Nick was new to New York. It was almost as if his parents died of his gayness. He had come out only a week before they died. His parents didn't hate him but they didn't love him either. He was shipped off to New York to live with his cousin Daisy. Her parents, while alive, were never home and hadn't been much a part of Daisy's life. This led to Daisy being a little rambunctious. She had multiple boyfriends and was almost always at a party or hosting one to flaunt her money. Walking into high school he hated from the second he even pulled into the lot. He immediately identified all the cliche clicks. The emo kids, the mean unpopular girls, the popular mean girls, the band geeks, the nerds, the list went on, and yet Nick felt like he didn't fit just like at his old high school. Nick saw Daisy and just as he was about to go up and greet her, her boyfriend Tom came up to her, pinning her against the locker and locking lips. Daisy seemed to not have a problem with this but Nick shuddered. He had only met Tom once at a large family gathering and he was a major racist dick. Nick wandered trying to find the office when a girl with a short slick haircut came up to him.

"I assume you're new?" she simply asked not bothering to greet him.

"Is it that obvious?" Nick asked back in response.

"Well, I hadn't seen you around. Where do you need to go?" the girl asked without a smile still.

"The office, I suppose," Nick answered.

"Ahh, right this way," she said lightly grabbing his hand and guiding him through the crowds of people.

Nick tried to make some notes of the people he was passing. Nobody he would ever talk to, he was surprised that this girl was talking to him, he would hate if this girl was desperate and just wanted his body.

"Hey, we're here now!" the girl standing in front of him was shouting.

"Sorry, I was zoning out, just thinking about something else," Nick said, still a little hazy.

"I am lesbian so don't even think about it," the woman stated bluntly.

"Oh, thank god, I'm gay," Nick exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Interesting, did your parents ship you away when they found out?"

"No, no, they just died a little more than a week ago. Out here with my cousin now."

"Why didn't you ask them for help then?" she asked.

Just then he saw Daisy and Tom walking by and pointed at them, "she's a little busy."

"Daisy Fay is your cousin?" she asked with shock, the most emotion she had shown this morning.

"Yeah, a spoiled precious brat," Nick mumbled.

"Maybe so, but she's incredibly hot," the other girl whispered.

"What's your name?" Nick asked, "you never told me."

"You never told me either but it's Jordan, Jordan Baker."

"Carraway, Nick Carraway."

"More like Carragay," Jordan snorted.

"You wouldn't be the first to call me that."

"Go and get your schedule. Then I can show you some pretty boys," Jordan joked.

Nick went in and the lady behind the desk printed off his schedule without barely saying a word to him.

Showing Jordan his schedule she snapped a quick picture and promised to guide him around. She grabbed his arm again and went to another area of the school.

"Right here," she claimed, "the best looking people stand right over there. They might be dumber than rocks but they are always some good eye candy."

"Nicky!" they both heard a voice cry, "why I've seen you already made a friend," Daisy smiled.

"Yes," Nick answered sheepishly, "this is Jordan Baker. She volunteered to show me around today."

"That's great!" Daisy exclaimed as she flipped her hair and walked away.

"I'm telling you, she's a primadonna but there's something so cute about it."

"I'll never under-" Nick's sentence was cut off as he watched the best looking guy he had ever seen walk by, "who is that?"

"Jay, Jay Gatsby."

"Please tell me he is single and gay. He looks like he plays football, does he?"

"He is single but as far as I know he is straight. He doesn't play football but yes I suppose he is in good shape."

"Of course, they are all straight!" Nick groaned.

"Trust me, I completely understand," Jordan agreed. The bell rang and Jordan looked at Nick's schedule again.

"You have history for the first hour, unlucky," Jordan commented, "I have English."

"I like history. It's very interesting to learn about. English is great too! I want to be an author, but I doubt everything would work out that great."

"You're too excited. I haven't had enough coffee for this. Math is easily the best though."

Nick rolled his eyes but they walked together and started ways. Sadly, Jay was not in Nick's class. Looking around nobody Nick knew was. The teacher didn't even realize he was new but it didn't bother Nick too much. They were discussing world religion which was one of Nick's worst subjects despite loving history. He knew several facts about all the religions but they often got confused in his head. The class ended quickly and Jordan was waiting outside the door.

"You have physics next. I think you'll like the teacher though. He is nice looking," Jordan smirked, "my gym class is still better though."

