Jemma was kind enough to show him to his English classroom before she skipped off merrily to her own free period. She said she was going to continue to work on her art project, with the theme of it being rage. Robin found it hilarious that such a sweet and light-hearted girl would be working on a topic as intense as that. But then, he supposed it made sense with the way she dressed, as it was pretty scary.

Stepping into the English classroom, he was greeted by the same feeling he had felt when he first entered the form room. That all-too-familiar rush of nerves shooting through his body, from not knowing a single person. But this time he felt slightly different because this time he did know one person. Yohan.

Surprise, surprise, he was sitting at the back of the classroom alone. Once again, he was the only person who appeared to have a free seat next to him.  Robin allowed himself a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists by his sides in an attempt to psych himself up.

He's not gay. You've got no chance, so there's no point getting nervous, flustered, or anything! Just be cool, Robin.

He mustered up his most confident walk, trying to keep his shoulders back and head held high as he walked over to the free seat. Rather than asking if the seat was taken, he just plonked himself down, trying not to make eye contact with the boy who was now staring at him. Again.

"Hello again... just assuming the seat next to me is free now, are we?" Yohan said, a slight air of arrogance in his voice.

When Robin dared turn to face him, the boy had a smirk plastered on his face.  "I um..." For fucks sake, Robin, why can't you just talk like a normal fucking person to this guy?  "It was the only free seat."

Without saying a word, Yohan's long arm lifted from the desk. His index finger sporting a large silver ring that glistened slightly in the light. He pointed towards the front of the class at a sweet-looking blonde girl whose seat next to her was, in fact, empty.

How the fuck did I miss that...

"O-Oh," Robin spluttered, feeling his cheeks getting hot. Compose yourself, Robin. You're allowed to sit here; you can sit where you want. Don't let this hot, handsome, sexy prick make you awkwardly move seats now.

The side of Yohan's lip turned up into a half smile. "It's fine; you can sit here. Do you have a copy of the book we're studying this term?"

"I don't think I do... What is it?"

"Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte"

"Yeah, uh, no, I don't."

"It's fine. You can share my copy until you get your own."  Yohan twisted his upper body to bend down towards his bag. As he leaned down, his shirt lightly rose up his back, exposing a slither of skin. Robin's eyes, unable to avoid his curiosity, darted a quick glance. He could see that right of the base of his spine there appeared to be a little point of black lines—maybe the tail of a snake?

Robin swallowed hard. He snapped his head to face the opposite direction, trying to breathe steadily and lower his heart rate from the view of slightly exposed skin.

I knew he would have tattoos. I'll have to tell Ashley later.

Yohan retrieved the book from his bag and placed it gently on the table between the two of them. Robin, calmer now, turned back to him. Yohan's mouth opened as if to say something when he was interrupted by someone walking through the door.

It was a young guy— for a teacher, probably in his mid-twenties. It was obvious the young man was trying to dress older than he was, sporting a smart brown suit and tie. He seemed flustered as he pushed up his thick-rimmed glasses that were sliding off the bridge of his nose ever so slightly. His other hand occupied an armful of papers, threatening to cascade onto the floor.

"Sorry, so sorry I'm late," the teacher said over the chatter of the class as he sat himself down at the desk at the front of the room. The papers tumbled from his arms, making a loud thump as he placed them, discourteously, on the desk.  "My name is Andr... Mr. Baker'' he said. Robin let out an inaudible snort. He must have been fresh out of training by the way he was muddling his words.

"I am new to this school, so I hope we will all get along well." He smiled out at the sea of students, who had finally become quiet. A few sniggers were heard rippling through the room at the dishevelled state of the teacher. He couldn't help but empathise with Mr. Baker. He could relate to the anxiety of being the new face. At least he could sit quietly in the back, whereas the scrupulous eyes of the students would be on the new teacher for the next hour.

"I see most of you came prepared with this term reading. Wuthering Heights! It's a wonderful book, but we won't be able to start doing exam questions on it until we've read it." He shuffled through some of the papers he had been carrying, finding the one he was looking for, and peered at it. "So, please open your books to page numero uno, and we will start reading together out loud as a class."

