Be the New Kid on an Old Block

For Rian, it was just another boring day at school. He was sitting in his English class, listening to Jack talking excitedly about a new video game that he had bought the day before. His attention quickly diverted by a boy walking in the classroom. He had never seen him before, probably a new kid. The boy walked to a desk and sat there while Rian’s eyes were still glued to him. There was something about this boy but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Before he could think more about it, the teacher walked in the class, interrupting Rian’s thoughts.

“Hey, did you see the kid sitting two desks in front of me?” Rian asked Jack after the class ended.

“Yeah. Probably a new kid, I’ve never seen him before.” Jack said.

“Yeah, I figured it out.” Rian said.

During the whole day, Rian saw that new kid in many of his classes. He learned in science that his name was Alex Grieco and, obviously, the kid was really shy. When the teacher asked him to briefly introduce himself, he had stayed at his place, not even getting up and had quietly mumbled that his name was Alex Grieco, he was 16 and he had just moved here from Boston. Some students had quietly snickered, one kid even yelling at him to speak louder from the back of the classroom. Alex had only blushed and lowered his head, staring at his desk silently. Rian was once again staring at him which would’ve probably looked creepy if Alex saw him but he didn’t.

Over the next few days, Rian realized that Alex was in all of his classes except for history and music. He even had French with him and Jack unlike most students who took Spanish. Jack had also realized that Rian seemed attracted to this kid. It wasn’t hard to see, he always seemed distracted and his gaze was always fixed on the shy boy. Jack knew him enough to know when Rian had a crush. The same thing had happened with Kara when they were 14 and it turned out that Rian had a crush on her. He also knew that, just like he did with Kara, Rian would never go talk to Alex so he decided to do it by himself.

Jack had history with Alex while Rian was in music class so he decided to talk to him then and tell him to come eat lunch with them instead of sitting alone. Alex had accepted and it was obvious that he was shy but Jack had to admit that it was kind of cute.

When Rian arrived at their usual table at lunch, he was surprised to see one more person at the table. Of course, Alex was there, sitting and looking all shy and adorable.

“Oh, hey Rian!” Jack said when Rian sat at the last seat available which, of course, was right next to Alex. “This is Alex. Alex, this is Rian.”

“Yeah, I know. Can I talk to you for a second?” He said, trying to not sound too angry even though he actually wanted to murder Jack.

“Yeah, of course.” Jack got up following Rian out of the cafeteria.

“Why? What are you doing?” Rian asked him.

“Because it’s so fucking obvious that you have a crush on him!” Jack said matter-of-factly.

“That’s exactly what the problem is! What the fuck would you do this for?” The older said.

“Because if you never talk to him, he’ll never even know you exist. You have to start somewhere and because you’re too much of a pussy to talk to him, I thought I could help you.” Jack said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“If he doesn’t know I exist, he won’t have to reject me. That’s already better.” Rian muttered. “I swear to god Jack, if I embarrass myself in front of him, I’ll fucking murder you.”

“You won’t Rian. I don’t know how you’d embarrass yourself but I’m sure you won’t.” Jack said following Rian back in the cafeteria.

“You better be right.” The older muttered under his breath as they approached the table.

Luckily, everything went well for Rian. Jack obviously had to force him to talk to Alex and even though they were both shy, they managed to hold a conversation all through lunch time, finding out that they had many points in common. When Alex said that he knew who Rian was, having noticed him in most of his classes, the taller boy smiled brightly, happy that Alex had at least noticed him. The butterflies in his stomach went wild when Alex smiled and got all excited at the fact that Rian also played drums and that they had the same taste in music. Over the next couple of days, Alex had become part of their group of friends and him and Rian were starting to get pretty close. Still, Jack was not happy with this. It was obvious that they were both crushing on each other but it was just as predictable that none of them was going to make the first step. Tired of seeing Alex looking longingly towards Rian when he thought the other boy was not looking, or Rian become jealous anytime someone talks to Alex a little too friendly, Jack decided to make the first step for both of them, or at least, to get them to do it. Hinting at it subtly would not do anything so he needed to talk to them.

Jack and Alex lived close to each other and, every day after school, they walked back home together. It was easier to talk to Alex this way so, one night, as they were walking back home Jack decided to talk him.

