A/N: Probably not that many people will read this, considering the fandom is basically dead. On the off chance anyone does, I hope you enjoy! I absolutely adore Josh and Mindy and had a blast writing it. Thanks to Carrie for glancing over this beforehand!

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh. All rights go to Dan the man! The character Kathy is from the episode "First Crush," if you remember that one.

Monday:

The English classroom at Belleview High was filled with a loud, obnoxious hum. Ms. Hayfer rubbed her temples, then glared at Drake in disdain. The overall chattering of the students was overwhelming, but she was particularly annoyed that she couldn't ruin his fun by putting an end to the conversation he was having with Josh until the tardy bell rang. Finally, it sounded. She leapt to her feet. "Alright, everyone. Quiet! I certainly hope you read the poems I assigned last night, because there's a pop quiz."

The class groaned. She passed out the papers with a smile, but it vanished once she came to Drake's desk. "I hate you."

He took the sheet of paper and reached down into his backpack for a pencil, scrunching his nose in disgust. "I know."

Drake finished his quiz in record time. He had aced it for once. What Ms. Hayfer would be surprised to find (as well as Drake himself) was that he didn't entirely loathe poetry; he could only assume it was the musician in him, considering that songs were symbolic of poems.

Once the quizzes had been turned in, Ms. Hayfer stood up from her desk. "I hope that was as much fun for you as it was for me. As I said earlier, I hope you have been paying attention, because on top of that, it's now time for your next assignment."

The class chorused another groan.

"Now, now. None of that. Hopefully this will be fun. At the very least, it will allow you to boost your creativity. I want you to write your own poem. The length and subject are entirely up to you, within reason. You cannot write two sentences about a cat wearing a hat and expect a decent grade. Other than that, go anywhere you want to! Be expressive. Be free! It will be due on Friday. Worth one-hundred points. Best of luck!"

Drake ignored her brief lecture about the poems they had read the night before, pondering the subject of his poem for the last fifteen minutes of class. He had been hoping the idea would come easily, but it wasn't looking that way.

The harsh alarm of the bell broke into his thoughts. He picked up his things and raced out into the hall to meet Josh. "Hey, do you have a topic for your poem yet?"

His brother grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Drake couldn't help it; he rolled his eyes. Figures. "And what would it be?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you. It's a secret."

"C'mon, man," he pleaded. "I'm curious. I can't think of anything for mine."

Josh's lips curled up in surprise. "You mean to tell me you've been thinking about it?"

Drake raised his hands defensively. "Believe me, no one is more shocked than I am. The thing is, I don't mind this poetry stuff, so I was hoping writing a poem would be a breeze. So far, no luck."

Josh gave a casual shrug. "It's not due until the end of the week. Give it time. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"What are you two talking about?" Mindy Crenshaw asked as she walked up, giving Josh a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Drake's worried about our English assignment," Josh explained.

Mindy's eyes widened; she turned in Drake's direction, giving him a skeptical raise of her eyebrows. "You mean to tell me he's been thinking about it already?"

"Not that it's any of your business," Drake began, his tone icy, "but as a matter of fact, I have."

"Let me guess... it's about bad grades. No one knows more about that than you."

Drake's eyes slanted. "Overachiever."

"Diphthong."

"HA!" Drake exclaimed, pointing at her in amusement. "That's not even a word."

"Actually, it is. It's the sound formed by a combination of two vowels in a single syllable, where the sound begins as one vowel and moves into the next. Then again, I wouldn't expect you to know that," she jeered.

Drake rolled his eyes, unfazed. Sometimes he couldn't help wondering if Mindy made this stuff up to make herself seem smarter. He would be sure to look it up when he got home. "Whatever you say, chiz whiz."

Mindy was about to retaliate, but as she opened her mouth, a bright voice interrupted. "Hey, Josh!"

The brunette boy turned to see Kathy Eakin standing there. She pushed a long, shiny strand of red hair out of her eyes and gave him a warm smile. "Are we still on for tonight?"

He smiled back. "Sure."

