It's a school. There are students. Seems fairly standard. Does he want to stop by the office and pick up his schedule? 

He would love that, yes.

Here's his schedule!

Would he like any help getting around? 

Yeah, he would, actually.

They can certainly find someone.

He should wait for his guide in that (not very) comfy chair.

Sure, whatever, not very comfy chair, hello.

And after a few minutes, here's his native guide!

"Hi, you must be the new student. I'm Danny, I'll be showing you around." 

Well hello there.

"Hi! I'm Adedayo, but Ade's fine."

"Nice to meet you, Ade. Can I see your schedule?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he does not say.

"Here," he does, offering his schedule.

"We have calculus and gym together, cool. I can walk you to your classes today, that's probably the easiest way to help you get comfortable. Ready?" 

"I was born ready," he says, grinning. "After you."

This is the cafeteria, where people eat and engage in teenage-level politics. This is the gym, where public embarrassment and pain are king. This is the pool, where one can ogle shirtless boys.

This is Ade's English class, where Danny will be leaving him for now. 

"Most people don't like the smell of chlorine, so cutting past the pool is a good way to get to this side of the building early. Gives you more time in the morning to talk to people, if that's your thing- or sleep in. I'll meet you here after you're done and show you to the next one. Sound good?" 

If there are shirtless boys (and equivalently undressed girls) at the pool when they visit then Ade might in fact ogle them. Just a little.

He thanks Danny, and is only moderately obviously checking him out while he does it, and now he has to find a place to sit.

He could sit in the front, next to this girl. 

He could sit in the middle, next to this boy. 

Or he could sit in the back, next to this guy.

...choices.

Well, the operative consideration here is: he is not a front-of-the-classroom kind of student. Or a middle-of-the-classroom kind of student. He goes to the back.

"Who are you? I don't know you." 

"Hi, I'm new. Adedayo, or Ade for short."

"Adedayo," he tries.

He completely fails to handle the vowel sounds.

Ade grins anyway. "Part of the reason why I prefer the short version."

"Ade, then. I'm Stiles Stilinski. Stiles is short for Stilinski, because my actual first name is unpronounceable."

"More unpronounceable than mine?"

"We're Polish, so maybe? You have to be at least level 10 to unlock my tragic backstory. Level 50 for my name."

"How do I get experience points?"

"Never really thought about it. Playing lacrosse- that's basically our football-, skipping class to scope out crime scenes, getting me a date to the prom...we can work out a payment plan."

"Depending on how picky you are about dates to the prom, that's probably the easiest one to solve."

"Well, I had someone specific in mind, but I'm pretty flexible."

"Oh, well, that's a bit harder, but possibly still doable. Who is it?"

"Lydia Martin. Smart as a whip, as snappy as one too. Casually cruel, easily bored, likes hosting parties. Good at math, better at math than she pretends to be, because girls who are good at math don't meet the right boys. Redhead, stylish, beautiful skin...like I said, I'm flexible."

"You mean that girl?" he asks, gesturing subtly towards her with his head.

That girl is answering a question confidently and with a hint of challenge to her fellow front-of-the-room folk.

The teacher is pleased with her and uninterested in the back-of-the-room club.

"Yeah, that's her. Any ideas?"

"Should I presume you already, like, asked?"

"Not exactly? She's kind of hard to approach. We could always try someone else more attainable." 

"Well, I object to the use of the word 'attainable' in this context, but I think the feeling is unjustified as well, it can't be that hard."

"She has a boyfriend, so she's kind of unattainable. He doesn't like sharing." 

"...ah, yes, okay, do not ask monogamously inclined, taken people to the prom is a rule I am okay with upholding."

Hey, it's a teacher. Time to pretend to care about whatever the topic is. 

Ade does the same for as long as is necessary.

He has lots of practice with this, it turns out.

The teacher eventually returns to the other students, who have nobly sacrificed by accepting the brunt of educational attention. 

Stiles returns to a topic that actually matters in the real world. 

