𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. | 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

2

"Before we start class today, I would like to acknowledge a new student in our presence today!" The teacher grinned, presumably reaching for a sheet on her desk.

Chatter arose around the room and curious eyes darted around, unaware of the company of the new student. Clay bored his eyes to the back of the head to the boy sitting in front of him. The mystery boy somehow managing to sink further into his seat.

The teacher cleared her voice and stood in the front of the class, signaling for the side-chatter to end. She squinted down at a sheet of paper she had picked up off of her desk.

"..George! Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself?"

It was so quiet in the room you could hear a pin drop. The mystery boy sitting in front of clay slowly stood up, the eyes of Clay's peers all now falling onto him. Clay's eyes followed the boy- nearly audibly laughing at the boy's hesitation of doing something so simple. He relaxed back in his seat with an amused smile on his face. Maybe some Mondays weren't so bad.

The mystery boy- or- George, hesitantly walked his way up to the front of the class while keeping his face pointed down at the floor. He stopped and turned around to face the class, his face still downwards.

"Don't be shy hon, we don't bite!" The teacher lightly encouraged, completely oblivious to the boys strong hesitation. The boy slowly picked his head up and the once amused smile was nearly wiped off Clay's face. 

A pair of white goggles rested on the boys thin face, completely framing his pale complexion and tinting his gaze. Even from a distance Clay could see various small freckles dotting his tinted-pink cheeks. His delicate eyebrows were knitted just above the frame of the goggles, clearly displaying his nervousness.

"Uh.. Hi. I'm George."

Clay immediately picked up on the mystery boy's foreign accent. He blinked a few times- snapping out of his sudden interest in the boy.

Everyone's eyes on him beckoned him to continue further. "I-i'm from the UK, and i'm transferring here to finish high school." He let his head droop back to the floor, signaling he was done speaking.

The teacher nodded in approval. "Well it's very nice to meet you George. I'm sure you'll get along with everyone here." She commented, looking between him and the rest of the class.

"Now," the began, setting the paper back down on her desk and clasping her frail hands together. "You can go sit down hon, thank you."

George nodded once before he quickly shuffled back to his seat. Clay watched him the entire time, now becoming enthused with the shy boy's presence.

"-Since we're coming to a close with our book, I would like to introduce a project." Clay's attention was caught by the teacher booming voice and the word "project". He let out an internal sigh as his eyes made their way back to his teacher.

"This is going to be a group project, to lessen the individual load. I would like this project to be done towards the end of next week." Clay felt like he had been punched in the gut. Is she serious?? It's literally only first period. He irritably thought to himself.

"Your partners will be either sitting in front of you or behind you, depending on how your rows are set up. I trust you guys are smart enough to figure that out," She chuckled, getting only a guttural silence in response.

"I will pass out rubrics once you find your partners." The teacher concluded, taking a step back from the front of the class. Chatter begun to resume as people started to turn and meet with their partners. Clay looked at his row and felt his brows furrowed when he realized the person behind him was already speaking with someone.

You've got to be kidding.

Clay slowly felt his eyes tear away from the people behind him and now at the boy sitting right in front of him. He let out an annoyed sigh as he leaned forward and tapped the brunette on his shoulder, causing him to slightly flinch again.

The boy slowly turned around to face Clay, his mouth visibly twisted with discomfort. Clay couldn't see his eyes but he knew they held the same emotion.

"So uh.. I think i'm your partner." Clay confirmed, crossing his arms. The brunette only nodded, now fully turning his body to face the other.

Clay internally face-palmed. "George, is it?" He pried- attempting to get any sort of verbal confirmation from George. "Uh... yeah." He responded quickly, still not making eye contact. The tension between the two rose when neither spoke after that.

"What's yours-?" George quietly inquired, now picking at his fingers again. "Clay." The blonde gruffly replied, watching as the teacher began passing out rubrics. She set one down on the desk between the boys.

Clay turned it so it was facing him and he scanned over the requirements. He threaded his fingers though his hair as he kept reading, the directions seeming to only get longer and longer.

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't pay attention much to this book." Clay admitted to his partner, his face distorting to a look of pure dread. He was never one for reading.

"And i'm assuming you've never read it?" He probed, turning the paper around so George could read it. The other hesitated a second before responding, seeming like he was choosing his own words carefully.

He opened his mouth to speak but only shook his head no. Clay let his face fall into his hands as he stifled out a groan. "This is gonna take foreverr" He complained, dragging our the 'r'.

"And knowing the teacher, she definitely isn't going to give us any extra time." Clay grumbled more to himself than to George.

The thick veil of silence again wedged its way between the boys, the tension so thick even some of the strongest would struggle to cut though it.

"M-maybe we should meet up after school? Or something-?" George hesitantly perked up, now picking up his head and look at Clay. The blonde was surprised at Georges proposition.

Clay shrugged and sat back in his seat. "I guess so. Should we meet at like one of our places or something?" Clay asked, not really caring about the boys answer. George nodded in response.

"Can we do it at yours then?" The blonde cajoled, the words falling out of his mouth faster than he could think. George seemed to stiffen at the thought, but begrudgingly nodded.

"Good. Here." Clay swiftly pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, placing it on the desk. "Put your number in and we can work it out. Class is almost over anyways so we can text." He huffed, glancing over to the clock and back at George.

The brunette only nodded before taking Clay's phone and adding his own number in. He set it back down in front of the other, biting his lip. Clay grunted in reply and grabbed his phone back, unamused.

George took this as his cue to break from the group, hesitantly grabbing the rubric and putting it in the folder he had on his desk.

He glanced back at Clay before fully turning back around, the bell now sounding in his ears. Had it already been an hour?

Clay didn't wait for the teachers dismissal goodbye before he was already bounding for the door. He pushed past George on his way out, letting out a deep breath as he left the suffocating tension behind in the classroom.

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written on 2/8/21
published on 5/14/21

1320 words
second chapter pog! the boys met :] next chapter should definitely be picking up on the storyline!!

<3