Thomas noticed how excited Percy was to be making friends on just his second day. A twinge of jealousy hit him—his own second day had been a disaster—but now, not only did his crush like him, he had as many friends as Percy did. And on top of that, he was becoming a friend to Percy too. "Hey, Percy, what classes do you have today?" Thomas asked.
Percy reached into his bag, which was resting on the table bench beside him. "Well, even though I say Friday was my first day, today's really my first proper day. I just came on Friday to figure out where I needed to go," he explained, pulling out a crumpled paper. "For first period, I have... um... Mr. Kilo...w... um—" he stuttered over the teacher's name.
Mei couldn't help but giggle. "Sounds like Mr. Kieslowski to me," she teased.
"Well... if that's how you say it," Percy replied, blinking at the paper.
"You've got him for first period? That means you're in class with all of us!" Miriam chimed in.
"Except for me, sadly. I don't have any classes with these six." Carter said
"At least you've got those two friends of yours—you're not totally alone," Thomas said.
"Shane and Eli? Yeah, they're great, but there's something different about all of you. I wish I had class with you, too," Carter added.
"You know," Mei remarked, "I've never really seen you hanging with them much."
Carter started, "I mean, you guys don't have classes with me—so you'll never see them. They're stuck in my classes, and they usually skip breakfast."
"They skip breakfast? Then who's that over there?" Miriam said, pointing briefly in a direction. Carter's eyebrow shot up as he turned around. "Hey, it's Shane..." he gasped before excusing himself, "Let me go say hi," and he pulled away from Thomas's arm.
(end music)
"Shane?" Carter repeated as he walked up to his friend, who was waiting in line for breakfast. She looked up, surprised. "Oh, I didn't expect to see you here," she said, brushing her purple dyed hair strand out of her face.
"Same here," Carter replied with a small smile. "I just felt like coming out early today."
She glanced at the table behind Carter. "I see you've been making a ton of new friends?"
"Yeah, they're very cool... You... Want to meet them?"
"Sure, but let me grab some breakfast first," Shane answered.
A few minutes later, with a tray in hand, Shane joined Carter as they walked over to the table. "Hey, Shane, what's up?" Miriam greeted.
"This table's getting awfully crowded," Tyler complained.
"Geez, shut up," Carter shot back as he sat down next to Thomas. "Shane was one of my first friends; I think it's about time she met all of you."
Shane recognized some of them, but she immediately spotted Priya. "Oh... Hey, Priya," she said.
Priya looked up, startled. "Oh... you're talking to me?"
Tyler joked, "Looks like there's more than one Priya around today."
Mei elbowed him playfully.
Priya's cheeks flushed as she looked away. "So... how have you been?" she asked.
"I've been good. It's been ages—we last hung out at Tyler's party about a year ago," Shane said.
"Ooh... yeah, I remember that," Priya replied.
"Don't remind me of it..." Mei and Tyler both groaned in unison. Carter glanced over at Tyler and softly giggled.
"Man... you were such a jerk back then," he teased.
Tyler pouted. "Hey! So was Mei—she practically jumped me like a stray dog!"
Mei shot him a look. "Well... you did push my buttons," she retorted.
"And I apologized," Tyler said, crossing his arms.
Thomas leaned over to Carter. "What are they even arguing about?" he whispered.
"Just some old issues from earlier in the year," Carter whispered to him.
As breakfast wrapped up, the first bell rang. "Crap, school's starting," grumbled Miriam, while Abby sighed, "Ahhh, crap!"
Everyone gathered their things. Carter hugged Thomas. "See you later, man," he said, leaving Thomas blushing as he returned the hug. Thomas then nudged Percy, who was still examining his schedule. "Come on, we've got the same first period. Follow me."
Percy looked up and smiled. "Sure," he replied.
(End Music)
Later in Mr. Kieslowski's class, Mei commented, "So this is his class—Mr. Kieslowski. He's pretty laid-back."
"Ooh," Percy said. "What's the subject the class is on at the moment?" He asked.
"Well, we started off with steam-powered machines," Mei explained.
