The next day Mathias entered the school bus with a clearly showing blue mark on his face. The blue mark stretched from the corner of his left eye and downwards to his cheek. It could be seen as an ordinary black-eye, but to Mathias it was the nose that was causing most of the pain, not the eye.

He remembered skipping dinner in an attempt to hide it from his mom and dad and failing miserably, later he just told them that he had walked past someone in the middle of a snowball fight and been unlucky. To his relief, it worked.

Mathias wasn't exactly happy to show up at school with a black-eye, but he couldn't just drop school either. His sister had full heartedly tried to help him cover it with makeup, but when he had whined too much about how it hurt, she had to give up, giving him no choice but to show up at school like he was…Not that he wasn't used to showing up at school with black-eyes.

Anyway, at the bus everyone seemed to be sleeping, ignoring him or listening to loud music through head phone, just as usual.

He sat down at the place he used to, in the middle of the bus just behind the second door. Nothing really seemed like it was going to change the normal beginning of the day, before he noticed someone hurriedly entering the bus in the last second before it took off. He didn't get a good look at the person, but he was pretty sure it was a man.

As he had expected, it was, and knowing that some stranger had stepped onto the bus where he used to step onto it made him a bit curious.

He could easily see the man's light blond hair, and a pair of glasses as the guy sat down three seats away from him.

But that wasn't enough, was it? He put his bag down between his legs and tried to get a better look of the unfamiliar man, stretching a bit as he did. He pouted annoyed at a girl who blocked his view and tried to peek past her.

Had the guy recently moved into the neighborhood?

While he was looking he could faintly hear Henrikk and some other guys saying something in the back of the bus and then laughing. They were probably laughing at the black eye or making some kind of ugly or repulsive comment, just like they used to, but Mathias shrugged it off and looked towards the man again in wonder, before the head of the girl came in the way again.

Giving up on trying to see more of the blond man and sinking back into the bus seat, Mathias looked to the empty spot next to himself and then out the window, feeling a hint of loneliness hit him. He didn't know why, but he wanted the stranger who he had never ever seen before to sit next to him.

He smiled at his own stupidity and shook his head. Maybe it was normal, Mathias thought to himself. Maybe it was normal to wish for a stranger to sit next to you when you were lonely, but had it gone that far?

In the hallway, everything was different from the bus… instead of ignoring him, everyone was looking. As Mathias hurriedly walked up the hallway and up the stairs to his class room, he didn't just see the people's reactions, he heard them. Someone gasped and other's mumbled and whispered, but mostly, he heard laughter. He didn't exactly get why everyone thought it was so funny, but either way; he still wanted to get to his classroom quickly.

At his classroom though, things weren't better. There his class mates could stare and laugh at him, close up. As he walked to the back of the classroom and sat down, he could quite clearly, hear Henrikk brag about how he had given him the black-eye.

Sitting down on his chair in the ten meters long classroom, he nervously bit his lip and hoped that Henrikk or the others wouldn't notice he was there, and, for once in his life, it worked.

He then calmly spent a few minutes looking out of the window and down at 'the sunrise', a café a couple of hundred meters away from the school, in complete silence. It was the one out of many reasons he liked his spot in the classroom. To be able to watch all the people passing at winter's time with their coats tucked closely to their body and seeing people loosing up a bit during the spring. It was something he truly never would get sick of. Especially not when so many people fell on their butts or backs due to the hidden ice on the streets during winter.

Mathias smiled as finally the two minutes late teacher greeted them with a cheerful smile. Her name was Miss Kristen and she was definitely not someone who made fun of him.

Their first class for the day was major history, a subject he didn't find too difficult, but rather fun and exciting. For the days lesion the only thing they were going to do, was to read a couple of pages and do some tasks. But after a few minutes though, he went short on concentration and couldn't help but to wonder who that blond guy could have been and what class he was going to stay at, as he was sure he had moved into the neighborhood and was going to stay there, just like he was sure the man was going to begin at this school.

Out of the blue Mathias suddenly noticed that there was an extra desk in the room that hadn't been there the other day, and as he noticed, someone knocked on the door and disturbed the silence in the classroom.

It couldn't be… could it?

Miss Kristen warmly welcomed the student Mathias remembered as Jan, a fairly tall student with dirty blond hair and olive green eyes, a childhood friend of his who he suddenly had lost contact with several years ago, and behind him there was another guy.

Mathias had to shut his mouth hard to ensure that his jaw wouldn't drop. It washim, the guy at the bus. Was he going to stay in this classroom!?

