Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/10985928.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      High-Rise_(2015)
  Relationship:
      Robert_Laing/Richard_Wilder, Anthony_Royal/Charlotte_Melville, Robert
      Laing/Charlotte_Melville, Helen_Wilder/Robert_Laing, Helen_Wilder/Richard
      Wilder
  Character:
      Robert_Laing_(High-Rise), Charlotte_Melville, Richard_Wilder, Helen
      Wilder, Anthony_Royal
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, Alternate_Universe_-_Teenagers,
      Underage_Sex, Recreational_Drug_Use, Social_Commentary, Smoking, This
      School_Is_Really_Fucked_Up_Okay, Bisexual_Male_Character, Bisexual_Robert
      Laing, Non-Consensual_Touching, Anarchy, Partying, Classism,
      Discrimination, what_the_fuck_is_this, Kissing, Drunken_Kissing,
      Flirting, Unrequited_Lust, Overthrowing_The_Hierarchy, Cheating, Implied
      Sexual_Content, Wilder_Is_A_Fuckboy, Luke_Evans_-_Freeform, tom
      hiddleston_-_Freeform
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-05-24 Words: 5538
****** The Social Climber ******
by casstayinmyass
Summary
     At Rise High, new senior student Robert Laing finds everything he
     never knew he needed.
     or, the one with lots of sex, drugs, confused!Laing, sassy!Charlotte,
     and flirty!Wilder.
Charlotte Melville lifted a cigarette to her lips, squinting through the
curling smoke in front of her eyes as the dwindling end burned.
"You know, there's something funny about this school," Richard Wilder, who
stood beside her, spoke up, and Charlotte turned.
"Mmm?" Her light brown ponytail swung in the breeze, straightened wisps falling
perfectly on either side of her enviably pretty face.
"I'd like to make a documentary about it. Call it something like..." he
positioned his hands in front of his face, his own cigarette dangling from his
lips as he spoke, "The Evil and Corruption Behind The School System."
"Overdone," Charlotte deadpanned.
"Still, there's intrigue here. Don't know what it is... can't put my finger on
it," he smirked a little, finishing off his smoke before putting it out under
his shoe, "Could be the smell of deceit and utter lack of empathy for us
students. But in the meantime, there are a couple of other... far more
titillating things I think I'd love to put more than my finger on." His eyes
wandered shamelessly down over her breasts as he cupped Charlotte's cheek, but
she blew smoke in his face to deter his actions. Chuckling, Richard only
breathed deeper, and moved in closer.
"You know you're not my type," the cheerleader muttered, and Richard stared
down at into her eyes.
"Enlighten me- what is your type, then?" he implored, amused smile never
leaving his lips, "Principals?"
She smacked him, but he kept grinning. They both knew he spoke of the rumour
that went around sophomore year, about Charlotte failing a class and sleeping
with Royal to get her grades back up before her family found out. Richard still
talked about it as if it were true, and Charlotte hated him for it.
The cheerleader's eyes travelled down Richard's body, considering how built it
was for their age. Still...
"Football players. Student body presidents. Someone who wouldn't film it when
we have sex."
"A man needs material," Richard grinned, "Besides, it would make great footage
for my other upcoming documentary: "How To Get Between Charlotte Melville's
Thighs". A passion project, really."
"You really are too much sometimes, Wilder," Charlotte shook her head, and
dropped her cigarette as the bell rang. Richard hung back for a moment, lips
parting.
"Am I?" he murmured softly, before joining the flood of student bodies inside.
===============================================================================
What a strange building.
That was the first thought that entered Robert Laing's mind as he approached
the tall, thin school building, bag slung haphazardly over one shoulder.
Everyone going into it seemed to be fairly normal, but the building itself was
a strange thing to look at.
As he entered further, though, Laing began to notice the difference in
students. There was obvious class disparity here... drastic class disparity.
Laing could tell immediately who the richer students were, the less affluent
ones seemingly less reserved. This was definitely much different than the last
school he had attended- a prestigious academy- not in a bad way, mind. There
was just... something unique about it.
Just as he was about to head into his first class, Advanced Biochemistry, he
felt a hand on his shoulder... he had been stopped by the hall patrol.
