Marks (Jeremy x Michael)

chapter one: new kid.

Michael was beyond relieved when he had heard they were moving. Not because of where they were moving—he wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea of moving to New Jersey just for a job—but because he could just- leave. Start a new life. As a loner.. With nobody to fall back on... Oh boy.

But hey, here he was, on his first day at a new high school with a casual smile on his face, headphones on his ears as he listened to his favorite musician, Bob Marley. His hands were tucked firmly in his red hoodie pocket as he walked through the halls.

He wished he was able to attend on the first day of the school year. Or of the first month. But hey, it was about six weeks in and people were getting excited about a new kid at their school. Michael was impartial about all the gossip. He had some people come up to him, starting friendly chatter, but no single conversation lasted too long. He merely slipped his headphones off when someone came up, or when he greeted another student, then put them back on when the interaction was done. He was polite about all the attention, although he didn't want it. Not exactly, anyway. But hey, it was only his first day, what could he do about it?

Meanwhile, the brunet loser of freshmen was walking through the halls, humming quietly to himself as he looked around, seeing his classmates stream in through the entrance. Although not particularly interested in hot chatter, Jeremy became excited when he heard the grade's gossip girl, Jenna Rolan, spreading the word of a new student. He was always stoked about new students because of a certain "gift" he had. It wasn't a thrilling one like flying or turning invisible, the only thing he could do is bring up numbers beside peoples' heads which indicated just how dangerous they were. Most people—like his best friend, Christine—were zeros. An aggressive bully, such as the infamous Richard Goranski, would be anywhere from a one to a three. He didn't know anything about people above a five, though. And even then, seeing people above a three was far and few in between for him.

Jeremy not only liked to interpret these numbers for his own curiosity, but also for his own safety. He tended to be wary about those above a zero, mostly due to a certain level of anxiety that nested in his head.

His new kid curiosity started to grow in his head as he heard more chatter. He kept humming and walked along, curiously looking for an unfamiliar face. Although within seconds, the quiet tones of his throat were shot dead in an instant. He saw a spectacled Filipino that he didn't recognize. And damn was he drop-dead gorgeous. But that wasn't why he paused in his tracks. No, the reason he stopped was that beside the stranger's head was a red ten, no mistaking it. He could feel the anxiety building in his chest, his cheeks tinged red with nervousness. His breath caught in his throat when the guy looked back at him.

Michael smiled, waved, and casually approached the dude who he could tell—from the corner of his eye—was staring at him. Must be someone with social anxiety, who figured, and maybe wanted to talk to him. But on Jeremy's end that wasn't the case, as he internally panicked when he saw the dangerous boy approach.

"Hey dude. The name's Michael," the new kid greeted with a friendly tone. "I'm new here, if you haven't already heard." He let out a chuckle after he slid his headphones down to his neck and smoothed out his hair with his fingers. Faint music could still be heard from the headphones. Jeremy had tensed up as he messed with his sleeves and looked away, almost scared to look up at Michael. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Uh, hi- err hey- err, uh, I'm ten- j-Jeremy. I'm Jeremy..." He replied, mentally kicking himself at how stutter-infected his words were. Why was this kid dangerous? He was a ten, after all. Is he a secret criminal? Was somebody going to die soon? What on earth was it?

Michael simply nodded in response before his casual grin grew into a more of a genuine one, almost a smirk but not quite.

"That's a cool name. But I think you were right the first time, cuz you're definitely a ten," he said, pointing finger guns at Jeremy with a sly wink. In middle school—and at his old high school, the one which he went to only for a few months before the one he was at right now—he definitely didn't have this much confidence. But this was a new school with new people. He was going to act however he wanted to, even if it meant living up to his rainbow patch.

Jeremy, of course, went from panicky and anxious to anxious and flustered. And also still panicky. So exactly the same as before but now there was a prominent blush on his face.

"Umm, thanks..?" He muttered in reply, refusing to look up at the spectacled boy. He was too afraid to show fear. And too afraid that this dangerous guy would become upset and beat his skull in. He so utterly wished that Christine were here today. But alas, she was at a doctor's appointment.

"Don't mention it," he replied, shoving his hands in the pocket of his red hoodie. "Oh shit, I don't know where my locker is," he realized quietly with a sheepish chuckle. "I should probably go find it. So uh, catch you later, Jeremy!" He gave the nervous boy a smile before he walked away. He started wandering around in search of his elusive locker.

Michael's eyes brightened when he soon found his locker. He swung his backpack around, off one shoulder, and immediately started pulling decorations out to fill his locker, because of course he had decorations and other things on hand.

It was a nerdy mess: a few bobbleheads, mini-posters, album covers, Nintendo collectible items, an emergency D&D dice bag, and much more. Obviously, there was space for books and boring school things, too.

Satisfied with his geekish locker, the spectacled boy closed the door and went to class. First hour was starting soon anyway—yay—so he might as well get to class. And so he did. He glanced at his schedule to try and find his homeroom. Eventually, he did find it, walked in, and took whatever free space he could.

Meanwhile, Jeremy nearly collapsed against the wall in relief when the taller boy walked away from him. He desperately wanted to tell Michael to just go away while they were talking, but of course, he was too scared to. He really hoped that this danger kid was that nice to everyone. At least his obvious fear had gone under the radar, or just went unmentioned. Nervously, he pulled out his phone to text Christine.

'Hey, you really picked the wrong day not to come in,' he sent, worry swarming inside his stomach. He then heard the bell ring and he scurried off to his homeroom, quickly stopping by his locker beforehand.

For Jeremy, he was able to get through the first half of the day without much trouble, besides meeting and talking to the dangerous boy. He was wary all day, however. Unable to feel entirely secure. He blamed it on the first interaction of the day. Nothing else significant happened. Until lunch, that is.