Jeff sighed, looking out the window. He hated economics, hated the subject with a passion. The only reason he took it was because his dad wanted him to, and… Well, Nick was in this class. The only other class he shared with the brunet quarterback was Maths, and they were seated in alphabetic order there, so Duval was pretty damn far away from Sterling. Too far for Jeff's taste.
Although this wasn't ideal, either. Nick was sitting right behind him, and so the brunet had all the time in the world to observe how much of a nerdy, dorky loser Jeff was, while Jeff couldn't stare endlessly at the back of Nick's head, dreaming about being loved by him.
It wasn't like anything would ever happen between them. Even if Nick was gay, or even bisexual, Jeff would never catch his attention. He was just the weird boy who knew all the answers in every subject but sucked at math, and his glasses weren't exactly helping either. He had lenses, but… He hated them. He wore them to things he wanted to look good for, like prom, but it wasn't like Nick would notice him while he was too busy having fun with the other jocks and cute cheerleaders. He sighed, looking down at the freshmen who had P.E. on the football field and watching them suffer. He could already pick out the future football stars and the boys who were going to be like him. Alone. Ignored. Unnoticed.
"Are you okay?" A voice whispered from behind him, and he looked up, straight into Nick's eyes. "Y-Yeah…" He stuttered, blushing brightly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I'm fine." He whispered back, a small smile growing on his face. Nick noticed him… Sort of. He heard him sigh, probably, and was just wondering if he was okay. That was all.
The point was, that wasn't all. Because the rest of the lesson Jeff could feel Nick's eyes on him, and their eyes would meet whenever he glanced back at the brunet, who would smile at him before looking away, at the teacher. It was a good thing, Jeff thought, even though his hair looked terrible and he was blushing so much he probably looked like a tomato. Once the lesson was over, he quickly packed his bag, fleeing the room. Nick was held back by his friends, something that never bothered Jeff. He didn't have much friends.
He didn't see Nick until maths. They didn't have an assigned seat today, since the teacher was sick and they had a substitute, so Jeff sat down in the complete back, next to the window. He always had first pick since he got to the classroom faster than the other kids, once again not having the problem of being held back by friends. He just looked out the window as the other kids filed in, unaware of the brunet boy seeking his face the moment he walked in. He only noticed him when the quarterback sat down next to him, throwing him a kind smile. Jeff's face flushes, and he just looks down at his books, trying to ignore the fluttering in his stomach. Nick sat down next to him. Voluntarily. While he could've sat down next to one of his friends. "Hey. Mind if I sit here?" The brunet asked, making Jeff look up again. "N-no, that's fine." Jeff stuttered, face flushing a bit more as he mentally cursed himself and his stupid stutter.
They stayed silence for most of the lesson, Jeff occasionally asking a question in a soft, shy voice and Nick explaining it. His stutter faded more and more as he slowly got more comfortable around the brunet, and at the end of the lesson, he had a small smile on his face as he pushed his glasses up the brink of his nose, listening to Nick explain maths to him. The brunet was smart, smarter than most of the jocks seemed to be.
But the lesson ended, the bell ringing and signalling it was time to go home or to one of the many clubs at the small high school. Jeff didn't have Glee club today, so he just whispered a soft 'bye' to Nick, who was already surrounded with his friends and walked out of the classroom, clutching his books to his chest as he walked to his locker.
Nick caught up to him right after he opened his locker, friends left behind as he leaned against the locker next to Jeff's. "Hey… Why did you walk away?" The brunet asked, sounding sad as chocolate brown eyes searched for Jeff's. Jeff's heart fluttered slightly, averting his eyes as he put some of his books in his locker. "You were busy with your friends… I didn't want to bother you." He answered in a soft voice, biting his lip as he glanced at Nick. "It's okay. You don't have to talk to me just because I felt a bit bad this morning in Economics." He sighed, turning to Nick. "No! No, I want to talk to you. You seem really nice." Nick protested, looking at Jeff in a bit of a shocked expression.
