The days pass in a blur, with Eli putting up with Joss in English until he realizes one day that he’s been looking forward to the class... and Joss. He’s also in Eli’s science, and gym, which they both have noticed. After the first day, Joss hasn’t been nearly as offensive, but Eli sometimes hears him in the locker room with his hockey buddies, and he cringes from the heat of their words. The team is much more of a gang in spirit than the Leóns are, full of trash talking and even hazing rituals, though not too harsh of ones. Eli doesn’t like to be in the room with them. Their horrible version of camaraderie intrudes on everyone’s headspace.

Joss by himself, though, isn’t all that bad. He’s quick on his feet, and once Eli loosened up he was fast to utilize Eli’s talents, mainly in math. He’s far from kind, but Eli’s always been taught to look for the good in people, so he tries his best to look for the good in Jocelyn Hall. They work well together, Joss’s numerous academic strengths making up for Eli’s weaknesses.

“Like this!” Joss slams his hand on the table. “You’re quoting something. Punctuation goes fucking after the fucking quote. What are you, an imbecile?”

“No,” Eli whispers.

“What did you fucking say?”

“I said no! I’m not stupid, she just hasn’t taught this in class.”

Joss scrubs a hand over his face. “Jesus shit. Whatever. You do this shitty math bit, biker boy.”

Eli grabs the paper, and pulls it towards himself, ever compliant.

They have many differences, but they’re both dedicated, and by the presentation date, they’re confident that they can at least score an A-.

Joss stretches out his hand, and slaps Eli on the back.

“Dude. We totally got this. We’re gonna fucking wreck this class.”

Eli flinches, dropping his notecards. He falls to his knees, scooping them up frantically and setting them back in order.

“Yeah. We can do it.” He meets Joss’s eyes, and gives him a small smile. He doesn’t really know what he’s feeling. He’s been looking forward to the class more than he would like to admit, each period slowly becoming more of a bright spot in his otherwise dreary days. The end of the project means the end of talking with Joss- and he doesn’t know how to feel about that. He really can’t afford to like someone right now. Or ever.

Apparently he’s zoning out, because Joss slaps him on the back again.

“Your thinking can wait until we’re done presenting. Don’t you dare fuck this up for me, gang boy.”

“Don’t call me that.” Eli shrugs his hand off of his shoulder. He’s a little annoyed that Joss knows what’s happening to him.

The presentation goes smoothly, and they’re both feeling pretty sure of the good grade, slapping palms and cheering quietly. Suddenly, Joss stiffens, like he’s spotted someone he doesn’t like.

“Good going, bruh. I’ll see you around or whatever,” Joss pats his shoulder and walks off, leaving Eliseo standing in the classroom door, unsure of what to do next.