The New Kid In Town (Luca x Alberto)

Meeting the new kid

I saw him for the first time standing at the front of the school, gripping his backpack like it was a life vest. He had this nervous look on his face, like he'd just washed up on shore from some distant place and had no idea what to do next. Messy brown hair, skinny arms, and this wide-eyed stare that made him seem like he was seeing everything for the first time. New kid, for sure.

My school wasn't big on new kids. We didn't get many. Most people here had been around forever, and if someone did transfer in, they usually slunk into the background, not making waves. But this dude... I don't know what it was. He just looked different. Maybe it was the way he kept glancing around, like he was expecting something terrible to happen, or maybe it was just because he looked so completely out of place. Like, seriously, I'd been to this school for years, and no one had ever looked so... lost...

And, I don't know, something about him was kind of cute.

Okay, wait, pause! Not like that.

Well... maybe like that. But I wasn't going to admit that to myself. Not yet, anyway.

___

The first week of school passed by like a blur, except for whenever I saw the new kid , Luca, I think his name was. I didn't talk to him, but I kept an eye on him. Not in like, a weird or creepy way, or anything, i was just curious. Mostly because he seemed to be having the worst time blending in. He'd fumble with his locker, get lost in the hallways, and always sat alone at lunch. I'd catch him looking around like he was hoping someone would come talk to him, but nobody ever did. It was kinda sad, actually.

I thought about saying something a few times, but... nah. Not yet. He seemed like the type to freak out if a random guy came up to him and started yapping, and I didn't want to scare him off.

But then, one day during lunch, I saw him sitting outside under a tree, poking at a sandwich like he didn't know what to do with it. The sun was shining down on him, making him squint, and he looked so completely alone that it made something in my chest ache.

I don't know what came over me, but before I knew it, I was walking over. Like, literally, my legs just started moving on their own. I had no plan, no idea what I was going to say, but there I was, standing in front of him like an idiot.

"Hey, new kid" I said, dropping down on the grass next to him without asking.

He jumped a little, eyes wide as he looked up at me. "Oh, uh, hi."

Smooth, Alberto. Real smooth.

"You looked like you were about to pass out in homeroom" I continued, leaning back on my elbows. I made sure to look casual, like I did this kind of thing all the time. "You good?"

His face flushed, and he scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. Just... you know. New school stuff."

I nodded like I totally got it, even though I'd been at this school since forever and had no clue what it was like to be the new kid. "Yeah, it's a mess here. But you'll get used to it."

He didn't seem so sure about that, but he smiled anyway. It was a small smile, a little awkward, but it was there. And for some reason, that made my stomach do this weird little flip.

___

After that, I made it my mission to keep Luca from sinking into the high school abyss. Every day, I'd find him at lunch, sit with him, crack a few jokes, and try to pull him out of that shell of his. At first, he was shy, like, really shy, but after a while, he started to open up. I learned he was from some small coastal town a few hours away, that he was an only child, and that he loved learning new things but hated math with a fiery passion. Same!