"So getting a date is out. Have you considered the other options? You could always do the classics, you know, share secrets or get me out of a bind." 

"I mean, I picked that in the first place as a way of subtly flirting with you, but sure, the others sound fine—although I could totally lie and say something that isn't a secret is."

"See, telling me you were flirting is really not in the spirit of this leveling mechanic. Also, I'm pretty sure I could tell if someone was flirting with me." 

"No, I was totally flirting with you, if you wanted to go with me to prom I'd be a priori pretty down to it."

"Is this the part where we both lay out our character flaws, or does that come after the second date? I always forget." 

"I'm pretty sure those are supposed to just come out during regular interaction and stuff."

"I guess I've been doing it wrong. Any other pointers?"

"Go out with me and I'll show you."

"Okay. We don't have much of a nightlife. What do you like to do?"

"Well, the usual, I guess? Nightlife things, movies, dinner, ice cream, walks in the park—were you serious about scoping out crime scenes? How common would that be?"

"The crime, or the scoping? My dad's the sheriff, so I follow him around sometimes. We don't have a very high crime rate, it's a pretty boring small town."

"That's what I figured. Well, if you wanna make of that a date, I'd be down, too."

"We can start with dinner and a movie. I have Scott for crime scenes."

He indicates one of their classmates.

Man, is everyone pretty in this school?

"Sounds good to me, when's a good day and time?"

"This Friday is cool. You busy?"

"I arrived in town yesterday and you are literally the third person I talk to here, I have not yet made plans for Friday."

"Right, cool...grammar, am I right?"

Indeed, grammar.

Grammar, of course. Plus he has a date with a cute boy before the end of first period, that's, like, a new record.

Thus endeth first period.

The bell rings, and with a somewhat awkward "Nice to meet you", cute boy wanders off vaguely.

There's his guide, waiting outside the classroom.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure thing."

"How was your first class?"

"It was... English, but I met this cute boy named Stiles and got a date with him so I'd say better than expected?"

"Stiles? I guess he's kind of cute, but can you get past the wall of paranoia and reach the gooey center of neurosis?"

"I did ask him out practically based on appearance and first impression, I'm not saying he and I are gonna hit it off wonderfully and get married ten years down the line and have beautiful babies, but I liked the first impression I had, he has a nice sense of humor, and I'm good with people."

"Nothing wrong with that. Stiles, really. Huh." 

They arrive to math class, where it looks like Danny will be joining him. 

"Worst-case scenario, we hate each other and never talk again, which would've happened eventually from normal interaction. Given the kind of person I am, though, worst-reasonably-plausible-case scenario is we find we don't really work and just stay friends or something."

"Worth a shot. Only one person has ever been able to put up with him long enough for 'just friends', so I wouldn't get my hopes up."

Is it time to define a limit? It is. 

That would probably be Scott. He should meet Scott, too.

As for limits: yep. Those are easy. He knows all about 'em.

Danny doesn't have much trouble with limits either, and the teacher seems to like him. 

They can talk during the lecture without fear of reproach.

"Have you taken a look at the extra-curricular activities? There's something for everyone."

"I haven't, actually, what is there?"

"Plenty of options, I probably can't remember them all. There's fencing, debate, photography, chess, film...Amnesty International, that's one. I don't really do clubs, I spend most of my time outside of school programming and playing lacrosse."

"I had literally never met anyone who played lacrosse before and today I met two people who do. That's interesting."

"It's the sport here. None of the cool kids play football. Works for me, I'm much better at fast than I am at strong."

"I might take that up, if it's what I need to be one of the cool kids."

"I won't stop you. I'm mostly in it for Jackson, and because it looks good on college apps."

"For Jackson?"

"Childhood friend, straight, not my type. If I don't say it in that order, he'd throw a fit." 

"I have three new pieces of information about him and none of them are what I was looking for."

"He's the captain, and he likes having a friend on the team."

"Ah, that makes sense. Why does he need you to say he's your childhood friend, straight, and not your type?"

