in my head - hardzello

pretty boy

to my new readers,

welcome! i'm so glad you found my book and i hope that by reading it you can find something that makes your heart melt (that is my aim).

you will notice throughout the chapters, there will be song names written in bold italic. you can find a playlist of these songs on my spotify (sophie-lillis) playlist called 'in my head - a concept'. these songs set some kind of atmosphere to the book, and are all songs that i love dearly.

enjoy the book <3

song: in the air - dma's

his eyes were a poem, his lips spoke their own conversation. he was unlike any boy ben had ever seen. actually, joe was the first boy ben had ever seen in that way. it was so different to anything he had ever felt before and it was scary. it was scary how fast it happened, but even scarier how unknown the other boy's feelings were to him. a closeted popular kid falling for the open, artsy one. what could go wrong?

it started when ben first came to the school, he was dubbed 'eye candy' as soon as the horny 15 year old girls saw him. but lets be honest, who could blame them? ben hardy was absolutely gorgeous. his short blond hair framed his structured round face, with beautiful honey toned eyes. although his toned figure could be considered as intimidating, he was nervous for his first day. call it typical, call it clichéd, but as he walked down that cold, drafty hallway, the eyes of his now fellow students burned holes into his skull.

'ben hardy,' a booming voice called over the speaker, 'please report to reception. thank you.'

the eyes of those who once were lasers, turned slightly softer with the realisation that ben was new. he gripped at the ends of his stiffly new backpack, fiddling with the ends, unsure of where on earth he was actually meant to be going. a soft hand tapped his shoulder. ben cautiously turned to find a boy. raven black hair sat on his tanned head, and he looked at ben with his beaming, soulful eyes.

'down the hall, second left, shortcut through the gym doors, another right and it's at the end of the hall there.' the kind eyes said with a smile. ben smiled back softly,

'thanks.'

he turned to walk away.

'rami.'

ben looked back with a confused expression.

'my name's rami. malek.' ben was still confused. was his name rami or malek? he felt bad for this boy's awkwardness, he seemed like a nice bloke. the last thing ben wanted to do was to make him feel small or less than himself.

'sorry mate?' ben's thick english accent was especially prominent, sending a surprised look to rami's face.

'my name's rami malek.' ben felt stupid. that should've been easier to catch on to. he blamed his nervousness. 'you're english?'

'yeah, uh, i just moved here actually.' and he still was unsure how he felt about it. from bournemouth in england to new york. it was a huge shock to the system, and he had barely started his social life here.

'oh that's really cool, where abouts are you fr-' the bell sounded.

'shit, i should go. see you around ben.' rami gripped his shoulder friendlily and rushed off to class. ben sent him off with a kind smile. that wasn't too hard, he had thought to himself.

and off he went, down the hall, taking the second left to find the gym. he pushed through them uncertainly and took the first right he saw, before realising he had gone the wrong way. he turned back and glided through the right that he had missed. the next hall seemed as though it was never ending, then he found reception.

the pulled open the doors to see a gentle woman awaiting his arrival.

'ah lovely! you must be mr hardy. how spectacular to meet you! i hope that you found your journey here without hustle. how interesting for a new student to be starting at the beginning of second semester. it shouldn't be any more difficult though, you should fit in just fine here. all of our students are very welcoming.'

ben was overwhelmed.

this lady would not stop speaking. she went on and on and on. she seemed lovely, however her positivity was emotionally draining.

'yeah, i've- uh, noticed. nice to meet you as well.' the lady had not yet introduced herself, but ben was reluctant to ask because he felt like she would explain her entire life story to him if he did ask.

'now ben, as you're new, we have assigned you someone to help you for as long as you need. we managed to find someone in all of your classes. he's a lovely boy and i know in my heart you two will get along beautifully.' as she was speaking, ben practically zoned out. he felt terrible when he was snapped out of it. literally. he was awoken from his day dreams with slender fingers clicking twice in his face. and when he looked up, he locked eyes with him.

'good morning pretty boy.'