“Robert Laing?” the heavily bearded man asked, and Robert nodded. “Principal
Royal wants to see you.”
He was escorted up to the fourth and top floor of the school to see the
principal- odd place to have an office in a school, really. The monitor,
entered a code into the door, and...
"Mr. Laing?" The principal was short, but seemed as if he kept fit for his age.
There was something handsome about him, as well as something mysterious, in the
way his salt and pepper hair wove to one side and eyes glinted with a little
something dangerous.  
"Yes, that's me," Robert nodded, sitting down in the chair opposite the
principal. Royal looked at him closely, and finally smiled warmly.
"Good to meet you, finally. You know I designed this very school myself?"
Robert was put off by the question.
"I... I didn't, no."
"Every classroom to my exact interpretation."
"Ehm... impressive work, sir," Robert shifted in his seat. The principal smiled
at him again.
"You must be wondering- what kind of coot just builds a strange-looking school
like this?"
"The... thought crossed my mind once, yes," Robert smirked a little.
"And what a smart thing to wonder, lad. Fair enough- I'll tell you why I did
it. I built it because society is always changing. Soon enough, this building
will change, just like society, just like each and every student in this
structure. It is fluid... it is alive. And I will be here to see it all."
By now, Robert was seriously apprehensive. Was this guy joking?
"But anyway, enough about this old thing. I called you here because I took a
good look at your grades before you came here- it's a shame we placed you in a
homeroom on such a low floor... if it were up to me, I would move you to the
eighth with your potential, but unfortunately, it is not. Instead, I want to
put your talent to good use- I want you to tell me how you find your experience
down below, Mr. Laing. I've always been interested in getting a fresh
perspective of my work, and you seemed to be the most... capable candidate," he
nodded, and Robert wondered if the principal was classist as well.
Probably, but how did Royal know he wasn't one of the lower class students? Did
he check his foster family's income or something? All he was going off of was
good grades, and anyone could get those if they tried hard enough. He just
didn't understand the obsession with the floors. Still, this was a good
opportunity to break himself into a new school- switching was always tough, so
he should take advantage.
"I'll be sure to let you know, sir. Thanks," Robert said, and Royal nodded to
him.
"Make sure to make good use of the squash courts we've got here! I imagine
you'd be a great player."
"Right..." Robert nodded, and as he got up, he was escorted out by the surly
hall monitor. The bell suddenly rang, and he realized his first class had
started and he would be late. He walked a little faster down the hall to catch
the elevator down to his fourth floor class, then when he made it, he heard a
voice behind him.
"So. You're Royal's new pet, eh?"
Robert turned, to find a boy his age with shaggy black hair and a slight
mustache, leaning against the wall.
"Well..." the boy corrected himself, "He never had a pet before, so you'd be
Royal's first pet, but still... you've got access most of us kids only dream of
in this place."
"How... can you tell I met with him?" Robert squinted.
"Just came down five floors. Smell like expensive cologne and lies. Or is that
just you I'm smelling?" Richard asked, getting very close to Robert's face.
Robert could tell by the guy's body language he meant to be somewhat
intimidating, but he wasn't the type to back down or submit to people like
this. He stood his ground, lifting his chin and crossing his arms. "Who are
you?" he asked.
Recognizing the assertive stature as a challenge right back, the guy just
smirked, backing off with a playful expression and an air of respect and
admiration.
"A friend," he grinned, slapping him on the shoulder amiably. "Richard Wilder.
Pleased to meet you!"
"Robert Laing," Robert nodded, shaking his hand. Richard pulled out a box of
what Robert assumed to be cigarettes, and lit up, exhaling a plume of smoke and
sighing contentedly. He then offered one to Robert- just as Robert was about to
answer, a teacher turned the corner.
"No smoking in school!" the old man shouted, and Richard rolled his eyes over
languidly.
"Ah, fuck off!" he barked back, giving him the V sign and taking another long
drag. Though the teacher fumed, he did nothing about Wilder's disobedience,
shrugging instead and pulling out his own cigarette to light as he walked off
around the corner.
"See, those hypocrites don't expect you to stand up to them," Richard told
Robert, "Then again, who really does, right Laing?"
What is it with this building and cryptic, figurative language? Robert ran a
hand through his hair in exasperation.
