Kryptonite

“Now, as I’m sure you’re all more than aware of,” Mr. Dorien, the graphic novel teacher at Towson University, said as he moved his way to the front of the room, “your final exam for this course is taking place in exactly four weeks from today.” He paused while turning to look at all of his students head on, allowing them a collective groan. “I know, I know. You’re all so upset that you’ll have to leave me.”

One student in particular, a young man named Jack Barakat, let out another groan at that. Dorien was the only teacher he liked; having to leave to move onto another teacher was honestly spelling out hell for him.

“Anyway, I’ve decided to do something a little different this year. Instead of giving you my usual exam, where you’d have to show me how you’ve improved throughout this course, I’ve partnered up with Mr. Turk over in the creative writing section of the English department. Together, we’ve thought of something we think you’ll all enjoy.

“We’ve come up with teams of two, one of you with one of his students, and together you’ll have to create an original, twenty-page comic. You’ll need to work together in order to create a story that flows. Points will be given based on creativity, originality, style, how complete your piece is, and the amount of teamwork put into creating your piece. Starting on Wednesday, we’ll be meeting in the library so that you can meet your partner and begin brainstorming.

“And since your class is the only class I’m doing this with, a sort of guinea pig trial run, if you will, then I’m going to need you to keep it on the down low. I don’t need to hear everyone else complaining about having to take the exam.”

Jack groaned. Again. He’d much rather take the regular exam.

On the other side of campus, one Alex Gaskarth was doing and thinking the exact same thing.

--- ---

“Alright, everyone gather round, shut up, and listen close,” Mr. Turk called over the crowd of students, all conversing with their friends while doing their best at avoiding the other class beside them. It’s not that the creative writing majors didn’t get along with the graphic novel majors, it’s just that… well… no. That was pretty much it. They both thought that they were better than the other, and in some aspects, that was true.

It took a few minutes before everyone stopped talking and turned to look at their teachers, who were waiting a little less than patiently. When all attention was on them, Mr. Dorien smiled and clapped his hands together.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for meeting with us. Now, for the rest of the semester, all classes will be held here. You’re to check in for attendance purposes with the appropriate teacher, and then you’re to find your partner. First up we have Simone Christenson and Carl Reed.”

Jack watched the two raise their hands above their heads before moving toward each other. Awkward smiles were exchanged, and then they shuffled to the side to wait for further instructions.

Alex ducked down behind a few girls (who were only about half his size and, therefore, useless) in hopes that he’d been forgotten. Maybe if that was the case, he’d just be able to take the regular exam. Why did they even have to work with graphic novel majors? Weren’t they supposed to know how to write their own comics?

“Alex Gaskarth and Jack Bakarat,” Mr. Turk called out.

Jack bristled. He didn’t, however, get the chance to correct the instructor before Mr. Dorien was whispering, “Barakat. Like bear-a-cat.”

Mr. Turk nodded. Mr. Dorien smiled. Jack groaned. Alex rolled his eyes.

The two young men didn’t make eye contact as they moved to stand next to each other, nor did they bother with exchanging greetings. A few muffled grunts sufficed well enough.

“Alright, now if you have any questions, please feel free to come to either of us. We’ll make rounds around the library every now and then to check on your progress and see if there’s anything we can do to make this easier. Other than attendance, you’re not required to stay here, but we do expect a completed project in four weeks. We will know if one person does more work than the other. Remember, we’ve spent an entire semester with you. I think that’s about it, so you may disperse and start planning. Good luck!”

Within a matter of seconds, a buzzing chatter had filled the room once more, followed by the sound of footsteps and the bottoms of chairs scraping against carpets. It seemed that everyone was getting along well enough—at least, they were able to force themselves to get along—except for two particular boys who still refused to look at each other.

Two full minutes ticked away before a defeated sigh pushed itself into the air.

“Alright, look, you don’t want to do this just as much as I don’t want to do this, but the good part is, my half is already done. You just… draw some stuff to go along with it or whatever, and then we won’t have to bother each other again,” Alex said, finally turning to face the boy stood next to him.

“Excuse me?” Jack challenged. He was a little taken aback, honestly, seeing as how who the hell did this guy think he was?

“I said, my half is done. The story line is complete, the characters have all been named and given powers, there’s a protagonist and an antagonist, and I even came up with the damn title. Now, you read it and come up with designs and I’ll tell you if they’re good enough of not,” Alex explained, tone and sweet smile laced thickly with sarcasm.

Jack stared for a few moments before he was laughing and shaking his head. “Okay, right, see that’s not actually gonna work,” he said around his chuckles. “Listen up, pretty boy. You’re already on my last damn nerve, and we haven’t even known each other for five minutes. What we’re going to do now, just so I’m sure that you don’t somehow manage to piss me off even more, is sit down and come up with something together, just like everyone else. Got it?”

Alex didn’t even have the time to respond before the slim boy was pushing past him and heading toward an unoccupied table. It wasn’t long before the blond was storming in the path that had been set.

“Who do you think you are?” he seethed as Jack reclined in a chair. He was far too busy pulling out a notebook and a pencil to bother looking up at the boy glaring daggers at him.

“I think I’m the one who can actually, y’know, complete this project on my own if I need to. See, a part of the whole ‘graphic novel course’ is being able to write for one without outside help. So I can plan, write, and draw. You, on the other hand… well, kinda sounds like you need me, doesn’t it?”

Alex wanted to argue. More than anything did he want to argue. But, sadly, he couldn’t even think of something to respond with. He didn’t know even the basics of comic books, and it wasn’t like he could just find someone else to do it with. He could just leave Jack to do it himself, but he knew that the big-nosed loser sat smugly in front of him would rat him out before he could even get out of the damn building.

