I used to think Noah, the weird dude in the back, was just… bizarre.

Like the kind of guy who maybe secretly eats rocks and reads books too thick to be legal.

The kind of guy who stares at you in silence and you don’t dare stare back because you’re afraid he’ll read your soul.

But now, we’re sitting next to each other.

Like… RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER.

If I turn my head too fast, my nose might collide with his ear.

It’s serious.

Why?

Because I literally can’t breathe normally anymore.

No, seriously. I forgot how to inhale.

At the start of class, I tried to play it cool. You know, like:

“Yeah, chill, new seat, new life, it’s whatever, bro.”

But then my hands started sweating.

Like Niagara Falls level of sweating.

And him?

Noah?

NOTHING.

He was calm. Too calm.

He pulled out his notebook, grabbed his pen, and started writing with this neat, clean handwriting like he was drafting a love letter to his calculator.

Me?

I just… stared at him.

Like a total idiot.

Then, he turned his head  just a little. Not much.

Just enough for our eyes to meet. For ONE second.

And guys, I swear…

I crashed.

Full Windows XP. Blue screen of death.

I don’t even know what happened.

There was like, a breeze, or black magic, or some voodoo spell.

I don’t know.

But I felt my heart do a backflip.

“Don’t have a pen?” he asked.

With that low voice, the kind that tickles your eardrums.

I think I nodded.

Or maybe I said “yes.” Or “no.”

I have no clue.

I was already dying inside.

He handed me a pen.

A nice one. Black, sharp, intimidating.

I took it.

And I touched his hand.

WHY DID I TOUCH HIS HAND?!

Now I wanna chop mine off and lock it in a box.

I’m not supposed to be like this.

I’m the funny guy, the chill one, with lots of friends and zero drama.

Not the guy panicking over a pinky graze.

And yet…

When he went back to writing, I couldn’t stop glancing at him from the corner of my eye.

He’s actually… beautiful.

Not like Instagram-model beautiful.

More like… mysterious-beautiful.

A little scary, a little hypnotic.

Like a forbidden forest in a video game.

And here I am, sitting next to him, wondering:

Is it bad that I kinda want him to look at me again?