Chapter Text
Magnus plopped his tray down on the lunch table, a wicked smile on his face. “Boys? Have I got some updates for you today. The grapevine is especially juicy this week.”
“Wow,” Adam said, raising a water bottle to his mouth, “have they already moved on from the chlamydia outbreak? That was fast.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s still very much happening, it’s just that no one wants to talk about it anymore,” Yousef said, then sighed. “We really need better sex ed at this school.”
“Oh,” Adam smirked, elbowing Even, “but maybe you can do something about that, Mr. President?”
“If it’s another STI epidemic, Mags,” Mahdi frowned, an apple slice arrested halfway to his mouth, “then please spare us the graphic details until after we’re done eating this time, maybe?”
“No, no, it’s not that,” Magnus said, shaking his head, “no stories about the peeing difficulties on the football team today—”
“Which I still think was way too much information,” Jonas said, then shuddered. “I’ll never get that cursed image of Tommy Llomb out of my head now, you know that, dude? It haunts me.”
“Anyway,” Magnus stressed, “what I’m trying to say is—it’s actually our Mr. President over here who gets the honor of being the main topic of discussion today.” He gestured to Even with a flourish of his hand, a smug grin on his face.
Even stilled in his movements. “Oh, no.”
It had become something of an impromptu lunchtime tradition between all of them now: discussing the caliber of the latest reports from Nissen’s ever-churning rumor mill. Whenever the most recent story happened to involve any one of the members at their lunch table, Magnus would excitedly deliver the hearsay in question up for debate that day, and after much deliberation, they would all give it a rating. By this point, the whole thing had become intricate enough that Mikael and Adam had gone as far as to come up with a whole rubric on it—originality, legitimacy, intricacy, and a so-called Juicy Factor were all categories to be judged for consideration—and though most of it went well beyond Even’s comprehension, it was at least entertaining to watch and joke about.
At least, until it was about himself.
“I wonder what it’ll be this time,” Mutta said, grinning. “Last time it was you, they said you were about to stage a protest over the chocolate chip cookie scandal.”
“I’ll stage a protest myself if I have to,” Elias muttered. “Taking those away from us was a crime.”
“Oh, this is even better than a protest,” Magnus said. “Even, remember that bandaid you were wearing a couple weeks ago?”
It took a moment for Even to even remember. “What, the one on my forehead?” he asked, bewildered as to why that would be of any importance right now. Though the cut itself had faded ages ago, the actual incident of walking into a pole was embarrassing enough as it was, and Even had been more than happy to leave that incident in the past.
“Yeah, yeah, that one. So: the word on the street is that Even actually got it from getting into a fight with Isak’s gang—”
Isak, who had been distracted with finishing up some last minute homework across the table from Even, snapped his head up. “My gang?”
“Yes, please keep up, that’s not even the most interesting part of the story—”
Jonas raised a hand. “Hold on, are Mahdi and I a part of the gang in this story? If not, I’m demanding a refund.”
“I don’t know, sure. I didn’t come up with the specifics,” Magnus waved a dismissive hand. “But that’s not the point—it’s because half say it’s because Even had to fight for his honor to get initiated into the gang—”
Even balked. “What?”
“—and the other half swears it’s because Isak’s got an evil ex that challenged Even to a fight. Okay, you can make your bets now.”
“That last one’s almost flattering, if you think about it,” Mikael snorted, looking at Even. “Because it implies that you made it out of a duel with an evil ex with just a single bandaid as a casualty.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, “except I’m calling bullshit on the legitimacy of that one, because Even here is literally the only guy I know who actually manages to befriend the exes of the people he dates.”
Even spread his hands in defense. “They were all nice people! What else was I supposed to do?”
“Okay, so I’ll admit it’s got a bit of the juicy factor,” Elias said, “but I’m with Adam, I’m also docking points for legitimacy here. Where the hell did a gang come from? We still haven’t moved on from the fight club rumor, or figure out how that one even got started?”
Reflexively, Even’s eyes flickered to meet Isak’s across the table. Isak gave a nearly imperceptible raise of an eyebrow before he returned his attention to his homework; Even bit back a smile. Luckily, the rest of the boys were too engaged in their debate to have noticed this, but Even could see Mahdi and Jonas exchanging a subtle look of their own at the other end of the table, too.
