Chapter Text
When Jack received an email the week before the start of his senior year, he seriously thought it was a joke. A new program to help the next generation. That’s what it read at the top. Each senior was assigned a freshman to help and guide during their first year in high school. He almost laughed out loud.
Who thought about this? And why couldn’t they wait a year to start this program?
Jack sighed and closed his laptop. Him who wanted his last year to be as boring and uneventful as last year and the year before, well there goes his plan. He just hoped that the freshman that would be assigned to him was capable of navigating through high school alone. He really didn’t want to be stuck with a leech who would constantly need him.
From upstairs, he heard his mother getting ready. The jingling of her keys and the creaking of a closing cupboard were good indicators that she was seconds away from leaving. Jack stepped out of his room and slowly made his way to the hall.
“You’re leaving?”
He couldn’t help the small pang of sadness in his voice. Even if she wasn’t always there, she was still his mother and being alone for the fourth evening in a row was depressing.
“Yeah, I have a night shift. I won’t be back until late tonight, so don’t wait for me.”
Jack didn’t bother to respond. He was used to eating dinner alone. Hell, he was used to being simply alone most of the time, but he still wished that his mother would be there more often.
She wasn’t always like that. He remembered that when he was younger, Mary was more present, took care of him. As he grew older, she started to get more distant, to take more shifts and leave him more alone.
Jack wondered what he did for his mother to start acting like that. Anne, his mother’s colleague, says that it isn’t his fault and that he shouldn't think that.
Jack like Anne. She came over often and always brought apple pie, his favorite. In mini-Jack’s head, Anne was a saint for that. Her visit became less frequent with time, but she still brings apple pie. She even threw a bag of earl grey tea with it last time.
The sound of the front door opening and closing took him out of his thoughts. Mary didn’t even say goodbye. Jack put his arms around himself and made his way back upstairs, in the comfort of his room.
He then called his friends to spend the evening at his place, watching a movie and ordering pizza. Well, he would have if he had any friends. Jack was terribly lonely. So, he resorted to doomscroll and hoped that the new senior-freshman program wouldn’t be too bad.
~
Jack got another email the day before going back to school. In this one, the identity of his assigned freshman is finally revealed.
Hlökk Valkyrie.
What kind of fucking name is that?
He made a face at his laptop before reading the rest of the email.
He was supposed to come to school early to get a name tag so the freshman could find him easily. Good luck with that, he thought bitterly. He was practically invisible at school. He wasn't rich like that Qin Shi Huang kid, or beautiful like that pink haired kid and he certainly wasn’t a football star like Hercules Alcides. No, Jack Smith was practically a ghost and he was fine with that.
No one noticed him and it was totally fine.
So Jack mentally sent Hlökk some luck (ha), because she would need it tomorrow.
In the meantime, he stared at the pile of books needed for his last year. Only one year and he was free. He would leave for a college far from this town and never set foot in it again. It’s not like anything was holding him back from leaving. Jack secretly wished there was. (His life was really depressing, damn.)
Only one year, he reminded himself. Only one year.
~
The next day, Jack woke up earlier than usual. Fucking new program. He got out of his really comfortable bed. Shame he had to leave it this early in the morning.
He cursed the person responsible for the program all the way down to the empty kitchen. Of course. He made his usual tea and went back upstairs.
As he sipped on his earl grey tea, he put all the books he needed for the day in his bag. He made sure that he didn’t forget anything and zipped the bag.
Next, he moved toward his closet.
Even if Jack already hated this program, it wasn’t Hlökk’s fault and he still wanted her to like him. Anne always says that if the first impression is how you will forever see the person, then at least wear something good. Who is he to deny that logic?
Jack pulled out of his closet dark grey jeans and a burgundy t-shirt that would match with his right eye. Simple, but good enough. He looked at himself one last time in the mirror and immediately regretted it.
His white hair made him look older than he was, and it wasn’t a compliment, like older people thought it was. His heterochromatic eyes were referred to as weird at best and scary at worst by his classmates. He had dark circles, accentuating the strange feeling of looking in his eyes. He hoped Hlökk wouldn’t be too freaked out by him. He took his bag and left his house to take the abomination that was the school bus.
As he walked toward his stop, he put on his headphones and pressed play on one of the numerous Spotify-made playlists. So High School by Taylor Swift immediately filled the silence. Fitting, he thought, before skipping to the next song.
He liked the song well enough, but he really didn’t want to listen to it this morning.
Only one other senior was taking the bus at the same stop. The only two things Jack knew about him was that he often went to the gym and that he always had his vape with him. He didn’t even know his name. The senior was already vaping when Jack made his way to the corner of the street. He resisted the urge to cough.
The seven minutes it took for the bus to arrive were filled with the lyrics of folklore and the superficial scent of the vape.
When the yellow bus finally arrived, Jack rushed to get a free seat and put his bag on the seat to ensure no one would get the idea to sit next to him. During the whole bus ride, he heard the loud voices of the senior who vapes and his friend, no matter how loud he increased the volume.
This morning was great.
Jack held back a sigh when he saw the imposing building that was Valhalla Private High School. It’s officially the start of his senior year.
When he entered the school, Jack passed a group of squeaking girls who appeared to be freshmen. Three of the six girls were basically identical, and he assumed they were triplets. The girls were also blocking the hallway and Jack could hear them all the way to his locker. He hoped Hlökk Valkyrie wasn’t one of those annoying girls.
As he opened his locker, his neighbour reached their own. Jack did a double take.
No. Way.
He couldn’t be stuck being next to him all year. It was simply not happening. Jack genuinely thought that this guy had a private locker somewhere in the school. After all, he was crazy rich, he could probably afford it.
His neighbour turned toward him and offered him a smile.
“Hey! Jack, is it? You’re a senior too! You must have received the email about the new program. Do you want to get our name tag together?”
Jack stares blankly at the smiling face of Qin Shi Huang. Never in his three years of high school did this guy talk to him. Qin must have hit his head pretty hard this summer and forget that rich kids don’t mix with weird kids.
Jack should turn on his heels, run in the opposite direction and never even look again at Qin Shi Huang's tattooed face (Jack was sure his tattoo wasn’t real, but anyway). Instead, his own voice betray him.
“Sure.”
And so, the unlikely pair start walking toward the secretary's office. Qin kept talking like he and Jack are best friends and the latter is seriously lost.
What is going on?
At the office, they collect their name tag. The secretary tells them to go to the cafeteria with the other seniors. That’s where they are supposed to meet the freshmen.
At the cafeteria, Qin is immediately called out by a senior that Jack recognizes to be Nikola Tesla. He waves a hand toward them and Jack swears he can see Nikola’s eyes sparkling. That kid always has too much energy.
Qin seems to forget he isn’t alone and walks toward the group composed of eight seniors, wich includes Hercules.
And just like that, Jack is alone again.
He retreats in a corner and waits for the freshmen to arrive.
It doesn’t take more than five minutes for the door of the cafeteria to open and lets in a flow of terrified freshmen. Jack almost feels bad for them. Almost.
A teacher has apparently already told them what to do, because some of them start to search in little groups the seniors they are assigned to. Jack sees one of the triplets from earlier talking to Qin, blushing. He is so enthralled by the interaction that he misses the small freshman coming toward him.
“Are you Jack Smith?” says a bossy pitched voice.
It seems that Jack is down on his luck today because standing before him is one of the triplets, who is apparently Hlökk Valkyire.
It’s going to be a long year.