Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Are you going to the dance?”

Ekko fought a cringe as he shut his locker, turning to the girl - Kim - and giving what he hoped was a polite smile despite how tired he was of being asked that question. 

He knew it was meant to be flattering, having so many people ask him to be their date, but Ekko could only take so much. Especially when the answer would always remain the same.

“Yeah, I’m thinking about it,” Ekko replied a tad vaguely, praying that it was simple curiosity and not the opening of yet another invitation. “You?”

“Oh, definitely!” Kim smiled, looking shy. Oh no. “I was actually wondering if you had a date already? I thought, if not-”

“Look, Kim,” Ekko sighed, interrupting gently and feeling a pang of guilt at the way her face dropped. “I’m flattered, but I think I’m just gonna go with a friend. If I even go at all.”

Kim frowned, mulling that over for a moment before forcing a smile on her face. “Right, no problem! I understand.” 

He offered a small smile. “I’ll see you in History?” 

Kim nodded, still looking a bit embarrassed but thankfully taking his rejection in stride. They parted ways soon after and Ekko flopped against the wall, letting out a sigh. 

Kim was a nice girl. And a very pretty girl. If any of his friends heard he’d rejected her, they’d probably smack him on the head. But, just like every girl (and guy) before, Ekko couldn’t bring himself to say yes. It wouldn’t be fair to lead them on when he didn’t feel the same. When he already had his eyes on someone else. 

When he was already in love with- 

“Jinx Lanes, please report to the head office at once.” The intercom crackled, cutting out with a sharp electric beep once the message was relayed. 

Yeah, her. 

Jinx Lanes. Permanent detention resident, top of pretty much every class she was enrolled in, and the girl the student body liked to almost exclusively refer to as ‘the weird chick who blew up the chem lab that one time’.

Ekko knew her as the girl he’d been pining after ever since their group project last year. They’d barely spoken since then. Hell, they’d barely spoken during the project, but Ekko had been unable to even look at someone else since that day. There was just…something about her.

Ekko pushed off the wall with another sigh, lifting his wrist to check the time and ensure he wasn’t late to class. He’d be cutting it close, but he’d surely be at his desk by the starting bell. 

He reached his history classroom, reaching out to pull the handle and open the door- 

It swung open before he could. And there she was.

He pulled back in surprise, cheeks flushing red as he moved to the side to let her pass. Though, he wasn’t even sure if Jinx noticed he was there with the way she strolled by, not even glancing over once to acknowledge him. 

He shouldn’t find that attractive. 

He does. 

Ekko watched her for a moment as she strode down the nearly empty hallway, a cute skip in her step that seemed slightly out of place considering she was headed to the office, likely to get a scolding for whatever trouble she’d caused that morning. 

She turned the corner and vanished. Ekko slid into his seat, the bell blaring seconds after as Miss Young stepped to the front of the classroom to begin the lesson.

Ekko flipped through his beat up history book absently, his mind replaying the interaction - small as it was - over and over until Miss Young’s voice faded away and all his thoughts revolved around the girl skipping through the hallways at that very moment. 

It felt like only minutes later that the bell rang again, alerting him to the end of class. Ekko realized with dawning horror that he had no idea what they’d been learning. He looked down at his notebook, opened to a new page but completely blank. Shit.

To his left, Scar laughed and nudged Ekko's side as they stood to leave. “You can borrow my notes.”

Ekko breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, I guess I was pretty out of it.”

“Thinking of someone again?” Scar teased, squeezing through the crowd of students as they dove back into the hallway. 

“No!” Ekko flushed, receiving a knowing look from his best friend. “Fine. Maybe a little.”

Scar huffed out another laugh, locker opening with a click as he changed out his books. Ekko slumped against the wall of lockers beside him. 

“This crush is getting seriously out of hand.” 

Ekko nodded absently, eyes focused on the end of the hallway where Jinx was leaned up against the lockers, similarly to himself, and saying something to a girl Ekko recognized as Lux Crownguard. One of the few people Jinx actually spoke to on a regular basis. If Ekko knew Jinx enough to be sure, he’d say they were best friends. 

“Trust me,” Ekko murmured, dropping his gaze as Jinx rolled her eyes at something Lux said and pushed off the lockers in their direction. Once again, he went entirely unnoticed as she passed. “I know.” 

📚

Ekko stepped into the cafeteria, chattering of students deafening as he clutched his lunch tray and searched for where his friends had sat. His eyes landed, unwillingly but not surprisingly, on Jinx. 

She sat at her usual table, the one that people rarely sat at due to it being smaller and unable to fit groups of friends who’d want to sit together. She was settled against the wall, lunch relatively untouched beside her while she scrawled something in a book with headphones over her ears, undoubtedly blasting the loud, electronic beats she liked so much. 

“Dude, you’re pathetic.” 

Ekko startled, looking over to see Ezreal watching him with a teasing grin. Ez patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. “Really pathetic.” 

Ekko rolled his eyes. “Bold words from the guy who still hasn’t asked out Lux.”

“I’m working on it!” Ez insisted, pointing a finger at Ekko. “A girl like Lux needs to be wooed. It’s a process.” 

Ezreal shifted his grip on his lunch, giving Ekko a look. “Besides, at least I’ve talked to Lux.”

“I’ve talked to Jinx!”

His protests fell on deaf ears as Ez shook his head. “Working on a project a year ago doesn’t count.” 

“I made her laugh that one time,” Ekko recalled, a weak attempt at a defense. 

“Yeah,” Ez drawled, letting out a snort. “Cus you tripped over your chair and ate shit on the floor.” 

“I still made her laugh.”

“You’re hopeless.”

Ekko shifted his gaze back to her table, nodding to himself for a bit of confidence and squaring his shoulders. “I’m going over there.”

“What?” Ezreal yelped, eyes widening and grabbing at Ekko’s arm. “Dude, I was kidding!”

“I have to talk to her at some point,” Ekko reasoned, having already made up his mind. He wouldn’t back down now. 

“This isn’t going to end well,” Ez said to no one in particular, as Ekko was already walking away. 

It would be fine. That’s what Ekko told himself anyway. He needed to catch up on his History and he already had Scar’s notes to study from. It’d be better to do it at a quiet table than one surrounded by his well meaning but very energetic friend group who’d probably pester him about finding a date to the dance. 

That was how he justified it to himself anyway, using up the last of his confidence to plop down in a chair on the opposite side of Jinx, though he chose to sit a few chairs down so as to not look like he was trying to sit with her. That would be weird. 

Like any part of this wasn’t weird. 

Keeping his head low, Ekko pushed aside his lunch and brought out the notes Scar lent him. It wasn’t long before he felt eyes on him, though Ekko wasn’t certain whether they were Jinx’s or that of his friends wondering what the hell he was doing. 

He finished the notes far too early, there was really only so much you could do to look like you were busy when all you had was an hour's worth of history notes already scribbled down for you to copy.

He started on his lunch, tugging out some math homework to study in the meantime and hoping he didn’t look nearly as nervous as he felt being so close to her. He could practically hear his friends snickering from their table, watching him fail from afar. 

He was pulled from his work by the sound of cursing. He glanced up hesitantly to see Jinx tugging down her headphones as she swore at her broken pencil, tossing it on the table and rummaging in her bag for another. She seemed to come up empty. 

Somehow, he found his voice. 

“Need a pencil?” 

Jinx paused. She stared at him, blue eyes settling on him for what felt like the first time ever and rooting him solidly in place. 

“Sure.” 

She seemed unsettled for some reason, the single word sounding forcibly calm. Like she wasn’t expecting to be noticed. 

It seemed odd, a strange juxtaposition to the chaotic troublemaker she was known as. Everything about her, at least to Ekko, had screamed at him to look. To pay attention. Yet at this moment Jinx seemed almost caught off guard.

Or maybe he was the one that wasn’t noticed and she was simply surprised he was even there. Could be anything, really. 

Ekko pulled a spare pencil from his bag, hesitating a moment before carefully rolling it across the table to her.

Jinx caught it, wrapping her hand around it and seeming like she might say something when that damn bell went off again. Jinx was gone in an instant, scooping up her bag and items and rushing out like she had somewhere to be. 

Ekko deflated, head hitting the table in defeat. 

📚

A week passed before they spoke again.

He continued sitting at her table, much to his friends' amusement, and the lunch hour passed again and again without a word spoken. Jinx didn’t seem to know what to do with him half the time, giving him wary looks whenever he sat down before pretending she didn’t notice him at all.

It was about ten minutes into another one of those days when Jinx pulled her headphones down, sliding down the table until she was directly opposite him. 

Ekko stared, surprised. Jinx didn’t speak for a moment. Her phone buzzed pointedly against the table. She groaned. 

“You know Ezreal, right?”

He nodded, finding his voice. “Yeah, we’ve been friends for a while.” 

A horrible thought struck him then and Ekko prayed that he hadn’t spent a week working up the nerve to speak to her only for her to be into one of his best friends. 

