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s4msepiol · 5 years

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Headcanon #3 | Valedictorian

Title: Valedictorian

Type: Fluff

Prompt: What kind of student was he in high school / college and how the two of you met.

Pairing: Elliot | Josh | Steve | Finn | Reader

Elliot and you were in computer class together.

No need to say that he was there just for the diploma, his IT skills being already better than the teacher’s ones.

Elliot always sat at the computer at the very back of the class, not bothering with putting his hood down unless he was asked to.

You could count on one hand the number of times you had heard Elliot’s raspy voice.

Even for the roll call, he would just raise his hand in the air at the mention of his name.

The few times Elliot granted you the sound of his voice was when the teacher, thinking that Elliot wasn’t paying attention and annoyed by his skills, tried to catch him off guard by asking him a trick question about this or that type of malware.

Questions to which Elliot always responded correctly without even having to think about it.

The two of you got closer on a Monday.

You were struggling with a particularly hard exercise. You had to find the security breach of a software before the virus destroyed all data on the computer.

Elliot didn’t help you at first. He stayed there, silent, staring at nothing but your face and your hands on the keyboard.

You find the security breach pretty quickly.

The hardest part was to destroy the virus all the while protecting the data in a minimum of time.

Every student but you had given up.

And just when you were about to do so, you felt someone move behind your back.

Elliot passed his arms above you to have access to your keyboard.

“Okay… so your code is good, very good actually. All you gotta do now is to redirect the traffic to a zone that isn’t damaged yet and…”

“… stop the virus before it reaches that zone.”

“Exactly.” Elliot said with a soft smile, suddenly feeling a little less lonely in the classroom.

“Thank you, Elliot.”

“That’s nothing… I’m sure you would have figured it out without my help.” He answered as the bell rang.

From that day, Elliot and you sat next to each other at the back of the class, not saying a word to each other most of the time but exchanging knowing glances whenever the teacher would come back to Elliot with his trick questions.

And before you even noticed it, this course turned into a private lesson between Elliot and you while the other students followed the academic program.

“Y/N, you’re sure you don’t want to follow the ‘regular’ program? I mean… I won’t be offended if you decided to.” Elliot whispered while you were coding all the while keeping an eye on the teacher for him not to notice what the two of you were up to.

“Elliot… He’s teaching them how to create a website and you’re teaching me how to hack it. Trust me, I’m having way more fun than them at the moment.” You answered (pretending not to see the smile that was creeping onto Elliot’s face), your eyes glued to the screen not to make a mistake that could be lethal to your program.

The closer the end of the year was getting; the more comfortable Elliot was getting with you.

He finished the final test an hour before everyone else.

You totally aced your final thanks to Elliot’s help, even though you were quite sad at the idea of no longer seeing him once a week.

He waited outside the class for you to finish the test.

“So… How did it go?” He asked you the minute you passed the door.

“Pretty good actually, even though I’m convinced that having you as a ‘private tutor’ gave me a clear advantage over others.”

“Trust me, I have nothing to do with that… They’re idiots and …you’re not.” Elliot answered low avoiding your gaze.

And just when you were about to leave, Elliot said:

“Hum Y/N… I thought that… maybe we could keep on with our private lessons… Not that you need it, that’s not what I mean but… I just thought that… Shit…”

“I would love to.” You interrupted him before he got himself even more uncomfortable. “What do you think about that coffee shop on the 4th Avenue, the WIFI is fast and their coffee is to die for.”

“It sounds all right to me.” Elliot stated before the two of you headed to the coffee shop.

Josh and you were in a class called “Introduction to Motion Picture Directing 101” together.

He was, besides you, the only student that hadn’t enrolled this course thinking that it would consist in watching movies and sleeping at the back of the class.

You met Josh on a Tuesday.

“Excuse me, Y/N is that it? Mind if I sit here?” Josh asked you a few minutes before class started.

“No, no please do.” You answered with a soft smile.

Josh sat next to you and stared at you for a minute, as if he was searching for something to say, but just when he was about to speak the teacher entered the room.

Josh was really focused on the course, noting down everything the teacher said.

“Now, can anybody tell me who popularized the dolly zoom and explain this technique in a few words for the dunces at the back of the class?”

Not wanting to bring attention to yourself, you simply wrote those words on your notebook: Hitchcock = Moving away + Zooming In.

“Come on, my five-year-old daughter could answer that… How do you want to work in this industry if you’re not even able to…”

“Hitchcock.” Josh answered all of a sudden, making you smirk. “It basically consists in moving the camera away from the subject whilst zooming in.” He finished.

“Good. Very good. In what movie did he first use it?”

“Vertigo. But I prefer the way Tobe Hooper uses it in Poltergeist.”

You instantly liked how spontaneous he was when speaking, not boasting or pontificating, just talking about something he was passionate about.

