a/n: i wrote this on a whim and now it's seriously out of hand help

welcome to beach city high school! your resident meathead and nerd greet you fondly, or they would if they could stop arguing for one second :(

more about the actual high school and stuff will be expanded on in the next chapter, however i'm unsure when i can update as i have a big science test in a couple of weeks and i need to study. hopefully i won't abandon this. also, i'm hoping to make the chapters longer when i have more time to write.

for now, enjoy! and please leave a review and tell me what you liked 3

"Yo, nerd, for half a moment there I thought you weren't going to show up." That was the way Jasper chose to greet Peridot as she opened the door. Peridot raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Unlike some people, I am actually invested in this project. Of course I showed up, despite the company I would have to be keeping," Peridot replied, stepping into Jasper's house as the taller girl closed the door behind her. She politely removed her black boots, and couldn't help but notice Jasper was wearing a Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens shirt, and wondered if the girl owned anything that wasn't sports-related.

She sniffed and tossed her emerald green scarf over her shoulder.

As of yesterday, Peridot had lost all the faith she had in her history teacher (granted, she didn't have much, but whatever). No one in their right mind would look at Jasper and Peridot and decide that they were the perfect partners for their end-of-term project on Ancient Greece.

Peridot sighed internally. But no matter. They had ten weeks left of senior year and she was not going to have it ruined by some meathead jock who couldn't tell the difference between Sparta and Athens.

"Are you coming or not, shortbus?"

Peridot snapped out of her thoughts and back into reality. "Yeah, of course," she said, hoping she sounded like she'd been listening the entire time. By the look on Jasper's face, she knew she'd failed.

"So where are we going? I just need reminding," Jasper asked, her mouth twisted into a smirk.

"… Shut up," Peridot said. Jasper chuckled.

"Come on," she gestured, leading Peridot through a doorway into a short and narrow hallway, which ended in a flight of stairs going down, "the way to the basement is down here."

Basement? Peridot thought. Typical.

Jasper led Peridot down the stairs and into a surprisingly spacious room. There was an old beat-up leather couch, a TV with an Xbox next to it, a mini fridge, speakers and an iPod dock, wooden shelves filled with DVDs and games, posters covering the walls, and (most curiously) a twin-sized bed in the left corner.

"Make yourself at home, squirt," Jasper said, putting her hands on her hips as if she was proud of the place. She surveyed the room like a business man looks at his flourishing company. Peridot knew that look. Her dad wore it all the time.

"I have a name, you know," she snapped, as she made her way to the couch and sat down. The couch creaked ominously as she sat down on it. She winced as a spring dug into her thigh and shuffled around a bit, finally crossing her legs and resolving to just deal with it.

"Alright, so Mr. Lewis said we can choose any topic we like and present it in any medium so long as it represents the culture and splendour of Ancient Greece." Peridot pulled a sleek chrome laptop from its black bag and started it up. "I recommend presenting things in a technological medium to take advantage of my prowess in that particular field – unless you have any other ideas, Jasper? … Jasper! Are you even listening to me?"

Jasper smirked when she looked up from her iPod. "I can hear you. And careful, you don't want to strain your vocal chords. I'm surprised they've lasted this long already all things considered."

Peridot narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It means you talk a lot. Face the truth like a man," Jasper retorted, finally placing the iPod on the dock. Loud music started to play from the speakers, heavy with guitars and drums. Peridot winced.

"I think I'll pass," she said, sniffing, "and turn that infernal music off! We're trying to work, not throw a mosh pit for two!"

"Geez, didn't know you were so sensitive," Jasper said, but turned it off anyway. She threw herself down onto the couch next to Peridot, sprawled out like she was royalty.

"So, as I was saying - "

"I know you wanna do some nerdy PowerPoint presentation or something, but come on! That's so boring!" Jasper said.

"Excuse me?" Peridot fumed. "Are you insulting my talents?"

Jasper scoffed. "I'm just saying, I have talents too y'know!"

"Let me guess, you're a very gifted artist?" Peridot raised an eyebrow.