Mathias felt a strange sense of triumph and happiness flow through him.

"Sorry, but uh, this guy here got lost in the hallway" Jan sternly said to Miss Kristen as he guided the new guy into the classroom.

"Oh no, it's okay Jan, thank you for guiding him here!"

Mathias eyed the seemingly nervous boy and tried to smile, even if he wasn't looking at him, as Jan disappeared out the door.

So that was how he looked! Mathias bit his lip as he studied the new student with curious eyes.

He had a pair of glasses, bright blond hair, as he had seen earlier, and damn, he looked very well built, and he also looked like he was a bit taller than him. As clothes the guy wore a blackish pair of pants and a dark blue hoodie, but what caught Mathias' attention the most was a pair of shockingly intimidating, ice blue eyes.

Mathias was sure that if looks could kill, that guy would have been a talented serial killer, but the soft smile he wore made him seem a bit, well… softer and less intimidating.

As a teacher usually does when a new student meets the class for the first time, she stood up and asked for everyone's attention.

"Okay class, so this is our new student I told you about yesterday-"

The whole class protested at the comment and told her that she hadn't told them anything about the new guy, as she in fact hadn't.

"Oh, haven't I? Well I'm sorry" She apologized for the mistake and continued "but anyway. This is Berwald and he's going to stay in our class, isn't that wonder full!"

Some few members in the class nodded, others didn't exactly care.

"So come on, Berwald, tell us a bit about yourself"

So that was his name? Mathias smiled at the unusual name.

Berwald nervously fidgeted with his thumbs a few seconds before he shyly started to talk.

"I'm Berwald…as you probably heard, and I've moved here from Sweden with my mom and dad and I… like reading…" Berwald said, with an unusual deep voice for a seventeen year old.

Mathias raised an eyebrow. That was it? To be honest he had thought the guy did some kinds of sports… but, maybe he was just strong built?

Mathias genuinely nodded to himself as he came to the conclusion that, that was it.

Berwald stood there awkwardly for a couple of more seconds before Miss Kristen, helpfully, started to move some of the desks around, making place for the new student.

For some reason Mathias deeply hoped that Berwald would sit next to him so that he could get to know the guy better, but at the second he thought of it, something, his own mind, told him that no one found him interesting and that Berwald would never want to be his friend, even if he tried his best.

But even when Mathias's brain told him that luck was never going to be on his side, Berwald was placed next to him, at the last row, because the classroom wasn't big enough for another desk at the front row.

Later during the class, Miss Kristen had to go away because of some trouble down in the second floor, and all the students had flocked around Berwald like wild dogs around a prey before you knew the word of it. Well, almost everyone.

Even how much he wanted to talk to the new student, Mathias had a problem that didn't let him near Berwald. Henrikk was blocking his way.

Henrikk was every now and then turning around to give him a look that could easily be connected to a threat. Although Mathias still felt tempted to talk to the new guy, he could always wait till the school day was over and they were going home. The guy was sitting on the same bus as him anyway, wasn't he?

As Mathias looked on how the others were approaching Berwald he didn't exactly get an idea of that Berwald was the 'talkative' type, and it looked more and more like he was rather uncomfortable with all the new people. Mathias hummed… he wouldn't exactly have liked it either, if he was new at a school and people he didn't know suddenly surrounded him with questions, but… somehow it looked like Berwald was shy.

Mathias sighted. He could easily sympathize with that feeling.

Looking over to the surrounded Berwald once again, he suddenly found himself staring right into his piercing eyes. They both stared at each other for maybe a few seconds, before Berwald was the one to break eye contact.

Mathias then felt a slight bang of guilt without really knowing why… maybe it was because Berwald had looked at him was like he was wondering why he wasn't over there with all the others trying to dig deeper into his personal life, or maybe because he felt like he was ignoring the guy.

Damn it.

Feeling the temptations to go over there and talk with Berwald get bigger, Mathias threw a worried look at Henrikk. What if Henrikk would say something that made Berwald think of him like the whole class did if he went over there? Or even worse, what if he'd make sure that the black-eye got bigger. Mathias felt himself cringe. Then his eyes widen.

Maybe the reason Berwald had looked at him with such intensity was because he had a black-eye?!

No wonder the guy would stare at him!

Mathias found himself pleased with his own explanation and tried to calm down, eventually settling with doing his tasks, but not for very long.

