High school AU: Jackson supports April when she's being bullied.

She wants to cry when she realises that the girls who purposely bumped into her caused her glasses to fall off and break down the middle. As if her day could get any worse.

April tries her best to to fight it, and instead focuses on trying to pick up her books off the floor once the hallway is almost empty. The last thing she needs is more people taunting her when all she wants is to just blend in.

"Here, I got it," A voice tells her, and April finds herself looking up to see her classmate, Jackson Avery, trying to help her. She blinks rapidly, wondering why he's helping her and if maybe this is all just a part of some elaborate prank. A very cruel, very unnecessary prank. She knows ofhim - he's one of the most popular guys in their junior year, but she hasn't ever had the opportunity to speak to him. All she does know is that, if it wasn't for the empty hallway, he probably wouldn't be talking to her - not unless he wants people to start making fun of him, too.

She does her best to quickly collect her things and thanks him as he passes her her biology book, which she puts back into her rather oversized grey backpack. April tries her best to find something in her locker to mend her broken glasses with, but doesn't have much luck, until she realises that Jackson is still lingering there. Surely he should be getting to class, she thinks.

"Come with me. I might have something that can fix them - at least until you can get a new pair," He says, causing her to give him a confused and somewhat shocked look, "Just...trust me, alright?"

She bites her lip gently, before nodding slowly, realising that she doesn't exactly have any other options here. Instead, she closes her locker to and follows him down the hall and into one of the empty history rooms, making sure to lag behind a bit just in case anyone sees them. Part of her still thinks that he'd probably be embarrassed if someone did see them walking together - even if it does seem like he's trying to be nice.

Once they're inside, he grabs a reel of clear tape from the front desk, causing April to speak up, "Uh, I don't think you should be going through a teacher's desk. What if they find out?"

"Relax. Mrs Collins is my aunt. It's fine."

"Oh...but she's-"

"White? Yeah, it's on my dads side. Luckily she's a lot more...reliable than he is," He sighs, holding out his hand for her to give him her broken glasses.

"Thats not what I was going to say," April assures, "I meant...she's really open, you know, for a teacher? I figured she'd be the type to tell everyone that her nephew goes here, thats all."

"We have an agreement that we don't advertise it. Some of my friends know, but it just makes it easier for both of us," He shrugs, carefully focusing on ripping the tape with his teeth and doing his best to piece the glasses back together. He manages to secure it nicely, and holds them up to smooth out his work, "Alright, there, that should do it."

April looks at them somewhat questionably as he hands them back to her, placing them on and seeing how they feel. "Thanks but...I don't think I can walk around like this. People will just make fun of me even more, and I don't need to give them anymore ammunition."

Jackson frowns at her comment, and she wonders if maybe she's offended him somehow. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for his help, but she could see how maybe he might take it that way. It's only when he disappears behind the desk again and pulls out some rather oversized plastic-looking clear glasses, that she thinks otherwise. For a moment, she thinks he's offering them as an alternative, until he puts them on and she has to stifle a laugh.

"Think she confiscated these from one of the grandma costumes in the drama department. People are always stealing shit from there. Anyway, what do you think?"

"I think you look...uhm...well, they're really something."

"I think if I wear these, then people will be too focused on how dumb I look to make fun of you."

"Oh, you don't have to do that...really...it's fine. I can handle it."

"Maybe I want to do it. Could be fun to wear a costume and feel like someone else for a day," Jackson admits, a vacant look in his eye - almost like he has a lot on his mind.

She tilts her head to the side slightly in confusion as she watches him - wondering if maybe she'd misjudged him somehow. She'd always assumed that her life would be so much better and easier if she was popular (or at least considered more attractive to her peers), but something about the way he carried himself made her feel like maybe that wouldn't be the case. He seemed a little...sad, or distant, and it made her feel like maybe they weren't all that different underneath it all. She wants to talk to him more - to know him more, until a glance at her watch makes her realise just how late they're going to be for their class.

"We should get going," She says, motioning towards the door, and he snaps out of his daze and nods in response before they make their way to their biology lab together.

April feels her palms sweating before she gets to the door - she's never been late to a class in her entire life. Jackson seems to notice, so he opens the door and speaks first, figuring his ridiculous glasses will act as a distraction to their fellow students somehow, "Sorry we're late miss...there was uh...student council stuff."

Whilst their classmates laugh at Jackson, April finds herself scurrying to her seat at the back of the class, grateful that nobody really seemed to notice. They were too busy preparing to make fun of Jackson, it seemed.

"Avery, dude, what the hell are those?! You look like such a loser," Alex snickers, and the darker-skinned teen just rolls his eyes.

"Whatever, Karev. Don't me mad that you can't pull this off," He swiftly replies, before taking his seat and turning to April, offering her a small smile. All she can do it mouth back a silent 'thank you', before knuckling down for the rest of the class.

When lunchtime comes around, April makes her way to her usual table - alone. Her best friend, Reed, is absent today, and usually their other friend, Charles doesn't bother to come around as much if she's not there.

Jackson immediately notices her, and decides to ditch his baseball teammates and make his way over to her table, still wearing the dorky glasses from earlier. "Hi. Mind if I sit?"

She looks up from her lunch tray, feeling a little taken a back, and can't help but notice just how huge and almost bug-like his eyes look in those glasses, "Umm, sure...thank you again, for earlier. You don't have to keep wearing the glasses though, you know."

"I know. Maybe I want to. Trying to see if I can get this look to catch on," He jokes, before taking a bite of one of his fries.

"I don't know if Seattle is quite ready for that yet," She jokes back, scrunching her nose slightly, and he can't help but notice that underneath the braces and the somewhat frizzy hair, that she's pretty.

"You're probably right."

There's a beat of silence, before she notices his teammates snickering and staring at them, and she feels sick with anxiety. The last thing she wants is to become even more of a target. "You don't have to sit with me...not that it's not nice - it is, but I feel like they have a problem with it, and you should be sitting with your friends. You don't need me wasting your time."

"April, hey, I want to sit with you. I wouldn't have come over if I didn't, and luckily, I don't give a crap what they think."

She nods, before giving a confused look, "Wait, you know my name?"

"Well yeah, we have had classes together for the last three years."

"I know but...we've never talked...most people don't even bother calling me by my name. They just call me Duckie."

Jackson frowns at that, hating the sad look on her face when she mentions it, "You're not Duckie. Not to me."

Her eyes widen at that, wondering what exactly he means by it. He's probably just trying to me nice, she thinks. "Umm, t-thanks, Jackson."

He stares at her for a moment, before finding himself looking for any excuse to spend time with her again, "Do you maybe want to hang out sometime, after school?"

"You'd actually want to hang out with me?"

"Yes, April. Like I said, I wouldn't offer if I didn't."

"Okay then...sure." He sees the way her face lights up and the way her dimple pops when she smiles, and it does something to him. He finds himself feeling protective over her, and attracted to her, and curious to learn more about her, all at once.

"How about tonight?

She nods, trying her best to not look too enthusiastic, as their conversation is cut short by the sound of the bell ringing.

Once they've disposed of their leftovers and put their lunch trays back in their proper place, he finds himself walking with her to their next class, not even caring about what their classmates in the halls might think. For the first time in a while, he feels genuinely good and excited about something.