Chapter 2

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"Soo..." Alexander fidgets in his chair, and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Hi. I'm Alexander, but you can call me Alex or Xander."
"Andreas." I say. It honestly isn't the most friendly thing I could have said, but I've never been one for too many useless words.
"Ah...ah... So... er... pride stool. I have little knowledge of History obviously, but pride and gay is my specialty. And yes, I am coming out to you. I'm gay."
"Ah. Uh. Nice. I'm the complete opposite. I'm good with history, and my knowledge of pride is very limited." If he didn't notice my German accent before, he definitely has now. He looks surprised, but I can't tell why.
"Well, I mean we both have like 6 months to prepare. This is probably why they gave us so long!" He lifts his hands up dramatically and then slaps them down on his legs. "Fuck that hurt."
I try to suppress snorting as he shakes his hands in pain.
"Hey! It's not funny." He says, looking annoyed.

We spend the next hour talking, not really planning the pride stool, but more trying to teach each other about our areas if expertise. I now know that Pansexual has nothing to do with pans and Biromantic is not anything to do with biro pens. Good to know.
I'm pretty sure I offended Alexander with my limited knowledge. And he made me go crazy when I had to explain for the 50th time that the Cold War had nothing to do with weather. But other than that, it wasn't too bad. Sure Alexander has a lot of energy, and is really annoying at times, but he's not as annoying as Summer.

When the first 2 hours of history had finished and it was time for lunch, Mr Rhodol pulled us aside.
"You boys seem to be getting on fairly well, but I will warn you that if there is any problems, you're just going to have to suck it up. You are not representing history, and there is no dropping out now. Comprendre?" We both nod. "Good. Anyways, see you guys later." And with that Mr Rhodol strolled out of the classroom, top hat in hand.
Alexander looked at me.
"So... See you next lesson?" He rubs his neck awkwardly. He has a habit of doing that.
"Yes."

As I am walking to the canteen, a tall girl with frizzy, afro hair runs into me, taking me by surprise.
"Sorry Andreas. I've been very distracted recently." The girl wiped her eyes, trying to hide the obvious fact she had been crying.
"You want to talk about it?" I ask her.
She nods and I follow her to the small library that no one ever goes to.
She starts crying again.
"What's bothering you, Nancy?" I ask with general concern. I'm not one to show affection often, but Nancy is a childhood friend of mine.
"I'm sorry. Everything has just been crazy recently. Harvey is being... well Harvey. And Ruby has been more rebellious. Everything has just been so crazy lately. Your mum stopped Lotte contacting Ruby, and she's not handling being this long without speaking to her. I swear those two are the most oblivious inloves I've ever seen."
"Jeez. You must of not seen Emma and your brother. Those two are head over heels for each other." Nancy smiles slightly, clearing her tears. She's the only other one who knows that me and Emma aren't actually dating. She also happens to be Connor's sister.

Nancy tells me about Harvey, her boyfriend. Words cannot describe him. When I say he's a jackass, it's an understatement. And, surprise, surprise, he's friends with Vinnie.
But Nancy doesn't seem to see the instant red flags, or if she does, she ignores them. Love can make you crazy like that, I guess. Or at least that's what my books say.

Nancy and I talk out our problems to each other. I tell her how my mother is still reluctant to let me move to Germany and live with her and Lotte. Nancy is like a sister to me. Older sister. Although she is in the same year as me in school, she is actually older by a few years. She was diagnosed with cancer a few years back, and she had to take a lot of time off school. She's much better now, but she decided to stay back a few years to learn what she missed. No one as nice as Nancy deserved something as horrific as cancer.

When the bell finally rings, Nancy is laughing and smiling again. She says I should be a therapists. As if. I would give people more trauma rather then help them. I start walking to history. I stayed behind a little with Nancy, so people should all be in classes now. Which is why I am surprised when I hear voices around a corner. I peer around the wall. I'm not scared, I would just rather be safe than sorry. You never know what happens in corridors. To my surprise, I see Vinny talking to Alexander. And when I say talking, I mean harassing.
"Why did you move to geography. You know you need to do my homework." Vinny spits, cornering Alexander against the wall.
"Can't you do your homework yourself for once?" Alexander says rolling his eyes. "I know I used to be scared of you, but now I see you're just pathetic and weak. And I would appreciate it if you left me alone. And if you force me to do your homework with a gun to my head, I will make all the answers wrong." Alexander shoves Vinny off of him and starts walking towards the corner I'm hiding behind.
"If you walk away now, I'll tell everyone you're gay." Vinny smirks as Alexander stops walking.
"And if you bother me again I'll tell everyone why your dad left you." Alexander continues walking. Vinny looks pissed, but doesn't say anything, and walks off in the other direction.

Alexander walks around the corner I'm hiding behind, and crashes right into me.
"Ah! Holy mother of pineapple on pizza! Christ Andreas, you scared me to death! Sorry! What are you even doing here?! Did you hear all that?!" He says without breathing.
"I did hear all of that." I say, watching as Alexander gasps for a breath.
"Oh. Welp. Now you know that Vinny has been bullying me for quite some time. But all is good, because I realise now how pathetic he is."
"You sounded very cool when you spoke back to him." I mutter, slightly reluctant to say it, but it was the truth.
"Oh? I did? Good to know." He rubs the back of his neck, and smiles awkwardly. He stops suddenly, and looks at the watch on his wrist. "Crap! We're very late! Come on Andreas! Before we get caught out of class and get a detention!" He grabs my hand and runs through the corridors and up stairs, pulling me with him.
I feel my face heat a little bit. Probably because of the running.

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Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
Again, thank you meha-k for the amazing covers!!!

Question of the chapter:

Pineapple on pizza?

Personally, I say no. I hate it.

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