Two Introverts ✔

2 | Exposure

"Samuel!! Here!!"

Samuel was beyond confused as to why a total stranger was calling him out of the blue. He was quietly waiting for his best friend, June, standing right next to the door of their lunch hall, when he heard a girl's voice call out to him. Being the person that he was, he couldn't really pretend to have not heard her, so he nervously went towards her and saw a boy standing next to her with a look on his face that wasn't quite fathomable. He was tall, had pitch black hair that was slightly wavy, a well defined and round nose (How do people even have noses that perfect? he thought, now getting self conscious about his own. He didn't like his nose at all because he thought it was too big for his face) and had thin lips that were now being bitten mercilessly by his teeth. 

Is he scared or something? Of what, exactly? Me? Pfft, he thought, as he got closer to them.

"Um, you called? Do you need help with something?" he asked, not really knowing what else to do.

"Yeah, if you could, would you be able to lend some money to this poor guy here? He left his lunch at home and he's broke and he's very hungry."

The next thing he knew, he was stuck with Charles, whom he recognized from math class, and there was a very uncomfortable and awkward silence that settled between the two of them and neither knew what to do. They just sat there the whole time, nibbling on food, not knowing how to make things less awkward, and then the bell rang and Samuel had never been so ready to leave the lunch hall.

Why the hell did you leave me alone, huh?! He thought, mentally scolding June. He had been there with Sam all the time, and knew very well how introverted he was, and yet he had the nerve to come, say hi, and freaking leave. Though, deep down, he knew that he was the one to be scolded, not June.

He made his way to the next class, hoping with his whole life he didn't have to see Charles again. He knew it was his fault, Charles would've definitely felt awkward and weird and he would've definitely been a hundred times more at ease had he been with someone else. The antisocial bubble Sam had slipped into during elementary school was still holding him in, not letting him be a normal human being for once. Even though he was used to making new people hate him or think of him in a weird way, he still felt absolutely miserable. He could do nothing but scold himself in frustration. 

JUST TALK, OK?! TALK, YOU RAMBLE FOR HOURS TO JUNE, NON STOP, JUST SAYING A FEW NICE WORDS TO SOMEONE ELSE WON'T RIP YOUR BRAIN OFF, WON'T MAKE YOU SHORTER, WON'T F**KING REDUCE YOUR LIFESPAN! WHAT THE H-

"Hey, you look so stressed, what hap-"

"You left me!! You had the nerve to leave me even though you knew how I am with others, how so many people already think of me as an alien, how no one is comfortable around me, how-"

He was interrupted by a big hand on his mouth. June's. He said a quick apology to someone and took Sam to the washroom. At least that's where he thought they were heading. June stopped midway when he saw the hallway empty, removed his hand and lifted up Samuel's face with his other hand and looked into his eyes - something he did when Sam was totally out of control and was about to cry. Usually, it calmed him down. This time, though, it had the opposite effect on him, as the tears Sam had tried to hold in came out with full force. June then said, in a calm manner, "We'll go to the washroom now, okay? Come."

Once they were there, June took Sam's hands in his own and waited for him to get his head up and look up at him. He did, not after too long, and June looked like he was hesitant to say or do something. But he did anyway.

"That wasn't me you were yelling at," he said, "it was Hayes."

Sam's heart was caught in his throat once he heard those words. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. He just kept messing things up, didn't he? All he knew to do was be miserable and make the ones around him miserable. His only friend, strangers, teachers, his parents. All he could do was disappoint them and make them pity him. Not once had he made his parents proud of him. Not once had he been the friend June was to him. All is teachers either didn't know he existed, or they didn't care enough about his presence. Not once had he been appreciated in class for anything. Now, just to add to that overflowing list, he'd weirded out not one but two people who he didn't know, who he was sure wouldn't even glance at him again.

"What happened there? I thought you two were having a good time. And you could use some exposure, Sam, you're always glued to just me and I'm afraid that will affect you in the long run. And quit thinking everyone hates you, they don't."

"What do you know..." Samuel tried arguing, still teary, but even as he uttered those words, he was fully aware of how much June knew - knew about him and his problem with himself and everyone around him.

"Look, I was only trying to help you. The reason I left you there was because, like I said, you need to socialize with more people. Ever thought about what you'd do without me? As much as I want to, Sam, I can't. I can't always be there for you, and I don't want you to totally shut yourself from the world, totally shut yourself from everyone when I'm not around. All I can do is help you- you need to take that step on your own and come out of your bubble. I can't forcefully pull you out, can I?"

Sam, just as he was about to tell him that yes, he had thought about it, quite a lot even, and just the thought of it had terrified him, he heard someone walk into the bathroom. They both turned around to see who it was, and as it happened, it was the boy Samuel had yelled at. Samuel had started to nervously shift and fiddle around with the long sleeve of his hoodie and tried getting words out of his mouth. He managed to say, "I'm- I'm so sorry I didn't mean to yell at you I thought it was him" - he looked behind at June - "and- it just happened. I'm so sorry."

"No, that's okay, I totally get you, man. I just came to, uh, tell you that the teacher in class is really mad that you-" he pointed at Sam "-aren't there and told me to check..."

"I can... tell her that you were in the infirmary because one of you got a sprain or something," he added, nervously laughing.

"...yeah, that would be very helpful, thanks," June said, also joining the nervous laughter.

"So who's the one with a sprain?" the boy asked, glancing at both of them. 

"Uh m-me?" Sam asked, and glanced at June, who seemed to agree.

"Yeah, you always cling on to me like a baby koala, so you'd be perfect for this scenario," he said, easing the tension while at the same time, being proud that his friend talked on his own. June quickly pulled Sam's hand and put it around his neck. He laughed when he saw how it didn't quite reach - Samuel's hands were too short.

"I'll just- put it around your waist or something," Sam said, embarrassed. 

The three of them quietly laughed together as they made their way to class, and Samuel felt a tad better. 

* * *

Fun fact : June's name is June because he reminded me too much of Namjoon and I wanted him to have a name similar to it because NO name suited him after that 😂

also if you haven't already noticed, my favorite word is weird. I tried editing out all the 'wierd's I could find. you wouldn't believe the number of times I'd written that word, sheesh.