Chapter Text
Joel is single.
He’s only been in one relationship his entire life. He dated Lizzie, his best friend’s step-sister, in his freshman year. But he often didn’t count that relationship because freshman year was one hell of a ride for him, so anything that came in his way wasn’t getting his full attention. In the end, they broke up on good terms because they mutually decided they were better as friends. Even though their relationship was somewhat experimental, Lizzie is still one of his closer friends today.
Joel likes playing cupid; he very much prefers worrying about his friends’ relationship problems than his own. He enjoys helping set his friends up with their crushes. Even if it was pushing Jimmy into Tango, or loudly asking Grian if he had a date to the dance when Scar would walk past them, he loves helping his friends out since he can’t help himself.
Joel is single.
He always has been, and has accepted that he always will be.
Or so he thought.
–
“...n’t be able to– Joel? Joel, are you even listening right now?”
Joel snapped back to reality, quickly shifting to fully face the teacher. Joel smiled meekly. “What if I said no..?” The teacher sighed, Joel watching her pinch the bridge of her nose, her glasses lifting up from the action.
“Joel.. you know if you fail this class, you’ll have to repeat 12th grade, right?” Joel felt his heart stop for a second. Joel’s brows furrowed, “I won’t graduate?” “No, you won’t, but that’s only if you fail. It’s only the first quarter; you still have time to improve your grades,” the teacher reassured, rolling her chair to get something from her desk drawer.
You see, Joel has never been one to care for his grades, but if he has to redo the entire year.. And I thought it was almost over, Joel thought. He heard papers being shuffled, and finally the teacher returned to her spot in front of him, handing him a list.
“Now, I, unfortunately, won’t be able to help or tutor you because I am way too busy, but I’ve provided you with a list of students with proficient grades that would be able to help you,” the teacher explained, pointing to said list that was now in Joel’s hands.
Joel’s eyes skimmed through the list, begging for anyone he knew to be on here. Random, random, random, random… shit, I don’t know– oh, Grian! Joel read, thanking the gods above that he had a smart friend (despite making fun of him for trying too hard). “Now, I would personally recommend Etho; an exceptional student of mine, in your class, and overall a nice person.” Joel found ‘Etho’ on the list.
Etho Lab
The first name on the list. Frankly, Joel was a little embarrassed that he had no idea who this ‘Etho’ guy is, especially since the teacher said they were in the same class. Joel internally cringed, and decided not to ask the teacher to point him out for him.
“Alright.. Thanks for the heads up Ms. Symmetry.. I’ll for sure get my grade up,” said Joel, quickly standing up from his seat and heading towards the door, walking but still facing the teacher. “Any time, Joel. And I really hope you do.”
Joel turned around and pulled the door open, immediately being greeted by movement all around him. The hallways bustled with activity, especially since it’s lunch time, kids walking around, lockers slamming, and plenty of talking and conversing.
Joel went to his locker. As he opened it, a handful of books and binders came toppling out onto the floor. Joel backed up as soon as his locker vomited on him. He groaned. “Ugh, you’ve gotta be blummin’ kidding me,” he grumbled, stooping down to pick up the fallen items. “This might be your sign to organize and clean out your locker.”
Joel looked up to see Grian looming above him with an unimpressed look. Joel rolled his eyes. “You’d have to catch me dead,” Joel snorted as Grian rolled his eyes affectionately and bent down to help Joel.
“‘Ello lads!” A certain tall, blonde yelped as Joel and Grian stood up with a handful of books and binders. “Hey Tim. We just finished picking up someone’s books because someone’s locker is comically messy,” Grian explained, tilting his head towards Joel. Joel just huffed in response.
“I feel like we’ve been knowing this,” Jimmy replied in a well-of-fucking-course tone. “Okay, okay! Enough about my locker, how was Operation Heart Foundation?” Joel smirked, smoothly switching the topic. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s face lit up. “Remind me, why did we name it ‘Operation Heart Foundation?’ That doesn’t even make sense, let alone sound catchy,” Grian questioned. “Just because! Anyways, let Jimmy talk!” Joel hissed, lightly slapping Grian in the arm.
