St. Louis High school was an all boy's school.
They provided boarding facility to students and was in top of schools that every student wished to go to.
The school was an elite school courtesy to the rich students enrolled in the classes. However it also acted as a ticket for the rich students to be superior than the scholarship students.
The scholarship was provided on two categories: Sports and Academics. You had to be outstanding any one of the two to gain the scholarship. The founders of the school started the scholarship program against the wishes of the board of directors ,who were concerned about the elite club mingling with the poor students.
This line between rich and poor could clearly seen between the daily lives of schools. The rich kids were friends with the other rich kids and the poor ones with other ones.
Earlier the classes for the scholarship students were different from the rich kids, an idea that restricted interaction of the groups however the national school inspection team suggested to mix the students two years ago, if the school wanted to maintain the ranking as per new non discrimination policy laid out by the government.
All the other elite schools had disagreed on the suggestion and fallen in rank, thereby making St. Louis the top most school on the country. This brought in more donation and funding for the school.
A major reason for the increased funding was of course the fact that parents new their kids wouldn't mingle with the other students. True to their expectations the kids stayed in their social circle.
The cherry on the creamy layer of students was definitely Damien Weller. The most handsome student of the school(as voted by the female students from nearby schools in a private poll), the top ranker and the top dog of the school. He controlled the students and had monopoly over everything. His great grandfather was the founder of the school. His family made the largest donations to the school and had few of their employees in the board of directors position.
All the elite kids wanted to be friends with Damien. They looked upto him. Some tried to copy him, some even ran errands for him . Damien, with his devil may care attitude, was the main reason for the other kids to look upto him.
No one dared to cross him. His word was final . The school was his playground, the people inside it were his playthings.
The school had acknowledged him as the top dog ,because of both his background and his skills. He ranked first in school , in all aspects.
His only friend was the second ranker, Michael Parker. The only one he hung out with in school. Michael was the family friend's son.
Michael and Damien studied together, engaged in sports activities together, learn martial arts together and were together almost all the time. And he was probably the only person Damien trusted. He didn't care about others and they never interested him anyway.
Which is why Damien found it really weird when he found himself staring at a boy who was feeding a cat behind the school lane.
He had come behind the school lane along with Michael for a cigarette. And there he was, a boy who was feeding the kitten with his hand. His other hand caressed the kitten and the kitten purred softly while licking the food out of his hand. The boy looked happy.
He had an athletic body, more towards lean type, black straight hair and long fingers. That's what he noticed - the long fingers that caressed the kitten. The fingers were delicately touching the kitten. Damien felt weird.
He felt weird in his stomach. He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Let's go", he said to Michael , flicking the cigarette away.
"You threw that away?! Are you okay?" Michael asked, clearly concerned for his friend who looked he was about to faint.
"Let's just go. I don't feel good."
"Let's go to the hospital. You look pale."
"I just need to get out of here."
They walked out of the lane. Before turning to the right, Damien looked back.
The boy was still smiling happily and playing with the kitten. The light of the sunset fell on his hair bordering him in a golden glow. He looked ,what is the word, beautiful.
His heart beat rose. He turned his head and went to the car waiting to pick them up.