Robin sighed as he tapped his foot outside of the office door. He was trying to resist humming the tune stuck in his head in front of the secretary and student who was in the waiting room. He hated when people heard him do anything remotely musical. Nobody ever said anything but he could feel their judging gaze upon him. He flinched as the door opened and he was summoned inside.

"Ah yes, hello Robin!" The principal said happily. His fingers drawn together in a pyramid like form. "This is our new student, Xander. He will be accompanying you around school today, so make sure to show him what to do."

"Yes of course sir." Robin nods, fidgeting his hands in his hoodie pocket.

"I'll let you two go to first period now," enjoy your day!" He beams, gesturing the two out of the door.

Xander glances down at Robin, being a good few inches taller than him. "So your names Robin, huh?" He asks, reviving a nod. "I think it suits you. You're small and cute, like a bird!"

"Oh uh- thanks?" Robin replies, startled at the compliment. A few girls in his neighborhood had said the same thing before, but they never made his heart flutter like the new boy beside him.

Xander nervously scratched his head. "Ah sorry, I bet you don't like people talking about your height."

Robin smiled a bit. "No no it's fine, really. People like Issac and Josh are the only ones who get on my nerves."

"Issac and Josh hm," Xander contemplates, following Robin down the hall.

"Well this is first period, chemistry," Robin says, stopping in front of a door. He pushes open the door and everyone in the class looks up at the two. The overly cheerful chemistry teacher bounces up and rushes to Xander.

"This is our new student everyone!" She announces. "Won't you please introduce yourself?"

Xander begins to speak as Robin slinks to the back of the classroom, expression unreadable. "Um my name is Xander, I'm as you heard, new here. I like playing soccer and video games. So um yeah hehe."

"Excellent!" The teacher squeals, motioning for him to sit down so she could proceed with the lesson they'd interrupted. "Now today class we're learning about-" at this point Xander cut her out.

"Hey do you mind if I sit here?" Xander asks, leaning against the desk next to Robin's.

"If you're willing to give up any chance of popularity by sitting next to the freakish redhead kid who's shorter than a sixth grader then sure." Robin shrugs.

Xander takes the seat immediately. "I don't see why people think you're a freak. I personally think the red hair is pretty epic, and height shouldn't matter. Besides short people are cute!"

There that word was again. Cute. Robin didn't know why his heart started pounding when this boy he barely knew said that word. It wasn't like he was attracted to the kid. Being attracted to guys would throw him farther down the school's social ladder. He wasn't allowed to like boys. "T-thanks," he mumbled, pulling out a notebook.

Xander peered curiously over at Robin's desk as the class went on. His handwriting was small and neat, and there were doodles covering the margins of the page. Robin was talented, he thought. It was a shame nobody else could see the quality of his work.

•••••

The next day at school Robin was absent, so Xander stayed quiet, until lunch where two boys approached him. "Hey punk," one of them says, grabbing Xander by the shirt. "We heard you've been hanging out with that short kid, so you must be just as lame as him!"

"That's very judgemental," Xander says calmly. "I wouldn't think neanderthals like you two could make such a connection."

"You have guts to say that to my face kid." The other, taller boy says. "You've got potential with insults too."

"Yeah. Come sit with us today, and if you're chill then maybe you can be our friend or something. I'm Issac by the way." The shorter blonde boy says.

"Xander," Xander mumbles, looking expectantly at the tall brunette.

"Josh," he says casually, avoiding eye contact with Xander. "You can't hang with that redhead anymore ok. Gingers don't have souls."

Xander reluctantly stood up and sighed. "Alright I guess I'm not hanging out with Robin anymore."

Issac slaps his back, maybe a little too roughly. "There we go!"

(A/N): This is the backstory of my character in the story The Lost Gems by donutsgo24 which is pretty epic I suggest checking it out. Yes there will be more romance later. Also please excuse and typos or weird grammar because I just copied this from my notes on my phone without reviewing it.

Word Count: 798