“ItwassupersuccessfulandIgothisnumber,” Jimmy said in one breath, his face absolutely beaming. “Woah, slow down, say it again.” Jimmy smiled lovingly. “It went smoothly and I got his number!” Jimmy exclaimed, barely containing his excitement.
Joel and Grian immediately responded with positive comments, the short duo ganging up on Jimmy and fluffing his hair. “Okay, okay! Let’s go to lunch, I’m starving,” Jimmy sighed, Joel and Grian agreeing as they walked towards the cafeteria.
-
“Oh, by the way, Grian, can you tutor me?” Joel asked, mouth full as he proceeded to stuff more food into his mouth.
“Yeah sure, what subject or topic?”
“Umm.. all of them..?”
Grian froze mid-bite and stared at Joel. He quickly closed his mouth. “Joel… what do you mean by that?” Grian asked slowly. Joel sighed. “So I’m basically on the path to failing and repeating our senior year, so Ms. Symmetry gave me a list of smart kids in the school and your name was on the list,” Joel shrugged, acting like he doesn’t give a care in the world, but in reality, he could not (and would not) stay for another year of high school.
Jimmy burst out laughing, Grian’s mouth gaping. “Joel! You do know you need good grades to enter college, right?”
“I know that, duh. And believe it or not, I actually do want to go to college for architecture. I just… caught senioritis, that’s all,” Joel replied awkwardly. “Mate, senioritis is not a real thing and you know it,” Jimmy cackled. Joel didn’t bother responding and just rolled his eyes again.
Before this school year, Joel averaged B’s, some C’s, and a rare A; but senior year bit his ass hard, and the fact that he was extremely burnt out wasn’t helping either.
“Joel, I’m genuinely sorry, but I can’t tutor you everyday. I’m just way too busy nowadays, especially with extracurriculars,” Grian sighed, Joel’s look of nonchalance wavering in the slightest. “But.. I don’t wanna see you fail. Did Ms. Symmetry recommend someone in particular?” Grian asked. Joel turned his gaze to the side. “Well.. she said some guy named ‘Etho’ was a really good student and apparently he’s in my class, but I barely remember him,” Joel mumbled. “That’s great! Etho is really smart and we’re friends! Actually, he’s friends with a lot of our friends, and you guys are classmates, even though you don’t really know or remember him,” Grian reassured. Jimmy butted in. “Aaand, he’s friends with Tango.. mind putting in a good word for me?” Jimmy smirked, that same smirk being wiped off his face as Joel elbowed him lightly in the stomach.
“Fine.. I’ll talk to him after school,” Joel sighed, giving in.
-
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
People scrambled out of classrooms to get out as fast as they could. Usually, Joel would be one of these people, but today he wasn’t.
He made a beeline to the fountain in the courtyard (which the school could somehow afford but couldn’t afford new soccer equipment/jerseys), where Grian told him that that’s where Etho waited after school for robotics (what a nerd).
He made it into the courtyard and stared at the fountain from afar, eyes wandering from one person to another in search of Etho. White hair, wears a mask, grey and red eyes.. Joel thought, thinking back to when Grian described him, Joel couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the suspiciously unrealistic appearance.
There. Sitting on the fountain and on his phone, was the one and only Etho. Joel took a deep breath before storming off into an awkward social interaction with a guy he doesn’t even know.
Joel was feeling pretty confident, but suddenly he stopped in his tracks.
A tanned brunette wearing green and mossy-like clothing approached Etho. Joel recognized him as Bdubs. Stupid Bdubs, Joel cursed mentally at the strange, horse-obsessed man. “Damn, I didn’t know Etho was friends with Bdubs,” Joel muttered, mainly to himself, but someone happened to have heard him.