The weather outside had finally taken a steeper turn into the lower digits, and with that change also came some shifts within Even’s own life: Isak and his friends had officially been inaugurated at the usual lunch table where Even’s friends sat in the cafeteria. For their part, Even’s friends had welcomed the four newcomers with open arms. The integration of the two groups had gone so seamlessly it was as if Isak, Jonas, Mahdi, and Magnus had always been there from the beginning of the year and not just a few weeks ago. It made Even wonder why on earth he hadn’t suggested something like this sooner.
It helped, of course, that Magnus and Elias already had some history—the direct result of a text-roulette prank vlog gone wrong last year that had accidentally landed Elias in Magnus’ DM’s. By the time all the explanations had been said and done, Magnus and Elias had become fast friends. Magnus had always been a big fan of the Hei Briskeby videos, and was only too eager to offer his help for future ones, which in itself was more than enough to gain excellent standing in Elias’ book.
But for Even, the most amazing thing was coming to see all the common ground between them that had existed in areas he hadn’t even realized. Mutta and Mahdi, it turned out, shared a German class together. Jonas and Mikael had mutual friends from the skatepark in town. And Isak was apparently in the same Calculus class as Adam and Yousef. Though they’d all been vaguely aware of one another’s existence on a superficial level, they’d never properly conversed before—until now.
And at the very moment, Isak was actually using Yousef’s notes to complete the last few homework problems for an assignment that was due his next period—the reason for which, Even noted vaguely, was largely his own fault. He’d kind of gotten carried away with distracting Isak before he’d been able to finish the assignment. (Even only felt half-guilty, though, since Isak hadn’t exactly protested said distraction.)
While Even loved this new dynamic every lunch period, his favorite days were most definitely Fridays. Fridays were the days Sana and Vilde came over to join Yousef and Magnus for lunch, and along with them followed the rest of their own group of friends. Despite the fact that the sheer number of people congregated at a single lunch table resulted in enough chaos to earn them some dirty looks from the rest of the cafeteria, those were the days Even loved best—getting to talk with Chris, who had made Mutta laugh so hard last week that he’d snorted chocolate milk out his nose, getting to see Yousef offer half his baklava to Sana and seeing the warmth in her gaze, catching the way she met Noora’s knowing smile with a surprising shyness, watching Isak’s amusement at Jonas’ increasingly disastrous attempts at flirting with Eva, trying not to laugh at the looks on Elias and Mikael’s faces as Vilde tried to recruit them both into the SGA—it felt like having a giant family all at one table. And there was nothing Even loved more than being surrounded by the people he loved.
“Nah,” Jonas was now saying, sneaking a fry off of Magnus’ tray. “We’ve been sitting outside. You know, on the grass behind that hallway with all the history classes?”
“So that’s why we’ve never seen you guys around,” Yousef said. “I was wondering why I’d never noticed you guys at our lunch before.”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Jonas said. “Much nicer out there. Seriously, I think you guys would all like it way better. When the weather warms up we should all try sitting out back for lunch instead. It’s a lot less stuffy.”
“It’s true,” Even agreed. “Especially when the weather’s nice? Super refreshing.”
“How do you know?” Elias asked, slanting him a look.
“Because I’ve been sitting with them,” Even said, thinking that this was obvious. But looking around, he realized the rest of the boys also looked confused. “But I told you guys! How are you all surprised?”
“You said you were meeting Isak for lunch,” Elias said, looking befuddled.
“Well, I was meeting him,” Even shrugged. “And his friends. Outside.” Taking in the expressions around him, ranging from amazement to bewilderment, Even huffed a laugh. “Hold on, where did you guys think I went every other day for lunch, then?”
“Honestly dude,” Mikael said, “we assumed lunch with Isak was,” —he made air quotes— “like, code word for a secret hookup or something.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, “we thought you guys were sneaking off to the library so you could make out.”
“To make out?” Even blurted, aghast; simultaneously Isak scoffed, “At the library?”
But Even didn’t even have time to process this bizarre presumption they’d all made, because Yousef was saying, “But is sitting outside even allowed? I thought we weren’t allowed outside the cafeteria for lunch?”