Her phone buzzed again. Jinx picked it up and rolled her eyes.

“Is he gonna ask Lux out or what?” She asked sharply, throwing the phone into her bag like that would shut it up. “She won’t shut up about me asking you.” 

Ekko relaxed, gathering all his nerve and leaning forward conspiratorially. “He’s been trying to for weeks. Keeps chickening out.”

Jinx hummed, rummaging through her bag to pull her phone back out and likely relaying the information to her friend. “Great. Maybe now she’ll do something about it and stop bothering me.”

“I’ll tell Ez to get his shit together,” Ekko agreed, shooting off a quick text and lifting his gaze to watch Ez receive it, his friends eyes widening comically before promptly falling out of his chair. 

Jinx laughed freely at that. It was a cute sound.

She shifted like she was about to move back to her seat. Back to ignoring him. Ekko couldn’t let that happen, not when he’d finally managed to speak to her. He searched for something to say, seizing onto a half baked thought when he saw the tattoos along her arm. 

“Did it hurt?” He blurted out. 

Jinx paused, raising an eyebrow and looking at him strangely. 

It sounded like the opening to a cheesy pickup line. Ekko wanted to die. 

“The tattoos,” he stammered out. “Uh, did they hurt?” 

Jinx considered the question, looking at him like she was still debating bolting. “A little.”

“They’re cool,” he complimented, voice coming out steadier now that he’d recovered from his blunder. “You design it yourself?”

“Yep,” Jinx settled back into the chair, Ekko took it as a small win. “You thinking of getting one?”

“Never really thought about it,” Ekko admitted. “Maybe if I find something I really like.”

Jinx just nodded and for a moment Ekko thought the conversation was done with. He supposed it was still progress. Maybe he’d even manage it again tomorrow. 

Then:

“Unless you get really drunk and end up with a butterfly on your ass.” 

Ekko let out a startled laugh, not expecting such a bold, and somewhat vulgar, remark. Jinx seemed surprised too, eyes widening ever so slightly like she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Or had expected him to take it in stride. 

“Firefly.”

“What?” Jinx asked hesitantly, brows pinching together. 

“Never been too big on butterflies,” Ekko shrugged, grinning easily. “I’ll be getting a firefly on my ass.”

“That’s even lamer than a butterfly.”

“Since when were drunken tattoos meant to be good?” He countered. 

She opened her mouth to retort, but the end of lunch bell cut her off and she stood to collect her things. 

Ekko was sure that would be the end of it, though he was disappointed that they’d been interrupted when it seemed Jinx might have even enjoyed talking to him. 

He dropped his gaze, moving to pick up the math homework he’d almost entirely forgotten about when a nail, planted electric blue, tapped against the paper. 

“Wrong.”

He studied the question for a moment and realized that she was correct. He quickly wrote over it, adjusting the calculation, and looked up to thank her. 

She was already gone. 

Ekko scooped up his things, quickly following the crowd into the halls to his next class. It was fine.

He’d see her again tomorrow.

📚

Ekko didn’t bother pretending he wasn’t there to talk to her anymore. 

She hadn’t arrived at their table yet when he arrived at the cafeteria, so Ekko plopped down in the spot he’d been working towards over the last few weeks. Directly opposite to her, against the wall. It was a big deal only to him. Scar called him an idiot when he’d mentioned it earlier that day. But Ekko didn’t care. This was progress. 

He and Jinx had talked on and off the last few weeks. Some days sitting in silence, others trading quips and small talk about different things. Ekko realized very quickly they shared quite a few interests and jumped at the chance to talk to her about them. They traded music recommendations, complained about their homework being too easy even in their advanced classes, and on one occasion showed each other some of their art. 

Jinx still looked like she didn’t know what to do with him sometimes. Slight hesitations before she said a particularly blunt joke, eyeing him intently when she came off small tangents like she feared she was being too much. Ekko, in those moments, wanted to scream that it still wasn’t enough. He wanted more. More than he knew what to do with.

But their friendship, if it could be considered that, was tentative enough as it was. He didn’t want to scare her away, not when he enjoyed her company as much as he did. Not when the sight of her marching over to their table brought an instant smile to his face. 

Jinx flopped down at her usual spot, flinging her items onto the table with her usual level of care. Which was to say, none. “That song you recommended to me was ass.”

Ekko snorted, picking at his food. “It’s okay. Not all of us can have good taste.”

“You wish you had good taste.” 

Ekko didn’t have the chance to retort, Jinx having already moved on to a new topic as she glanced over his head. “Why is that girl glaring at you like she wants to set you on fire?”

He risked a glance behind him, meeting the gaze of a very pissed off Jade - a girl in his English class whose dance invitation he’d rejected that morning. 

Truthfully, Ekko didn’t understand why everyone was so intent on finding a date to a dance that was weeks away. They’d be on Thanksgiving break before the winter themed dance was even around the corner. Yet the school had been abuzz with talk of proposals and outfit shopping ever since the announcement. And Ekko had hardly had a day go by without someone shooting their shot.

He turned back quickly, cheeks feeling hot. “She, uh-, she kinda asked me to the dance this morning.”

“I’m guessing you said no.”

Ekko sighed a little guiltily. “Yeah, I don’t think she took it well.”

“Wait,” Jinx held up a hand, thinking for a moment. “Didn’t you get asked outside of History too? By another girl?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” Ekko recalled the moment, it had happened almost immediately after Jade had stormed away from him outside the library. “How’d you know that?”

Jinx shrugged. “Because we have the same history class?”

“You weren’t there yet.” 

“And you know that, how?” She challenged.

“You’re kind of hard to miss,” Ekko pointed out without thinking, motioning to her trademark blue hair and the black and pink ensemble she was wearing. 

Jinx made a strange face at that, then shook her head like she was dispelling a thought. “Whatever,” she said slowly, dismissing him. “How many girls have asked you out exactly?”

“I’m not exactly keeping track?”

“But it’s enough for you to lose count?” Jinx accused. Ekko wondered if he should be offended that she seemed so confused by girls being interested in him. 

Ekko flushed, “Does it matter? I haven’t said yes to anyone.”

“Seriously?” Jinx snorted. “Just how picky are you?”

“I’m not picky-”

She shushed him, leaning up in her chair and scanning the room. She pointed at a girl leaving the cafeteria. “Did she ask you?”

He studied the girl for a moment. “Yeah.”

Jinx pointed out another girl, seemingly choosing at random. “Her?”

His face felt hot. “Uh-huh.”

“Her?”

“Yep.”

“What about her?”

“…”

“Ekko!”

“…Yes.” 

Jinx cackled, falling back into her chair. “Jeez, what are you? A nun?”

Ekko rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I could even be a nun-”

Jinx ignored him again. “How do you even know that many girls?” 

“Most of them are in the same clubs as I am,” Ekko replied hastily, trying to end this line of questioning. 

“Such as?”

He sighed, lifting a hand to count off all his extracurriculars. “Art club, Engineering club, woodworking, football, skateboarding-”

“There’s no way skateboarding clubs are a real thing.” 

“It’s an unofficial club!”

“So not a club.”

Ekko huffed out a laugh at her pestering. “I guess not. It’s just a group of friends who meet at the skatepark sometimes.”

“Didn’t know you even liked skateboarding,” Jinx commented. Ekko leapt at the chance. 

“Do you skate too?”

Jinx snorted. “No.”

“Do you want to?”

The words came out before he could consider what it would mean. He’d be seeing her outside the confines of school. Like a real hangout. Like they were friends. 

“What, you gonna teach me?” Jinx asked after a thoughtful pause, trying to sound mocking even though Ekko got the feeling they were thinking the same thing. 

“I could,” Ekko didn’t back down, giving her a small smile. “I’m headed there after school if you want to come by.”

Jinx hesitated. 

“I…I have to help my dad with something after school,” Ekko’s heart sank at her words, but she continued before he could be too upset. “My house isn’t far from the park. You could come by when I’m done.”

Jinx kept her eyes low as she made the offer. That was probably for the best, considering the absolutely stupid grin that spread on his face. 

“Yeah! Yeah, I’ll swing by after I grab my board,” he fumbled for a piece of paper. “Uh, do you wanna write down your-?”

Jinx scooped his phone off the table, swiping through it for a moment and typing something in before tossing it back. “I put my number in. Text me later and I’ll send it to you.”

And, as usual when things were going well for him, the bell signaled the end of their interaction. One day he was going to rip that thing from the wall. 

Jinx swept off with a final “text me!” and Ekko sat dumbly staring down at his phone when it finally, finally clicked. 

He had her number. 

He had Jinx Lanes’ phone number.

Ekko let the phone clatter against the table, fist pumping into the air in victory. “Yes!” 

📚

Jinx’s father is a large man, muscular and towering over Ekko as he swings open the door of the house and raises an eyebrow at the younger boy. 

