The thick spectacle frames and the columns of his fringe provided security as Arthur's eyes rose slowly, hearing the lilt in the familiar voice. Peering up rather inconspicuously, he saw the source of his joy, happiness, agony and frustration for the past three months. There, standing just a few feet away from his table was a certain blonde boy with his group of friends. Apparently, he had found a rather distasteful joke amusing. The girl beside him gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder, engendering a tightening in Arthur's stomach as he stared, transfixed, no longer caring to be discreet.

"You mean he legitimately slipped on a banana peel?!" He seemed to be beyond amused as he gave another loud laugh. Arthur's hands stiffened around the book he had been reading, crumpling the pages. But he couldn't care less. Heck the book and its theories on the human brain when he couldn't even fathom half of what was going around his head, which was trying to plant a reason for the blonde boy's reactions currently. Why did he not shun away from the girl when she hit him? Did he like it, people touching him, hitting him like that? Wait, why were his eyes shining with that fervour and interest at that girl? Was he secretly pleased? Why was the girl slowly edging towards him? Could she remove her hand away from his shoulder?

A pair of azure orbs burned into Arthur's green eyes, promptly snapping him out from the little mental war of incessant questioning that was going on his head. Panic and fear ran down his spine, paralysing his entire body when he realised that the blonde boy was look over at his direction, looking at him in particular. Nothing in his mind or the books in front of him had prepared him for this. Doing what he expertise in, Arthur stared back, his eyes glazed and unfocused, pretending to be making a cursory glance at his surroundings before feigning a yawn, bending his head down again, letting his unruly hair to take its place again, covering his eyes while he returned to his book.

Cheeks flaming, he tried a thousand and hundred ways to calm himself down, taking in slow deep breaths in a discreet way that would make nobody notice. That voice travelled into his ears again. Was he speaking a bit louder than what was required? Was it deliberate? Why had he turned to my direction? These thoughts rang in Arthur's head as he heard the laughter again, feeling his stomach did another Olympic flip.

"Are you free later after math class?"

"Why?"

"I need help in my math. The new lecturer made no sense to me. At. All."

Arthur could almost imagine the sultry pout the girl was currently giving the boy. His mind decided to take its own form and started repeating the mantra of no, no, no, no. Let that girl do her own mathematics please.

"I know right. Let me see."

Let there be no free period please.

"Hmm…third period after lunch. Would that be okay?"

Unable to take it any longer, Arthur gave a rather loud yet accidental slam on his book as his trembling hands went to remove his reading spectacles. The world around him seemed to be twirling as he shoved his books into his bags and jumped up from his seat, wincing as he heard the loud screech caused by his chair scratching against the tiles. He could not bear to look up, as he could feel the whole canteen's eyes on him, his eyes included. Almost hyperventilating now, he grabbed blindly for his bag and the massive amount of books that he couldn't stuff into it and made way to his sanctuary—the library.

Being glad for the first time of him being vertically challenged as compared to other boys his age which gave him the ability to disappear quickly in crowds, Arthur zigzagged through the canteen, making for the exit. His surroundings were blurred as his mind had only one burning desire to get to his destination. A loud voice was calling out, but he couldn't decipher it. He was not sure why he felt tremendously upset and agitated, and all he wanted now was the library. The library where nobody goes to, the library that was dark and silent, the library that shared all his woes, his anger, his disappointment, his elation and all of the other emotions. The library. The library. The library.

Stupid infatuation sucks especially if your crush was Alfred. F. Jones.