*SLAM*

“I’m not ‘worked up’ about it, I just don’t get why everyone has to make it such a big deal,” grumbled Toike, tugging on their locker’s combination lock twice, “They’re not even that cool.” 

SUDSMan leaned against the adjacent locker and crossed their arms, sighing loud enough to cut through the chaotic lunch rush. “Dude, no one’s making a big deal out of it. Actually, you’re the only person obsessed with these three randos. Are you sure you don’t have the hots for at least one of them?” 

“As if!” Toike spluttered unconvincingly, “I just think it’s annoying they get all the attention —“ 

“Again, you’re the only one who thinks like this,” SUDSMan interjected.

“— and they don’t see anyone but themselves! 

As they weaved through the halls of UofT High School, Toike stewed over the conversation, prematurely ended by being squeezed into single-file by the crowd. Man, these hallways are packed, they thought to themself. It’s like there are enough students to fill a whole university or something. It was ridiculous for SUDSMan to even suggest that Toike felt anything but disdain for this “Trinity” of losers.

Toike had known LGMBeaver since elementary school, and they were just as annoying back then. Always chatting Toike’s ear off, singing horribly off-key, and banging on every single xylophone in the music room. Not to mention the Great Recorder Incident of 1990. Still, Toike could admit they were always easy to talk to, even after they got busy with bnad practice. It was nice to have someone to goof off with and just have fun making music together, without worrying about rules or even sounding good. Toike supposed they weren’t that hard to look at. Objectively, of course. That deep blue jersey they seemed to be wearing all the time really brought out their eyes. And oh gosh, those eyes… 

They abruptly shook their head to get rid of that disturbing train of thought, which earned them a weird look from SUDSMan as they entered the cafeteria. 

Switching to an easier person to think about as they lined up with their lunch tray, Toike pondered their disdain for Chief. They’d never been too close, as Chief was a math and science nerd whereas Toike was a reading and art nerd. The one time they had been lab partners last year, Toike’s favourite writing notebook went up in flames as their Bunsen burner explosively overheated with an earth-shattering ‘KABOOM!’ Toike had to admit it wasn’t all bad though, Chief had been a competent partner in their short time working together and even offered to carry their knapsack once. They didn’t even struggle with it, Toike mused. I bet they do a lot of heavy lifting; those biceps are more like cannons than guns. 

The plop of lunch hitting the tray shook them out of their embarrassing inner monologue. I see why they call this place “The Pit”, they grimaced, looking around at the state of the cafeteria, complete with suspicious stains and an indescribable stench.

Was there a third person in the “Trinity”? Toike had completely forgotten by the time they sat down at their usual table with SUDSMan, soon joined by Blue and Gold. Despite only being fraternal twins, most people couldn’t tell who was who, and nobody remembered how they got those nicknames in the first place. 

As they ate and talked about their morning classes, Toike no longer felt the jealousy and irritation that had previously consumed them. They loved catching up with their friends and hearing about their lives: Blue and Gold were building a huge board game in their carpentry class, and even managed to teach others how to paint and use power tools. SUDSMan recently started working at the local diner after school, and their specialty milkshakes had been a smashing success with the regulars. Toike themself was starting a student-run humour newspaper, intending to bring some joy and laughter to their typically serious school. Time seemed to fly by as the group traded stories, swapped CDs, and mourned the recent death of Blue’s tamagotchi pet. 

Socially fulfilled, the group packed their things, shelved their trays, and began to file out of the cafeteria as the first bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. Toike felt so content and happy to spend time with their friends that they almost missed the vehicle barreling towards them from behind. 

“OUT OF THE WAY!” screamed the driver as the crowd quickly parted,  “COMP IS IN FOUR DAYS AND WE’VE BARELY STARTED TESTING!” Ah, thought Toike, it’s one of those design team nerds. Which team they were from, or why they decided to test their project indoors during the busiest time of day, was entirely beyond Toike. In seemingly slow motion, Toike twisted out of the way just in time to not have a really good excuse to miss class, but crashed face-first into a surprisingly soft wall.

Ah, thought Toike again, this is a person. Toike was only able to prevent an embarrassing fall by latching onto said person’s hand, who steadied them before even realizing what was happening. The angular momentum from their collision twisted Toike around once more as the stranger threw out an arm to catch themselves from falling, their other hand landing on metal with a reverberating *BANG*. The hall fell silent as Toike was pinned between the cold, unforgiving aluminum of the lockers and the warm, toned body in front of them. They slowly lifted their head to see which unfortunate soul they had unceremoniously crashed into. 