“Ah, you must be Ekko!” He said in a friendly, welcoming tone that seemed almost unfit for his stature. He had an accent too, unlike his daughter, though Ekko couldn’t place the origin. “Powder told me you were coming! Come on in, she’ll be down in a moment.”

…Powder?

Ekko fought back the confusion and smiled politely, stepping inside. Now that he really thought about it, Jinx was a fairly odd name. Then again, his name was Ekko, so maybe he didn’t have the right to question it. 

“Uh, thank you. Mr-”

“Oh, no need for that,” the man told him, leading him inside to the living room, family pictures and memories scattered across every wall and surface he passed. “Just call me Vander.”

Ekko nodded shyly, glancing around the room and examining the pictures along the mantle of the old fireplace. Jinx had mentioned her siblings here and there, but not in any great detail. Usually just a ‘my sister said this’ or ‘my brother said that’ in the middle of one of her rambles. He’d never even gotten their names. 

He was surprised to see two boys in the picture, having assumed she only had one along with her older sister. 

Vander laughed and Ekko realized he must have muttered his musings aloud. “She does have a tendency to talk around the details, doesn’t she?” He said, voice warm as he spoke of his daughter. 

Vander scooped up a picture frame, regarding it with affection in his eyes. “The other three have all run off to college now, Powder’s my youngest.”

Looking at the pictures, Ekko found no particular resemblance between any of the siblings aside from Jinx and her sister, the others not seeming to share many similarities to each other or their father. Jinx had never mentioned adoption, but she’d also never clarified she had two brothers, so Ekko couldn’t really be certain. He didn’t think it was appropriate to ask.

But once again, her father seemed to know exactly what Ekko was thinking. 

“I adopted Powder and her sister, Vi, when they were young,” Vander explained openly, he pointed to the boy with short hair and goggles, then to a lankier boy with brown hair that seemed to stick straight up. “I adopted these two, Claggor and Mylo, not long after.”

He set down the frame, “But enough about them for now, eh? Powder’s told me quite a bit about you recently. I hear you’re teaching her skateboarding?”

She talks about me?

Ekko tried not to blush at that, nodding quickly and sitting down hesitantly on the couch. “Yeah, we’re gonna head to the park, teach her how to keep her balance. Just the basics. I won’t keep her out too late.”

Vander gave a gruff laugh. “This isn’t an interrogation, son. It’s alright. You seem like a good kid. Just don’t let her get too beat up on that thing. She’s clumsier than she looks.”

Ekko laughed, about to respond when Jinx swept around the corner, looking disgruntled. 

“I am not.”

Vander raised his hands in surrender, sending Ekko a conspiratorial wink. “Alright, alright. I’ll let you kids go. Just be careful out there, yeah?”

Jinx nodded impatiently, motioning for Ekko to follow her. Ekko did so, heading out the door after her after giving a polite nod to Vander and squeaking out a ‘nice meeting you!’

Jinx slowed after a moment, letting him catch up with her and walk side by side down the cracked sidewalk. She seemed content not to speak, but Ekko was simply bursting with questions unanswered. 

“So…Powder, huh?”

Jinx turned red, hugging her shoulders as if she was cold. “My dad mentioned that, huh?”

Ekko nodded, hesitating a moment before continuing. “Can I ask where the nickname comes from?”

Jinx snorted. “My brother being a dick.”

“Your brother?” Ekko pressed gently for more details. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but she seemed fairly relaxed so far, so Ekko tried not to overthink it. 

“Mylo,” Jinx elaborated, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “My dad wasn’t totally wrong about me being a klutz. I had a tendency to fuck things up when I was a kid, so he started calling me a jinx.” 

Ekko frowned. “That’s kinda screwed up.” 

Jinx rolled her eyes, blowing a piece of hair away from her eyes with a soft puff. “Yeah, a little.”

“So what made you start calling yourself that?” 

“I grew up. He did, too,” Jinx shrugged, their shoulders brushing. Ekko couldn’t tell if it was intentional. “He stopped meaning it as an insult, so I stopped taking it as one. It just became a normal nickname after that.”

“No one at school calls you Powder,” he commented carefully. “Not even teachers.”

Jinx smirked to herself. “The nickname spread pretty quickly after the chem lab incident. A teacher started scolding me, asking my name to call my parents. I just blurted out Jinx.”

“No one at home calls me that, though,” she continued as they turned the corner, reaching the entrance to the skate park. “Just my brother sometimes.”

“So, it wouldn’t bother you if I called you Powder?” He wondered, leading her to a good spot away from other people skating. 

Jinx mulled that over, tilting her head in consideration. “Do you want to call me Powder?”

“Honestly?”

Jinx raised an eyebrow. “Well, duh.” 

“You’ll kinda always be Jinx to me,” Ekko said bluntly. “I think it suits you nicely.”

For some reason, that made her smile. 

“Okay!” She clapped her hands pointedly, nodding to his boards. “Show me how to ride this dumb thing.”

Ekko rolled his eyes, taking the topic switch in stride as he always did with her. He set his board on the ground, instructing her on how to position her feet.

The skateboard rolled slightly as she hopped on, making her yelp slightly before managing to catch herself. He stepped forward to correct her form, hands pausing halfway to her waist and hovering uncertainly in the air. 

Jinx gave him an unimpressed look. “I don’t bite.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s probably wise,” Jinx cracked a grin, arms held out hesitantly at her sides like she was trying to stay upright. “Now stop being weird and do something helpful.”

He helped her shift her feet, keeping a foot poised against the front wheel to keep it from rolling out from under her. His heart raced with every brush, every touch was a startling reminder that this was really the first time they’d ever been this close. There’d always been something between them, be it a lunch table or a mass of students the few times they’d caught each other in the halls. This, being so close. Touching her. It was unprecedented. 

“I think you got the balance part down,” Ekko remarked, taking his hands off hesitantly. “Wanna test it out?”

Jinx hesitated, feigning toughness.“If I get a concussion, I’ll kill you.”

“Promises, promises,” Ekko chided, taking his foot away from the wheel and watching with amusement as her arms shot out on either side of her like a bird as she attempted to maintain balance. “Know how to kick off?”

“I think it’s pretty self explanatory.”

She lifted her foot off the board, shifting it to kick off the ground. Immediately, the board pushed forward and Jinx toppled over right into his arms. 

He grunted as she tumbled into his chest, helping her find her footing and trying to stifle his laughter. “Yeah, you don’t need my help at all.”

“Shut up,” she punched his shoulder playfully. “That was a warm up.”

“Uh-huh.”

As it turned out, Jinx would have about fifteen more ‘warmups’ before she managed a successful glide. Ekko clapped from the sidelines, feeling oddly warm as he watched the triumphant smile spread across her face, lighting her up in a way Ekko’s never seen before. Gliding gracefully across the concrete, sunlight catching her blue hair as the wind blew it around her and eyes sparkling with the victory of finally succeeding at her task. She was breathtaking. 

So breathtaking, in fact, that Ekko didn’t notice until it was far too late that she’d begun to veer off course. Until she was seconds away from crashing into him. Jinx let out a yelp as they collided, his arms circling around her in a last ditch effort to catch her as they both plummeted to the grass and his poor, abused skateboard rolled into a tree and came to a pitiful stop. 

His back hit the grass and she fell right on top of him, though he luckily didn’t have the chance to panic about that fact as she writhed away and flopped onto the grass next to him, catching her breath. 

“Not bad,” Ekko said eventually once he’d recovered, clearing his throat. “Unless it was your goal to try and kill me. In that case, it was perfect.”

“Well, you know me,” Jinx said breathlessly, blue hair fanning out like a halo against the greenery. “Gotta keep you on your toes.”

“You succeeded. Painfully.”

Jinx laughed. A beautiful, free, and utterly infectious sound that sent chuckles bubbling up in his throat until the both of them were cackling like hyenas, undoubtedly looking absolutely mad to anyone around to witness it. Ekko couldn’t have cared less. 

He gasped for breath, stomach sore and cheeks straining from the smile on his face. Jinx sobered up not long after he pulled himself together, relaxing against the ground and twirling her fingers through the grass.

Silence fell between them, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. Ekko actually felt oddly content where he was. Any aches from their crash landing faded away as he stared up at the sky, feeling the presence beside him and knowing he would stay there forever if he could. If only she stayed there with him. 

After a few minutes of this, Jinx spoke up. Her voice was hesitant and soft, unlike the bravado he’d come to expect from her. 

“If I ask you a question, are you gonna get all weird about it?”

“Probably,” Ekko replied honestly, turning his head to look at her curiously. “What’s the question?”

Jinx hummed, shifting her gaze away and staring intently at the grass in her fingers. “Why did you start sitting with me?”

Ekko certainly didn’t expect that, speechless for the moment. Jinx didn’t seem to notice, the beginnings of a tangent on her lips. 

