Only boy who could ever teach me (Devyn)

[Jacob Tapper]

Jacob Tapper sat in the common room of his dorm one Sunday afternoon, feet up on the coffee table and eyes glued somewhat absently to the television on the opposite wall. If one were to ask him what he was watching, he possibly wouldn't be able to answer; he wasn't really paying attention. His thoughts were elsewhere, as they so often were, and the television really only served as background noise and something towards which he could point himself.

The brunet was alone for now - his roommates having gone elsewhere for the afternoon - but he wouldn't be this way for long. One of his teammates was coming over for some kind of study/tutoring session. To say he wasn't thrilled by this would be to speak the obvious. He didn't care much for school himself, so caring enough to help someone else was really a bridge too far. But his English teacher, Mrs. Julia Taylor, had asked him to help a struggling student with his writing, since apparently he was tanking his assignments or something. Jacob had wanted to decline the request, but Mrs. Taylor had been helpful to him in the past, so refusing would have been sort of rude. And Jacob wasn't rude.

As it turned out, he knew the student already - not well, but they were just beyond acquainted. They were both on the basketball team, though Devyn was a year younger than Jacob so they didn't interact all the time. The kid was pretty good, not as good as Jake, but good; if he recalled correctly, the younger boy was a mimic of some kind, which would explain why he was about as good as anyone else on the team, though no better. Jake thought that was sort of like cheating, but far be it from him to say anything to Coach. As long as they were winning games, that man - and Jake - didn't really care.

He'd approached the other boy after practice a few days ago, assuming Devyn already knew about Mrs. Taylor's little set-up. He'd told him to come to his room on Sunday, not specifying a time or even giving his room number before heading down to the lockers. This wasn't the first time he'd given a vague invitation like this, and he trusted Devyn not to show up at an ungodly hour. So now, he was sitting around and waiting around, sort of dreading whatever they'd be doing once Devyn got there.

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Devyn was usually the type to struggle in silence, but he'd started to expect someone bringing up how awful he was in English. He had hoped that by some chance they'd let him slip by, but deep down he knew he was approaching the classroom level where he could no longer keep himself afloat alone.

He'd just wished Mrs. Taylor hadn't asked someone he saw just about everyday to be the one to help him. He wasn't even sure he really appreciated her butting in honestly, it put him in a bit of a foul mood to have his lack of progression pointed out. It just wasn't easy for him, his brain just didn't seem to want to work the way it needed to in that class.

When Jacob had approached him after practice he'd been more than a little embarrassed and simply agreed to meeting him before really thinking to ask of any specifics, he didn't want the other to pick up on how ashamed he was of having to ask for help like this.

He'd found the room simply by asking around, blowing it off as something to do with the tea.
It was a little after lunch that he found himself at the other's door, he'd thought it would be better to meet up with him in the afternoon in case he slept in.

The mimic lifted his hand to the door, pausing to make sure he didn't look as miffed as he felt before knocking on the door. "Hey," he said, when the door opened, "I hope this is a good time."

[Jacob Tapper]

There was a knock at the door, and Jake knew immediately who it was. He wasn't expecting anyone but the kid he'd told to swing by for a "tutor session" or whatever this was, so hew knew even before he opened the door that Devyn would be on the other side of it. Rising from the couch, he moved over to the door - he saw no point in trying to delay the inevitable - and opened it. "Sup," he said, letting the door swing open wider so Devyn could come in. "Yeah, s'fine." He watched as the shorter male came into his dorm, Jake kicking the door closed behind him.

He'd normally offer a guest something to drink, but he needed to go grocery shopping so there wasn't much to offer. That, and he didn't really want to make long stories of this: Devyn needed help, and Jake had gotten roped into supplying said help, so he'd do it but not like it. He walked back over to the couch, flopping down on the far side of it, the other cushion obviously reserved for Devyn if he wanted it. "So, what exactly do you need help with?" He asked, looking up at the other brunet. He knew from his conversation with Mrs. Taylor that it had something to do with writing, but the woman had used details sparingly.

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Devyn followed the other boy into the room, it was becoming apparent that neither was very happy about the situation that they were in. He can't deny that he briefly contemplated bailing out entirely before the door shut behind him, but he knew that as far as his English grade was concerned it was entirely neccessary to suffer through this.

Once Jacob inquired about the purpose of him being here, Devyn groaned a bit and slipped his bag off of his back. Of course, he wouldn't be able to escape actually bringing up what caused him to wind up in the situation.

"Well," he let out a breath of defeat as he dug around in his bag for a few seconds and pulled out a few sheets of paper that were stapled together. It was obvious even from a quick, distanced glance there was far more red on the papers than even a C student managed.

