#kim nowak | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sweetponythings · 14 days ago

Text

Tipiskaw International High School Part 3

Beware that this story contains bullying, homophobia, mentions of abusive relationships, transphobia, heavy subject matter. Please take care when reading. (Disclaimer: story doesn't fully follow how characters would act in canon, i needed a mean girl (very much inspired by Regina George) and Riya just fit the bill lol, plus there's no way she would choose to hang out with James and Yul in canon lol. Maybe I should give her some tragic backstory to flesh her out 🤔)

It's Amazing To Be Young

Across the school, a split-haired young man was happily chatting to his two dear friends, Lake and Rosa María. Aiden couldn’t help but feel a bit like a third wheel sometimes, with Lake and Rosa being so close. The two girls tried their very best to include him as much as possible, but Lake and Rosa lived together; Lake’s parents had kicked her out after she refused to marry a man they had arranged for her to become engaged with immediately after graduating high school. Lake’s family was very wealthy and had moved to Canada from Germany; her family’s high expectations and academic pressure had put Lake under a lot of strain, affecting her eating and general well-being. Lake knew deep down she could never be the perfect girl they expected; she was a lesbian and didn’t want to obey people who saw her as nothing more than a status symbol. Rosa and Lake were as thick as thieves; Rosa had even introduced Lake to one of her Spanish-speaking friends, Mariana. Mariana and Lake had both hit it off and were now dating happily. Rosa’s family saw Lake like she was their own daughter and took her in without a second thought, despite them not being very well off financially. The fact that Aiden and Rosa had both dealt with poverty in the past is part of what brought them together, bonding over the shared struggles they faced at home. Sadly, the majority of Lake and Rosa’s classes were on the other side of the school; Aiden only saw the two girls in the odd class they might have together, at lunch or in between classes.

The next lesson was a good one, Art. A favourite of Aiden’s and Lake’s. Rosa waved them goodbye as she departed to make her way to her woodwork class. Rosa María was everyone’s friend, thoughtful, kind and affectionate. Despite being the only girl in the class, all the boys in woodwork loved and respected her. She was no pushover, however. You would know if you had ever pissed the Latina girl off; she was able to whip all of the boys in her class back into line within a moment's notice.

“I still don’t know how she manages to deal with all those boys!” Lake remarked with her strong accent as they both continued down the buzzing hall, both teens weaving back and forth in an attempt to not bump into people. “Oh, come on, we’re not all that bad, you know.” Aiden joked with a little poke on his friends arm. A voice cut through the conversation, interrupting the two friends; a female form was standing right in the middle of their path, so they couldn’t get past. “How would you know? It’s not like you actually count as a boy.” Riya had appeared from nowhere and stared right into Aiden’s teal eyes, getting off on the pained reaction that her stinging words had brought. Aiden’s mind went blank, rattled by the remark. “Leave it, Riya. No one asked for your opinion.” Living with Rosa had certainly brought Lake out of her shell, taking on more of Rosa’s confidence and attitude. The Indian girl scowled, raising a finger in preparation to spit venomous insults into the German girl’s face when another voice joined the conversation. “Don’t worry about her, Aiden.” Came a deep voice with a strong Brazilian accent that Aiden was all too familiar with. James. “Sure he’s a boy, Riya. A very cute one.” James added with a wink. For some reason the Brazilian loved nothing more than to tease and wind up Aiden whenever he got the opportunity. Aiden knew it was best to ignore it, but it pissed him off to no end. He never bothered anyone; why did people constantly feel the need to get in his business?

Lake was giggling at James's remark, playing along light-heartedly. “He’s not wrong!” Lake’s warm smile never failed to make Aiden feel lighter, rolling his eyes with a sarcastic smile and tugging the German girl’s arm to remind her they needed to get to their next lesson. As they started to step away, Riya’s voice called out again. “Hey, I’m still talking to both of you. Where’s the other one of you girls?” Aiden felt his blood boil at that remark, marching forwards without so much as glancing behind him, shouting out “At least I’ve actually got real friends!” as he flipped Riya off over his shoulder. It was no secret that Riya and Yul were more rivals than friends, constantly bickering and trying to one-up the other. Aiden and Lake could both hear her. James burst into hysterical laughter at the quick-witted remark. “Teu cu! Oh meu Deus, isso é tão caralho engraçado. I have to make a TikTok about that!” Riya ground her teeth together as she watched the pair walk away; she would’ve snapped metal at that moment if she wanted to. She grabbed James harshly by the collar of his t-shirt and dragged him away. “C’mon, dumbass, we’re going.”

