Where It All Began

The final bell rang, signaling the student's release. At least, most students, excluding Jay and Xander. That following day, they'd agreed to meet up outside of room 17 to walk there together.

Xander was the first to arrive, as usual. He paced outside the door, pacing and wringing his hands, his insides a knotted mess of nerves. He was not the type of person who served detention. In fact, this was one of the last things he expected would happen to him. Yet, it had only taken less than three days for him to become a delinquent.

"Xander?" Mrs. Janssen appeared in the doorway of room 17. He jumped, then whirled towards her. She smiled out of the corner of her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Jay," he said.

"Ah. Quite the pair you two are, huh?"

"I guess so."

Her smile grew sympathetic. "I'm sorry about the other day. I knew some kids might be upset about the whole homework thing, but... maybe I should have..." She looked down, then shrugged. She looked back at him. "I'm just sorry."

"It's... it's okay."

"It's not fair that you're getting punished for this. Just know that you did nothing wrong. Don't blame yourself for this."

Xander nodded. She grinned.

"Although, in the future, if I ever forget to take up homework... maybe just let me deal with that." She winked.

Xander nodded quickly.

"Ah, lesson learned, I suppose."

Xander tried to smile, but it quickly faded as his nerves took hold. He stared down, trying to maintain calm.

A minute later, Jay came strolling up the hall. With a lowered gaze, an air of melancholy surrounded him. He looked deep in thought.

"Hello, Jay," Mrs. Janssen greeted, smiling sadly. "How are you holding up?"

Jay smiled, then shrugged. "Good!" He turned to Xander. "Ready to go, pal?"

"I... I think so." Xander tightly gripped the straps of his backpack.

Jay sighed. "This is gonna be boring."

Xander perked up. "Really?"

Jay nodded sadly. Xander had no experience with detention, so if "boring" was the worst way Jay could describe it, Xander felt like he could probably manage.

"Well, I won't keep you here," Mrs. Janssen nodded to them. "Be safe, now."

"We'll try!" Jay smiled, and the pair headed off down the halls to the detention room.

Jay's smile seemed to fade once they were out of Mrs. Janssen's sight. The two walked in silence for a while. Xander longed to break it, only this time because a question had been burning on his mind, rather than out of discomfort.

"Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you do it?"

Jay looked at him. "Do what?"

"Stand up to Blaze." Xander tilted his head. "You would have had a better chance if you'd just run away. There was no way you would have been able to stop him."

Jay frowned. "I could have! I'm really strong!"

"He punched you once, and you were on the ground."

"I just forgot to dodge!"

Xander thought for a moment. "Well, I guess you were a pretty good distraction."

Jay smiled proudly, like he'd won an achievement. Xander looked at him.

"So, why'd you do it?"

"I–I don't... really know." Jay looked down. "Nobody else was doing anything. I guess... I just thought... maybe you needed someone?"

"Well... uh... Thank you."

Jay straightened up. "Of course!"

They walked in silence some more, until Jay sighed.

"So... it looks like I'm not gonna be friends with Blaze anytime soon."

"Blaze?"

"The guy who got suspended."

Xander feigned a chuckle, thinking Jay was trying to be funny, until he realized the serious look on his face.

"That was who you were friends with??"

Jay paused, then shook his head. "We never actually became friends, but..."

"Then what's the big deal?"

"I... My friends..." He faltered. "My... old friends... wanted to use him to start a band, and I guess... I wanted... to be like them."

Xander looked at him. "Why?"

Jay blinked, surprised, as if he'd never considered this before. "Because... they're my friends! Or–they... were... my friends. I don't think they wanna see me anymore now." He looked down. "I guess I just wanted to feel like I was... cool... or something."

"I... think you're... kind of cool."

He blinked again, staring at Xander. "You do??"

"I said kind of."

Jay stared at him, awaiting explanation.

"Well... yeah." Xander paused, thinking. "You dress cool... and you walk around like nothing ever bothers you, which, I guess is kind of cool... And there was the whole standing up to the bully thing. Even if you did get knocked out."

Jay beamed. "I didn't even realize I was cool!"

Xander cocked his head. "Still kind of weird, though."

Jay chuckled lightly, his smile softening. He gave Xander an earnest look. "You're a good friend, Xander."

Xander blinked. "I am?"

Jay nodded, his hair bouncing as enthusiastically as he was. "You're really nice. The nicest friend I've ever had. Even nicer than my older brother. And I'm sure he wouldn't share his lunch with me!"

"Oh. Well, you looked kind of sad, so I was just trying to be–well... nice."

"Exactly!" Jay giggled, and Xander joined in.

They came up to room 110, where detention was held. A teacher sat at a desk in the front of the room, absently reading a book.

"Ready?" Jay looked at Xander, extending his elbow for him to link with. Xander glanced at him.

"I'm... I'm not sure. I've never done this before."

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. I was scared when I got my first detention too, but it's actually not so bad."

"How many times have you done this before...?"

Jay tilted his head, smiling slightly. "A few."

Xander grinned, linking their elbows together. "That's kind of cool."

Jay smiled.

Arm in arm, the pair entered room 110 to face their detention.

END.