Boarding school (Yare and BloodletLove)

[Yare]

'She's hardly around, actually,' James said. 'I see her once every few months, and she'll not say a word to me. She won't write, or call, or show any interest in me at all. Unless, that is, I do something that doesn't fit with her pre-conceived ideas of what I should be like. I'd be surprised if she doesn't storm in here to get me herself when she finds I've signed myself up for school...'

[BloodletLove]

"My mom shipped me here so I wouldn't be around," Derrick said, laughing. "I doubt she'd much care if I jumped off the roof and broke my neck. She'd probably be happy about it - she wouldn't ever have to think about my dad again."

[Yare]

James was beginning to get slightly curious, but couldn't be sure if it would be appropriate to ask. He decided to go ahead with it. 'If it's not too bold,' he asked, 'why does your mother hate you so much?'

[BloodletLove]

Derrick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "My dad raped my mother," he said quietly, as if ashamed of how he was conceived. "She refused to give up the baby, and now she turns her fury at my dad on me. She never took legal action against him or anything, just beats me to a pulp."

[Yare]

James shook his head. 'She should've given you up for adoption, at least,' he said. 'That would be kinder.'

[BloodletLove]

"She needed a scapegoat for her anger," Derrick said. "And, hey, here's one - the rapist's bastard. So, I became the scapegoat of her aggression, and life went on."

[Yare]

James sighed. 'Well, you seem to have turned out rather well regardless.'

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. James gestured Derrick through before going through himself, and made his way down the hall towards the classroom.

[BloodletLove]

"Amazing, isn't it?" Derrick said as he stepped out of the elevator and walked beside James. "Usually, abused kids turn out violent and aggressive."

[Yare]

'It really depends on the child,' James said. 'Some are shy and quiet. A few turn out normal.' He opened the door to the class and wheeled in just as the bell signalled the start of class.

[BloodletLove]

Derrick shrugged, groaning as the bell ring just before he stepped into the classroom. "Ah, crap, I'm late," he groaned. "Sorry, I know, I know, best student, the whole nine yards."

[Yare]

'It was by a fraction of a second,' the teacher said. 'It's hardly fair for me to lecture you. Sit down, both of you-' he paused, and glanced at James' wheelchair, 'er, go to your desks.'

[BloodletLove]

Derrick nodded - the only still open desk was the one next to James, so he took it. He'd have taken that seat anyway, even if he had to ask someone to move.

[Yare]

James glanced at Derrick, then back up at the front. They were starting the Shakespeare unit today, apparently. James took out a book of Shakespeare and turned to King Lear, the play they would be studying.

[BloodletLove]

Derrick laughed, opening his own book to King Lear. "Of course, the only one I haven't read up on," he said, grinning, as he started to leaf through it. "Jeez...how do you do it, sir?"

[Yare]

'Gotta follow the curriculum, Derrick,' the teacher said. 'It was either this or Romeo and Juliet.'

'Good choice, sir,' James said. 'Lear certainly has far more interesting themes to it.'