Tord couldn't stop staring.

he wasnt aware of how bad it was.

He just couldn't help but look

The new student was about 3 feet infront of Tord's desk, he waited patiently for the teacher to introduce him.

His light brown hair looked softer up close, his glasses were shiny, almost as if new, they themselves were nice to look at.

For the time being, he, the new student, would rub his hands or look around while the teacher looked for something on her desk. He would also glance at Tord and would catch him starring back. Tord didnt really know what the student was looking at due to his glasses blocking out any outside view of his eyes.

"Alright Children" Mrs. Sakaro chirped, after having found her favorite pen she turned back around to her class, who she thought of as her own children, always ready to mother or scold them when it was necessary.

"As some of you may already know, " she started, raising an eyebrow in interest, "we have a new student joining our class."
she gave a friendly glance to the male behind her and nodded.

And then he spoke
his voice caught Tord off guard.

"Hi. Uhm. " he stuttered innocently, moving a strand of hair behind his ear. He looked slightly nervous, only slightly, as it wasn't enough to faze his smile as he said it.

"My name is Tom Ridge."

A few students, well, the more friendly ones like Mallory and Allay chimed a welcoming "hello!" Back in Toms direction

The rest seemed to be either disinterested or interested in Toms appearance, and, not in a good way.

Tord however, was focusing on something else

Tord repeated the name in his head, 'Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge' he found it...unique.As stated, his voice also got Tord's attention, close to a young boy, but also obviously a teenager?

His voice drowned with innocence.
It was a comforting voice
Reassuring,
Stable.

He took so much time to wonder how to describe the voice that he didnt notice his name being called.

"Tord?" Mrs. Sakaro asked, with concern in her voice.

"Hmp?" he replied , looking up to Tom's glasses and then quickly to his teacher.

He would have to get used to those things, or else he'd be looking at them a bit too intently during conversation.

He would, have a conversation with Tom, right?
He would know him well, right?

Why did it matter?

"Can you help Tom accommodate to the school on your own time?" The short lady asked, gently tilting her head.

She was always careful with Tord, he was just
Special, in one way.
She knew he could easily be set off
Whether it was into anger or despair
His parents had told her to keep watch of him for them
And well, she did.
She treated him like his own

Someone had to, atleast.

So she stuttered, adding something to her request.

"-Only if you want to."

Tord felt a small knot in his stomach, he felt nervous around this boy, he didnt even know why, but then again, he was put on the spotlight, and he needed to answer quick, so out of anxiety, he felt a need to respond "Sure."

"Good." she said with a smile.

She turned to the student to her left. "Thomas you can sit right there on the 2nd row by Jonas."

She left to behind her desk, opening her cabinet, now looking for her attendance sheet.

Tom nodded and carefully walked between a few desks to get to his spot, careful not to upset anyone by bumping into their desk or unsettling a water bottle on the floor.

He sat in his seat, tapping his fingers against the table, the boy next to him, Jonas, gave a friendly wave.

So far, about 4 high schoolers in this specific class were friendly.

There were 25 teens
The two in the back, a girl and a short boy, had said hi to him earlier
Then there was Jonas

And then,
What was his name?
Tord.

Tord decided he would show Tom around.
Cheesy, if you will.
But it would matter a lot
Who ever introduces you gives you the path to follow
They set up how you should feel, and think about the place.

So Tord would be pretty important.

Tom hummed, putting his phone out of his pocket and onto the floor next to his journals, t was uncomfortable sitting in his pocket. And it would be less of a distraction if it was under his math journal, anyways.

He thought of Tord for one last time before focusing on the worksheet given to him.

His eyes.
Those grey
Silver eyes
There's something interesting about them that he couldn't quite lay his finger on.
They made Tord look blind
But he knew he wasn't blind, for a fact.
But
They were definitely
Misleading,
when you first look at them.

Misleading
You wouldn't want that to be your first impression of the person who will tell you the path to take, would you?

Tord felt his body relax, Tom was now one seat behind and to the left of Tord, some distance that was far but not too far.

Because Tord still wanted Tom to be close.

Weird, maybe, but he had his reasons.

During class, Tord didnt focus much on his favorite teacher, or the worksheet on his desk, or Sulmie's squeaky chair.

He focused on Tom.

Or, to be more specific, his feelings torwards him. He wouldn't be so preoccupied with them if they werent as strange as they were,

making him nervous,
giving him pains in the gut,
making him fidget with his hands.

