Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“…your shitting me? Right?”

“No! No no- come on hopkins..you’ll see! My plan will make US kings of the school…we’re going to be bull-worths POWER COUPLE!”

those words rung through Jimmys head and left him wearing a thoroughly concerned expression.

“…power couple?” Jimmy spoke outloud, the words perplexed him. Especially when they came from the mouth of none other than Gary smith.

“..have you been taking your..erm..pills..lately..gary?”

gary redirected his line of vision and stared daggers ahead at peter kowalski. How dare he try to offer up the fact that gary wasnt properly medicated, that his words where coming from insanity and a dishevled mind. The thought was poposterous!…but true.

“Have you been practicing how to shut the fuck up lately, petey? No? Well theres no time like the present, my friend.” Gary spit venom as he paced back and forth in front of both boys, petey was sat with his back against the arm rest and his legs outstretched on jimmys lap with his nintendo switch grasped with both his hands while Jimmy sat beside him, his arms resting over his legs with his phone in his hand, he was barely listening to garys little rant, just letting the physco get shit off his chest like usual. All untill this whole ‘power couple idea’ had been brought up.

“Right then..smith..explain this thing again then?”

Gary stopped pacing and looked at jimmy with a devilish smile, a mischevious glint in his eye as he stared right ahead at jimmy, his head angled down slightly since jimmy was sitting.

“Its simple dear Jimmy-boy! All we have to do is make it SEEM like were dating. Gaze lovingly into eachothers eyes, make people itch with how lovey-dovey we are..and hell, maybe even hold hands or something,” Gary explained, glancing at the boy in the pink shirt who was staring fearfully back at him.

“dude- Gary- no way..” jimmy murmurs, scoffing slightly and crossing his arms “no girls will wanna kiss me if they have the idea of us getting it on in their heads..make petey be your bitchboy”

Pete whipped his head round, his cheeks flushed as he shook his head, as if he was terrified of the idea of being close to gary, even if it wherent real.

“Him? This little scrawny rat? Not believeable enough..everyone knows id never stoop THAT low. Plus..i dont think petey could ever have a partner..even if they where forced at gunpoint..” he scoffed and rolled his eyes, jimmy had never noticed how prominent that scar over his eye was.. come to think about it..how did that ever even happen in the first place? Ever since jimmy had been here in his first year of bullworth, gary had had the scar..which made jimmy think it was perhaps something that happened in his childhood way back or something…he hated to admit it but he thought about it often.

“Yeah..fair enough..well..if i do comply- whats in it for me?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow and putting his phone down to show he was giving gary his undevided attention now.

“Who knows, james..but i do know that we’ll be ontop around here..”

“…why dont you just get some girl to go along with it? thatd be more ‘believable’ than ME.” Gary stared back at the strawberry blonde with a confused look as if the boy had just started speaking a diffirent language.

“Dont act like you dont swing that way james, the amount of times ive seen you with your toung wedged down that rich preppy kid Gordons throat behind the school..Your sexually confused!”

Jimmy pinched the bridge of his nose and scowled over at gary.
“First, its gord, not gordon, and who hasnt? His ass has been passed around like the entire year.hes like the male faggy version of Lola for christ sake..” Jimmy countered, laughing awkwardly and folding his arms over his chest, why was he defending him? He didnt actually LIKE gord..right? He was stupid..and a rich arrogant prick.

“Gords gay..?” Peter tilted his head, piping back up to the conversation, a certain quality of confusion to his voice as he lowered the nintendo switch that was still held tight in his hands.

“Well, Bi, actually..”
“The mans gay! No shame in it- do *not* tell me he has a thing for any girls, he wears lipgloss!” Gary exclaimed, pressing his pointer and middle fingers against his temples and staring bug-eyed at both pete and jimmy.

“This isnt a revelation..and this isnt the topic of the damn conversation!” Gary huffs, seemingly getting frustrated and hitting his palms against the sides of his head now before crouching down slightly and staring into jimmys eyes.