“Are you alright?” asked Chief, whose face was mere inches away from Toike’s.

The air was thick with tension as the two stared into each others’ eyes. For the first time, Toike had a moment to appreciate the sparkling beauty of Chief’s wonderful face; the immaculate shine of their huge, visor-like glasses, and… honestly not really much else, the visor thing was just that pretty to them. They did notice their ever-present muscles, a rough hand clasping theirs tightly and a toned bicep right beside their face. Toike hesitantly opened their mouth to say something, working up the courage to push Chief away or spit out a biting remark about how they didn’t need their help.

“Y-yeah,” stuttered Toike instead, “sorry for crashing into you.” 

Suddenly aware of their close proximity and what must have been the entire hallway gawking at them, Toike felt their face grow hot. 

The second bell conveniently rang out with a loud *BRRRRRRRRRING*, reminding the onlookers they had somewhere to be. The hallway filled with chatter and bustle of a student body in transit. 

“My bad, didn’t mean to trap you there.” Chief apologized as they pulled away and Toike remembered how to breathe. “Are you sure you’re okay? You hit the lockers pretty hard there. I could take you to the principal’s office to get an ice pack.”

“I’ll be alright, but thanks,” managed Toike, still blushing. “I s-should really get going now, gotta get to class and uhhhh… learn! I’m just going to…” they trailed off as they slowly stepped away. 

“Wait!” another voice called out, “You dropped your things!” 

Toike glanced over their shoulder, and sure enough, their backpack was wide open. Scanning their surroundings, they saw the floor littered with their belongings: comic books, magazines, floppy disks, notebooks, duotangs, a Game Boy Color, and a case of newly traded CDs were scattered along the path they had taken while crashing into Chief. Among the wreckage was Toike’s new writing notebook, thankfully undamaged but now out in the open. 

Remembering that there were some things in those pages that really should not be seen by other people, Toike lunged for the notebook. But they weren’t fast enough. 

Instead of the stickered cover of their well-loved composition notebook, Toike’s hand made contact with a furry, brown paw. Silky smooth and slightly damp, the familiar scent of sawdust and trombone slide grease wafted towards Toike as they slowly looked up for the second time today. They were completely mesmerized by those eyes, and the moment stretched on for what felt like forever.

“Toike!!! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I hardly recognized you; it’s been so long!!! We NEED to catch up, how have you been? Are you still doing that newspaper thing? Ooh your notebook is so cute! That ‘Farts & Science’ sticker is soooooo funny. Do you write your articles and stuff here? Can I see–”

Toike snatched the notebook from LGMBeaver with near-inhuman speed, ignoring the way their palm tingled in the places their hands had met. 

“Oops, haha, someone’s eager as a beaver to get that back! Hey, I have an idea for a sticker you can add to your notebook! I have all of these Lady Godiva Memorial Bnad stickers – ignore the spelling LOL – but I think one would look great on the cover! Here, take multiple! No one will buy them from me!”

Toike tried to regulate their breaths and go to their happy place, which was probably the library or something because AO3 hadn’t been invented yet. They were mostly able to keep the seething contained, but apparently not enough to dispel Chief’s earlier concern. Silent as ever, Toike had nearly forgotten they were still there.

“Hey, Toike,” asked Chief, “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or something? Your face is getting kind of red and you’re … vibrating a little bit? I don’t know if those are normal concussion symptoms but I’m kind of worried. Would you like me to carry you to the principal’s office? Woah okay, you got a LOT more red. Should I be calling someone?”

The stress of having such weirdly charged encounters with attractive people they supposedly hated, followed by being talked at in two different directions, left poor Toike overwhelmed and confused. They couldn’t take it anymore. 

“STOP IT! Gosh, you three just don’t quit, huh?” they fumed, “When has it ever been productive to talk to one person at the same time?”

Three? Chief and LGMBeaver looked at each other, confused.

“LGMBeaver, I don’t appreciate you trying to look at my personal stuff without my permission, and I don’t want your stickers. You’ve always been trying to push your music stuff onto me, but the only thing you’ve done is push me away,” Toike accused. “I never had the courage to say it to your annoyingly attractive face, but I hated that you ditched me for your stupid ‘marching bnad’.” Toike felt guilty upon seeing LGMBeaver’s crestfallen face, but they weren’t done yet.

“And Chief, stop trying to act so concerned for me when you don’t even know me. I’m sorry I bumped into you earlier, but offering to carry me without giving me a chance to tell you how I’m actually feeling is pretty demeaning, even if you are absurdly jacked,” they chided. “And don’t think I’ve forgiven you for blowing up my other notebook last year!”

