THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF SCHOOL WERE TOLERABLE. Jericho got to see the few real friends he had every other day, and his classes were easy.

Everything was incredibly peachy until the school's football season officially started. It was Friday, and spirit week would finally begin in a few weeks, probably going to be fucking ridiculous again this year.

"Your daily rumor report is that Faith Thatcher got an S.T.D at the summer bash, Mr. Whitaker is very hot and divorced, and Joseph is apparently going to homecoming with Jessica Johnson."

Angelica took a giant bite out of her chicken sandwich, and Cadence scrolled through his Twitter feed for the fifth time in the last three minutes. A few of the theater people joined them today, mostly talking about who was auditioning for the upcoming short plays.

It was pouring down rain, and the dreariness outside somehow made its way into the building. Everyone looked exhausted or upset, but the teachers were still trying to shove the whole "excitement" and "school spirit" agenda down their throats.

"Our football team is the only reason everyone glorifies homecoming."

Jericho rolled his eyes; he didn't want to think about any of it. He has yet to accept Joseph's apology for sucking faces with one of the twins. Apparently, Jessica saw them that day during lunch, and when the blond wouldn't fess up about exactly what they were talking about, she forced herself onto him. Disgusting.

The Johnson sister's, Johanna and Jessica, are hot, white, and rich, that's it. Jessica's the 'evil' twin but is also good at pretending to be nice. That was the problem because it went against high school lore, she's supposed to be a super bitch, but apparently that's not the case. Bullshit.

That, however, wasn't the reason he disliked her. The cafeteria suddenly became even quieter than it already was when Joseph walked in, the two red-heads following closely behind with another guy.

Jessica pulled a lock of her magenta, shoulder-length hair behind her ear, and Johanna smiled at a few of her volleyball teammates. A pair of honey-brown eyes scanned the entire cafeteria before redirecting their attention back to a slightly annoyed looking Joseph.

He led the small group to their usual table. Did he mention they were cheerleaders? Yeah.

As soon as they all sat down, someone pressed the resume button on life because everyone continued their previous conversations as if nothing happened. Now, that right there was why he didn't like them. They were idolized and it was weird.

Popularity wasn't all it's cracked up to be, and he'd never understand why anyone willingly let themselves be swept up in it. It screwed with your sense of self and it looked exhausting too.

There wasn't a lot of bullying at Alamance, though, and most of the student body, taking into account that they lived in the rural south, were a little more open-minded than you'd expect. People still talked, though, and when they did, good lord did it get around fast.

"Well," Angelica clapped her hands together excitedly, "My environmental science teacher said that I could come in during lunch to finish a quiz, so I'll see y'all tomorrow, bye!"

She stood up quickly, and bolted out of the side cafeteria doors in the complete opposite direction of the science hall. Jericho shrugged and continued to eat,

Lunch eventually ended, and it was time for his dreaded fourth block; he dragged himself to his English class, where Joseph was already seated.

Except, he wasn't alone. Standing around him in an almost cult-like semi-circle was probably half of the team. That wouldn't have been an issue if it also meant that his desk wasn't crowded.

He grumbled under his breath as he walked over, stepping around and almost over several people and saying 'excuse me' or 'my fault' while he attempted to get to his chair. The second he sat down and no sooner one of the players began their little ritual.

They did it because he was one of the only openly queer guys they've known for years and still enjoy bothering him about it. He knew they didn't mean too much harm, but that didn't make it any better. They knew well enough not to go too far, though. Lest he'd tear them a new one or Joseph caught wind of it.

"Jericho, it's meant to be. Neither of us has a date to homecoming yet, so you have to go with your vice-captain, right? Pecking order and all that." steel-blue eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled, "I promise I'll go to track practice this year."

Daniel's voice rang out. He was fast, faster than he, and played two sports, but the only reason he wasn't the captain of the team is that he never goes to practice. In general, he was annoying as hell but in an endearing kind of way—one of those guys you hate to love.

"Pass. I'd be demoted to vice if you start participating aside from going to meets."

He ran a hand through his black curls and laughed. Michael, the captain of the football team, piped up next. He was Joseph's other good friend, and Jericho was pretty sure they met way before high-school,

"Cap. He ain't going with yo stupid ass 'cause he already said he was going with me, ain't that right twin?"

Michael bit his lip and winked at him. He was probably one of the goofiest dudes at Alamance. He was nice, though. Odd, considering the people he usually hung out with, always looked ready to call him a slur to his face. Crazy part is, he knew half of those down-low ass dudes wanted him at one point.

"Damn, that's right," he hit the desk with his fist. "Michael beat you to it, Danny, sorry about that. We're going out afterward; y'all invited to join if you really wanna go."

