AU: This Was Inevitable [closed]

Josh was perhaps something of an anomaly: a teenager who enjoyed school. He enjoyed his classes, he enjoyed studying, he enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment when he received his report card.

But most of all he enjoyed spending time with his friends.

And Josh had a lot of friends, the natural result of his amicable extroversion. Of course, he wasn't supposed to talk during classes, and while sometimes he forgot about this he was usually too interested in listening to the lectures and taking notes to do so anyway.

This left lunch.

The cafeteria had excellent food, in Josh's opinion, although as his favorite foods were grilled cheese sandwiches and packaged junk food his opinion also didn't count for very much in the culinary department. Still, he thought that the garlic mashed potatoes and chicken fingers that constituted one of today's menu items were especially tasty.

The cafeteria staff ought to be commended.

He had found a spot at a table smack in the middle of the cafeteria with two of his best friends, Sean Neville and Ben Rhodes. Ben was, like Josh, easily friends with half the student body.

And Sean was, well, Sean. He was special. Intelligent, handsome, thoughtful, and possessed of an inhuman calmness and patience that Josh could never even imagine having on his own but admired very much nevertheless.

He was, in fact, currently showing his admiration by rubbing one foot along Sean's under the table.

"Hey, Riley! Come join us!" He greeted the tallest of their friends as he showed up, Cobalt in tow. The hello he gave Cobalt was decidedly less enthusiastic; the shorter boy had called him dumb on more than one occasion.

Josh still didn't know why Cobalt disliked him, but it was apparent in every interaction they had.

Still, it wouldn't do to ignore one of Riley's friends, and so he nodded to the shorter boy. "And hi, Cobalt."

Ben had actually been talking to someone on the other table when he heard Josh and Sean greet Riley and Cobalt. His chair was leaned back on to the back legs at the time but hopefully nothing happened when he heard Cobalt's name mentioned.

But he did have a huge grin on his face when he brought his chair back down and he turned to look at Riley first, and then Cobalt, to avoid being too obvious.

"Hey Rye." He leaned forward to ruffle the taller boy's hair with a grin before turning over to Cobalt. "Hey Blue." He greeted the smaller boy by his nickname, his smile softening a little. "Oh, did you guys hear there's a new transfer student from Kocher that came in last night? I heard she got kicked out because she burned her gym down."

Josh prodded at his mashed potatoes, pulling a grimace at the thought of Chemistry. He was very dedicated to studying and achieving the best grades possible, but he found science to be complicated and confusing.

"Ughhhh. Don't remind meeee. I'm going to be up all night working on that."

Some assignments he could finish between classes (and for those he did so as soon as he received them) but Chemistry always required too much focus.

Fortunately a distraction from came in the form of Ben's remarks about the transfer student.

"I heard there was a transfer student and people think she's scary. Has anyone met her yet? D'you know what grade she's in? Maybe she just needs some friends..."

By which he meant he considered new students to be potential friends, and it was up to their little group to include her.

Assuming she wasn't allergic to bunnies.

Which reminded him.

"Hey, Cobalt, you're not with Elaine today. She isn't sick, is she?"

“It won’t be that bad,” Sean said, turning to assure Josh sitting beside him. The telepath did well in science classes, and while he knew that the shapeshifter had greater difficulty, Sean also helped him with his homework. Aside from his general desire to help others, and his more specific desire to help Josh, it also provided them with more excuses to spend time with the other.

Besides, organic chemistry was far more interesting than inorganic chemistry. It intersected with biology nicely, and that was an area that fascinated Sean. Which was why he already considered himself pre-med, despite the fact that he wasn’t in college yet.

Talk of the new transfer student caught his attention, causing him to shift his focus from homework to the topic at hand. “I’m sure she’s fine,” he remarked. The telepath had great empathy for new students, particularly ones about whom rumors abounded, since he had been the victim of rumors when he had first transferred. Some powers scared others more easily, and it was easy to weave a tale to satisfy salacious curiosity at the expense of a human being’s reputation.

Sean didn’t like that.

“We should invite her to hang out after class.” That was directed to the group at large, but particularly to Ben and Josh, the natural extroverts of their group.

Then, when Cobalt mentioned Elaine being ill, he frowned slightly. “I hope Elaine feels better soon.”

Riley winced in sympathy at Josh's complaint before nodding at Sean's reassurance. "If you want, we can help you study. Or Sean...could. But if you want my help, I could come by your dorm. Or we could meet at the library," the lanky boy offered an awkward smile, wondering why he wasn't shutting up yet.

He almost squeaked when Cobalt practically insulted Ben. The biological manipulator kicked the other boy in the shin under the table and frowned slightly.

Hearing that Elaine was sick made Riley pout slightly. "Maybe I should bring her some soup." He remarked before nudging Cobalt. "Will you follow me?"