Chapter Text
Gwen groaned as she sat down as close as she could to the door. She knew Ms. Reed assigned seats, but she couldn't help it. She was already exhausted it and it wasn't even lunch yet. While she hadn't expected her first day to be totally awesome, it had somehow become even worse than she had previously imagined. From staining her shirt by bumping into a teacher who was nursing an open mug of coffee, to her locker jamming up, all the way to getting lost at least three times today. And finally, she seemed to be the only black kid at this godforsaken school.
Well, okay, she was sure she saw at least two other students? But she wasn't sure. She just knew that she stood out.
“It's totally chill, Davey.” She didn't look up from her pouting as more students hurried in, claiming seats that would just get moved.
“It is not, Jasper.” The other speaker sounded ready to kill, even if his voice seemed unusually shrill. Gwen knew puberty hit guys differently, but this was junior year. Surely the way he spoke was an affectation. It piqued Gwen's curiosity enough to look up at the pair. Bad move really. She was blushing now.
Though the lack of a right forearm was what she had initially noticed, her eyes trailed up past that to a see a boy with messy, light brown hair, bright blue eyes, and glasses. A scar graced his face, but somehow that made him even more handsome, and – oh my god, his ears are pierced. He was wearing a bright purple flannel (she couldn't help but notice that the purple matched her eyes) over a yellow t-shirt. His jeans were ripped. All in all, very grunge. She could appreciate that.
His companion was... a bit lack luster. Skinnier even than her, this boy was tall (though not as tall as his friend) with spiked natural red hair and tired green eyes. They seemed to burn in irritation. His outfit consisted of plain green t-shirt, jeans, and boots that looked like they could kick someone's head in.
“You knew when you decided to take this class with me that Reed assigns seats.” Her eyes followed the pair as the taller one opted for a seat in the middle of the room. The ginger huffed, sitting in the desk next to him.
“Seriously, though, Jasper. Creative writing? Bonbon will never let me hear the end of it.” The ginger one must be Davey, then, Gwen decided.
“Just as I will never let you hear the end of the fact that you call your girlfriend Bonbon.” Jasper replied.
Gwen hid her snicker behind a hand. Her first impression was very much that that little guy surely couldn't be into girls. Guess she was wrong or her classmate was so far into the closet, he found Narnia.
Several more students filtered in, but the class was still small. Ms. Reed was a plump woman with black hair containing a single purple stripe. From what Gwen heard of the rumor mill, she told a different tale every time as to how she tricked the school administration into letting her have 'unprofessional' hair. Gwen didn't really care either way, but it was refreshing to see a teacher that wasn't such a stickler for the rules – alphabetizing her class aside.
“Okay... Mr. Acer, up front here, please.”
Gwen watched the lanky ginger groan and move to the front, away from his friend. The same scenario played out again, and again, as Ms. Reed directed her students to their seats. Eventually, Gwen heard her last name called and was surprised when she ended up next to Jasper. Her heart leaped into her throat when he gave her a little wave as she settled in next to him.
“Take one, pass it back.” Reed handed Davey a stack of papers. “We'll be following this syllabus for most of the semester, should everything stay on track. Although I am pregnant, so that might make things difficult later on.”
The whole class murmured in interest and Gwen wasn't sure she got it. Steeling herself, she decided to ask Jasper.
“So, uh... what's up with that?”
“Huh?” Jasper looked over at her. “Oh! Well, Ms. Reed is, like, notorious for being single. Top secret dating life.”
“So it's... weird that she's pregnant?”
Jasper nodded, before pointing at Gwen. “Don't space out, duderino!”
“Oh, sh- shoot, sorry, here.” She handed him the stack of paper that had finally reached her, feeling absolutely humiliated.
“No problemo.”
Gwen spent the rest of that class period trying not to embarrass herself. Luckily, Ms. Reed spent most of it talking about her summer – omitting whatever escapades led to her current condition.
The bell rang and Davey was at Jasper's desk before Gwen had even had time to process the noise. That was weird. It was fairly easy to pick up on the fact that the two were friends, but with the way David acted, Gwen couldn't help but think there was something more going on there.
Jasper didn't notice the scrutiny, too caught up in whatever Davey was doing. He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and the ginger stilled.
“I know you're excited that we're allowed to leave campus for lunch now, but settle down.”
David pulled back and slowed his pace. Jasper would never admit it out loud, and David didn't expect him to, but wrangling David was Jasper's way of asking for help – patience.
“I've got some aspirin in the truck.” David replied, easily falling into step with his best friend. “Bad today, huh?”
Jasper rubbed the stump where his right arm used to be. “I'll be okay. First day of school's always rough, you know that.”
“What about your legs?” David pushed.
“Also fine. Don't have a cow.”
David threw his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. What do you want for lunch?”
They both knew Sleepy Peak was lackluster when it came to anything. They didn't even have a McDonald's yet. A lot of the time, kids either brought their lunches from home, or merely went home. Almost no one ate in the cafeteria any more.
“Did Campbell pay you yet?”
“Nah, he said he'd get me Saturday.”
“Let's just go home, then.”
“Your mom is working today, though.”
Jasper ran a hand through his hair. “Dangit. I forgot.”
“It was our turn to get groceries, wasn't it?”
Jasper nodded and turned around, heading back towards the cafeteria. “I guess we'll have to go after school.”
David huffed. “First days, huh?”
Jasper couldn't help but nod again. “Definitely the worst.”