Robin felt himself cringe. Mr. Baker was clearly trying to show himself as a 'cool teacher' and the empathy he'd had quickly dissipated. Mr. Baker was on his own.

"If anyone needs a spare copy who doesn't have one already, I have some spare at the front." Mr. Baker patted the top of the small stack of books at the front of the class with the tips of his fingers.

Robin began to raise his hand, which had been resting on the table, to ask for a copy, when he felt warmth on his shoulder. Yohan's hand was resting there, looking down at him with a small smile crossing his lips.

"It's fine, Robin... I don't mind sharing."

Robin could have melted on the stop. The touch of Yohan's hand sent electric shocks through his shoulder and down his spine, making the hairs on his arms prick up.

Robin... Robin... Robin...

The way Yohan had said his name replayed in his mind; his voice was deep and smooth like butter.

"Oh, th-A-nks." Robin's voice broke slightly as he said it, as he slowly placed the hand he was raising back onto the table, picking at the skin around his thumb slightly with his index finger.  Yohan gently opened the book to the first page, smoothing out the paper with his palm so it lay flat on the table.

Mr. Baker asked a girl on the front row to start them off with the reading.  As different students in the class spoke the words from the page, Robin could have sworn Yohan was getting closer to him. On a few occasions, their shoulders brushed against each other, or he would feel Yohan's knee graze slightly against his under the table.  With each touch, Robin's entire body would tense up, fearing that if he moved, their touches would linger for longer.

Robin kept trying to tell himself that each time it happened, it was clearly an accident.

I mean, we're sharing a book. You have to get kind of close in order to read it together, but why did he insist we share in the first place? We didn't have to.

Yohan was so close to him that he could smell the faint smell of cigarettes on him again, along with a musky kind of cologne. The smell made him slightly salivate as he found himself continuously swallowing, Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Thus far, Robin had been the one to turn the page, so as he went to turn the page again, he was surprised to find Yohan reaching out to turn it as well.  Their fingers touched. Yohan seemed to linger on the touch for a moment before pulling his hand away and muttering a "sorry" quietly under his breath.

Robin couldn't quite believe it. He was so lost in his own thoughts and shocked by the touch of Yohan's fingers on his that Mr. Baker had to call his name out twice before Robin registered it.

"Oh, sorry. Sorry, sir, what is it?" Robin said, knowing he was turning a bright shade of red once again.

How many times do I have to fucking blush or get embarrassed in one day?

"Could you please read the next three pages, Robin, it is Robin, right?" Mr. Baker spoke, cocking his head to one side to ensure he was correct.

"Yes, sir, of course, sir," Robin muttered as he started to read the next few pages of the book.  As he read aloud, he was almost certain that Yohan was no longer looking at the pages. He glanced over at Yohan as he turned to the next page to confirm his suspicions. He was smiling lazily as his eyes trailed from Robin's lips up to his eyes.

Omg, omg, omg, omg, omg, omg. I can't fucking deal with this guy. Is he flirting with me? Surely not. No, definitely not. Maybe he's deaf? Maybe he had to lip-read? For fucks sake, why would he have to do that when the words are literally written down in front of him? Omg, I'm actually going to die! Robin's head snapped back to the pages of the book and read the final page.

As he finished, the bell rang once more.  "Alright, you lot, thank you for that!" Said Mr. Baker, trying and failing to raise his voice enough over the chatter of the students. "Please, can you make sure you've read up to chapter 6 for our next class? That's in two days, people, so get reading!"

Yohan closed the book and placed it in his bag. He looked over at Robin.  "It looks like we have our free periods together, based on earlier." He smiled. "I've got my next one tomorrow morning, first thing, what about you?"

What the hell was he asking me?  "Umm...' Robin fumbled his schedule out of his pocket again. Yohan was right; he also had a free period first thing tomorrow morning. "Looks like I do too."  Yohan pulled out a notebook from his bag with his own schedule neatly folded inside.

