Chapter Text
Spherical Cow: The spherical cow is a humorous metaphor for highly simplified scientific models of complex phenomena. Originating in theoretical physics, the metaphor refers to some scientific tendencies to develop toy models that reduce a problem to the simplest form imaginable, making calculations more feasible, even if the simplification hinders the model's application to reality.
“So, lemme get this straight… The smartest girl in PZ Tech needs help with her multivariable homework because…”
Jinx rolls her eyes as if she’s told Ekko the reason a hundred times before, when in reality she had only just told him for the first time in a near incomprehensible jumble of words that’d fallen from her lips in one breath. It was the end of his first class of the day and she’d ambushed him in a flurry of post-it notes and index cards, behaving no differently than a child off 200 grams of sugar.
She’d shoved her fluffy blue notebook into his hands for proof of her predicament, causing the coffee cup in his grip to nearly topple over and spill its contents all over her chest. Despite not wanting to be drenched in that lukewarm mudslop, Jinx had hoped it would. The drink would’ve splashed onto her breasts and puckered her nipples, making them visible.
Making Ekko look.
“...Because if I pass, then that means I’ll officially have straight A’s. 100% everything,” Jinx says with a wave of her hands. “And I’ll be able to prove to my dads that I’m meant for more than their boring old man bar.”
Ekko nods slowly. “Okaaay. And if you don’t successfully grasp these multivariates by the time of your test which would be–” he checks his watch “– 2:00 PM this Friday and get scored anything less than a 98%, then your fathers would pull you out of school by your braids and forcefully expel you.”
“Don’t forget the kicking and screaming!”
“Right, sorry, how could I? After being dragged from school by your braids kicking and screaming , you’ll have to live at home, forced to barkeep at their quote unquote boring old man bar, which is what you don’t want to do. Ever. At all.”
“Point blank,” Jinx says with a firm nod.
Jinx feels bad for lying. She really, really, really, really, really, really, really does. Seriously. Truthfully. She feels as bad as a hunter gleefully placing berries in a bear trap. But can you blame her? The moment her eyes met Ekko’s on their first day of freshman year (at 1:50 PM on Monday, May 1st) (she wrote that fateful date down in the margins of her probabilities and statistics notes), Jinx knew without a doubt that she needed Ekko in a way that would make even the devil himself blush.
Ekko studies the pages of her notebook quietly, making Jinx wonder what he thinks of all the highlighted bits, the stickies that lift up and reveal doodles, the totally not complete and utter dogshit handwriting. She imagines what his notes look like. Are they cleaner than hers? Does he ever put E+J in the margins the way she does?
Instead of nodding enthusiastically and saying, “Of course I’ll help you study, Jinx! I love you and would never question you or turn you down! Yes I’m down to fuck! Let’s get married!” like Jinx wants him to, he hands the notebook back to her, a thick brow lifted in question.
“And you’re asking me… Why?”
She takes it back slowly, examining his expression. “... Because I need a second opinion and you’re one of the most qualified guys in school who can offer me valuable insight into the work given.”
Jinx almost winces as the words escape her. She doesn’t think she’s ever said the words “valuable insight” within the past two years aloud unless she was reading a syllabus or mocking her sister’s girlfriend’s ear-bleeding posh accent. But she needed another excuse fast, and that was the best she could come up with under short notice! …Short notice being literal milliseconds, but whatever. Why oh why was Ekko a question-asker and not a yes-man who blindly acquiesced to everything she asked of him?!
Ekko stares at her, coffee in one hand and the other in a fist on his hip. They’re standing off to the side of a bustling hallway, exhausted engineering, physics, and biomedical students shuffling to their next classes or going home for the day, all melding into one moving impressionist portrait of grays and browns and muted greens and sweatpants. Her and Ekko are the only ones who truly stand out in Jinx’s opinion. And it’s not just because of his bone-white locs and her powder blue tresses.
“Valuable insight, huh?” Ekko asks, his chocolatey eyes trailing up and down her person. Is he impressed with what he sees? Disgusted? Aroused? Whatever his judgement, Jinx shivers at the attention given, promptly ignoring the warm feeling that pools low in her gut, and the tingling sensation in her groin that has her toying with one of the holes in her jeans to distract herself. She shifts her position, deciding to stand with her legs crossed, when a near paralyzing jolt shoots through her. It is fervent and wanton and so very very real that she almost lets out a squeak from her clenched lips.
