– Ghost rumours –

The next day at school, Gilbert, with his little yellow bird perched on his head, was sitting in the classroom with Francis, who was sitting on the desk, with 10 minutes to spare before the lesson would start. The classroom was relatively quiet with just small groups of friends talking among themselves, and some of them giving Gilbert strange glances at the sight of him with a bird on his head. Francis was pestering Gilbert about why he hadn't been joining him and Antonio at lunch. Before Gilbert could say anything back to Francis, he noticed that most of the people in the class were staring at Arthur who had just entered the classroom; they were giggling and whispering about him.

"Did something happen involving Arthur?" Gilbert asked Francis. "It's like the whole atmosphere of the room just changed."

"Maybe if you were around at lunch yesterday you would have heard about it," Francis replied.

"Are you going to tell me?" Gilbert asked.

"Arthur thinks he saw a ghost," Francis said out loudly, so the whole class could hear what he was saying, staring at Arthur as he spoke.

Before Gilbert could say anything, Arthur shouted across the room.

"Shut up, you git!" Arthur shouted as he stormed over to where Francis and Gilbert were. "I know what I saw!"

"It was just your mind playing tricks on you," Francis insisted.

"No, it was a ghost," Arthur continued to argue. "Normal people don't just float through walls, and that was exactly what I saw."

"Really?" Francis laughed. "So what did this ghost look like if you saw it so clearly?"

"I can't really say," Arthur said nervously. "I didn't see it very well, so I only noticed it had blonde hair and was wearing our school uniform, but I know it was a ghost because I saw it go straight through the wall."

"Sounds like you saw someone, and at an angle they appeared to be going through a wall, but really they were just turning a corner or walking through the doorway," Francis explained, making sense of what was seen.

"No, it definitely went through the wall," Arthur continued to insist.

Gilbert was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the boys standing either side of him arguing. He just sat there waiting for Francis and Arthur to get tired of arguing, or for the lesson to begin so they'd be forced to stop.

"Well nobody believes you," Francis said with a smirk on his face. "Now half the school is laughing at you for claiming such ridiculous things, like that time in nursery when you spent the whole of play time running around the playground like a lunatic and then claimed you were chasing the fairies."

"Shut up!" Arthur shouted as his face grew red in embarrassment.

"Or like that time when you-"

"SHUT UP, BASTARD!" Arthur shouted at the top of his voice, interrupting whatever Francis was about to say. He looked really angry, but also really hurt that Francis would humiliate him even more by reminding him and the class of the embarrassing moments from his past.

The teacher arrived after hearing Arthur's shout and scolded him for swearing. Arthur returned to his desk and kicked his chair backwards before taking a seat. Gilbert then found himself in trouble for bringing his bird to school. He refused to take Gilbird home, and so rather than deal with Gilbert's stubbornness, the teacher decided to let him get away with it for the day, but reminded him that he would be in more trouble if he brings his bird in again.

Gilbert glanced at Arthur at as the lesson came to an end. I think Francis really upset him. They argue so much, but he looks so hurt this time.

"Hey, Francis, you shouldn't have been so harsh earlier," Gilbert said, looking very serious. "All Arthur said was that he saw a ghost, why is it such a big deal? I get that it's funny in the way that it's complete nonsense, but still it seems like it shouldn't be that important."

"It's not a big deal at all... He always says ridiculous things, and everyone always laughs at him for it. That's just how it is. He probably thinks one day he'll get us to actually believe him," Francis explained. "I guess we just fight so much I didn't realise it was getting a bit out of hand, but he'll get over it, he always does... but then we always find something new to fight about."

Leaving Francis to ponder on his relationship with Arthur, Gilbert went to the cafeteria to get something to eat as he forgot to pack his lunch that morning. I'd better be quick or I'll leave Birdie waiting for me. As he entered the cafeteria, he saw Arthur sit down at an empty table, all on his own. He still looked really upset. Arthur looked up at Alfred who walked past. Alfred only glanced at him with a sad expression on his face, and then proceeded to sit next to Kiku, leaving Arthur alone. Arthur's gaze travelled from Alfred to the food placed in front of him. After Gilbert bought a sandwich and walked past Arthur to leave the cafeteria, he heard him talking to himself, "Alfred doesn't even want to come near me any more; I'm such an embarrassment."

Gilbert ate his sandwich on his way to meet Matthew despite it being against the school rules to eat in the corridors. He tossed the packaging in the bin by the exit as he walked outside.

"Birdie! Sorry, I'm late," Gilbert shouted over to Matthew as he walked towards him.

"It's okay, I don't mind waiting for you. Why do you have Gilbird with you again today?" Matthew asked, looking up at the yellow bird. "Didn't you get in trouble for bringing him to school?"

"Yeah, but teachers don't scare me," Gilbert said. "I told you that Gilbird was going to help you overcome your fears too, so it's necessary for him to be here."

"You didn't have to do that for me... I don't want to get you into trouble," Matthew said, sounding happy that Gilbert was doing it for him, but with worry that it wouldn't be in Gilbert's best interests.

"Its fine," Gilbert said confidently. "How much trouble could I get into for having a cute little bird on my head?"

Matthew just responded with a smile.

"Oh, have you heard that Arthur has claimed to see a ghost in the school?" Gilbert asked, and began to ramble on. "It's pretty funny, but everyone seems to be taking it way to seriously, being really mean to Arthur about it. I hope Francis is right about him getting over it, but I think it's really bothering him. Oh, you probably don't who Arthur is considering you're new, but he's the blonde kid with the bushy eyebrows."

Gilbert could see how awkward Matthew was feeling. I'm talking too much, aren't I?

"Hey, Birdie, are you okay? You can say something too, you know," Gilbert said, about to reach towards Matthew to pat him on the shoulder. He pulled his hand back before he had gotten too close to Matthew. Crap, I can't touch him, he'd hate it... he might even hate me, and I don't want that.

"I'm fine, I don't really have much to say anyway," Matthew said with a smile.

"Okay, but you didn't look happy, I thought I might have said something to upset you," Gilbert said, looking very concerned about his friend. I bet he's scared of ghost or something. "We can change the topic if you like."

"Okay," Matthew agreed, but didn't suggest something else they could have talked about.

The two of them sat in silence long enough for it to become awkward. They were just staring at each other hoping the other would start a new conversation. Gilbert decided that random ramblings would be better than silence, and so he began talking about what thoughts came to his head, while Matthew just sat there gazing at him.

Lunch time soon came to an end.

"Ah, we have history next. That seems to be the only lesson we have together," Gilbert said smiling as he stood up. "Let's go."

Matthew seemed to shy away, as if he didn't want to go to the lesson. Despite this, he still stood up and followed Gilbert to the classroom. They took their seats and waited for the lesson to start.

"Hey, Birdie, are you okay?" Gilbert asked. "You're being really quiet."

"I'm fine, I just don't feel like talking very much right now," Matthew replied.

"Okay, but if something's troubling you, you can tell me," Gilbert reassured him.

"Thanks," Matthew said quietly.

"No problem," Gilbert smiled.

Gilbert could help but notice he was getting strange looks from people near him. Maybe I shouldn't have brought Gilbird with me; he seems to be attracting a bit of attention. He also noticed that Matthew's name was still not on the register. That's strange, Birdie's been here for a couple of days, they should have added his name by now.