“James. I need you to do this ONE thing for me.” Gary spoke, desperation soaking his words as his hands rested on his own knees to steady his balance and keep level with jimmy.

“Its always *one* thing, gary.” Jimmy deadpanned before sighing and rubbing his eyes untill he was seeing white stars behind his eyelids.

“Alright- fuck..fine! Ill do your pansy-ass plan. But theres no way im making out with you or anything.” Jimmy said; holding up a finger to try and usher gary away from him. Gary had always had a weird thing with social boundaries and being too touchy with people..Jimmy often wondered if maybe it was because he didnt get enough love from his parents as a child..but that was neither here nor there.

“James! I knew youd see my way, oh my god..this is gonna be SO good!” Gary clenched his fists and excitedly waved them in the air as he began pacing again. “Alright…ive got places to be..ideas to brainstorm..ill let you two fairys have at it.” Gary spoke, weakly gesturing at them before wacking his hands down against his sides and power walking out of the room..gary always had a certain sense of excitement and Joy whenever he got his way.

“..you’re actually going along with it?” Peter asked, quirking an eyebrow as he turned his switch off, carefully removing his legs from jimmys lap and putting them off the side of the couch again, sitting slumped beside his friend.

“..yeah i suppose..i gave my word…but just untill i see what he really means..like..how far is he gonna go with this shit?” jimmy muttered, sighing as he stared down at the ground before pushing himself up with his palms on his knees and standing infront of pete.

“Look, i Gotta go too, i told vance id help him tune his bike, hes been asking since i passed shop class last month..” he chuckled slightly before lifting a hand to lazily wave at pete before walking out of the common room in the dorm.

“Alright, see you, Jim.”

Chapter Text

“Hopkins! Hopkins, my boy!” Garys voice boomed across the empty school grounds, the sun was just starting to set and jimmy had just gotten back from new coventry, he had speant the day with Gord and tad, egging the greasers tenemants because Lucky had been getting it on with pinky (somehow) which, now that he thought about it was honestly deserved, after the whole debacle with Lola last month.

Anyhow, Jimmy was too tired for any of garys antics right now..he just wanted to get back to his shitty dorm, and his shitty matress, and have a shitty sleep..but it seemed gary had other plans.

“What do you want, man..” he sighed, stopping at the arches to the boys dorm as he watched gary walk on over, kicking a soccer ball and making it hit the pillar beside jimmy before stopping infront of him, a mere few inches seperated them, which made jimmy quite uncomfortable.

“Oh nothing…” all was quiet after that for a few moments before jimmy felt cold hands swathing his wrist and making his heart drop into his stomach.

“Dude- what the fuck!” Jimmy snatched his hand away and contorted it behind his back, making gary scoff and roll his eyes, his hand followed jimmys and he resumed his attempt at grabbing at his hand, not saying or explaining anything.

“Gary!” Jimmy shouted to catch his attention, shifting a good few metres away from him and giving him a thoroughly quizzical look.

“We have to make it believable! We have to hold hands, hopkins!” Gary gave him a look that almost made him look hurt, confused at why jimmy wasnt playing along.

“Look..You’re NOT gay gary. Stop acting it!” Jimmy had suddenly snapped, both hands clenching by his sides as he raised his hands and pushed him back slightly.

“You’re not going to detonate MY reputation at this school just because you want to do some dumb fucking plan- im out! Im not doing this shit. Go find some chick to hook up with for this, cuz im through.”

Those words hit gary like an oncoming train, waay too much for him to actually take in in that moment.

“Oh..come on james, it’ll be good! Trust m-“

“Trust?…Gary i dont think you even know what the meaning of trust is..” jimmys voice lowered slightly and he shook his head at him before turning towards the arches to the boys dorm.

“just. Get some sleep man. We’re not ‘taking over the school’...we're fifteen..”

Jimmy mumbled before heading into the dorm. eyes heavy and his face blank with his usall expression. god..what on earth was that about? did gary think he was funny? pulling that shit in the middle of the school grounds? Sure..it was pretty late and there probably werent many people around- but what if there was? What if they had saw? well.. jimmy had to of learned by now that gary was just out to get him.

