Introduction: Hello! This is a new story that I am starting! It will be starting off a bit slowly but I hope you all will enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Sweetest Smile

Arthur Kirkland let out a surprised shout when he was thrown across the school's public bathroom. He yelped in pain the moment his stomach slammed against the solid bathroom sinks and crumbled onto the dirty floor. He grumbled and cursed to himself while grabbing his injured area in the hopes to make the pain disappear. It didn't. He could only hear two other teenage boys cackling above him. Before the scrawny boy could look up to see his attackers he felt the roots of his blonde hair being pulled up roughly by big hands. His green eyes meet a crazed pair of red eyes. The British boy immediately recognized Gilbert Beilschmidt. The stronger boy was one of the most popular kids in school after all. For what reason he was not so sure but he guessed that the students of the high school just found his fiery and daring personality exciting. The albino was sneering down at Arthur as the boy in his hand was whimpering in pain,

"Aw-you look so scared!"

The smaller boy tried to pull away from the taller boy but was pushed roughly against the cold walls. Gilbert let out an amused laugh and remarked,
"You're so short! I swear if I hadn't seen you around school I would have guessed that you were one of the freshmen students!"

The fingers tightened around the roots of the blonde boy's hair and tugged furiously, causing small tears to form near the edges of Arthur's eyes. This was humiliating. Gilbert was just too strong and big to fight back. He was trapped.

"Tsk, tsk. Gilbert."

Another boy appeared behind Gilbert, yet the albino did not look away from his tiny victim. The German challenged,

"What is it now, Antonio?"

Gilbert's best friend leaned against the wall and folded his arms,

"You're making him squeal too much. You are going to get caught if you continue acting like this."

The albino snorted in amusement and turned his gaze to Antonio,

"Since when did you start caring about the authorities in this school?"

The Spaniard's emerald eyes narrowed,

"I don't want to get suspended and get grounded from my parents like last time! I don't want us to miss the party that's coming up."

The conversation was cut short when Arthur mustered up the courage and asked,

"What do you guys want from me?"

There was silence for a few seconds in the bathroom before Gilbert slammed the back of Arthur's head onto the bathroom wall,

"No particular reason. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The albino slowly stood up as Arthur was cradling the back of his head. Antonio also stated,

"You're also kind of weird."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow,

"What do you mean 'kind of' weird? He IS weird!"

The moment he finished his sentence he kicked Arthur right in the chest, causing the boy to sprawl out on the floor. Before the British boy could curl up to protect himself he felt the sole of Gilbert's shoe sharply stepping on the top of his left hand. Arthur held his tongue to hold back the screams.

"I mean, you're that kid who always sits by himself at the back of the classroom, right? Who knows-you might just end up planning on shooting the entire school! We can't let you do anything like that now can we?"

The stronger boy continued to put all his weight onto the sole of his shoe until the sound of the school bell ringing caused Antonio to stop him.

"Come on, you can always bother these losers some other time."

The albino pouted in disappointment but reluctantly removed his foot from Arthur's hand,

"How disappointing. I guess I'll just have to see you some other time."

Arthur was too busy cradling his injured hand to hear the two boys leave.

Arthur was not usually bullied in school. In fact, this seemed to be one of those rare occasions when his classmates noticed him. He was the quiet type-always following the rules and staying out of trouble. He kept to himself and was known to be socially awkward. Even though he seemed to be the perfect target to be bullied due to his small body and reserved nature he was ignored by the crowd. For what reason he was not sure-but this had been going on for years. Maybe the students just didn't find him that interesting to pick on since he would always submit to it. He held his books closer to his chest-he couldn't shake a feeling out of the back of his head. It was not anger. It was not sadness either. It was disbelief. Even though those boys had beaten and teased him he was noticed. He was almost…happy.

The blonde rushed passed the endless rows of lockers and students to get to his English class. It was about a week into the new school year and he did not want to be late to one of his classes already.

The classroom was filled with students from a variety of background. Arthur passed by the ambitious students who sat near the front and made his way to the back of the class. Luckily, Gilbert and Antonio were not in the same English class as him so Arthur could relax. There were still a few sports fanatics here and there but they usually ignored him. The boy recognized a few students who seemed hung over from partying in the weekends the day before. He wondered why they even bothered coming to class-if he were them he would have stayed in home. His thoughts drifted away as more students poured into the classroom. A few minutes later Mr.M, a chubby middle-aged man, walked into the classroom. As usual he had a frown on his face and dark circles under his eyes. Whenever a student asked him if he was doing okay he would stare back and ask them if he looked okay. Either way, Arthur enjoyed Mr. M's classes because he was interested in the topic and thought that the old man was a good teacher.