Even exchanged a look with Isak, remembering how he’d asked that very same question himself, many weeks ago.
“No,” Even said, smiling a little. “I guess not.”
Adam let out a low whistle, teasing. “Oh-ho, is that so? Watch out everyone, we’ve got a rule breaker in our presence.”
Mikael raised an eyebrow at him. “Could it be?” he said, sounding almost grudgingly impressed. “Are we finally getting our rebellious, badass Even, back over to the dark side once more?” He reached out to pat Isak’s shoulder. “Spending time with Isak’s been a good influence for you, bud, you’re finally loosening up and—”
“Hold on,” Even protested, feeling the need to defend at least a portion of his honor at least for the sake of his past self, “I’ve always been rebellious and badass. I still am! Just because I haven’t had the chance to break us into any pools after-hours in the last couple months—”
“I think Even’s badass,” Magnus chipped in, cheerful.
“Thank you, Mags. Isak knows, too—he knows how rebellious I actually am—”
It was only when Isak briefly looked up from his homework to meet Even’s gaze, eyes amused, that Even belatedly realized that making that statement may have been a grave mistake.
“Of course,” Isak said, tone dry. “You heard the rumors. He’s been fighting for my honor in my gang. Can’t get more badass than that.”
Even wordlessly shook his head at him, but he was smiling.
“Hello,” Yousef interrupted, “he literally just got elected class president, why are you all encouraging him to break the rules?”
“Hello,” Elias interjected at once, “we literally got him elected in the first place so we could break the rules and get away with them. Even, bro, don’t think for a moment I’ve forgotten about our senior prank—”
Mahdi and Magnus perked up, curious. “Senior prank?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s going to be fucking epic.”
“Oh, really? Then why don’t you go ahead and tell us what the plan is, Elias?” Yousef said, smirking.
“Okay, well, I still haven’t decided what we’re officially doing just yet—but that doesn’t matter, I know it’ll be legendary anyway—it’s actually Step 157 of my 500 step plan to hit a million subscribers, and if everything goes according to plan, then this is going to boost us to a hundred thousand...”
Despite the mildly outlandish and ulterior motives of some of his friends, Even had actually been able to accomplish some stuff in the short few weeks since he’d been elected class president. One of the perks that came along with the position were the bi-weekly meetings he got to have with Nissen’s principal, whom he’d already begun the process of haggling with to bring back the ever-popular and iconic fifty-cent chocolate chip cookies at lunch—which, funnily enough, was one of the most common grievances raised by most students. But on the more serious side of things, he’d also managed to wheedle the contacts of one of the school’s district board members out of the principal’s hands, sent them an impulsive email at two in the morning on a Friday night, and now somehow found himself faced with the prospect of having an audience with the entire school district board to improve school policies in their local area. It was definitely going to be a nerve-wracking endeavor, but it was what he’d promised when he’d run his campaign, so Even was more than happy to carry it out no matter what.
Within the levels of their own school, he’d also gone ahead and selected Sana as his VP, which was probably the easiest decision he’d made so far as class president. There was no doubt in her value: she was an exceedingly helpful partner to have around, someone with whom he could vocalize his ideas to, and could always count on getting solid, well-reasoned feedback in return. And as the former Treasurer, she set Even right to work with a priority of her own: setting up a fundraiser to accumulate some starter money for an initial deposit for Nissen class T-shirts, another popular request amongst the students at their high school.
Having lost his original position as VP, Hector had been left with no choice but to grudgingly take over Sana’s role as Treasurer. And for her part, Sana had wasted no time in wielding her newfound position and previous experience to ensure that every single thing Hector did was only with her oversight. What was more, Isak had been right: Hector hadn’t bothered Even anymore. In fact, he hardly even acknowledged Even’s existence at all, mostly redirecting any necessary SGA-related communication through Sana, but Even thought he much rather preferred that to the alternative.
At the other end of the lunch table, Jonas had pulled Mikael into an intense discussion regarding in-school fascism in their cafeteria. Elias and Mutta were trying to talk Mahdi and Magnus into what sounded like a senior prank that had the potential to result in them all going to jail. And meanwhile, Yousef, Isak, and Adam were all comparing answers to a homework problem they’d all gotten different answers to.