"I'm absolute shit at writing." It was hard to escape the fact that most of the time he barely scraped by on papers. Most read similarly to an almost elementary level. Devyn appeared visibly pained as he handed the papers over. "It's pretty pathetic honestly."

[Jacob Tapper]

Jacob knew what it was like to be on the verge of failing a class: it was the exact situation he was in with math, and when Coach had found out that he'd bombed a test, he'd told Jake to shape up or ship out - or, to be more precise, improve his grade or spend the rest of the season on the bench. So he'd managed to 'persuade' Jackson to help him with his math homework, and he supposed now it was his turn to pay it forward and help this other kid out.

He still didn't want to, but at least he appreciated the poeticism his situation.

The brunet looked up at the other boy as he took out his paper. Yes, even from afar it was obvious he hadn't done well. There was more red on that paper than in a Hallmark Store on Valentine's Day. "Clearly," he stated tersely as Devyn handed him the essay. He started looking at it, shaking his head. "Jesus, I think she wrote more than you did," he said, referring to the teacher's copious notes. He wasn't terribly surprised: Mrs. Taylor liked to 'respond' to what she was reading, and obviously a poor paper would necessitate more comments. "So, am I supposed to help you rewrite this," he asked, as he flipped to the next page and continued to skim, "or is there another paper you're working on now, or..?" If he was going to begrudge Devyn his assistance, he might as well know what exactly he was assisting with.

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Devyn fell into the couch next to the other teen, not wanting to look at him as he looked over the paper, if it even deserved to be called that. "That's... probably true," he couldn't necessarily deny it, she'd even take up a bit of space on the back detailing everything he'd done wrong. Which, apparently, was a lot.

He'd never been particularly strong at subjects like English, especially literature forms of it, anything that required interpretation was a bit beyond him. He was also particularly terrible at putting his thoughts down on paper, and any kind of narrative lacked any amount of description.

In short he was incredibly un-creative.

"She said I'm allowed to rewrite it for half credit, but I also have another one due next week." Feeling a bit guilty about what he was about to ask, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I would appreciate help with both if you could." He was not above begging though he was not particularly tempted to do so, considering he would have to see Jacob outside of this on a near daily basis.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jacob's left eye twitched involuntarily. Devyn wanted help with two papers? Mrs. Taylor had said nothing about two papers. She'd also said he needed 'a little help' with his assignment, which was obviously a huge understatement. This was going to be quite a project, getting this first essay into shape and helping him put the second together. That was like two whole assignments for Jake on top of everything else he had going on. It didn't seem fair. But then again, Mrs. Taylor had spent a lot of time with Jake making his own writing better in months and years past... but then again, did that mean he was on the hook whenever someone wrote a shit essay?

Jake didn't want to be mean; he never wanted to be mean, but sometimes he had no other choice. This was one of those situations in which he found himself feeling very self-interested but unable to articulate this without coming across as a jerk. He would have to navigate this carefully.

"Um, okay..." He said, letting the paper fall into his lap once he was done giving it a once-over; he'd have to read it much more carefully before actually helping him improve it. "I want to help you," he stated very slowly, as though some kind of therapist was coaching him on how to confront another person, "but this seems like a lot of work. And time. Time I could be spending doing... anything else." He turned to face Devyn more fully, bringing one of his knees up onto the couch and sitting on his foot. "I'm not entirely sure this is worth my time." He quirked an eyebrow, like he was hinting that maybe a one-way exchange wasn't going to convince him to help with both assignments. "Is it going to be worth my time?"

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Devyn was aware of how much he was asking of his teammate, it had been hard enough to admit he needed help so desperately he had to ask someone for help. He wasn't typically the type to admit he struggling in anything, but once it had been pointed out -rather bluntly so considering the mass amounts of red marks on his paper- it was really hard to avoid. So he'd decided to bite the bullet and agree to the help.

Though, now, judging by the other's reaction, he was beginning to suspect that Mrs. Taylor hadn't been entirely forthcoming with how....grave the situation was.

Those suspicions were confirmed at Jacob's change in expression once he realized it wasn't just one monstrosity he was dealing with, but two. Which he understood was not necessarily anyone's idea of a good time, but he still felt a tug of annoyance, which was more the byproduct of his increasing stress level than any actual irritation at the other male. He was the type to beat himself up over things like this, but at the same time struggled to maintain calm on the outside.

"Okay..." Devyn made a frustrated noise and looked away before looking back at him, "I get it, it's a lot. Especially since I'm a little worse than bad."

He grew visibly confused at his question of worth, "I don't know? Unless you take charity as a reward?" He grinned hopefully before offering seriously, "Is there anything you need help on? School wise? I'm good at everything except English really."