Nick couldn't see why he would ever pick his friends over spending time with the blonde. He'd been hopelessly in love with him since freshmen year, but he never had the guts to come out. Once he did, and his friends turned out to be okay with it and helped him when anyone in the locker room or anywhere else in the school had problems with him, he wanted to talk to Jeff. But the blonde only came out months after Nick, a few weeks before their junior prom when a girl asked him out and he refused, telling her he was gay. She spread it around the school, but no one seemed to know who Jeff was, so he didn't get bullied for his sexuality often. Not if Nick and his friends could help it.
It was awesome, being accepted by his friends and at the same time being able to help other guys like Jeff, protecting them against the ignorance of public school in Lima, Ohio. It was a privilege, really, having so many football players on his side and the cheerio's helping by telling them if someone got harassed and they didn't notice. The girls were like spies around the school, and almost nothing escaped them. And even if they didn't like Nick (the amount of attention he got from them was getting less and less the more the girls realized he really just liked guys) they usually had boyfriends on the football team, so they helped out anyway.
And now it was senior year. The last year Nick would be spending here, with his friends, with Jeff. The last year he'd see the blonde dress up from prom and wear lenses for one evening. The last year Nick would get to see the blonde nearly every day.
Because there was no doubt in his mind that once the blonde got to know him, he wouldn't want to spend much time with him. Maybe for senior year, but after that? Probably not. The blonde probably thought he was just another dumb jock (because honestly, his friends weren't exactly the smartest) and while Jeff may suck at math, Quinn was always annoyed at how he still got higher grades than her in everything but maths and P.E.. And what could Nick do? Play football and do math. And he was fairly good at Creative Writing, but everyone said that class was useless.
While he thought about that, Jeff finished putting his books away, blushing brightly. "Well, that's really nice, but… I have to go. I have to babysit my sister right after school. W-which is now." He said, face flushing a bit more as he closed his locker. "Good afternoon, Nick." He said, walking away with a soft smile, making Nick sigh as he watched him walk away. "Bye…" The brunet mumbled, knowing Jeff wouldn't hear it anymore.
The brunet left, walking back into the classroom and packing his bag quickly, chatting with his friends a bit as they walked out of the school. They knew about his crush on Jeff, teasing him constantly about how the star quarterback of the school fought of the ladies like a professional but couldn't even flirt with a guy who was openly gay. With a sigh, he got into his car, smiling softly as he drove home. He'd talked to Jeff today. Sort of. Asked him if he was okay and explained math to him for nearly a full period. And then talked a bit again after class. That counted for something, right? Right.
The next day in school, Jeff found himself at his locker, putting in unneeded books and switching them for others, putting them in his messenger bag. He was focused on that, not noticing the brunet who was looking at him from across the hall, only half listening to his friends. He did, however, notice Trent joining him, and he offered him a small smile. "Morning, Jeff." The chubby glee clubber said, smirking. "You're getting quite the attention from our quarterback today. Maybe he liiikes you." He said, glancing at Nick before winking at Jeff as he said it. Jeff blushed a bright red, glancing at Nick as well and waving a bit at him, making the brunet beam and wave back. "He talked to me in economics yesterday. And then again in math. And after math." Jeff admitted, blushing lightly as he closed his locker. "But there's no way he likes me. Just… No way."
Trent just rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, sure. He was looking at you like a kicked puppy before you waved, and then he turned into a puppy who's master just came home. Seriously, he likes you. And you'd be downright lying if you said you didn't like him too." Jeff shrugged, his face still flushed a dark red. "I guess." He mumbled, although he didn't believe Trent. Nick having a crush on Jeff? Yeah, right. That was like walking on the ceiling. Flying pigs. All that impossible stuff.
His point was only proven when they passed Nick and his friends, a cheerio coming up to him and whispering in his ear before talking to the other guys as well. Nick could ask out anyone in the school, every girl and gay guy, and they wouldn't say no. Jeff could ask anyone in Glee club and probably be told that although he was nice he was just a friend.
So, he supposed he'd be Nick's friend. That was his only chance of ever being close to Nick outside of school. And hey, he was a great friend, if he did say so himself.
He walked into his English classroom feeling strangely confident.