Just then, a tall, beautiful brunette came out of the girls washroom, primping
her hair. Richard licked his lips and whistled as she strutted by, and tossed
his cigarette butt at her. The girl scowled at him.
"Richard, you ass. This skirt is white and it is cashmere, if you get ash on
it-"
"Guess you'll just have to take it off, won't you Charlotte, doll?" he teased,
offering a hand to take said garment from her. Robert expected another melt
down from her, but she just smirked back at the gesture.
"I see you're twitching at the prospect."
"I may be a bastard madam," he held out his hands, taking a bow, "But I'm a
polite bastard."
She rolled her eyes, and glanced over at Robert. "Hi."
"Hi," Robert nodded, eyes roaming her body. She smiled, and turned back around,
continuing down the hall on her path to class.
"I'll have her begging for me one day, Laing," Richard squeezed his shoulder,
rolling his hips forward suggestively, "Make no mistake."
"I'm sure she's done a lot of things, Wilder," Robert told his new friend, "But
begging doesn't strike me as one of them."
Richard let out a loud chuckle, and the second bell went.
Once he finally made it to class, Robert found himself sitting behind a girl
with a pretentious white fur coat and fire engine red hair. She was dramatic-
reminding the class and the teacher in every other sentence of the play she was
in that this school would be staging- "The answer to question four is b over
x... tickets go on sale Tuesday, everyone!" A few rows closer to the back was a
blonde he noticed upon entry- she was alright looking, not particularly
striking, but she looked kind.
"Hey," Robert murmured to her, walking over when class was over, "I'm new...
are we supposed to have textbooks?"
"Just ask the teacher," the girl smiled, "I'm sure she has some extras stashed
away."
Robert nodded, and decided to introduce himself. "I'm Robert."
"Helen," she replied, shaking his hand. They stood up, and Robert tried to hide
his surprise at the fact that she had a rather large baby bump under the
sundress she was wearing.
"It's alright, you can gawk," she waved off with a resigned smile, "Richard and
I really weren't thinking that night, or... whatever night it happened, and,
well... here I am with this."
"Richard," Robert mused, frowning, "You don't mean... Richard Wilder?"
"Mmm. Richard's my boyfriend," Helen stated, "We've been dating since freshman
year." Robert blinked, thinking back to the brunette he kept encountering and
his particular fondness for other women.  
Wow. This school was more than one floor of fucked up.
At the end of the day, Robert could say he was officially drained- just when he
was about to set off on his welcomed way home for the night, he felt a delicate
hand on his shoulder. He turned, expecting to find either the soft features of
Helen or that devilish grin of Richard's... instead, he found wide brown doe
eyes and a hopeful smile.
"Rob," Charlotte said, taking his arm, "That's your name, yes? Won't you join
us for our party?"
"Who's... us?" Robert asked slowly, looking around the busy grounds.
"The lot of us- Wilder, his girl Helen, all the rest of the lower middle class
room students."
"Lower middle class room?"
"Any floor above six doesn't want anything to do with our little parties," she
muttered, "And we don't want them. They're all teachers pets, anyway." Her face
suddenly took on a scowl, and her eyes fell. "Royal loves them all up there."
"You don't strike me as a... lower middle classer," Laing said, inspecting her.
"That's because I'm not," she laughed, "But it's much more fun down there than
hanging out with all of Royal's dogs. I heard you met him, by the way- Royal."
"Yes?"
"None of us have met him," Charlotte shrugged, a hint of something behind her
eyes that she wasn't letting onto, "Strange, anyway. That your homeroom is on
the fifth floor out of nine, and he called you up to meet him."
Royal's request to report to him on his perspective of the school ran through
Laing's mind, but he quickly buried it for now, judging by the icy look in
Charlotte's eyes whenever she mentioned him that she wouldn't be the best
person to tell.
"What kind of party?" Robert continued, wondering why Charlotte kept curiously
referring to the students by their floor.
"Oh, it'll be so much fun," she grinned, tugging his jacket, "It's tomorrow
night." Her eyes roamed him just as he had with her earlier- it appeared she
had taken a liking to him.
"I... think I can make it, yeah," Robert nodded, "But then, why are you all so
quick to invite me? I just got here, met you all this very morning and you're
acting as if I've been here for years!"
