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Marc high fived another teammate as they finished up another practice. They had been getting better lately. Probably has to do with the championship game coming up this weekend. If they won it, they'd be the best school soccer team in the district!
They sat in the corner of the field, drinking their water bottles and talking amongst themselves. In the corner of his eye, Marc saw a redhead he vaguely recognized enter the area, walking over to their coach and discussing something.
"He's so cool," One of his teammates sighed fondly as they watched the boy walk away.
Another person scoffed, "He's not that interesting. Like he's the only male cheerleader and all that, I guess, but it's not that impressive in hindsight."
"No, it's more than that, although that is another reason people think he's cool," Someone else commented, "Supposedly, he's all mysterious and stuff. Doesn't really talk to a lot of people."
"He's super cute too!" The girl across from him squealed. Well, Marc could see that point at least.
"Apparently, he's known as the 'Cool Beauty' around school or something like that," Someone added on, "Some people try to ask him out but he's never accepted any of them. Most people are just afraid to approach him in case he thinks they're dorky."
Marc hummed, "Is he really that judgy?"
"No evidence of it, but he just gives off that vibes, you know?"
He shrugged, taking another drink of water. This 'Cool Beauty' guy must really be something if people were thinking these sorts of things about him.
---
Marc watched Mendeleiev explain the project. Apparently, this was a special assignment since they were combining classes for it.
"Each of you will be partnered with someone from another class for your book report," Bustier continued talking, "You will be tasked with analyzing the illustrations in the book and how they help enhance the story."
His mind zoned out, playing with a pencil between his fingers until his name was called.
"Marc and Nathaniel."
Marc faltered, still not knowing a lot of the names of the other class. He looked over at the other students for the first time and saw a redhead wave at him.
Oh, that was the cheerleader everyone was talking about, wasn't it? Cool. At least he'd get to see what the hype was.
---
They went to the library after school to work on the project together, settling next to each other at one of the tables with their books and papers in front of them.
Marc tapped his pencil against the desk as he groaned, "I really don't know what to put."
"Really?" Nathaniel murmured, a lot more shy than he had been led to believe. He barely spoke unless Marc initated the first words. Which was horrible, because he also had social anxiety. "I thought it was clear. I just don't know how to put it into words."
"They're just pictures," Marc muttered. Since he was young, he always had a disdain for pictures in the books he read. It always brought him out of his immersion in the world, and thus began his life long hatred for illustrated books. "It's not like it adds to the story in any way. I think they make it worse actually."
"...I have an idea for the report," Nathaniel fidgeted in his seat, "The techniques used to make the illustrations improve over time, at the same rate that the main character starts to develop over the story. It's another way to show his improvement, both as an artist and as a person."
Marc smiled, immediately grabbing his pencil and writing on the paper, "That's brilliant! I didn't even notice the techniques changing! How did you?"
"Oh, I draw a lot, so that's how I picked that up," Nathaniel explained, before biting his lip, "I feel nervous talking about this stuff. People usually make fun of me for it."
"I think it's cool how knowledgeable you are about the subject. Guess we can be anxious messes together," Marc chuckled. Nathaniel swiveled around, looking at him with wide eyes.
"You?! Anxious ?!"
"You think I'm not?" Marc snorted, "I struggle to talk to people I don't know, and I can't really stand up for myself unless someone else is there. Pretty much everyone in the school knows that. What makes you think otherwise?"
"Oh, well, you have a bunch of pride stuff on your school supplies, bag strap, stuff like that, you know?" Nathaniel mumbled, obscuring his face using his hair, "I've always thought that was so brave of you. To just be able to expose such a thing about yourself to the world so openly without caring what others think of it. I've never been able to think of you as shy after noticing that." He chuckled a little, "Sorry. I know that's probably weird to hear."
Marc had to take a moment to compose himself after hearing that, fighting down a blush, "You think that about me?"
"Who wouldn't?" Nathaniel asked, seemingly genuinely dumbfounded that people didn't have the same image of Marc that he did.
"A lot of people actually," Marc said without thinking, before freezing up, not knowing if Nathaniel liked someone he just met joking with him like that. Oh god, what if he just made the entire atmosphere awkward?
His panicked thoughts were cut off by a small laugh, coming from Nathaniel himself, the boy's face scrunched up a little from his giggles, hand covering his mouth as though to obscure his laugh. He peeked up through his bangs, amusement clear in his eyes, "We should hang out more often."