Even tried to imagine explaining the sight he was looking at now to himself at the start of the school year, but he didn’t know how he’d even begin to approach such a task. How did he even begin to explain that the boy sitting across from him, absentmindedly rubbing at his nose, the same boy whose ankle Even had hooked his own around under the table—that he would change Even’s life forever? That Even would be sitting here as class president? That the night before, Even had actually completed his Chemistry homework all by himself, with no help at all, and having done it in under an hour? He didn’t know.
But what Even did know, was that looking around himself at their lunch table now—it felt like his life was just about as close to perfect as it could get.
Monday, 4:34 PM
EVEN:
ISAK: Wow
ISAK: How’d you figure out it was butanal?
EVEN: Turns out I’ve secretly been an orgo chem genius this whole time
ISAK: Yesterday you asked me where Potassium was on the periodic table
EVEN: I still think that naming it Pt would have made way more sense than K? Who thought that was a good idea? There isn’t even a K in Potassium?
EVEN: But anyway I actually just read the comments under the original post to figure it out lol
ISAK: I think I like this one
EVEN: THIS one, really? Out of all the ones I’ve ever sent to you???
ISAK: It’s subtle
EVEN: Wow
EVEN: Since you like it so much maybe we should test it out and see for ourselves which one is better
ISAK: Maybe we should
ISAK: Busy tonight?
EVEN: Yeah I think I am, sorry :(
EVEN: I’ve got a study session with this hot chem tutor I’ve landed
ISAK: That’s too bad
ISAK: I was about to have the apartment to myself, Eskild’s spending the night out
EVEN: Wait
EVEN: Really??
Unfortunately for Even, although his biggest hurdles of Chemistry and the presidency were now officially behind him, that mainly just meant that he now had the mental capacity to face the matters he’d been putting off for far too long. The most significant of these were college applications, a hurdle that had been looming in his distant future for months, but was now approaching with an alarming speed, what with all the deadlines that were coming up in the next couple of months. Because with college apps came a slew of sub-tasks that necessitated his attention: rec letters, essays, transcripts, and testing scores, to name a few.
In the end, the three teachers he’d decided to ask for his letters of recommendation were his favorite English teacher from freshman year, his photography class teacher from last year, and perhaps most surprising, even to himself—Ms. Andersen.
At first, Even hadn’t even considered her as an option, far out of the realm of possibility, considering how she’d had a first row seat to watch him fail spectacularly in Chemistry, but ultimately his friends convinced him against it. The fact that she’d seen him failing and he’d managed to pass anyway, they argued, was exactly why she’d make for a good option.
You know, taking an initiative to improve yourself or whatever, Adam had said, nodding wisely. Colleges love that shit. Isak, even, had mentioned to Even once before that Andersen had a lot of respect for students who put in the work.
And for her part, Andersen had accepted his request easily.
“Of course,” she’d told him when he’d stopped by her classroom after school one day to ask her about it, a sincerity and warmth to her tone that surprised him. “I’d be happy to. When do you need it by?”
Once Even had supplied her with the necessary information and deadlines, he turned around to head back towards the doorway where Isak was leaning against, waiting for him. The relief must have been palpable on Even’s face, because Isak returned it with a slight raise of his brows, as if to say, Told you you’d be fine.
“Let’s go?” Even asked.
“Yeah,” Isak answered, then paused, blinking. “Actually, one second. Just remembered something.” He swung his backpack around and dug through it for a moment, before finally extracting a sheet of paper with what looked like a graph on it.
He strode the few steps into the classroom, approaching Andersen’s desk. “Here,” Isak said, holding it out to her, who looked up in surprise. “The graphs for part B of the lab report. Sorry. Meant to hand this in with the rest of the report earlier today. Didn’t realize I’d forgotten to include it until later, I accidentally had it in my other folder.”
“I’ll make a note to add it to your report.” Andersen said, taking the papers from him. Isak started back towards the doorway where Even stood waiting for him, but he was only halfway there when Andersen spoke up again.
“Oh, and Isak?”
Isak paused in his tracks, shooting Even a questioning glance before turning back to her. “Yeah?”
She didn’t look up from the papers she was grading, but there was a small smile on her face when she said, “It’s good to see you engaging again.”
