Always

ten

LUNA

"Turn to page 268." The professor's voice drone. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose to help with the pressure building up in my eyes. It was painful to even keep them open now.

I flipped open the page of my World History textbook and waited for the next set of instructions. Leaning back in my chair, I let my eyes flicker to the clock momentarily. Five more minutes until the period was over.

A shuffling caught my attention and I looked up just as someone burst through the doors. Confused murmurs broke out as the boy walked over to the professor, apologising profusely. He waved his hands in the air as he talked animatedly.

He was tall and had brown hair with a muscular build. I was sure he was one of the jocks.

The professor spoke in return, looking less than pleased. The boy nodded before rushing over to the back, searching for a free seat. His eyes landed on the one next to mine and I shifted, not liking the idea of having to give up the free space but I didn't get to have that decision as he dumped his bag on the seat and slumped down next.

"This better not happen again, Tobias." Professor warned.

"Yes, sir." Tobias replied. He sighed, running a hand over his face before he turned to look at me. Brown eyes met mine as he studied my face and I didn't like the way his eyes travelled down my body and lingered longer than deemed polite. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey." He whispered, giving me a slight smile.

"Hey." I replied, forcing a smile in return.

"I'm Tobias." He held out a hand.

I eyed it hesitantly before taking it and giving it a quick shake. "I'm Luna."

"Luna Hudson, right?" I fought the urge to frown and nodded. "Oh yeah, Tanner's told me about you."

"He...has?"

"Yeah. He's quite fond of you. He loves telling everyone that you're part of his family now." The sentence warmed my heart but that feeling went away as soon as it came as Tobias kept speaking. "I haven't seen you at the games, though."

"I-" I shrugged. "I'm not really a football fan." Or big crowds. But I didn't mention that.

"That sucks." He leaned back in his chair. "You should swing by sometime. I'm at every game so you'll have a familiar face there."

"Do you...play?" I asked, hesitantly. I didn't know if I wanted the conversation to end or to keep going. I was leaning more to the former.

"Nah. I'll try out next year. Once I practice a little more." He shifted in his seat, looking me over again. "What about you? Do you play any sports?"

I shook my head. "I'm not much for sports."

"Really?" I didn't like the judgement lining his voice. He straightened. "What do you like then?" He laughed slightly. "Studying?"

I did in fact enjoy studying. But the way he said it made it sound like a bad thing. And it made me even more insecure wanting to answer with that.

Regardless, I answered. "Yeah, you could say that."

He looked like he was about to laugh in my face but before he could, the shriek of the bell pierced the air. I breathed out a sigh as I got up and collected my stuff.

"You're cute." I heard Tobias comment. I stiffened, turning to give him a smile. "Really cute. We should hang out sometime."

I opened my mouth, trying to find words but nothing came out. So I just nodded. "That sounds good to me."

"Alright then." He flashed me a smile, stepping back. "I'll see you later, Luna."

"Right." I smiled at him one last time as he slipped out of the classroom.

"He creeps me out." A voice spoke from behind me. I jumped, whipping around with a hand on my heart. My eyes landed on Leo who stood right behind me. A grin tugged on his lips.

"Scaredy cat." He murmured.

"It's rude to sneak up on people." I retorted. He just rolled his eyes. I remembered his comment about Tobias and frowned. "Do you know him?"

"He's friends with this guy I went out with last year. And he's really close with the jocks. That's all I know about him." Leo squinted his eyes at where Tobias previously was. "He gives me extremely straight fuck-boy vibes."

"You give off extremely straight fuck-boy vibes." I pointed.

He feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart. "Ouch. Now that's just low."

He draped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me along with him as we walked out the hall. "He's hot as shit but really creeps me out. So just be careful, you know."

"Aw, look at you being all protective." I cooed, playfully pinching his cheeks. I laughed when he swatted my hand away.

"Bitch." He murmured.

|  a u t h o r ' s   n o t e   |

really small filler chapter and i just wanted to introduce tobias here so let me know what you think of him!

also just a psa: the mention of leo going out with a guy is not to feed into the "gay best friend" stereotype. i never directly mention someone's sexuality in a book .ie. use labels but you will notice that the majority of my characters {kyler, leo, sam (not introduced yet) and amity} are all part of the lgbt+ community.

also the straight joke was not meant to offend anyone, its just how friends joke so dont come for me