"I say the first to explain why I make bad decisions, the second so no one gets the wrong idea about us, and the third so no one thinks it's his fault I'm not interested."

"I'm pretty sure his sexuality is not under any reasonable description his fault. And, uh, is he a very bad influence?"

"He's not a great influence. This school is short on those."

"In what ways is he not a great influence, then?"

"He gets really into childish vendettas and usually I have his back there."

"...that sounds very unhelpful, why does he do that?"

"It's not that big of a deal. That's how he is."

"Well, there is an upper bound in how big a deal it can be when you're in high school."

"You'll see how it is when you meet him, anyway. He's a good person to have in your corner."

Would Adedai...Adodo...Ade like to explain the practical applications of limits?

Well, that pretty much depends on what you mean by practical, doesn't it, most people don't actually use them for anything. Or know they exist.

But. You know, here are its uses, they were invented independently by these guys, they were properly formalized a bit more recently...

The teacher is quite pleased! Someone who actually knows what they're discussing!

"Someone who actually likes math. A rare breed."

"Maths is lots of fun!"

Maths continues for a time.

And then Ade has gym!

Danny shows him the way there.

"Try not to get maimed too much."

"I will try to keep all my limbs intact."

Apparently, today they'll be playing basketball. 

It's very exciting. Look at how excited she is. 

Yep, very exciting, and he kinda wants to meet this unattainable pretty girl. Will there ever be a time for socialization during gym?

Not really. Boys and girls play separately. 

He wonders how they'll deal with him on girl days. Well, whatever, he'll just play then and be active and generally friendly and stuff.

Friendly is good. Most of the students don't get very competitive.

And then it's time for Econ.

Which is way more fun than gym, let's be real.

Danny once again leads Ade to his next class. He points out the pool again, just so Ade remembers. The pool is an important landmark. 

"You'd already mentioned that was the pool," he points out.

"It doesn't hurt to know when you'll be passing by." 

They pass by. 

"Naturally," he grins. "Anyway, you said Jackson wasn't your type—what is?"

"Witty, well-read, passionate about something he's good at...willing to engage in criminal activity but not likely to." 

"Criminal activity?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That one is optional. Sometimes the law is wrong."

He shrugs vaguely, and then they're at the classroom.

"That's a good point."

Econ! Like all mathematics, it's fun.

His classmates seem to agree that it's useful, or else they wouldn't be taking AP Econ.

Not many seem to enjoy it as much as Ade does.

Well, he can find it fun for all of them, then.

Cool? Nobody objects, anyway.

"Hey, ready for your school-sponsored socializing?"

"Does it come with school-sponsored food or do I need to sponsor the food myself?"

"There's food. You can judge the quality and decide based on that."

And here's the cafeteria!

There are lots of tables he could sit at- or he can just follow Danny.

They can buy food first, of course.

"The eternal dilemma of a new school: who to sit with the first day."

"You can sit wherever, I won't mind. It's good to meet new people. Should I leave you to it?"

Gosh he sure is cute. Ade is starting to regret his hasty flirting-and-date. Well, he'll see how that goes.

"I'll probably see you later when you show me to all my other classes, yeah? Thanks for that, by the way."

"I'm here to help. And if no one else brings anything to the table, you can sit with us."

And Ade is free to take his food wherever he wants.

He could sit with the unattainable pretty girl and her boyfriend, of course.

Conveniently, Danny sits at their table.

There's his hasty date, and his friend.

There are a few tables too crowded for new members.

And other tables that are empty enough to be accepting anyone, really.

"I'll go sit with Stiles-and-Scott and see whether my future date is doomed from the start, I think."

"Enjoy."

And they go their separate ways.

And Ade makes his way to the aforementioned table.

"Hey."

"Hey!"

He startles at the greeting.

Yup, there goes his water bottle. It's just...on the floor.

He picks up the now empty water bottle.

"Hi, I'm Scott."

"I figured! I'm Ade, in case it wasn't obvious." He takes a seat, dodging the water on the floor, and wordlessly gives Stiles his own bottle of water.