The art lessons that Lake and Aiden had were always peaceful and enjoyable. Sitting side by side at a table with two other girls that they both got along well with: Tess Morgan and Ellie Parker. Each student was working on their own project, an important part of their final grade. Lake had made a collage, depicting a princess and a knight. The knight was a young woman who had a strikingly similar appearance to that of Mariana; it was clear to see who the princess was supposed to represent. Ellie's art was a line of mannequins all in the same outfit moving down an assembly line, no doubt some 'deep' commentary on society and its structures. Tess was painting a young woman in a dark void, a string attached to her hands like that of a puppet’s. Finally, there was what Aiden considered his masterpiece. An image of a pink cocoon, the cocoon resembling the distorted image of a little girl. The pink pod was being broken open to reveal a handsome young man breaking free from the confines and growing beautiful blue angel wings, reaching out towards the light and flying away into the sky. Truly something that truly spoke about Aiden’s experiances since starting high school.

It hadn’t been easy telling the people he was close to that he was transgender; by the grace of God, his parents were accepting and encouraging. Other family members hadn’t been so open-minded, however. Lake and Rosa accepted who he was with love and open arms. As long as he was loved by them, he was happy. It was just as his mother said, ‘If people accept you, then those are the people you should love and care about; everyone else is irrelevant.’ It was easier to remember that than to practise what his mother preached. Some family members would still accidentally refer to him as his dead-name, but luckily most students at school had no clue, and if other people did find out, most simply didn't care; he was just ‘Aiden’ here, and he was all the more grateful for it. Riya was the boy's biggest tormenter, and with Yul at her side, they had both made it their mission to remind him constantly that he was born in the ‘wrong body’ or that he 'didn't count as a boy'. Aiden had Rosa and Lake to go to when things felt lonely, but recently he had been hanging out with Ellie, Ellie’s girlfriend, Gabby, and their friend Tom more. The three friends were their own little group, and they had accepted Aiden lovingly into their fold when the other two girls weren’t available to hang out with.

“Aiden, your piece is so beautiful; is it almost done?” Tess enquired, dabbing the navy blue paint out of her brush onto the paper below her. “I think so… I’ve enjoyed doing this, but I can’t lie; I’ll be grateful when it’s done. Each girl hummed in agreement. “Where do you want to sit at lunch, Lake?” Aiden asked, being reminded of the topic by the growling of his stomach. “Oh, Aiden… Mariana and Rosa are helping me with my Spanish essay; we’re going to be in one of the Spanish classrooms; only the three of us are allowed. Are you going to be okay on your own?” Lake had mentioned it before, but Aiden had completely forgotten, his smile turning into a small frown as he recalled. “Doesn’t that count as cheating, Lake?” Tess asked with a smirk and a hand on her hip. “Doesn’t it count as cheating when you get Ally and Hunter to help you with your computer science and programming assignments?” The red-haired girl responded, tapping her lip and pretending to be in thought. “Touché, Parker.” Tess couldn’t really disagree with that. “Hey, come sit with me and Gabs again.” Ellie suggested kindly, and Aiden smiled and nodded enthusiastically, the boy thanking her wordlessly.

“Hey Ellie, speaking of Ally. She told me you got in a fight with Jake in your English class. What’s that all about?” Lake and Aiden put their pencils down and looked at each other, then at the other two girls upon hearing that. “Ugh, don’t remind me! He wasn’t doing any of the assignment; he was just staring into space and feeling sorry for himself as per usual! Then he decided to throw a tantrum because I called him out on it!” Ellie exclaimed. Aiden recalled something that Tom had mentioned to him earlier in the first lesson of the day in biology class. “Tom told me Jake was really upset today… He saw him crying in the hallway.” “It was really horrible what happened to him. The breakup and the leaked messages…” Lake added, always being sympathetic to the struggles of others. Not to mention, everyone knew that Ellie could be a little bit harsh at times. “Yeah, I know, but we all have our problems. Jake doesn’t help himself at all.” The American girl rebuked. The other three decided not to pursue the topic any further, the conversation going silent and each student quietly resuming their work.