He unfolded it and placed it next to Robins. He was right. All of their free periods matched up with one another's.  Yohan let out a light breath of air as he let his mouth fall into a small smile, looking down at their timetables lying next to one another. "Looks like all of our free periods are at the same time, huh?"

He turned to Robin as his face dropped, displaying a serious expression. Robin was unsure if he was doing it sarcastically or being serious.  "Look, I don't mind you using my secret classroom for your free periods, but just don't go telling everyone about it, alright? It saved me last year, and free classrooms that teachers don't care about you using are like gold dust in this school."

"Oh, um, yeah, um, thanks?" Robin said, managing to look up at Yohan and forcing a small smile in his direction.

"As long as you don't snitch on me for smoking."

"Huh?"

"You're not allowed to smoke at school, and I've disabled the smoke detectors in that classroom."

"Oh, I see."

"I smoke out the window. Don't stress"

"Okay"

Yohan looked down at Robin, his hair falling lightly over his face. His hair had little ringlets that tickled his cheeks and was long enough that it just brushed the top of his shirt. Even sitting down, Yohan was freakishly tall.

"So..." Yohan said with a slight hesitancy in his voice, looking away from Robin as he spoke. "I know you can probably get a spare copy, or whatever, but want to read the next few chapters of the book together in our free period tomorrow?"

Robin sat there in shock. Most of the classroom had cleared out at this point, apart from a few stragglers who were speaking to Mr. Baker.

Yohan wanted to read a book together, alone. Wuthering Heights nonetheless. His little gay heart couldn't take it. He felt like he was going to burst on the spot.

"Yeah... sounds good," Robin managed to say through his panic. He was planning on just going to the library after school to get a copy, but he definitely wasn't going to be doing that now! Any chance to spend more time with Yohan the better.

"Great. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Yohan smiled as he stood up, slinging his backpack over one shoulder again, and walked out of the classroom.

♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Robin felt like one of those cartoon characters, floating through the air because he could smell a delicious pie. But instead of pie, it was a rough-looking boy with the sweet smell of cigarettes and musk. Yohan.

He sat in his first sociology class with Lucy as he let his mind wonder and think about Yohan. Lucy kept having to nudge him in the side so he would pay attention.  Once class was over and it was the end of the day, he realised he had barely absorbed any of the information. Something about Neoliberalism? Maybe a bit of feminism?

Robin promised himself he would catch up at home tonight so he wouldn't fall behind. He didn't want a boy to be the reason his grades slipped. That was precisely the reason he had given himself a boy ban coming to this school.

"Are you okay?" Lucy said as they walked out of the classroom, slowly making their way out of the building through the bustling corridors of students. "I feel like you barely paid any attention there."  They looked at him smugly. "I recognise that look. It's the same look I had when Amber kissed me for the first time. Who's been kissing you, Robbbiiin?" They teased, shoving him a little yet again.

Fuck I can't make it obvious.

"Ahhh uhhh," Robin spluttered, "A... uhhh... a girl! Yes, a girl! From my old school... uhhh."

Think, Robin, think! What would a straight boy be obsessed about? What would cause a straight boy to be completely distracted in class?

"She sent me a nude!" He blurted out, feeling an immediate sense of regret as he said it.

Lucy let out a loud laugh, tilting their head back and holding onto their stomach as they continued to laugh. "Oh my god." Their eyes were watering from the laughter as they wiped them away with their hand.

"What?!" Robin almost shouted over the loudness of the other students. What were they trying to say? Did they not believe him? How would they not believe him? Did he act that... gay?

"Nothing, nothing." Lucy let out a loud sigh, their laughter finally coming to a stop. "Just not very good at lying, are we, Robin?" Lucy slapped him on the back, which made him jolt forward. "I'll see you tomorrow; I'm going to go find Amber." They walked off, still chuckling to themselves.

What did they mean by that?

A/N: I just want to say to everyone who has read and supported my story so far... THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!! It means the world to me!!! I never expected such a positive reception so early on <3 I'm still very new but really trying my best to upload quality chapters for you all to read :) I really hope you stay tuned!!! Pre-warning... next chapter is a bit of a spicy one hehehe