“At first I kinda thought it was some joke I didn’t understand,” Jinx continued bluntly. “I saw your friends laughing and thought they must have dared you or something. Because obviously you’d never sit with me because you wanted-”

“I did want to,” he interrupted softly, horrified at the thought that Jinx had felt like the butt of some cruel joke. 

“You barely even knew me,” Jinx said, tone questioning and uncertain. 

“I wanted to,” Ekko murmured and Jinx fell silent to listen. “Know you, I mean. I had no plan. No idea what the hell I was doing. I just knew I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?” Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle. Brows pinched together like his explanation only confused her more. 

“I liked you,” Ekko said simply. “Is that really so hard to believe?”

“Dunno if you noticed,” Jinx began, a hint of lighthearted mockery in her tone, though it seemed more directed at herself. “I’m not so good with the people thing.”

Jinx shrugged, puffing out a breath. “I can cause all the trouble in the world, annoy the shit out of every teacher I’ve ever met. It’s easier than getting people to like me.”

“Well, I do,” Ekko replied matter of factly, a challenge in his tone. “So maybe the only person who thinks you’re unlikable is you.”

Jinx considered that, a small, sad smile twisting her lips for a moment. She took a breath, a slightly forced grin replacing it. “And Salo. He called me a godless heathen.”

“You are a godless heathen.”

Jinx scoffed, but her retort faded as his hand slowly wrapped around hers from where they’d been settled in the grass between them. She inhaled sharply. 

“I just…like that about you.” 

It wasn’t the word he wanted to use, but it was the one she needed at the moment. Love was too much. Too loaded. 

“Thank you.”

Ekko met her eyes again, hoping the weight of his feelings wasn’t reflected in them. “For what?”

Jinx smiled, something between cheeky and earnest. “For giving me your pencil.”

He laughed, turning on his side to face her properly. “Anytime. What are friends for?”

She mimicked his position. “Friends?” 

“Of course,” the position was a bit distracting, bringing them closer together than before. Ekko tried not to dwell on it, brows pinching together. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Jinx breathed out, firmly. Her eyes scanned his face. He didn’t know what she was looking for. Or if she found it. “Yeah. We’re friends.”

“…Good.” He said lamely.

She snickered, lifting her chin and unintentionally bringing their faces even closer. Ekko felt dizzy, even as Jinx seemed entirely unbothered. “Good.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.” 

Oh, how he wished he could. 

Her eyes sparkled with mischief, almost like she knew exactly what she was doing. Or maybe she just enjoyed getting a rise out of him. Probably the latter.

“Ekko…”

“Hm?” He hummed lazily, focused on keeping his eyes from dropping to stare at her lips. It was a losing battle. 

“I think it’s raining.”

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the skies opened up and released a relentless downpour of rain directly on top of them. They screamed in unison, stumbling to their feet and racing for cover. Ekko reached blindly for his skateboard, tucking it under his arm as they escaped the sudden flood. 

There was nowhere to hide, no gazebo or awning to take shelter under. They were already drenched to the bone, Jinx’s long blue hair sticking to her face. 

She grabbed onto his hand, tugging him along behind her. “Run for it!”

They broke into a sprint, trying not to slip on the sidewalks pooling with water as they made a break for Jinx’s house.

Ekko burst into laughter suddenly, the situation both ridiculous and surreal. Jinx joined in, clutching his hand like a lifeline as they collapsed against the safety of the porch and gasping for breath between fits of giggles. 

“Come on,” she tugged uselessly on his hand, sobering up with difficulty and leaning her head against the side of the house. “Let’s get inside.”

“I should probably get home,” he replied mournfully. 

Jinx snorted. “Hey, if you wanna drown out there, be my guest. I’ll be inside with a couple dozen blankets.”

“That many, huh?”

“Yep,” Jinx pulled herself up, offering out a hand. “I might even share one if you come inside.”

Ekko considered it, staring at the outstretched hand. He really didn’t want to impose, but she was offering and her father surely wouldn’t mind. He also knew the scolding he was in for if his mother saw him walking home in such weather. She’d spend the whole night fretting over him getting a cold. 

“Going once…” Jinx teased, wriggling her fingers pointedly. “Twice…”

He took the hand, intertwining their fingers as he pulled himself up. 

“And sold to the soaking wet nerd!” Jinx boomed with a triumphant flourish of her free hand, pulling him along as she stepped inside and her father strode over, muttering about warming them up. 

Ekko wasn’t sure he’d need it. He felt nothing but warmth as Jinx dragged him through the house, chiding him for tracking water inside even as she did the same. Even as Vander threw towels over their shoulders and they sat curled in front of the roaring fireplace, Ekko hardly registered the cold seeping into his skin, gaze fixed on the fire dancing in the reflection of her eyes and the smile curving her lips. 

He could sit there forever, just admiring her. Even if it meant being drenched in rainwater. As long as he had her, the chill in his bones was no match for the warmth in his heart. 

📚

Vi rapped her knuckles against the door, shifting her feet impatiently while her brothers complained about the long car ride behind her. 

Her father swung open the door, a smile breaking out onto his face at the sight of his three children. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.” He ushered them inside and into the kitchen where the smell of his cooking wafted into her nose, her mouth watering instantly at the thought of a home cooked meal. “I thought you kids were coming down closer to Thanksgiving.”

“We decided to come down a little early, spend more time with you guys,” Vi said distractedly, tiptoeing towards the pot on the stove to inspect its contents. Vander waved her away. 

“Yeah, family bonding time!” Mylo agreed, tossing his jacket onto the dinner table and looking around. “Where’s the runt?”

“Your sister,” Vander corrected, motioning to the backyard. “Is out back with her friend.”

“Oh, Lux is here?” Claggor asked, taking a seat at his usual spot at the table. Vi smiled, taking a step towards the back door. It’d been awhile since she’d seen Powder and she just couldn’t wait to surprise her. And maybe give a quick hello to Lux. 

“Ekko,” Vander informed them. Vi paused. Who?

“Who?” She repeated, this time aloud. 

“Ekko?” Mylo demanded, face scrunching up. “That sounds like a boy's name. Why is Pow with a boy?”

“Definitely a boy's name,” Claggor commented idly, always the instigator. 

“Dad!” Mylo protested. “You can’t let her hang around boys! Alone!”

Vander shook his head at their antics. “He’s a nice kid, you can go meet him if you like. Last I checked, they were tossing a football around.” 

“Since when did Pow play football?” Vi muttered to herself as the siblings raced to the backdoor, looking through the screen door to see Powder and a boy with white dreads standing a few feet apart in the middle of the yard, a football tucked under his arm. 

“I have to say,” the boy - Ekko - called out to her, getting in position to toss the ball. “I kinda thought you’d be better at this.” 

“I am great at-!” Powder’s protest was cut off by a yelp as she ducked away from the ball soaring in her direction, though from Vi’s perspective it had seemed like a perfect catch. Powder regained her footing, pointing accusingly at Ekko. “That didn’t count!”

“Another warmup?”

His voice was flat, unimpressed. Vi got the feeling they’d had many ‘warmups’ before this one. 

“Shut the fuck up and catch the ball,” Powder grumbled, scooping up the football and tossing it back. It sailed through the air, hitting Ekko square in the chest. 

He let out a grunt. “Perfect aim, as usual.”

Mylo was stewing beside her and Vi snickered, opening up the door and stepping outside with her brothers following. “Will your friend be joining us for dinner?”

Powder’s head snapped over to them, eyes widening and letting out a dramatic gasp as she ran over to jump on her sister. “Vi!”

“We’re here, too,” Mylo grumbled. 

“Really feeling the love,” Claggor said, clutching his chest in faux hurt. 

Powder reluctantly pulled back from her sister's hug, rolling her eyes at their brothers. “You guys are so dramatic, c'mere." 

The three embraced. In the meantime, Vi turned her attention to the boy jogging over and watching the exchange with a smile. 

“Ekko, right?” Vi greeted him, offering her hand to shake. He took it, nodding. 

“Yeah. And You must be Vi,” Ekko said politely, motioning with his other hand to Powder who’d already begun roughhousing with their brothers. “She talks about you a lot.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Vi replied, a hint of teasing in her tone as she glanced at Powder. “She didn’t mention a new friend to me.”

“You abandoned me for college,” she pouted dramatically. “I owe you nothing.” 

“I call you every night!”

“Abandonment!” Powder accused, falling against the back porch with a long sigh. “I’m just a poor, sad orphan-”

“You’re adopted, idiot.” 

Powder glared at Mylo’s interruption. “So are you, idiot!”

Vi rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to the boy who was watching Powder and Mylo’s bickering like a tennis match. “So, you play football?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ekko said, tearing his eyes away from her sister with some difficulty. She raised a brow at that, but didn’t comment. “The season just ended, but I thought I’d try to show Jinx some stuff before it gets too cold out.” 

The nickname surprised her more than it should by now. Vi knew Powder had started going by that name long ago, especially at school, but it still felt jarring to hear a different name being used to refer to her little sister when she’d always been Powder to her. 