"That's right," Miriam added with a smile. "We even ran an experiment earlier this month,"
"And guess what? We WON FIRST PRIZE!" Abby yelled excitedly.
Miriam giggled. "Not exactly first prize, but Mr. Kieslowski was really proud of our work. We were the first to finish the experiment!"
They paused as Mei mentioned, "Hey, Thomas was actually the one who finished it first! Without him, we'd have been totally lost."
Percy looked around. "You all are learning about steam engines...?"
Thomas nodded. "Yep,"
Percy genuinely looked excited
"Guess we got another train dork," Tyler laughed, prompting Percy to pout.
"Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I mean, nerds are cool—you're cool! I... I LOVE TRAINS TOO!" Tyler stammered, drawing stares from everyone. When Tyler realized all eyes were on him, he covered his face in embarrassment.
"Dude, what the hell was that about?" Priya asked.
"What do you mean you like trains too? Earlier this week you wanted nothing to do with them," Miriam said.
Mei giggled. "Girls, I think Tyler might have a little crush on Percy."
"WHAT? NO, I DON'T!" Tyler blurted out, his face lighting up like Christmas lights. Both his and Percy's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. Percy kept glancing away shyly while throwing occasional bashful looks at Tyler.
Thomas shook his head. Tyler's crush was obvious—maybe even more than his fondness for Aaron Z.
Just then, the teacher entered. "Hello, class! Today, we have a new student, and I want you to make them feel welcomed,"
He unlocked the door to let everyone in. Abby headed to her desk, Thomas took his seat next to Tyler, and Percy hesitated until Mr. Kieslowski pointed to an empty seat to the right of Thomas. Percy approached it.
"Hello, Thomas," Percy whispered.
"Hey, Percy!" Thomas replied with a smile.
Tyler greeted him too, "H-Hi, Percy," offering a friendly smile.
Percy just waved at him, blinking, then sat down. He then gave Thomas a look. Thomas shrugged. He didn't know what to say. Tyler having a crush on someone, felt like an entirely different person.
Although Thomas knows Tyler was (Possibly) over bullying others for liking trains, he knows he wouldn't flat-out say he loves trains. He knows it has to be a crush.
Then the teacher said, "Now class, we have a new student today, Percy! Please introduce yourself to the class,"
Percy stood, glancing nervously at all the eyes on him. "H-Hello... I'm Percy Avonside. I'm from Bristol... I just moved here," he said shyly.
Tyler murmured, "His accent is so cute..." which Thomas overheard. "Hey! I have the same accent!" Thomas whispered, half-annoyed. Tyler quickly added, "His is better," making Thomas pout.
"May I ask you something, Percy?" Mr. Kieslowski interjected. Percy nodded. "One of your peers, Thomas, is from the same country as you. The number on your shirt is in the same style as the one he wears almost every day. Is it part of a sports team?"
Percy stuttered, "U-Uh... I..." Thomas glanced at Percy's shirt.
"Yeah, what's with that? It's green with a six, right?" Miriam whispered to Mei. Mei shrugged.
"It's part of a sports team. Well, I'm not entirely sure about Thomas's..."
"Yeah!" Thomas blurted suddenly. "I'm on the team—because I was at the top of it!" he declared, hoping to deflect attention.
"You wish," Tyler said. Thomas shot him a look.
"Ah! Was it Rugby?" The teacher asked.
"Y-Yes!" Thomas lied quickly.
Percy nodded. "It was!"
"Alright, class, that's the introduction from our new classmate. Let's begin today's lesson," Mr. Kieslowski announced.
Thomas sighed inwardly as he leaned back in his chair, noticing Percy doing the same. Thomas wondered silently, what if Percy was just like him? Then again, his shirt wasn't the only one with numbers around—lots of sports teams have those. "Maybe Percy really is on a Rugby team," he thought, "He was just too shy to talk,"
Mr. Kieslowski moved to the board and activated the projector. "Okay, so today we're reviewing steam locomotives—their operation, startup, and differences between tank and tender engines. Who can tell me the difference?" he asked, looking at Tyler. "Tyler?"
"U-Um... The—" Tyler began.