With a defeated sigh and angry pout, he was tossing his things onto the table and slumping into a chair.

“Glad to see you’re on board, princess. First things first: we need a place, a gender, and a power. Try to keep up, alright?”

They were in for a long four weeks.

--- ---

The first week of working together got the two virtually nowhere. They refused to meet up outside of the assigned class time, and they could never seem to agree on anything. Jack even read over what Alex had written beforehand to see if that would be able to get the ball rolling, but, really… it didn’t.

Everything just sounded like an old, lost episode of The Power Puff Girls. How was Jack supposed to work with that? He planned on taking his comic book career seriously, and that meant having serious characters with a serious plot and serious, ass-kicking dialogue to wrap it all up.

The second week was, admittedly, a little bit better. Not to any extremes or anything of the sort, but they were at least able to agree on all the general information needed to get them started. They still wouldn’t meet outside of class, nor would they speak unless it was absolutely necessary to, but if one got an idea that they were truly excited about, they’d definitely let that excitement show.

Week two was where the skeleton of the project was finally put together.

It felt like week three came in nothing more than a blink of the eye. Sketches had been done by Jack for all of the main characters, the outfits, and the major scenes, and Alex had been able to start stitching together some dialogue. Their resentment had dwindled considerably, and they’d been able to come together through their mutual love of stupid shit. Music, movies (superheroes in particular), and TV shows.

Before the week had even come to an end, small comments here and there had turned into full-blown conversations with (God forbid) some genuine laughing. Jack wouldn’t say that he was completely sure about it, but he felt that, at a few points, Alex had even tried flirting.

Sometimes, Jack would even find it in himself to flirt back.

It was harmless, of course. They hardly knew each other and after their project was done and turned in, they’d probably never speak again. Just two more days together before they’d finally be able to go their separate ways and hope that they’d come together enough to do a decent enough job to pass.

The only real problem (after that first week, at least) arose at the beginning of the fourth week. They were so swamped with focusing on their other important exams that they hardly had the time to work on their comic, even with the time they had in class. That was when they finally had to bring out the big guns and exchange phone numbers.

It was purely professional—nothing more and nothing less. It was on professional terms that winking emojis were exchanged, and it was completely professional when they stayed up all night talking and laughing about how their days had gone.

If it was possible, even less work got done during their last few days. Wednesday night, with less than twelve hours until all of their work was to be handed in, found the pair sat at their usual table in the library. Quick sketches and doodles were drawn by Jack before he slid the paper to his partner, who, from there, set about filling in the correct dialogue. If he finished a page with spare time between that one and the next he’d receive, he’d have to grab some colored pencils and, with Jack as a guide, begin to shade in the different panels.

The plan when they’d met up at the library was to pull an all-nighter until it was completed, but by the time two o’clock could even roll around, they were hunched together over the table, light snores falling from their ajar lips and fluttering eyelashes against pale cheeks.

A mere five hours later, the sound that awoke them was a librarian, asking how long they’d been there and if they needed any help.

With less than two and a half hours to spare, two pages to finish, and ten that hadn’t even been drawn up, the pair called it quits.

“Who cares if it’s not, like, all done?” Alex asked around a yawn as he set about perfecting the few pages they’d managed to pull together. “I mean, we put in the effort, didn’t we? And we have all the notes and things to prove that we put in the effort. We’ll just hand those in, too. Besides, we probably won’t get any lower than, like, a thirty, and I have an A in my class, and I doubt you have anything lower than an A in yours. We might still get out of this alive.”

“I never really took you as being the optimistic type,” Jack said as he started up another page. They may have pretty much run out of time at that point, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try and get as close to the end as possible. Even just one more box was better than nothing.

“Well, there’s no point in being a bitch about it all now, right? We just gotta, y’know… see how it all plays out. That’s all we can do,” Alex insisted, a shrug pulling at his sore shoulders. “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

“I’m glad you’re not being a bitch anymore.” Jack hadn’t meant to say it (not loud enough for it to be heard, at least), and he almost apologized before a quiet chuckle met his ears.

“Me, too.”

--- ---

“We got a fifty!” Jack said as he scooped Alex up into his arms and swung him around the empty hallway. “I kept my A! It was just barely, but I still did!”

“Congratulations,” the blond boy choked out after gasping from the shock of the assault. He’d known Jack was there, had been the one to invite the young man out for coffee to celebrate the end of the semester, but he hadn’t been expecting that much of a greeting. “In case you’re wondering, I, too, kept my A.”

“I figured as much.” There was a smile behind the words and two skinny (yet strong) arms squeezed their bodies closer together before setting the blond on his feet once more. Eye contact was no longer a mutual problem between the two, nor was giving a genuine smile, but it seemed like neither was able to stop.

After what felt like an eternity, Jack gave a cough and Alex followed suit.

“So… I mean… I’m really glad we got partnered and stuff even though I kinda hated you for a while there,” Alex started as he began to walk away, gesturing for Jack to follow. “You’re actually not bad. Maybe we could give it another try sometime.”

“You want to try writing another comic with me?” Jack asked, the surprise shining through clearly. It was broken with a laugh and a shake of the head. “I appreciate the offer, but we’d never get anything done.”

Alex had figured as much, but it still pulled a smile. “Well… what about giving us another try? We could start over and not have all of this hanging over our heads. I don’t think we got off on the right foot… like, at all.”

Jack gave a moment of faux contemplation before he was nodding his head and moving closer to nudge their shoulders together. “Hi,” he started, offering a warm grin. “My name’s Jack. You look like you’ve got a good taste in entertainment. Mind if I join you?”

Alex didn’t even hesitate to smile back. “I can’t think of anything better.”