Chapter Text
Your name is Dave Strider and you’re basically draped over the fence that separates the track and field area from the bleacher’s area, staring at who is probably the best looking person you’ve ever seen. He looks even more stunning in his band uniform, even if it leaves EVERYTHING to the imagination, just fiddling with his clarinet (if you ever get together you are SO using that as a euphemism). But that doesn’t really matter.
You’ve had this God awful crush on Karkat Vantas for as long as you’ve known him. You could say it was love at first sight. Actually… Love at first insult.
God, when he called you a “immodest shit canned cat” you swear you could hear your brain’s sirens screaming “Oh god this is it, the person of our dreams is right in front of us! Not only is he the hottest piece of ass we’ve ever seen, but he is so witty and smart! Who comes up with these kinda insults? A genius that’s who. Oh my God, what do we do? Should we call the president, and tell him to send an alert to let everyone know we’re off the table? That we would rather go our entire life without someone if it meant you had a shot with him? Oh the war and panic that would follow that kind of announcement! The people would be rioting for days and then The Purge would actually happen and we don’t want to be the one to cause that-”
“Dave, you know that we love you but, seriously? Get your head in the game, dude.” A sweet voice cuts through your thoughts. When you turn your head around, but not moving your body from its relatively comfortable position, you see Jade Harley, one of your best friends and one of the head cheerleaders.
“Yeah Strider,” Aradia adds, “The game’s about to start, and you can’t be staring at your lover boy the whole time! We got cheering to do!” Ah the other cheer captain. Aradia is very sweet (when she isn’t talking about paleontology because that shit gets creepy FAST (you have no room to talk with all the dead shit you used to collect)), but sometimes a man just has to stare at another dude. It just be like that sometimes.
“Yeah, well I was hoping to keep staring until he noticed me.” You hope that doesn’t sound weird or creep, and you must show it on your face even if you have your glasses on. What was the point in wearing them if people could see your emotions? That’s right: there isn’t one.
Well actually you’ve been trying to work on actually showing emotion and interest and shit since you started rooming in the Lalonde abode. You suppose this could be why you were comfortable telling the rest of the cheer squad about your crush on the loud guy who plays the clarinet about as loud as he speaks. Which is to say pretty fucking loud.
Whatever. Anyways, you must look pretty pathetic because all the other girls come over to try and cheer you up. Aradia turns you around to face the field and puts a pom-pom filled hand on your back. Boy troubles are nothing new to the cheer squad.
Jade softly says, “Well it is kinda hard to tell with your glasses on. I’m sure he notices, but maybe it’ll help to take the glasses off?”
“What? Guys stop, I’m fine. No dude, these are part of the Strider Aesthetic™ and they don’t come off for just anybody.” You haven’t gotten around to tell them about your sensitive eyes, but it isn’t that big a deal anyway.
“Is Karkat’s just anybody?’” Jade gives you a knowing smirk. Damn it, there have been too many hangout sessions where you ramble on and on about how perfect this boy is for you. Like you seriously couldn’t shut up and no one stopped. Some friends you have. The tea, as they would say, has been spilled.
You reassure the team you’re fine, and completely avoid Jade’s comment. And perfect timing, the game just started, and Aradia and Jade lead the squad through the starting cheers. You try not to think about Karkat and his stupidly perfect… everything.
Your name is Karkat Vantas and OH MY GOD HE’S STILL STARING.
Ever since you got back from pregame this little pompous bitch socket has been staring up here again. He does this every single game, without fail. Whenever the cheerleaders aren’t… uh… cheering, he is completely focused on whoever his eyes are fixed on.
The whole band has started this crazy bet over who Strider has been staring at, because it’s very clear that he is at SOMEONE in the band but with those douchey glasses no one can tell. There has to be at least a hundred bucks in the pot.
Hey, band kids have to make a living off of something, and it sure as hell isn’t music. Most of you just started here to waive PE, miss school a couple of days and just ended up being sucked into the void and unable to claw your way out.
You’ve participated in your share of theories, but only because the bet is ‘the hot thing right now’ and you would rather not be left out. Here are some of your ideas:
The person is clearly not a low brass player, they are too high up in the bleachers, and the angle he’s staring at isn’t that far up. And they aren’t a percussionist or a trumpet because they're too low. That leaves woodwinds.
Now, obviously no one in their right mind would willingly date a saxophone, knowing they play said instrument. That being said, you don’t know how Sollux managed to start dating Aradia, one of the head cheerleaders. You can’t deny the dude has to have some game.
So that now leaves flutes and clarinets. Your five bucks in on Feferi, your co-section leader. She’s very pretty and sweet, and Strider has a perfect direct line of sight on her from where he leans on the fence.
“You should go talk to him Fef,” you say, turning to look at her. When she gives you a confused look, you slightly move your head and eyes toward Strider.
When she sees who you’re referring to, Feferi giggles. “No, Kat, YOU should go talk to him. He is for sure not staring at me.”
You aggressively shake your head, “We are not arguing about this again, he is very obviously into you, but it's too much of a pantywaist to do anything about it!” She then gives you the universal hand sign that you’re getting too loud, so you make your tone a bit softer. “You should boss up and go talk to him. You don’t have to ask him out, but maybe you can at least put this bet thing to rest.”
She giggles again, but promises she will think about it. You really hope she ACTUALLY thinks about it because romance is Kinda Your Thing and to help someone out like this would look great on your matchmaking record. A band kid and a cheerleader, man how stupid is that story?
Thank God you see Vriska, your field commander, hold up the folder letting the band know that “Land of a Thousand Dances” is the first stand tune of the game. That train of thought was about to fly off the rails with other shitty plot lines to romance movies and books. You shuffle through your flip folder to find the music, even though you basically have all of the tunes memorized by now. You try to keep your mind off this idiotic bet.