"Hi I have a request for either Josh or Jake 💛 can I get a story where they see a girl, either at school or they can already be famous in this, and is instantly enamored. I don't know if you've seen The Virgin Suicides, but if you have then something similar to when Trip sees Lux for the first time. I'm interested in how those two would go about getting a girl's attention when they have a crush.💕💕💕" - Anonymous
//Hi Doll! I can’t say I have seen that--- but I will try my best to write something that I feel matches the idea you had.
I’m gonna be repeating this forever--- but again, I’m so sorry it took me so long to get this request out for you! I decided to go with Josh being in school for this one.//
Warnings: Cursing, awkward beans
Word Count: 1969
Synopsis: Josh had never really believed in love at first sight... but yet....
Josh Kiszka x Fem!Reader
The first day of sophomore year. For most this was just the start of another school year; a sudden reminder that a new binder or fun pencil case is exciting for all of 10 minutes when it comes to actual classes and work. But for Josh… this year felt like it was filled with possibilities. It sounds like some sort of stupid thing you'd see on a motivational calendar, but it really truly did.
Josh hadn't imagined for a second that he actually would have a chance in making music his career; and yet, he had spent all summer with his band mates playing for different occasions and pubs. All the while they were working, working hard on writing songs that they could be proud to play for others.
All of that said, Josh was returning to high-school this year with a new found amount of confidence and excitement; it showed in every step Josh took. His one hand held loosely on to the arm of his backpack, walking in time with Jake.
"But what do you think? Would it look good on me?" Jake inquired, fingers lightly playing with the mid-length pieces of hair on his head.
"I mean… I don't know…" Josh lightly starts, glancing at his twin and begins to take a good long look at him.
Jake's eyes widened just a touch, his expression becoming one that said, 'Well…?'
"Uh… honestly I don't really know Jake. I've never seen you with anything else than this." Josh admits, then snickers a little, "Except for that one time when we decided it'd be fun to take those scissors and---"
"No, that's fine, I didn't need to think about that." Jake immediately stopped him, his hand going to take a full dive into his mess of dark brown hair.
"Cmon, it was really funny though. Ma really lost her shit when she saw your head like that." Josh continued to muse, hands folding into his pockets with the utmost of ease.
Jake shook his head in a mournful way, "I can say I will never go back to a buzz-cut again… not without a fight."
Josh's smile never faltered, it was his laughter that changed, softening into a bit of a sigh as they reached the double doors at the front of the school. With a swing of the doors they both were making their way down the hallway to their lockers.
"Meet by Mr.Shapiro's class before lunch?" Jake questioned, to which Josh nodded. No matter which school the twins went to the teachers seemed to know that the best course of action was to keep them separated. That said Josh and Jake always had separate homerooms at least, through most of their time in school.
"See ya in a bit." Josh waved, taking a few steps back before turning on his heels and heading to his own locker.
Josh's excitement to be back in class showed on his face more than he probably would have wanted. A few pencils in his hand along with a binder filled with blank paper and tucked away dividers.
As soon as Josh stepped into the class room his eyes were met with many familiar faces. Some of these people he had been in school with since kindergarten; like Meg, a rather tall blunt faced girl with long kinky black hair. She simply threw a peace sign Josh's way as he stepped through the doors; he eagerly returned it, bringing a small smile to Meg's lips.
With some brisk steps Josh moved to place himself at the back of the classroom, just behind Meg. He threw his things on his desk without much thought. Despite there being a good number of kids he knew... there seemed to be equally just as many new kids.
Leaning on his desk Josh moved closer to Meg, "Where the hell did these guys come from?"
Meg's brow lifted as she leaned back a little, "Know the high-school on the east side?"
"The one where you can get crack for super cheap?" Josh inquired,
Meg's head bobbed, "They closed it down, so now we get half the kids that went there." She explains with her head resting on her hand in a bored way.
"Oh shit really? That's a lot of kids---" Josh was quick to respond, glancing around the room.
"Oh yeah... way too many in my personal opinion --- not that anyone cares." Meg mutters, beginning to click her mechanical pencil.
Josh's eyes were still taking in all the new faces as he started to respond, "Wow aren't we positive today."
Meg sighed, "Eh.... I'm just not excited, Justin and I broke up over the summer and I'll have to see him in history." She began to explain, "Things are just really tense, yknow?"
