"Alright everyone! Enjoy the rest of your day, and don't forget about the homework!" Miss Ashby smiled at everyone as they packed their bags and stood to leave, "Mr. Smythe, can I have a word?" Sebastian's head snapped up and he only nodded. 'Already in trouble? Shit, I should have kept the sarcasm to myself.' Once the rest of the students had cleared out of the classroom, Sebastian walked up to Mrs. Ashby's desk. She smiled at him, "You can drop the serious face, Mr. Smythe. You're not in trouble or anything."
Sebastian shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulder. "So why am I sticking around, then?" 'Please don't be one of those creepy teachers. Yeah, you look good for your age but that's super creepy and you're a WOMAN. Please, please don't be...'
She closed her copy of the book they were covering, and handed Sebastian a paper with names written on it. "It's school policy for you to catch up on everything you've missed, but since you transferred so late into the semester I got special permission from Principal Figgins to give you a more...concise assignment." He glanced down at the list, looking over the names. "Instead of doing each individual assignment on these poets, I'd like you to just do a little research on each, nothing too extensive, and write me a paper on what you think we've learned so far."
After folding the paper neatly and slipping it in his pocket, Sebastian shifted his weight again, "Okay, so what, a couple of pages? Whatever I want to write?"
"Exactly." Another smile appeared on the teachers face, "Just make it mean something, Mr. Smythe. No bullshitting." She smirked at him when he cocked an eyebrow at the comment, "Oh, don't think I don't know your type, Mr. Smythe. The 'do what I can to get a good grade and get it over with' type, right? Just, please, try and get something out of it, alright?" Sebastian nodded politely, shrugging off the suggestion. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Smythe."
Sebastian left the classroom and turned left, bumping right into someone. "Umph-" Dave grabbed his shoulders to steady him, smiling at him. "Oh, hey Dave." Shooting a grin at the slightly shorter boy, Sebastian hoisted his bag back on his shoulder.
"Other way, cowboy. C'mon." Turning Sebastian around, Dave guided him towards their shared class. "How was first period?"
"Interesting. I'm a little lost, but I'm enjoying it so far." They stopped to let the AV club enter the hallway with their carts full of equipment. "Ashby was…not what I expected." Sebastian explained what had happened after class, and his initial thoughts when she had called for his attention.
Dave chuckled as he turned to open the classroom door open for Sebastian, "Everyone seems to think like that. But believe me, she used to be really strange before she met her girlfriend-" He laughed at the look on Sebastian's face, "Yes, I said girlfriend. Older than she is too, I think. So you don't have to worry about her hitting on a young, handsome guy like you or anything." A severe blush was evident on Dave's face as he walked to the back of the classroom to take a seat. A couple of guys near the door had heard his comment and looked up to give them a strange look before they noticed it had been Dave.
Sebastian was pleased to see that they didn't seem to care once they saw it was Dave. 'Still a little homophobic, but whatever. They must play football with him.' He took the seat next to Dave once he was sure no one was going to give them any shit by throwing a nasty glare at everyone who bothered to take a glance at them. "So...U.S. History. This is going to be...fun."
Dave cocked an eyebrow at him as the teacher stop to write a few notes on the board. "Not a fan?"
Barking out a quiet laugh, Sebastian pulled out his spiral bound note pad and a pen. "Dalton boys are...Studious. We don't let our disinterest in a subject get in the way of a good grade. But no, I'm definitely not a fan."
"What about now that you're not at Dalton? I hear McKinley kids tend to flunk classes they don't like." He smirked as he copied Sebastian's actions, and began jotting down the notes written on the dry erase board at the head of the classroom, "I happen to really like history. It's cool to feel almost..connected to people I've never met and will never meet. Why leaders of countries started wars, why communities have helped others, trying to figure out what was running through their heads when they did these things."
The teacher dropped a stack of papers in front of Sebastian, "Welcome to class, Sebastian. I'm Mr. Fields." He motioned to the stack of papers, "This is everything you've missed, turn in what you can, when you can, and hope you pass."
Sebastian nodded, "Yeah, sure. Thanks." Mr. Fields smiled politely as he walked away. Murmuring under his breath, Sebastian leaned closer to Dave, "A bit of a hard ass, huh?"
'New goal: Spend more time with Seb.' Dave smirked, "I guess we're going to have to have a study group of something."
Sebastian looked hopeful, "Oh yeah? Just me and you?"
"Yeah, just me and you."
:3
The rest of Sebastian's classes passed by in a blur. He had a few classes with some of the glee club which was, if he were being honest with himself, a little annoying. Either they ignored him or constantly badgered him into joining New Directions. He also had 8 weeks of homework to catch up on so even if he wanted to, he wasn't joining glee club any time soon.
His final class of the day was what he was most excited about, if he could honestly get excited about anything school related. Weight lifting right before going home to shower seemed like an excellent choice.
Dave clapped him on the shoulder as he passed by, leading the way to the gymnasium, "You ready for this, Seb?"
"What, you think I can't handle it?" Sebastian asked sarcastically, shooting a smirk at him, "I may not be buff or anything, but I played lacrosse at Dalton-" Dave's eyebrows peaked with interest, "-Loads of lean muscle." Sebastian side-stepped to get out of the way of a couple of football players leaving the locker room, who gave Dave friendly smiles and a fist bump. "Besides, it's about time I build a little more muscle."
"Not exactly what I meant, but I'm glad you're so enthusiastic." Dave chuckled and once he reached an empty locker, he slipped his t-shirt over his head. Sebastian swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, and chose the locker behind Dave, keeping their backs turned to each other. He followed Dave's actions and changed into his gym clothes. Both boys still had a hint of a blush on their cheeks as they turned to each other, fully dressed, and left the locker room.
Coach Beiste stood on the other end of the gym and once she noticed all of the students in the gym, gave a loud whoop and shouted, "Okay, boys! Drop and give me 50!"
:3
Thank you all again for hanging in there. I hope you're still enjoying this!