Don’t do that again, Jinx demands to herself, reaching a hand out and resting it on the wall for balance. Ekko notices the little action and squints. Jesus she is such a fucking mess.
For a second, she thinks he’ll question whatever the hell that was. Instead he shakes his head. “I’m still just trying to understand why you’d come to someone with worse grades than you for help instead of asking your professor or something.”
Jinx makes a face, clutching her notebook to her chest with the hand that isn’t pathetically holding her up against the wall. His grades are hardly “worse” than hers — there’s less than a 2-3% difference between their overall graded scores. She’s always on top, but he’s never too far behind. It’s been that way for a hot minute; no one else in PZ Tech has been able to even encroach on the little bubble of faux rivalry they have going on.
“The professor,” she starts, beginning to become annoyed at this position she’s put herself in, “is terrible at explaining the work. Which is why I need someone else to simplify it for me. So that I can get this good grade and not have to go back home to my dads and be a barkeep for the rest of my pitiful life.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Professor Smeech isn’t my favorite, but he’s not bad at breaking down the work. You’d probably have a better time with him,” Ekko says.
Shit. Shit, she’s losing him! It’s time to pull out all the stops.
Jinx scoffs. “So basically you’re telling me to go fuck myself and stop bothering you.” She moves to barge past him. “Fine.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, that is not what I said,” he says, grabbing her upper arm. Jinx tries not to settle on the way his hand has completely wrapped around it, lest she settle on where else his hands could easily fit around. Fuck.
Still, she snatches herself away from him, playing up the moody reaction. “You didn’t have to; I know how to read between the lines.”
“So do I,” he declares, a glint in his eye. They’re at a standstill; the number of students in the hallway is beginning to dwindle and the clock ticks forward, ceaselessly. Cruelly. She can stand in the hallway for as long as possible – her next class is in the afternoon after all – but she’s recently found out that Ekko can be quite fanatical when it comes to punctuality. Stalking has its benefits.
Did she say stalking? She meant lagging behind him at a distance while he doesn’t know she’s there.
Their shared silence is broken by Ekko finally letting out a breath. It smells of hazelnut and chocolate mint. Oh, what Jinx would do to grab his face and shove her tongue in his mouth. But she has to be patient. She’ll get what she wants in due time. Even if right now he wants to play hard-to-get.
“You really need my help? No one else’s?” he asks.
Jinx stares at him, then fully turns to face him. “Isn’t that what I said? And If I didn’t, do you really think I’d be keeping you from your next class?”
Data Analytics for Social Good. Starts at 10:50 but usually begins at 10:53 on the dot because the professor takes the steps instead of the elevator. Ekko slides his phone out of his pocket, sucking his teeth once he sees the time. 10:48. She doesn’t need to look; the blocky numbers are reflected in his glasses.
“Point taken. Um…” Ekko looks antsy, doubtful still, but his eyes fall on Jinx, resolute. “Okay, I’ll help you study.”
She smiles. “Wait, actually? You will?”
“Isn’t that what I said?” he remarks, a small grin pulling at his thick, luscious, kissable lips. Who said that? “Take out your phone, I’ll give you my number.”
Jinx pretends to input his digits. Truth is, she already had it, just never contacted him. She’d secretly procured it from his files last summer while doing volunteer work as a front office administrator. The only reason she suffered behind a desk talking to sweaty strangers all day was because she didn’t want to return home and have to pretend to be a likeable human to She Who Shall Not Be Named. Gag.
Unfortunately, due to her ghosting her entire family just to get out of those awkward interactions, Vi has refused to have a real conversation with her that lasts longer than 5 minutes.
She sorts away the memory into a mental vault. Now isn’t the time to be thinking about last summer and her shortcomings as a sister. Her crush is standing before her, giving her his phone number with an easy tilt to his mouth.
A ping sounds from her phone.
i will have him: hi jinx :)
Jinx smiles down at the little text. Finally, finally, she’s received contact from the number that’s been in her phone for months. When she looks back up, Ekko is already walking backward toward the double doors at the end of the hallway.
“Let’s meet up tonight, ‘kay? My roommate should be out so we shouldn’t have any distractions.” He raises his hand in a wave before turning. “See you around, Blue,” Ekko calls over his shoulder. For one second, she ignores how much she absolutely despises that nickname, instead opting to think about how delectable it sounds coming from him. Maybe he can call her that more, give her a little exposure therapy.