She waited a moment for him to give some comforting... but still idiotic response, however none came. It finally got Meg to turn and look at him, as she did she immediately noticed that Josh's eyes had widened just a touch, cheeks dusted a light pink.
Meg followed the line of his eyes to a beautiful young woman. The expression he wore was more than enough to tell Meg that she should move.
Josh was so busy just... taking the new girl in that he didn't even notice Meg slip to the free desk to the side of the one she was previously sat in. Josh just couldn't put his finger on it, there was something... something so breathtaking about her. Was it her eyes? Or maybe how her hair fell around her face? He couldn't be sure. What he was absolutely sure of was that he had never had a moment in his life where he could hear music just by looking at someone.
"Hey... do you know if this desk is free?" A new voice shook Josh. It was her. She was standing at a desk to his left with a bit of an awkward air.
He was just so shaken. What did she say again? Something about a desk? Josh's lips parted, "Uh--- I uh, what did you--?"
"No that one isn't open, but the one just in front of my dude Josh is, right Josh?" Meg interrupted, pointing to the desk ahead of him.
"Oh y-yeah, that one's open! Definitely 100% open! It couldn't be more open even if it tried!" Josh started spouting, he really wasn't even aware that his mouth had moved, and that was clear in the fact that it just kept moving when she had come to sit down. "Do you need any pencils at all?? I have like 20!" He continued, though his hand held one full sized pencil and one shorter than the average person's pinkie... both chewed on. "I mean not on me but--- who needs a pencil right?"
The girl laughed a little awkwardly, her gaze moving from Josh to Meg and then to the desk. "No, no I'm okay thank you though." She slipped into the chair, keeping her gaze frontwards.
Meg looks to Josh with a shocked look, 'What was that??' She mouthed,
Josh responded with an absolutely mortified expression. He would never say he was the smoothest guy on the planet, but he had never been that awkward in his life.
Meg shook her head before reaching out to tap the girl's shoulder, "I'm Meg!" She introduces, "And that goober is Josh."
The girl lightly moved to glance over her shoulder at Josh in a shy way. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm (Y/N)." She hummed with a sweet smile.
"That's a pretty name, isn't it Josh??" Meg quickly said, trying to get him to continue the conversation in a less awkward way.
Josh nodded very enthusiastically, "The prettiest name I've heard in a long time!" He said with a smile,
(Y/N)'s cheeks began to hold a flush of their own. "Oh! Uh... th-thank you!" She sputtered out.
'OH FUCK. She's so cute.' Josh thought to himself, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat with a shaky swallow.
Little did Josh know that (Y/N) was thinking something very similar. She might not make it as obvious as he was, but being so much closer now... being able to see the warmth in his brown eyes, seeing how his wavy brown hair came to cup his cheeks --- she couldn't help but continue to stare back at him.
The only thing that could pull them both out of the little trance they had fallen into was the bell. Both of them quickly looked toward it, followed by a man's voice at the front of the class.
"Alright everyone, take your seats!"
(Y/N) was reluctant but she turned herself to look toward the front of the class. A little bit nervous, but mustering an ounce of courage she tore a piece of paper from her notebook quietly and began to scribble something down.
Josh hardly got anything out of that language arts class, he was way too busy trying to figure out what excuse he could make to talk with (Y/N) again. He was just rattling through every little conversation starter he had ever heard in his life... but none of them felt like they would work.
Before long the bell had rung overhead once more and everyone was shuffling to grab their things and head to all of their next classes.
Biting his lip, Josh was determined to catch (Y/N) before she could head off to her own next class. Luckily for him she had a similar idea. Both turning to each other as they stepped out of the classroom, it was painfully quiet at first. It seemed as if they were trying to get their thoughts together really.
Finally they spoke,
"Hey would you---" "I was wondering if you'd---"
At once.
A small awkward laugh left their lips, "Please, go ahead I was going to say something dumb---" Josh quickly said moving to rub the back of his neck.
(Y/N)'s lips parted as she let out and unsure chuckle, eyes moving downwards for a moment. "I was just going to ask if you would mind if I joined you for lunch? I just am new and don't really have any---"
"Yes!" Josh quickly said, "Yes absolutely. You didn't even have to ask, you could have just showed up if you wanted to!" He quickly says to her.
The speed he seemed to talk at entertained (Y/N) a heck of a lot. A smile creeping across her face, "Okay! Thank you!" She responded.