Mei shook her head; Tyler never paid attention. Then Tyler glanced at Percy as if to avoid looking dumb. "Um!" he quickly redirected his gaze back to the teacher. "Tanks engines carry their tanks on them, just like Thom-MRRFF..." Tyler got his mouth blocked by Miriam's hands.
"Miriam! Tyler was answering a question! That was uncalled for!" The teacher snapped.
Tyler realized what he said, then felt bad.
"Sorry Mr. Kieslowski, it won't happen again," Miriam said, as she sat back down. She shot a glare at Tyler, then he looked over at Thomas. "Sorry..." He whispered.
"Dude, you almost gave out my secrets!" Thomas whispered, looking a little cross.
"Tyler, please continue with your answer," Mr. Kieslowski said.
"Tank engines carry their tanks onboard, while tender engines carry them in a separate car," Tyler finally managed.
"Good job," Mr. Kieslowski said, nodding. "I'm impressed—you clearly paid attention! Perhaps we have a future locomotive engineer in the room!"
"What? Ew, gross—I don't really want to—" Thomas started, then caught himself as he glanced at Percy. "I MEAN YES! THAT'S, T-THAT'S... exactly what I want to be..."
Mr. Kieslowski blinked, and Thomas could only facepalm as Miriam whispered, "This guy has a massive crush on the new boy."
Abby piped up, "He's still mine!" causing Tyler to hide his face in his desk.
(end music)
Later that day in PE, Mei and Thomas couldn't stop laughing at Tyler's antics. The three of them—just Mei, Tyler, and Thomas—had free time on the track.
"Ugh! Stop laughing at me! Act like you've never had a crush before!" Tyler snapped. "I mean, I am sure Thomas froze when he met Carter, right!"
"Obviously, but not as badly as you did with Percy earlier today. Seriously, wow..." Thomas teased.
Tyler blushed furiously and covered his face. "Maybe I should come clean—back when I had a crush on you, I didn't feel like this at all," Tyler admitted to Mei.
"You had a crush on me?" Mei asked, surprised.
Tyler nodded. "For a while, I just didn't know how to say it. But then, why do I like Percy now, if I liked you before?"
"Don't you know bisexuality exists? Besides, you've had a huge crush on Aaron Z!" Mei teased.
"Well... yes," Tyler replied, face reddening even more.
"You're bi—no shame in that," Thomas added. "I'm not attracted to girls at all..." He said after.
"I'm Bi," Mei said. "I Had... a crush on you too Tyler,"
Tyler looked at her, blinking. "Did... we all have a crush on everyone at one point?"
Mei laughed. "I think so! I had a crush on Carter once. Thankfully, I don't anymore. That would probably make Thomas very jealous," she giggled.
Thomas chuckled. "Well, at least you're with Miriam now."
"Well... not 100 percent! She just accepted my request to go to the dance with her."
Tyler shyly looked down, then sighed, glancing up at the sky. "Hey, um... Should I ask Percy to go with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with asking. The worst he could say is no," Mei said.
"Stealing my advice, are we?" Thomas teased, playfully nudging Mei's arm.
"A-Are you sure that's the worst he could say? W-What if he hates me and wants to kill me?"
"Dude, look at that cute, innocent face. Does he look like he'd do any of that?" Mei asked, arching an eyebrow.
"W-Well, not exactly, but he might hate me..."
Thomas shook his head. "He might not."
As they were talking, there was a surprise. Percy was there. But, he wasn't there for the class. It looked like he got lost, and didn't know where he was, as was going to ask the PE teacher for help. "Hey! There he is, when he's finished talking to the coach go and ask him..." Thomas urged.
"No... I'll wait..."
"Dude, GO!" Thomas said, giving Tyler a little shove. "The dance is tomorrow, and you probably won't see him again for the rest of the day."
Mei nodded. "Thomas is right."
"R-Right, that makes sense..." Tyler took a deep breath and walked toward Percy. Mei and Thomas stayed back, watching.
Just as Tyler approached, Percy wrapped up his conversation with the coach. "Okay, thank you, sir!" he said politely before walking away.
Tyler gasped—Percy was leaving.
"Why's he just standing there staring at him?" Mei asked.