"I could be!"

"Well it doesn't matter what way we present it when we don't even know what we're doing the project on yet," Peridot, swiftly changed the topic, before Jasper got enraged about her (most likely non-existent) art skills.

"We should do war!"

"How about politics?"

"Bleh, that's boring! Sport!"

"What about the gods?"

"Ares, god of war!"

"Athena, goddess of war strategy and wisdom!"

"Let's recreate some battle armour!"

"Or we could do something a little less dangerous," Peridot said. However, she wasn't really complaining. Whatever got Jasper invested in the project worked for her.

"How about a war re-enactment?"

"Isn't that a bit too nerdy for the likes of you?" Peridot asked.

"Hey, as long as I'm beating people up I'm okay with it," Jasper said, stretching her arms out behind her head and then linking her fingers together, grinning smugly.

Peridot nearly growled with frustration. "No one will be beating up anyone, Jasper!"

"Of course no one will be beating me up, I'm too awesome! You, on the other hand … Yeah, you're toast, scrawny."

"Ugh, I am done with your childish thirst for violence and small attention span!" Peridot snapped. She stared at the blank word document she'd opened. Useless.

"Look," she said, placing two fingers to her temple. Jasper was really trying her patience, "here's what we'll do. We'll brainstorm ideas tonight and finalise what we're actually going to do tomorrow in history." She started to shut down her laptop. It was time for her to leave. Being around Jasper left her exhausted and confused.

"What if I come up with an amazing idea during the night and I really need to tell you about it?" Jasper's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Peridot sighed. She reached in her rucksack and pulled out a stack of post-it notes and a pen. She scribbled something on the top note and then tore it off, taking pleasure in reaching over and sticking it to Jasper's forehead.

"Text me, if it's really that urgent," she said as she packed her stuff away.

"Bitch," Jasper said in amazement as she unstuck the post-it note from her forehead.

She stood up and escorted Peridot out back into the main hallway and leant against the wall as Peridot laced up her boots.

"Well, Jasper, it's been a … delight, as always," Peridot said in a monotone.

Jasper mock-saluted. "Love havin' you over, Peri. See, I can use your name!"

Peridot seethed. "That's not my name! I hate nicknames!" She sighed and composed herself before she could go on an angry rant.

"Goodbye, Jasper," she said as cordially as possible, before leaving as quickly as she could. She had to stop herself from slamming the door behind her.

She made her way home, thankful that she only lived about fifteen minutes away from Jasper. If she walked quickly, she could be home in time to eat something and then make a start on any homework she might have.

She felt a slight vibration in the pocket of her black shorts and pulled out her phone, delighted that the text was from Lapis, enquiring about how her time at Jasper's had gone. Peridot smiled slightly. Lapis always knew when she needed someone to listen to her rant about Jasper.

Lapis Lazuli had been Peridot's best friend since eighth grade, when Lapis had moved to the town. They were as close as two friends could be. They were even going to Prom together – platonically, of course. Though a part of Peridot couldn't help but wonder what might happen on that night.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts quickly, shaking her head. She'd promised herself to avoid going down that path. It would only lead to sadness.

She responded to Lapis cheerfully and they texted all the way until Peridot returned home. She texted Lapis goodbye and let herself in using her key, trudging up the stairs and placing her boots and bag in her room. She was about to go downstairs and greet her father when she felt her phone vibrate again in her pocket.

Her brow furrowed. Surely it wasn't Lapis, who had just texted her back?

She unlocked her phone and saw the text was from an unknown number. It was a picture message of a hand drawn cartoon figure wearing glasses and holding a laptop, bearing a remarkable likeness to Peridot herself. The speech bubble next to the figure read: 'Let's talk about technology!'.

Very impressive, Jasper, she texted back.

I know right?! So are you sure I can't beat people up in our project now that I've drawn you this awesome picture?, was the responsive she received.

She smirked. I'll sleep on it, she texted back.

Before going downstairs she saved the number on her phone, simply as 'Meathead'.