"Do you know where the cafeteria is? I can show ya if you want??" Josh quickly continued, "I mean I'm sure you could find it on you're own, you seem very smart and capable. Most women are to be honest; I remember reading an article about how men need to---"
"That would be really great actually." (Y/N) smiled in a gentle way. 'He's even more nervous than I am.' She thought to herself.
"Oh-oh! Okay cool! Uh, do you know where Mr.Shapiro's class is?" He asks,
(Y/N) seemed to think for a minute, "113... right? I have him for chemistry this afternoon I think." She mutters.
Josh swiftly nods his head, "That's the one!! Meet me there okay?" He says.
(Y/N) nodded back, understanding the little plan they now had. "I'll see you in a little bit then?" She lightly asks.
"Yeah absolutely." Josh began to grin, suddenly beyond excited. Even as she began to walk off to her class all he could think about was how sure he was now that this year was going to be fantastic.
That was until a warning bell played overhead, "Oh shit--" Josh jumped in shock, immediately beginning to run to his next class.
//That's all for now lovely! I do actually have an idea on how to continue this one if anyone would like! Pretty please let me know in the comments if that's something you guys would like 💜//
Cunningham *lying face down on his bed*: I can’t believe I said “Neat”, Kevin! “Neat.” Nobody says neat anymore! It’s the 21st century! It’s not neat to say neat, but I said it anyway because I’m a huge loser!
Price *idly turns book page*: Hey, don’t beat yourself up. Everyone gets nervous sometimes. Remember what happened when Connor confessed to me?
Cunningham: Umm, didn’t you thank him?
Price *closes book to stare into the distance*: I thanked him.
Look, all I can really say about this is here’s Chapter Two, where Fitzsimmons continue to be awkward dorky beans, because that’s literally this whole chapter (and probably, this whole fic lmao).
(Ao3)
-
She’d tried her best not to, she truly had, but after finding herself quite abruptly left alone in a hallway, after having been essentially ditched, Jemma had ended up worrying herself sick trying to figure out just what she’d done to upset Fitz so much that he’d done such a thing. It had been taken over her mind so fully, in fact, that she hadn’t even been able to pay much attention in microbiology, which had followed chemistry that day and was a class that she’d been looking forward to since she’d signed up for it months ago.
That night, she had gone back to her dorm room and spent an embarrassing amount of time going back over the entire chemistry class and her brief conversation (if it could even be called that) with Fitz, but she hadn’t been able to find a single thing that she’d done wrong.
Sure, he’d caught her staring at him across the lecture hall, but that couldn’t truly be that bad, could it?
So, in the end, Jemma had come to the only reasonable conclusion: that he must have been late to his next class or to a meeting or something, so late that he couldn’t even stop to offer her an explanation or apology. His hasty retreat had to have just been a fluke thing, something that she’d misinterpreted and shouldn’t be taking so personally.
The realization had served to make her feel immensely better about the whole thing, and she was now excited for tomorrow rather than apprehensive, ready and prepared her next chemistry class, where she would be seeing Fitz again for the first time since the hallway incident.
Of course, Jemma could have just let the whole thing go and moved on, focusing solely on her classes and eventually securing her spot at the top of the class, but she was determined now to at least get Fitz to have a real conversation with her. Truthfully, he had only become more interesting to her since the first time that she’d heard him speak (and her fascination had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that his face was nicely symmetrical and the way that he blushed made her heart beat unevenly).
However, even though she had planned on having another day to prepare herself before she was to see Fitz again, her planning process was quite abruptly and rather rudely interrupted when her gaze fell upon none other than Fitz in her History of SHIELD class. She’d been doing a cursory glance around the lecture hall before the period officially began, just to see if she’d recognized any of the cadets from her handful of other classes, but she’d stopped halfway through at the sight of him, hunched over a desk at the very back of the room with eyes pointedly turned down.
For a moment, Jemma wasn’t sure what to do; she hadn’t planned to see him again so soon, and was caught very much off-guard at his sudden reappearance. Which was all quite absurd, really, because of course they were bound to have more than one class in common – why hadn’t the thought even occurred to her?