"It was kind of obvious. Stiles couldn't stop talking about you."

He is thoroughly elbowed. It's not very subtle.

"Yeah, thanks for the water. I'll make it up to you. Sitting with us is probably not a good first move, not if you're already in with Danny. Social suicide."

"I'm very socially resistant, don't worry. But I'm quite curious about what Stiles has been saying about me."

"He said you were kind of like an assassin, except with flirting. This was after calling our chemistry teacher Polonius but before deciding we should start a bakery."

"Hey Scott, is that Allison kissing Jackson on the cheek?"

Is it???

No, she's just talking to Lydia and Danny and Jackson with no kissing of any kind.

"Anyway, nice to meet you."

"Because my flirting is so subtle you never notice it until it happens or what? I could've sworn I was being more obvious. And who's Allison?"

"Allison is the other cute new kid, also already part of the popular crowd. And yeah, you pick and disarm your target quickly, you're kind of a flirting assassin."

Okay Stiles is very cute too he does not regret asking him out. "I'll take that as a compliment, then. Is this 'popular' thing a big deal here?"

"It's not that bad, this isn't some kind of teen drama, but Jackson, Lydia, and Danny kind of rule the school. Parties and games and clubs, it's all their territory."

"Allison is also kind of Scott's girlfriend."

"We're kind of dating, I guess? She gave me a second chance, after I left her alone at the party. We'll see how it goes."

"I'm curious about how exactly the two of you could be 'kind of dating, I guess'?"

"They're dating, she's interested! Scott, calm down."

"We had one date, that I left in the middle of, and now we're sort of flirting and we had a date and that went well but I don't know for sure, we haven't talked about that since she said she'd give me a second chance."

"That sounds like you're dating, yep. Why aren't you two with the popular kids if she is?"

"Jackson gets competitive about lacrosse, and I'm still not sure we're officially dating? She's new, and Lydia has to approve of her friend's boyfriends. I'm pretty sure that's how it works."

He snorts. "I have to meet these people sometime."

"When Scott marries up, he can bring us along." 

"I might just have lunch with them tomorrow."

"Probably easier. I'll introduce you." 

"Sure, although Danny's the one showing me around and stuff."

"So does Danny find you attractive?" 

"Mmmm I'm not sure? From what he described as his type I expect yes once he gets to know me better, why?"

"Stiles worries a lot that he's not attractive to guys." 

"There are lots of straight girls out there, one of them will like me. Guys are harder." 

"Awww! Well I find you attractive. I mean, might've been obvious, the way I asked you out within ten minutes of meeting you, but."

"I don't mind hearing it." 

Scott's eyes flit to Jackson's table. 

"You're really cute. And it's also quite nice that you like girls, too, 'cause—" Then he notices Scott's gaze and follows it then raises an eyebrow.

"Uh, Scott, hey buddy, maybe you should keep your eyes on the road. We're talking to the new kid, before he gets sucked into the popular fold and forgets us little people? Scott?"

"Right, sorry. What were you saying, Ade?"

"I was calling your friend cute and remarking that it's good he's bi 'cause I'm genderfluid, do you wanna go talk to her or...?"

"No, I'm okay. Genderfluid?"

"I think it's pretty much what it sounds like. Sometimes you're a boy, sometimes you're a girl?"

"Yyep, pretty much."

"Okay."

"Stiles..."

"I didn't say anything about how incredibly lucky I feel right now, that's the best I've got, Scotty."

He grins. "So you only mention your luck by apophasis, then."

"I'll mention my luck however you want."

That wasn't even good innuendo, but alright.

Scott eats his lunch.

He actually giggles at that. "You're really cute," he reiterates.

His blush is very visible. Ade can decide if that's a bug or a feature

"Takes one to know one?"

"I'm so remembering all of this for later mocking."

Feature. Definitely a feature.

"You can feel free to mock, I'll be too busy seducing your friend to care," he shrugs. "On a different subject, do I have any other classes with either of you? After lunch I have Chem, Psych, and Spanish."

