The second the bell goes, Richard scrambles to throw everything into his bag as his assigned study partner sweeps, ghostlike, past him without a glance. The dark-haired boy follows him into the hall.
"So, uhh," he says, catching up. "I'm Richard. Richard Alpert."
"Mm-hmm." Jacob doesn't meet his eyes, staring down at Richard's outstretched hand like it crawled up out of the ocean and bit him. After a few moments of awkwardness, Richard lets his arm drop and tries again.
"So. Jacob." He tries out his best smile again. "You got a last name to go with that first one?" He winces mentally.
"Uh-huh." The blonde doesn't elaborate, and his eyes stay fixed to the floor as they shuffle along.
"Okay..." Richard clears his throat, thinking furiously What the hell is wrong with me? Come on, I know I'm a little rusty, but Jesus, it shouldn't be this hard! "Ahm, when did you wanna get together and go over notes and whatnot?" Smooth. Real smooth. I am the master of subtlety.
The question seems to require mulling over, and there are a few beats of intense contemplation before Jacob looks up at the ceiling, purses his lips, and says hesitantly, "Sixth period?"
"Uhh," Richard pulls out his now-crumpled schedule. "Yeah. That's fine; I've got Study Hall."
"Me too."
"Great!" He goes to give the slender boy a friendly back-pat, thinks better of it, and peels away, heading for the Science block.
"See you then, Jacob!"
Jacob makes some vague reply that can't be heard over the crowd before turning down the Art hallway and melting into the background.
...
The next two periods go by in a blur- Bio and Maths- and by the time he heads to the Cafeteria, Richard's mood is considerably better than it was when he woke.
He only has to glance around at the tables a few seconds before a familiar voice hails him.
"Richard! Over here!"
He follows the call to a table occupied by Juliet and a gorgeous, aloof-looking Latina girl. He smiles and sets his bag down, taking the seat across from them.
"This is Ana Lucia, Juliet introduces. "This is Richard, the new kid."
"The stalker," Ana Lucia says with a grin, reaching across to shake his hand.
"Oh, good, I was hoping to earn a creepy nickname my first day here," he replies dryly, looking at Juliet, who shakes her head.
"Don't worry, no one else knows about your voyeuristic habits. Ana's the only out lesbian in the school, so your secret's safe."
"Good to know." He bites into his sandwich.
"So while we're in the Circle of Gay Safety," the blonde girl continues, "Share with us your opinion on your first day. Any info on tall, pale and handsome?" She winks.
"Actually, yes." Richard sets his fries down and wipes the grease from his fingers. "He's in my History class. And my Study Hall; he's gonna sort of... tutor me, so I can catch up."
"Oh man," Ana Lucia groans. "You were right. This is a John Hughes movie."
"You have never seen a John Hughes movie in your life," Juliet accuses "You were busy... fixing cars and, and watching Top Gun or something."
"Hey, I was twelve once!"
"So did you actually get a name?" Juliet demands, turning back to Richard. He nods.
"Jacob."
"Jacob...?"
"I didn't get a last name. He's not exactly chatty." He eats another fry, thinking. "He didn't even look at me, the entire conversation. Kept his eyes glued to his feet."
"Cute," she comments with a little smile.
Ana Lucia smirks. "And now you got a 'study session' set up with him."
"Maybe a little 'one-on-one'?" Juliet adds, warming to the subject with a wicked gleam in her eye.
"For crying- I'm not gonna jump the guy!" Richard exclaims, but it's too late and the girls are in full swing.
"Hitting the books, so to speak? Cracking down?"
"Take lots of notes, so you can review them when you're alone later."
"You two are twisted," he says, but he can't help the grin on his face as he realizes how much they remind him of Penny and Charlie, some of his New York friends. The way they used to keep up a constant dialogue of amusingly mindless banter, driving both their boyfriends crazy. For the first time since he's moved here, he feels a swell of easygoing comfort- he'll be okay here.
...
The next class flies by as quickly as the others, and before he knows it he's heading to Study Hall, trying not to grin.
Jacob's not in the room yet, so he takes a seat at one of the empty two-person tables and pulls out his notebook. He doesn't have to wait long; a few minutes later the lanky figure of his "tutor" appears in the door. Richard catches his eye, smiles and gestures at the empty chair. The blonde nods and steps over the threshold, but is halted by a large, tanned hand grabbing his arm and pulling him aside in the hallway. Richard frowns and cranes his neck, trying to see who it is, though he's got a pretty good idea already. Sure enough, after a few seconds, Jacob reappears, looking withdrawn, and Esau goes stalking past the doorway with a smug expression.
Jacob hurries over and sits down. "Here..." He pulls a notebook from his satchel, flips it open and sets it carefully on the table in front of Richard. "You should uh... you should start there, at the bit about Romulus and Remus."
Richard nods and reaches for the notebook, noticing out of the corner of his eye how Jacob whips his hand away before their fingers can brush. Disappointed, he glances at the notes. "Wow, you've got great handwriting."
"Thanks," the quiet boy replies quietly, sitting stiffly in his chair.
Richard copies two pages of notes on the founding of the Roman civilization without an of the information really sinking in. He's starting to think this is never gonna go anywhere- how do you start a conversation with a statue?- when he spots something sticking out of one of the pockets of Jacob's backpack. "Is that-" a grin starts to form at the corners of his mouth. "Is that an A-Team keychain?"
"What?" Jacob looks down, a blush spreading across his panicked expression. "Oh, uh-" He quickly shoves the keychain- a tiny black van with a red stripe- back into the pocket. "That's nothing. I'm kind of a... huge dork."
"Aw." Richard's full-on grinning now, pleased to have gotten a full sentence out of the reserved boy. "I don't think it's dorky. And if it is, it's not bad dorky. Do you like the show or the movie?"
Jacob turns, for the first time, to really look at him, eyes wide with what looks like surprise and maybe a new interest in the conversation. "Well, uh- both, actually."
"Awesome."
...
When the bell rings almost an hour later, it catches them both by surprise- they've spent all their time chatting about TV shows and films.
"Crap," Richard says guiltily, looking down at the abandoned notes. "F minus on productivity, huh?"
"Sorry," Jacob says, like it's his fault they have the same taste in movies.
"Hey, it's no problem to me, man. Just means you'll have to spend more time with my charming self tomorrow." The dark-haired boy feels a thrill of accomplishment when a faint smile graces Jacob's face.
"Tomorrow, then."