivious of whatever would happen in the future I climbed on the bus and sat down on one of the back seats.

Some other kids followed and finally, half an hour later we left. The ride was long and boring. We made a few stops to pick up more students and some time near noon a girl and a boy sat next to me. I had been capable of scaring the others away with glares but now the seats around me were the only ones free and the girl didn’t seem to notice my attempts to scare them away, though the boy wasn’t all that comfortable. They looked a lot alike, both were tiny and had blonde hair and dark eyes, but the girl was excited while the other was quiet and serious.

“I can’t wait to see Paula! I missed her so much! Maybe she got taller! Oh and Keith must have grown too, don’t you think Francis? Francis! Look there are a few of your classmates. Go say hello!” the girl squealed and I grunted. We were still far from the school and the girl kept talking and talking. Francis on the other hand didn’t say a word or move to say hello to the kids at the front. Some time later the girl noticed my presence and smiled brightly at me.

“Hi! I’m Traci. Are you new? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in school before. What year are you in? I’m a junior. My brother Francis is a senior. Oh! What’s your name?” I remained quiet; I didn’t know which question to answer first. Traci was looking at me expectantly while Francis stared out the window.

“Eli…” I replied finally.

“Cute name.” Traci nodded, smiling. “What year?” This girl wasn’t going to leave me alone so I decided to go with it.

“Senior.” I answered. “And yes, I am new here.” Traci gave another nod and turned to his brother, elbowing him.

“Hear that Francis? He’s a senior!” Francis only glanced at me shortly and returned to staring out the window. I raised my eyebrows in question.

“Oh don’t mind him. He’s just sleepy. Sleeping ´til two in the afternoon every day for three months and then having to wake up at seven to go to school does that to you.” she grinned. “So! Tell me Eli, why are you going to this school and in your last year?”

Because my parents are greedy bastards and want me to be friends with people like you so they can get wealthier every passing second. “I got expelled from my last school…”

“Oh! So you’re a trouble maker! Fun!” Traci jumped. Right that second the bus stopped abruptly making everybody on it fall off their seats. The driver apologized and let a few more students up. Rubbing her nose Traci looked at the front of the bus and smiled widely. “Paula!” And she ran off to meet a really tall girl with glasses. After hugging her and waking up half of the sleeping kids with her yelps they headed back.

“Hey Paula.” Francis greeted the girl smiling. Paula smiled in return.

“So you finally woke up!” Traci scowled at her brother and turned to smile at me. “Eli this is Paula. Paula… Eli.” Paula had waist length auburn hair and green eyes behind her thick glasses.

“Hi.” She said.

“Hi.” I said.

“Paula is a senior too.” Traci explained. “You can ask her to help you out in school any time, right?” She asked the other girl who just nodded shyly. “Did you talk to Keith during the summer? He didn’t return my calls, the asshole…” And Traci kept on babbling for the entire trip; Paula hardly said a word and Francis fell asleep against the window.

When we arrived to the school it was already dark. I hurried to get the hell out of the damn bus and stretch my legs. In front of me was a giant stone building with a sign that read:

Hughes’s Academy.

Leaders of the future.

I rolled my eyes and went back to the bus to get my bags. Traci was there too, apparently alone. I walked to her.

“Hey. Do you know where I have to go from here?” I asked her.

“Oh! Why don’t you ask Francis to take you? You’ll be staying in the same building after all.” she smiled. I wondered if she ever took that grin off her face.

“Okay. Where is he?” She pointed to a group of boys near the school doors and I trotted towards them. There were three of them, Francis included. The other two looked at me oddly when I approached their tiny friend.

“What?” He asked rudely. I glared at him; it wasn’t like I wanted to talk to him either.

“Where’s the dorm? I think I need to meet someone there…” I growled.

“Um… Just go around this building and turn left when you reach the gym. It’s just beside the pool.” The guy with the ponytail explained.

“You need your ID to enter, though.” The one with funny clothes warned. I nodded and glared at Francis. Brat. I wasn’t going to bite him; did he have to hide behind his friends like that? Or did they step forward to hide him? I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I gathered my bags and followed their directions.

The dorm looked a lot like the school building. When I entered the gate a short, chubby guy waved at me to meet him. I walked to him and he scanned me briefly.