Nick rolled his eyes but understood what Jordan meant as he walked into the room. The physics teacher was almost perfect. If he was only a few years younger he would have gone for it. Nick looked around the few people he recognized were the dumbest hottest students that Jordan had pointed out to him earlier. Sadly, the class came to an end. Nick hadn't listened to one word the professor had said but he was very certain he would be able to describe him perfectly if he was going to reflect a character in a novel. Once again Jordan had been outside the class ready with his schedule on her phone.

"You have math next. I have chemistry. The rooms are right next to each other," she commented.

As they walked Nick started to talk again, "you were so right about the physics teacher. Mr. Hottie is all I'm ever going to call him."

"Ugh, to like men. I could never," Jordan chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

"There has to be at least one good looking female teacher in this school that you appreciate," Nick countered.

"No, they are all mom's and are all way too old. Mr. Hottie as you would like to call him came straight from college. All the girl teachers have been here for at least 7 years," Jordan argued.

"No, come on, look at my math teacher," Nick said looking at the lady that was standing outside the classroom he knew he needed to be in, "she's in good shape. Looks like she ran a marathon or two, could probably bench a lot of weight."

"One, she's a mom and her son is in our grade, that is weird. Two, she has run 3 marathons, also done 3 triathlons, and is trying to do one in every continent before she gets much older. Three, I get she isn't bad looking, I had her later in the day but she isn't quite my type."

Nick watched as Jordan peered around the hallway and her eyes immediately found Daisy. This was normal for most people, Daisy lit up any room she was in regardless if she even said a word. Of course the one maybe friend he had was attracted to his cousin. She probably only wanted to be friends to get closer to her.

"Of course," Nick agreed, "I have a thing for blondes as well."

This snapped Jordan out of her daydream and into a light blush. She stuttered on a sentence but settled for not saying anything.

"See you after math!" Nick smiled as he walked into the classroom and left Jordan a little red in the face as she walked over to chemistry.

Nick realized that Daisy's boyfriend, Tom, was indeed in this class. They had only formally met once and hadn't seen each other and he had never paid much interest to him so Nick assumed Tom had very little to no clue who he was. He sat quietly in the fourth seat back. Nick liked school, he loved English but he wasn't good at math. They only discussed factoring which he had remembered learning in an earlier algebra class he had taken. He relaxed slightly but knew the class would only get harder.

The bell rang and he walked to Jordan standing where she had been when Nick had left her.

"English! Finally!" Nick exclaimed, happy to be heading to his favorite class.

"Consider yourself lucky, I have history. If I stay awake I won't get detention, but if I sleep I don't have to listen to the boring lecture."

"It's not bad today," Nick commented, "world religions."

"Come on, you can keep all of them straight. In the gay little head of yours, I would think that impossible."

"Oh, I can't. I was trying to make it better for you but it was absolute hell today."

"Run off to English," Jordan rolled her eyes and headed toward history.

"I don't know where it is, remember? That's why you're showing me around."

"Fine," she huffed and guided Nick to the English room he was in.

The first thing Nick noticed as he walked in was that Jay Gatsby was in this class. Nick stopped mid doorway until some kids behind started pushing him aside.

'Right, just sit down and act normal' Nick told himself but he thought that was much easier said than done. He also realized Tom was also in this class which helped distract Nick a bit. He hated being in a class with Tom. Then Daisy walked in as well. He didn't realize they shared any classes but shrugged it off as she didn't notice him.

The teacher walked in with a cup of his coffee in hand despite it now being one in the afternoon.

"Alright, we just finished our unit on modern times so I want you all to do a project on something you believe has improved since the 20th century and explain if it has peaked or if it can still improve. This can be anything from literature, to social movements, to technology, it's almost endless."

The whole class groaned. Nick didn't know why, he thought the project sounded interesting and knew what he wanted to do it on.

"Fine!" the teacher grunted, "partners? Is that what you want? Fine, you can each have ONE partner!"

Everyone quickly stood up and ran to their partners. Until Nick was left there alone as everyone around him was gripped to someone else arm.

"Sir?" Nick heard a voice ask and he lifted his head to see who was speaking, "there doesn't seem to be any other people so can I be in a group of 3?"

Jay was speaking. His voice was smooth and deep and Nick would downright say sexy. Nick was positive if Jay were to keep talking he could get enchanted and at the same time so lost and never want to leave.

"Actually," Nick found his voice, "I don't have a partner either."

Jay shot a look behind him and scowled at Nick. It wasn't quite the first impression he wanted to make.

