Bjørn walked down the small corridor just to the left of the school entrance, nodding vaguely to one of his teachers that was just passing by at that moment. It had only been half an hour since he and Nathan had separated for school - Nathan had to go home for his backpack first.

The sleepover hadn’t been that eventful (to Bjørn’s disappointment) after they had gone to bed, although Bjørn’s heart had almost skipped a beat when Nathan’s arm had curled round him during the night. He cursed the fact it was Friday - if it had of been a Saturday he might still be laying in bed with Nathan’s arm around his waist.

As Bjørn entered the classroom, he walked towards his table almost automatically, making eye contact with no one. It was a way of entering a room that he had perfected when his confidence had broken during his early teenage years, and he appreciated the undisturbed, almost undetected arrival.

Most of Bjørn’s life seemed to pass by like that of an invisible man’s, and he would agree to this theory if it wasn’t for his friends. He thanked the gods every day that he had his friends - they were what made him real, what kept him from no longer caring about life.

“Hi”

The word brought Bjørn abruptly out of the thoughts that so often took over him and caused him to daydream. He looked up to see someone sitting at the table he usually had to himself. Bjørn was instantly captivated by this man’s appearance.

He looked like he was in his twenties, by any means older than Bjørn. He had long black hair (which automatically redeemed him in the eyes of Bjørn, who would usually prefer to sit alone), and from what Bjørn could tell, as he was sitting down, he was fairly tall. Another thing that redeemed him in Bjørn’s eyes was his dress sense. He was wearing all black clothing, and Bjørn could see several gothic bondage like straps and buckles across his trousers.

Bjørn looked straight at the man that had greeted him - he was smiling, a greeting Bjørn hadn’t received from a stranger in a long time. His face was thin, but his features were distinguished nonetheless. He had several piercing in his eyebrows, but despite the metal jewelry gracing various parts of his body, his smile was warm. Bjørn found himself smiling back as his blue eyes met the green of the man’s.

“Uh, hi.. Um, are you new or something?”, Bjørn tried to speak as smoothly as possible, but the shock of having been greeted had put him off. He hadn’t been expecting social interaction until later in the day. The man pulled Bjørn’s chair out for him, and Bjørn quickly took the seat to be polite. Mostly he wanted to remain standing - he was afraid of causing an awkward silence by not knowing what to say.

“Yeah.. Well kind of. My name’s Jørgen, yours?”, Jørgen reached out his hand, and Bjørn shook it gently - immediately cursing himself for not being able to grip hard enough during a handshake. He thought he saw Jørgen repress a wider smile at the light handshake, and he withdrew his hand quickly.

“My name’s Bjørn. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how old are you?”, Bjørn was curious - one of the time’s where Bjørn had very little control over himself. He just had to know. He knew it would be his downfall one day, he was therefore pleased to see that Jørgen’s smile didn’t fade.

“Twenty four.. I’m old. I guess you’re wondering what I’m doing in high school again?”, Bjørn nodded, pondering the strange Danish rule of no whatever what age you are, you can still come back and finish high school. He also pondered how come he’d never seen Jørgen before - he would have noticed him in such a small town.

“Well, I’m running a business single handedly so I thought it might be a good idea to get that high school diploma.. People just don’t take you seriously otherwise”, Bjørn widened his eyes - he was running a business and going to high school at the same time? Bjørn could barely manage high school by itself!

“Wow.. What type of business do you run?”, now Bjørn was really interested - Jørgen was older, seemed more mature and had loads of piercing (something Bjørn was yet to achieve, as his father, Johann, was very against piercing of any kind). Jørgen smiled again at Bjørn’s interest.

“CD’s.. And I’m thinking about incorporating DVD’s too”

“Oh god yes!.. I mean.. We need another DVD shop.. Badly..”, Bjørn widened his eyes and felt his cheeks beginning to heat up at his spur of the moment outburst. Jørgen laughed softly, then Bjørn thought of something.

“Hey.. Is your CD place in Jelle? I think I know it if it is”, Bjørn knew there were only two CD shops in Jelle - and one of them was already selling DVD’s (of the worst kind, Bjørn reasoned, mostly just the newest ones and the old Danish stuff).

Jørgen had just opened his mouth to reply when their teacher walked in. Mrs. Henderson was notably one of the strictest teachers in the entire school, and it seemed that even Jørgen could sense this as he abruptly sat up straighter. Bjørn smiled to himself - maybe he was going to make a new friend.

“Hey, do you want to come outside and meet my friends?”, as the lesson ended, Bjørn figured it would be polite to ask. It wasn’t like Jørgen had much possibility of knowing anyone otherwise. He was reluctant to start with - he wasn’t sure how Nathan and David would react to someone older than them. Sure, David had friends in their twenties, but Nathan wasn’t exactly fond of adults. He always said that they limited the conversation. Jørgen shrugged.

“I don‘t know.. Wow, it’s weird being in high school again”, he sighed and Bjørn wondered if he had offended him somehow. Jørgen noticed the apparent question mark written all over Bjørn’s face.

“I didn’t have the greatest experiences of high school.. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I dropped out. Socially, I didn‘t exist”, Jørgen smiled sarcastically, and Bjørn felt a sudden compassion fill his heart. He had just heard four words that used to apply to him in every way.

“I know what you mean.. I don’t really talk to anyone besides me friends - Nathan and David.. And you. I know that sounds weird as we’ve just met, but I’ve already had a longer conversation with you then anyone else in this class in the entire time we’ve been here”, Bjørn sighed too, looking somewhat sadly over at the class of people talking contently to each other. He was surprised to feel Jørgen’s hand touch his shoulder gently.

“I wish I could say it gets better after school..”

The rest of the day seemed to pass quickly with Jørgen’s company - Bjørn rarely met anyone so young, yet so mature at the same time, and he found it so refreshing. He felt guilty about not sending a message to Nathan or David about why he wasn‘t out in the bicycle shed, but he reasoned that yesterday David hadn‘t given any prior notice to omitting their film evening.

Besides, he wasn‘t sure if he could tear himself away from Jørgen if he tried - they were both insecure socially, so they gave each other a lot more lenience in the conversation then any other person really would. He found himself entranced with every word Jørgen said. As the final bell rang, Bjørn was almost sad to see the school day end.

“Hey, can I get your number incase I forget what homework we have or something?”, Jørgen spoke quietly. Bjørn could detect a hint of nervousness in Jørgen’s voice, and he recognized all to well the ‘Are we friends?’ doubt. He smiled his reassurance, and found himself in the strange position where he was the one with the most confidence.

“Yeah sure”, he jotted his number down on a small piece of paper and handed it to Jørgen, who pocketed it before smiling.

“I’ll see you on Monday”