"I've got Spanish, but that's it."

"Mm," he says, smirking.

He squirms.

"Scott, say something in Spanish." 

"Are we really doing this?" 

"Scott, man, come on." 

"Si cada día, cada hora, sientes que a mí estás destinada...en mí todo ese fuego se repite, en mí nada se apaga ni se olvida."

"Well I have only half of an idea what that means but it sounded really hot."

"Same."

"Maybe you two should seduce each other, instead of conscripting third parties? Anyway, lunch is almost over." 

"I'm not conscripting anyone, all I was thinking about was all that catching up with this school's English and Spanish I'd have to do and how it would be so nice if someone could help me with that, maybe after classes."

"I'm not taking Spanish; all I know is cooking stuff and some poetry, anyway. Stiles can probably find you a better tutor."

"Sure. I should get to class."

"I meant I would get Stiles to help me."

"Oh. Okay. We can talk about it in Spanish class. See you there." 

He...pats Ade on the shoulder awkwardly and walks away.

"Nice meeting you."

And so ends lunch.

"You, too!"

Now presumably Danny will show him his next class?

Heeere's Danny!

"So did you enjoy your choice of table?"

"I did! Scott is nice and Stiles is adorable and a bit insecure and I have to be a leeeetle bit more obvious with my flirting than I'm strictly used to but that's not terrible."

"He's adorable when you tease him, yeah. Kind of snippy, though. I could never be friends with someone who needs constant management; Scott has the patience of a saint."

Danny leads Ade to the chemistry lab, completely unaware of any irony vis-à-vis best friends.

"I can handle snippy, he has a nice sense of humor. And I'm a, hmm, don't wanna say 'people person' because it doesn't quite cover it, but I think I'm good at figuring people out?"

And Ade decides not to comment on the irony because, well, he hasn't actually met Jackson yet, maybe it's an exaggeration.

"It's a good skill. Enjoy- or whatever it is you're supposed to do with chemistry."

"I'll do my best."

Chemistry!

Chemistry!

The new kid needs a lab partner, but they have an odd number of kids.

Since star pupil Ms. Martin willingly accepted their last new student, she can surely welcome one more?

Ms. Martin demurs. The teacher insists.

"Lydia, it could be fun. Three heads are better than two."

"Unless he has any objections..."

"None whatsoever. I'm Adedayo, Ade for short, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Ade-for-short. Try not to bring us down too much."

He raises an eyebrow. "I'll do my best."

Today they'll be testing acids on things! There's very little to learn here, and Lydia looks bored, but Allison seems to enjoy melting rocks. 

This is probably not up to safety standards, actually. Oh well.

They are melting rocks this is so cool.

Isn't it cool? It's really cool.

So cool.

As long as they get their work done, they can stop and appreciate melting things.

They do get their work done, earlier than anyone else. Lydia intervenes whenever it looks like they're too distracted by how cool it is. 

Ade can focus on work while being excited about how cool it is, Lydia won't have to intervene on his account.

Allison is less focused when this enthused.

After they've turned in their work, they end up with extra time.

"So Ade, tell us about yourself!" 

"Well there's a broad request! Let's see, I'm a magically gendershifting werewolf?"

"Very funny. Creative, too." 

"Why a werewolf? Not a gendershifting fairy or god? Werewolves aren't really known for their gendershifting." 

"Well, that's the point, isn't it, what's the fun in being cliché'd?"

"Of course. Why gendershifting?"

"That one's because I'm actually genderfluid."

"Oh, that's nice. Good for you." 

"Do you have dresses and makeup covered, because if not, I can arrange a supply." 

"I actually do, mom's very supportive, but if you're not burdened by excess makeup and dresses..." He grins, before looking at Allison. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just remembered something I'd rather not have. I can probably get you something too, my mom is a big player in the boutique world."

"That's pretty great, thanks! I like you two. But okay now it's your turn to summarize your personality in a sentence."

