The Soldier and The Poet

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Poem ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

{Noels pov}
When I walked into school, I already knew it was going to be hell. The only thing good was choir. Even though I say I hate choir, it's my favorite class. As soon as I get to first period, I find Constance. I sit next to her and start to rant. Something seems off so I ask calmly, "Are you okay? You gotta get something out or what?" She looks at me with her 'I have a secret to tell you' look. I sigh, "It's about Ocean, huh?" Constance takes a deep breath and speaks quickly, "Ocean wants us all to hangout but I wasn't supposed to tell you because she wanted to tell you herself and she thought you all hated her so she didn't want to ask you-!" She blurts out.

Before I can reply the bell rings, and of course Mischa comes in late and sits next to me. I feel my face get hot but I think nothing of it. Me, Constance, and him had first period together before anyone joined the choir. Our teacher always sat us in a row because he thought it was funny we were all in the choir. I look over at him for a minute before I start to pay attention to the class. This is the only class I really need a good grade in since it's the only one my mom really cares about. I feel a pair of eyes on me but I try to ignore it, people like to stare a lot. I mean, I'm the only gay kid, they're bound to stare. After a little while I notice it doesn't go away, I glance over to Mischa and see him staring straight at me. He quickly looks away, biting his thumbnail, trying to act like he wasn't staring at me. I feel my face heat up, more than it does regularly. He's cute, yeah, but I didn't expect him to stare at me for like twenty minutes-! Constance leans over to me, "Ooo...~! Mischa was staring at yoouuu...~!" She whisper teases. I just look at her unamused, my face as red as a rose.

**Ring**

Finally. The bell. I stand up immediately. Mischa also does, but instead of matching out of the classroom immediately after the bell rings, he stays behind. He turns to me, "You're the poet guy in the choir? Gruber, right?" I look at him, I nod confusingly, "Yeah... Why?" I look around for Constance but she seems to have left already before I look back at him. "Don't worry about it, Gruber- I- Uh- I need a favor. Could you help me?" He asks politely. For some reason I can't get over that accent, and the way he says it so sweetly... Jesus, I have to get over whatever this is... I'm ninety percent sure he's straight. "Sure, anything!" I say with a slight smile. God, what do I mean by "anything"!? He smiles, "Great! Can you help me with this poet thingy I gotta do for history? I can't write poetry...-" He says awkwardly. He's so cute... I chuckle. "I think I have that class. I already finished mine so I can help you with yours." He smiles awkwardly, "Uh- Wanna skip with me? Uh-! To-! To work on the poet thing-!" He fumbles. I nod, just before I go to speak-

**RING**

"Shit-! We gotta go-!" He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the school. Oh my God, we're holding hands! He continues running till we reach the graffiti park, where most of the "popular" ones hangout at. Where he hangs out. "I'm not going to get like... Jumped am I?" I say with a concerned tone. He looks at me and laughs, "Of course not, Gruber! No one will come near you when you're with me. You're friend now, Gruber." I smile unconsciously, "Okay. Let's work on the poem, then?" He nods. While we're working on the poem I feel him starting to stare at me again. I clear my throat and look at him, "Are you going to stare at me forever or help with the poem?" He looks away and I can notice a pink tint on his cheeks. He doesn't answer but doesn't look back at me, so I continue the poem.