Chapter 2: "Paper Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"

Lukas hadn't realized that Mathias sat two desks behind him in class. For the next three weeks he had to deal with paper planes landing on his desk, the floor next to him, and even his hair on the occasion. Whenever one would hit him, he could hear both Mathias and Gilbert laugh. Even Mr. Vainamoinen was getting annoyed by the two boys, who just so happened to be sitting next to each other.

Mathias must have been bored, because he was actually drawing on the airplanes today. "Look at it!" He would whisper loudly whenever an airplane would land next to Lukas' feet. He would pick it up and it would either be a terribly drawn penis or a woman with large, equally terribly drawn breasts. Lukas glared back at the boys, who snickered, then crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the trash bin.

About an hour later, there was another airplane at his feet. He picked it up and looked at the picture on the side. It seemed to be a princess. This princess just so happened to have a funny hair curl and was clutching a juicebox. Lukas tore up the plane, shoving the remains into the back of his desk. He disliked Mathias so, so much. And Gilbert was so stupid to even laugh with him. They were both stupid.

Lukas thought about telling Mr. Vainamoinen about them, but he didn't want to rat anyone out. They'd know it was him and it would only get worse. So he suffered in silence until October when Mr. Vainamoinen said they were finally switching around seats. Not that Lukas minded sitting with Eduard, he just hated being that close to Mathias.

Mr. Vainamoinen had everyone gather their things, stand, and wait in the front of the room. He went around and pointed at seats, calling a name for each seat. Gilbert was moved all the way up to the front. Lukas smiled a little when he was called to his seat, which was much further from Gilbert than before. He set his things down before Mr. Vainamoinen said, "Mathias Kohler. Right here," pointing to the seat next to Lukas.

He immediately thought he was going to throw up. Or cry. Or both. Probably both. He looked up at Mr. Vainamoinen pleadingly, but the teacher seemed less happy and less attentive today and didn't notice. Lukas took his seat, not even glancing at Mathias. He was looking at him, though. He wasn't shy about it, either. He was flat out staring.

"Stop it," Lukas said finally, scooting as far away from Mathias as possible. Mathias sighed, but stopped, pouting as he looked down at his notebook, clearly upset to be seperated from Gilbert. "Remember everyone, the person next to you is your partner. They'll also go with you in the halls. I don't want anyone going alone. Yes? Good," Mr. Vainamoinen said. He looked at the clock. "Oh, okay. Looks like it's recess time! It's raining so no going outside today. Free time indoors. You can help yourself to the supplies in the back. There are games and puzzles on the top shelf right over there," he said.

Lukas wanted to leave. That's all he wanted to do. He walked up to the teachers desk and asked to go to the library. The teacher replied with, "I can send you with Mathias. I can write you both a pass?" Lukas really thought he was going to cry. Maybe he could ditch Mathias at the library, though? Or they could at least be further apart than they were now. Plus, Gilbert wouldn't be there. Lukas finally nodded and he called Mathias to the front.

"Mathias, do you mind going with Lukas to the library? I'm sure he won't take very long," Mr. Vainamoinen asked as he handed Lukas the pass. Mathias gave him an annoyed look and sighed, grumbling about wasting his time.

Lukas tried to stay cool, but he was honestly afraid. It wasn't like he was very big. In fact, he was smaller than most kids because he had been born a little earlier than he was supposed to be. Mathias, on the other hand, was tall, and from what he could tell in gym class, he was athletic. It's not like he'd ever been beat up himself, but the idea was scary enough.

The minute they stepped out, Mathias began to complain. "I have to spend my break in the library with you. I bet you're happy, huh?" Lukas was completely silent. He stared straight ahead and ignored him. When they got to the library, he walked quickly away from Mathias. He looked through the books until he found what he was looking for. It was a thick book of fairytales he knew very well, since he had a copy of them himself.

He sat on the carpeted floor in the middle of the aisle and looked through the stories, not noticing Mathias reading over his shoulder. "You're into those?" Lukas jumped, accidentally closing the book and gasping. He glanced back at Mathias, glaring. "Maybe."

Instead of saying something mean and stupid, Mathias said, "Have you seen that statue here? It's of the little mermaid. There's always a lot of tourists, though. Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark. We had to do a project about him in fourth grade."

Lukas raised his eyebrows, caught of guard. Was Mathias actually being decent? He stood up and looked for more books, Mathias trailing behind him. He grabbed more books, all thick, none with pictures anymore. He struggled to hold six, balancing them all against his chest as he ran his fingers over the spines of more books. He grabbed another, nearly dropping the ones he already had. Luckily, Mathias caught them. "I can carry some of these if you want!" He offered, taking all of the books before Lukas could protest.

More than anything, Lukas was confused. What did carrying those books do to benefit him? There had to be some sort of motive. He grabbed one more book and headed up to the counter. The librarian shook her head, saying, "A max of five books per person, please." Lukas huffed and started to put three back, but before he could, Mathias took the books from his hands and said, "These three are actually for me."

Now Lukas was really confused. He waited for Mathias, clutching his own books close to his chest. As they were walking back to class, he asked, "Why did you get those? Do you like to read, too?" He almost sounded excited and he remembered to calm himself down before he made a complete idiot of himself. Mathias sort of shrugged. "I guess. But these are for you. Just be sure to bring them back on time."

Lukas couldn't help himself. He had to figure out what was going on. "Why are you being so nice?" He asked, stepping in front of Mathias so he couldn't walk into the classroom just yet. The taller boy shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. "You're not that bad, Lukas. You're actually kind of . . . cool." With that, he took the books out of Lukas' hands, set all eight books on the desk, and said nothing to him for the rest of the day.

Hark! Dost thou have a review for me?

At Readers perjuries they say the Author laughs.