Johanna ran into Gale the next day by her locker.

"Hawthorne."

"Mason." She opened her locker, carelessly dumping her books in.

"Do you need something? I mean other than a little fun in your life." She smirked.

"No, I don't need anything from you. I'm just... here."

"Any reason why?" She squints up at him, trying to read his mind. "Hm... you want something. Spill."

"I don't need anything from you." Gale repeats, scratching at the back of his neck.

"So you're here why?" She prods, half a smirk on her lips. "I think... I think you like me. You wanna hang out with me."

"I do not." Gale retorts defensively. "I very much do not like you."

"Oh you do, you're interested in me because I'm so different than you and you don't understand me." She circles him like a predator watching her prey. His eyes follow her uneasily.

"Alright, Hawthorne. You can hang around with me if you're willing to be corrupted." She challenges.

"Wha... What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you want to be my friend, no more stick-in-the-mud. You're gonna be broken from your comfort zone."

"I can handle you." He looks at her defiantly.

"Nobody can really handle me, honey." She assures him, leaning against the locker.

"I'll be the judge of that."

Johanna grinned.

"See? I'm rubbing off on you already."

They walked together into the cafeteria, where one or two people shot them weird looks. The bad girl is hanging out with the good boy. It was a weird reversal of a well-loved trope.

Jo piled food onto a tray and found a mostly empty table, sitting down and glaring at the other occupants, who turned their attention away from the intruder and back to their own conversation, although it was quieter than it had been. Gale joined her a moment later, a good portion of the healthiest caf food available. Jo looked at him in disgust.

"You clearly need help." She put a scoop of her mashed potatoes and a brownie on his plate. "Eat those too, you're far too healthy to be seen with me." With that, she dug into her remaining food. She ignored Gale's indignant glare.

"Um, Johanna?" Gale leaned his hand nervously on his chin.

"Mpfh?" She grunted, taking another bite of chicken.

"You might wanna slow down, you look like you're gonna bust a gut."

"I am not." She retorted, shoving in a brownie. "Just cuz I'm short doesn't mean I have to eat less."

"I know, but it's painful to watch you, like are you sure you won't die?" Jo rolled her eyes.

"M not gonna die from a few brownies, Hawthorne."

"Okay..." He sighed, rising with his tray. "But I'm not driving you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped."

She gave him a withering look but he just grinned and went to dump his trash. Gale has been around her a total of 27 minutes and already he's showing signs of improvement. She smiled to herself. He'll be perfect by the end of the week.

Gale came back to sit next to her instead of across, and he handed her three sugar packets. She raised a brow at him.

"Your afternoon kick." He explained as if it was the most obvious thing. She continued to look at him so he rolled his eyes and explained. "You always fall asleep in the last three periods. The sugar will keep you awake until you get home, where you will crash for about half an hour."

She didn't respond but took the sugar, ripping the top edge off them and tipping them back.

"You're growing on me, Hawthorne."