Monday morning has always been one of those things that no student looks forward to, and this was no exception. Danny did manage to find a bright side; it had reached the final stretch of the year. Once April ended, it was all downhill. The only real obstacle in his way were finals. Because he had spent a majority of the year sitting in class, blank look plastered on his face, mind more concerned with the thoughts plaguing him then math and science, he wasn't sure exactly how well he could do. Not that it really made a difference to him; he was used to missing a lot of information due to lateness or absences due to otherwise paranormal events. If he were to be completely honest with himself right now he couldn't care less about school, and besides, other than his parents, no adult really wanted to bother with him, it has even reached the point where the teachers had essentially given up on teaching him anything.
On the other end of the social spectrum was an equally hopeless individual, but with much different circumstances. Dash would admit, he had never been the most studious student, or the most gifted. He tried hard at what was assigned to him, but he never quite did as well as he had hoped to. Now this didn't mean he wasn't intelligent, but it did take him longer to figure things out, which was problematic for him whenever he had to take a test. If he had notes, he would have no problem, but when he had to remember all the information, especially on something cumulative like a final exam, he was really up the creek without a paddle.
The faculty at Casper High was definitely guilty of favouritism, and everyone knew it. Naturally no one called them out on it, even the parents didn't bother. So when a popular kid, such as Dash, needed help in the education department, they forced the smarter kids to help him out after school. Of course for the first half of his high school career, those were the kids Dash tormented daily, so none of them wanted to be bothered. Even now, despite his attitude adjustment, they didn't feel it was worth the risk, and blew him off. He was dumbfounded, not only did the popular kids want nothing to do with him other than the image of popularity and unity and complete dominance, the lower echelons of the social ladder didn't want to hang around him either.
It was mid-May, on a cloudy day, the low pressure system not quite clear yet, cool, and dry, the humidity was low and the rain had held off. Danny placed a textbook in his locker. He paused, let out a sigh, and shut his locker. His heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he turned and stood face to face with Dash. Naturally he was aware that the other's bullying days had ended months ago, but force of habit made him associate Dash with pain, torture and misery, which he did not need any more of. He studied the other boy, noticing a familiar expression. His face was filled with confusion, loneliness, much like the face Danny saw when he looked in a mirror. Dash sensed the shorter male's distress and opened his mouth to explain.
"Hey Fenton, I, uh, I need your help."
"My help?" Danny looked up at him, arching an eyebrow to emphasize his confusion.
"Y…yeah, finals are coming up soon, and I, uh, I'm worried about how I'm gonna do on them."
"Why don't you get a tutor to help you?"
"Don't you think I thought of that already?," He said, his voice straining to remain at a volume that wouldn't be considered yelling, "'Cause I did, and none of them want to be bothered."
"So what do you want from me?"
"Well you're smart, I think, so I figured you could help me."
"Wow, you think, didn't know you had it in you."
Danny could see the genuine hurt on the other boy's face, and even he had to admit that that was a low blow. Now a few months ago he wouldn't have dared to say that to the jock's face, but at this point he really didn't care.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been doing the best in school lately either."
"Yeah but that's 'cause you don't pay attention. You're smart enough to figure out all this stuff on your own, I'm not."
Danny could hear the legitimate concern in the boy's plea for assistance and somehow felt obliged to help.
"I, I guess we could go over everything and figure it out together."
"Really? Oh man I appreciate it," Dash started. He placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder and pulled him close to him, pushing their sides together, "You know, Fenton, you're alright."
Danny stammered to reply, a blush lightly filling in his cheeks.
"I… I am?" He managed to choke out. The blonde relinquished his grip and waved a goodbye to his new study buddy, a grin barely curling the ends of his lips. Danny fumbled with the lock to his locker, flinging the door open at looking into the mirror he kept, placing a hand on his cheek. It was still slightly pink, as were the tips of his ears. He looked at his face in the mirror, studied it intently. What he saw forced him to take a step back, he finally saw a bit of happiness to its features. Sure, it was Dash, and sure he was doing it to benefit himself, but someone had finally gone out of their way to talk to Danny, ask him for something, want to be around him. Sure his friends had been pining to hang out with him, but this was different. And that expression, he saw himself when he looked at Dash moments before, someone who was lost in the world, looking for companionship. Closing his locker, he rubbed his temples and exhaled.
"Guess this means I gotta read the information now."
The two spent the next few weeks studying, switching between Danny's house and Dash's house every other day. They didn't really spend time in the same vicinity in school, but they seemed to be a little bit less on edge. Danny even managed to spend the weekend with Sam and Tucker without having a panic attack. He also had a much easier time focusing in school, and Dash finally felt like he truly understood the work he was doing.
Finally, the first day of finals arrived. Dash sat at his desk, chewing the end of his pencil nervously. He looked around the room, stopping at Danny. The other gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, and Dash felt a little better. They had spent enough time going over everything, and he knew that he knew it. He just had to remember it. He exhaled and turned to face the exam that stared back at him. He swallowed, placing the tip of the pencil in his hand on the paper. He read the first question, glanced over at Danny, and realized he knew the answer. He looked over the next few questions; he knew all of those too.
The rest of the exam days worked out with similar results. Dash would sit down, look over at Danny, who would smile, extend a thumb of encouragement, answer all the questions effortlessly, wait till the bell rang, and thank Danny for helping him, usually patting him on the shoulder. The last day he pulled him into a friendly hug, something he usually reserved for Kwan, and the younger boy tensed up on contact. Dash released his grip, feeling his uneasiness, and scratched the back of his own head. He smiled and thanked Danny again, before heading out the door to start his summer.
Danny could still feel the larger male's arm around his back, the joy in his voice, his gratefulness. His mind was slowly piecing together all of the events that had just occurred, and he came to a realization.
He had a crush on Dash Baxter, the guy who spent the first two years of high school making the lives of Danny and his friends miserable. What's worse, Danny was completely okay with his newfound realization, but fear also came along with the acceptance. The fear of rejection, of ridicule, of loneliness, and uncertainty. He let out an exasperated sigh.
Danny was in for a long summer.
