The Secret Gays of College Algebra

Day 1- Factoring Review (Matrise)

"Welcome back everyone!" Ms. Locker announced. It was the first day back with a full class since the Hoevid-90 pandemic last spring. "Choose your seats and stay there, please. These will be your seats for the rest of the year." 

I looked around at my peers, gripping the straps on my backpack. 

"Matrise!" a voice called from across the room. 

I exhaled a sigh of relief as I saw Ryan waving at me. He looked the same as ever, but I did notice he downgraded his style to a homemade reusable mask. Not like he ever had much style to begin with, but he looked like a loser. Real men don't wear picnic blanket checkered masks. I rolled my eyes and pulled my mask all the way down to shout:

"Ryannnnn!! What's up, man?" I dabbed him up before sitting in the seat next to him. Ryan was loud and obnoxious, but I could totally top him if I wanted. He needed someone to humble him. 

"Who else is in this class?" Ryan asked.

"Not sure, hopefully more of the homies though," I answered. At this point, anyone else would be better. Ryan never shuts the fuck up and he's literally a ginger.  More people trickled in and the seats filled up. Preston and Brant sat with us, leaving only one seat left. I sent a quick prayer to the giant in the sky that it would be somebody tolerable. Preston and Brant were fine and all, but they weren't gonna keep things interesting. School was already so boring, I don't need another class to suck ass. Just as I was about to give up hope, Jacob walked in, eyes full of wonder. I blushed. I had been crushing on Jacob for months. He brushed his fluffy brown hair to the side and looked directly at me. 

I took a deep breath in, trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach. 

I maintained eye contact with Jacob as he walked over and sat in the last seat across from me. I swear he winked at me as he dropped his bag on the floor, but I wasn't sure. Either way, my heart was pounding. 

Ms.Locker started passing out some worksheets. "We are going to start off today by reviewing factoring from last quarter," she explained. 

Review factoring? I thought. More like review Jacob's meaty fucking biceps. (It's all I'm looking at.) 

But honestly? How can I do an entire worksheet with JACOB sitting at my table. Using all of my self-control, I took my eyes off Jacob to look at the worksheet. Find the common factor? Ugh. I glanced over at Brant to see he already had the first 4 problems filled out. I quickly jotted down his answers. My brain was too full of Jacob to think about common factors. What's the common factor between this worksheet and Jacob? Oh, that's right. Nothing. 

I pulled my mask up all the way in order to hide how red my cheeks were from looking at Jacob AGAIN. My hair is such a cake yellow blonde that any redness in my face is obvious asf. And I do NOT need to be embarrassed on day 1. 

Luckily, I was already on the next section of the worksheet, thanks for Brant. This time I actually knew what to do. Use the box method to factor the equation. But all I could think about was how I'd like to put Jacob in a box. Before I knew it, 20 minutes had gone by. So I copied off of Brant again. 

"Hey, guys who do you think is gonna win March Madness?" Ryan asked, tipping so far back in his chair that I thought he was gonna fall backward and die. 

"I don't care, man, I play soccer," I answered. 

"UCLA" said Brant.

"Don't know. I'm rooting for any team from South Carolina." Preston said. 

"Baylor for sure," Jacob said

"Oh yeah, Jacob is right, Baylor for sure," I repeated. I wanted Jacob to know I was on his side.

"No," Ryan argued, "You said you didn't care, Martise. You're only saying that because Jacob said Baylor."

I stood up fast. My chair made a clanking sound against the wall. Oh, boy does Ryan get my blood boiling or what. 

"Okay, and?" I asked. 

"So that's not your opinion," said Ryan.

"So you're saying I can't agree with people?" Is this guy an idiot or what? Who made Ryan king of conversation?

"Hey, HEY, guys it's okay." Jacob piped in. I relaxed. "No need to argue. Matrise can agree with me. We just have that in common." 

I sat down. Ryan rolled his eyes but turned towards Brent and Preston to compare answers for the worksheet. I looked at Jacob. He was also looking at me. I felt myself blush again under my mask. I hope he didn't notice. Then, Jacob leaned in and whispered in my ear "I hope it's not the only thing we have in common..."