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake was doing that thing where he was trying not to be rude but coming off that way anyway. Sometimes being a nice guy was just plain hard. Like when your English teacher suckered you into doing two essays for someone who, by all present accounts, could not string several sentences together coherently on paper. Being nice about having his time stolen from him was tough.

He frowned: charity was not a reward. Wasn't charity, by definition, something done in the absence of a reward? Jake likes rewards. When Devyn offered to help him in other subjects, he closed his eyes for a moment. This was dangerously close to a very similar situation he had been in just a few weeks ago, with another student who'd come over for a study session. Of course, his interaction with Devyn was most certainly not going to culminate in sex, which was more than he could say for his tutoring session with Jackson - another of his basketball teammates - but just the thought of it gave Jake literal pause.

"Um, well..." Like Devyn, he didn't exactly enjoy admitting when he wasn't good at something. "I'm not the best at math." Maybe Devyn could help him get better at that - or, more helpfully, do his homework for him so he wouldn't have to worry about it. That seemed like an even exchange: Jake writes a paper for Devyn, Devyn does a math assignment for Jake.

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Devyn had been on the basketball team for almost as long as he'd been at Hammel, and then even before that at his old school. His parents had always emphasized the need to be 'well-rounded', which was just another way for them to say he had to be involved in everything and to be the best at it. Which was exactly as hard as it sounded.


"I'm really good at math actually," he grinned, it was kind of funny how they were weakest in each other's strongest subjects. Devyn suspected they were probably complete opposites in more than just that way. Especially if what he'd seen of the teen spoke for anything.


The two had never had any in-depth conversations, a few comments here or there mostly pertaining to the team. Devyn didn't hold any particular dislike for the boy apart from a bit of jealousy over his natural talent on the court. He wasn't too shabby himself but it was hard for him to ignore the comments people made about it all being thanks to his ability, it made it kind of hard not to think that himself.


"Math makes so much more sense," he said shaking his head a bit and readjusting his bag beside the couch before crossing his legs onto the couch. "Writing... just doesn't make sense to me."

It sounded stupid when he said it like that, yes he knew how the physical act of writing worked but he could never figure out how people made their writing... pretty. His often read like a list of facts and he just couldn't figure out how to change that; he didn't think anyone else could figure out how to change it either.


"So, am I helping you figure it out or am I just doing it for you," he quirked an eyebrow at his question, he knew oftentimes when someone asked with help on an assignment they wanted the answers, not actual help. "Because I can do either, if you can stand to be around me long enough for me to teach you anything." It wasn't anything but a lighthearted jab, he didn't really take it to heart that they had never really hung out, Devyn wasn't the type things like that personally.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake's ears perked up when Devyn confided that he was good at math. That was an interesting revelation: it meant Jake might have someone who could do his homework for him without all of the drama that came with his and Jackson's little 'arrangement.' Not that he didn't like the arrangement, or at least the idea of it - they'd only just come up with it the previous week, and it was off to an admittedly rocky start.

He chuckled. "I guess combined we make one good student," he said, referring to his own writing skills and Devyn's strength in math. "Or one really bad one," he added, referring to their respective weaknesses in the two subjects.

"Nah, writing's easier," he replied. "It's subjective: you just have to find a teacher who likes your style. With math, there's only one right answer, and if you don't get it, you're screwed." To be sure, Jake hadn't always been good at writing, but he'd worked hard at it because it was a skill he wanted to possess. But he'd always thought it was the easier class to do well in.

This kid caught on quick, evidently realizing that Jake might just want the answers, rather than actually learning the lessons that would help him get said answers himself. "You read my mind," he stated, bringing his hands behind his head and leaning back into the couch cushions. "If you could just kinda do it for me, that'd probably be easiest." Easiest for Jake, clearly.

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It was easy to pick up that Devyn had said what could be considered the magic word(s), even if he wasn't able to pick up on the small details of a person's movement it was pretty obvious Jacob had grown quite a bit more interested in what he was saying even as he said it.
"I'm a good student without you," it came out more antagonistic than he had intended even when paired with a goofy grin that was pretty characteristic of when he felt he'd said something very funny.

Devyn wrinkled his nose again at the comment on writing being easier but chuckled, "It's easier /because/ there is only one answer. I feel like if we don't agree to disagree we'll be arguing about this all night." They probably would, it was becoming comedically obvious that the two were very different.

"I didn't read your mind, you're just easy to read," he joked and leaned back as well in a move to copy the position Jacob had assumed. It was easier to settle into his usual personality once he had gotten past the initial tension of asking for help. "But yeah, it won't be any issue for me to get done, as long as you don't blame me for the crap test grades you are going to get."