"Ahh yes, new kid. You can be partners with Jay, you two will make an excellent pair I'm sure."

"But he doesn't know any of the material we have been learning about!" Jay complained.

"According to your grades, neither do you, Gatsby, so maybe this new kid here can teach you something," the professor said causing everyone to stop breathing for a second.

Jay walked over to Nick. Nick stood 4-6 inches above Jay but Jay had much more muscle and Nick was certain that Jay could have him pinned in less than three seconds. In a fighting situation, he added in his head, not anything else.

Everyone else started chatting again and Nick took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm Nick, I'm new," he said introducing himself.

"I think you already know who I am," Jay rolled his eyes, "so what do you want to do this dumb project on anyway?"

"I thought I didn't know the material," Nick snapped back, quickly regretting his words.

"Shut up and pick a damn topic," Jay muttered under his breath.

"I want to do the project on gay rights," Nick said in a much least assertive tone and let his voice quiver.

"What in the world do I know about gay rights?" Jay asked.

"You know that I'm gay and that I can make a beautiful project on gay rights that it appears you need."

"Alright homo, but you better not try anything on me!" Jay asserted.

The teacher interrupted everyone before they could continue.

"Everyone make sure you have each other's numbers and addresses! You will have no more class time to work on this project!"

Everyone groaned at that statement but the teacher held his word.

"Give me your phone," Jay demanded and Nick complied with not too much thought, "I'll text you my address, we can work at my place. I don't want to be seen in whatever shack you live in."

"You mean the Fay mansion. Yeah, I don't love it there either," Nick smirked.

"You don't live at the Fay mansion. Daisy doesn't have siblings."

"Perhaps but when your parents die you typically go live with the closest family you have such as your cousin."

"Or just to the orphanage," Nick barely heard Jay murmur under his breath, "well we will still work at my place!" Jay declared louder as he handed Nick's phone back to him. Nick saw the contact that just read Gatsby. Nick shrugged and mouthed the name Gatsby, he loved how it rolled off his tongue.

Nick sent a quick text, "what time works best for you?" and slid his phone away. It quickly buzzed again in his pocket, "730 got prac 2nite"

Nick rolled his eyes at the poor structure of the text but sent a thumbs-up emoji back in response. The teacher lectured about their next unit but Nick was in his own world. One that involved him and Gatsby.

Getting out of English was great because he was able to tell Jordan the great news and came out with a smile on his face.

"Wow, you must really love English if you are still smiling after that class," Jordan commented.

"No, no, it's something even better," Nick said, still ditzy from his daydreaming.

"Well, don't leave me hanging, spill."

"I'm partnered with Gatsby. We are doing a project on gay rights. I get to go over to his house too."

"Nick, you can't get your hopes up," Jordan signed as they began walking to, well, Nick didn't quite know.

"I know, but I just... I get some bi-vibes. You know my gaydar goes off around him."

"I know what you mean. I used to think he was but I think he would have said something to anyone by now."

"You never know. We all come out of the closet at different paces."

"Perhaps. I would just be careful, he did date Daisy for a bit."

"Really? She never mentioned."

"It must have been 2, 3 years ago now but they dated for close to 4 years."

"Oh wow, I can't believe I never heard."

"He didn't use to be this way, you know? That's probably why."

"No, what do you mean?" Nick asked, confused as to what Jordan was alluding to.

"He wasn't the rich golden boy. He was dirt poor, to say the least. Wore the same outfit at least three days in a row. They broke up eighth grade, I believe. Next thing you know he has this stuff and everyone loves him."

"What do I have last?" Nick asked quickly, changing the subject, "computer science?"

"Yes. You're lucky the teacher always lets everyone early which means you could go home early. I have math, I love math but come on you met the teacher she will never let us out early."

"You'll be fine, you want me to wait and you come to the mansion?"

"You don't have to wait, I've been there plenty of times," Jordan commented.

"Ah, right, her infamous parties?"

"I've been to five or so."

"Alright. Then you can lead me to computers and I'll meet you at the mansion."

"Sounds great!" Jordan smiled.

Nick thought Jordan was only excited because it would be an opportunity to see Daisy. Nick was almost positive that she would be too busy with Tom. Certainly not working on the English project in which they were partners.

Before he knew it he was in front of a room filled with at least 40 computers.

"This is much bigger than my old school," Nick mumbled to himself because Jordan was long gone to her math class.