One morning you were standing at your locker to organize your books for your morning classes when Josh came to you.

“You had the answer the other day, in class, but you didn’t say it.”

“This kind of icebreaker is great for movies Washington, but in real life most people stick to ‘hello’.”

“Alright. I get it. Don’t want people to know you’re smart.” He stated, leaning against the locker next to yours.

“You just have me all figured out, huh?”

“Not at all, but smart and pretty that’s something I don’t get to see very often.”

“You’re gonna be a great director Washington, but honestly, delegate the dialogue writing to someone else.” You retorted, softly tapping on his shoulder before grabbing your books and heading to your next class.

Getting out of your French class you ran into Josh again.

“So French, huh? I figured you’d be more into math or something.” Josh declared, walking with you to the class you shared.

“Please tell me you didn’t just time that so I’d walk right past you.”

“You know that guy that works three hours a day at the reception: fairly tall, puny, glasses?”

“The secretary’s starter pack, in short.” You answered, making him laugh as he opened the door of the classroom for you.

“Well… He might happen to be my best friend, and he might have been able to get me your schedule…” He started, suddenly interrupted by the astounded look on your face.

“Okay… Granted, this totally sounds weird but before you say anything, just know that I only did this with noble attentions.” Josh explained, whispering for the teacher not to notice the two of you.

“Yeah, who knows? I could get sucked into the Matrix during lunch break.” You retorted whispering, nervously tapping your pencil against your notebook.

You couldn’t tell how or why but Josh was slowly growing on you.

“Okay, what I would like you to do for next week is to put yourselves into groups of two and write a ten-page synopsis for the sequel to the movie of your choice.” The teacher explained.

After class, Josh caught up with you in the hallway.

“Usual Suspects, Leon the Professional or Pulp Fiction. Interstellar, why not but there’s no way we’re gonna be able to learn everything about quantum physic in less than a week.” You said low, lost deep in your thoughts.

“Wait, you’re being serious? I thought I’d have to beg you for an entire week for you to work with me.”

“Let’s review my options: I have the choice between that weird guy at the last row who’s probably gonna want to write a sequel for a porn he would have seen the night before, Blondie at the first row who secretly dreams to write an umpteenth sequel for Twilight and… you: who, despite everything, probably stays the only person in that class that is really passionate about this course.”

Josh stayed there, a dumb smile plastered on his face.

“Please say something or I’m gonna start to think that this Twilight thing isn’t that bad.”

“The word ‘porn’ has never sounded better than from your lips.”

Working on that project with Josh has been a total mess.

You can’t quite tell when you realized this wouldn’t go as any other group project.

Maybe it was when you accepted that the two of you would work at his place.

“And… we’re almost done, only one page left.” You stated as you finished typing the sentence Josh was dictating you.

“Cool. Now what would you say of… going to the movie?”

“Josh…”

“Okay. What about… going out and get something to eat?”

“…”

“… or we could just have sex right now, if that’s what you want. Wait… No, forget that. I got a better idea. What if I introduced you to my mother so that we can start looking for a caterer and working on the seating chart?”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.” Josh answered with a warm smile. “Except if it’s really bothering you. In that case, you won’t have to ask twice.” He finished on a much more serious tone, putting himself back to work.

“Grab your jacket. They’re showing the new Adam McKay film downtown, if we leave now we should get there before it starts.” You declared, getting up.

Josh’s smile getting so wide at your words.

“You’re sure we don’t have the time for you to meet my mother before?” He asked you, putting his jacket on.

You weren’t sure why you had decided to enroll in a course called Speech 217 ‘The Art of Informal Remarks’.

To be honest the first class you had had with Miss Tainot did nothing but confirm the fact that you should have chosen another option.

And just when you were pondering the idea of switching to another course called Accounting 142 ‘Bookkeeping and Taxation’, you noticed someone even more out of place than you.

Steve got there 30 minutes late.

He tried to take a seat as discretely as possible, but his skateboard decided otherwise.

“Who are you?” The teacher inquired.

“Steve Dibiasi. D-I-B-I-A-S-I.”

“Why are you here, Steve?” Miss Tainot asked the young man.

“Dean of Student Services said your class would change my life.”

You smiled at Steve’s naivety as you were pretty sure you had heard that man say the exact same thing to three other students the day before.

Steve took a seat and spent the rest of the class on his phone.

“Next week, each of you is going to address the class for the first time on a subject of my choice.” Miss Tainot explained, putting an end to the class.

But Steve really first caught your attention on a Wednesday.

You were working on your oral presentation at the library when you noticed Steve working a few tables away from yours.

You can’t really tell what surprised you the most.

Seeing a guy like Steve at the library or the effort he seemed to put in his presentation.

He was surrounded by books about rhetoric and oral speech, each thicker than the other.

