Chapter Text
Anders pushed up the doors of the school. His face was, as always, lit up by a big smile. A new workplace meant new opportunities and new meetings with new people. Maybe this was the place where he would find his true love. He made sure his hat sat nicely on his pointed head and walked confidently towards the teacher's lounge. As he walked, he made spontainious little hops of joy, to the delight of many of the middle schoolers scurrying around with their books and pens. Anders reached out for the door knob, prepared for whatever waited on the other side. Instead, he had to take a quick step backwards to avoid getting smacked by the door which was now opening, and suddenly he found himself standing eye to eye with a handsome, sixty something man with thick black glasses. Anders felt his breath catch for a split-second, because the beautiful eyes hidden behind the spectacles radiated comforting warmth and kindness. He felt himself unable to speak, unable to do anything other than staring into the man’s eyes.
“Hello! Are you the new teacher I’ve been hearing about all morning?” The man spoke with a deep voice and a heavy southern accent, and once again, Anders forgot how to act normal. Eventually, he remembered how vocal chords worked.
“Uhrm- yes! That’s me! Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space! I’m Anders Olsson by the way.” With a shrill, gorgeous laugh, the man spoke again:
“Oh, you’re a funny one, aren’t you. Welcome to Perikles Middle School! My name is Per Göran Svensson, but you can call me Pex. I’m the school librarian.”
“Fun! I love…. uh… books!” Anders just about caught himself from confessing his undying love for this random handsome man. Internally, he shook his head. No man should be able to make him like this, not even if they seemed so so so kind and had glittering eyes…
Realizing the awkward silence, Anders slithered around Per Göran- no, Pex, into the teacher’s lounge.
“Well, see you later alligator!”
He waved goodbye to his colleage and scanned the room he had now entered. Anders took in the people sitting around tables in comfortable sofas, as a hand touched his shoulder. He twirled around and saw Pex still there, with his hand on Anders' green shirt.
“I wasn’t leaving, so I can introduce you to some people!” the librarian laughed, and his eyes crinkled dazzlingly.
“Sure! That sounds perfect! But… I have a question. What does a nosy pepper do? Gets jalapeño buissness!”
Pex smiled happily as he rounded the corner to the lounging area. As Anders peeked around the wall his heart stopped when he got a glimse of the two men chatting on the couch.
“Guys!” Pex shouted, “this is the new teacher we’ve been waiting for.”
Their eyes shot up to meet Anders and he almost stumbled from the sheer force of their warm gazes.
“Welcome to the cribb”, the guy with the leopard shirt scrambles out.
“Dude, what was even that?” the other guy said, “this is a fucking teachers lounge in a middle school.”
“Anyway!” Pex interrupts, “the one with the shirt is Wellbo and next to him there's Lars, but everyone calls him Lunkan.” Still dazed, Anders realized it was probably his time to introduce himself. He stuttered out a quick introduction, too captivated by the two men to get a joke into the monologue.
“Yo dude!” Wellbo shouted as he threw up a peace sign. The slightly younger man beside him, Lunkan, rolled his eyes at his friend and stood up.
“Welcome to Perikles Middle School. You’re the English teacher I suppose?” he said, oozing confidence. Anders noticed the other man, Wellbo, and his jealous look directed towards Lunkan. Or was it really jealousy that shone from the man’s eyes? If Anders was being perfectly honest, it seemed more like longing than anything else. Still, he didn’t want to assume. And weirdly, somewhere deep inside, Anders felt sad. If Wellbo longed for, and perhaps even loved Lunkan, he would never look at Anders like that. His cheeks reddened as he realized that he was crushing on Wellbo. He was used to falling in love quickly, but this must have been a new record. The few words Wellbo had said had shown so much of his personality, and Anders desperatly wanted to know what was hidden behind the dark sunglasses he wore.
Anders’ attention was ripped away from Wellbo’s stunning face when all of a sudden his view was blocked out by Lunkan. His face, framed by his dark brown curls, were only inches away from Anders’ own reddish long face. The brim of his hat almost touched the top of Lunkans hair, causing Anders to almost go into cardiac arrest. Slowly Lunkans hand raises towards Anders and accidentaly brushes his cheek as he reaches for the coffe pot behind him. Even more heat rushes to his cheeks as he starts to feel light-headed.
“Sorry man, but do you want some coffee? Lunkan asked nicely, “It’s newly brewed!”
“Th..thanks'' He was almost dissapointed that Lunkan didn’t caress his cheek, but that would have been weird. Especally because Lunkan and Wellbo seemed to have somehing going on, and the last thing he wanted to do is to make enemies on the first day of work.