But, after taking another handful of moments to regain her composure and considering pretending that she hadn’t seen him and still waiting until tomorrow to talk to him, Jemma decided that she could easily alter her plan just slightly; she didn’t necessarily have to adhere to it quite so strictly. After all, it was just a day earlier than she’d been expecting, and plus, this might even work better – the time set aside for lunch followed this period, and that presented her with the opportunity to ask him to sit with her, and then they could talk even for longer than a hallway conversation would allow for.
Smiling in satisfaction, she opened her notebook to a fresh sheet of paper just as a grouchy-looking older man stepped in front of the blackboard. She was also, coincidentally, very much prepared to start standing out, after having spent a fair amount of time studying everything that she could on the history of the organization that she was someday soon set to join.
--
Fitz was quite aware of the fact that he was staring at the back of the head belonging to the girl that he hadn’t been able to stop himself from thinking about since chemistry class the other day, but he also couldn’t seem to get himself to look away, either. He wasn’t sure what was more embarrassing, the fact that he had been thinking about her with alarming frequency in the past couple of days, or that he was staring so blatantly at her and was almost likely to be caught if she turned around again.
Ever since that chemistry class, the girl seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth – he hadn’t caught even the smallest of glances of her (not to say that he was deliberately looking for her). Briefly, he’d even given into the absurd thought that he’d simply dreamed her and the whole awkward situation up in his first day jitters.
But, Fitz had never in his life been that lucky, and now, there she was, right there in front of him.
So, he was doing his best to seem small and unobtrusive, bound and determined not to start shouting out every error their professor may or may not make – he didn’t need to make a fool out of himself twice in a matter of just a few days, he should at least wait until next week before he opened his big mouth again.
Fortunately (or not), that didn’t seem to be a problem, though, given that the man that had introduced himself as Professor Vaughn seemed content to spend the whole period just droning on and on. In fact, it wasn’t long before Fitz felt himself begin to fade out and even start to drowse slightly, though he did feel a lick of shame about the whole thing.
But, it wasn’t too far into class when he was brought back to full, albeit startled awareness. The sound of the crisp English accent that he could still hear ringing in his ears, calling his name down the noisy hallway, cut straight through the sleepy fog that had settled over his brain, causing him to nearly topple straight out of his chair.
Blinking a bit as he steadied himself, Fitz’s gaze automatically zeroed in on where he’d glimpsed her sitting earlier, and he found that sure enough, her hand was raised above her head. Near as he could tell, she was currently reciting information on the founding of SHIELD, as though she was reading a passage straight from a textbook or something.
They’d yet to receive books of any sort for this class, however, and with a quick glance, Fitz could see that Professor Vaughn was looking just as shell-shocked by the sheer volume of information coming from the girl. When she finally finished her long-winded statement of facts, the professor was quiet for a beat, then he cleared his throat and said haltingly, “Very good, yes, thank you, Cadet…”
“Simmons,” she filled in helpfully, and with that, Fitz now had a name to put to the girl that he’d managed to convince himself couldn’t possibly be as smart as he was imagining that she was.
Much to his horror, she was, in fact, even smarter.
--
Feeling quite pleased with having found the perfect opportunity to display her vast knowledge on the beginnings of SHIELD and its founders (she was especially fond of Peggy Carter), Jemma had spent the rest of class jotting down the few things Professor Vaughn mentioned that she hadn’t already memorized, and fighting the urge to glance back over her shoulder and see if Fitz looked impressed at all.
Now, the bell signaling the end of the period had finally rung, and Jemma had hurried out of the room in order to once more wait outside in the hallway to catch up with Fitz. She was positive that things would be different this time around, especially after she’d been given the chance to show off her own intelligence a bit, to show him that she was worth getting to know.
Just as she was mentally going over possible topics for them to discuss over lunch (what his area of expertise was, where he’d gotten his PhD – or PhDs, if he was like her, what he thought of the Academy so far), she noticed Fitz just exiting the classroom. Just like it had been the previous time, his gaze directed downward, focused on his shoes rather than looking ahead of himself to make sure he wasn’t bumping into anyone.
Feeling an eager smile tugging at her lips, Jemma rushed to catch up with him as he hurried down the hall, calling excitedly, “Fitz!”
She waited a moment, very narrowly missing a small group of older cadets just leaving a classroom further down the hall and very obviously not paying attention to where they were going. However, Fitz didn’t stop or even slow down, and she wondered if, perhaps, he hadn’t heard her over the din.
So, picking up her pace a bit to follow more closely along behind him as he dodged around other students and raising her voice slightly, she simply tried again. “Fitz!”
