Love, Oswald

Chapter one

Being inside of a locker isn't the worst way to spend your fourth period. An upside to this is that you have a good reason to not go to chemistry. That's your way of staying positive throughout all this.

This was a reoccurring thing for Oswald Cobblepot. At least once a week, never the same day twice in a row. The captain of the football team terrorized him weekly. Yes, Jerome Valeska. Six feet of muscle and talent topped with a dark ginger wave. He and Oswald were in the same chemistry class, but only when Valeska doesn't skip, probably to make out with a cheerleader in the gym. Often, Oswald would catch Jerome staring at him from across the room. Only for a second, and then he'd look away. He was probably thinking of new ways to bully him.

Oswald had no actual clue why Jerome hated him so much. Before, they had never talked or interacted. It was as if they were on two opposite sides of the planet. The rest of the team barely ever paid him any mind, and none of his other friends seemed to be aware of his existence at all. It was just... Jerome.

Oswald was the definition of a loner. Save for one person occasionally joining him, he sat alone at lunch. That person was Edward Nygma. Ed and Oswald used to have a sort of "thing", but after Ed joined the football team as the "waterboy", ( just to get out of having to take a REAL P.E. class,) he was convinced his social status made it too hard to be seen with Oswald. He was just "too popular for him" now. Popular people aren't gay, so now he's dating the library aid, Isabella. Really, the football team laughed at Ed and the stupid riddles he'd bring to practice every day, but he always thought they were laughing with him.

When Oswald does sit alone, he reads. Sometimes, he even writes. Just about his day, or his thoughts. See, Oswald sometimes imagines himself becoming some powerful being one day- like a mayor- and thinks it'd be funny to look back at how much of a loser he used to be. Wouldn't ever happen, but he pretends like it will.

Today, Edward sat with him, only because he had "important gossip" about the team. This was a recurring topic with Ed, who considers himself their "best friend". Edward has never been the most trustworthy person ever.

"So! In the locker room today..." He talked so quickly, it was a miracle Oswald could understand him. He waited for Oswald to acknowledge him, though only got an uninterested "mhm." as an answer. Oswald didn't even glance up from the book he was reading. "You know Jerome? Of course you do, considering he-" Oswald cut him off by clearing his throat as Ed made a shoving motion with his arms. Referring to Jerome shoving him inside his own conveniently sized locker almost every two weeks. "Anyways, I just learned that Jerome..." He looked around as if he were about to tell Oswald something top-secret, and then leaned in. Oswald rolled his eyes and leaned in too. This better be important. He was getting to a great part in his book. "...Keeps a journal." Oswald scoffed and straightened out, returning to his book. "Is THAT what you wanted to tell me, Ed? Lots of people keep journals. So what?"

"You didn't let me finish." Without glancing up, Oswald made a circular motion with his fingers. "Fine, go on."

"He dropped it earlier on the way out. Of course, I had to return it. So I pick it up- it was open. I saw a few words, and I sort of... got curious!"

"Oh my god." Oswald slammed his book shut and looked up at Edward in disbelief. Out of all of the dumb things Edward had done, this had to be the dumbest. "You... you read it. Didn't you. I can NOT believe... You read Jerome's diary. Ohhh my god..."

"Journal, actually. But yes. Some of it." He reached into his backpack, (green, decorated with black sharpie-d question marks) and pulled out a red composition notebook. Engraved on the cover with black ink were the large letters "JV."

Oswald lowered his voice, careful to not let anyone hear that they had this stolen item. "If he sees you with this- he'll- he'll kill you. Do you understand that? Even worse, if he sees you with it with ME, he'll kill ME. You need to give it back. Right now. Don't tell him you read any of it." "Relax. He isn't even around. Now, look." He slammed the book onto the table and opened it to the last entry. "January 6th," he read from the page, and then turned it around so that Oswald could see. "That was a few days ago."

"I know that, Edward." Os sounded as if he had lost his patience already. "Read it."

Oswald silently scanned the page until his eyebrow raised in question.

"No. This can't be right."

 "It's right there. That's his handwriting and everything." Oswald pushed the book toward Ed and turned the other way in his chair, so that he could lean on the table with his elbow. "You've been tricked, Ed. He probably dropped it on purpose. They probably know you talk about them. Oh... and you fell for it! So much for being a genius."

"What if it isn't a trick? You said once that you found him attractive, didn't you?"

"That was before he shoved me into lockers and tripped me on the way to chemistry bi-weekly."

Before Edward could respond, the two felt a presence behind them. A rather tall, muscular, ginger presence.