(⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)♡ (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) ♡(⁠ ⁠˘³⁠ ˘⁠)

As they wait in the disciplinary room, Jake sits silently as Brian does everything he can to trigger him again. 

"I mean I don't even understand what's so infuriating with me calling you poor," he goes on and on. "If it's so offensive, why'd you be born as a poor asshole in the first place?" 

Jake crosses his arms and closes his eyes. Inner peace...

Their homeroom teacher finally arrives to handle the situation. He doesn't look surprised when he sees the two of them. 

"Brian," he sighs. "Go back to the class."

Brian stands up, all smug. "See?" He murmurs quietly so that only Jake can hear. "Shouldn't have been born poor."

Jake's jaw clenches. "What about me, sir?" he asks.

"You're going to get punished, of course," replies the teacher. 

Jake stares. "But Chase literally started everything. He poured milk on me first, he punched me first." 

"Yes but look at him," says the teacher. "He's all messed up." 

Jake looks at Brian. And he can't lie: Brian actually looks way worse than Jake does. His lower lip's cut and swollen, his nose is so purple it looks broken. The side of his left eye is slightly bleeding. There are red marks in his shirt near his elbows where he landed multiple times because Jake threw him down over and over again. 

"Nobody said he had to start a fight he can't win," Jake mutters darkly. 

Meanwhile Brian has gone pink from embarrassment. He isn't very proud of the fact that he clearly lost the fight, a fight where his hit landed first. And he really doesn't like the way Jake's eyes are roaming all around his body. 

"I'll get going!" He snaps. "Sir, make sure Flynn gets what he deserves." 

The teacher sighs for the nth time. "Jake," he says miserably. "You are to clean the gym after every PE class this whole month."

"But sir---"

"And also our classroom, when school time is over," says the teacher with high discomfort and quickly leaves the place. 

Jake watches after him helplessly. "But I have to look for part time jobs..." He says to no one in particular. 

When school ends for the day, Brian stands up with a hard push to his desk that makes Jake's chair screech. 

"I guess we're all going home now," he says lazily. "While some poor guy has to clean the classroom on his first day." 

As Brian exits, Willie comes to stand in front of Jake. "Don't worry," he says. "I'll help you."

"No need," Jake mutters and starts organizing the chairs quickly. 

"I have to help you anyway," Willie says, sheepishly. "My name's on top of the cleaning list."

Jake feels less bad at that. At least he'll have helpers. He hurries up. After a while of diligent cleaning and organizing, he says, "Can you take care of the rest? I have to go."

"Huh? Where?? I thought we were going to get icecream after finishing!" Willie complains as if they had it planned for years.

"Later! Thanks in advance!" And Jake's gone.

Willie sighs and continues.

Outside, Jake checks his phone. He was supposed to visit three places for work. If he gets to reach even 2 out of them, it'll be very helpful. He checks the location of the nearest place and is about to make a run for it when a bunch of boys surround him. 

"Are you the bloke who beat up Brian?" One asks.

Damn it. "Look," he says, trying to stay calm. "I really need to go right now. But if you want, I'll come find you tomorrow at break. Alright?"

They snort and drag him behind the school building. Jake runs out of options and patience at the same time. So this time, he lands the first punch. But he knew it's a lost project because there are seven of them and he's just one. He tries as much as possible but gets beat up pretty bad. By the time they leave, Jake doesn't find the strength to stand up. He knows today's work interviews are done for, so he lays there, looking up at the sky blankly. 

".....left just like that! Can you believe it? I lied to him about being on the cleaning list. There isn't any cleaning list yet! I did it because I thought we could be friends and eat icecream together..." 

"Shut up, Willie, and hurry up. You're making me late too!" 

Jake sighs. He thinks about how much time he has until the twins find him. Turns out, he didn't have much. The next minute, there are sharp gasps and two pairs of hands are pulling him up. 

"Are you alright!?"

"Did Brian Chase do this to you!?"

"Can you stand up?"

"Are you severely hurt? Do we need to call 911?"

"Are you dizzy?"

More worried queries follow and Jake groans. 

"Guys," he says. "I'm really in pain alright? Can you not make things worse?" 

Winter and Willie eye each other. 

"What do you want us to do?" Willie asks. 

"Firstly," Jake sighs. "Take me to the infirmary?" 

"So Chase had you ambushed," says Willie, giving a ferocious lick on his cone. "But he didn't turn up to watch the show?"

"He's such a coward," says Winter. 

He is, Jake silently agrees and sips his soda. "Thanks to him, I lost my part time job interviews." 

"About this part time job thing though..." Winter begins. 

Willie's eyes light up. "Oh that's right! Mom will love his height."

"What're you talking about?" Jake asks. 

Winter replies with an offer. "Are you perhaps interested in working in our bakery?" 

Jake stares at the twins for a moment. And then he starts smiling. 

He looks at Willie who lied about having work shift to help Jake so that they can get close, be friends. Then he looks at Winter who's naturally and genuinely worried for Jake. Back there, both of them were terrified about his safety. And now here they are, actually getting ice-cream together.

He really got himself two friends on the first day of school. So he says, "I'd love to, actually."