Sophomore Year (Smopkins #2)

Oh No

Even on their first day of school, there were already tons of rumors. One of those rumors included Mandy; people were saying her and Ted broke up, because Ted had been caught cheating. It sounded true enough, but Jimmy hadn't checked up on Mandy recently, so he couldn't be sure. Was that a Ted-like thing, or did Mandy fabricate the story somehow?

Another rumor was that Edna got fired from her position as cafeteria staff. Jimmy hoped to God that was true, because if it was, he would be able to eat school food without intense stomach problems and a heightened awareness of the weird texture on his tongue. But, some things just sounded too good to be true.

The last one, or the last one Jimmy knew about, was that him and Gary were friends again. Jimmy wasn't sure if they were friends, but it wasn't a secret that they got along now. There was a picture spread around of the two of them cuddling together last year, for God's sake. Why were people shocked that Jimmy was talking to him? Why were people shocked that he sat next to Gary and Russell in English? Why were people shocked to find them at lunch together?

Jimmy was relieved to hear the bell ring during third period Geometry. Math sucked, and he didn't have any close friends in that class. Sure, he could make some- but why would he? He preferred to sit in his desk with his legs slung over the table, his arms crossed over his chest, Mr. White's words going in one ear and out the other.

His next class, Government and Civics, was shared with Gary. Jimmy was oblivious to why he was so excited to see Gary, but it didn't matter. Being around him, being watched by him... just gave him an adrenaline thrill. Like when he was in English class, rousing the teacher up- the fact that Gary was watching him made it feel so much better.

Jimmy pushed past people in the hallway, knowing that the word he was looking for was "impress." He was trying to "impress" Gary. But he really wasn't. Jimmy would've done all of those things anyway, if Gary was in the classroom or not. Suddenly, the word "impress" didn't fit anymore.

Jimmy just... cared about what Gary thought of him. That made more sense. He wasn't trying to impress anyone, certainly not Gary. Maybe some of his girlfriends, but they usually weren't around to see him smarting off to the teachers, so it didn't matter.

Gary was already in the classroom, and Jimmy was surprised to find that most everyone else was, too. Had he really taken that long? Mr. White's classroom wasn't even that far away... he was just distracted. How thinking about Gary managed to distract him, he wasn't sure.

He sat down in the desk left of Gary, letting his backpack drop to the ground. He didn't use that thing anyway. "Hey," Jimmy smiled, once again trying to subtly look Gary up and down. It didn't work- Gary narrowed his eyes, as if he were catching on to what Jimmy was doing.

"What's that for?"

Jimmy paused. "Uh, you look nice today," he mumbled. Heat rose to Jimmy's cheeks, but luckily, someone sat down in front of Jimmy at their table. He was saved, at least temporarily.

It was Mandy. She folded her hands out in front of her, and started to smile. "Hi, Jimmy." She looked how she normally did- her hair up in a ponytail, her navy blue bow poking out from behind her head. Jimmy wondered why she always wore her cheerleading outfit to class, but he couldn't see her wearing a uniform.

The redness on his cheeks started to fade. Of course, he could just pass it off as being ginger and his face always heating up, but that just wasn't true. "Hey Mandy. You ok? I heard about the thing with Ted."

"...Yeah. That." Disgust flashed onto her face for a brief moment. "Yeah, he's a cheating manwhore. I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She flashed another grin, and turned to face Gary. "Jimmy, why are you sitting with... him?" Mandy asked.

Jimmy turned to look at Gary, and he wasn't surprised that Gary was giving her a dirty look. "What's wrong with him, Mandy?" Jimmy asked innocently. He turned back to look at her. The fact that Mandy would talk about Gary like that surprisingly angered him, but he wasn't going to let it show. It happened all the time, and Gary wasn't very likable. He still didn't deserve to be talked about like that, though.

"Oh, nothing. You know, he's just a sociopath, who tried to kill you. This isn't going to become a thing, is it? You two hanging out?" Mandy asked, locking eyes with Jimmy.

Rolling his eyes, he leaned forward over his desk. "I think you should stop talking about him like that," Jimmy said in a low voice. "Worse things could be said about both of us, don't you think? I'll hang out with whoever I want, so don't act all self-important."

She huffed and looked away from Jimmy, readjusting her elastic bow on her hair. "I was just asking."

"Really? That's funny. It didn't sound like that," Jimmy said calmly, not bothering to lower his voice this time. It only occurred to him now that he was being- really- defensive of Gary. Gary could do it himself, if Jimmy only let him. It wouldn't have been that effective in the end. Even if people were weirded out by Gary, it didn't mean he was intimidating. "I think he deserves an apology, actually," he goes on, seeing how far Mandy will go to stay on his good side. Jimmy wasn't sure what Mandy wanted from him in the first place. Likely a favor- revenge on Ted would be his first guess.

She huffed and stared at Jimmy. "He needs an apology? I don't think he does."

Gary was staring at Jimmy now, waiting to see what he would do next. Jimmy crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. "'Kay, Mandy. Suit yourself." It didn't even occur to him that the teacher had been talking the entire time, but he didn't seem concerned with the fact that people were talking over him. Maybe Jimmy would end up liking this teacher.

He was going on about grading structures or something like that. "Fine! Fine, Jimmy, God. I'll fucking apologize." Jimmy raised his eyebrows, waiting for the apology. Mandy turned to face Gary again. "Gary, I am really sorry for what I said. About you."

"That's it?" Jimmy piped up. He was probably exercising his power a little too much, but.. if Mandy would do it...

"I'm sorry for calling you a sociopath. You are totally not a sociopath." She looked at Jimmy. "Is that good enough?"

Jimmy grinned, looking at Gary. He didn't look so angry anymore, it was replaced with... something else. "Be a little less sarcastic next time."

"Okay. Gary, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to call you a sociopath."

He nodded. "That's good enough for me." Jimmy looked up at Gary again, wondering what he was thinking. He couldn't imagine being in Gary's mind. What was it like? Hell? A maze? An endless labyrinth? Or did he just block out everything? Jimmy wasn't even sure if Gary was on his meds. He hoped he was. Jimmy wanted him to be okay.

Gary had been eerily silent ever since he asked what Jimmy was doing- why he was looking at him that way. Jimmy did it all the time... had Gary never noticed before?

"Hey Gary? You okay? You're being really quiet."

Jimmy felt Gary's gaze on him. "I'm fine. Distracted. Don't worry," Gary spoke, not doing a very good job of reassuring Jimmy of anything.

He couldn't blame Gary, he probably did have a lot to think about.

"Um. Jimmy." It was Mandy again, trying to get his attention. He was so caught up in Gary that he didn't even notice her.

"What?" he asked. Mandy leaned across the desks and motioned that she needed to whisper something. Jimmy turned his head to the side and felt her soft hand as it cupped around his ear.

"We need to date. Like, now. I need to make Ted jealous. I don't want to get back with him, but I want to make him jealous."

Jimmy stared at her as she sat back down in her seat, smoothing out her skirt as she looked around, mostly at Gary.

So that's what it was this whole time? Fake-dating Mandy, well, he could do that. Easy peasy.