"In a place like this, there's no time to lose," Charlotte told him, and Robert
felt his brain might fizzle from trying to decipher yet another code.
"Fine. Where is it?"
She smirked. “Room 103. 10:00 PM."
He scrunched his nose up. "Room- ten PM?!"
"Be there," she whispered, and touched his nose before twirling on her heel,
walking away. Robert shook his head, and headed home.
Once 9:50 came around, the young man headed out again back to the school, which
really should be locked by now. He found he was quite intrigued by the
location. Weren't parties usually held at one's house, when one's parents were
gone? It seemed that holding one in a school would be a terrible idea.
Still... nothing about this school seemed right.
Robert opened the front door of the school. He saw no other lights on as he
walked through the empty hallways lined with lockers, and began to wonder if he
had been pranked. Seems like something Wilder would conspire with Charlotte to
do... really, he had no idea why she didn't just sleep with him- they would
make a charming couple.
He finally made it to 103, hearing the faint pounding of base. Maybe there was
a party, after all. He knocked twice on the door, and opened it to find a sight
he never thought he'd see.
The desks were overturned, the blinds were pulled, papers were strewn
everywhere, and the loud music from the hall filled the room. To put it mildly,
it was anarchy... and as Robert stepped further in, he felt himself getting
lost in it.
"What the hell's going on?" he asked someone, and they just grinned, shoving
their face in a paper plate of birthday cake and devouring it. Robert backed
away, and bumped into someone behind him.
"Sorry, I didn't- Wilder?"
"Laing! You made it!" Wilder nearly screamed, causing Robert to wince. "Well,
good- I need a right hand man!"
"What makes you think I'm going to be your right hand man?" Robert smirked,
still ignoring the fact that they were in a god damn school at ten PM partying
away.
"Because I'll share my treasure," Richard grinned, slapping the ass of whoever
just walked by him. When the girl turned to see who had done it, Richard gave a
playful growl, winking and miming a blow job her way.
"Alright," Robert allowed himself to smile, relaxing into the atmosphere and
vibe of the room a little, "What can I get to drink around here?"
"Anything your little heart desires," Charlotte came up behind him, wrapping
her hands around his torso and providing him with one, "Here, try an appletini,
darling."
"We could get busted any minute for this," Laing chuckled as he took a sip.
"That's what makes it such fun," she grinned, and Richard stole a glass of
bourbon from someone who had passed out over a desk, downing it in one gulp.
"Feel like dancing, Laing?!" he shouted, and Laing laughed, joining his friends
as they swayed with the beat. As he looked around some more, he began to make
out even more little nuances amidst the chaos. Almost everyone was drunk or
high, especially that one sophomore currently on his third line of cocaine, and
almost every paper on the ground had a huge red A+ on them. Come to think of
it... there were giant A+s everywhere, Laing noticed, all over the board,
painted on people's bodies...
"So is this one big statement to Royal, then?" Laing shouted over the music.
"What?!" Richard shouted back.
"This party!"
Richard's answer was lost as a new song came on and everyone screamed. Wilder
seemed to slow a little though, and dispersed to knock the sophomore out of the
way, bending down over the teacher's desk to do two lines of coke in a row. He
came up, fists to the ceiling, and Robert went over, inspecting the desk. There
was a lot left...
Well, what the hell. It wouldn't be the first time he partook in recreational
drugs.
Robert leaned down as well, doing a line, and some girl offered him a half-
smoked cigarette when he came up. As the powder coursed through him, he took a
drag of the cigarette, and revelled in the way it filled his lungs... he hadn't
smoked since grade 9.
"Enjoying yourself?!" Richard danced back over to him. His eyes were dark,
predatory.
"Yeah," Robert nodded, taking Richard's outstretched hand. They danced there in
the middle of the classroom for a while, sweat beading and heat intensifying.
Soon, Robert's head began to spin as he regarded his new friend. Richard looked
so in control of himself... how was he so in control of himself when he had
done all the same shit Laing had?
The senior also couldn't help but notice the muscles bulging through Wilder's
top, and the way his barely-there mustache twitched every time he smiled or
simply thrashed his head a certain way to the music. Since the day the young
man talked to him in the hall, he hadn't forgotten his muscular physique.