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I would say I'm pretty mellow? Responsible? I'm really not very interesting." 

"I'm the most important person at this school. That's all there is to say." 

"That tells me about your social status here and some of what you care about, but not much about you. Like, what's different between you and other people that makes this true?"

"I hate people but I love talking to them. I hate dressing myself but I love getting complimented on it. I excel in chemistry because biology is too soft and math too hard, and it wouldn't do to rock the boat. I have a boyfriend who is at least as into boys as I am, and at least as into girls, but we're completely monogamous because anything else tanks public approval and one of us is getting elected. Is that more what you were looking for?"

"..."

Allison shakes her head, and takes notes.

"About seven hundred eighteen thoughts crossed my mind just now and the only one I should voice is 'elected for what?'"

"The ideal would be governor for him, senator for me, but we'll compromise however we have to."

The bell rings.

"Pretty specific, that," he comments, picking his stuff up.

"Men are more likely to win gubernatorial races, women are most likely to win senate seats out of any political competition, and people love a good narrative. Political power couple? Gold." 

"I see you've met Lydia." 

"I have," he says, his lips twisting a little into a small smirk.

"Not you, too. I tried to talk Jackson out of it." 

"Out of what?"

"Out of dating me, of course. Danny wanted the two of them to be unambitious layabouts together, but I had loftier aspirations for the three of us."

"Four, with how you've latched onto the new girl. Five, with how you've latched onto the new guy. How big does your harem have to be, Queen Martin?"

"Queens don't keep harems, kings do. It's an unfortunate historical artifact, but there it is. And Martin is such a common name, I think I'll be called Queen Lydia. Breeds familiarity."

"Breeds contempt."

"A little of column A...let them eat cake, I say. It was nice meeting you, Ade. Enjoy whatever class you have that's not with me."

"I don't think I heard what your lofty aspirations for non-you-and-Jackson people are," he remarks, instead of mentioning how hot ambition is. "I'll have to catch you later so you can tell me."

And off he goes with Danny!

"So that was Lydia. Lucky you, since you have Jackson next."

"Guess I'm meeting everyone today." Pause. "Uh, is Jackson Lydia's boyfriend, I don't think it actually came up."

"Yeah, they're sort of the alpha couple around here."

Walk walk walk.

...he will not mention the thing Lydia said about Jackson's sexuality even though it conflicts with what Danny said about Jackson's sexuality. Therein lies madness.

"Guess I'm getting to meet all the popular people today."

"Well, it helps that Lydia decides who's popular around here. If it were up to me, lacrosse wouldn't be the most popular sport here, but Lydia basically arranged it."

They arrive.

"Good luck, you'll probably need it."

Ade decides not to comment on the circularity of that explanation.

"Thanks."

"That one's Jackson, in case you're really itching to win popular kid bingo." 

He points to a student leaning back in his chair. 

It's vaguely provocative, in a distinctly unappealing way. 

"I'm not itching, no, but I am pretty curious."

He doesn't, actually, have a lot of experience liking the popular kids, but he figures, hey, why not.

Well, it is the fourth of the day. Maybe the ones around here aren't so bad?

The seat next to him is open.

Maybe so!

He plops down onto that seat. "'Lo."

"Hi. Are you lost?"

"No, I'm new. Adedayo, but Ade's fine."

"Ade. So why are you taking psychology?"

"I like people, like understanding how they work, like economics-especially-behavioral, like to have a rounded understanding of things, seemed like it made sense. How about you?"

"Mostly the same. I'm taking econ too. Regular econ, since my friend is in it. I'll take the AP test anyway, easy to get books to learn from." 

"Your friend being Danny or someone else?"

"Danny. You've met him already? You work fast." 

"He was the one who showed me around to classes and stuff, and he mentioned being your friend, yeah."

"I hope he didn't say anything too scandalous." 

"I don't think he said anything that could be reasonably described as that, no."

The teacher enters, and Jackson takes out his notebook.

"Nice to meet you, Ade." 

The lecture begins.

