Notebook

Seven

The week passed smoothly after that first eventful day.

When Aiden woke each morning, the anxiety seemed dimmer and less consuming.

It never went away, still gnawing at his brain when he walked toward the school and churning in his stomach when he stepped into a classroom or lunch hall, but it was easier. There was always someone by his side, making it easier.

The boys had created a system without telling him.

Somebody would wait at the school gates each morning when he arrived. They would walk with him to meet the group and enter the school building together.

If Aiden shared a class with Reid, the blonde would escort him.

A chaperone would always meet the newbie in the hallway if he had a lesson alone. He never walked the corridors and panicked without a friend to help.

There would be somebody by his side to comfort him and provide the confidence he needed until he was ready to do it alone.

Aiden was never more grateful than in these moments. When his bravery dipped, he could look either side, and there was a supportive, smiling face nudging him through the self-doubt.

He wondered how long this would last. Soon enough, the boys would get bored with this babysitting routine and turn away.

It didn't matter what the others said; he worried constantly.

He wanted to believe them. He tried to listen to their words and believe they liked him, that the group wanted to be his friends, but it was tough.

Hard to hear.

Difficult to grasp that people could actually like him for him.

So Aiden was a little stunned when Friday night came, and he received a text from the boy he had thought about all day.

The white-haired one with the angelic face and heavenly hands. The same boy who played a game with him the whole lunchtime, sliding a packet of sweet potato snacks between them.

Aiden didn't feel hungry after his minor episode, but Nathan kept insisting, pushing the bag towards him with a small smile.

The insistence was out of kindness. He hid it well, but he understood the struggle of overwhelming emotions and fatigue. It usually resulted in a considerable energy dip, and Aiden would struggle to concentrate for the rest of the day.

It would be enough if the pink-haired boy ate just a tiny fistful.

Eventually, he sighed and gave in, taking a handful and munching to keep his hands and brain busy.

When Aiden looked at his phone again, glowing in the darkness, he felt that familiar thump in his chest. Just reading the other boy's name made his knees weak.

What are we doing tomorrow?

Nathan wasn't giving him a choice again; it became a theme in their friendship. Aiden would have stayed home alone and rested for the weekend, but the other boy wouldn't allow that.

He didn't want the younger boy to be isolated.

His behaviour struck the younger boy as odd. When he first moved, Evan gave him the low-down on each group member and described Nathan as reserved, preferring to spend his time alone if he could. That was where he failed to mention that the boy was quiet actually meant he was completely mute.

The older boy, who had saved him numerous times, gave a different impression.

Aiden tapped the keys on his screen, sending a question back and grinning when a reply came through in less than a minute. He wondered if Nathan was lying in his bed in the same position.