"And you're not mine, so perhaps you shouldn't lecture me on my bad habits either." Not that his mummy would ever chastise him over smoking; she'd introduced him to it, after all, so how could she really go back on it now?

Avery finished his cigarette and stubbed it out on the ground. Snapping his book shut, he reached into his bag for a mint. Tasting like an ashtray was never de rigueur.

"Perhaps, Leon, I don't want you to play nice," he purred and shifted a bit closer. "If you were nice then I wouldn't be interested."

He smiled at the other boy, letting his gaze drift down Leon's body before heading back up to meet his eyes again. "You're a half-breed, you'll never be better than me. And it's only my name that's American. I'm not one of them, you know."