A moment of silence.

“I’m sorry Toike, that was insensitive of me,” Chief apologized. “You’re your own person and should be able to exercise autonomy. And you’re right, I should have apologized for setting your papers on fire, I was just so worried about misfiring that it slipped my mind. However,” they continued, “I don’t think we deserve to be yelled at. I know it came off the wrong way, but I was just trying to make sure you were alright,” they pointed out. 

“Yeah,” agreed LGMBeaver, looking down at the ground dejectedly. “I was really excited to see a good friend after so much time apart, and I just wanted to help you pick up your things. I’m sorry for letting us drift apart, but I do miss you and wish we could have spent more time together. I understand if you need space though.” 

Taking a steadying inhale, Toike realized they were both right. Chief and LGMBeaver had pissed them off, but they didn’t mean to do harm. Toike had acted out of anger and failed to see the different ways others expressed their care, and spat venom at two good-natured people who were just trying to help.

“I’m sorry guys,” Toike sighed. “That was really rude of me, and I shouldn’t have said so many mean things. I apologize for lashing out like that, and for resenting both of you without really having a good reason to.” 

“If you’ll accept my apology, maybe we could start over? I’d love to get to know you better… for real this time.” 

Suddenly self-conscious, Chief reached out a hand. “Shake on it?”, they offered with a rapidly deepening blush on their face, averting eye contact.That redness was only rivaled by the colouring on Toike’s face at that moment. Taking a deep breath and attempting to quell the sudden outbreak of butterflies in their stomach, they met Chief’s hand with one of their own. “I’d be happy to!” they managed to get out, adequately hiding any shakiness in their voice.

But in that moment, the pull of Chief’s arm as they shook Toike’s hand with their trademark strength and a firm grip on their hand caught Toike off guard, jerking their body towards Chief and LGMBeaver, and throwing them off-balance. 

Suddenly, the three were face-to-face once more. Toike couldn’t help but gawk, but unbeknownst to them, Chief and LGMBeaver were doing much the same; staring deeply into Toike’s newsprint-grey eyes, their cute, rosy cheeks, their strangely beautiful eyelashes, their slightly disturbing tin foil hat… oh, and the gigantic-ass, dangerously sharp sword attached to their hip. That was probably the most important aspect.

“Do… would… ah…” Chief spoke first, but struggled to find the right words.

“Erm…” Toike eventually uttered. Oh my gosh, that was such a stupid sound, they couldn’t help but think.

“…Might you want to come to the football game on Thursday night, in the Quad?” Chief finally asked. Their face was so close to Toike’s that they, impossibly, could feel Chief’s breath even through the visor. “I… I play running back, and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it. I’d love to see you there…”

“OH, I’LL BE THERE TOO!!!” LGMBeaver suddenly interjected. The loud noise seemed to startle Toike and Chief back into reality, forcing the unusual duo to realize what was going on. They both jumped away from each other as LGMBeaver rolled on. “I lead the marching band! You can join us! You should come to practice, we go 14 times a week and 9 times on weekends! You’ll pick it up in no time!”

Frazzled, Toike ended up staring right into LGMBeaver’s eyes once more and marveled at the sparkle caused by their sheer excitement and pride in their craft. 

“Uh…?” Chief mumbled, scratching their head.

“…Oh!” Toike shook their head, trying to calm themself down and focus. Dealing with the fact that they’d been caught lacking twice in a row in the presence of both LGMBeaver and Chief would have to come another time. “I… I’d love to! As long as I can bring my friends along.”

“The larger the audience, the better,” LGMBeaver wisely noted. “Now what’s that you said about the three of us being “jacked” and “attractive?”

—

The next day, Toike walked into class over 25 minutes late, not even including T-time. This was quite impressive, for a standard period was only 50 minutes long.

When they sat down, SUDSMan leaned over from the neighbouring chair to whisper into their ear. “Hey, you haven’t been this late in over 24 hours! What gives?”

“I’ll tell you later,” was all Toike said, with a wry smirk. 

Reading comprehension questions:

1. Which authority figure in your life would you recommend this fanfiction to, and why?
2. How much pain do you think the author was in after writing this piece? What emotions might they have experienced when reflecting on how their post-secondary education has led them to writing fanfiction about school mascots?
3. How many minutes do you think Toike was late to their first class after lunch?
4. Draw fanart of the main characters at the football game, or write a short paragraph expanding on how you think it could have gone.