Marc beamed at him, smiling, "Yeah, that'd be amazing."
---
They walked together towards the field where the soccer team had practice, talking amongst themselves. It had been surprisingly easy for them to enter a comfortable conversations. Their personalities and interests just seemed to mesh with each other perfectly.
"No, listen to me, illustrations bring you out of the immersion," Marc argued, "It just interrupts the story."
"They're literally just a visual form of the scene you're reading," Nathaniel chuckled, entertained by how passionate Marc was about this subject, "What about comics or graphic novels then?"
"Those are different because the stories are being told through the pictures," Marc continued ranting, "In a normal book- Nathaniel, what are you doing?"
The redhead had stopped, looking up at a tree beside the path. He turned back towards Marc, "Can you come over here real quick?"
Marc walked over towards him, "What's wrong?"
"Can you throw me up there?"
"Huh?! I mean, I guess? Why?"
"I'll explain later."
Marc made a confused noise but still knelt down and held out his hands for Nathaniel. The redhead placed his foot on it, not flinching at all when Marc lifted them up with as much strength as he could. Nathaniel used the extra height from the throw to grab onto one of the branches, pulling himself up fully. He seemed to call something closer to him before dropping down again.
Marc startled once he noticed a black cat curled up in Nathaniel's arms. "Oh, that's what you wanted to get up there for?"
Nathaniel smiled, petting it on its head, "Yeah. He gets up there a lot. Adrien usually asks me for help getting him down."
"Is he the owner?" Marc asked, vaguely recalling the name but not having a complete image of the boy.
"Nah, this cat's a stray. Adrien still tries to take care of it though." There was a small shout from further down the path, making the two of them look up. A blond boy ran up to them, holding out his arms for the cat to jump into.
Adrien beamed at the two of them, "Thanks for getting Plagg down again Nath!"
"No problem."
Marc turned back towards the cheerleader as Adrien walked away with the black cat in his arms, "You seem used to being launched up into the air."
Nathaniel chuckled, "I'm usually the one getting thrown around during routines since I'm the lightest."
Marc snickered at the thought of the other being hurled up in the air by the other girls in the cheerleading squad. He know that Nathaniel would probably spin around gracefully or something like that, but all he was imagining was him flailing in the air.
Nathaniel watched him with a affectionate roll of his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I'm not that heavy. My entire squad teases me about that too."
Marc was about to respond before a ball was flung between the two of them, bouncing against the tree and rolling to a stop near their feet.
"Sorry about that!" Someone from a group of kids they didn't know yelled from a distance. "Can we have the ball back?"
"Got it!" Marc kicked the ball up into the air, doing a few tricks with his feet, almost like second nature, before tossing it back over, all without using his hands.
Nathaniel snorted, watching the group rejoice upon regaining their ball and even seeing a couple people freak out over how coordinated Marc's tricks were, "Maybe soccer isn't boring after all."
Marc spun around, "You don't like it?!"
Nathaniel huffed, pouting a bit, "I don't see what's so great running around and chasing a ball."
Marc looked troubled for a second, before shrugging. Not like he could change someoone's interests. "I think it's fun."
"Wow, I couldn't tell that, Mr. Star Soccer Player," Nathaniel teased, nudging his arm. Marc laughed as they finally made it to the field.
"Cheerleaders don't have practice today, right?"
"Nah, I should probably leave." Nathaniel smiled at him as he turned away, "See you at the championship game this weekend. Good luck!"
Marc waved goodbye, a little dazed as he watched the other walk off, finally able to let the blush come rushing to his face without fear of embarrassment.
He really, really understood the hype now. Although Nathaniel acted a lot different than what people had presumed him to be, Marc found the hidden parts of him charming. He's sure others would too if they took the time to know him.
---
Marc stepped onto the field for the championship game, staring down the other team, cheers eminating from the crowds around them. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the most nervewracking event of the season, looking around the full stadium.
Nathaniel caught his eye from where he was standing with the other cheerleaders, a tiny grin appearing on his face, with a casual peace sign. Marc blinked a little, cheeks heating up slightly. He gave a small smile and wave back.
"You can do it," Nathaniel mouthed at him. He might've said it outloud, but the shouts of the crowd were too loud to tell. Either way, it gave Marc a boost in his mood.
He could see why people called Nathaniel the 'Cool Beauty' now.