New - (boyxboy)

Chapter 6 - Ms Fabulosia

A/N: Things are about to start picking up for Will and Oliver. Yay!

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"Alright class, you're first oral assignment is a role play," Madame Batonvert, the French teacher, announced to her group of students. It was last period Friday, so no-one was paying all that much attention to her.

"It is in pairs and it has to be about your childhood. I want you to use all the different past tenses we've learnt," Madame Batonvert continued, writing instructions on the board. "Just because it's the first assignment, this does not mean I want mediocre performances. I want creativity, not only in what you write but in the performance as well," she warned, a stern look fixed on her face as she looked at the eight students in front of her. The students nodded slowly to show they understood before splitting off into pairs.

Oliver looked next to him where Will was sat, drawing random shapes in the margin of his page. Oliver cleared his throat to get the other boy's attention before asking to pair up. Will slowly looked up from his page to Oliver, looking a bit spaced out. Will felt a bit embarrassed since he was still hung up on the interaction they'd had at the party the week before. It was irritating Will that he was still focussed on it but he couldn't let it go for some reason. Why was Stacey hanging off Oliver bugging him so much? Will knew it wasn't a crush. Sure, it had been a fair while since he'd last had one, but from what he could remember, a crush didn't feel like this. Will mentally sighed, aware that he was totally overthinking this. And he shouldn't feel embarrassed either, it's not like Oliver could read his thoughts.

"Ahh, yeah sure, I guess," Will finally replied before clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Do you have any ideas?" Oliver asked, deciding to get this brainstorming rolling.

The two boys tossed ideas back and forth for the rest of the lesson, trying to think of something impressive and creative. Sadly, nothing they came up with were either of those things.

"Little kids playing and we talk about what we like?" "Nope."

"Telling a therapist about our childhood?" "No."

"Granddad telling his grandkid about his childhood?" "Nah."

Both groaned in frustration as the bell rang. They had spent 45 minutes and hadn't come up with a single idea they could use. "Well, a draft isn't due for a week so we have some time," Oliver sighed as they began to pack up.

"Yeah, we can brainstorm more ideas over the weekend and we can decide on one on Monday, yeah?" Will suggested, standing awkwardly behind his desk. They had both finished packing but neither one of them made a move to leave.

"Ahh yeah, sounds good, man," Oliver smiled awkwardly, scratching behind his ear. Will wasn't sure why it was awkward today. Most days, they were relaxed, as if they'd been friends for ages, but now it felt like they were two kids being forced to play with each other by their mums.

Will decided it was probably best to make a move to leave. "Have a good weekend," he said, giving Oliver a quick, small wave goodbye before walking quickly out of the classroom.

Will raced to his locker and quickly shoved his books into his bag. Will thought that all the awkward tension he was feeling would leave once he was in Emmie's car. That wasn't really the case though as he took a deep breath in the front passenger seat. 

Why can't I shake this? Will thought. His annoyance was steadily growing, so Will let out a growl to vent some of his frustrations.

"What's the matter with you?" Emmie asked from the driver's seat, confused by her friend's behaviour next to her. Will glanced at her and shook his head, signalling that she should just drop it. So that's what she did, turning on the radio to fill the silence in the car as they waited for the others. Emmie began to hum along and Will started to loosen back up, not as tense or frustrated anymore.