“See you,” she mutters to a now empty hallway, that raw heat in her stomach feeling like it’s beginning to hit its boiling point.
The faint tremor between her legs no longer feels so faint. Jinx hitches her bag up higher on her shoulder and all but sprints to her dorm. She needed to be alone. Now.
Jinx isn’t a moron. Far from it, actually. After only attending PZ Tech for two years, she’s risen above the entire student body, on her way to graduate summa cum laude and become an alumni the school will have framed in the front halls. Her papers have been cited by (so-called) brilliant inventor Jayce Tallis, and she’d even been interviewed by a nationwide news broadcast to basically boast about how good her inventions and ideas are. She’s a bonafide genius, through and through.
That being said, she doesn’t need tutoring on her multivariable homework. That shit’s easy as pie; she could solve the formulae in her sleep.
What she actually wanted was to get Ekko in bed with her.
See, Jinx has this amazing plan, and it’s bound to work because all her plans work out. Usually. First, she’d lie about needing help with her homework and about Silco and Vandor being up her ass about her grades. There was no reason for them to be because, well, look at her! Plus, they don’t actually want her to spend her life working at their bar – they’d hate that for her.
Step one? Check.
Second, she’d put on a hot outfit. Something tempting, something that’d be easy to fuck in. Jinx has always had a thing for clothed sex. Makes it feel hasty, messy, nasty. A mini dress would work fine – Ekko could just lift it up and pound into her – and maybe a cardigan to go over it. She’d do her hair up in braided loops so he could pull on them as he fucked her from behind, too.
Step two? Not done.
Third, she’d get “tutored” by Ekko. He’d ramble on and on about gradients and partial derivatives while Jinx smiled and nodded, secretly thinking about what position they should start with. Cowgirl on the couch sounded good; she was in the mood to grind today. Then, once their session was over, Jinx would offer to tutor him on something in return. Ekko would ask what, and Jinx would pull down his pants and stuff her mouth with his cock.
Step three? Not done.
It was a foolproof plan literally incapable of going wrong. Probably. But honestly, it feels like she’s already fucking it up by sneakily inserting a secret step between the first and second. Luckily she’s on her way to her dorm to enact it now.
Jinx can hear the lousy tramp smacking on her bubblegum before she even jams her key into the lock and marches into the room. Sweat trails down her temple as she lays eyes on that ginger bob.
“Get out,” she orders Maddie, who spins in her seat at the sound of Jinx’s voice. Her eyes are wide, fingers frozen over the keyboard.
Jinx would burst into a fit of cackles at the pitiable sight if she weren’t seconds away from The Big O.
From where she stands in the entryway she can’t see what Maddie had been in the middle of typing, but she can see the website she’s on – some horrid site featuring a hideous mishmash of retro-boho-prep, showcasing bell bottoms and floral print dresses for nine-year-olds and fifty-nine-year-olds with no in-between. At least that’s what it looks like to Jinx.
Yeah. Maddie’s definitely not working on any essays or emailing any professors, no matter how many times she claims she is whenever Jinx demands her to leave.
Maddie hesitates. Jinx can tell she’s debating, once again, whether to finally stand up to her or just save the energy and follow directions. Technically, it is her dorm room too. But complaints about Jinx’s “erratic” behavior never get taken seriously. Even when half the dorm tried to band together to get rid of her – pranks, complaints to RA, even calling the police – it all failed. Because Jinx’s grades? Immaculate. And as long as she kept making the school look good, they weren’t about to get rid of her.
That’s why Maddie exhales, long and drawn out and pathetic-sounding, then starts packing up. She slaps her laptop closed and shoves it into a canvas bag, along with her tangerine and cyan eyesore of a sweater.
She stomps past Jinx without making eye contact, but pauses as she reaches the doorway.
“Have the day you deserve,” Maddie mutters. The door is slammed shut before Jinx can respond. Not that she’d waste her breath.
Jinx reaches back and locks the door without a second thought.
Finally alone, she sighs and closes her eyes, wiping her sweaty palms along her jeans. Sounds of the dormitory cut through the silence: girls laughing in the hall, music bumping in the dorm above hers, an argument outside her window. It’s all the calm before Jinx’s personal storm. She tries to take another step into the room when her breath suddenly catches. In an attempt to quiet herself, she throws a palm up to her mouth.