Lunchtime rolled around not long later, and Aiden made his way with Ellie to the cafeteria after saying goodbye to Lake. The room was almost overwhelmingly busy with people talking, eating, and moving from one place to the next with friends. Aiden and Ellie waited in line to get some sustenance for the next couple of hours, chatting about what they were going to be doing after school. Ellie had her job to attend to, while Aiden had promised Tom and Gabby that he was going to come to watch the young man’s soccer game tonight. Tom’s team was playing a rival school with a bit of a reputation for playing dirty; it would most certainly be entertaining if anything, plus Tom always appreciated his friends supporting him. The two found Gabby was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room, near a door that led down the far hallway, clearly waiting for Ellie to arrive; immediately rushed to give her girlfriend a rib-crushing hug upon spotting her, and Ellie blushed wildly and kissed the brown-skinned girl on the cheek. Aiden smiled as Gabby happily called his name in greeting and squeezed him tightly in a hug. The twin-haired boy couldn’t help but wince in pain at the Polish girl’s strength; there were definitely going to be bruises on his ribs tomorrow. Aiden gasped a little when Gabby let him go, air finally being able to get back into his lungs, then realising that Tom was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Tom, Gabs?” The split-colour-haired boy asked while looking around, wondering if the taller boy was nearby. Tom was Gabby’s best friend; he was always spending time with the two girls. He and Gabs were virtually joined at the hip. Gabby and Tom had a Family Studies class together before lunch, so they usually came to eat lunch together afterwards. “He’s sitting outside with the other soccer boys today; they’re planning tonight’s game, I think.” Aiden nodded in understanding. “It would make sense if they’re talking strategy; tonight’s game isn’t going to be an easy one.” All three of them took a seat; Aiden sat opposite the two girlfriends while they held hands, munching on a red apple he was holding with one hand while scrolling through his phone with the other while muttering away about lessons. Ellie continued drawing in her sketchbook like she always did; it was always fashionable clothes she drew, or Gabby wearing the designs she had created. Gabrysia Nowak always had wild stories to tell. Aiden and Ellie listened in interest as the Polish girl explained how she managed to find out that a neighbour’s dog was the one who kept stealing things from her father’s tool shed, gesturing wildly and making the other two laugh like hyenas. Then Gabby had one of her ‘ideas’, much to the concern of the other two. “What if we help Tom later?” Ellie stopped drawing for a moment to look her girlfriend in the eyes. “What do you mean, Gabs? You know Tom would never cheat.” Gabby’s brown eyes grew wide with excitement. “What if we locked the other team in their changing room? We could jam a chair against the door so they would be late and get disqualified; that way we can make sure our team wins!” Gabby threw her hands up after announcing her idea, clearly proud of her strategy. Aiden stared widely at the brown-haired girl in amazement and disbelief, while the red-haired girl slapped her hand onto her own forehead, praying silently to herself that Gabby wouldn’t actually try to go through with her plan this time.

Meanwhile, outside, Tom sat surrounded by a few of his teammates. Diego and Logan were goofing around with each other while Spencer tried to talk seriously about team formations and strategy for the game that was in a few hours, desperately trying to get the other two to be serious for a moment. James was scrolling through his TikTok with a bored expression, looking up when he realised Tom was staring at him. “You okay, buddy?” James wondered aloud with his thick accent, poking Tom in the side to get his attention. “Yeah… it’s just… What were you doing this morning?” James raised an eyebrow in confusion, his dark brown eyes meeting Tom’s turquoise ones. “I wasn’t doing anything earlier, why?” The taller man rolled his eyes in irritation, his voice taking a more assertive tone with his next sentence. “Don’t give me that shit. This morning, at the lockers. You, Riya and Yul; what were you saying to Jake Hamilton?” James raised his hands in self-defence, trying to plead his innocence. “Seriously, my friend. I was just looking at my phone; I don’t get involved in what Riya and Yul do.” Tom accepted that answer; James was a fair few yards away from the other two; he didn’t seem to be paying attention to them when he came in from the courtyard and spotted the smaller, blue-haired boy being pinned against a locker in clear distress. Tom only came in after hearing the commotion all the way from outside in the first place.

“You could’ve stopped them though, you know.” James just shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly not too bothered either way. “Sim, eu sei, Tom… I’m sorry; I just wasn’t paying attention. I have waaaay better things to focus on.” The Brazilian’s attention went back to his phone, but Tom wasn’t done with the conversation. “He was in a really bad way, crying like that… I’m pretty sure I heard him throwing up before I went into the restroom.” The curly-haired man bit his lip slightly before turning off his phone and propping his elbow up on the picnic table they were sitting at, shifting to face towards his dark-haired friend and asking, “Why do you care?” Despite his tone, Tom could tell James felt a little bit bad about the situation, try as he might to hide it. “Because… I dunno, I see a lot of my younger self in him... He can’t even walk through a hallway without getting remarks. You know that I went through the same type of thing about two years ago. I don’t understand why Blake sent you those screenshots in the first place or why you felt the need to share them around.” Tom’s words had struck something in James; the two young men had known each other since middle school. Back then, Tom was the one to defend James whenever someone teased him about his accent or when he mispronounced something. James hadn’t long moved to Canada from Curitiba when they first met, and Tom had been a true friend and a rock on the worst days. James had seen firsthand the cruelty of people his age once again when Tom arrived back at school after three months of unexplained absence not long after they started high school. His friend had his new scars on full display for anyone and everyone to gawk at and comment on.

