DWYUID - Chapter 2

Instructions

~Chapter 2~ July 26th, 2023. 8:47am Why is everyday the same? Get up, go to school, watch Eliane get surrounded with boys, Axel swooning over those boys, struggle to study, tell my therapist I'm sleeping well, go home, rethink my life choices, then stay awake all night because I'm scared I'll suddenly die if I let my guard down. But this particular day, something felt different as soon as I got out of bed. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and just let it slide off the top of my head. "Ax's sick today. Either that or he's jamming to rock music at home and singing karaoke with his pet chameleon," Eliane bursts out laughing, and I join in. The school journey’s long and I’m always tired. Not a great combo. But it does give us a whole lot of time to chat. "Wouldn't be the first time, honestly," I sigh sarcastically, as she grins with raised eyebrows. "Did you hear there are 2 new transfer students from England today? I heard the boy's cute. Do you think he'll be single?" El stares up at the sky. Oh, geez. Haha, nothing's new, huh? Walking down the noisy, packed hallway, my eye catches on a pretty girl who I've never seen before. Next to her stands a tall boy that I assume is her brother. His long golden blonde hair falls on his face as he tucks a strand behind his ear. Everyone’s staring like they’re celebrities. They must be the English transfer students. The boy looks extremely uncomfortable, so I do something incredibly uncalled for. "Stop staring at the poor new students, do you have nothing better to do?" I yell at everyone glancing at them. My cheeks go red when I notice he looks shocked. But the girl nods and smiles at me gratefully. Eliane nudges me and whispers, "Got a crush for once?" She laughs when she sees my disgusted look. I watch them walk into the homeroom class that El and I are in. My eyes widen. Well, nice surprise? Nice-ish? Even the teacher gawks at them as well. They introduce themselves. "Hi. I'm... Ruben. Ruben Ayla-Kiren." Ruben bites his lip, trying to cover his rainbow bracelet. Not exactly the most descriptive introduction, but okay. "Hi class! My brother here is quite shy-" He shoots a death glare at her, "-but he's quite nice when you get to meet him. I'm Sunny Ayla-Kiren. We're from England. Hope we can become friends!" Sunny sits at the front, and a few girls compliment her public speaking skills. The only spare seat is next to me where Axel usually sits. Ruben notices me and attempts to wave, but ducks his head, his hair shining brighter than that pearl I found once when I was at the beach. What a silent weirdo. The whole lesson passes and I notice Ruben glancing over at our direction. Eliane gives me a look that says "Did you see that", and I give her a "I know, right?" look. I rush out the classroom towards the cafeteria but stop when I notice a girl asking Ruben out. He looks flattered but gestures to his bracelet and says something that I don't quite catch. The girl’s smile fades. He turns around and sees me staring awkwardly at him. Way to go, Atlas!!... Ha. I suck at first impressions. Third impressions. Same thing... I snap my head back to the cafeteria where Eliane is hurrying me to sit down. Questions cloud my thoughts and a flicker of curiosity bubbles inside me. There's something new about this mysterious shy dude that was catching my attention. That rainbow bracelet. Could he be gay? No, Atlas, stop jumping to conclusions. Why do I even want to know? It's not like I care, right? Well, I guess only time will tell. It wasn’t just the bracelet. It was the way he looked at me - like he didn’t even know if he was allowed to... Little did I know, my whole life was about to change and roll out of that frustratingly repetitive cycle.