“Oh fuck, fuck, fuck ,” Jinx whispers behind her hand, screwing her eyes shut. Her stomach clenches as an electric spasm rips through her entire being like lightning in a summer storm. Then, the crash of thunder follows like a promise.
Another jolt fireworks through her lower region and this time, it sends Jinx to her knees.
Her bag slips from her shoulder, crashing to the floor and releasing a flood of personal items across the rough navy carpet. A phone with a cracked screen, a water bottle adorned with stickers, a glittering makeup bag (gifted from She Who Shall Once Again Not Be Named), hand sanitizer, a miniature bottle of lube, a little remote, and her trusty pink pocket knife. Jinx hardly registers any of it though.
Everything within her is tightening. Barely concealed moans slip past her lips as she lowers the camisole from her perky breasts, groping herself and using her thumbs to tease at the raised nipples. Jinx gulps for air like a fish out of water as she stimulates herself, doubled over; her limit is nearing like a speeding train with a broken brake.
Jinx rolls onto her back and unbuttons her jeans with clumsy fingers. Lifting her hips to tug them down, along with her crocodile-dotted thong, she finally kicks them off completely, widening her legs and shivering at the whisper of a breeze that flows from under the doorway and tickles her naked pussy.
Her heart jackhammers behind her ribcage as the hands free vibrator that at first had been gently massaging her all day, even while she was chatting with Ekko, now relentlessly juddered against her clitoris and G-spot. She holds her legs spread, imagining Ekko fucking into her with his tongue.
“Mphh, Ekko, hah,” Jinx rasps as she pictures him looking up at her from above the rim of his big, stupid glasses, sucking her clut noisily and licking her insides and getting slick all over his lips, chin, and even the tip of his nose.
A broken sob tears from Jinx’s lips as she inserts two fingers into her wet hole alongside the vibrator, thrusting them in and out at a rapid pace. Her hips roll and her body writhes like a perishing snail under salt. A gaggle of girls walk past her door but she can’t quiet herself, not even if she actually tried. Her vision whites out at the edges as pressure builds low in her pelvis. The all-encompassing sensation is too much for Jinx to handle.
She can’t take it anymore.
Still fingering her abused cunt, she throws her head back and lets out a broken cry as release gushes from within her, soaking her legs, her jeans, and the carpet in her fluids. Jinx can’t even form words let alone thoughts as she comes, nothing on her mind but a dark-skinned boy with white locs, kissable lips, and hands big enough to wrap around her upper arm like she’s nothing but a doll.
She can’t believe the mental image of a total turbo nerd made her orgasm harder than she ever has in her entire life.
Twitches rack her body as she lies on the floor, breathless and drenched in sweat. Her pulse hammers between her legs as the vibrator persists with its steady tremors. With a shaky hand, she reaches around in the mess on the floor for the little lavender remote, locating it near her phone. She holds the button, feeling relief when the vibrations finally cease.
A little gasp escapes her when she eases the toy out, slow and careful. It leaves with a wet pop, a slick string of arousal still connected to her pussy as she stares, dazed.
“Jesus,” she pants, voice nearly wrecked.
Jinx stares at the ceiling, real life coming back to her. She’s suddenly aware that her lower half is soaking wet and beginning to cool, her top is hanging on for dear life (the spaghetti straps are at her elbows and her tits are completely freed for God’s sake, when did that happen?), and somehow, her braids are starting to become undone.
And she’s laying on a dirty college floor to boot.
Weakly, she heaves herself up and toddles over to her bed, falling face first into the multicolored quilt. Jinx whimpers pathetically as she comes down from her high. She tries not to let her mind race, but there’s so much that needs to be done: her shit needs to be picked up, she needs to take a shower, afternoon classes are quickly approaching, she needs to get lube and condoms for her and Ekko’s “tutoring” session… Ugh, it’s just too much.
But Jinx is a doer, and she won’t let her grades slip because of a little orgasm, and she certainly won’t pass up (probable) sex with her crush.
So she throws all her junk back into her bag, puts her clothes in her laundry basket, and heads to the showers. Shampoo is lathered into her azure locks, and scented body wash is scrubbed onto her body. Idly, Jinx wonders what Ekko would’ve thought if she’d cum in front of him while telling him that stupid lie. Would Ekko look at her like she was crazy? Or would he have pulled her jeans down at that moment and fucked her, the student body watching and recording and egging them on?
