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Aj stared down at his lunch tray and desperately tried not to make it look like he was searching the cafeteria with his gaze.
He was, but no one needed to know that.
He couldn't see anyone that he had met in his earlier periods, and most of the tables were already full.
Aj hated being the new kid, but there wasn't much he could do about it. His parents had insisted on the move, and now he was stuck here, with no friends and no place to sit during lunch.
He sighed to himself and made his way to the only completely empty table that was kind of in the middle of the room, but not really.
Students were avoiding it and giving it a wide berth. Maybe it was something of a table for the outcasts. In that case, he was probably destroying his entire highschool experience by sitting here. Great.
Aj was staring at his tray and stabbed a pea with his fork when a shadow fell over the table and a group of boys suddenly sat down.
Oh. Oh no. This wasn't the table for the weird kids and nerds, this was the table the popular kids owned. He was so fucked.
Desperately, he tried to quickly gather his things and stand up again, but a hand caught his wrist.
Oh sweet baby Jesus, he was about to be beat up, wasn't he? Aj had zero experience with that, and he really didn't want to gain it.
Should he scream? Hide under the table? Maybe he could -
"I'm Niko." One of the boys said, and Aj almost got whiplash with how fast he looked up. They were smiling at him, and Niko - the one still holding his wrist and located right next to him - nudged him in his side with his elbow.
"You're in a class with Chunkz."
Aj nodded dumbly. He hadn't interacted much with anyone so far, much less with someone who obviously was kind of a big deal here. As soon as Chunkz had stepped foot into the classroom, students had swarmed around him, laughing at his jokes and trying to strike up a conversation.
It was kind of embarrassing to watch them make a fool of themselves. But then Aj had dared to risk glance at the guy that seemed to command the attention of the room to effortlessly.
So he had looked, and then outright stared, because damn. He had known he was gay for years now, but holy guacamole.
Gayness? Confirmed.
He had made eyecontact with Chunkz and then proceeded to die from embarrassment the rest of the lesson.
But that didn't explain this table situation at all. Didn't explain their nice smiles and kind introductions. Which they were now making. While Aj was most definitely not listening.
Cut him some slack, though, he was still reeling from reliving that stupid first lesson.
Niko was smiling at him, and the rest of the boys were grinning but silent again. Shit, he had completely zoned out during the name round.
"I'm -" he started but was quickly interrupted by one of the boys.
"Aj." Keith? Kane? Whatever he would find out later, laughed and threw his arm around the boy next to him. "Trust us, we know." He winked, and Aj's stomach turned.
How? And more importantly, why? His panic could probably be read on his entire face, and the boy in Kevin's? Kaden's? grip winced. "Kenny doesn't mean it like that."
Kenny (!) rolled his eyes and pressed a wet kiss to the boys cheek. To Aj, he said, "Nah, I meant it like that." His eyes gleamed with humour. "Chunkz's gonna eat you alive."
The boy, now halfway in his lap, smacked him upside the head. The "Ow, Sharky, what the hell?" went ignored, and Sharky - Aj would figure out everyone's names, you just watch and see - leaned over the table to steal a carrot from his plate.
Niko was laughing at their antics, and Aj was just about to join when a voice interrupted them. "Who's that sitting in my seat?"
Chunkz dropped down right next to him on the bench. Their thighs were touching, and by the gods, Aj was not going to survive this.
He silently debated what would kill him first, the almost skin to skin contact when you imagined the trousers away, or Chunkz himself because Aj took his seat.
Aj would also like to note that none of it would be his fault, as he didn't know whose seat it was, and Chunkz was the one who sat next to him, who pressed his leg against his, and wow, that was really distracting.
A bit further down the table, one of the boys broke out laughing. "You're not fooling anyone, Chunkz." The boy ignored the very pointed glare he received and waggled his eyebrows. "He hasn't been shutting up during all of maths about the cute new boy - ahg!"
Niko kicked him very efficiently under the table. "Deji!"
"What? He would have scared him away! And then I won't get to be the best man at their wed- ow, damn it, Niko, stop kicking me!"
"No, I shan't!"
Niko kicked him again, and Aj blended them out in favour of focusing back on Chunkz.
Who was staring right back at him, smiling charmingly. "Well," he raised the corner of his mouth in a half smile and jerked his chin towards Deji.
"Don't mind him, he's an idiot, I -"
"You think I'm cute?" Aj snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words had left his mouth and stared at his lap.
That might have been the worst possible thing he could have said. But he can't be blamed! No one had ever liked him in a maybe more than friendly way! And Chunkz was so unbelievably good-looking, he was allowed to be giddy about the possibility of him liking Aj.
And he wasn't just hot, he was funny and kind as well. During the first lesson that they had shared, Chunkz had sat next to him, speaking with him in soft tones.
Aj had been very grateful for that because he had been terribly anxious already and embarrassingly close to mortified tears when he didn't understand the questions on the worksheet.
Everything had just been so much, and he didn't know anyone, and - Chunkz had introduced himself then, silently and with a smile, and gently nudged the pen out of his hand.
Time had stopped for a very short second and then sped up twice as fast, while Chunkz helped him work out the answers.
He had looked at Aj very softly and smiled very kindly, and Aj was crushing very hard already.
Chunkz looked at him like that now as well, and Aj only saw because he had to look up to get his tray.
His new strategy involved making a quick exit, and it wasn't working at all because his legs were all wobbly after accidentally catching sight of that look.
"I do think you're cute," Chunkz was reaching out to take a hold of his hands, and Aj held very still, as to not make him draw back.
"I want to take you out. This weekend." Chunkz looked down at him hopefully, and Aj grinned shyly back.
"Okay," he whispered and nestled into Chunkz side when he tugged him closer after the table erupted in cheers and catcalls.
Maybe moving didn't suck quite this bad.