“I didn’t share those screenshots! I showed Yul because he was wondering what Blake had sent me before I even had the chance to read through the messages myself! Then when I wasn’t looking, he signed himself into my phone and sent them all to his phone; that’s how they ended up all over the school. Caralho, Tom! I couldn’t have given less of a shit about what Blake sent, to be perfectly honest, let alone wanting to go out of my way just to upset Jake.” Tom said nothing for a few moments, taking a long sip from his water bottle before offering some to his curly-haired friend, James gladly accepting and starting to drink. “I don’t get why you even hang out with those guys. I know they’re popular and all, but they don’t even get along with each other!” James smirked as he handed the water back to Tom. “Entertainment, I suppose. You get a lot of TikTok content out of those two.” James, hands raised in the air, as if to say ‘don’t blame me’, the scarred young man smiled and shook his head at his friends words before suggesting. “You should come and hang out with us; Gabs and Ellie wouldn’t mind, dude.” James stood up from the table, slinging his bag over his left shoulder and starting to make his way back inside as he waved goodbye to the boys, fist-bumping each of them as he passed by. “Yeah, maybe… I’ll think about it.”

Back inside, Yul and Riya were sitting with Grett; the British girl had her eyes glued to her phone as she scrolled through to find something she’d spotted earlier, intending to show the other two. Riya was growing impatient, tapping her foot against the floor. “Have you found it yet?” The brunette gave a sinister smile. “I have now!” Grett passed her phone across the table to the brown-skinned girl. Riya’s eyes scanned the phone as she scrolled down, a devilish smirk spreading across her red painted lips. “Oh, this is good shit; nice work, Grett.” “What were you even looking for?” Yul leant across the table, snatching the phone out of Riya’s hands, clearly unsatisfied with his findings by the look on his face. “Ugh, who the fuck is this bitch?” Riya pulled her phone out of her Valentino bag with grace, tapping on the glass quickly, suddenly on a mission to share something online. “It’s Aiden, and it’s just what I need to teach him a lesson.” If there was anything that Riya and Yul had in common, it was their pettiness and lust for revenge. Riya had revealed to the two others sitting at the table that Aiden had gotten a bit too cocky with her earlier that day; she needed something to get even, something to put her back on top and make Aiden think twice about daring to cross her again.

Grett was a master of finding old dirt on people, and Riya was the master of spreading it for all to see. What the two girls had found were old pictures from Aiden’s mother’s and grandmother’s Facebook accounts and a couple from Aiden’s old Instagram account, one he had forgotten to make private. The pictures showed a sweet teenage girl with long, pale brown hair and a cute, toothy smile; the person the photos displayed had little resemblance to Aiden, but it had to be him. He was an only child and didn’t have any cousins as far as Riya and Grett were aware. Before Yul and Grett could even ask what Riya was going to do, the deed was done. The pictures that Aiden so desperately wanted to never be seen by his peers were now sent to every group chat and account that Riya could find. A mocking caption that boldly showed Aiden’s name, as clear as day to see, underlined each image; there was no doubt about who it was in the pictures. Riya dropped her phone on the table and rested her hands behind her head, waiting for the chaos to commence.

Aiden was still sat with the two girls; the topic had changed from wanting to lock the boys that were coming to the school to play soccer later that day in their changing room to Gabby wanting to sabotage their chances by putting sleeping pills in their water bottles. Aiden tried desperately to convince Gabby that it was a horrible idea while Ellie listened with an amused smile. While speaking, Aiden couldn’t help but notice a lot of people turning their heads to look at their table, looking at him specifically and giggling. Perhaps they were just overhearing Gabby’s batshit plans; the e-boy tried to ignore them and just focus on the conversation he was having; however, something in the room felt very wrong. The American girl was checking her notifications while listening to the other two’s ramblings when a very odd message popped up. ‘Aiden Brooks is such an adorable little girl.’ Ellie gasped audibly as she clicked on the notification. Someone had somehow got hold of old pictures of her friend, mocking him and referring to him with some highly unsavoury terms. Without meaning to, Ellie had gotten the attention of the other two.