Vi shook it off, her sister liked the name. That’s all that mattered. She gave Ekko a conspiratorial grin. “I’m surprised you convinced her to try sports at all.”

Ekko laughed, “it wasn’t easy, but I figured we should switch gears after she nearly killed me with a skateboard.”

Powder was on him before she had a chance to even process his words, rolling her eyes and punching his shoulder with no real force. “Shut up! I did not!”

“What’s this about a skateboard?” Claggor cut in curiously. Powder groaned. 

“She ran me over,” Ekko reported solemnly. 

“If you’d been paying attention, you could’ve moved!”

“We also got rained on,” he informed them. 

“Also your fault.”

“How?”

“Dunno, but most things are.” 

Ekko just laughed. Mylo took his chance to swoop in, interrogating Ekko with his usual lack of tact. To his credit, Ekko answered each question without hesitation, eyes flickering over to Powder every few seconds and a soft smile curving his lips. 

Now, Vi wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to guys. In fact, she had no experience whatsoever on the topic. But she’d bet her childhood bunny that Ekko was crushing hard on her sister. And Vi wasn’t one to lose a bet. 

It was that obvious. So obvious that Vi wondered how her sister hadn’t seemed to realize it. Her inquisitive gaze shifted to her sister, watching as Powder cackled at Mylo’s stupid questions and bumped her shoulder against Ekko’s playfully. It was all Vi needed to confirm her suspicions. 

She liked him. 

Her sister had a crush. Vi thought she might start crying on the spot. Sometimes, Powder was still five years old in her mind. Vi had not been properly prepared for this!

But she could mourn her sister growing up some other time, now was the time to get to know this boy and make damn sure he was good enough for her sister. Vi had a feeling he’d have no problem passing that test. 

Vi clapped her hands together. “Ekko, you’re staying for dinner.” 

“I am?” Ekko asked in a surprised, confused tone. 

“You are.” She said firmly, leaving no room for argument. 

“Alright,” he shrugged, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll just let my mom know.”

Mylo got back on his bullshit, leaning forward with hands poised together in an inquisitive gesture. “And you’re close with your mother?”

“Ignore him,” Powder urged. “Acknowledging him only makes him stupider.” 

“Hey!” Mylo protested, turning to their father as he came outside moments later. “Dad, she called me stupid.” 

“Don’t call your brother stupid, Powder.”

“He started it!”

“Mylo, don’t antagonize your sister.” 

“Now,” Vander continued, gesturing inside. “If you can all behave yourselves, dinner’s ready inside.” 

They crowded inside, Vi slipping back to fall in step with Ekko. “Got any siblings, Ekko?”

“Only child,” Ekko said, watching Claggor ruffle Powder’s hair as she leaned around him to stick out her tongue at Mylo. “Starting to think I’m missing out.” 

“Don’t worry too much,” Vi smirked, patting him on the shoulder. “You might end up part of the family someday.” 

“I- what?” Ekko stammered, cheeks turning pink. If Vi wasn’t sure before, she definitely was now. 

She winked at him. “Don’t worry, Little Man. Secrets safe with me.”

Ekko gaped for a moment, shaking his head and letting out a confused laugh. “Little Man?”

Vi huffed out a laugh, taking a seat at the table next to her sister and shooing away Mylo so Ekko could sit next to Powder. 

She watched throughout the dinner as they all laughed together, noting every brush of the shoulder or shy smile. It was sweet. Innocent. It reminded Vi of her own first crush. It made her miss- 

“So, how’s Kiramman?” Powder asked abruptly, propping her head on her hand and narrowing her eyes. “Still stuffy?”

“She’s fine,” Vi said pointedly, poking her sister's side. “She’s spending time with her parents. She’ll probably swing by before we head back, though.”

“Kiramman?” Ekko spoke up.

“Caitlyn,” Vi explained, rolling her eyes at her sister's fake gag in response. “My girlfriend.” 

Mylo swallowed a bite of his food, pointing an accusing fork at Ekko. “Ya ever had a girlfriend, Ekko?”

Ekko raised an eyebrow and Powder snorted into her hand, the question seeming to amuse her for some reason. 

“Nope, I haven’t.” Ekko said quickly, elbowing Powder as if to silence her. 

Powder coughed, undeterred. “Not for lack of trying on their part.” 

Claggor leaned forward. “What’s she mean by that?”

“Oh, ya know,” Powder continued breezily, a mocking grin on her lips as Ekko groaned in defeat. “Just that Ekko’s been asked out by over a dozen girls and rejected all of them.”

“Damn,” Vi whistled. “Little Man’s got game.” 

Ekko shook his head, cheeks red but smiling shyly. “Guess I’m just too desirable.” He sighed, sinking into his chair. 

“She’s exaggerating, right?” Mylo questioned and Powder shook her head insistently. Mylo laughed. “Dude, how picky can you be?” 

“That’s what I said!”

Ekko leveled a finger at Vi, who raised an eyebrow. “That thing I said about wanting siblings? I take it back.”

Vi burst out laughing. “Too late now. We’ve mocked you endlessly, that makes you family.” 

The chatter around the table continued, but Vi couldn’t help but notice the genuine smile that spread across his face at her words. 

📚

“So…”

Jinx looked up from her desk, finding Vi leaning against the doorframe. She set down her tools, giving Vi a confused glance. “So?”

“Ekko.”

Jinx returned to her project with a huff. “What about him?”

“He’s a good kid,” Vi commented casually, striding inside the room and plopping herself on the bed. “And you guys have gotten pretty close.”

“Do you have a point?” Jinx asked, keeping her eyes low.

“Powder.”

“Violet.”

Vi just crossed her arms pointedly. Jinx sighed, turning in her chair and mimicking the position. “It’s not like that, okay?”

“No?”

“No,” Jinx said firmly, gaze dropping again. “We’re…friends.” 

Vi hummed. “You hesitated.”

“Wha-? No, I didn’t!”

“Definitely did.”

“I- so what if I did?” Jinx asked stubbornly. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Vi gave her a soft, reassuring look. Which was a totally unfair use of her big sister abilities, in Jinx’s opinion. Jinx never could hide things from Vi, especially when Vi brought out the Big Sister Face. 

“Pow,” Vi said gently. “Do you like him?”

Jinx stood from her chair, collapsing into the bed next to her sister and letting out a scream into her pillow. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Jinx flopped onto her back. “I don’t know. He’s really nice and funny and he doesn’t think I’m a total weirdo and I think we kinda had a moment in the park but now I don’t know if-”

“Wait, wait,” Vi interrupted carefully, laying down next to her, feet dangling off the edge of the bed. “What about the park?”

“When he was teaching me how to skateboard,” Jinx elaborated quietly, cheeks feeling hot at the memory. “I ran into him and we fell in the grass and just kinda laid there and talked. He held my hand.” 

“Have you talked to him about this?”

“Why the hell would I do that?” 

“Because he probably feels the same way?” Vi said, like it was obvious. 

“Or maybe he doesn’t and just wants to be my friend,” Jinx pointed out skeptically. “And I’ll make it weird and he’ll stop hanging out with me.” 

“He wouldn’t do that,” Vi assured her, though Jinx didn’t understand where the conviction was coming from. She hardly knew him. “He likes you.” 

“Yeah, as a friend.” 

“You can be someone’s friend and still have feelings for them,” Vi pointed out, to Jinx’s disgust. 

“Do not make this about your lesbian drama with Caitlyn back in high school.”

“Lesbian drama?” Vi repeated, squawking in offense. 

“Yes! You two were ridiculous!” Jinx insisted, rolling her eyes at all the times she’d listened to Vi fret over messing up her friendship with Caitlyn. “She was giving you all the signs and you were being a dumbass about it!”

“This isn’t about Caitlyn,” Vi argued, switching the topic back, probably so she didn’t have to admit how right Jinx was. “Why don’t you ask him to that dance you mentioned?

“Uh, did you miss the part where he clearly doesn’t want to go with anyone?” 

“Or maybe he’s just holding out for you.”

“That’s stupid. He was rejecting girls before we even started hanging out,” Jinx burrowed under the blankets, letting out a huff. “I’m not even going to the dance.”

Vi followed her under the covers persistently. “Why not?”

“Cause it’ll be lame,” Jinx snorted. “It’s not like those cheesy movies, Vi. It’s just a bunch of cheap decorations and dancing to pop songs no one outside of a school gymnasium has ever heard in their life.”

Vi puffed out a laugh. “Maybe, but with the right person, you won’t even notice the lame ass music.” 

Jinx faltered at that. If she were honest with herself, she’d been considering it for a while. Wear a pretty dress, hang out with Ekko all night, laugh at Ezreal’s awful pickup lines even as Lux swooned over them.

“I…I’ll think about it,” Jinx said eventually, curling up comfortably next to her sister. “About going to the dance, not about Ekko.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” Vi sighed, she squeezed her sister's hand. “But for what it’s worth, I hope you change your mind. You and Ekko have something really good going.”

