Chapter Text
Anasui would never describe himself as someone who was good.
Alright? Sure. Decent? Possibly.
Overall, if you asked him to describe himself, he would simply say “average”. Not bad, but not good either.
“Average” was a word that Anasui had inadvertently grown attached to. He liked average things, having (mostly) average friends (Wes as the outlier), and trying his best to live an average life. (If you asked him, he would say that he’s succeeded in that goal, just don’t pay attention to how many times he’ll take apart his pen during a lecture.)
To be honest, the only thing Anasui has ever craved was to be considered average. Back when Anasui was young, his disassembling problem was at its worst. It seemed like he couldn’t go minutes without taking something apart.
But, after years of court mandated therapy and 14 years of not speaking or seeing his biological father, Narciso Anasui could now say he liked his life.
He finally felt stable for once and was glad to finally be able to consider himself average.
Up until his eyes landed on some girl with neon green hair who was currently sitting in his unassigned, assigned seat in his intro to calculus lecture. Anasui blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. And, once he made sure that she was real and in fact sitting in his seat, he crossed his arms over his chest and studied her.
Honestly, he didn’t mean to stare at her as long as he did, he was just trying to think of reasons why she would be sitting here considering she usually sat more towards the back. By the time the girl locked eyes with him, she must have figured out why he was staring at her.
“Look,” She began with a huff and crossed her own arms over her chest. “You have one of the only free seats available and I don’t want my ex to bother me by sitting next to me again.” She moved her backpack to the floor next to her chair and patted the seat next to her. “You can sit here and I promise I won’t bug you.”
Anasui internally debated with himself before silently taking a seat next to her. The girl next to him seemed to visibly perk up at his silent agreement before her attention was grabbed by their professor walking through the door.
Throughout the lecture, Jolyne (he looked at her paper for her name) kept her word and didn’t say a single thing to him. However, as he was getting ready to leave he felt a tap on his shoulder. The green hai- Jolyne was looking up at him and he raised an eyebrow at her which she took as her cue to speak.
“I just wanted to say, thanks for letting me sit here.” She held out her hand to him and gave him a wide smile. “I'm Jolyne by the way.”
Anasui stared at the outstretched hand for a few seconds before he grabbed it and shook it. “Anasui.” He then released her hand and left the lecture hall before she could say anything else.
On the walk back to his apartment, instead of mentally going through his notes like he should, he couldn’t get Jolyne’s damn smile out of his head. It was just so bright and genuine that he-
What the fuck was he doing? He just got out of one of the worst relationships in his life not even a week ago. He shouldn’t already have a crush on someone, especially just because she smiled at him. After kicking himself all the way to his apartment, he got down to work cleaning and doing whatever to take his mind off his seat stealer.
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By next Monday, Anasui had forgotten all about Jol-whatever her name was. (He, in fact, did not forget about her at all and spent his free time thinking of her.) After eating breakfast, Anasui headed to his lecture. He always liked to arrive at least 10 minutes early so he could be ready and have some time to decompress.
Anasui took his usual seat, got his stuff out, and prepared what he needed. He glanced at the empty seat to his left and considered putting his backpack on it so people would know to sit elsewhere. However, he saw green hair walk through the door and moved his bag back to the floor. It wasn’t because Anasui wanted her to sit next to him, he just felt that he could keep a better track of his bag if it was on the floor by his legs. (I like you man. You lie a lot.)
Besides, she arrived early enough that there were plenty of free seats. He pretended to become occupied in his textbook to avoid eye contact and to hide the fact that he was looking for her. (She definitely saw him looking.)
But, like most of the times when Anasui wanted something to go right for once, it did not.
Jolyne plopped herself down in the empty chair to his left and began to prepare her own materials before class. Anasui lifted his head and stared at her. Her only response was to give him that stupid smile again and go back to what she was doing.
“Why are you sitting here?” Anasui wanted to kick himself the minute those words left his mouth. Jolyne turned her attention back on him, shrugged, and went back to work. Anasui could only stare dumbfounded at the girl next to him before his attention was called back to the front by their professor walking in.
Towards the middle of the lecture, Anasui felt like he was being watched. He tried to ignore it but the feeling was making him lose focus. Setting his pen down, and acting like he was stretching, Anasui quickly scanned the room.
He eventually found himself at the receiving end of a nasty glare by the blonde guy who sat all the way in the back. Anasui shook his head and turned back to the front. He took another subtle glance at Jolyne to his right and realized that the man was most likely the ex that put Jolyne next to him.
Anasui only knew 2 (well now 3) things about the guy. 1) His name which was Romeo (Anasui would never understand how he could live with such a stupid name). 2) His ex-girlfriend was currently seated next to him because they broke up. And lastly, 3) was that Romeo most likely peaked in high school by the way he continued to wear his high school letterman jacket and brag about how he could have gone pro had he not gotten hurt.
Jolyne seemed to feel Romeo starting as well by the way she met Anasui’s gaze out of the corner of her eye. She then turned to face him and gave him an apologetic half smile and all he could do was give her a confused stare in return.
After the end of their lecture, Anasui felt someone grab his hand and pretty much drag him out of the room. He tried not to put too much attention on how nice her hand felt and how warm it was. As soon as they left the building and were around the corner, Jolyne let go (he swears he didn’t feel disappointed at that) and then launched into an explanation.
“Sorry about dragging you out here. My ex is a real dick and knowing him, he most likely would have tried something if we got out of there any slower.” Anasui looked down at her and wondered how those two ever dated. Jolyne let out a breathy laugh and looked like she was about to explain something again. It seemed that he had accidentally said that question out loud.
“To be honest, I don’t really have a reason other than I wanted to and I thought he was different.” Jolyne then gave him that toothy grin again. “But, then he tried to pin his DUI on me and that was it. I broke up with him. However, I didn’t think we would be in the same lecture and much less, that he would sit next to me to try to get me to forgive him.” When that grimace crossed her face, Anasui wanted to do everything at that moment to bring her smile back (he tried to ignore that thought). Jolyne then turned back to him and her lips quirked upward again. “That’s why I really appreciate you letting me sit next to you. You prevent him from getting to me and let me work in peace.”
Jolyne held her hand out to him again. “Do you want to be friends? I know we’ve only known each other for two classes, but I like you. So, what do you say?” Anasui looked at her hand before taking it. “Okay.”
He hated (loved) when that giddy smile made its way back to her face and that’s when she took him by his arm to forcefully introduce him to the rest of her friends.
(Anasui tried to ignore how good it felt to be by her side.)