But at the same time, he felt
Peaceful
Calm
Different.

It was confusing
To feel
Happy
For a moment
Just a moment
And
It's not because of a joke
Or a fun situation
It's just because
Someone is near

Someone who just makes you feel
Stable
Just by being near

'Would be nice, to stay by that persons side forever.' Tord thought

And that's when he realized it.

wait
was this-

His mind went blank,
Ironic considering how he couldn't get one person off his mind a second ago, but a faint buzz began replacing any exsisting noise.His heartbeat was suddenly obvious to himself.

For the first time in many years, he focused on himself
His heartbeat
His own emotions.

And someone else brought it

So,

Was this A crush?

His head shot up, his eyes looking straight infront of him, his shoulders tense and pushed back into the back of the chair, his hands on the edge of the table, almost slipping.

did Tord Larison have a crush?

He never had one,
Never found a reason to
What's the point of loving someone
Who might not love you back

Is it fun?
The suspense?
The stress?
The anixety?

Is it fun to panic?

Tord didn't have a crush
But he had all of that

Would be nice to have something to blame it on
Would be nice to have someone that took all of that away
Would be nice to stay by that persons side forever.

So Tord didn't have a crush.
In fact, he never loved anyone closely
Maybe his adoptive parents
But
That was because they came at a dark time
And you can last on parental love for only so long

But that didn't mean he was desperate
In fact
He pushed away from romantics
He never went after it

Didn't think he deserved it.

Didn't deserve to have someone worry about him
Someone to care about him
He didn't deserve it.

He didn't want to hurt them by accident
Didn't want another person to leave him behind
No
His parents did enough of that

Both of them
Biological and Adoptive

They didn't love him enough to stay
Or to choose a job closer to Home
Tord longed for his Adoptive parents
He felt safe with them.

He didn't want to have to love someone
To feel safe again.

which, maybe left him to thinking he didnt need love, maybe it left him finding it as it 1 less person to worry about. Maybe it made him think he was unlovable.

Maybe.
Just maybe.

Tord looked behind him to the left,
Hesitantly
Nervous.
What a nervous little crush wreck of emotions he was.

So he looked behind him, to his left. Over his shoulder, where Tom sat with his head slightly down, in curiosity of the worksheet infront of him, tapping the side of his cheek with a pencil, he looked up, and saw Tord starring, the boy who would help him understand the new environment he was in.

The boy who could mislead or guide him
In his mind, he knew Tord well enough
He felt it
He never met Tord a day in his life
But he felt it.

Guide me.

Tom stuck his tounge out with a small smile, a habit he learned to do when Soke or Asha would be caught starring at him.

The soft pink danced under Tords eyes and over his nose,trying to stay hidden.

His stomach fluttered, accepting the possibility of this crush

Wouldn't hurt, to be in love, would it?

the boy in red gave a small smile, one that hid big emotions of excitement and happiness.

'Just maybe' , Tord thought.

'Maybe i've found them.'

Who?
The one who could stabilize him
Make him feel peaceful

The one who could
Guide him

"Just maybe."

=====================================
Notes
Well I've gotten quite a few reads! Im pretty excited and amazed that some people have found this! Maybe its from you sneaky little agents seeing my comments on other wattpad stories and you just got curious and investigated, because I know the cover or title wouldent have been what got you interested!

I've decided to try to make a schedule,

So I wont really have a schedule, mainly because I publish whenever a good line or plot idea comes to mind and it can be used in the current time or pace of the story, I dont wanna make a schedule because I love writing this story, I'm in love with my plot, that you'll understand in later chapters, and I'd like to upload often, so I've come to a conclusion, to ensure quality of each chapter! I will update every Monday,Thursday and Saturday, giving myself those in between days to write, edit, and draw the banners for each chapter! Of course, because im a work-a-holic,and as I previously, (and in a confusing manner) stated, I love writing this story, if I have chapters done early, I would upload them, endless some of you perfer to keep suspense between uploads, I'll keep asking that question for a while until I think I have enough replies to make a choice on.

"Tom is the equivalent of a bedroom wall"-
I love that comment

I've changed the description of this story to one I think fits more! Banners for this and any following chapters will be completed and uploaded on Friday! I have a trip on June 3rd, and it only lasts that day, Im pretty excited!

also, i've thought of a new way of ending my notes.

Thank you for reading and following the development of this story!
See you next chapter!
=====================================