Beauty In Numbers

2

"Hi, can I join you?"

He snapped his head to the sound and stared at perfection. He blushed.
"Why?"

"Why not?" The boy grinned.

Louis moved a little to the side to make room for him. The boy took a seat.
"I'm Harry."

"Louis."

"What are you doing back here?" Harry asked.

"Looking at bees." Louis answered like it was obvious.

"Oh, I read about that. They follow the Fibonacci sequence, right?" Harry asked.

Louis looked at him to try and determine if he was making fun of him. It was hard to tell but the boy looked sincere.
"Yeah. You know about Fibonacci?" He mumbled, feeling surprised.

"Just the basics. So...in the cafeteria when you were measuring my face, did that have anything to do with that?" Harry asked softly.

Louis glanced at him.
"Yeah... I'm sorry about that. I know that wasn't...normal behavior." He mumbled embarrassed.

"It's okay. I don't care." Harry smiled. He looked friendly. Louis was confused.

"Your face follows the golden ratio." He said and immediately regretted it.

Harry let out a surprised laugh.
"Really? That's cool."

Louis relaxed a little and smiled at him. He inspected Harry's face. It really was almost perfect. Very proportionate. It altered a little when he laughed or smiled but that didn't matter. He was beauty defined by numbers.

He glanced at the clock and flew to his feet.
"Shit! I'm going to be late for my first class."

"Oh, it was nice talking to you." Harry said but he didn't reply. He ran. He was never late. He managed to get there on time with a minute to spare. Usually, he was waiting outside the classroom eight minutes before the class started.

He saw him again at lunch. Harry was surrounded by friends. It wasn't fair. He was new here. He had literally just been here for two days and he already had friends. Louis had been at this school for almost three years and he had never had a friend. People didn't talk to him. He didn't know how to talk to people. He talked to his family. They accepted him just the way he was.

Harry came up to him after school ended.
"Hi Louis, did you have a good day?"

"Yeah. You?" Louis asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, this school is growing on me. I wasn't happy at first when we moved here but I think I'll like it here." Harry smiled.

"Great." Louis closed his locker and was about to walk away when Harry called him back.

"Hey, wanna walk home from school together?"

Louis turned around to look at him.
"Why?"

"So I can get to know you." Harry replied.

"Me? Why would you want that?" Louis wondered.

"Do I need a reason?" Harry chuckled.

"Are you making fun of me?" Louis questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

"What? No!" Harry said.

"Okay." Louis agreed and started walking. When Harry didn't follow him he turned around.
"Are you coming?"

"Oh, of course. I wasn't sure that... Never mind. Let's go." Harry smiled and joined him.

They walked down the road.
"So what do you like to do for fun?" Harry asked.

"I love being out in nature. Observe the beauty." Louis answered without thinking and blushed. That sounded stupid.

"I do too. I love photography. I always take pictures of flowers and insects. We're not that different you and I." Harry smiled.

Louis glanced and him.
"I have Asperger's."

"I figured. That's cool." Harry replied.

"Cool?"

"Well, not cool, but, like, you know?" Harry stuttered.

"I guess. People don't really get me or I don't get people. I don't know." Louis sighed.

"Do you give people a chance to get to know you?" Harry wondered.

"Not really." Louis smirked.

"Too bad. Will you give me the chance to get to know you?" Harry asked softly.

"Why?" Louis questioned.

"I think you're interesting." Harry smiled.

They had reached Louis' house.
"I live here. Bye Harry."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Harry smiled and waved before he continued to walk down the street.

Louis watched him leave. He had no idea why Harry wanted to befriend him but he liked it. It was nice to talk to someone. He had gotten so used to not talking to people. It was a weird feeling. He seemed genuine but he could never be sure about things like that. He better talk to his mum about it. He ran inside and hung his jacket before he entered the kitchen.
"Hi, mum!"

"Hi, sweetie. How was your day?" His mum Jay asked.

He took a seat at the kitchen table. She had tea ready and poured him a cup. It was their after-school routine.
"Weird." He sighed.

"Why is that?" Jay asked, sounding worried.

"So there's this new boy at school that started yesterday. His name is Harry. I couldn't believe it when I first saw him but after redoing my calculations it was clear to me that he's a nearly perfect example of the golden ratio." Louis informed her while he sipped his tea.

Jay smiled.
"So he's beautiful?"

After eighteen years of raising her oldest child, she had a pretty good understanding of his way of seeing the world even if he constantly surprised her and amazed her, like now. Louis rolled his eyes at her.
"That's what I just said."

"Right." Jay smiled.

"But not just beautiful, mum. Like, you and the girls are beautiful too even if you're not near the golden ratio but Harry, he's as perfect as you can get, numberwise." Louis tried to explain.

Jay held back a peal of laughter.
"Thanks love. Okay, so he's perfectly beautiful."

"Well almost, he's not 100 percent." Louis said.

"Okay." Jay smiled.

"He walked me home and he talked to me. He said that he wants to get to know me. It didn't sound like a joke, but...what do you think mum?" Louis continued.

"I think that you should give him a chance to get to know you." Jay answered. She really hoped that this kid was genuine.