Then—
"PERCY, WAIT!" Tyler blurted out, accidentally scaring the poor guy.
"Ahh!" Percy yelped, spinning around.
"I'm sorry!" Tyler gasped.
Percy blinked. "Oh... it's just you," he sighed in relief.
"S-Sorry!"
"You have this class during this period?" Percy asked.
Tyler nodded. "Y-Yeah...! What class do you have?"
Percy looked at his schedule. "The coach directed me to this class—" He stepped closer, showing Tyler the paper.
"Oh, that's room 140B, just down the hall from here," Tyler pointed out.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, that's what the coach said. I just couldn't find it. The school's set up differently from back home." He folded his schedule.
"Um... so... nice seeing you again! See you later—" And just like that, Percy walked off again.
"...Did he seriously not ask him at all?" Thomas groaned.
Mei facepalmed.
Tyler just stood there. Then—
"Percy! Wait, I need to ask you something!" He ran after Percy but skidded on the pavement and tripped.
Mei snorted, barely holding back laughter.
"A-Are you okay?!" Percy asked.
Tyler quickly scrambled up. "Yeah! I'm fine! I... need to ask you something..."
Percy looked around, then nodded.
"You... You know about the dance tomorrow, right?"
Percy nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not going."
Tyler's heart sank. "Y-You're not?"
Percy shook his head. "I don't have anyone to go with."
Tyler blinked. "Are... you saying if you had someone to go with, you'd be up for it?"
"Well, obviously. But who would possibly like me? I just got here..."
"I-I... I like you," Tyler admitted, his face turning bright red.
Percy stared. "Y-You like me?"
Tyler looked down, then back up. "Y-Yeah..."
Percy's expression shifted. Then—
He snorted. And then—he started laughing.
Tyler's face went up in flames. "W-What?!"
Percy kept laughing. "Is that why you were acting so weird around me? At breakfast? In class?"
"Um... I..." Tyler stammered.
Percy giggled loudly. "Wow, okay..." He grinned. "Sure, I'd love to go! I'll tell my mom to pick me up for it."
"R-Really? You'd go with me?"
Percy nodded, flashing an adorable smile. "See you there!" he said before heading off.
Tyler stood frozen, feeling everything—shock, excitement, and confusion—all at once. Slowly, he walked back to his friends.
(End Music)
"Soooo... What's the scoop? I heard Percy laughing loudly like he was judging yourexistence," Mei said bluntly.
Tyler rolled his eyes. "You say that like you wanted that to happen."
"Wait, he said yes?!" Thomas asked.
"Yes! He did! I can't believe it—" Tyler ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head.
"Wow! I'm actually surprised!" Mei said.
"Hey! I'm not unlikable! ...Am I?" Tyler asked, looking at Mei with concern.
Mei shook her head. "No! Of course not! I'm just surprised Percy said yes when he barely knows you."
They started walking around the track again.
"Well, to be fair, I always hated that excuse people use when they don't find you attractive," Thomas said.
"Huh? What excuse?" Mei asked.
"That whole 'I don't want to date you because I don't know you' thing. Like, hello? That's the point of dating! To get to know each other! If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. No big deal."
Mei nodded. "You know... that's actually true."
Tyler sighed. "Yeah, it's like they're afraid they might actually like you if they go on one date, so they just avoid it altogether."
"Well, at least your Percy said yes," Thomas said.
Tyler smiled. "And I'm happy."
Mei ruffled his hair. "I'm glad you are,"
"So... Thomas is your date? For the dance?" Eli asked, one of Carter's other friends.
Carter nodded, taking a bite of his lunch. "Yes, he is."
"He's very cute, I can see why you like him," Shane said with a grin.
Carter blushed. "He's more than just cute. He's sweet, he's gentle, he's always willing to help. But... there's also this side of him he doesn't show very often."
"Oh? And what's that?" Eli asked curiously.
"I don't know exactly what to call it, but I think in his country they call it 'cheeky,'" Carter explained. "He likes playing pranks, but I think he's too shy to do it often."
Shane chuckled. "Has he ever pranked you?"
