Chapter 8

Jacob's P.O.V.

The bell finally went off, signalling end of class.

I was super hungry and excited.

I quickly shoved everything in my bag, not caring when my notebook got slightly crumpled in the process, and stood up, only to notice that the guy wasn't done packing up yet.

I observed him as he carefully packed up his pencil case, closed his books and gently placed them in his bag, making sure that they didn't get folded. He then carefully zipped his bag up, grabbed his jacket, also neatly folded, and held it over his left arm, finally getting out.

"What?" He said, looking at me.

"Oh? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare!" I awkwardly giggled. "It's just, I was really in awe of the way you packed your bag really carefully. I'm actually feeling guilty for shoving my books in, unlike you!" 

"Oh, I see. I've been this way since the beginning. You could say that I'm a neat freak or something." He said, laughing a bit.

That was music to my ears.

Sigh, my brain really needs to stop being so gay.

"I see." I said.

"You're coming with me, right?" He asked me. "Yep, I'm coming alright!"

"By the way, I never asked you your name." I said, finally remembering to ask him his name.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, that's rude of me. My name's William but you can call me Will instead!" He said, extending his hand like a true gentleman.

"Oh, I'm Jacob." I said, taking his hand. It was soft and warm.

I realised that I may have just held on two seconds longer and started at him in a trance for god knows how long, so I just dropped my hand and looked away.

Needless to say, I was blushing.

I just hope he decided to go blind at that very moment.

We walked to the cafeteria in silence.

"There!" William said, pointing to a table. There were two people already seated, a guy and a girl.

I slowed down a bit, anxious at the thought of socialising.

"Hey, you okay?" William asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine." I said, smiling at him.

He just looked at me.

"Okay then, come along." He said after two seconds of silence.

Saying so, he made his way towards the table, while I just followed, feeling nervous and shy.

God, Jacob, don't get all shy and nervous now! You can't blow this up.

"Hi guys, my friend will be joining us today, if that's okay." William said to his friends.

Friend.

He called me his friend.

My heart was slightly racing. I hadn't been called a 'friend' in quite a while.

It felt… good.

"Oh sure! Isn't he the one you bumped into earlier today?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, that's him! This is Jacob. And Jacob, these are my friends, Lizzie or Liz and Kyle." He introduced.

I smiled shyly at them and said a "hi" to them.

Lizzie smiled at me welcomingly and I felt reassured while Kyle just nodded at me, not smiling but not hostile either.

I guess that means they don't mind me.

I awkwardly sat down next to William.

"You're a new student, right?" Liz asked me.

"Oh? Yeah, I am." I said.

"Did you get transfered?"

"Yeah."

"Must be hard, moving to a new place."

"Not really. Not for me at least."

"But aren't you sad to leave all your friends?"

"Um, n-no, n-not really."

"You aren't close with them?"

"Uh, y-yeah something l-like that."

"Oh, that's sad, why's that?"

"Uh, I-"

"Liz, slow down! You're making him uncomfortable! Let him breath at least!" William said.

I'd been getting progressively uneasy.

I didn't want to talk about my past life what with being bullied and all. At least, not yet. I didn't need a friend repellant just yet.

So I was really greateful when Will interrupted me.

"I'm so sorry Jacob. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Really, sorry." Liz said.

She sounded genuine. I wasn't mad at her, to be honest.

"It's alright, Liz. Really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, trust me."

"Let's talk about something else, shall we?" Kyle said.

He'd been quiet all this time, so I slightly jumped when he spoke.

He had a deep voice and the way he spoke sent uneasy chills down my spine.

"Sure." Will said.

They all started talking about something else. I just listened because I was more of a listener than a speaker. Also, I wasn't really comfortable with talking too much just yet.

I like Liz, she was a little curious, but I could tell that she didn't mean any harm.

On the other hand Kyle… well I wasn't too sure about him.

I just had to be careful around him.

William looked my way and I smiled a grateful smile at him, mouthing "thank you".

He smiled back, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.