The night before school officially started, Thomas sat on his bed and looked at his schedule. English History was the first class at 8 in the morning. He would be taking that class with a certain Jimmy Kent. Thomas felt a hint of excitement. He recently felt this excitement when he made the bold decision in joining Down Abbey University. He never expected to meet someone like Jimmy.

He wanted to go see the young blonde, but he didn't want to seem too eager or to simply spoil things between them even though they just met. Thomas had felt few connections in his life. Real connections. Those that made him truly happy. He thought Phillip was one of those connections, in the end it worked out horribly, Thomas was heartbroken and he was afraid to experience the same with Jimmy. So far, Jimmy seemed friendly, open, helpful and very nice. Thomas was almost sure Jimmy didn't know who Thomas really was. That brought him comfort, but at the same time it worried him, would he had to reveal his identity? How would Jimmy react? In the end, he decided not to worry about that... for now.

Thomas walked out of his room and stared at Jimmy's door. I want to see him. The moment he was about to knock on the door, Alfred spoke,

"Looking for Jimmy, Thomas?"

Startled, Thomas turned around and smiled at Alfred. "Uh, yes! I wanted to see if he had a, uh, pencil, yes, that I could borrow for tomorrow's class." Uh, nice, Mr. Barrow, really?

Alfred raised his eyebrows. "Jimmy's not here. He went out with Daisy. I can give you a pencil, if you like."

Thomas felt a chill run down his spine. He went out with Daisy. So, he is dating... a girl. "Ah, yes, thank you, Alfred."

He followed Alfred to his room quietly. What did you expect? Of course, he's straight. All the great ones are either straight or assholes. Alfred went into his drawer and handed Thomas the pencil. "You alright, mate?"

Thomas smiled a little at Alfred calling him "mate," that had never happen before. "Yes, I'm alright." He frowned and shook his head. "Alfred? Are Jimmy and Daisy... dating?"

Alfred burst out laughing which surprised Thomas. "That's a good one, Thomas. No, they're not dating. They're really close. Daisy's married to William Mason, have you met him?" Thomas shook his head. "William is nice. He graduated last semester, so he's not around that much. He's trying to find work while Daisy finishes her degree."

Relief washed over Thomas as he smiled broadly again. "Well, that's nice isn't it?"

Alfred chuckled. "Were you expecting to ask Daisy out?"

Okay, I can pretend to like women. "Eh, sure. Good thing I asked, that would have been embarrassing," he said shyly.

Alfred laughed. "I can see why you would fancy her. I fancied her not so long ago and then I found out that she's Mrs. Mason and not Ms. Mason."

Thomas snorted. I don't know what the deal is with Daisy really. Whatever.

Thomas carried his backpack and felt very nervous. Everywhere he'd go, he feared of getting recognized and getting his only chance to be normal ruined. He stood outside of the classroom, there were a lot of people. A lot. He felt someone pat him on the shoulder.

"Thomas," Jimmy smiled. "Good thing I caught you before you went in, we can sit together."

"Yes," he said as he blushed. "Let's go in, you find us a seat, Jimmy."

Thomas followed Jimmy inside. The place was like an amphitheater, it was large. Thomas felt himself panick as he walked. People kept coming in, talking to others, laughing, finding seats and having conversations. No one seems to recognize me... that's good. Thomas' thoughts were interrupted by Jimmy.

"Thomas," Jimmy chuckled as he grabbed his elbow. "Are you alright?"

Thomas nodded and smiled. "I'm fine, Jimmy."

Jimmy stepped closer to him, still holding his elbow and said with a low voice. "Are you sure? You look scared."

Thomas laughed lightly. "I just got a little intimidated, I guess. I did not expect the classroom to be this big."

Jimmy smirked. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you or anything."

Thomas laughed nervously. As he was about to reply, somebody interrupted everyone's conversations.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Please take your seats. Welcome to English History. I'm Professor Matthew Crawley. I hope you all enjoy our journey throughout our semester. I do not believe in testing, that makes people nervous, and frankly, it makes me nervous too." There were a few chuckles from the students. "Instead, we will have several projects that will take a majority of your grade score and, people, I expect good reports. I will give you a nice time spam for you to prepare your projects."

Professor Crawley paced the room as he walked. Most of the females in the room were taken with the handsome professor. Thomas thought he was alright. He turned to Jimmy, who demonstrated no emotion whatsoever.

"Now, starting right this moment, find yourselves a partner. That will be the person you will be working for the entire semester. I will give you five minutes starting now."

Most of the students stood up and started to walk around looking for their partners. Jimmy put his hand on Thomas' arm gently. He looked down at Jimmy's hand on his arm and then to Jimmy's beautiful face. The blond was smiling excitedly. "Might as well be partners, eh?"

Thomas smiled. "Of course," he tried as casually as possible. "It would be convenient since we're neighbors and we already know each other and that way we each don't have to travel strange distances to each other's dorms." Oh my God, I'm babbling!

Jimmy laughed warmly as he patted Thomas' arm. "You're funny, Thomas."

Thomas felt stupider than ever.

It had been 45 agonizing minutes for Jimmy since the class started. He was bored out of his mind. He just wanted to get out of there. Then something, caught his mind. Before coming to class today, he saw Thomas paralyzed in the middle of the hallway. Jimmy was almost convinced Thomas looked scared or worried. Something was wrong and he wanted to know. Would Thomas trust him enough to tell him. There was only one way to find out. He took his notebook and wrote something and handed Thomas the notebook.

Are you sure you're alright?

Thomas turned to Jimmy who was pretending to listen to Professor Crawley and wrote back.

I am now. Thanks to you. :)

Jimmy read the note and smiled. He turned to Thomas who was smiling back at him and nodded. Jimmy felt more comfortable and wrote more.

I'm so bored! I want this class to finish!

Thomas snorted and worried that someone heard him and interrupt their little paper conversation. He wrote back.

And we have a few months in this class and this is the first class. We need to concentrate so that we can both pass the class.

Jimmy tried not to smile at Thomas, instead he stuck his tongue out and wrote.

Fine, you win.

This time, Jimmy kept the notebook. He looked at Thomas and both laughed silently, Jimmy bumping his shoulder playfully at Thomas. They both turned their attention to Professor Crawley. Thomas felt happy in a long time.