“I know,” Jinx murmured. “That’s why I can’t ruin it.” 

📚

“Sup, Little Man?”

Ekko startled, shutting his locker to find Jinx right there, leaning against the lockers and laughing at the surprise on his face. 

“Jumpy?” She teased. 

“No,” Ekko lied. 

In truth, his nerves were frayed. The dance was today and Ekko still lacked the guts to even bring it up to Jinx, even if they only went as friends. Not to mention the halls were filled with people fretting over last minute accessories and finding dates. If Ekko got even one more well meaning invite, he might actually explode. 

Jinx must have caught the way he scanned the halls because she let out a soft, disbelieving laugh. “Still no date?”

“We’ve been over this already.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jinx waved a hand dismissively, then shrugged. “I dunno, it’s just- you’re really not gonna go with any of those girls?”

“At this point?” Ekko snorted, tugging his bag over his shoulder. “I’m debating even going.”

Jinx hesitated, looking away. “You don’t want to go anymore?”

Ekko frowned at the look on her face. It almost seemed like disappointment. But that didn’t make any sense. Jinx hadn’t wanted to go either.

He shrugged, eyeing her carefully. “Most of my friends have dates, I don’t wanna third wheel anyone.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Ekko froze, book halfway in his bag. Did she just…?

“What?”

“What?” Jinx repeated, picking at her nails. “I’ll go with you. I don’t have anything else to do.” 

“I thought you didn’t want to go,” Ekko said slowly, barely able to process the conversation. 

“I don’t do anything I don’t want to do,” Jinx replied bluntly, not directly answering the question. “But you want to, right?”

“I- yeah, sure.” Ekko felt dizzy. Jinx wanted to go with him. To the dance. Together. “You’d really do that?”

The smile she gave in response seemed forced, not all that genuine. “What are friends for?”

The words felt equally as hollow as her smile, but Ekko couldn’t begin to place why. He opened his mouth, maybe to question it. Maybe to say something witty. Or, god forbid, flirtatious. 

“I gotta go,” Jinx said abruptly, scooping her bag off the ground. “If you need me, I’ll be spray painting dicks on Professor Salo’s desk.”

She gave him a mock salute and rushed off. Ekko blinked, his brain finally catching up to his mouth. 

“Right, okay-wait, what?!”

Jinx turned the corner, disappearing. Though, Ekko noticed it was in the opposite direction of Salo’s classroom. It was a moment after that Ekko realized they hadn’t shared any details for that night. Did she want to wear the same colors? Should he pick her up? Did she even have a dress? 

Ekko fished his phone from his pocket, clicking on her contact. 

He started typing, then deleted it. He tried again. Deleted it again. Why was he so nervous? It wasn’t a date. Not really. Friends, she’d said. Just friends. 

Did friends match? Did friends pick each other up like it was a date? Did they even worry about these things in the first place? Was Jinx worried? Ekko didn’t think so, then again the lines always felt blurred when it came to Jinx. He never could tell what she was thinking. Or feeling. 

His phone buzzed. 

Jinx 

wtf are you typing that’s taking you this long 

Ekko nearly dropped the phone, fumbling out a response and thanking the heavens for autocorrect. 

Ekko

Should I pick you up tonight? 

Read 10:14

Jinx is typing…

The dots disappeared. Reappeared. Disappeared again. 

Ekko didn’t get a reply until nearly 20 minutes later, in the middle of taking his chem notes. His phone buzzed on the table and he carefully slid it off the desk and into his lap to take a look. 

Jinx

i’ll meet you there 

Ekko sighed, sliding his phone into his bag so as to not be tempted to text back. Guess that answered that question.

Jinx wasn’t worried at all about this being a date.  And why should she be?

They were just friends. 

🪩

Ekko brushed imaginary dirt off his jacket as he stepped out of the car, gulping slightly as he watched students dressed in their suits and dresses walk up the steps to the school. Music faded in and out with each open and close of the front doors.

Ekko gave the car a once over, making sure the parking job wouldn’t lead to any scratches or bumps from other incoming cars. His mother had been kind enough to let him drive himself, after at least ten minutes of pictures and fussing over wrinkles in his suit, and Ekko didn’t want to repay her by wrecking her car the one time she let him use it. 

Satisfied with the parking, he clicked open his phone. No new messages from Jinx. Their last conversation was over an hour ago, with him letting her know he was getting ready and her replying with a gif of a cat spinning rapidly then exploding. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. 

Ekko walked up the steps, deciding to shoot her a text once he was inside. It turned out to be unnecessary, as Ekko lifted his gaze to the doors and found her already waiting. He sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling ridiculous in his hand me down suit and slightly nauseous. 

She looked incredible. A pretty white dress hung just above her knees, red detailing along the bodice and edge of the skirt. Her hair, which Ekko had grown accustomed to seeing in messy braids, buns, and half up styles haphazardly thrown together, was curled into long, perfect waves that trailed down her back. She'd opted against heels, he noticed, instead wearing her usual boots with the hot pink laces. Ekko couldn’t stop staring.

Which wasn’t too much of a problem, as Jinx didn’t seem to notice his arrival yet. She was pacing along the doors, arms spread out on either side of her as she seemingly tried to walk along the thin cracks in the sidewalk. Ekko shook himself out of his trance as best he could, stepping forward to greet her. 

Jinx glanced up, eyes flickering over his form to examine his suit. “Fancy.” 

“Yeah, you too,” Ekko said lamely, toying with the buttons on his sleeve. “I mean- uh. You look nice.” 

Jinx opened her mouth, then closed it. She gestured to the doors, avoiding responding to his compliment entirely. “Are we doing this or what?”

Ekko slid past her before she could tug open the door, his mother raised a gentleman after all, and held it open for her. She snorted. “Really?”

“It’s called being polite,” he chided, relieved to be falling back into their usual banter. “Ever tried it?”

“Nope, sounds boring.”

He rolled his eyes, tilting his head pointedly. She sighed and walked inside, grabbing his hand to tug him along as she went. “Ya think they got food?”

“Food, sure,” Ekko commented, trying not to fixate on the warmth of her hand in his. “Good food? Debatable.”

They neared the gymnasium, the beat of the music pumping loudly through the speakers as they entered.

“Underground utopia, dynasties and dystopia…”

Jinx hummed in surprise. “They actually chose decent music. I didn’t think they knew how to do that.”

“Eh, even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

“Which times?” 

Ekko raised a brow. “Hm?”

Jinx swayed a bit to the music, appearing contemplative. “If a broken clock is right twice a day, what two times is right?”

“I think it depends on the clock,” Ekko mused. 

Jinx shrugged, having already moved on. “You think Lux is here yet?”

“I think so,” Ekko craned his head to look around the room. “Ez told me he picked her up.”

“How romantic,” Jinx replied sardonically, reminding Ekko painfully of the fact she’d rejected the very same offer. Just another reminder that this wasn’t a date, no matter how many times he seemed to let himself forget it. 

The song faded out, another one taking its place after a brief lull of silence. Echoing, electronic vocals filled the space and Jinx gasped, grasping his arm. 

“I love this song!”

Ekko focused on the lyrics for a moment, head tilting in confusion. “Is that French? You speak French?”

“I said I liked it, not that I understood it,” Jinx huffed, eyes playful. She bit her lip, looking away for a moment before  giving a hesitant tug on his hand. “Dance with me.”

Ekko felt breathless at her request, only managing a shaky nod that he hoped didn’t reveal how nervous he was as Jinx led them to the dance floor. 

Jinx swayed to the beat, letting it guide her movements. Ekko followed uncertainly, movements small and somewhat clunky compared to her graceful, fluid ones. 

“You look like you have a stick up your ass,” Jinx said bluntly, abruptly taking hold of his hands and guiding him along with her to the rhythm as the song picked up. “Just relax, okay?” 

Ekko nodded, releasing the tension in his shoulders and hesitantly following her lead. The song continued on, but it felt muffled to Ekko. All he could think about was how close she was, watching the way she twirled and swayed to the beat without a care in the world. He couldn’t look away. He never wanted to. 

Ekko gathered his confidence, lifting their joined hands and spinning her around. She laughed, skirt swooshing around her legs as she let him take the lead. 

“Ma meilleure ennemie, c’est toi

fuis-moi, le pire, c’est toi et moi.”

Time felt slow as they moved together, like the moment would never end. Jinx glided away, hands disappearing from his as her arms stretched over her head and her hips followed the rhythm. Ekko wasn’t sure what he wanted more, to have her back against him or to keep admiring from afar. She was lost in the music. And he was lost in her. 

It wasn’t long before she returned to him, the song nearing its end as he twirled her once more, this time pulling her back against him with a confidence he didn’t quite feel. She laughed again, hand firm in his and her hair tickling his neck from where she was pressed against his chest. 

She turned slowly, remaining in his arms even as the song hit its peak. Ekko swallowed hard, barely able to focus with her this close, pressed against him with their fingers still laced together. 