"Wilder," Laing murmured, and if he wasn't so wasted, he would've been
embarrassed by how destroyed he sounded. Richard seemed to see this, and
suddenly, he was close, too close, just close enough, one hand sliding down
Laing's back, the other down his pants to his half hard cock, and Laing felt
hot lips on his, tongue pushing its way in and sweeping his gasping mouth.
"Want?" Richard pulled away to whisper, and Laing blinked a few times. Through
the haze of his mind, he knew the answer.
"Where's...? Mmm," he muttered, shoving Richard off of him, and turned around
in search of one person. He saw her, finishing off a glass of something or
other by the chalkboard.
"Helen," he rasped, "You should be... resting."
"I am resting," she smiled, "This is most relaxing."
"What?" Robert asked, and she linked her arm with his.
"I'm convinced the baby likes the music."
"And the alcohol?" Robert retorted, scathing humour never leaving him even in
intoxication.
"Who invited you?" Helen asked curiously, and Robert looked around for
Charlotte, finding her riding some football player in the corner. "Oh.
Charlotte."
"Yeah," Robert nodded, "Charlotte."
"She really wants to fuck you, you know," Helen sighed.
"And I really want to fuck her," Laing retorted, then covered his mouth. "Did I
say that out loud? Damn."
"Not to worry... you'd have to be blind or gay not to like her," Helen said
wistfully, one hand smoothing over her baby bump, which was exposed in the crop
top she had on.
"Is... Richard-?" Robert asked slowly, leaning in as if to confide. Helen just
giggled.
"No. Richard's just... Richard."
"I see."
"Have some wine."
"Can I fuck you?"
"....What?"
"Can I fuck you?" Robert repeated with a gulp, looking down at the sweet
blonde.
"I thought you wanted to fuck Charlotte Melville."
"I think I want you more." Helen took a moment to think it over, then seeing
Richard was busy setting up his video camera to film the events of tonight,
nodded.
They moved to the back of the classroom, and Robert lifted her up against the
wall, ever so careful of her baby bump and careful to ensure the blonde
student's complete comfort. Lost in the shameless attitude of the crowd of
students, neither cared they were about to have sex in a room full of others,
and got right to working Laing's pants down and Helen's skirt up.
Over on the other side of the room, Charlotte lit up another cigarette, doing a
french snap trick with the smoke as she got off the football player.
"Thanks," she whispered, and almost accidentally stepped on Richard, who was
holding his camcorder on the ground under her skirt.
"So, Charlotte- what are your thoughts on Royal's corruption?!" he called up,
and she kicked the camera, shooing him out from between her legs.
"This is not the time. You're drunk, Wilder, go home."
"We need to expose him, and expose all the traps he's set in this school!" His
eyes were wild as he filmed her, then up the walls to the ceiling. "This place
is probably bugged- for educational purposes, he'll claim, to find our
individual learning styles!"
Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door, and the crowd's noise softened
a little. After another bang, it opened, and the bodyguard who had escorted
Laing earlier to the principal's office stood with his arms crossed.
"Who started this party?!" the bearded monitor shouted, and Robert turned
around, just finished with Helen. They held tight to each other as Robert
wondered... what was this guy doing here at this hour as well?
"Doesn't matter, chump. All that matters is that you're not going to end it!"
Richard yelled, and swung a punch at him, knocking the guy flat. He started
beating him, one knee on either side of the guard, and didn't stop until Helen
and Laing physically pulled him off.
"Why'd you stop him?" Charlotte teased, licking over her lips, "He was just
getting into the swing of things."
"What's Royal going to think?!" Laing called, and suddenly, the music died as
everyone turned to him. Richard looked up, wiping the blood off his knuckles
and narrowing his eyes in a sudden change of temperament.
"I don't know, doggie. Why don't you run right up to your master and ask him?"
Robert swallowed, realizing he shouldn't have brought up the principal here. He
obviously had a relationship with him that no one else did.
"What do you know about him anyway?" Helen asked, still breathing heavily from
moments ago.
"I know he's a very powerful man," Robert mused, quieter than before as the
music resumed, "And he's not someone to challenge, Helen."
