Euro High: A Eurovision High School AU

Chapter 4: A Plan

Ari was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to face the student sat behind him- Matti Haraldsson. By now, he'd gotten used to his frightening yet intriguing fashion choices and really admired the understanding personality underneath. He smiled and waited for Matti to ask his question he'd presumably wanted to ask him.
"I see you and Mikolas have made up."  He smiled, Ari didn't want to talk about it but seeing that he was generally curious about his feelings he continued.
"Yeah ha, well we never really fell out in the first place we just kinda..."  He struggled for words for a while. "We just... lost touch for a few days over something personal."

Matti thought for a moment before smiling to himself.
"I can help you out you know." He whispered, "I know that something's going on between you too." Ari shuddered- too many people were finding out too quickly and he didn't know how to cooperate. His personal feelings would be spread like wildfire across the school if he didn't do something now. New idea: play it dumb.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'going on between us'?"
"Oh you know what I'm talking about. Me and my friends, well- Hatari, are all quite misunderstood. Yes, we may look like Satan worshipping outcasts that don't give a single fuck about this school but I'll tell you, we're more."

Ari was stunned but so interested to here more from this scarily sophisticated goth guy.
"Einar may be quiet, I mean I hardly hear him speak and I hang out with him 24/7, but he's all ears. He knows all the ups and downs of everything and everyone. Now Klemens is different. He's good at talking to people, he's a great sidekick and a good secret keeper. Definitely a people pleaser." These words were rolling off of Matti's tongue so elegantly yet excitingly that Ari couldn't help getting lost through his words into a new world of descriptive daydreams.
"Then there's me. I know how to get to your sweet spot, I know how to mislead people with my appearance to then have them absolutely astonished by how average of a human being I am on the inside. But the BDSM style fashion is also to die for so there's that too."

Matti slapped his hands onto his desk in a startling demeanour, starting to get serious. "We're not stupid and i know you aren't either so let me work my magic."He almost growled. Ari sighed, he knew he wasn't ready to have to confront his friends about it too, but it's what had to be done.
"I'm listening." He said.
"I know what's going on. To be brief, you've got boy problems, sweetie; but I'm here to help. Are they're any signs he likes you back?" Ari was absolutely taken aback once again by his crazy amount of knowledge about people he'd only just met. Could he be psychic? Or just really likes sinking his teeth into other people's business? Either way, despite this, he seemed very trustworthy so Ari responded.
"No, not really. He knows I have feelings for him but he tries to brush it off and calls me his best friend." Ari muttered.
"I think I can work around that," Matti smiles and gazes deeply into his eyes,"Here's the plan..."

Klemens put the phone down and rolled his eyes at Einar.
"He's got us into some matchmaking scheme for that Freshman kid and his crush." Einar shrugged, saying nothing as per usual.
"I mean... it's risky" The Sophomore ran his fingers through his sandy hair, adjusting the fluffy mess between the sides of his head that had been shaved. "But it sure would spice up our week." Einar smiled under his  mask, fist bumping Klemens. He knew that this was going to be fun.

"Heeeeey uh Nikolas!" Klemens leaned on the locker next to his, trying not to giveaway any suspicious activity.
"It's Mikolas" Miki responded, grabbing textbooks and putting them into his backpack.
"Yeah yeah. Well, since I've seen you around school and you really do seem like a nice guy I was hoping you could help me out." The Czech boy was flattered to hear this. He enjoyed feeling like he's relied on and trustworthy so he felt honoured to listen to what this devilish angel had to say.
"I'm going to ask Ari Oláfsson out and I need some advice." Klemens smiled, ready to analise his reaction.

Mikolas felt his heart shatter inside his chest. Still trying to convince himself that his feelings weren't actually there, he nervously laughed, hiding the feeling of dread under his hazelnut-brown eyes. He knew how much Ari liked Klemens and his friends, he was always mentioning them and had often talked about Klemens himself. What if his confrontation and constant friendzoning had put Ari off of him? What if he said yes? He could feel himself quiver at the thought of Ari being with someone, he knew this meant that his crush on Ari was real and he'd been brushing it off for months without realising it.

"You okay man?" Klemens asked, happy that he'd gotten clues for the matchmaking scheme but concerned for Mikolas, who was shaking, wide-eyed and nervously laughing like a maniac.
"Yep!" He accidentally yelled. People in the hall began to stare. "You go do that. Y'know I just think it's funny how you waltz into this school, barely meet someone and think it's love. I don't think you even know Ari like m- s-some other people do!" He began to raise his voice without even realising it, feeling his heart and soul being poured out yet crushed by Klemens' words and the thought of having Ari taken away from him.

"Did you ever consider that?! How other people might think of you asking out a guy you've just met, a guy that's close to a ton of people you've barely attempted to even interact with and here you think you can just think that you know him enough to love him?!"
"Mikolas, please, it was just a-"
"SHUT UP OKAY! HOW DO YOU THINK THE PERSON WHO ACTUALLY LOVES HIM WOULD FEEL RIGHT NOW?!"
"I don't know, Mikolas, how would he feel?!" Klemens could feel the conversation intensifying by the second, it was clear he'd gotten the info he needed but it had been taken too far.
"HE'D FEEL BETRAYED!"
"Why would they feel like that?!"
"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" The whole hallway fell silent. Miki's blood ran cold as ice- he'd lost himself in that argument, an argument he'd started all because of the strain of pushing back feeling he hardly even knew he'd had. "Because t-they love him..." He muttered before snatching his backpack, slamming his locker shut and rushing off down the hall.