Noticing You (BoyxBoy)

Sixteen

Serendipity
(N.)
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

'I like being around you too much to not be your friend.'

Isaac liked being around him. He never felt so relieved in his life. Of course, he could've guessed as much considering they keep hanging out but hearing it out loud makes it different somehow.

He and Isaac had been sending reels back and forth on Instagram last night and all Jess could think about was that sentence. He kept remembering it whenever Isaac's name would pop up on his notifications. He couldn't get it out of his mind, not that he was trying very hard.

It made him feel good. He could die happy now, knowing that at least one person in this world really noticed him. One person really saw him.

A person with beautiful eyes and a sing-song laugh. A person who cared about people but hung around guys that liked to pick at others. A person whose smile could light up the world.

Jess shoved down the thoughts and focused back in on class. It was fourth hour, lunch was nearing closer. He realized he had been zoning out most of this class and internally groaned. It was fine, his grade wouldn't be hurt because they weren't doing any real work today.

When the bell rang he felt at ease. He sprang up and followed the spurs of other kids out into the hallway. He traveled down the corridor and stopped at his locker.

It was a a little container of yogurt, strawberry shortcake, with a little plastic spoon on top. Jess smiled to himself and grabbed it. He hung back and ate his yogurt on the way to the cafeteria, taking his time. The horde had mostly passed by then so there was just a few stragglers here and there.

He finished his yogurt and threw it in a near-by trashcan when he passed one and then went into the cafeteria. He scanned the room for a place to sit, for people he knew.

Marco talking to Lia caught his eye. He didn't know the boy but he respected him so seeing his friends Lia and Maria sitting over by the boy spiked his attention. He slowly made his way over there.

"Hey, can I sit here?" He stood next to Maria and when she saw him she smiled.

"Sure, Jess! Hey!"

Jess sat down. He had returned Maria's book yesterday and they had talked about it in between fifth and sixth period.

"Marco this is Jess." Maria introduced the two.

"Hi." Marco smiled at him. The boy was honestly adorable up close. He had a dusting of freckles and big blue eyes with brown hair.

"Hey." Jess smiled a little. He then scanned the table to see who Marco sits by.

Elaine Tucker, a girl with a pixie cut that's dyed purple and always has black nails. She's a sophomore and nice to everyone, she's one of the few people that plays a sport (softball) but doesn't hang out with the athletic kids. Conor Reid, also a sophomore, he has natural brown hair and Jess can only faintly recall who he is because he and Ray sometimes talk about anime. Then there was Noelle Fisher, a junior like them. She had light green in her hair and wore lots of necklaces and bracelets. She had a ton of ear piercings and had an eyebrow piercing. She looked like a cool kid but was pretty reserved, she didn't talk to too many people.

"Marco wanted to use my crossword puzzle answers for our class so we sat by him." Lia said and Jess nodded.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around before, Jess." Marco said, looking at Jess like he was trying to tell if he could recognize him.