Jinx looked down, seeming uncharacteristically shy. He followed her gaze, unable to even force himself to look away from her. He wanted to keep dancing. To keep admiring. To drown in pretty blue eyes until he couldn’t breathe. 

Everything else seemed to fade away. The music, the dancing bodies around them, it all became meaningless. Like he was watching it all from a dream, floating aimlessly with her there to anchor him. Her hand in his. Her eyes trailing his face curiously. Her lips, soft and plump and ever so tempting, curving into a soft smile. 

It wouldn’t take much to give in. With how close they were, a simple tilt of his head would do it. He could practically feel her breath fanning against his face already. It would be so easy. One brush, one tiny movement, and he would know the feel of her lips against his. 

His gaze trailed involuntarily to her mouth, thumb absentmindedly tracing her wrist. She looked up at him, eyes glittering with a silent challenge. As if she was daring him to do it. As if she wanted it too. 

Her head tilted up ever so slightly, it felt like a demand, tinged with impatience. He could hear her so clearly in his mind, voice echoing with that blunt, irritated tone she used when he was too slow for her liking. 

Well? It seemed to say. You gonna do it or what?

He wanted to. God, he really wanted to. It felt like she did too. 

Ekko leaned forward, her lips so close already he could feel the ghost of her touch. 

The final chords played out, those echoing lyrics fading into silence and forcing the pair into reality. 

“Je t’aime, je te hais, je t’aime, je te hais…”

Almost immediately, a new beat took its place. An energetic pop song so unlike what came before that the two of them startled back from each other, catching their breaths and avoided each other’s gaze 

Despite the upbeat music, an impenetrable silence fell over them. Ekko fidgeted with his jacket, feeling hot and a little embarrassed. He hadn’t misread things, had he? It had felt so right just a few seconds ago. But looking at her now, shying away from him and appearing a little uncomfortable, Ekko wasn’t so sure. 

Ekko opened his mouth, though he had no idea what to say. A joke? An apology? Was there even something to apologize for? 

“Ekko!” Scar’s voice boomed in his ear and he jumped, turning to look at his friend and forcing a smile on his face. “There you are! I wasn't sure if you were coming.” 

“Here I am,” Ekko replied awkwardly, trying to keep his gaze from drifting back to Jinx. 

Scar patted him on the shoulder. “Saw some of those moves. Very smooth. Trying to impress someone?”

“Scar!” He hissed, eyes snapping to see if Jinx had heard. Only for him to find empty space where she’d been moments ago. 

Scar followed his gaze, frown replacing his teasing smile as he sensed Ekko’s nerves. “Everything okay with you two?”

“It’s…it’s probably nothing,” Ekko replied, only half lying. He really didn’t know what to think anymore. Jinx’s attention span wasn't known for its longevity. It was entirely possible she just wandered off to find food or catch up with Lux. “You see where she went?”

Scar nodded, looking concerned as he raised a hand to the gymnasium doors. “Took off that way just a second ago.” 

“Thanks,” Ekko said as genuinely as he could manage with his heart pounding painfully against his ribs. “She probably went to get some air. I’m just…gonna go check on her.” 

Scar gave him a look, but didn’t argue. Just nodding and returning to his date as Ekko fled the dance before realizing he had no idea where she’d run off to. 

Luckily, he didn’t have to wonder for long. There was a clatter down the hallway and Ekko followed the sound hesitantly, turning the corner and catching a flash of blue  entering Salo’s classroom. He rushed after her, noting absentmindedly that the classroom doors were usually locked after hours and that Jinx had definitely just broken in. 

He found her perched on the floor in front of Salo’s desk, a can of spray paint having materialized in her hand and raised halfway to the desk before pausing at his entrance, her finger poised on the trigger. 

Jinx stared at him, her face a mask of neutrality that betrayed nothing of what she might be feeling underneath it. He swallowed hard, pointing to the canister in an attempt to break some of this strange tension. 

“Where did you get that?”

“Supply cabinet.”

“…this isn’t the art room.”

“I know. I put it there.” 

Ekko leaned against the doorframe. “You’d think after the amount of times you’ve vandalized this room, he’d keep an eye out for your stash.” 

“Well, he’s not very bright,” Jinx remarked flatly, shaking the canister in preparation to spray it. 

“You ran off pretty fast.”

Jinx paused, mask slipping for a single second as she frowned. She shrugged and Ekko could practically see her walls going up, putting on a show of the delinquent most saw her as. “You know what they say. Vandalism waits for no one.” 

He sighed. “Jinx.”

“Did you wanna help or just stare?” She continued, ignoring him and spraying a line against the wood in bright pink. 

“Is something wrong?” He already knew there was. He knew it. Why wouldn’t she just say it? He messed up. She didn’t feel the same. Just rip off the bandaid and maybe allow him to salvage some piece of this friendship.

“Why would something be wrong?” Jinx asked casually, continuing to paint the desk.

“You abandoned the dance to spray paint a desk,” he offered in reply, taking a seat at one of the desks in the front row. 

Jinx kept her head low, letting out a soft puff of breath. “Just got a little overwhelmed. It’s stuffy in there.”

“Yeah,” Ekko said slowly, voice quieter than he intended. He stared down at his hands. “Yeah, it was a little intense.”

Jinx set the canister on the ground, pulling herself up and hopping onto Salo’s desk, legs swinging gently under her. She stared down at a stapler for a moment before gingerly swiping it off the desk, hitting the floor with a clatter and skittering across the floor. 

She glanced at him then, like she expected a reaction. “You’re quiet,” she said a moment later, when he gave her none. 

“So are you.”

“You always have something to say,” Jinx countered.

“And you’re never quiet,” he shot back, the hint of a tease in his hollow voice. 

Jinx laughed, though it lacked its usual energy. “You calling me annoying?”

“Not at all.”

Jinx offered a small smile then looked down at her lap, fidgeting with the edge of her skirt as she contemplated something. Moments later, her hand hesitantly slid over to tap against the empty space beside her on the desk. An invitation. 

Ekko stood slowly, crossing the small gap and gingerly settling himself next to her, his heart racing the instant their shoulders brushed and feeling her inhale next to him.

“Can I ask you a question without you getting all weird?” She blurted out suddenly and Ekko flashed back to that day in the park. A long talk while they laid side by side in the grass. Another moment where he’d almost felt like they could be something. 

“Probably not,” Ekko murmured, glancing over at her cautiously. 

“I’m gonna ask it anyway,” she replied softly, like she was offering an out.

“Okay.” He didn’t want to take it. 

“Don’t lie to me,” Jinx warned. 

“I would never,” he promised.

Jinx bit her lip, staring across the classroom and fidgeting anxiously. Ekko probably didn’t look much better. 

“Were you trying to kiss me back there?”

The words came out in a rush, followed by a sharp breath. Like she couldn’t believe she’d actually said them. 

Ekko felt nauseous. He closed his eyes, sighed.

“Yeah.” 

Silence followed. If Ekko focused enough, he could just barely hear the thrumming bass from some song in the gym. He was starting to think he should’ve just stayed there. 

Then, her voice. Soft and hesitant, breaking through it all. 

“Why didn’t you?”

He risked a glance at her, finding her doing the same. Her cheeks were flushed a deep pink and she dropped her gaze the moment their eyes met. 

Ekko found his voice, though the words that spilled from his lips were far from the answer she was probably anticipating. 

“Did you want me to?”

It was bold, far bolder than anything he’d come up with if he was thinking clearly. But at this point, he doubted it mattered. There was nothing to hide anymore.

“That’s…” Jinx started, shaking her head softly and letting out an exasperated laugh. “That’s not an answer.” 

“Neither was that,” Ekko noted. 

“I asked you first,” Jinx shot back childishly. 

“I answer, you answer.”

“…deal.”

Ekko mulled it over, knowing she was expecting an answer any moment now and finding himself at a complete loss of words. She wanted the truth. Ekko wasn’t sure he knew what it was. 

“I…” Ekko cleared his throat, the words tumbling out of him, near nonsensical as he tried to explain. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to. I mean- at first, I thought maybe you did, but I- I don’t know. I didn’t want to…ruin anything.” 

Ekko couldn’t stop himself, the truth - the full truth - falling from his lips after so long of being shoved down. “I’ve wanted to for a long time. Before I even- before we even really became friends. I didn’t even know you, but I wanted to.” 

Jinx didn’t reply immediately, inhaling sharply next to him at the confession. She opened her mouth and he tensed at whatever was coming. She closed it, looking down at her feet and nodding silently to herself. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking. He never could, even if he wished he had that ability now more than ever.

“You…” the words came out slow, cautious and tinged with confusion, but still devastatingly gentle. “You had a crush on me…this whole time?”

His cheeks felt hot, embarrassment flooding through him even as he nodded. “Pretty much since I met you last year.” 

“Oh.”

It was soft, surprised. Even a little breathless. Ekko tried not to dwell on it. 

