- 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 !

2. 𝘔𝘌𝘌𝘛.

"   chapter two   "
.MEET.

☆•. 2 | HENRY WALKED over to his brother's table. His brother, Charlie Spring, was sitting with his two friends, Isaac and Tao. Currently, they were missing one friend. Elle. About a week ago, the girl had transferred from Truham to Higgs. He heard Tao slam two bottles of apple juice on the table. "I did it again." He said before sitting down. "I bought Elle's drink. Again."

"Didn't you do that yesterday?" Isaac asked, looking at his friend with a small smile.

"Yes, Isaac. Yes, I did." Tao sighed before putting his head in his hand. "And on Monday." He groaned.

"Elle's not here." Charlie reminded.

"I know."

"She's not been here all week."

"I know. I keep forgetting." Tao sighed. Henry walked over with a smile, the boys all greeted him. "Hi, Henry. Apple juice?" The boy held up the spare bottle of apple juice.

"You did it again?" Henry chuckled with slight disbelief. "But don't mind if I do. Thanks."

"I know." Tao sighed.

"Tao, you're allowed to miss her." Charlie told him as his brother took a seat beside Tao.

"Okay, fine. It's better that she's at an all-girls school. Mr. Reed was still refusing to call her Elle." Tao pointed out while Henry opened his apple juice, taking a small sip.

Henry muttered under his breath. "Mr. Reed's a fucking asshole."

"Yeah." Charlie agreed with his brother. "Mr. Reed's a massive transphobe."

"It's still weird though. There used to be four of us, obviously minus Henry, now there's only three. Like, four is a group." Henry found himself glancing toward the pitch only a few meters away. For some reason, his eyes found Nick Nelson. "Three is just a... trio."

Tao glanced to his side, looking at the boy beside him. Slowly, he looked to where he was looking. There were shouts in the distance as Henry focused on the pitch. "Isn't that Nick Nelson? The guy you sit next to in form?" The brunette hummed, glancing at him. "He looks like a golden retriever."

"He..." Henry paused, looking at Nick once again. "...so does look like a golden retriever." He laughed slightly.

"I can't believe you've been sat next to rugby king Nick Nelson. What are you gonna talk about? The Arctic Monkeys?" Tao laughed looking at the brunette who turned back to the table with a small glare.

"We... have talked." He crossed his arms with a shrug.

"Really?" Charlie questioned with furrowed eyebrows looking at his brother. "What did you talk about?"

-

"HENRY, you don't have a tissue, do you?" Nick asked the boy causing him to snap out of his daydream. Henry let out a snort as he spotted the boy's appearance. His hands were bright blue and it was splattered all over the boy's white t-shirt. "My pen just, uh, exploded."

"I can tell." Henry let out a laugh. "Jesus, okay, come on." He stood, patting the boy on the boy's non-blue-stained shoulder. He led him to the sink in the bathroom. "Just... wash your hands and hope for the best?" He suggested with a smile.

"Thank you for being so reassuring." Nick smiled at him sarcastically before beginning to wash his hands. Over... and over again. Nothing was working. "It's not coming off!" He almost screeched.

"You're a Smurf." Henry joked as he watched the boy scrub his hands.

Nick held up his still blue hands. "Looks like I'm wearing blue gloves!"

"It can..." Henry thought for a moment. "...be a new fashion trend!" He shrugged with a small smile.

"Or I'll pretend it's a tattoo." The two boys let out chuckles as they stood in the bathroom.

"The worst tattoo ever." Henry smirked looking at him. Nick jokingly glared at him before splashing him with water. Henry let out a gasp before touching his own face. "You asshole!" He shouted with a look of disbelief. The boy washing his hands let out a loud laugh causing the other boy to smile.

-

"WELL, be careful." Tao looked toward the boy, nudging him out of his small daydream. Henry looked at him with confusion as he turned to look at him.

"Uh, why?" He questioned.

"Henry, look at them." Charlie pointed toward the group to the pitch as they cheered and carried Nick with loud laughs. Henry chuckled lightly.

Tao continued Charlie's sentence. "Look at us. We are a group. No, wait, yes, a group of borderline outcasts. He is the star player on the rugby team, and he's friends with a bunch of loud, gross Year 11s who are like the guys who bullied Charlie last year."

"Gross Year 11s? My best friend is a Year 11." Henry sighed, reminding them about Louis Brown. He sighed after looking at their faces. "But... he's not like them. He's way less... them."

"I bet he's a whole different person when he's with his bro dude friends." Henry couldn't help but let out a snort at Tao's comment. "As if he'd be friends with any of us." Henry put on a small fake smile. He glanced at his brother, who was staring in a completely different direction. He followed his look.

"Hey, woah," Henry snapped his brother back to him. "Are you..." he looked at Louis on the other side of the grass. "Are you looking at Louis?"

"What? No, no." Charlie shook his head. "No, course not. I'm not looking at Louis."

"Mhm..." Henry sighed, jokingly glaring at his brother. "I've got my eye on you, Charlie."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Charlie smiled at him.

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