Isak blinked, nonplussed, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. At length, he looked back at Even, who could only give him a wordless smile and shrug in answer. He didn’t comment on it as they left the classroom, though. They both knew.
Despite the fact that there wasn’t the need for them to have intensive chemistry review sessions after school on the daily anymore, they still found themselves winding up the library a couple days a week nonetheless, just to get some work done together. Partially it was because by this point, doing work together in the library was just kind of their thing. And without the stress of an impending deadline of any extreme exams looming over their heads, the afternoons were actually kind of nice, spending time doing work together. But more importantly, the main reason the library sessions were still critical was because they’d both come to the swift conclusion that it was the only way the two of them could get any sort of meaningful work done without getting sidetracked. It turned out that attempting to get work done while in their bedrooms never quite resulted in their schoolwork actually getting completed.
As they arrived at their usual table in the back, Even’s phone buzzed a few times in his hand: a series of texts from Hallie.
Tuesday, 3:07 PM
HALLIE: hey hey babes! how are you?
HALLIE: so, totally just asking for a friend, but you love me, right?
HALLIE: and if i ever asked you to do me a quick little favor, you’d be down, right?
HALLIE: hypothetically, of course
Even raised an eyebrow, amused, but sent off a quick reply anyway.
EVEN: Hey! And yeah, of course! I’m always happy to help, what’s up?
EVEN: Wait, this is legal right?
HALLIE: perfect! you’re the best
HALLIE: and yes! totally 100% legal, doesn’t cost a single thing
HALLIE: there’s just the small matter of betraying isak’s trust so that i can get revenge on him, but that’s a minor issue, really
Even glanced up from his phone, failing to hold back a grin. Isak was distracted with digging through his own backpack though, and hadn’t noticed Even just yet.
EVEN: I have to admit that’s an intriguing proposition
EVEN: What exactly would I have to do?
HALLIE: super easy! i just need you to find the most embarrassing picture of isak that you can dig up
HALLIE: and then send it to me :)
HALLIE: (and don’t worry, i’ve got jonas and mahdi on it too, so i’ll have a solid repository to work with)
HALLIE: and don’t worry about sending me too many either, i’m not picky at all here
“What are you so smug about?”
Even looked up from his phone, then huffed a laugh. “You tell me. What on earth did you do to get on Hallie’s bad side?”
Isak’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Hallie?”
“Yeah, Hallie. She’s plotting revenge on you. I hope you’re ready.”
“Revenge? For what?”
“Revenge,” Even confirmed, grinning. “And I don’t know why, but she’s asking for embarrassing pictures.”
Isak blinked, then comprehension flooded his face. “Oh,” he said. “That. She’s just mad because I sent that one picture I found of her and a tuba in the seventh grade to Noora. She can try all she wants, to get back, though. She’s not going to find anything on me.”
Even raised an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge? You think I don’t have any good pictures of you?”
“No,” Isak said, but there was a hesitancy there. “You don’t,” he said with more emphasis when Even wiggled his eyebrows at him, but he sounded even less sure now.
Even tapped his phone screen off, and then back on again, so that it was on the lock screen. Seeing the photo he’d made as his background, he automatically smiled, as he always did, a gut reaction whenever he saw it. As of late, Even had gotten into the habit of sneaking snapshots of Isak when he wasn’t paying attention: Isak bowed over his phone, framed against the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the window; Isak with his chin propped up on a hand as he read through an assignment, pencil spinning lazily in his hand; Isak accidentally having fallen asleep on Even’s pillow. Maybe Even was biased, but he didn’t think that there was anything that compared to the way Isak looked when the light hit his profile just right. He made for a devastatingly attractive character study, and it almost made Even wish he was back in his photography class again. But that was also the problem: all the pictures of Isak that Even had managed to capture had been good. It was like it was impossible to get him in a bad angle. And if Even needed a different genre of pictures, he was going to need some extra help. But luckily for him, he’d already secured an assistant who was only all too happy to help him out.
“I forgot to tell you I had this one on me,” Even said, flipping the phone around to show Isak.
There was a long, drawn out beat of incredulous silence as Isak focused in on the photo, the expression on his face flickering from confusion, to recognition, to horror.
“Oh no you don’t,” Even laughed, pulling his phone back to safety when Isak made a swipe at it.