Probably the first one. But a girl can fantasize, right?
Jinx brings the showerhead down to her groin, rinsing away the soap. She bites her lip, wondering if she even has time to spare to do what she’s about to do, then thinks to herself, Fuck it. The water pressure is adjusted to a rougher spray, and Jinx spreads her lips, aiming for her clit.
She leans against the wall, mouth open in an O-shape as her eyes flutter closed. Jinx tries to imagine how Ekko would be in bed with her. Would he be rough? Gentle? Would they go slow? Or would they fuck like rabbits?
After learning that he was a virgin by eavesdropping on a conversation he’d been having with a random dude at some gutterbutt Halloween party last year, that, for some reason, heightened Jinx’s need for him. She could show him the ropes, teach him everything that he needs to know.
As she grips the watery tile in an attempt to keep herself upright, she imagines them starting off slow. Hands roaming, tongues dancing, boner rising, folds wetting, the works. Then skip to the bedroom part because she’s impatient. Ekko is underneath her, beholding her naked body, and Jinx is riding him, gazing down at his sweaty face, hearts in her eyes. Then, their pace increases. Jinx can’t stop because she’s wanted this for so long, and Ekko can’t stop because the new, smutty feeling of fucking up into Jinx’s tight, wet heat scrambles his brains.
She nearly tears open her lip as she bites herself to be quiet within the shower; her moans would no doubt bounce off the walls and release an echo into the hall.
Once again, she inserts a finger within herself, then another, then yet another because for some reason she’s absolutely insatiable today, and speeds the digits in and out of her pussy, coming a second time that day within the span of 30 minutes as little noises escape her.
God. If only the thought of having sex with Ekko were enough to make her come twice, she’s more excited for what’s really in store for her tonight.
i will have him: where are you? i don’t see you
jinx: maybe cause the chrome at the front of your motorcycle is blinding you doofus
i will have him: it doesn’t blind me when i have the helmet on smartypants 😎
i will have him: nevermind, i see you
And she had seen him when he first emerged from commons, looking effortlessly cool and comfy in his cotton tee and wide denim pants. Jinx watched, rapt, as Ekko said hello to at least twenty different people while walking through the parking lot, as he sexily swung his leg over the seat with practiced ease, and as he sat there for a minute toying with the mini hoop dangling from his ear.
All the while, her eyes never left him. That is, until he texted her.
Now here he was, helmet on and pulling up before her on a blindingly bright chrome Harley. It purred smoothly as he slowed to a stop and winked up at her.
“Wow,” is all she can say. Anything more and she’d sound like a perverted creep.
Ekko doesn’t make it any easier for her when he says, “Like what ya see?” His mouth is covered, voice muffled by the helmet, but she knows he’s smiling. The way the edges of his eyes crinkle give him away. God. Fuck. He reaches behind himself, takes another helmet off its lock, and hands it over to Jinx. She turns it over in her hands, examining its plain black surface. Oh, how much better it would look if Jinx were able to pretty it up with graffiti markers or some stickers.
“You ever been on a motorcycle?” Ekko asks, watching her slide the helmet on, then looking down at her exposed legs.
“Nope,” she says simply, seating herself behind Ekko and immediately grasping his shoulders. She expects him to take off immediately so they can get this show on the road, but the motorcycle hasn’t moved yet and he’s surprisingly stiff under her touch. “What’s wrong?” Jinx asks, smoothing her hands down his shoulders until they stop at his biceps. Oh, she wants to squeeze them and feel the muscle so bad.
“Is your, um… Do you want like a–” he points at her lap “– like, something for your lap…? Your dress is pretty short.”
Jinx grins, glad that her outfit hasn’t gone unnoticed. It’s a simple one: black mini dress, deep violet cardigan, and black sandals; a look that sells the sweet and innocent part of her. Even though she’s as sweet and innocent as someone who leads cows to slaughter. All so very easy to slip off. And so very easy to get Ekko tempted. He must be, considering he’s still staring at her legs. She kicks one out, playful.
“Meh, worst that could happen is my dress rides up,” she shrugs, then smiles a little lecherously. “Hope whoever’s behind us doesn’t mind getting flashed by bare ass.”
Ekko tenses even more under her touch. “Wha–”
“Joking. I’m joking, silly,” she says, pinching his side.
Ekko just shakes his head. If she listens closely, she thinks she can hear him chuckle. Or he’s mumbling about how much he wants to fuck her. Either one is fine with Jinx.