Looking back at the flock surrounding Berwald, he could see Henrikk standing tall, like he was proud, and he could hear the, oh so sickening words that made him feel like throwing up. Henrikk was outright bragging about himself in a way that made Mathias's insides turn. He perfectly knew why he hated the guy, and hearing him brag was something that made him sicker than anything else in the world.

Not even managing to do his tasks because of all the things going on in the noisy classroom, Mathias threw a glance at the clock.

09:55.

Five minutes to recess.

Maybe he could try to talk with Berwald then?

When recess time came, Mathias had settled his decision. He was going to talk to the guy, no matter what.

Giving the fact that all the other students had gone tired of talking or trying to get information out of Berwald, it was pretty easy to find him where he was standing alone in the hallway corner, fidgeting with his phone.

Leaning against the wall next to Berwald, Mathias smiled nervously and coughed to get his attention. He watched as Berwald, who looked a bit startled, looked at him.

"Hi." Mathias started.

"…Hi" Berwald answered.

"So, what are you doing?" Mathias asked awkwardly.

"m'not doing much really" Berwald answered, putting away his phone. "I'm just you know, trying to memorize the hallways 'nd stuff like that." he mumbled.

"And you're doing that by standing completely still right here?" Mathias asked sarcastically. He could barely see Berwald's lips curl up into a smile.

"Okay, was" Berwald corrected.

Mathias smiled. "I could show you a bit around next recces, if you want to"

"That would h've been nice" Berwald responded, looking a bit around the hallway with a firm expression. Mathias smiled wider. The guy had a funny accent and the conversation was going steadily, just as he wanted.

"Our next class is going to be at the second floor, if you wondered" Mathias informed, looking at the people that were passing by them in the hallway.

Berwald nodded at the comment.

Not really the talkative type is he? Mathias thought to himself.

Continuing to watch the people pass by for a few seconds, Berwald calmly turned around, facing Mathias.

"May I ask, what's your name?"

"Oh" Mathias remembered he hadn't presented himself for the Swede and smiled as he did. "My name is Mathias, sorry for not telling you" He stretched out his hand for a handshake, and Berwald responded by firmly shaking it.

Jesus, how stupid could one get, forgetting such a thing.

He grinned as Berwald repeated his name and both let go of each other's hands.

He saw Henrikk pass by, and his smile faded. He followed Henrikk's steps with concerned eyes until he was gone, then he once again looked back at Berwald with a smile.

"So I give it that you and that guy, don't get along" Berwald mumbled.

Mathias gave Berwald a questioning look.

"It just looked like it in the classroom, that's all" Berwald said, looking away, like he had said something wrong.

"Well, we aren't the best of friends." Mathias responded. "But it doesn't matter, no one really cares about that" He continued, a bit taken aback.

Berwald responded by looking back at him and then looking at the black-eye covering most of the underside of Mathias's eye, with a questioning look.

"So he did that?" Berwald hinted to the black-eye, with a concerned expression.

Mathias nodded and bit his lip, looking away feeling a bit intimidated by the sudden care.

"It's not really a big deal, you know, it's just kind of a routine, as he calls it" He ended the sentence with a weak laugh, feeling a bit nervous talking about it. Yeah, the routine

Berwald looked out into nowhere for a while thinking, feeling like he had taken up a personal subject too early. He didn't even know the guy. Better try to fix it, he thought.

He was silent for a while before responding.

"That bitch…"

He said the words stone faced, and after a couple of silent seconds, Mathias laughed at the outright sympathy and agreed.

"You know, you're a really nice guy even if you're from Sweden." Mathias complimented with a smile. Berwald snorted at the compliment and barely smiled too.

After that, both of them leaned against the wall again as both realized they had moved a bit away from it and closer to each other during the conversation; once again watching students and teachers pass by.

On the inside, Mathias was screaming. Berwald seemed pretty alright for a person he had just met, and he was definitely not the 'Henrikk' type if you could say that. It seemed more like he was more polite and calm. A bit hard to get to laugh, but hey, it was their first conversation! And, it didn't look like he thought he was irritating or annoying at all! Mathias internally slapped himself for thinking such things about him, now that he somehow felt like Berwald could never really mock or bully a person. More outright, he seemed like a gentle sportsman who'd worry even if you had just cut your finger on a piece of paper.

He was definitely the type of person he wanted as a friend.

He checked his phone and signalized to Berwald that it was time to go to class.


Hi guys! as you probaly already know, REVIEW! (not to be cranky but no one ever do and it's starting to get a bit frustrating, like, do you guys even read this shit?)

okay cranky me to the side; next chapter will involve a short backstory and etc.