Here's how experiments work, and why psychology doesn't have any. 

Uh.

Observational studies, quasi-experiments...like in economics, there is little use of random assignment; usually, it's somewhere between unethical or impossible. 

The teacher goes on to distinguish the grouping variable of the quasi-experiment from independent variables. 

Here, Ade will be manipulating one variable and studying its effects on another. He is the one who will assign treatments to groups, not random chance.

Also, here is some examples of unethical experiments. Prison guards, huh? Wow. 

...right, okay, that's not totally unreasonable, as long as you take it all into account in your statistics, sure.

It is pretty interesting, anyway.

Beyond making it clear that they will be looking at non-random assignment, the class focuses mostly on the different sub-disciplines of psychology. General, introductory stuff, unlikely relevant to later material. 

Jackson decides this means they can talk. 

"What do you think of us? Beacon Hills."

"Nice place. I've only just arrived so I don't have a very informed opinion, but people seem nice, and I'm not very used to the popular kids liking me even after I mention the genderfluidity." Or that much sexual diversity among them, he doesn't say.

"You might not want to get too used to it. Danny is gay, and no one has a problem with that, but bisexuality is widely recognized as a myth, and you'll want to check any gender baggage at the door." 

"Oooor I could barrel through that and continue being violently queer."

"That's between you and your sense of self-preservation." 

Wow, psychology is so fascinating. 

It is! But:

"I could conceivably pretend to be monosexual, but not really having only one gender all the time. That's more psychologically necessary to me than having good social status."

"I believe you just fine. Not sure if I should wish you luck, offer my help, or run for the hills." 

"What would help look like?"

"I can keep anyone from making a big deal about you or I can make explaining the whole wide world of the rainbow coalition my next priority. Your choice." 

"From a purely altruistic standpoint, the latter option is pretty attractive, but I'm not sure it's the most politically feasible, as per your girlfriend's stated ambitions. Of course, it could be spinned as a platform if you were reasonably sure it would be the winning one for the relevant timeframe."

"This is California. Fair point, though. Doesn't mean I can't do that at school, no one will be looking for social movements I was part of while they're trying to find sex scandals and cover-ups." 

"Well, I'm not about to complain that the muse moves you so."

Jackson has a couple of things to think about, then.

The bell rings.

Jackson's nice! Ade likes him.

"And now's when Danny shows me where Spanish is."

"You already have him waiting on you hand and foot, I'm jealous. Took me years to get into his good graces."

Danny arrives.

"So did everything go alright?"

"What can I say, I'm very charming," he tells Jackson, waving with two fingers.

When Danny's there: "Yeah, he's really nice, and I think I got him to plan how to make the school less biphobic and transphobic and honestly that's really hot."

"That doesn't sound like Jackson. What did you say to him?"

"I don't remember it verbatim but something along the lines of not being used to the popular people being cool with my genderfluidity, then he said people here are okay with you being gay but bisexuality is a myth and I should leave gender baggage at the door, then I said I could pretend to be monosexual but couldn't conceivably say I was a single gender and keep my sanity so I'd keep being violently queer, he said he didn't know whether to wish me luck, offer help, or run for the hills, I asked what offering help might look like, he said he could keep people off my back or bring the Good Word of the Rainbow to the people, I said the latter was most altruistic if not political, he said it wasn't that bad, and apparently that convinced him?"

"I'll talk to him during practice, see what's going on. He's usually kind of...abrasive, with new people."

"I still think I'm just that charming."

"I wouldn't dream of arguing there."

And here's Spanish!

Spanish indeed! "I'll catch you later, probably have lunch with you guys tomorrow."

"We look forward to it."

Someone is arguing with the teacher about vosotros again.

The other students very politely ignore him.

Ade can talk to one of them while he waits.

He can do that, while keeping half an ear on Stiles' argument because that is so cute.

There are plenty of students to choose from.

It might almost seem like he's in some sort of simulator for interacting with his peers.

Each one will surely unlock a new and exciting path.

Stiles sits next to him.

