Chapter Text
Nick entered the quiet classroom and quickly scanned the area for his friends. Well, not friends exactly. Temporary allies, perhaps. For the most part, they had only known each other since they joined the school soccer team. Though he shared a class with Lark and Sparrow, they didn't talk much outside of class; Grant and Terry Jr were a grade older than them, so they rarely spoke to each other even during practice.
He spotted the others sitting close to each other by the windows, Terry Jr beside the glass with Grant next to him and the twins just in front of them. Nick took the seat beside Grant and nodded at him with a small grin. He made a face in response that was not altogether friendly and went back to the paper in front of him. Though it initially appeared to be homework, Nick realized that the boys beside him were using it to talk to each other without the chaperoning teacher knowing. He flicked his long, dark hair out of his face and tried to catch a glimpse of the conversation. It didn't work. Grant caught him trying to sneak a look and scowled at him, shifting so he was covering the paper in such a way as to prevent Nick from looking while still allowing Terry Jr to do so. Lark was hurriedly scribbling on a piece of paper as well, and when the teacher looked away for a second he quickly put his hand with the folded sheet behind him in front of Nick's desk.
It was regular lined paper folded at messy angles and some holes where Lark appeared to be writing a bit too aggressively. Nick plucked the note from his hand and Lark immediately withdrew his hand. The boy underestimated how fast he was though, and hit the side of the desk with his knuckles. Sparrow looked like he was trying his hardest not to laugh while Lark cradled his aching hand. The teacher whipped her head around to see what the commotion was. All the boys looked at her (with the exception of Terry Jr, who was presently gazing out the window) in a manner that made it immediately clear that they wouldn't say a word of what happened. She shook her head and went back to her book. When he was sure she wasn't watching, Nick carefully unfolded the paper that caused such an incident. Lark’s handwriting was messy and far outside the lines, and Nick's respect for the boy and his apparent resentment towards respectability grew. It was a short note but it was enough.
“nick we're gonna meet at the park after come with us” alongside the doodles that he seemed to have been working on before Nick strolled in late. They snuck a glance back at him and he shot them a quick thumbs up. That earned him a set of infectious matching grins. He gestured to Grant and Terry Jr, and the twins nodded. Nick nodded back, just the way his dad always did. Grant glanced up seeming to have noticed him pointing and he quietly tapped the paper in front of him. He scanned it quickly and gave Nick an affirming nod.
It had been a little while since detention started, and aside from Lark accidentally punching his desk nothing much had occurred. He and Nick had been passing the paper back and forth with increasingly elaborate drawings of various memes as famous paintings (Sparrow had joined once, and almost got them all caught by making them crack up at a surprisingly good picture of the Mona Lisa dabbing) and the occasional comment on how long the time was taking to go by. Grant had long since fallen asleep on his desk, and it had given Nick a better view of Terry Jr. He had stopped looking out the window and had actually started his homework. Punk rocker he was, Nick decided to ignore the slight pang of guilt upon remembering his own neglected work. Terry Jr seemed to be picking at his nails, and Nick decided to put it upon himself to do something about it. He grabbed a new sheet of paper out of his bag, then decided against it; he wanted his classmate to look at the silly drawings in the hope that it would cheer him up somewhat. A spinning ring was removed from Nick's hand and gently folded in the paper alongside a set of instructions.
“pass ring to TJ. let him look at the pics.” were simple instructions that were very easily carried out by the twins, and soon enough Terry Jr was twisting the ring around his fingers. A shaky smile crept across his face as he looked at the drawings, inspiring an internal fist pump in Nick. His head moved, barely, and he gave a short wave to the boy who gave him the ring. Nick's heart skipped a beat before speeding up.
The rest of the detention had gone by (though the impatient boys had started to wonder if they'd wandered into some kind of time loop with how long it felt) without incident, and the boys were free to go. Each of them went to their respective parents to plead for the privilege of going to the park with the others.
For Nick, it wasn't difficult at all, just a promise to be back before dinner and a hug. The twins' parents took a bit more persuading, but ultimately they decided it would be good for their boys to hang out with other kids their age. Terry Jr's mom was hesitant to let him go, though the fact that the Oak-Garcia house was a five minute walk from the park they wanted to go to led her to allow him to go. His stepfather just went along with whatever she said. The Wilson's were the hardest to convince. They didn't want their son to be negatively influenced by this group; Nick, the strange kid who dresses exactly like his even stranger dad, or the twins, who were notoriously rowdy and rule-breaking.
It ended up being the Stamplers that got them on board with the idea. Samantha knew that Grant needed friends as much as any kid, and this was a perfect opportunity for them to get to know each other outside of soccer. They were still conflicted about the current company, but they agreed that it would do their boy some good to talk to his classmates. Darryl had even agreed to lend them a soccer ball out of his car (he also gave them a handful of Clif bars, but made them swear to not tell Carol). With ball in hand and snacks in bag, the kids waved goodbye and walked off.