Mindy shot him a curious look. "What's tonight?"

"Oh, we have a big history fair project coming up. We're partners. Kathy's coming over and we're going to get started on it. You know what they say, there's no time like the present."

His girlfriend gave him an understanding nod, and he squeezed her hand. Josh wasn't sure if he had ever expressed it, but one of the things that he liked most about her was that she didn't get jealous like some other girls who were in a relationship.

The warning bell rang, and the hallway swarmed with teenagers scattering off to their next class.

After pondering it throughout the rest of the day, later that afternoon, Drake was discouraged to find that he still had no idea what the subject of his poem should be. With his mind racing as he entered the back door, he rushed to the refrigerator to grab a soda. He reached out across the counter, grabbing the bag of cheese curls that was sitting there. No one ever got truly inspired on an empty stomach, he thought as he crunched on them. Man, these things are good.

Josh stormed into the kitchen, his stare shooting daggers through Drake. "Thanks for slamming the door in front of my face when I was right behind you."

His brother responded with a cheeky grin. "No problem."

Josh shook his head in disbelief as he opened the refrigerator, reaching for his own drink. "Did you come up with an idea for your poem yet?"

Drake ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "No, and I've been thinking about it nonstop."

"You know what I heard the best advice is? Write about what you know. That's what I'm doing," Josh prompted, taking a sip of his cola.

"Well, there you go," Megan purred as she waltzed into the kitchen with Mindy right behind her. "That's why he's having so much trouble. He doesn't know anything."

Mindy gave the tiny brunette a high-five. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Drake glared at them menacingly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Megan, what did I tell you about letting wild animals in the house?"

His sister peered up at Mindy with an exaggerated adoration. "But she's cute. I want to keep her."

Mindy ruffled her hair playfully.

"So do I," Josh chimed in, walking up behind Mindy and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Traitors!" Drake wailed, bursting out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Josh unwrapped his arms from around Mindy's waist, turning her to face him. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here? I told you Kathy and I have to work on our project tonight."

"I know, but I figured we could hang out for at least a little bit before she got here."

He frowned. "I wish we could, but I've got a ton of homework. By the time I finish it, I'm sure she'll be here."

Mindy was unable to hide the disappointment in her tone. "Oh." She tried to manage a small smile. "That's okay. I'll go. Maybe tomorrow?"

Josh smiled. "Of course."

She reached out, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and he reciprocated. She smiled and waved goodbye, feeling a tad bit better as she made her way out the door.

Tuesday:

The next morning, Josh was standing by Mindy's locker, shooting her a big grin as she approached him. He held out a white paper bag. "I got you breakfast!"

Mindy gasped dramatically. "You didn't."

"I did."

She took the white sack from him and opened it; her brown eyes sparkled in delight. "Strawberry jelly filled doughnut. My favorite." She closed the bag and jabbed him jokingly with her elbow. "Who's the best boyfriend ever?"

His cheeks turned the lightest tinge of pink, and he looked down at the ground timidly. "I am."

She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "So, how did the history project go last night?"

"Not as well as we hoped. It took forever to decide on a topic. When we finally did, it was so late that we didn't get anything done. Luckily, there's still plenty of time. Kathy's coming back over tonight."

She frowned. "But I thought we were going to hang out this afternoon."

Josh flashed her an apologetic smile. "I know. I'm really sorry. But, tonight we're going to start the project and get a lot done. No goofing around. I have so much to do already. There are two killer exams coming up: one for chemisty and one for trigonometry; plus, my English poem that I need to write."

"Oh, yeah." Mindy recalled, thinking of how she needed to start on her own. "What are you writing about?"

"I can't tell you. It's personal."

Mindy forced a smile in attempt to cover the way her heart was sinking on the inside. Since when did we stop telling each other everything?

She was thankful when their conversation was interrupted by the warning bell. She knew if they kept talking, Josh would catch on to the fact that something was wrong, and she didn't want to talk about it. She felt ridiculous enough about being upset in the first place. School was important to both of them; she couldn't expect Josh to drop his studies for her. Still, it would be hard not to see him for two days in a row.