“Friends? Just friends? Joel, oh, Joel,” a raspy voice belonging to a Tango Tek sighed out, arriving into Joel’s view and putting an arm over his shoulder. “What do you mean?” Joel asked. “Joel. You can’t be serious. You can’t know Bdubs without knowing Etho, and you can’t know Etho without knowing Bdubs. They weren’t just friends. They were THE couple,” Tango chuckled, “until they broke up a week ago,” he added, his smile wilting into a smaller and fake one.
“Huh. I haven’t even heard anything about them. I thought Bdubs was as bitchless as he could be. How long were they together?” Joel asked. Tango stared bluntly at him.
“Joel, you can’t be serious.”
“But I am–”
“They’ve been together since freshman year.”
That shut Joel up real quick. “Oh.. must’ve been a nasty break up, huh?” Tango considered giving him the answer. “Yeah, it really was. Our whole group heard it, but you can just ask one of them yourself,” Tango answered. “Whad’ya need Etho for, anyway?”
“I need him to tutor me,” Joel mumbled embarrassingly. “Oh yeah, Jimmy told me about that.” Joel whipped to turn towards Tango. Tango looked back a second later. “Jimmy, huh?” Joel grinned. Tango’s cheeks turned pink and the tip of his ears too. “What? Can 2 guys not be friends?” Tango sputtered. Joel snickered, “I never said anything!” Tango rolled his eyes. “Just go talk to Etho already. And be careful! Don’t get caught in the crossfire between those 2!” Tango said, totally done with Joel as he pushed him away and waved him goodbye.
Joel sighed as he finished laughing and continued towards Etho and Bdubs to interrupt their conversation (as he usually does, and to many other people too). But as he approached, he realized a new person joined their convo, standing beside Bdubs. He looked familiar. What was his name again? Im…Impy?.. No.. Oh. Impulse!
Joel was proud of himself for remembering his name, but was still not sure what his correlation to Bdubs was. Joel was finally close enough where he could make out words.
“–’re just jealous of me and Impulse–”
“–when did I ever say that–”
You see, because of Joel’s incredible social intelligence and awareness, he could clearly see and predict what kind of conversation topic this is. “What’s up fellas?” Joel said casually, nonchalantly sliding down to sit beside Etho and put an arm around his shoulder as if they’ve known each other forever. Joel felt Etho stiffen up, but other than that, no negative reaction could be seen. He’s probably trying to keep the facade up in front of his ex. He doesn’t seem super big on physical touch.
“Joel? Get your stupid butt out of our business,” Bdubs said, clearly irritated at Joel’s interruption. “Your business? Well, I need to discuss some business with Etho, so strut you and your so-called ‘boyfriend’ out because Etho and I have actual important things to discuss. Yeah, I know; such a foreign concept to you,” Joel said, all knowingly and smug. Bdubs stammered for a comeback, but failed to find one. So he resorted to grabbing Impulse’s hand and storming off, leaving Joel and Etho by themselves.
“Hey, thanks for that,” Etho said, pulling away as soon as Bdubs and Impulse were out of sight. Joel quickly retrieved his own arm. “Nah, all good man. I saw through his scheme. I heard the word ‘jealous’ and immediately knew what he was trying to do,” Joel snorted, Bdubs’ predictability humoring him. Etho looked at Joel like a lost puppy. Joel exaggerated his expression as if it could help solve Etho’s confusion. Joel sighed.
“He was trying to make you jealous by having Impulse as his boyfriend. I bet they’re not even dating because there’s no way Bdubs would be able to get over his relationship of 3-4 years in a week,” Joel explained. The realization struck Etho as he slightly tilted his head in thought. “Bdubs has always been so petty, even when we were dating. He gets jealous very easily and tries to get back at me every chance he gets,” Etho shrugged, reminiscing on what used to be.
Joel awkwardly sat beside him as he did so, when Etho cleared his throat and properly looked at Joel. “Anyways, what brings you to my service, Joel?” Etho asked, a sparkle of curiosity twinkling in his mismatched eyes.
