Jake Addams March 30th, 20XX

I walked into class a bit apprehensive of Finn but I tried not to show it.

The text had been sent out before I could calm Alice down and discourage her from sending it out and  I wasn't sure why but I seemed to be the only person at school who didn't see him as weak and harmless, I was also unsure of why but I was sure I was right.

Of course, I wasn't going to ignore him but that was because I didn't have to; after all we'd never really held a substantial conversation with each other. Even when we partnered up in class our interactions were pretty much me asking questions and him answering them.

The teacher who obviously did not want to be there half heartedly taught the lesson, gave a project and gave the rest of the class to work on it. In partners. The second the word was said I jumped out of my seat and looked around but it was too late all my ‘friends’ were already paired up and left me to fend for myself.

Gee, thanks guys.

I looked around for another person who had been left out but it looked like I was the odd one out.

Not having any other choice I began to work on what I could by myself and decided to deal with the partner parts later but it was as soon as I’d finished this thought that the classroom doors swung open to reveal an upgraded version of the guy everyone was supposed to be avoiding. Finn.

The obnoxious gelled style had been replaced with half his hair being pulled into a ponytail and the bottom half being let down to his shoulder and his large thick glasses had been replaced with smaller frames that were so blue they were almost black.

However the biggest difference wasn’t something as tangible as that; it was more of how he carried himself or his general disposition...forget ignoring him, the overall effect created someone that no one could have approached even if they wanted too. A far cry from the guy that had faded in a class of only ten people.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Dismissing the confused glares from the classroom Finn strode forward and stopped at the teacher’s desk, the owner of which had straightened their posture and had jumped up to greet him.

" Ah, Mr. Hall how has your day been?"

At the sound of the last name Finn glared at him with sharp eyes and an almost scary smile on his face.

" Mr. Medley?"

Medley caught himself and visibly stiffened then relaxed and adopted his usual behavior or at least he tried his best too. As this interaction the class watched with varying degrees of shock as they realized Medley was trying to suck up to Finn.

Medley  was a rather famous teacher for favoring wealthy students and ignoring the scholarship or the students of the upper middle class.

" You're late so I'll have set you up with a partner and they'll fill you in."

"  Don’t bother yourself, I'll find one myself."

He made eye contact with me and nodded before he  strode over without making sure I had returned his nod.

Medley eagerly nodded and went back to his desk only instead of reading the script as before, he started marking papers and actually went around to check on the students and actually doing what he was being paid for.

Seemingly oblivious to the glares that surrounded him, Finn sat down and faced me.

" I'm afraid I'll have to depend on you for an explanation"

For all his seriousness, I could see a satisfied smile hiding beneath his demeanor but I chose to ignore it, after all if he wanted to put on an act then who was I to uncover it?

As if he had read my mind Finn nodded approvingly and got to work after the explanation. As we ran through the process of the assignment I could feel the glares of the class on me, especially those of my friends.

As if on cue my phone buzzed and revealed a text,

What are you doing Jake?! Don’t you remember? We’re ignoring him!

I turned back to them and gave a fake helpless shrug to say,

Well what can I do? It’s a class project so I have to do it.  

In reality Finn was actually a really good partner and I wasn't just saying that because he did most of the work.  He went through it so quickly that I would have believed that he had experience running an actual large scale business if he wasn't just a highschool student.

And thinking that reminded me of the rumor Vanessa had shared with us and solidified my original thoughts.

I really couldn't think of this guy as harmless. Not after this display.