Another long silence. Then, Jinx took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders like she’d come to a decision. Ekko hoped she’d let him down easily. He supposed it’d be karma for every girl he’d rejected recently. 

“Okay,” she said firmly, partly to herself it seemed. “I had to process that. I’m good now.”

She certainly seemed so, her usual spunk and confidence returning. It terrified him as much as it relieved him.

Ekko mustered up what little nerve he had left and turned to face her. He hadn’t the faintest clue what he planned on saying, but a confession like that surely warranted a conversation of some sort. 

Jinx didn’t give him the chance.

Their eyes met and he had about two seconds to think of how pretty they were before her hands were planted on either side of his face and she pulled him into a firm kiss. 

Ekko’s eyes widened, catching himself on the desk with one hand before he could fall over and make a total fool of himself. Setting aside his brief panic to realize he was in fact being kissed (kissed!) by Jinx Lanes, Ekko leaned into the kiss with a soft press of his lips against hers. 

He kept himself braced with one hand, the other hesitantly brushing her cheek and tilting her head closer. He wouldn’t pretend he had a clue what he was doing, but it felt right. She seemed to think so too, gasping lightly at the angle and shifting closer.

They broke apart slowly, exchanging insistent, soft kisses even as they pulled apart. Jinx huffed out a small laugh, breathless. 

“To answer your question,” she murmured against his lips. “Yes. I wanted you to kiss me.” 

Ekko grinned, brushing hair from her eyes. “Good. Because I’d definitely like to keep doing that.” 

He felt giddy. He’d kissed Jinx. She kissed him. Jinx Lanes liked him back. His heart was doing backflips in his chest. Hell, he’d probably be doing backflips if he weren’t trying to appear somewhat smooth and collected. 

Jinx ducked her head shyly. “So that was…good?” She wondered aloud, sounding a bit sheepish and biting her lip. “I was kinda just guessing. I mean, I’ve never really- mmf!”

He cut off her oncoming tangent with another kiss, one she reciprocated greedily. It started just like the ones before, sweet and fairly innocent, but slowly gained a certain ferocity when neither pulled away. It was a tad awkward at first, both of them trying to take the lead and breaking apart briefly to laugh when their noses bumped as they tried to find the best angle. 

After a few more giggles and experimental kisses, they found it. Lips locked together, moving to a rhythm all their own and drawing soft gasps and sighs from their throats. Their hands fumbled for something to hold, rustling fabric and brushing hot skin before he finally settled in her hair, probably making an absolute mess of the long curls.  

In some hazy part of his brain they somehow weren't occupied by the electrifying feeling of her lips and her hands fisting into his jacket, Ekko vaguely recalled that they’d been gone from the dance for a while now. If he had the capacity for anxiety at the moment, he might be worried about friends coming to look for them. But for the time being, Ekko couldn’t give a damn. 

Ditching a school dance to make out with a girl on a teachers desk wasn’t exactly how he’d envisioned the night going, but he had no complaints. He barely had any thoughts at all, enveloped solely in the pursuit of memorizing the taste of her lips, inhaling the sweet, floral scent of her hair, and basking in the warmth radiating off her skin. Every nerve, every sensation in his body felt like it’d been turned up to a hundred. 

Jinx leaned even further into him, panting softly against his mouth and nearly tumbling into his lap. If he were braver, he might’ve tugged her the rest of the way. But make out session aside, he thought that that might be a little much. He kept it in mind, though, for future reference. 

He had a very good feeling this was going to happen many more times. 

Suddenly, Ekko’s eyes were assaulted by a blinding light as the classroom lights flickered to life. 

“What is the meaning of this!?”

Shit. 

They sprang apart, nearly falling off the desk entirely in their panic to separate and turned to see Professor Salo standing at the doorway, looking both disgusted and offended. 

“Lanes,” Salo sneered in annoyance, not looking remotely surprised at the display but giving him a disappointed look regardless. “Wick. Back to the dance now!”

Jinx hopped off the desk, not even having the decency to look the slightest bit sorry or ashamed and letting out a long sigh. “Just tell me when to show up for detention and we can skip the scolding.” 

“Jinx!” Ekko hissed nervously. Detention? Ekko was no saint, but he’d remained on his teachers’ good sides,  enough to avoid any real punishment.

“Monday afternoon, both of you,” Salo snapped pointedly, sending the pair a glare. “And a chat with Principal Medarda while we’re at it.” 

“Oh, Mel?” Jinx said casually, picking at her nails. “Low blow, man.” 

Salo growled, clearly infuriated by her dismissive attitude towards his discipline. He pointed to the door. “Out! And be lucky I don’t call your parents!”

Ekko’s eyes widened at that but Jinx just rolled her eyes, tugging him out the door behind her and letting out a soft snort to herself. “I think my dad would just be relieved I didn’t cause any property damage this time.” 

“Except you did,” Ekko reminded her helpfully. “You vandalized his desk. And probably broke his stapler.” 

“Boo,” Jinx waved a dismissive hand. “Old news. No one even blinks at vandalism anymore.”

Ekko chuckled at that, watching as she tugged out her phone. “Confessing to your dad?” He joked. 

“Nope,” Jinx said distractedly, shooting off a text and tucking her phone away. “Telling him not to pick me up.” 

“Why?”

Jinx rolled her eyes. “Because you’re taking me home, genius.” 

Ekko nodded agreeably. He certainly didn’t mind. “Do you want to go now?”

Jinx shook her head, pulling him towards the gym. “Later. More dancing first.”

He tugged on her hand unexpectedly, pulling her flush against him. She squeaked in surprise, flushing red but trying to play it off. “Need something?”

“Just wanted to ask you something,” Ekko replied mysteriously, taming her mussed hair and tucking flyaway strands of blue behind her ears. 

“Proposing already?” 

“Ha-ha,” Ekko said as sarcastically as he could, softening a moment later and feeling his cheeks burn as he continued. “Be my girlfriend?”

The question caught her off guard, jaw dropping and eyes dropping shyly. Jinx cleared her throat, crossing her arms in an attempt to seem put together. “About time you asked.”

Her voice gave her away, so soft and surprised. Ekko grinned, poking her cheek. “Is that a yes?” He already knew it was, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to give her a hard time. He wanted to hear her say it. 

Jinx scoffed playfully. “Yes. Congratulations, you’re stuck with me.” Impatiently, she pulled him inside the gym, the thrumming bass making her have to speak up. “No take backsies!”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek, surprising her and allowing him to take the lead and drag them into the dance floor just as the current song ended, a slower song taking its place as he pulled her close.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

📚

Jinx walked up the creaking porch steps of the house, Ekko’s suit jacket wrapped around her shoulders and the boy himself following after her. 

The porch light was on, likely meaning her father would be waiting inside ready to hear all about her night. She didn’t even know where to begin. 

Jinx slid off the jacket, turning to return it to Ekko and immediately feeling his lips press against hers. It was surprisingly chaste, an innocent kiss to say good night. 

Jinx tugged on his shirt when he tried to pull back, pressing a fervent kiss to his mouth and giving him a cheeky grin as she moved away. 

“Something to remember me by until Monday,” she teased, despite knowing she’d probably spend the entire weekend with him anyway. 

He laughed, tugging on his jacket. “Yeah, in detention.”

“Awww,” she cooed. “Did I tarnish your perfect reputation?”

“I have a feeling it won’t be the last time.” 

She winked in response. 

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, unable to hide his smile. 

“Look on the bright side,” Jinx said conspiratorially, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We have detention together.” 

He gave her a soft peck. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Jinx smirked. “Besides, Professor Heimerdinger is usually the detention chaperone and he thinks I’m a sweetheart so he doesn’t mind leaving me unattended.” 

Ekko raised an eyebrow at the implication, but instead focused on the other part of her sentence, to her dismay. “How the hell did you convince him of that?”

Jinx shrugged. “I like his class. I don’t mess with him. He usually just gives me brain teasers or extra work during detention because he’s convinced my classes aren’t challenging me academically.”

“He’s probably right about that,” Ekko commented and Jinx gave another shrug. She already knew it was true. School was understimulating most of the time, who could really blame her for livening the place up a bit with some spray paint and the occasional explosion? She was doing her classmates a favor. 

Jinx kissed him one last time, nodding towards the door. “My dad is waiting, I should…”

Ekko nodded in understanding, giving her a smile and pressing his lips to her cheek. “Good night, Jinx.”

“Night, Ekko.”

She watched him walk down the steps, climbing into his car after giving her one last wave goodbye before disappearing down the street. 

Jinx leaned against the door for a moment, trying to wipe the stupid smile off her face before heading inside. She took a breath, opening the door and being greeted by her father on the couch. 

Vander paused the show he was watching, patting the chair next to him. “There you are! How was the dance?”

Jinx laughed a little to herself, lips curling up into another smile she couldn’t fight down as memories of kisses and dances and laughter replayed over and over. 

“It was perfect.”