“Mr. Hacker?” he asked.

“Eli.” I corrected, screw my parent’s name.

“I’m Mr. Holley. The principal had a meeting so I will be taking you to your room. Follow me. Oh, you can leave your luggage here. I’ll send someone to deliver it later. ” I followed him through the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. There was a room with a huge window facing the pool and the woods behind it. In each of the remaining walls were three hallways leading to different directions. Mr. Holley took the one to the right and walked to the last door, hidden a little to the left. The number 204 was shining on it. “Here we are. Your roommate should be around somewhere. Did you read the rules?”

“Partially…”

“Well… just a few things before I leave you to settle down. Girls aren’t allowed in the building after seven. Dinner is served at six thirty, seven thirty on Fridays and Saturdays. Classes start at eight in the morning, you have one hour for lunch at twelve and then back to classes until three thirty. What else…Oh! About the account, you’ll need your ID to take money out and you also need it to move around in the school. You should always have it with you.” He patted his shirt pocket. “Teachers too.”

“Okay. I’ll keep it in mind.” I said faking a yawn. “Now, if you don’t mind I would like to go to bed. I’m kind of tired.”

“Oh! Of course, you should rest. You can take the grand tour tomorrow. The cafeteria is available all morning for breakfast but it closes at nine after dinner.” He gave his last explanation, turning to leave.

“Right… Thanks.” I said opening my new room’s door and then closing it behind me. It was a medium size room with two beds, one on each side and two desks between them, a window above. The bathroom door was on the right side and a big closet on the left. The right side of the room was occupied. There were books and clothes all over the bed and a few shelves over it. I’d had to ask for a few later. I lay on the other bed and closed my eyes.

If my parents had sent me there to make important friends then I wouldn’t make friends at all. It was better being alone. I decided that I would only speak with my schoolmates if it was absolutely necessary. I wondered what kind of person my roommate was but I didn’t really care. I few minutes later there was a soft knock on the door and I got up to answer it only to find Francis and another guy with my bags. The guy was glaring furiously and Francis looked a bit intimidated.

“Are you going to let us in? This is heavy, you know.” the guy said roughly and I stepped aside. He stomped in and placed the two bags he was carrying on my new bed. Francis did the same with the other one and the backpack.

“Thanks.” I said. We stood there in silence until the tall guy sighed loudly.

“I’m Keith. You know Francis…” he said closing his eyes like he was really tired. “Sorry about now… It’s just that damn Holley… He could have just brought the bags himself, god knows he needs the exercise.” he said smirking a little. I nodded and waved my hand in the air.

“It’s okay…”

“You should go eat dinner, it’s almost closing time.” Keith warned taking Francis hand and leading him out the door again. “Traci wanted me to tell you to meet us for breakfast tomorrow, she and Paula went to bed already, I guess all that talking is tiring.” He laughed and looked at Francis who just shrugged. “Well, see you around!” he said and took off, dragging his friend along.

So I was invited to eat breakfast with the weird siblings, the quiet girl and the bipolar tall guy… Great. I would have to avoid them to keep on with the plan of ‘no making friends’. After putting out my clothes and other items I hid the empty bags under the bed and changed into a pair of old sweatpants. I had found the bed linen inside the closet so I made the bed and got in after having closed the drapes and turned off the lights. My roommate was still missing and I had just realized that I had no idea where the cafeteria was.

--

That day had passed really fast. I was now in my new room for a year…a whole year in a fucking boarding school. There was no escape. I was at a place where my mother could always know what I was doing. A place where my father could always tell who I was with. I suddenly felt trapped. I couldn’t stay here for a year. I realized that I wasn’t going to see neither Peter nor my brothers for the whole time and I started to panic. And it was all because of dear mommy and daddy. I got up and walked out of the room. I needed to go outside. I practically ran down stairs and walked out the doors. I headed to the pool, I find water very calming. It was really dark, only a few lights from the school building were on. I walked by the edge of the pool and sat down sinking my bare feet in the cold water and getting the hem of my pants wet. I relaxed a little and let myself fall on the grass behind me so I was looking at the sky. Then I felt better. A year would past quickly and right after the school year I would turn eighteen and I would finally be free of my parents. I could always call Peter and he said he’d visit.

