Beautiful, Beloved

Chapter 2: Scared

Being scared is part of being alive. Accept it. Walk through it.

It's the second day of school and Fluke is staring outside in the classroom. In the background he hears his teacher explaining a math question, he doesn't really know about it, because he's not listening. Fluke has been thinking a lot about what Ohm said to him yesterday. It's true, it has been a long time since he really looked up. In his previous school, all he could do was look down and avoid those piercing stares towards him. He hated to be noticed, he hated to be spoken to and even more he hated to not be able to do anything. If he didn't listen to them, he would be harassed. He's glad he moved, but he still has to be careful here too. The line of trust is still blurred for him.

"Mr. Natouch, if my class is boring, you should stand up and leave this room." The male teacher says. He's wearing a dark, brown suit, with glasses. "I'm sorry, sir." Fluke apologizes. His teacher sighs and continues again. He looks at his side, wondering why he would be called out, instead of the guy always sleeping in class. Unfortunately Ohm is not napping like usual. Instead he is leaning back and has a small smirk on his face. "You thought I was sleeping?" He whispers. "Why are you awake now?" Fluke asks. "I know which classes I can take a nap and which not and this one you certainly cannot fall asleep." He whispers. Fluke leans back on his chair and finally listens to the teacher.

The bell rings for lunch break. Ohm stands up and is about to walk away, when he suddenly turns to Fluke. "Are you eating alone again?" He asks curiously. Fluke looks up at him with big eyes. "Y-Yes." He says softly. He sees Ohm thinking. "Do you want to sit with us?" He asks. Fluke really wants to, but 'us' means more people and he doesn't have a good memory of being surrounded by people. Fluke looks down and hesitates. In the corner of his eyes, he sees Ohm squats down at his eye level.

"It's ok to reject my offer, Fluke, I won't be mad about it. Just so you know, if you're ready, you can always sit with us." Ohm is looking at him with a warm gaze. "I-I'll remember that." Fluke blushes and he sees Ohm standing and leaving the classroom. His heart is beating fast and he's feeling warm inside. "Are you friends with Ohm's gang?" He looks up to the girl sitting in front of him. She has long, silky brown hair, with pink painted nails. Her face is small and has a warm, innocent air around her.

"Gang?" He asks, confused. "Oh right you're new here in town." She's now completely turned to him. "The Gang are Ohm's friends. They've been friends since they were young and are always together. It's very hard to even talk to them, because it feels like they're in a completely different world." Fluke tries to follow what the girl is saying. "Normally we don't see Ohm talking to other people except for his friends, but he was talking so casually to you. I thought you were a new member." She smiles.

"I'm not." He looks down again avoiding her gaze. "It's ok, I'm Pineare by the way, you can call me Pine." Fluke looks at her and sees her smile at him. "I'm Fluke." He says carefully. "I know. Nice to meet you Fluke." She gives him a big smile and finally walks away. Fluke is looking at the girl who just introduced herself and for once he didn't feel scared. She was nice and cheerful, completely different than the girls he knew. He takes out his lunchbox and goes to the same bench as yesterday.

As he sits he hears some students talking about what they did yesterday, after school. Fluke never went somewhere with classmates after school, he envied people that could do that, but he knows that will never happen to him. A sad smile grows on his face as he looks down.  "Look up, Fluke." He recognizes this voice. Fluke opens his eyes and looks up. Something shiny is blinding his eyes. He has to close them for a minute because it's sparkling too much. "Beautiful right?" Ohm says while looking at Fluke. He then finally takes a better look at what Ohm is holding above his head.