Chapter Text
He hadn’t heard the words “I love you” in his native language in a while.
Enis has been away from his home country of Bosnia for around two and a half years now. His mom had told him just two days before they had to leave that they were going to the United States. He knew he would have to leave his childhood friends for a country on a completely different continent. “Do we really have to?” He whined when he first found out. It was like a whole new world that he didn’t want to experience, but he had to do it.
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“Zbogom, mama,” Enis looked over to his mother sitting at their dining table, who was focused on some type of finance-related things he couldn't care less about. “Nedostaješ mi.” He mutters, his tone full of sorrow. He really didn’t want to meet anyone new, especially given that he barely knew how to speak English without his heavy accent. He’s always heard stories about foreign kids at American schools being made fun of for their accents, no matter where they came from. It was enough to shake him up a bit; his body shuddering slightly, but not hard enough for his mom to notice.
“Oprostite, Enis. Zbogom.” His mom responded, looking up at him with a soft, hurt gaze. She could tell that Enis was highly nervous, but she had always told him to keep pushing. He just had to figure out how he would.
Walking into the building was another thing that shook him to his core. It was a very large school, way nicer than what he had in Bosnia. He already knew there would be too many people here, and these halls would be hard to navigate. He tried to shake off his feelings of nervousness during his trip to his first period, but it just would not leave. ‘Whatever,’ Enis thought. He just had to get through the day.
Enis’s first period just happened to be English. So unfortunate. He ended up being late because he didn't know where to go; the school's layout was so incredibly confusing. He just shrugged it off.
He was sitting next to... who he thinks is a girl? They sound more feminine, as they say ‘here’ for attendance, they look more feminine, but… he’s just not sure. Feeling a tap on his arm, he looks over. It’s the person sitting next to him.
“Hi!” The person gave a small wave. They had blonde, shoulder-length hair, twinkling dark brown eyes, and quite a nice outfit that fit them super well. Enis gave a small and shaky wave, anxious that he was being joked with. “What’s your name?” They asked. Enis realized with that question that they also had an accent. It wasn’t as heavy as his, but it was definitely noticeable.
“...Enis,” he muttered, his own accent so extremely there.
“I like that name,” They smiled. “I’m Janez.”
‘Oh, wow.’ He said in his head. He was definitely from Europe.
“Hm… where are you from?” Deciding to ask, he was expecting something like Poland or Russia.
“Slovenia,” Janez nodded. “What about you?”
“Bosnia.” Enis was glad to have someone from the Balkans in at least one of his classes. It was rare to stumble upon such people, but he managed to do it. Well, he didn’t start it, but he kept it going. That was something that gave him a bit of hope.
“That’s nice. Finally meeting someone else from the Balkans.” It’s like Janez could read his mind.
It was always a bit hard for Enis to make friends, whether that be from how he acts, how nervous he gets, or how horrible he speaks English, in his own words. He could tell that it wasn’t hard for Janez to make friends, for how lively and bubbly they were. However, it was quite hard for Janez to keep their voice down, as the teacher rudely told the two to stop talking because of their higher volume. They muttered a simple ‘oprostite’ in response, knowing the teacher wouldn’t understand. Enis perked up; he could actually understand him! Slovene was not as mutually intelligible with his own language, but he knew that there were some shared words between them. Of course, Janez just had to notice that he perked up, giggling slightly. God, he already seemed quite insufferable.
“Šta?” Enis whispered, face turning a light red in slight embarrassment. Janez laughed again, a smile wide across their face.
“Oh, nothing,” They grin. “I just thought it was cute!”
They thought it was cute? The two have just met, and they already think the things he does are cute?! This would be a long week for him.
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‘How is it already lunch?’ Enis thought. He did sleep through all the classes that Janez wasn’t in, though, so that’s most likely why. It didn’t matter; it was finally time to eat.
Of course, Enis didn’t have any friends yet, so he had to sit in the hall alone. It wasn’t the greatest, but at least there isn’t anyone annoying him. Until Janez came over. They walked over with someone next to him, a guy with short black hair, bigger and taller, and… quite intimidating. He could tell this guy would be trouble. The two stared at each other for a little while, or what felt like a little while, until Janez spoke up.
“Enis, this is Vuk. Vuk, this is Enis,” Janez smiled, practically forcing the two to meet. They were definitely extroverted.
“Zdravo.” He waved. ‘Was he Bosnian too?’
“He’s from Serbia. I think you guys will get along just fine, though.” He swore that they could read his mind, again. Enis’s face soured a bit in response, as he’s never really gotten along with Serbians. It was something he would have to change.
He watched as the two sat next to him, with Vuk sitting in front of him, and Janez deciding to sit right next to him. Awfully close, too. Now, his face flushed a dusty pink; he's never super close with people like this. Vuk noticed this and gave Janez a sharp glare, making them let out some sort of sad noise and scoot away from him.