“What the fuck, why is that your lock screen?”
“I’m honestly surprised it took you this long to notice. I’ve had it set to this picture for two whole weeks now.”
“You should delete that.”
“Are you kidding me? When you have that one of me with a buzzcut on your phone? Definitely not. I’m keeping this one forever.”
“Where did you even get—?” Isak began to ask, but then cut himself off, his eyes closing for a brief moment. “Sana,” he muttered under his breath.
Laughing at Isak’s scowl, Even looked back down at the phone. Even though the picture just made him smile whenever he looked at it now, when Sana had first sent it to him, it had actually made him a little sad, at first.
It was a snapshot of middle-school aged Isak and Sana after one of their Science Olympiad tournaments, the both of them donning matching purple-green Nissen T-shirts and bronze medals around their necks. They were both standing arm-in-arm, a small bronze trophy held between them. Sana was half making a face at Isak, eyebrows furrowed critically, but this was undermined with the way she was also half laughing, her dimples out in full-force. Beside her Isak was making a goofy face at the camera with his tongue out, clutching the trophy like it was a beer tankard, positioned over his face like he was about to chug from it.
He looked ridiculous, but he’d also looked happy—and it was this, more than anything, that had struck Even to the core when he’d first seen it. The openness in his expression, the light in his eyes, the carefree playfulness in his stance. It was so markedly different from the Isak that Even had met at the beginning of the year, and it had broken Even’s heart to think about that, at first. But he felt a little better about it now, since he realized that the light in Isak’s eyes these days—though still a little reserved—was now much closer to what it had been back then, than it had been when Even had first met him.
It had to have helped, of course, that one of the primary stressors in Isak’s life had finally seemed to leave him be. It had only been about a month, but it seemed like Isak’s calculated guess had been right: it appeared the Yakuza had finally given up on Isak. Aside from a few stray attempts at communication from Tom in the form of random burner-phone numbers—numbers that were promptly blocked—it had been relative silence from their end, otherwise, even for Mahdi and Jonas. Even Hallie herself had confirmed that the administration was now busy with focusing on redistributing their financial interests more evenly among their fighters, having learned the lesson that it was too risky to invest a majority of their resources on one person.
And now that Isak didn’t have to invest so much of his time and energy into the Yakuza black hole, it finally meant he had the time to try out some new things. Namely, in the form of more tutoring—but it wasn’t for Even.
They had been at the library for about half an hour when there was a sudden blur of red, and then a flustered girl in a cherry-patterned cardigan sank down at their table.
“I’m really sorry,” Elise said to Isak in lieu of a greeting, “I know you’ve already explained this to me, but I’ve tried this problem on my own a hundred different times and I still have no idea what I’m doing wrong.”
Even met her stressed gaze with a sympathetic smile—he understood that feeling only all too well.
“It’s fine,” Isak shrugged, already reaching for the worksheet packet she held in her hands.
This particular development over the last few weeks was one of the coolest things Even had had the chance to witness: Isak extending his Chemistry tutoring expertise to Elise. She wasn’t as horrifically far behind as Even had been in the class when he’d started, so she only dropped by every once in a while, and only when she really needed it—most often before they were due for an important quiz or exam. But the thing that Even found the most fascinating, was noticing the way Isak shifted gears with his teaching style to better match Elise’s personality.
Even had spent enough time getting tutored by Isak that he was now keenly aware of the tactics Isak had used on him: broad, oversimplified comparisons for his explanations, because that was what Even had responded best to. But with Elise, it was logical, theory-based explanations with much finer detail, because somehow, Isak had caught onto what worked best for her. What was more though, was that Even didn’t even think Isak had made the shift in teaching styles consciously. It seemed like some kind of innate, automatic response, like it had come almost like second-nature to him.
Isak hadn’t charged her for his services, either—though Elise had attempted to pay him numerous times, Isak turned down all her offers. Even sympathized with her guilt, having been in that exact same position himself, but now that he’d had the chance to witness Isak’s tutoring from a third-party perspective, he could see that Isak genuinely didn’t mind helping her out. And he also knew that Isak wasn’t interested in money, not after Yakuza. In the end though, Elise had gone about trying to make peace with her conscience by instead showering Isak with homemade baked goods at every opportunity.