"Okay-shut up!"

The teacher snapped. The classroom was dead silent. This was another reason why Arthur loved this class-the teacher was not a pushover like many teachers. As the teenagers handed in their homework from the week before Mr.M told the class to take out their books and read a few passages,

"Turn to page 220. Alex, read from the top."

As the student slowly read the passage Arthur felt his eyes growing heavy. He had already read this passage about a dozen times and Alex's monotone voice just made him sleepy. The blonde rubbed his tired eyes to concentrate on the words but none of the words were going into his head. Frustrated, he decided to look around the classroom. He hoped that looking away from a sea of words could help his eyes. As his emerald green eyes scanned the different students he noticed a troubling trend. These were the same people he had been studying with for the past three years and he already felt like he figured them out completely. The boy did not like this since he realized how predictable and boring his life was. He would wake up from the same house and go to the same school. He would also meet with the same people he did not get along with and walk home alone like always. Of course this was not the students' fault, they just didn't click with Arthur. Yet the British boy hated this. He was in his junior year yet felt as if he had been repeating freshmen year over and over again.

Just when he was about to look at his book, Arthur's eyes caught the sight of his closest friend Francis. The slightly older boy was looking at him with worried blue eyes. The boy once again felt frustrated. This was all too familiar. He would get hurt or look moody and Francis-the charming, handsome and intelligent boy would worry for him. Arthur was thankful for Francis's compassion for him, yet he had to admit that he was jealous of the more experienced boy. He was probably one of the most liked students in the school. He was everything that Arthur was not. Arthur was getting upset to the point that he did not notice Francis had passed him a note.

You look tired. Everything okay?

Arthur wrote his own note and passed it back.

Everything is fine.

Francis's blue eyes narrowed and jotted down another note.

Really? How come your hand is all swollen up and turning purple? Shouldn't you get that checked?

The British boy's good hand trembled as he wrote his next note.

I'll be fine.

Francis rolled his eyes.

Oh, please. Stop putting this tough act and get some help. What if your hand gets infected? What did you do to get hurt?

After contemplating whether or not to tell him the truth Arthur finally wrote another note.

Gilbert and Antonio attacked me.

Francis's eyes widen in terror when he read the note.

We need to report them! They can't just get away after hurting you like this!

Arthur shook his head violently.

No! No! They won't do that again! I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time!

When Francis's eyes came in contact with his note Arthur swore that the Frenchmen's eyes lit up in anger. While waiting for his friend to finish writing the note Arthur looked around in hopes to forget about this stressful situation for at least a few seconds. Then his eyes meet with a pair of bright, soft eyes. Arthur's heart stopped for a split second as he began to realize whom he was staring at. It was a handsome looking boy with dirty blonde hair. He was medium built and had glasses. His charming face was facing directly at Arthurs and to the British boy's surpirse he shot him a sweet smile. Arthur could have sworn that time had stopped for that split second. He wished it could have lasted forever.

"Pst!"

The boy jolted upright when Francis hissed to get his attention. Looking down, Arthur noticed that he had placed the note on his desk. While unfolding the note the blonde took a glance back at the same boy with the bright smile. He seemed to be doodling on his book. Arthur could not believe it. That boy, a person he had never noticed until now, had given him one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen in his life. He wanted to take a glimpse of that boy's smile again yet he had to read the note Francis had given him. While he was reading the note he could not get rid of the image of that beautiful smile.

I don't care if this is the only time that he harms you! Arthur, you shouldn't let people walk all over you like this. This is unhealthy! As your close friend I understand that you like beingg noticed-whether it be in a bad or good way. But seriously, if you let people like them get their way with you-it is just not right! As your friend I am begging you to listen to me!

Frowning, Arthur slowly crumpled up the paper. He did not want to leave…especially after being given such an amazing smile. He wanted to stay here and gaze at this new boy for as long as he could. He was just…he couldn't exactly explain what emotions he was experiencing. However, Francis was worrying about him. Reluctantly, Arthur excused himself from the classroom and headed towards the door. Before he left he sneaked a quick glimpse back at the handsome boy. He was looking down at his book with a furrowed brow. Arthur blushed as he thought of how cute the boy looked when he was serious. It was a strange and wonderful feeling…he had a crush.