Chapter Text
Jake hated Aiden.
Aiden hated Jake.
It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.
Jake sat in class, doodling small things in his notebook. Aiden, unfortunately, sat across from him. Whatever. As long as they weren’t working with their tables or what not they usually didn’t butt heads. Considering it was an AP history and most of the class was notes, table work didn’t happen often. Both Aiden and Jake preferred to keep it that way, one of the few things they could agree on.
The teacher instructed everyone to grab a textbook from the middle and turn to page 100-whatever and read something on one of the many models they had already memorized. Everyone in class reluctantly reached for the small stack in the middle of the tables.
Most people were here to skip AP World, a class known for its heavy workload. That didn’t mean this class was easy for most people by any means, but it was certainly less.
Jake zoned out for most of class, just letting the information filter into his ears so he could write it down before it got stuffed into the back of his mind to worry about later.
He was only broken out of his thoughts when the teacher announced a partner project. Alright, as long as he got to pick his partner-
“I will be picking your partners for you this time around so you all learn to work with new people. Make sure to listen for your name and the item I give you.”
Fuck.
—
Aiden dreaded group projects that he couldn’t pick partners on. Half the time, he was stuck with people he didn’t like or people who didn’t do their work.
Upon hearing that he couldn’t pick his partner for the project, he started to dread this one too.
Worst case scenario definitely had to be Jake though. But surely out of the class of 32 people he wouldn’t be that unlucky… right?
The teacher started reading out the list of names, and with each passing group, Aiden felt the sickening sense of dread grow. With each passing pairing, the options other than Jake got fewer and fewer. Irony entangled his previous thoughts about not being paired with Jake.
And surely enough,
“Jake B. and Aiden, Oil, …”
Fuck.
—
“Are you kidding me?” Jake muttered under his breath. He sighed, writing it down on the margins of his notebook. The teacher eventually finished the list and continued with explaining the project.
“For this project, you will have to research one commodity that is commonly exported today. The items I’ve given you all fit this description. You’ll have to do the majority of this work outside of class, so I’d recommend getting some form of contact with your partner so you can meet up to work on it. The final project will be divided into two parts, a poster board and a presentation. The rubric is already up on Schoology. I’ll be giving you the rest of class today to meet with your partner so you can exchange contact info and figure out seating arrangements, as you will be having to sit next to your partner for the next month.”
The rest of the class besides Aiden and Jake got up to meet with their partners. Jake sighed and picked up his bag, plopping in the seat now empty next to Aiden.
“...Hi.” Jake’s tone was laced with enmity.
“Hi.” Aiden sighed back begrudgingly.
This was going to be a long month.
—
Jake, for once, was actually grateful he had work today. Even though it was normally pretty slow on weekday afternoons, a somewhat consistent stream of customers at the very least allowed him to take his mind off the current situation with the history project. His brain usually went into auto-pilot when he was working, especially when he was working the counter alone.
The bell over the door rang again as Jake finished another drink. He walked rather swiftly over to the counter to take the next order, greeting them as per usual. Again, on auto-pilot.
But then the customer in front of him snapped him out of it.
“I’ll just get a latte please.” That all too familiar voice said. Jake snapped out of his routine order. His eyes darted up, looking at none other then, you guessed it, Aiden. The one guy he didn’t want to think about right now. He just hoped Aiden wouldn’t realize it, or if he did, he wouldn’t say anything.
He hesitated before speaking again, “Right, uh… that will be $3.25. Will that be for here or to go?” He kept a straight face pretty well surprisingly besides the minor slip-up with the hesitation.
“For here, please.” Aiden responded, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “I’ll be paying with carrrrr… Jake?”
Well so much for Aiden not noticing it was him…