In the back of his mind, Even quietly added another potential profession to suggest to Isak.
By the time Elise and Isak had wrapped up and she had gone on her way, a plastic container with a small mountain of cookies left in her wake, another half hour had passed.
“You know,” Even told him as they packed up to leave, “you should really consider adding tutoring services to your extracurricular activities section of your college apps, when you start filling them out next year. Considering how much time you spend on it, it’s only fair that you get at least some kind of recognition for it.”
Isak acknowledged this with a sort of half-dismissive shrug. Even smiled to himself a little, but he didn’t push the matter. Compared to the way Isak used to downright scoff at the idea of college whenever Even used to bring it up in the past, a response like this was a large marker of progress in itself.
The difference was almost imperceptible, but it was definitely there. It was there in the way Isak paid more attention to him when Even talked about college apps and the struggles of his application process, the way Isak asked just enough questions to toe the line from nonchalance, into perhaps something more. None of it went unnoticed by Even, but he didn’t dare comment on it. Because if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that calling attention to it would be the surest way to ensure that Isak went back to feigning apathy about the whole thing again. So, Even stayed quietly hopeful instead, hoping that maybe, just maybe—Isak was finally giving himself a chance.
And he wasn’t the only one. Sana, who was always ten steps ahead of the game, was already in the process of visiting universities she was interested in applying for the next year, despite the fact that most juniors didn’t start doing that kind of thing until the spring and summer months before their senior years. After one of her visits, Isak had accidentally unthinkingly asked her what kinds of programs the school had offered. Though he had realized his slipup nearly the moment he’d asked, and had changed the subject almost immediately after the words had left his mouth, Even had caught the way Sana’s eyes had briefly narrowed.
Ever since then, the strangest thing had begun to happen: the flyers from the colleges Sana was visiting began to inexplicably appear on Isak’s desk during Chemistry class after every single one of her visits. What Even found most sweet though, was how they were sometimes even marked, a certain program of study circled in a pen, or a sticky note singling out a specific page. Isak always rolled his eyes when he walked in and spotted the flyers waiting for him on his desk, but Even caught him storing them away in his backpack all the same.
“All I’m saying,” Even was telling Isak as they stepped out through the double doors and into the chilly November air, “is that I’m pretty sure that the school basically expects us to make an appearance at this point.”
Isak scoffed. “We’re not celebrities. They’ll survive.”
“After all their effort to vote for us?”
“First off, that’s if we even win that stupid thing, and second, it’s their fault for voting for us in the first place.”
Even tried not to laugh at the frown on Isak’s face. The other day, Even had found out through Noora that the Yearbook Superlatives voting season was about to begin soon, and that apparently, he and Isak stood a solid chance of winning Cutest Couple—to Even’s amusement, and Isak’s horror.
“You wouldn’t even feel the slightest bit guilty for letting them all down?”
“You can try all you want, but you’re never going to convince me into going to prom.”
“But think of all the positives,” Even said. “You’ll get to see me in a tux.”
Isak blinked over at him, his eyes inadvertently doing a once-over along Even’s frame as if imagining the idea of it, before he caught himself and blinked forward again. “You don’t need a prom for that,” he said after a beat.
Even smiled, sensing a small victory. Isak’s resolve was only giving way in marginal amounts, but Even had until May to sway him over. It was only November, after all. Tomorrow they would be getting out of school early for Thanksgiving break, and then the holiday season would kick off. Isak and the rest of his flat had an invite to Even’s house for Thanksgiving, and that was bound to be interesting for a number of reasons.
Though Isak had already officially met Even’s mother—a dinner that had started out as awkward as it could have gotten, but had somehow miraculously ended with Isak and Even’s mother bonding and joking over her line of work, a turn of events that had happened so fast that not even Even had seen it coming—but that was only just one person. Even couldn’t imagine that Isak was exactly thrilled at the prospect of having to meet Even’s entire extended family as his boyfriend. In fact, the idea must have been mildly horrifying to him, but to Isak’s credit, he’d hid it well. Afterwards, Even had his own invite to Isak’s place for their own Thanksgiving night tradition: Christmas movies, which apparently was Eskild’s favorite way of ringing in the season.