"But challenge brings about change!" she protested weakly, and Laing could tell
she didn't believe in the cause as passionately as her boyfriend or, say, most
of the other students present.
"Not with someone like Royal running the school."
"You're nothing but a social climber!" Richard spat, and Robert stared him
down.
"You talk a lot, Wilder." Richard stared into Robert's eyes for a good long
while, before smirking once more and turning around.
"Sorry, he's volatile," Helen sighed.
"WHO WANTS TO GO SWIMMING?!" he suddenly shouted, two lit cigarettes now
dangling from his nose haphazardly, and Laing sighed. This wasn't going to end
well for anyone.
The lower floors of students burst out into the hall, running down to the
school's athletic pool that the swim and diving teams use. They opened the
door, and were confronted by a mob of teachers in good suits and ties.
"You have no authority to be here!" the math teacher said to them, "This is a
staff meeting, this is not your floor!"
Robert's head spun even more. A staff meeting at midnight? In the pool room?!
Students began pushing teachers into the water, all the while the teachers
shouted at them:
"Your parents will all hear of this!"
"You will all fail the semester!"
"D's for everyone!"
"Hear that, lads and ladies?" Richard called playfully, taking his shirt off
and whipping it around, "Dicks for everyone!"
Everyone cheered, and Robert watched Charlotte smirked up on the high diving
board, removing her clothes until she was stripped down in her undergarments.
She then did a graceful swan dive off the board, and Richard whistled loudly,
clapping. The noises echoed off the walls as teachers bobbed in the water,
sputtering and muttering amongst themselves, and students ran wild.
"Fuck the system!" one niner shouted.
"Fuck Royal!" another shouted, and Richard spoke up again.
"Oh, our dear Charlotte already has!"
At this, Charlotte glared right at him, and in a fit of rage, grabbed him,
holding his head under the water. After a few minutes, it stopped being funny-
Robert ran over, jumping in and prying her fingers out of his hair, bringing
him back up. Helen tended to her boyfriend as he gasped for air and swam to the
side with her, and Robert regarded Charlotte incredulously.
"What was that?!" he shouted, and she bit her lip, ready to cry.
"I fucked him, alright?!" she yelled right back, and palmed at her eyes, "I did
it for grades... my mother would've killed me if she found out."
Robert stayed quiet.
"Now you know," she breathed, and Robert took her hand, squeezing. She smiled
at him, he smiled back, and Helen watched the two as she shook the life back
into her boyfriend, a quiet sobriety amongst a school full of adolescent
anarchy.
===============================================================================
"I think you all know why I've gathered you here," Royal said, pacing at the
front of the auditorium. "Last night's blatant disregard for school policy- my
policy- was disrespectful, reckless, and will not be tolerated."
Murmurs went through the otherwise silent crowd. All the students with higher
floor homerooms sat at the front, dressed in their usually pressed uniforms and
sitting nice and attentively. At the back, sat all the students from last
night... clothes torn and worn, arms crossed, chewing gum, and Wilder sat near
the aisle with a black eye and two tissues stuffed up his nose- whether from
the excessive cocaine or the fight, nobody could guess.
"There is one way, and one way only to assure this sort of disobedience will
never occur again," Royal said plainly, casting a slide up on the curtain
behind him. "I've talked it over with my wife and the school board of
directors... this is a rule we must all abide by. Well," he smirked, "You, that
is."
The students in the front seemed unphased, even a little excited, but there was
an uproar from the back.
"Now, now," Royal held up his hands, "It's a little... controversial. But we
must do what we need to to ensure the success of every student in this school,
and to create a happy, healthy place to learn."
Robert felt his stomach churn as he read the words on the sign displayed.
"All homerooms below fourth floor will move to first floor classrooms, to
implement the new programs we will be offering to those who would benefit most
from them."
"So basically, we're fucked again so the rich kids can get their fancy
classes," Richard was shouting, thankful he had caught the entire speech on
film. Just then, the hall monitor that had replaced the one from last night-
who was currently in the hospital for a broken nose, fractured cheekbones and a
dislocated jaw- stepped up to him.
"Careful, sir. Don't want to get expelled, do we?"
Richard growled in his face, and Helen backed him down from the tall man as
Robert watched on, caught between the flurry of smugly grinning uppers and
fuming lowers.