Chapter Text

“Jimmy..…You’re late.”

It was the next day, and as Jimmy walked into his art class about 5 minutes late,he could feel Ms Philips eyes burning a hole through him, her Dour voice making his shoulders tense up as he let go of the doorknob to the class and walked in and over to one of the empty art stations, the one he usually went to.

“Sorry ms, Boys toilet had a line.”
He lied, scratching the back of his neck and picking up a paintbrush and only eyeballing it for a few moments before tossing it back onto the wooden surface.

“Well, not to worry, you’re here now.” She gave him a look that sorta said ‘im not buying that one bit’ whike turning and writing with chalk on the board up the front.

“Alright then class, we’ll be studying color theory and finishing off our paintings from last lesson.. Its important to-“

Jimmy started slowly tuning out her voice as he stared ahead out the window, eyelids drooped and his cheek smooshed into his hand, trying his hardest to stay awake.

“Pssst…PSST!”

It seemed though someone was trying to get his attention, but jimmy was paying no mind, partially because he was sorta day dreaming, that was untill an eraser had hit the back of his head, his eyes shot open properly and he spun his body round to stare face to face with ivan alexander..some boy in his year who had Joined halfway through last semester..he didnt have many friends apart from that depressed kid, constantinos. jimmy had never been able to pronounce his name so he usually steered clear of him..especially since he seemed so agitated and dreary always.

“..hey.” Ivan spoke, hitting a voice crack as jimmy stared with an amused look.

“…yeah? What do you want.”
The class was starting to chatter amongst themselves since ms philips had finished speaking, so Jimmy made no effort to be hush and quiet.

“..sooo you and that gary kid..amiright?” Ivan laughed awkwardly, but jimmy didnt find this funny. He instead stared straight ahead at ivan, glaring sharp daggers as he Leaned against his desk.

“..the fuck do you mean ‘me and that gary kid’ huh?” He squinted in disgust,

“..well..Const said that Gloria said that trevor heard from bucky who heard from algie that you two where dating…” the boy mumbled, anxiously fidgetting with his sleeves under the table while he scanned Jimmys face for any reaction or expression.

“And where the hell did PissPants get that information from? Huh?” He barked, his hands going into his pockets as he tried to remember that it wasnt this Ivan kids fault, and that he should go easy on him.

“…aha..uh..he said he saw you two holding hands,” he mumbled out, to which jimmy sighed and turned around, seemingly ending the conversation abruptly there.

So his suspicions where correct..someone had seen them last night. But surely..if they saw it they should’ve saw jimmy trying to eject and retracting his hand.

He had alot of conflicting and twisting thought about this whole “Fake Relation ship to take Over the school” thing.. especially since he had been made to do this with GARY. Anyone else he could probably handle..but gary? He was a diagnosed sociopathic wreck, he had like the worst reputation at school + nobody liked him..this was surely going to come back to bite jimmy somehow eventually, but the good thing was; he had ejected from the plan..so he had nothing to worry about..right?
By the end of the day, Jimmys thoughts had practically swallowed his mind whole; during every class that day all he had been able to think about was gary. Gary and his stupid plans, gary and his stupid face!

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didnt even notice when he turned the corner and Ended up colliding with another boy until both of them had been knocked back and onto the floor.

“Watch where your going- moron!” The voice sounded coarse but shakey, filled with solemn and fear, Jimmy squinted at the figure he had bumped into untill his shoulders sunk and he realised who it was.
“Dude, Gary?, where the HELL have you been? You don't even take afternoon classes..so why are you here?” garys timetable had been spliced in half due to his mountain of phycological and mental issues, so he only took morning classes now…meaning there was no reason he should be wandering about on school premises..its not like he had any clubs to go to or any friends to be with.

When confronted, Gary didnt seem to say anything, he just stood up with a solid shit eating smirk on his face; brushing the dust off of his legs from the dirty school floor.