It was only once she noticed his shoulders tensing and the way that his footsteps briefly faltered before he began walking so quickly that he was almost jogging away that it finally occurred to her that he’d heard her perfectly – he was just choosing to ignore her instead.
And with that realization, Jemma abruptly gave up her attempt to catch up with Fitz, allowing him to get far enough down the hall that he disappeared completely.
--
Feeling truly awful and horrible and like the worst person to have ever lived, Fitz didn’t stop until he’d exited the building and could drop heavily back to rest against the brick wall beside the doors, closing his eyes and groaning in defeat. However, quickly trying to soothe the guilt that was gnawing at his insides and making his stomach twist with nausea, he told himself firmly that in the long run, it was better this way.
Despite how foolish he’d been acting as of late, Fitz was no fool, and he knew that if he were to talk to Simmons now, he was inevitably going to muck it all up and ruin any chance he had of ever talking to her again. He may not have known her all that well (or at all, really), but from what he’d observed already, he just knew deep down inside that they truly could get on, if given the chance.
But, in order for that to happen, he first had to find the right words to say to her, something impressive enough that she wouldn’t just laugh in his face as soon as they left his mouth. He had to show her that he wasn’t just some loud-mouthed kid that corrected professors and refused to talk to his peers. He had to prove to her that they were one in the same, the youngest cadets on the Academy campus and, apparently, with a great love of knowledge.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about Simmons, something that gave Fitz the impression that this – and she – was important, something further than the fact that they seemed to have things in common. And, because of that, he had to make sure that everything went according to plan.
So, placing the utmost importance on said plan, he made a quick detour across campus and ducked briefly into the cafeteria to grab a lunch on the go, then headed back to his dorm room. There, he immediately got started on coming up with the perfect thing to say to impress Simmons.
Once he found it, Fitz assured himself that he’d be the one catching up with Simmons in the hallway and striking up a conversation, and the very idea had a smile tugging at his lips.
--
The following day, the time that Jemma had originally allotted to trying to speak with Fitz again, she instead found herself silently stewing in chemistry, unable to figure out just what it was that she’d done to deserve the way that Fitz treated her. Initially, she’d been upset and hurt about the whole thing, wondering what it was about her that seemed to repel or even repulse Fitz. Now, however, after spending all night thinking it over, she was simply angry.
She just didn’t understand it – everyone she’d ever met seemed to have found her perfectly lovely (if not a bit strange, what with her above average intelligence, but that was to be expected), and Fitz hadn’t even given her a chance to show him how lovely she was! It was incredibly rude of him, really, and Jemma couldn’t help but wonder where he’d gotten manners like that from.
Just as much, though, she couldn’t seem to figure out why the whole thing bothered her the way that it did (and no, it didn’t have anything to with his symmetrical features and cute little blush either). In the grand scheme of things, she didn’t even really know Fitz, so his opinion of her shouldn’t matter in the slightest. Sure, she’d found herself fascinated by the first person she’d met who could keep up with her intellectually but was around her age, but…
Before she could give anymore thought to the wide range of questions surrounding her feelings about the whole situation, however, she quickly returned her focus back in on Agent Patterson, raising her hand to answer the question that he’d just posed to the room at large (just because she wasn’t paying full attention didn’t mean that she wasn’t still intent on learning something).
Then, she heard Fitz’s voice coming from the back of the room, his tone clearly rushed as he hurried to answer the question first.
Jemma’s eyes grew wide in complete surprise and utter disbelief – he was sitting right there, just a couple of rows behind her, so surely he’d seen her hand raised patiently. Perhaps he just hadn’t been paying much attention either?
However, it became quite clear that he was paying attention and just didn’t care, as it only continued to happen all throughout class. And, to make matters worse, when Jemma turned around in her seat to throw a fierce glare at him to show how much she didn’t appreciate his actions, he didn’t even bother to meet her gaze. Instead, he seemed to simply look straight through her as he kept his eyes firmly on the front of the room and Patterson.
Truly annoyed now, Jemma came to the sharp and sudden conclusion that the reason Fitz had been avoiding her and blowing her off was because he wasn’t interested in making friends, as she had been. In fact, it seemed as though he was taking the fight for top of the class as seriously as she was, and he’d correctly singled her out as competition. She hadn’t expected it to start quite so soon, but she was just fine with it.
