feelings | cranksepticeye

3 - questions

"i'll go get the apparatus." seán said, to which ethan nodded. the boy departed to the other side of the classroom to collect the things they needed for their practical task. whilst he stood collecting his items, he heard his name being called. he looked around the classroom to see tyler and mark calling him over to them. he rolled his eyes, walking over to his own table where ethan was stood. seán handed him a pair of safety goggles and placed the equipment on the table, before telling ethan that he would be back.

he soon arrived at tyler and mark's desk. they both looked like they were bursting with questions, and indeed they were.

"what's up? make it quick before wilson kicks my ass." seán said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, but the two boys looked almost angry, as if seán had done something.

"who's that?" the two boys asked in unison.

"his name is ethan. he's new. the whole reason i had to go down to the principal's office was because the principal wanted me to be his buddy."

"and how long is that going to last?" tyler asked, in a more cheerful tone than mark.

"i don't really know. it's probably just for today." tyler nodded but mark sat still with his arms folded.

"how long is he going to be sitting next to you?" mark asked, in a much less happy tone than tyler.

"mr wilson said for the rest of this week." mark rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"can't believe i got replaced by some nerd." he muttered, but just loud enough for me to hear.

mark was seán's best friend; he really enjoyed his company and he loved him a lot. there wasn't much he didn't like about him. but, if there was one thing he disliked, it was that sometimes, mark could be a bit of a bully. he would say a lot of mean things about people behind their back, and sometimes even to their face. it always made seán wonder if mark ever said anything about him without him knowing.

mark was also an incredibly jealous person. he didn't like it when his friends met new people, or when his friends went somewhere without him, or when his friends would laugh and joke with other people. it made him feel cast aside and that he wasn't the favourite. the last and only time mark and seán fell out, it was because seán made a joke about wade being his favourite and the only person in the group that he liked. everybody else took it as what it was: a joke. but mark took it to heart, and ended up ignoring his own best friend for two weeks because of a simple joke that wasn't even true.

"he's not a nerd. and you haven't been replaced. it's only because i have to show him around and stuff." seán replied, feeling an anger grow. he didn't know ethan well at all, but he was still getting pissed off at mark for insulting him.

"he looks like a nerd." mark replied.

"not so bad yourself."

"is he gonna be hanging out with us?" tyler interrupted the conversation as he saw a potential for an argument.

"i don't know. it depends on what he wants to do and if everyone else is ok with it." mark growled at the response seán gave to tyler's question.

"i'd be alright with it. he doesn't look like a dick. you could take a lesson or two from him." tyler nudged mark as he said this, making seán smirk.

"and i'm sure bob, wade and felix would be ok with it too. so if the kid wants to, he should sit with us."

"i don't support this." mark announced. of course he doesn't.

"why the hell not?" seán asked with a hint of frustration in his voice. mark didn't give a reply to the question.

"stop being petty because you've had to move seats for a week. you haven't met him yet so you can't really have an opinion on him until you talk to him." tyler nodded in agreement as mark sighed and looked down at the floor.

"sure. he can join us, whatever. i don't care." seán rolled his eyes and decided that he'd had enough so he said goodbye to his friends and went back to ethan, who had shockingly gotten the apparatus all set up...with maybe a couple of mistakes.

"oh, you got the equipment all set up. if you'd waited i would have helped you, you know. you didn't have to do it on your own." seán said, feeling grateful that ethan had tried anyway.

"you were taking a while so.." seán was about to reply, until ethan spoke again.

"sorry..that was really rude, i didn't mean that." seán smiled and stood beside him.

"no, you're right, i did take a while. don't worry about it." he picked up his safety goggles from the table and placed them on his head. ethan was already wearing his.

"this is nearly all correct...you've just put this in the wrong place, that's all. and you need to change the setting on this..." seán got to correcting ethan's mistakes. there were only a couple.

"oh...i'm sorry.." ethan replied, his voice beginning to tremble.

"no, no, it's fine! we all make mistakes. you got it nearly spot on." seán was trying to be as reassuring as possible, but he wasn't all too sure if it was working. from that point the two completed the practical together, talking at some points. every single time it was seán who would start the conversation. they talked for about five minutes at one point, which was solid improvement. they talked about ethan's hometown, maine, and what it was like. it was quite interesting to discuss.

soon, the lesson was over, and it was time for period two: english. they were also in the same class for that lesson.

"you ready for english?" seán asked ethan as they left the class together. to sean's surprise, the shorter boy actually responded with words, instead of just a simple head movement.

"yeah..i like english.." he did seem like the type of person to enjoy english. seán had heard somewhere that the quieter people tend to like it more than the louder people.

"really? that's cool. i like english as well...well, english language. i don't like literature, i find it boring."

"i like literature, but only when it's poetry..i like poetry.." he mumbled near the end of his sentence, indicating that he was embarrassed by what he had just said. but seán thought it was adorable. stop thinking stuff like that.

"that's really cool! do you write it or do you just enjoy reading it?" ethan looked hesitant to answer, as if he didn't know how.

"i do both.."

"that's even cooler! i bet you write really good poetry. you seem like the type of person who'd have a natural flare for it."

"i'm not great at it..i'm embarrassed by it in all honesty.."

"you shouldn't be embarrassed! do you keep it in like a book or something?"

"yeah. i have a book on my desk at home and i write them in that."

"you should bring it in someday. i'd love to read something."

"do you like poetry?"

"i bet i'd like yours." and for the first time that day, ethan actually gave seán a real smile. not a fake one, not a weak, awkward smile. a real, happy smile. his smile is amazing.

"thank you...maybe i'll bring it in soon.." seán smiled and nodded.

"that'd be really cool."