Chapter Text
“Nope. Not happening.” Logan whispered to himself as he was sat in College Writing 101. He was in his first semester of college, and College Writing 101 was a compulsory class. That was fine – he was alright at writing even though he was going to be a math major, what wasn’t alright was that his eyes tended to wonder.
Logan had told himself he wasn’t going to fall in love in college. He had succeeded to avoid it in high school, he had known he was gay since middle school when he didn’t find any of the girls pretty at the eighth grade dance but felt hypnotised by his male classmates in their rented bowties. His family wasn’t super accepting so he wanted to keep his sexuality hidden until he was independent from them with some kind of city job and his own place.
One person caused Logan’s eyes to be glued on them rather than the impending lecture. He stood out by always wearing bright yellow, contrasting his short black hair and tanned features. He came in early every class, much like Logan did, but sat at the back and – like Logan again – didn’t speak to anyone minus one or two friends that sat by him. He was mysterious, serious, and beautiful. Just the mix that Logan couldn’t handle.
Luckily, he was looking away as his roommate approached – the roommate didn’t seem the type to leave Logan alone about it. “Hi Logie! I got your coffee.” Patton was a nice person, he was going into the psychology major and over the weeks the pair had lived in the same room he understood Logan’s introversion and focus on his studies – even though he was quite the opposite. The coffee routine was a regular thing for them before College Writing 101. It was an afternoon class so Logan headed early after a class in the same building, while Patton was on the opposite side of campus next to the coffee shop. Patton got Logan coffee and Logan paid him back, getting an extra candy packet from the vending machine as they walked back to the dorm. “Are you excited to hear about this project?”
Today a project was announced that would be worth 50% of the final grade. The professor walked in before Logan could answer, starting the lecture as the students around him got out their books and notepads. College Writing 101 was fairly relaxed since it was a class all freshmen had to take, food was allowed and the professor also permitted students to work on other assignments while he spoke. Logan currently had a sheet of math equations opposite him that he was methodically working his way through.
“I don’t know why you’ll want to specialise in that for four years.” Patton whispered as he looked over his friend’s work. He had some brain diagrams in his notebook, decorated in pastel highlighters and glitter pens. After a few minutes Patton turned to the PowerPoint in front of them, with the title of new project – ‘Five Year Plan’. “No way! This is the Five Year Plan project?” Patton giggled, silencing as Logan raised his head to the screen.
“This is a presentation assignment. In five years you all will be college graduates, preparing for grad school or work, and I want to hear what you’ll be doing. You’ll be doing it in pairs that I’ll assign…” As the professor explained the project, Patton explained what he had heard of it. According to the fantastical Patton the professor had a knack for putting people together for this project that would later date and even get married. At least that probably meant the pairing were boy-girl and Logan would be far from that statistic.
The professor read out the names in a deep, monotone tone. The two boys at the front eagerly listened for their names – Patton for the possibility of a soulmate and Logan just to see if he could survive the assignment or burn out. After a while Logan’s name was said next to a ‘Janus Yang’. He did a quick look around to see if anyone responded to that other name but found nothing, expecting a woman since he believed Janus to be a female name. Patton was with a person called Virgil, which he seemed excited about (and Logan had to remind him to not get too ahead of himself).
Later that evening Logan was lying in bed, having finished the Chinese takeaway he and Patton got together when they felt too lazy to go down to the university canteen. He was fully prepared for the next day of lectures, scrolling through his phone to relax before getting ready for bed. He was ready to have an early night – until he received a message on the university’s online platform.
Janus Yang: Hey – Are you my partner for the College Writing 101 project?
The name seemed correct, so Logan did a snoop (he wasn’t going to respond straight away without checking he didn’t recognise the person). Unfortunately – he did very much recognise the person. The man in bright yellow clothing and a charismatic smile, his profile picture just that. This was going to be a long project.
Logan Sanders: Yes, and honestly I would like this project done quickly so I’ll do my side this weekend and send it to you to add to yours. I have a lot of assignments due at the same time.
OK, he might have lied, but he had to. He will probably sink into the ground working together with Janus, and he didn’t mind the consequences of pushing Janus away. Then he’ll never have to worry about college romance.
Janus Yang: Well if that is what you prefer. But we should meet up at least once – just to check our formatting is the same. Plus I don’t know if you can send files on here.
The mystery man did have a point. Logan was a perfectionist when it came to presentations, he’ll never forgive himself if he let a presentation come to life without checking the font was Times New Roman and the line spacing was 1.5. And the system didn’t allow files to be sent – at least for jpeg files since Patton did try sending memes to Logan during their first week together but it was all blocked.
Logan Sanders: Alright, yes. I have a gap between my classes around 1pm to 4pm – does that suit you?
Janus Yang: Certainly, but starting 2pm. We can meet in the library maybe?
All Logan could do was give a thumbs up to the message before he put his phone on the dresser and turned his head to sigh loudly in his pillow. Of course this happened. He could not just be a normal college student with a bit of a crush on a stranger.