Michael pouted, feigning irritation when Jericho shared the news, "that was supposed to be me and you! Turning my date into a damn kickback..."

Some of them laughed. The rest of the team looked uncomfortable with where the joke was headed but they'd never say anything. The star quarterback, Joseph Turner, of the Alamance bulldogs fucked whoever whenever after all. His dad was good friends with the coach too, so unless they wanted to lose scholarships, they'd keep their mouths shut.

Once the crowd started leaving, the noise level began to drop as well, and that's what he was hoping for. Daniel, Michael, and a couple guys who were already used to their shenanigans lingered around, but they were still loud.

Massaging his temples, he looked at Joseph, and as much as he didn't want to interact with him, he, along with several others, just wanted some peace before class started.

Ms. Holbert was one of those teachers, so they needed as much as they could get before she came back. He could feel a migraine coming on, and the only way they'd go away was if the bell rang or king Joseph commanded them to do so.

"Joey," the blond turned to his left to glance at him, "Can you tell them to leave? They're in here every other day; I think they can survive an hour and a half without you."

There was an unreadable expression on his face when he finally responded.

"Mm, is that right?" He cocked his head, "But why? I'd hate to ruin your fun."

Jericho's lips formed an 'o' shape when he turned back around. Joseph jealous? Now that's just something you don't see every day. The brown-haired boy smiled, deciding that now would be the perfect time to get him back for his little run-in with red-head last week.

A few minutes passed, and the guy chatting him up finally left, so he leaned in, "you know what is fun?" making sure that no one else could hear him "Not letting random people kiss up on you. Quit playing with me and maybe we could go to homecoming together." He was screwing around with him; he'd tell him that eventually, but right now, he had a grudge to nurse. "Something to think about."

He had to be quiet about it, though, because Joseph's fans always found a way to make a big deal out of nothing. The blond turned to him again, squinting in an attempt to hide that tiny twinkle of hope in his eyes.

"You're yankin' my chain, right? It seemed like you didn't care a couple minutes ago." He said matter-of-factly and then reached down to play with his fingers "Flirtin' with my teammates right in front of me, and now this?" Greedily rubbing the surface of his hand with a thumb "You already know how I get when it comes to you, what's this all about?"

The bell rang, and the rest of the team rushed out of the door to get to their respective classrooms. He knew exactly how the taller boy got, that's why he did it. Jericho just took his hand back, shrugged, and smiled sweetly, when the teacher walked in, the class began.

The block was only an hour and a half but it felt like 10 when Ms. Holbert was teaching. Her voice was monotonous, she was ancient, and she was mean, not to him though. He was probably the best student in her class.

She continued to teach even after the last bell of the day rang, probably not hearing it, yelling at the students to sit back down, but to no avail, mostly everyone had already left.

The brown-haired boy walked out of the class to his locker, conveniently right by the only course he needed a textbook for, and put his school things away.

During a break in class, Joseph had told him that he needed to talk to him about something important after school. He was tired, though but that wasn't anything new. It was probably about what he told him earlier.

He slung his cream-colored backpack around his shoulders, closed the metal door, and turned to leave, but he saw Joseph loitering near the exit to the student parking with his jock buddies.

He seemed to be doing that often, blocking off his only means of escape. Going through those doors made the trip to the bus loop a lot shorter but it wasn't worth it.

Jericho pretended not to see him and checked his hair in his phone camera again, walking towards a different hallway with exit doors further away because he'd figured the blond already knew he was there.

"I'll see y'all later! Mike, I'll bring the footballs."

He heard Joseph yell as they dispersed like a pack of rabid dogs, and the second he turned away to shut the door, Jericho darted around the corner and speed-walked down the hallway.

"Jericho!"

The brown-haired boy probably could've gotten away too if he had heard the other boy fucking sprinting behind him. Jericho was faster, but Joseph was surprisingly light on his feet, perks of being a quarterback.

A thick arm circled his midriff and yanked him backwards, his back slamming against the solid body behind him. Yelping as he was spun around the other way to face him while Joseph's laughter filled the empty corridor.

"Where you goin'?"

He rolled his eyes as the other boy loosened his hold but stayed in his space pouting, one hand planted on his waist. He supposed it was just in case he had to snatch him up again, but it was distracting him.

"Why'd you run away? And I'm also takin' the fact that you're talkin' to me again as you acceptin' my apology."

Joseph grinned, but Jericho wasn't paying a lick of attention because the thumb rubbing patterns onto his waist made him feel some type of way. When the other looked down at him after a long beat of silence, his eyes darkened, and his grip tightened.