"Hey, sorry about that. The teacher probably won't take it out on everyone."

Well, most classes do in fact contain students. It is not at all strange that there be a variety of them to choose from, to interact with.

"It's alright. What were you arguing about?"

"Uh, nothing. I was saying her class assumes we can't handle the concept of dialects, she was saying I was kind of obnoxious and should sit down. I think she won."

"...I mean if she assumes that she is correct, at least about me, but. What actually crossed my mind just now was wondering whether maybe I should've scheduled our first date for earlier than four days from now."

"You'll be very patient, and we'll all be very impressed by your restraint."

"No, see, I'll wait, but it will by no means be because I'm patient."

"Patience is a virtue, and one of us should probably pick up a couple, I'm fresh out."

"My virtues are perseverance and empathy, I think that's enough for one person!"

"I've got curious and appropriately suspicious, do those count?"

"I think they do, especially curious, that's a good one to have."

He's really not good at hiding that blush, is he?

The teacher begins a riveting lecture on...prounouns. They're starting with the basics, for review.

Why would he need to hide, he's so dashing when he blushes.

Pronouns!

"Vosotros, meanwhile, will not be an object of our focus, as it is rarely used-"

Cough. Cough cough. Cough.

"-As it is rarely used outside of Spain."

Students engage in halting pronunciation of somewhat familiar words they 'learned' last year.

They are welcome to talk amongst themselves if they speak only in Spanish!

Most students elect not to.

Ade is very terrible at languages! But he is good at talking. He will talk to a new person, like this girl.

"¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?" he tries.

"She won't actually care if you talk in English unless you've antagonized her."

She nods at Stiles.

"Wait, what?"

"En Español, por favor!"

"See what I mean?"

He snorts. "That's alright, that actually exhausted my knowledge of the language." He looks at Stiles. "You probably shouldn't antagonize teachers like that, cute stuff." Back to Erica. "By the way I'm Ade, I'm new, hi, nice to meet you."

"I'm Erica. I've sort of been around for a while. Cute stuff?"

"He's adorable! He was arguing with the teacher about dialects!"

"You said you're new. Have you heard of Lydia Martin?"

"Met her in chem, why?"

"I just think she'll want him, one of these days. She wants everyone, eventually, especially the ones who want her, and you probably shouldn't get in her way."

"Mmm, she did mention to me that nonmonogamy wasn't very popular, around here, but I'm not actually the jealous type."

"It's more that she might not want to include you, but sure, if you think the high is worth the pain, go for it."

"I think that if she wants Stiles and wants Stiles not to be with me and Stiles also wants to not be with me to be with her instead, that is an entirely reasonable state of affairs. But Stiles' preferences are pretty relevant here, too."

Stiles obliviously grumbles about pronouns.

"You're new. If you weren't, you'd know that Stiles has had a crush on her since sixth grade, and he's not getting over it. Maybe you can do non-monogamy, maybe he can. It's not really my business. I'm just giving you a heads-up."

"He told me about that, actually. I can't say I don't understand having a crush on her, either," he shrugs. "But in the end what it comes down to is, hmm, enthusiastic consent? If it turns out Stiles and I don't work, that's life, but I'm not gonna sabotage my chances because that may turn out to be the case in a hypothetical."

"Sure, see how it plays out. Just warning you, since you're new." 

Conjugations continue.

"Thanks for the warning, I guess."

Conjugations!

Thus passes Spanish class. Look, here's Danny.

"Yo."

"Hey. How did it go?" 

Stiles waves. 

"Alright. Apparently Stiles is the only one who needs to actually speak Spanish in class," he says, grinning up at Stiles.

"Some people are just biased. I can't help it if people don't appreciate my charms."

"Uh huh. Ade, are we going?"

"I appreciate them," he tells Stiles, then looks at Danny again: "Going where?—oh, lacrosse?"

"If you want to watch, yeah. Practice starts soon."

"Lucky I'm going the same way. We can walk together."

"Mmhm! Lead the way."