Steve looked exhausted. He had been there longer than you had, at least that was what his yawns betrayed.

As it was getting late, you decided to borrow the book you were working on and to go back home.

There were only a few students left at the library. Steve had left a few minutes before, probably realizing that in the battle opposing him to the tiredness he wouldn’t come out a winner.

In the line for book lending, you were once again blaming yourself for not having chosen a course that wouldn’t have implied a bitter teacher and the obligation to do an oral presentation once a week when a familiar voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Mrs., please. I’m having this very important presentation tomorrow in the morning and I really need a good mark in this course if I want to pass this semester.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Dibiasi but that’s our library policy. You can’t borrow more than eight books.” The librarian answered, barely paying attention to the young man standing in front of her.

“Yeah I know, that’s what you’ve been repeating for the past twenty minutes. Mrs, I really need those books, and I was hoping that… you could make an exception, you know like in cases of force majeure…” Steve insisted, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

“Those are the rules. Members can borrow up to eight items from a statewide collection that includes a great range of fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, DVDs and CDs.” The old woman explained on a monotonous tone closer to an automatic answering telephone than to a human.

The sigh Steve gave her in response was more evocative than a thousand words.

“Come on dude… We don’t have all day…” You heard a student say behind you.

“You know what? Forget it. I don’t even know what…” Steve started.

“I’m taking them.” You declared all of a sudden, handing your library card to the woman behind the computer who scanned the books before handing them to you.

“Here… you go.” You declared, placing the books on top of the pile Steve had already in hand.

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to.” Steve thanked you, as the two of you got out of the library.

“That’s nothing, really. Their loan policy is bullshit anyway.”

You were about to go home when you were stopped by Steve’s voice.

“Wait! I don’t even know your name!” Steve shouted behind you. By the tone of his voice you could tell he was smiling.

“Y/N!” You shouted in response, before going home.

“…Thank you for your attention.” You finished, concluding your presentation.

While you spoke, Steve couldn’t keep his eyes off of you.

“Great work, Y/N. Already looking forward to hearing your next presentation.” Miss Tainot complimented you as you were greeted with a round of applause launched by Steve himself.

“And last but not least… Mr. Dibiasi, it’s your turn.” Miss Tainot announced.

You noticed Steve’s foot was tapping in anxiety.

“Okay, you’re gonna dig it.” He said, probably in an attempt to reassure himself.

“Are you clairvoyant?” Miss Tainot retorted.

“No. Steve Dibiasi.” He answered, making you chuckle.

“… If it was the romance novelist in him that made Victoria, the Queen, such a pal, chalk it up as another brick in the legacy of Ben Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, educator, and Prime Minister of Great Britain!” Steve concluded.

You had to admit that Steve’s speech wasn’t the most formal presentation you had heard in your life but you were sure of two things after listening to him.

One, that he had put all his heart in this presentation and the memory of him at the library did nothing but confirm that.

Two, that no matter how informal his presentation was, it didn’t deserve the mocking laughter that overcame every student but you in the classroom.

You gave him a compassionate smile but that’s what you did next that caught him off guard.

You applauded.

And even though the room was filled with mocking laughter, the sound of your hands was the only sound Steve decided to pay attention to.

The next day, you were heading to one of your classes when someone ran smack into you, knocking your books and papers all over the floor. (s4msepiol, provider of romantic clichés since 1999.)

“Shit… I’m really…” Steve began, interrupting himself midsentence when he realized who he had ‘run into’ “… sorry.”.

“Don’t be. That’s nothing.” You answered as he helped you pick your books.

“No, really. You helped me the other day at the library and… you’re the only one who hadn’t made fun of me yesterday, and here I am ruining your copy of…” He stopped again, midsentence, reading the title on the cover of your book. “… Sybil… by Benjamin Disraeli.” Steve finished, smiling.

Once all your stuff picked up from the floor, you thanked Steve but he stopped you before you could head to your next class.

“Y/N! Wait!” Steve said, making you turn around. “Hum… What would you say of… if we…” He stopped, took a deep breath and went on. “Would you like to go for a drink with me?” He asked you, tightening his grip on his skateboard in anxiety.

“I’d love to.”

Steve gave you for only answer, a smile.

A smile that went clear up to his light green eyes.

“Why are you smiling?” You asked, not caring about the bell indicating that it was high time for you to leave Steve and to go to your next class.

“My pals didn’t believe me when I told them this class would change my life.”

Finn and you were in technology class together.

Most of the time, he would show up 20 minutes late, his t-shirt stained with motor oil.

“Sorry for being late.”

“All right, Finn. Why don’t you take that empty seat next to Y/N, and we’ll get started with the lesson.”

He would usually spend half of the class searching on the internet for spare parts for the car he was working on.

And the other half looking at you, thinking that you were not noticing it and trying (in vain) to find something to say for the two of you to get to know each other.