"Yes, we have one of the biggest computer rooms in New York schools," a man said from behind him.

Nick jumped and turned around to find who he assumed to be the teacher behind him.

"You're new? Correct son?" he asked.

"Yes, but I come far from New York," Nick answered.

"Well, we will have plenty of time to get to know each other over the semester. In the meantime find yourself a seat and we can get the class started."

The class flew by for Nick. He wasn't a computer genius but he definitely had more skills than some. Just like Jordan promised the class ended about 15 minutes early and students cheered as they ran to their cars to go home early. Nick walked casually ignoring the students pushing past him. He got to his car and drove to the mansion with his only thoughts not being on his homework but instead on the man who he wasn't going to see for another five hours still.

Nick walked up to his new room and groaned and he threw his bag by the door. He plopped on the bed and tried to take a quick nap before Jordan arrived. Sleep didn't come easy and so he played a quick game on his phone before Jordan pulled into the driveway. Daisy still hadn't come back yet but Nick assumed they could easily be going to Tom's place as well.

"Where do you want to go?" Nick asked as Jordan walked in.

"The den perhaps. We could watch a movie and it's really cozy in there."

"Did you want anything to eat or drink?"

"Maybe a Coke," she requested, "and of course popcorn!" she added.

"I'll be right back," Nick smiled and went to the kitchen. He threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave and grabbed two Cokes out of the fridge. He grabbed a bag of trail mix for himself and waited as the timer went off. He divided the popcorn into two bowls, giving more to Jordan than himself. He then went back and found that Jordan was scrolling through all the different movie programs.

"So what are we watching?" Nick asked.

"Something gay, duh."

"Movies with gay characters suck. Hollywood doesn't know how to portray us!" Nick complained.

"Yeah, but this one was directed by a member of the queer community. It is based on a fanfiction she made when she was fourteen and it became a book later on in her life and she developed it into a movie," Jordan explained.

"Sounds interesting, what's it about?"

"It's about a vampire and werewolf who are mates with each other and together they overcome the stigma about their relationship."

"Alright, I guess we can give it a shot," Nick shrugged.

Jordan smiled and pulled the nearest blanket over her legs as she pushed play on the movie.

Nick had to admit it was the best film he had seen in a while. It perfectly described internal and external homophobia as well hinting at underlying tones of racism.

"That was actually great!" Nick told Jordan who was dozing off.

"Uhh? Oh yeah, yeah, it was good," Jordan yawned.

"Come on, you can't be too tired, you have to help me pick an outfit."

"An outfit for what?" Jordan asked with sleep still in her voice.

"My study date with Gatsby," Nick answered like the question was stupid.

"It's not a date Nick. I guess if you want to look nice for one I can help you though."

"Hey!" Nick objected, "you haven't even known me a full day you can't insult my style yet."

"Yet I already know it sucks," Jordan said slyly as she stood up and stretched.

"Come on, I'll show you the way to my room."

After growing through ALL of Nick's closet, three times, Jordan concluded she was absolutely correct with the assumption Nick had no style. She eventually found a few things she could work with and when it was all put together Nick looked fabulous. The time was 6:30, an hour until Nick was going to Jay's place. He cooked up some chicken for dinner and gave some Jordan. Nick assumed Daisy was eating at Tom's place since she still wasn't home.

"Don't you have some servants that will cook for you?" Jordan asked as she took a bite.

"Yes, I do. I prefer to cook for myself. I don't like relying on other people for things."

"Jay would certainly change that," Jordan mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked curiously.

"He's made an empire for himself. I'm certain if you were dating him he wouldn't let you do one thing for yourself."

"I think we would find a balance. That's what relationships are about," Nick claimed.

"Yeah sure," Jordan said sarcastically, she glanced at the clock, "you better be going, lover boy. You wouldn't want to be late."

"Shut up Jordan," Nick said as he stood up and reached for his keys, "you can get home just fine right?"

"Yep, but I might hang here for a while. It's a nice place."

"I doubt Daisy will come home anytime, but suit yourself."

"Don't call me out like that Nick," Jordan called after Nick as he walked out the door.

Nick got to the car and realized that Jay had not texted his address. Almost like Jay had read his mind his address pinged through.

Nick drove eagerly to the address that he had to put into his GPS. When he had finally arrived the time in his car had shown 7:28.

"Close enough," Nick shrugged to himself. He sent a quick text letting Gatsby know he was there and got out of the car to walk to the door.