“Ready?” he asks over his shoulder, sliding down his visor. Jinx wraps her arms around his middle, tightening her grip in response. With no more preamble, Ekko sets off out of the university's parking lot and toward the student apartments in town.
Golden hour lights up buildings and storefronts as Ekko cuts through rush hour traffic, weaving neatly between honking cars and sighing buses. It feels sort of thrilling to be on a motorcycle, Jinx thinks. The thrum of it underneath her body, all the people and colors passing them by, not to mention getting to hug Ekko from behind. She doesn’t have to wonder if there’s a row of abs where his tummy is, if the cut of his biceps are anything to go by.
She’ll have to get him out of his clothes just to make sure.
Ekko makes a left turn off the road into a parking lot. Rows and rows of four-story buildings sit one after another, all gray-ish and clean and uninspired. Despite the dismal outer appearance, Jinx wishes she could keep a job long enough to make money to pay rent; she’d much prefer an apartment over sharing a dorm with someone any day of the week.
“Home sweet home,” Ekko says as he turns the engine off and removes his helmet. “Thoughts on your first motorcycle ride?”
“Pretty good. Although, I think I could probably steer that thing way better than you.”
“Yeah into the back of someone’s car maybe,” he says, smiling.
“Look, golf carts are surprisingly light to steer, okay? You gotta be gentle when you turn them. Plus I was drunk.”
He laughs. “Drunk driving on campus grounds. I’m surprised they didn’t expel you right then and there.”
She shrugs. “Everyone knows not to get on my bad side.”
“Yeah you kinda seem like the type to bite.”
Jinx doesn’t miss the way a dimple pokes into Ekko’s cheek as she tries to kick him in the back of the shin, and he turns to her, beaming, begging for mercy before she’s even hurt him.
God she wants to ruin him so bad.
Surprisingly, the student apartments, or at least the one Ekko lives in, are fairly clean. Sunlight filters in through floor to ceiling hallway windows that gives a phenomenal view of the little college town, and makes the white tile glow. Ekko walks up to a door with a welcome mat and potted plant then unlocks it, letting Jinx in first.
She steps inside, taking off her shoes. For a boy’s apartment, it’s pretty neat and clean. Very minimalist, tidy, filled only with the essentials and an assortment of plants. The living room is filled with the fresh, clean scent of aloe and bergamot as well.
Ekko scurries around her, going to a coat closet and taking out two pairs of slippers for them. He takes her sandals, removes his own boots, and places them in the closet, closing it behind himself.
“Very nice,” Jinx compliments, taking the slippers. “Way cleaner than my dorm. Smells better too.”
“I can only imagine what your dorm is like,” Ekko says, then seems to take a second to think. Maybe in his mind, she has flavored lube lined up in her windowsill, a drawer filled with all her panties and bras, and a secret compartment that fits under her bed containing nothing but sex toys? She imagines herself slapping him on the arm playfully, telling him her room is filled with no such thing. And then they make out. Instead he snaps, dragging her back to real life.
“If your notebook was an indication of anything, you probably have lots of art up. You really love doodling, it seems. Also, probably lots of colors, or really just blue, am I right?” Ekko asks innocently.
Or that.
“You read me like an open book,” she says with a wide smile. She really needs to get her mind out of the gutter, lest she let on what she’s really here for.
“Figures,” he says with a grin. Then, he claps his hands together, a sound that echoes throughout the silent apartment. Jinx doesn’t startle, but she does shiver. “So, how about we get started on this study session, huh?”
With a nod, Jinx spreads all her work out on the wooden dining table. It’s from a class they both share: multivariable calculus, a required class for the high level studies in their respective majors: engineering and physics.
Jinx is an engineering major, an innovative monster in and out of class. She’s been lauded as one of the smartest girls in her class, her year, and in the history of the school’s conception. She doesn’t try very hard, much to the annoyance of some, but when she does, her inventions are said to be able to change the lives of many, possibly the world. Paraphrasing, of course.
Ekko is a physics major, born with a mind some would go so far as to say compares to Einstein’s. He’s too smart for his own good. When people asked if he’d go on to become an astrophysicist or aerospace engineer, and he’d instead say he’d do something smaller scale, something more community oriented, they looked at him like he’d turned into some amphibious monstrosity and started laying eggs before them.