One Thursday morning, as you parked your car on the campus parking an idiot hit your car.

An idiot whose t-shirt was stained with motor oil.

“It’s official, my parents are gonna kill me.” You said, watching the damages on your back bumper.

“Shit Y/N, you’re okay?” Finn asked you as he got out of his car, not even caring about the damages on his car.

For some reason, his voice was full of concern.

“Yeah, don’t worry. More scared than hurt.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I was paying attention to… something else.” Finn apologized while scrutinizing your face to be sure you weren’t hurt.

“Hey Finn, trust me it’s nothing, I’m fine. Your car took the worst of it actually.”

“Don’t worry about that, that’s nothing. But there’s no way you’re paying for repairing that.” He said showing your back bumper and started looking for something in his backpack.

He took out a pen and a piece of paper that he placed on the hood of his car before starting to write.

“Here take this… Ask for me once you’ll be there.” Finn said with a soft smile, handing you the piece of paper.

You nodded and were about to go to your first class of the day when you heard Finn’s voice behind you.

“Oh and Y/N…”

“Yeah?” You asked, turning around to face him.

“Have a nice day.”

At the end of the day, you drove to the garage.

You were about to enter when you overheard a conversation.

“No, you got to be kiddin’ me.” Someone declared in between waves of laughter. “Okay, so let’s sum up the situation. Finn, a man that repairs cars since he was 12, that went all the way to South Dakota to get his license at 14 and who never had a single ticket in his whole life, you want me to buy that this guy is implied in a fender bender?”

“He hasn’t even told you the best part yet.” Another man said.

“The person driving the other car is the girl he has been telling us about for weeks.” A third man explained, triggering another wave of laughter.

“Okay, okay I see… So now I have two hypotheses and you better tell me the truth.” The first man warned Finn. “Number one, you were driving, you realized she was there and suddenly you just ‘forgot’ how to drive. Number two, you totally did it on purpose so that she’d spend the whole afternoon here with you.”

“Yeah, what girl would say no to ‘Hey! I almost killed you, what about going to the movie?’.” Finn retorted.

“So?”

“So I was driving, I realized she was there and… suddenly my eyes were more focused on her than on the road.”

“Oh men… I think our little Finn is in love.”

“Well, this is a first.”

“Out. All of you. Now. There’s no way you guys are meeting her.”

For some reason, that’s the moment you chose to knock on the metallic door.

“Hey, Y/N.” Finn said with a large smile, dropping everything he was doing to greet you.

“Hey, how you doing?”

“Good.” He seemed nervous. “So what do you say we get started?” Finn asked, showing your car.

“Yeah, totally.”

“So… Finn, aren’t you going to introduce your friend?” The tallest of the three men said while patting Finn’s back.

“Well Y/N, this is Tobey, Pete, Joe and the rude guy over there is Benny, but you can call him Liar One. Guys, this is Y/N.”

After a few jokes at Finn’s expense, the guys decided to go grab a beer.

“Oh and Y/N, keep an eye on him. Finn has been a bit… ‘distracted’ lately.” Tobey joked, exchanging a knowing look with Joe and Benny, before they left.

“Sorry for… that. They’re not used to having a girl around here.” Finn apologized, before he started working on your car.

There was something oddly mesmerizing watching Finn working on that car.

His pants hung low on his hips, his face was covered with motor oil, and he stuck out his tongue from the corner of his mouth when he was concentrating.

“Y/N… Could you hand me the spark plug wrench? It looks like a big…” Finn asked you, stopping midsentence when he noticed you were already handing him the right tool.

“Interesting…” He noted, taking the tool you were handing him.

The two of you spent the evening chatting about this and that while Finn repaired your car.

“Okay… I’m think I’m done.” Finn announced, sliding out from under the car.

“The good news is that it looked much worse than it was.” He explained, standing in front of the car and wiping his hands with an old cloth. “The bad news is that your tail light is dead so I’m gonna have to order the part.”

“Okay. How long do you think it will take?

“Given the model of your car… At least one week but I must admit that I don’t like the idea of you driving without it, especially by night.”

Once again, you noticed an ounce of concern in his voice.

And before you could even mention the concept of ‘taking the bus for a week’, Finn spoke.

“So… what would you say of… me being your private driver for the week? I promise that, apart from this morning incident, I’m the best driver you can find.” He asked you, rubbing his neck before giving you that warm smile that he always had to release the stress of the conversation.

You can’t quite tell why, but answering “no” wasn’t an option.

Maybe it was because of his hopeful eyes.

Or maybe it was because of the conversation you had overheard.

“I must admit that the idea of a private chauffeur is pretty appealing, Finn.”

At first he was somewhat surprised, as if he had expected you to say no.

But then he smiled widely, looking down, still cautiously avoiding your gaze.