“You don’t have to tell me, but are you kind of attracted to Rian?” Jack asked bluntly. “I know this might seem weird but it’s just the way you look at him sometimes.”

“Don’t tell him please.” Alex said, stopping dead in his tracks.

“Don’t worry, I won’t but you should though. You see, I’ve known Rian for a long time and I know him really well. A couple of years ago, he had a huge crush on that girl, Kara, and I remember the way he acted around her and the way he looked at her and everything, he does the same with you and I think that he might actually like you.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asked, unbelieving. He knew Jack probably didn’t have any bad intentions but maybe he was wrong.

“You probably noticed that he’s kinda shy right?” The skunk-haired boy said. Alex nodded, giving the signal for Jack to continue. “He’s not actually shy. The only reason he is, is when he has a crush on someone and if you’re not around, then he’s not shy anymore. Basically, it’s not hard to notice you just have to know him well enough and, believe me, I do.” The taller boy said, placing his hand on the other boy’s shoulder. “You don’t have to but I’m just saying that you should tell him how you feel.”

“I’ll think about it. I’d like to but I’m kinda scared that he doesn’t actually feel the same no matter what you say.” Alex said, looking at the ground shyly.

“Yeah. Just think about it.” Jack said.

Later that same night, Jack called Rian, the same mission in mind.

“Rian, I’m sick of this!” He started, a lot less careful than he had been with Alex. “You need to do something about it.”

“What are you even talking about?” Rian asked, completely confused. The younger boy was not making any sense to him.

“I’m talking about you and Alex! What else did you think I’d even call you for?” Jack exclaimed, slowly losing hope in him mission. Rian was so stubborn sometimes.

“Goddammit Jack! Will you fucking let it go one day?” Rian said. As much as he loved Jack, sometimes his skunk-haired friend was just downright annoying. This was one of those subjects that made Jack annoying, he’d never back down until Rian got the guts to ask Alex out and Rian knew that too well.
“He feels the same Ri’ but he’s shy and he’s scared that you’ll reject him. You just need to tell him!” Jack insisted.

“How would you even know that..?” Rian asked, rolling his eyes at Jack’s pathetic attempt at convincing him.

“I talked to him okay. He told me not to tell you but I couldn’t resist.” Jack admitted, after a few seconds, deciding that telling the truth was better than inventing some stupid lie.

“It’s good to know that we can trust you with our secrets.” Rian said once again rolling his eyes even though the younger boy couldn’t see him.

“C’mon! You’re supposed to be happy about this and go talk to him.” Jack literally whined, unnerving Rian even more.

The older boy sighed, knowing that he’d never get through this if he didn’t talk to Alex. “Alright. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” He said, finally giving in.

And this is how he ended up nervously sitting in front of Alex, the next day, Jack by his side.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys alone. Alex, I believe Rian has something to tell you.” Jack said before getting up and leaving the two older boys together.

“Jack, I hate you.” Rian muttered under his breath as the skunk-haired boy left. He sighed, looking at Alex who was staring at him questioningly. “Alright, I guess I’ll get this over with. Please, don’t hate me.” He almost pleaded. Alex looked at him, even more confused but he let him continue. “I, uh… I don’t really know how to say that so, I guess that, uh, well, I really like you. Like more than a friend should, y’know.” Rian mumbled, unable to look at the other boy.

“Did Jack make you say that?” Alex asked, skeptic.

“Well, kind of. He said he was sick of the way I was acting and that the only way it would get better was to tell you that I actually like you.” Rian said, still looking at the floor.

“But is it true?” Alex asked, almost nervously.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Why would I say that if it wasn’t true?” Rian asked, looking up slightly, his eyes quickly darting back down when his gaze met Alex’s.

“I thought he might’ve told you that I feel the same way and wanted to trick me into thinking that you liked me.” Alex admitted shyly.

Rian thought about telling Alex that Jack had in fact revealed his secret but he decided against it. “No. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. But do you really feel the same way?” The taller boy asked, hopeful.
“Yeah, I think I like you too.” Alex said, blushing.

“Would you accept to go on a date with me? This way you can be sure of how you really feel.” Rian suggested, hoping that the shy boy would agree.

“Yeah, okay.” Alex said, smiling up at the other boy.

“Friday at 6? I’ll come pick you up.” Rian said, already planning the night in his head.

“Alright, that’s perfect.”