"A few times. Once, he took the batteries out of my controller and hid them, making me think it was broken," Carter said with a pout.
Shane laughed. "Okay, yeah, he's definitely a little prankster."
Carter smiled, twirling his spork in his food. "I love him a lot..."
Carter didn't realize Eli was watching him closely until she spoke. "Then why do you look sad?"
Carter looked up at her, hesitating. "It's just... I don't know... I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out."
Shane laughed. "Honestly, I was surprised too! The way you'd always hug him, how close you two were—it could only mean—"
Eli elbowed her. "Hey, friends can do that too!"
"I know! But whatever was between Carter and Thomas, it was different. Special."
Carter thought about that. "Yeah... it did feel special. It still does."
Shane nodded. "And that's what matters. A lot of people try dating their best friend and it falls apart. But you and Thomas? I think you two are perfect."
"You really think so?"
Shane smiled. "Yep!"
"B-but..." Carter hesitated, fiddling with his sleeve. "I feel so awkward now when I want to show him affection now. I can't even hug him without feeling weird... like I'm suddenly overthinking everything."
"Hey, don't stress about that!" Shane said.
Eli nodded. "Yeah! Don't think about it as hugging a 'boyfriend.' Just think of it as hugging someone you love."
"Someone I love...?"
"Yeah. You love Thomas, don't you?"
Carter nodded slowly.
"So... think about that, and not the 'boyfriend' title constantly,"
"R-right..." Carter took his bag and placed it on his lap. "Do you think he'll like this?" He pulled out a Valentine's Day chocolate box. "I picked it up this morning."
"Who doesn't love chocolate? He'll love it," Shane reassured him.
Carter smiled softly. "Yeah, guess you're right. He told me once he loves the ones with walnuts, so I tried to find a box with just that."
"Wait... only walnuts? Those are my favorite! I hate the ones with fillings," Eli said. "If Thomas is like me, he'll love you even more for that. Those are impossible to find."
Shane stretched. "So, Eli, you got a date for tomorrow?"
Eli shook her head. "No luck this year. Feels like everyone has a love life but me. You?"
Shane sighed. "No joke... I kinda like Pyria, but I barely know her."
"Wait... you like Pyria?" Carter asked, tilting his head.
Shane blushed. "Y-yeah... I do."
"Then why didn't you ask her to the dance?"
"Well, for starters, I don't even have any classes with her this year. I had PE with her last year, but back then I was too dumb to realize I had a crush on her."
"Want me to tell her?"
"WHAT?! No way! She definitely wouldn't like me!"
"I'm... not so sure about that. It looked like she was blushing when she saw you," Carter recalled.
Shane blinked. "There's no way..."
"Shane, her face was definitely red. I saw it."
"What if she says no?"
"Well... at least you tried, right?" Eli said.
Shane sighed. "Yeah... maybe. I just hate rejection."
"Is that why you never asked her out?" Carter asked.
"Honestly? Yeah..."
"Well, you won't know unless you ask. And the dance is tomorrow—you might as well try."
"You're right, Carter," Shane admitted.
Just then, the bell rang.
"Oh... guess we better head to class," Carter said.
Eli nodded. "Come on, Shane."
They picked up their bags, and Carter tucked the chocolates back inside his. As they walked down the hallway, the next group of students filtered into the cafeteria. But as Carter rounded the corner, he bumped into someone—Thomas.
"O-oh! Thomas!" Carter stammered, his face turning red.
Eli and Shane stopped beside him.
"Oh... hey, Carter," Thomas said. "How are you?"
"Not bad... just heading to class... ha..."
"Just heading to lunch," Thomas replied.
"Well... um, see you—" Carter turned to walk away, but then, on impulse, he spun back around, quickly hugged Thomas, and kissed his cheek. "Love you!" he blurted before rushing back to Eli and Shane, his heart pounding.
Carter adjusted his bag and looked at his friends. "W-what?"
"You made Thomas so flustered he ran into the wall," Eli informed him.
Carter glanced back, but Thomas had already disappeared into the cafeteria.
"I need to work on the surprise hugs, huh?" Carter said sheepishly.
"Just let them happen," Shane said with a grin.