Joel studied Etho’s eyes for a second but quickly snapped out of it. “Well, long story short: I’m not doing well academically to the point I might have to repeat the year and I want—no, need—you to tutor me and help me get my grades up,” Joel said, arduously (this was seriously hurting his ego). Etho looked at him intently before replying, “Couldn’t you get Grian to tutor you instead? You guys are best friends, right? Why me? We hardly know each other.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing, but Grian said he’s way too busy with extracurriculars and valedictorian stuff… probably Scar stuff too…” Joel mused, “but anyways! I know you’re smart too, you’re in my class, and Ms. Symmetry recommended you and she’s actually one of the few good teachers in this school so I trust her,” Joel finished.
And again Etho made that face where it looked like he was far away from this place and deeply in thought. “C’mon.. Please? Just at least an hour everyday—”
“An hour a day?!”
“Okay, maybe not an hour, though I did want it to be ‘cus I’ll definitely need that whole hour… maybe 30 minutes a day?”
Etho sighed warily. Joel braced himself for rejection. “Listen, Joel, you’re a nice guy, seriously, but I really just can’t—”
“Please, I’ll do anything!” Joel cried out. Etho was shocked by the sudden outburst but was quick to shut Joel up. “Quiet, will you!? Okay, I’ll help you if you’re that desperate,” Etho scolded quietly, hunching his back and looking around to see if anyone saw Joel’s outburst. Joel grinned; always worked like a charm.
“But you can’t complain if I can’t do it everyday. I have robotics Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays–”
“That’s fine, I do things after school on those days too.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. And I don’t mind waiting or staying up late for tutoring. If we miss a session, we can always just make it up during the weekend,” Joel shrugged. “Hm.. good point,” Etho muttered, Joel already celebrating his victory in his head.
“But… what do I get in return? Sure I’ll help you, but this is taking time out of my life,” Etho countered, leaving Joel to ponder. “My presence and handsome charm, duh,” Joel boasted, showing himself off to the taller man. Etho raised his eyebrow in unamusement.
Joel sighed loudly. “Fine. Anything you want, really. Money, food… well maybe not money..” Joel stopped rambling as a realization inspired him. “Or.. I can help set you up with someone. I am an amazing Cupid, if I do say so myself,” Joel grinned cheekily, playfully elbowing Etho’s arm (which made Etho back away).
Etho seemed to have a slight reaction to those words. “I’ll think about it. I’ll give you my number and I’ll text you when I’ve decided what I want,” Etho compromised, extending his hand directly towards Joel, indicating his want for his phone.
“Straight to the point, I see,” Joel teased, Etho rolling his eyes (seemingly amused) as Joel handed him his phone. “We can start tomorrow after you decide your payment, yeah?”
“Deal,” Etho answered curtly, handing the phone back to Joel and offering his hand for a handshake.
Joel looked at his hand and snorted. Handshake, really? Joel thought, but wasn’t going to say anything to blow his one chance. Instead, he extended his own hand towards Etho’s.
“Deal.”
-
It was around 5:30, and Joel has done nothing since meeting Etho. Joel always finishes his homework in school, so he didn’t do anything, and soccer practice was canceled.
Joel was bored out of his mind, until he heard his phone ping a notification.
Etho
Today, 3:42 PM
text me when you have
your answer
this is joel btw
Read 5:33 PM
Today, 5:33 PM
Did you really text
me the second you
got home?
Obsessed much?
Joel rolled his eyes and smiled as if this were some sort of challenge. Who does this guy think he is?
Replying to: Did you really…
no i just did it asap cus
i didnt wanna forget duh
Replying to: Obsessed much?
says the guy who was way
too eager to put his contact
in my phone
Only because you
practically begged me
to tutor you.
Joel felt his face flush and immediately started typing up a comeback, until Etho stopped him.
Also, I know how you can
pay me back.
do tell
Read 5:36 PM
Etho is typing…
Hurry up, Joel thought impatiently (as if he had anything to do (which he doesn’t)). He felt his phone vibrate in his hand.
When he opened the message, he couldn’t help but have his jaw drop.
Be my fake boyfriend.