Smiling a little to myself I sat up and took my feet out of the water. As I started my way back to the dorm I saw someone walking in my direction. It was a dark figure and it came from the school. The lights that were on before weren’t there anymore. The person passed by the pool and walked to the dorm. Wondering what the hell what he doing out at that hour I followed the boy (he was in the boy’s dorm so I figured he was one) up the stairs and to the second floor and when he was reaching my room’s door he suddenly turned around, glaring.

“What?! What do you want?! I’m off for tonight! Leave me alone, will you?!” he screamed. I looked at him, confused. His blue eyes were on fire and his black, and I mean black, hair was all messy.

“I was just going to my room.” I explained and he just glared harder.

“There’s only my room that way.” he grunted.

“No. That’s my room too. I’m new.” he growled and jerk opened the door.

“Great! Just fucking great!”

My roommate entered the bathroom and closed the door violently. I was a little pissed off. What kind of greeting was that? Well, I wasn’t expecting a warm hug or anything but screaming in my face…

Sighing I flopped onto my bed and put the covers over my head. When I was finally drifting to sleep the damn guy stormed out of the bathroom and stomped to his desk.

“That bastard… He’ll hear me…” he murmured and then lay down on his bed too. I few minutes later I heard him getting up again and opening the window. I took the covers off of my face and stared at him. He was sitting on top of his desk, just in boxers and was trying to light a cigarette with an old red lighter. After a few tries he gave up and ran a hand through his dark hair, frustrated. I reached to my own desk drawer and grabbed a little box of matches.

“Hey…” I grunted and he glared at me again. I tossed the box to him and he caught it clumsily with his left hand. Without thanking me or even looking at me he took a match out and lighted the little stick on his lips. I had to admit he looked really good. I watched him smoke for a while until he caught me staring. His previously rather relaxed face turned into a frown.

“What?” He asked.

“What?” I asked back and turned around to face the wall. I heard him close the window and go back to his bed.

So my roommate was an asshole, a good looking asshole.

I stared at the wall for a while, unable to fall asleep. The other guy seemed to be having problems too because he just kept tossing and turning nonstop. It was then I remembered my muddy feet. I got up to discover my now very dirty sheets. I whined and took them off to wash them in the bathroom. When I turned around my roommate was looking at me, a smirk plastered on his face.

“Had a little accident?” he asked snickering. I glared at him.

“Shut up. It’s just mud.” I entered the bathroom and soaked the sheets in the sink. After a while I just gave up and left them there, I wasn’t going to sleep on them anyway. I stepped out of the bathroom to find my roommate wandering through the closet.

“Did you grab the sheets in here?” He asked poking his head out. He had another cigarette in his mouth.

“Yeah… Why?” I asked sitting on my desk chair, the cool breeze from the window hitting my bare back.

“Those were my spare set.” he replied. “And now you’ve pissed all over them!”

“I did not piss all over them.” I growled. “It was mud, I told you.”

“Yeah? And how did you get mud on my sheets?”

“I was walking outside…with bare feet? Remember?”

“And what the hell were you doing out?!” My very short tempered roommate asked. Looking back on the conversation I find it amusing… right then it wasn’t.

“I could ask you the same thing! And why the hell do you care?! At least you have sheets now! I’ll go wherever I have to go to get you sheets tomorrow, you cry baby!” I snapped. He looked surprised for a moment and his frown came back.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“… Eli.”

“Well Eli, next time keep your muddy hands off of my stuff, okay?” he said with his hands on his skinny hips. He was skinny, not built or anything; he just lacked fat…everywhere.

“Fine, fine, you don’t have to be such a girl about it.” I paused. “And what’s your name?”

“Madison.” He stated with a straight face.

“Talking about girls…” I laughed.

“Says Eli…” he retorted and I glared. I like my name! And Madison is a girly name.

“Are you done? I’d like to go back to sleep now…” I said and got up from the chair.

“Yeah… Just try to control yourself; I don’t have any more spare sheets.” he smirked and I flipped him off.

“Shut it, Madison…” I teased.

“Shove it, Eli…”

What a bastard…

So! New story. Yeah, I know, boarding school. Highly overused. XD Well, I like boarding schools stories… and uniforms. I think ties are sexy… -.-

So, please tell me what you think? Questions? Whatever!

Thank you Kasee Lara for the summary!!