“I know it’s random,” Even was saying, having now shifted gears from heckling Isak about prom, to heckling Isak about an entirely new subject, “but just hear me out: I think your prospects in the field of education have a lot of potential. Have you considered it?”
“I feel like you suggest an entirely new career field to me every other week,” Isak said, tone wry. “I can’t keep up. Where’s this one coming from, now?”
“This one isn’t entirely new, you can technically still combine it with science! And I’m only suggesting it because you’d be so good at it. You’re already such a natural. Teaching me and Elise? And if you went into teaching, you’d get to have the best of both worlds. You can pick whatever field of science your heart desires, and you can keep doing what you do best, which is teaching it to desperate students who have absolutely no idea what they’re doing.”
“Teaching two people doesn’t make me a natural,” Isak snorted.
But Even was already lightyears ahead with his daydreaming. “Professor Valtersen,” he mused, grinning to himself. “Hm. That’s kind of hot.”
Isak groaned, shoving at a laughing Even. “Ugh. You would be into that.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Even said in his defense, grinning. “It was only after meeting you that I even realized I was sort of into the whole academia thing.”
“Academia thing? What even is that?”
“Oh, you know. Nerds like you.”
Isak rolled his eyes. Even reached out, slipped his hand into Isak’s. Isak held his hand back.
“Anyway, speaking of professors and college and all of that—I’ve been looking at the curriculums for a few schools and it seems like most of them make their students take at least one core science class no matter what their major is. So. That got me thinking. And I was wondering, you know, for no reason in particular, or anything...how good would you say you are at biology?”
“Bio? Why?”
“Just wondering. Because if I do take bio next year, and I happen to need a tutor…”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Kidding, kidding. Actually, my track record in biology is a lot better than it is in Chem. I actually find it to be one of the more tolerable sciences. It just makes so much more sense. And you know, now that I think about it, I feel like dissecting a frog could be a really defining moment in our relationship.”
“Yeah,” Isak snorted, “because that sounds so romantic.”
“I know, right? And besides, just think of all the opportunity.”
“What opportunity?”
“A whole new field of science for me to work with. Amazing! Like—here’s one: you know what I and DNA helicase have in common?”
“What you and—what?”
“We both really want to unzip your genes right now.”
A solid five beats of stony, unimpressed silence from Isak, during which Even’s grin only grew wider.
“Don’t do this,” Isak said at length, voice flat. “You’re better than this.”
“I know this isn’t a time for jokes. But it’s so hard to B. cereus.”
“I’ll break up with you,” Isak threatened. “I’ll do it.”
“Oh, you know why the biologist and physicist broke up? They had no chemistry. Unlike us,” Even clarified, laughing as he tried to reach for Isak, who was ducking out of all his attempts.
“How the fuck have you managed to memorize so many already?”
“Oh, don’t worry, these are just the mostly-family-friendly ones. I’ll save the R-rated ones for later tonight.” He winked.
“I think I preferred the Chem ones to this.”
Even burst out laughing. “It took the bio puns to get you to finally admit that, really? Well, in any case, there’s a lot of good pun overlap in the whole biochemistry field. We’ll find a nice, happy medium.”
“I’d hate to think of what you’d come up with if it had been physics.”
“Unfortunately I can’t say I’m as versed in that field, but if you want, you can come back to my place and we can practice.” A pause for dramatic effect. “Practice...some simple harmonic motion.”
“Oh, my god.”
“Okay, okay!” Even said through his laughter. “Come back, come back, please, I’ll stop, I promise. Promise!”
Maybe Even was only just a teenager in high school. And maybe he was far too young to feel these kinds of things, maybe he still had a lot to learn, but a feeling like this—the phenomenon of being able to annoy someone half to death with terrible jokes and still have them look back with a gaze like that when he took their face in his hands, the feeling of being kissed by them, the steady feeling of knowing they would stay, even when they knew all his quirks and flaws and awful jokes—as far as Even was concerned, this was what love was.
Perhaps it was the only kind of scientific phenomenon Isak would never be able to explain to him on pen and paper, but Even was more than fine with not understanding a single thing about it. He didn't need an explanation, neither of them did. They understood one another, and that was enough.
And that was exactly what made it perfect.