Ekko has openly admitted he thinks people who question his path are idiots. He knows what he’s doing. Then again, techbros avoid the humanities like their lives depend on it, so it isn’t a surprise they don’t get that he’s still trying to change lives with technology. Just, in an entirely different way and with an entirely different outlook.
It was like he had a bird’s eye view of certain problems, and could typically solve them correctly the first time from his own understanding. This was one of the main reasons why Jinx admired him, why, despite her already knowing the material, she still appreciated his input.
It was like being a God, listening to a philosopher talk, and nodding your head and going “Yup.” He just gets it.
Ekko looks at the work laid out before him, picking up classwork sheets and xerox copies of textbook pages. “Hm, ‘ find the extrema of 𝑓(𝑥,𝑦)=𝑥²+𝑦²f(x,y)=x² +y² subject to the constraint 𝑥+𝑦=1,” he reads off the page, then rolls his eyes. “Lagrange multipliers, ugh.”
“Tell me about it,” Jinx groans.
“This shouldn’t take very long,” he says, setting the papers down and grabbing a new sheet of blank paper. “Solving the problem is actually pretty easy.”
Ekko goes over the equation, writing it out and helping her solve it step by step. She doesn’t let on that she knows the answer already – (𝑥,𝑦) = ( ½ ,½ ) with the minimum value of the function 𝑓 = ½ – because if she did, how could she get this up-close-and-personal view of his gorgeous face? The way his thick brows move down when he was to look at the math closely, the way his tongue wets his upper lip, causing them to glisten in the lamplight, the way he laughs sheepishly when he accidentally writes down the wrong number, the way he waves in her face, his mouth moving –
He snaps his fingers. “Hellooo? Earth to Jinx?” he calls, finally getting her attention. That feeling in her gut makes its grand return. Did she seriously just get turned on by him raising his voice at her a little? She clears her throat and smoothes her hands over the bottom of her dress as Ekko gropes at his cheeks. “Is there something on my face?”
“Nothing but your face,” Jinx says, writing down the correct answer in the space left open for her. “Don’t worry, I understood everything you said. You’re a great teacher.”
His lips turn up in a smile. “Thanks. And you’re a great listener,” he says, the tip of his slipper brushing up against her own. Be still her throbbing netherregion…!
Golden hour gives way to twinkling stars and a velvety sky. They’re halfway through their study session when, after daydreaming about being bent over the table, Jinx gets that warm feeling low in her gut again. She shifts in her seat. Now or never , she thinks to herself.
Jinx sits back in her chair and lets out a sigh, crossing her legs and fixing the bottom of her mini dress. “Um… maybe we should end early for tonight. I’m sorta understanding the work already since you’re so great at teaching. Plus, my brain is feeling pretty full.”
She wishes something else felt full but. Baby steps, Jinx. Baby steps.
“I don’t gotta know everything today after all,” she continues. “The test is only this Friday…”
“Gotcha,” Ekko says, stretching back in his seat. “We can definitely pick back up tomorrow if you want.”
Jinx doesn’t say anything, opting instead to stare openly at him.
“Unless, you wanna keep going…?” Ekko says, tilting his head a little.
“Heh, uh…” Jinx starts, dumbly. Why isn’t she saying anything? This is the moment! Now is the time for her to claim what she’s wanted since the second she first laid eyes on him, what she’s fantasized about quite literally all day long. She tries to say something, anything, but her mouth just feels full of saliva, and her stomach lurches like she ate something it didn’t agree with.
Despite the abrupt assault of anxiety, does she grab Ekko by the collar and crush their lips together, initiating sex so hot she would melt through the bed and wake up the next morning on the other side of the globe?
“Um… I…” Guh, why can’t I talk?! Jinx looks down at her lap, noticing the wrinkles formed from her tugging at the bottom of her dress. She can’t believe she came prepared – titillating outfit, sweet-smelling lotion and perfume, lube and condoms in her purse if Ekko didn’t have any of her own – but is having second thoughts. At zero hour no less.
“Hey, you’re shaking,” Ekko says, cutting through the silence. Concern colors his deep brown eyes. “Are you alright?”
“Um,” Jinx utters, because apparently that’s all she’s capable of saying.
“Probably ‘cause you haven’t eaten anything, huh?” He looks behind her, toward his tiny kitchen. “I’m sorry. That’s my fault for not offering you a snack or anything – I’m a terrible host.”