“You just met him, Margon, don’t be that close with him.” Vuk snarled. Enis guessed that he was the meaner, more brute-ish type of person. His response made Janez sigh, rolling their eyes at the Serbian.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be close with him! You’re just jealous that you can’t get Dražen to get close to you like that, aren’t you.” They retort, voice laced with anger. He got lost in his thoughts again, thinking that Vuk liked some other guy, whose name sounded like he was another Serbian.
“You dirty bastard,” He huffed. “One, that does mean you cannot be close with him, either without asking, or until you two are a little closer, and two, you weren’t supposed to share that, кучкo.” Enis laughs a bit at the harsh word usage.
“Rude, much?!” Janez dramatically puts a hand on their chest, which makes Enis look at Vuk for his response. He just sighs, shaking his head.
“Sorry about him. I know he’s kind of insufferable.”
So Janez was a guy. They seemed so… feminine. Enis did always hear jokes about Slovenes being feminine, but he never necessarily thought they were true. There was only one person he met that fit the stereotype, and that was Janez, so still, he couldn’t decide if it was true or not. He remembers that he has to respond to Vuk. “Ne, it’s okay. I do not mind.” He nodded slightly. Vuk raised an eyebrow after hearing his voice.
“Are you Serbian?” Now, Enis shook his head.
“Ne. Bosanac.” Vuk gives a ‘oh’, and looks at Janez. “Don’t you think this is a bad idea?” He asks. Janez opens their mouth to say something, but Enis cuts them off.
“Why would it be a bad idea?” He says, like he doesn’t already know. It’s because he definitely hasn’t gotten along with Serbs.
“I just feel like it might be a bit harder for you guys to be friendly with each other because of… you know.” Janez mutters worriedly, referencing the Yugoslav wars. Enis shook his head; Vuk rolled his eyes and sighed angrily.
“For the fifteen-millionth time, Jan, that doesn’t determine whether I can make other ex-Yugoslav friends! Hell, I’m friends with you! You were the one who practically started the whole fucking war!” Vuk was yelling by now, clearly angry. So Enis was right, he is the meaner and angrier guy.
“I was just saying, you know, I don’t want any possible tensions with you guys! And lower your voice, prosim.” They look around the hall, there’s a couple people staring at them now because of the Serb. He sighs again, but looks behind him at the sound of footsteps coming near them. It’s… someone, for sure. Someone with long, orange-ish hair tied up in a ponytail, a shirt that was definitely too big for them, shorts going down to their knees, and some busted up shoes.
“Dobar dan.” They said, accent heavy and thick in their deeper voice. Good lord, were they Balkan too? It’s like everyone in this school was from Europe. “I see you two have met someone new, ne?” Vuk and Janez both nodded, with the Slovene deciding to introduce the two to each other.
“Živjo,” They gestured for the person to sit down. “Enis, this is—”
“Боже мој, Janez, he can do it himself!” Vuk snarls, hitting the Slovene on the arm. They of course, hit him back, then sighing. Enis looks at the new person, and clears his throat, as he hasn’t been talking much.
“Zdravo, I’m Enis Metikoš. You are?” He asks.
“Dražen Krleža. Nice to meet you, Enis,” Dražen nods. “Where are you from? You sound Balkan.”
“Bosnia. What about you?” Enis says. This must be the guy that Vuk likes, they share the same name after all, and… it makes sense. He’s very attractive, but Enis personally wouldn’t date someone who is liked by someone else he knows. Dražen snaps him out of his thoughts by responding.
“Croatia,” He says, twirling his long hair around his finger.
All of them are interrupted by the bell ringing as a signal to go to their 5th period. Vuk taps his shoulder.
“What class do you have?” The Serb asks, getting up. Enis shrugs, pulling up his schedule on his busted-up phone. ‘Personal Finance’, he read. Vuk laughed and let out a ‘me too’, and held his hand out to help the Bosnian. He took it, but struggled to get up for a bit. “The class is boring as shit anyway, so we could just like… talk, or something, if you’re up for that.” Enis nods, it does sound like a very boring class. “Talk about your new friend Janez or something.” Vuk adds. He would like to talk about Janez.
Once they make it to the class he sees a seating chart. Fortunately, Vuk and Enis sit right next to each other, so they do get to talk. He also observes Dražen walk into the room, looking back at the seating chart. He sits next to Vuk. Great, now he’ll have to deal with either arguing or the two being all lovey-dovey. ‘How fun,’ he thinks. All of them take a seat in the very back, as it doesn’t specify what table, and clearly the teacher won’t care, as long as they’re all sitting next to each other.
“You know, Enis, I think Janez already has a crush on you,” Vuk whispers.
There’s no way that they could already have a crush on him, the two just met today! Enis didn’t think that it was possible.
“Ne.. there’s no way. We... we have just met.” He speaks his thoughts. Dražen laughs, seeing just what Enis has got himself into.