“Uh, babe? What is it?” Gabby scooted closer to her girlfriend before the redhead had a chance to move her phone away. Gabby caught sight of the images, and her eyes went as wide as saucers as she processed what she had just seen. The Polish girl was at first in shock, her attitude then quickly turning to anger. “Who the FUCK did this?” Aiden was fed up of being left in the dark and grabbed the phone so he could finally see for himself what the fuss was about, quickly coming to regret his decision. Oh no, oh dear god, no. There were pictures from his fourteenth birthday party, his middle school talent show, a picture of him with an Ariel doll he had been gifted when he was eight, and The Little Mermaid was his favourite thing in the world. The comments were disgraceful, too vile to repeat in public. Aiden dropped the phone from his hands, the case hitting the table with a CLANG as a cold sweat descended upon him and chills ran up his spine. It was him; everyone was looking at him, everyone was laughing at him. The young man stood back from the table, starting to shake. He was quite open with people who knew him about being trans. Many people at school knew; many others didn't, but being exposed like this for so many people to see and scrutinise, it was way too much to handle. Clutching his arms and hands to his chest, his heart felt like it was going to burst through his skin and land on the table in front of him. Moving backwards slowly, he bumped into someone. Riya stood towering over Aiden, grinning like the Cheshire Cat and chuckling at the boy’s horrified expression. “At least you’ve got friends, ‘Aiden’…” The Indian girl mocked, gesturing with her fingers on the subject of his name; no one at this school had ever known him by any other name, and he didn’t want them to either. The boy took off like a rocket down the hall, floods of tears leaking down his face hard and heavy as he went.

Yul cackled at the sight; Grett was clearly proud of herself. She was definitely in Yul and Riya’s good books now. A smart move, in her opinion. Riya was satisfied hearing Ellie call the boy’s name as he ran off, the American girl rushing to pack up her things and pick up the bag that Aiden had forgotten in his hasty exit. “You’re a bitch, Riya. Back off, all of you!” Ellie took off down the hall too, desperate to find her friend. Gabby scowled and bared her teeth at the other three. “Jestes kurwa najgorszy!” rang out from the top of her voice at the tormentors as she went in the opposite direction of her girlfriend, hoping to meet with Rosa María and Lake in aid of finding Aiden and calming him down. As she left the cafeteria, Gabby stormed past James as he came inside; he looked at the Polish girl with a confused expression and then shrugged it off, walking over to where Yul and Riya were gathered. “What was that all about?” The Brazilian questioned, jabbing his thumb in the direction behind him, clearly indicating Gabby stomping past him like a soldier on patrol.

Yul grinned deviously, pointing to the phone in James’s hand. “Have a look for yourself, friend.” James did just that. Clicking on the tidal wave of notifications that kept popping up, it took him a few moments to realise just what he was looking at, but when it sank in, Yul and Riya were more than confused to see James’s disgusted expression. “O que caralhos é isso? What the hell did you do that for?” Yul smiled as he wrapped his arm around James’s wide shoulders. “Because it’s fuckin’ funny and Aiden’s a little shit.” James’s expression grew more and more pissed. “Foda-se! That’s just fucking wrong!” Riya rolled her eyes, and she crossed her arms in annoyance. “Would you just speak fucking English? It’s not that big of a deal, dipshit.” James squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in disbelief, recalling his earlier conversation with Tom. His hands were becoming fists; he could’ve punched each of them there and then. Turning to walk away, he had final words for the three. “How about you translate this? Vai pro caralho!” The three stood in disbelief before Riya shrugged it off and went back to their table. Just as if nothing had happened at all. Gabby had speedwalked her way outside, nearly passing by Spencer, Logan and Diego. The young men had to call out to her to get Gabby’s attention; the three boys were fond of Gabby due to her being Tom’s best friend. When she tried enquiring about Tom’s whereabouts, Logan had explained that Tom had gone inside to meet up with someone. The young Polish woman then quickly explained that something had happened and that she needed to get going quickly. Before she could leave, a familiar, handsome face had seemingly come out from nowhere. It was James. “Let me help you find him, please. What they did was utterly fucked up.” The brown-haired girl started daggers at the Brazilian man after hearing his request; she bumped her shoulder into his side as she moved past him, shoving him out of the way. “Oh, fuck off; you’re part of the problem!”

#disventure camp #tomjake #jaiden #jake hamilton #james costa #aiden brooks #disventure camp jake #disventure camp tom #td #td verse #riya sharma #yul kim #gabby nowak #ellie parker #tom reed #disventure camp fanfiction #disventure camp highschool au #disventure camp aiden #disventure camp james

4 notes · View notes