“Oh you know..here and there..” he mumbles, his head being tilted downward to avoid looking into jimmys eyes..and to avoid Jimmy seeing the massive bruise covering his eye,
[00:51]
“Yeah, well, that shit you pulled last night and this stupid plan of yours has already spread round the sc- hey are you even LISTENING to me?” Jimmy sighed, gently pushing garys shoulder and making the boy stumble back slightly.

“Lay off- Hopkins-“ he seemed to freak out a little, holding his hand up in protest with his face pointed in an entirely diffirent direction now making it pretty obvious he was hiding away from the other.

Jimmy stared wide eyed for a few moments before grabbing garys face, and tugging him towards him so that he could get a better look at his swolen eye.

“Holy fuck- what- happened?” Jimmy tried to mask his soft tone, forcing his voice to come out coarse and firm, he didnt want to make it seem like he gave a damn, because he didnt! It was just curiosity..

“Well, if you must know..” Gary casually started, panning his gaze over to Jimmy properly and holding it as he started to speak.

“I was trying to find someone to carry my plan out with, since, you bailed…and lets just say people aren't all that thrilled at the thought of me ‘hitting’ on them” he raised his hands to do quotation marks before shoving those hands back imto his pockets,

“Its 2023..people should be more forgiving..” he half joked, snickering a bit , Jimmy couldn't understand why Gary was being so chilled out about this, why he was joking about the fact he he literslly just got..falsely.. hate crimed?

“Jesus Gary- what the hell! You aren't even gay- you’re gonna get yourself fucking stabbed!”

“Psh..what do you care, Hopkins?” Gary hissed slightly as he tried to cover his eye up still from jimmy. Gary was right. Why did he care? It was Gary. Gary the two-face, back stabbing, sociopath who was hated by the entire school. Why should jimmy care whatsoever?

“I don't..”

He paused for a few moments, eyebrows furrowed while his eyes pierced ahead at gary.

“Have you even went to the nurse? That's a nasty bruise.”

Gary raised a hand up

“fuck- no way- Mrs. mcrae will think i’m a pansy!” Gary barked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“And why the hell would you care what some ancient-ass school nurse thinks of you?”
“I dont!”
“Then why did you just say-“
“Shut up!”

This back and forth really confused Jimmy, making him pinch the bridge of his nose and turn away for a moment, gary had always been like that. Saying one thing one minute and then a different the next. It was just what he was like. So as much as jimmy had gotten used to it..he still didn’t understand it.

“Just. Lets just go to the nurse. She’ll give you an icepack and that will be it.” Jimmy tried to convince gary to go,but if anyone knew anything about the brunette, it was that he was stubborn.

“Yeah. No way James- I've got planning to do. i really do think this will be my best one yet..i'm thinking that if i pay that gordon kid..then perhaps he will be on board..he's all about that money and rich stuff..right?"
staring back with what could only be described as a "what the fuck is wrong with you, you absoloute nutter" look, jimmy had to let a heavy sigh out of his mouth. he sort of had to be rational about what he was saying or doing..after all they where in the middle of the school halls still, weren't they?? he had to pretend that he could give less of a rats ass about what gary had to say or what had happened to him...but the boy was unstable for gods sake. god knows what could happen to him if the wrong people get to him in this state. Jimmy had to try and reason with him...for his own sake.

"Listen to me smith. you need to take a damn break from this 'taking over the school' idea. you're seriously going to get stabbed" or worse-- fucking killed!!"

Gary gazed back with a sort of slacked jaw, not a thought behind his eyes as he tried to conjure up a reply. he needed to bite back with some amount of sarky rhetoric . but he couldn't. nothing came out of his mouth, his throat nearly just closed up infact, making it nearly impossible for Gary to breathe or talk. his face showed visible signs of discomfort and fear. he just needed help. he needed someone to level with him when his brain was clouded and foggy.

"come on. we're going back to the dorms and getting you something as an icepack..." It was clear Gary didn't want to, that he was shaking his head, but Jimmy gripped his arm with force and started tugging him along anyway.
"and don't take all day. i don't want anyone else to see us and get the wrong idea..again.."