“I– yeah, for sure,” she says, then her eyes widen. “I mean, you aren’t. A terrible host, I mean. I was just just saying ‘yeah, sure’ to the first part of your sentence. About me, not eating anything, uh…” Jinx clears her throat. “Sorry to ask this of you but do you think you could drive me back home? I’m… really tired all of a sudden.”
Ekko smiles and nods, good-natured and sweet. He gathers her things for her, packing them away and retrieving her shoes.
Before she knows it, they’re back on the motorcycle, except instead of cutting through traffic and taking risky turns, Ekko stops at every light and takes slow turns. Jinx’s eyes are closed while he’s driving, so she assumes they’re back at university when he pulls into a parking lot and turns the motorcycle off. When she lifts her head though, they’re sitting on the outside of some burger joint.
“Wanna come inside?” Ekko asks. She shakes her head, no, but gives him her order when he asks for it. A twenty piece nugget and large fry. No burger because she doesn't trust fast food burgers. And a strawberry soda, if they have it. If not, then the orange juice that they usually give to kids.
Not even five minutes pass and they’re back on their way to PZ Tech, a hot bag of nuggets and fries on Jinx’s lap and a cup of orange juice in her hand. The motorcycle growls low as he slows to a stop at the edge of a sidewalk.
Ekko nods toward the long path leading up to the girl’s dormitory. “Want me to walk you?”
Jinx mulls the idea over in her head as she takes the helmet off her head. Last chance to get what she wanted. Maybe she could invite him up to her room…? She sighs instead, the thought annoying her.
“You don’t have to do that. But thanks, Ekko,” she says.
Ekko doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, suddenly, he kicks the kickstand out and gets to his feet. He takes his glove off and reaches a hand out, making Jinx flinch, and pauses, waiting for another reaction.
Certain that she won’t run, Ekko combs a gentle hand through her tresses, fixing her bangs and finishing by smoothing hair behind her ear. Jinx tries to find his gaze behind the visor, but it’s pitch black, and all she can see are the stars reflected in the glass.
He plants himself back on the seat. “Sorry, the helmet fucked your hair up,” he says, pointing to his own head. Then he clears his throat. “Um, I’ll sit here and wait for you to get inside, if that’s okay.”
Despite her mood, a small grin tilts Jinx’s mouth. “That’s okay.”
With that, she walks back to her dorm, holding her nuggets and juice for dear life. When she gets to the double doors, she turns and waves, feeling a little foolish. Can he even see her from this distance?
The answer is yes, because he waves back, and Jinx doesn’t hear him speed off until the doors close behind her.
Jinx slinks up to her dorm, relieved that Maddie still hasn’t gotten back yet. She puts her food and bag down on her desk, then trudges over to her bed and falls atop the blankets, exhausted and sick. She curls up, ready to fall asleep right then and there, when her phone buzzes in her backpack. Then twice more before going silent. Jinx groans and plods back over to her desk, feeling around in her bag for her phone.
She fishes it out, finding three messages from Ekko.
i will have him: get inside okay? no masked murderer attack you on the way up? lol
i will have him: sorry that was a really bad joke
i will have him: seriously, i hope you got back to your dorm okay. haha
Jinx bites her lip, a smile trying to fight its way through. She types a message back.
Jinx: i got back to my dorm safely, don’t worry
The message goes from delivered to read in the blink of an eye. A little cloud with three dots appears on Ekko’s end, but she decides to be a little bold.
Jinx: the passive aggressive laughter is really cute btw
Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! She shouldn’t have sent that. Those damned three dots appear, then disappear, then appear again before disappearing. SHIT! I fucked that up haaard, Jinx thinks, reeling her hand back, ready to throw her phone through the window.
Then it vibrates in her grasp. She unlocks her phone in record time and opens her messages.
i will have him: you’re really cute
i will have him: i hope you’re ready for tomorrow night’s study session!
i will have him: we’ll have to make up for lost time 🙂
i will have him: goodnight jinx! sleep tight 🌙
What.
Jinx tries not to hyperventilate behind her hand. Ekko thinks he’s slick, sending that first text and then bombarding her with three texts afterwards. Unfortunately, her eyes read that first line over and over and over again, until she’s sure the letters are burned into her retina and she’ll see it even when she closes her eyes.
Ekko thinks she’s cute. He thinks that she is cute.
Tomorrow. For sure. Tomorrow, she’ll fuck him.