===============================================================================
"Frightful ordeal, eh?" Royal huffed, beckoning Robert to follow him into his
office, "Just be glad you weren't killed, Mr. Laing." He entered the code into
his door, a code he had given only to his hall monitor and Robert himself.
"Killed?"
"Oh, they escalate," Royal nodded, "In my many distinguished years on the
school board as architect and educator, I've seen it all." Robert got
flashbacks of Charlotte's attempt on Richard's life, and shuddered a little.
"Right."
"Wouldn't want you dying before you go off to university to fulfill your
potential, now would we?" he asked with a smile, and Robert hesitated. He
wanted to become a doctor, and go into pre-med, but... the students from the
lower floors had dreams just as ambitious as his.  
"Wouldn't want any of them dying before that," he nodded, testing the waters
with such a statement.
"Pfft," the principal waved his hand dismissively, just as Laing predicted he
would, "None of them will make it to college. Most of them won't make it past
their eighteenth birthday, have you met the lot?!"
Robert felt a lump in his throat. Yes. Yes, he had met them.
"What did you get from it, then?"
"What... the party?"
"No, the assembly. Yes, the party, my boy!"
"I..." For some reason, Robert felt oddly as if he would be betraying his
friends if he told the principal everything behind what had happened. That the
nature of their revolution, their fight for equality in the learning place
would be for nothing if he gave anything up.
===============================================================================
Robert came down to the common area cafeteria after his meeting with Royal.
"What do we say to this new rule?!" Richard shouted from atop a cafeteria
table.
"NO!"
"And what are we gonna do about it?!"
"FIGHT!" the students shouted up.
"Not joining the rally today, Char?" Robert asked Charlotte, who was standing
to the side smoking.
"I'm in the exact same boat you are, Laing," she sighed, "My homeroom's on the
sixth floor, like it or not, and yours is on the fifth. No matter how hard we
pretend, we're not one of them."
"Ready to tell them that?" Laing asked softly, scoffing. She frowned at him.
"Can you honestly blame me from distancing myself from them?"
"Yeah, I can," Robert muttered, "You're down there for the partying, the booze,
giving out free pussy for a good time, but when it comes down to the trouble
you'll get in, you won't chip a nail for any of them. You never gave two shits
about them."
"Fuck you," she growled.
"Be my guest," Robert replied, and though Charlotte's eyes flickered down to
his lips, she let out a disgusted noise, stomping off.
"Where were you?" Helen asked, coming back over. She took his arm and stroked
over it, and Robert took a deep breath, watching Wilder rouse the crowd
further.
"Busy."
===============================================================================
The next day, the riot was unimaginable. Classrooms destroyed, books
everywhere- it was as if their party had carried up floors of the school, until
it reached Royal's own coveted floor.
"What do we do?" the redheaded drama student whimpered, hiding in the staffroom
with the principal. She was naked from the waist up, having just spent the
morning with Royal.  
"Keep quiet," Royal whispered, coming up behind her in boxers and his dress
shirt. "Where in bloody hell is Laing?!"
"Ready?" Richard grinned, and Robert slapped him on the back.
"The code to his office is 643917," he told him, and Richard wrote it down,
nodding as he got out his camera and pressed record in preparation.
"You're a good guy, Laing. See you in detention." With that, he dragged
Charlotte in for a kiss, then Helen, and set off.
Laing breathed deeply, revelling in the complete and total chaos surrounding
him. The school's boundaries had been overthrown in just a few short,
exhilarating days, and it felt wonderful... it felt as if he had been
enlightened, watching the students stand up to the corrupt principal. He was
glad he could help in a small way, at least.
After the Great Riot Of Rise High, as it had come to be known in the yearbooks,
Wilder was expelled. Charlotte found out she was pregnant with Royal's child,
and applied for funding when her mother kicked her out- she got it, due to
privilege, money, and a record of exceptional grades. Helen stayed with
Richard- who was working on getting his documentary published- had the baby,
and went to university to become a social worker... she always liked kids, so
she had four more with Richard.
Robert stayed at Rise High for another year, just to see what it would become
after Royal was fired by the federal board. He was almost sad to leave it when
he went off to medical school...
But even after graduation, one never really leaves the high rise of Rise High,
does one?
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