Ugh, I'm becoming part of one of those couples, she scolded herself with a smile. You'll be fine without him for a little while, Crenshaw. Suck it up.

Wednesday:

Bright and early the next day, Mindy slammed her locker shut after grabbing her Earth science textbook, waiting in anticipation for Josh to arrive. They typically met up before class started, but when the warning bell rang, it was obvious he wasn't coming. She dashed across the building. Don't want to be late, she thought with a frown. Guess I'll see him at lunch.

Except she didn't.

After waiting the entire lunch period for him to show up, she trudged to the trash can and put her tray away, giving the lunch lady a thank you and half-hearted smile. I hope he's not sick or something. This isn't like him.

After school, she drove to his house and knocked on the door, waiting patiently for someone to answer. Unfortunately, it was Drake. "Oh, it's you," he commented with a sneer. "Josh, your girlfriend's here." He stepped back while Mindy stepped inside.

Josh looked up from his notebook, beaming when he saw her. "Hey!"

"Hi," she said, trying to sound cheerful. "I missed you this morning. At lunch, too. What happened?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." he commented, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I overslept and barely made the first bell. At lunch, Kathy and I had to meet up to discuss some last minute things before she comes over to work on our history project. I would have texted you, but I was in such a rush before I left that I forgot my phone."

Josh's last comment went unheard due to the previous one; Mindy creased her forehead in confusion. "She's coming over again? I thought you worked on it last night."

Josh smiled. "We did, but we're not quite done yet. It's really coming together, though. Very elaborate."

She gave him a small smile, her voice quiet. "I'm sure it's great."

Josh's gaze softened, a wave of concern washing over his face. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head vigorously. "No, no. It's just... I was hoping we'd be able to spend some time together. As lame as it sounds, I kind of miss you."

He grinned broadly and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, but remained silent.

He's not even going to say it back. She cleared her throat, trying to think of something... anything... to say to get rid of the awkward silence. "What are you working on?" She nodded in the direction of the notebook he had been scrawling on when she walked in. "More history fair stuff?"

"No, that's my poem for English class."

"Can I see?" she asked eagerly, walking toward it.

"NO!" he screeched, holding out his hand to stop her.

She jolted back in alarm at his sharp tone.

He lowered his voice. "Sorry. I told you, it's private."

She gave him a shrug. "I don't understand what all the secrecy is about, but okay. I respect your feelings."

He flashed her a smile. "Thanks." He checked his watch and frowned. "I hate to say it, but Kathy will be here any minute."

"Yeah, I should probably go," she agreed, heading in the direction of the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

As Mindy walked out, she couldn't ignore how she wasn't exactly feeling better this time, or the fact that the person who happened to be his partner for the history fair was his first crush.

"If I don't think of something for my poem soon, I'm going to fail this assignment!" Drake yelled later that night, his tone bubbling with pure panic.

Josh yawned and turned to face him, leaning up against the wall. "You still got nothing?"

"Nothing!" He took a deep breath, exhaling heavily. "NOTHING!"

In spite of how tired he was, Josh couldn't help cracking a smile. Normally, it would be himself freaking out while Drake remained calm, cool, and collected. "I told you already, write about what you know."

"What part of 'that advice isn't helping' don't you understand?" Drake countered.

His brother raised his shoulders apologetically. "It's all I've got. I can't be freaking out over your homework. I've got enough of my own."

"Another late night with Kathy?"

"Yes, and as much I told myself we weren't going to goof off, we still did. Enough that she's coming over again tomorrow night. After that, it should be finished. Luckily, my trig test is out of the way as of tomorrow. Then I have to study for my chemistry test and work on my poem."

Drake grumbled. "Don't remind me."

A/N: I've decided to make this two parts. The next part is written and ready to go! If I get feedback, I might upload faster. It's always encouraging! Reviews and favorites make my day. To those who read, I hope you enjoyed this! xoxo - Krys