Page 2 of Bluebird

Adrien

Changing universities after a year sucks. I was looking forward to being around people again and making some new friends, but it’s been a week now and it's not as easy as I thought.

I'm not loud and extroverted. I usually make friends quickly anyway, but everyone here already knows each other and there are set groups. One week in and I haven't spoken to anyone except my professors.

I have a plan for today. There's another guy in the class I have now, and no one is talking to him either. We have almost all our classes together, he probably has the same major as me. And he actually looks nice, rather quiet, like me.

Okay, I admit it. I may have stalked him in a non-creepy way. I've been watching him all week and decided it was worth a try. I've been through worse. Determined, I make my way to the third row, where he’s sitting alone on the first seat on the right side.

"Hey, ah… can I sit with you?"

He flinches when he sees me and pulls his earbuds out of his ears. "Ah, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Can I sit with you?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure, definitely! You're the other new guy, right?"

I draw my eyebrows together in confusion. "What makes you think that?" Did he hear something? Does he know something?

"I know from the student’s office that there was a second transfer and you're always alone too. One and one, you know?" He shrugs his shoulders and winks at me.

"That means you transferred to Strasbourg too?" Stupid question. I roll my eyes at myself.

"Yes."

"Where were you before?"

"In Rennes."

"That's quite a distance, nearly across the whole country. Did you want to come here?"

He grins sheepishly and blushes. "Yes, I wanted to come here. My girlfriend lives 18 miles from here on the German side. And you?"

The German side. That sounds so crazy. I haven’t been across the border yet, but Germany literally is only a tram ride away. Just by crossing the River Rhine you can visit another country. Fifteen minutes tops.

"I was in Paris..."

Two big brown eyes stare at me in disbelief. "And why did you want to leave Paris ?"

"That's complicated." I scratch the back of my neck sheepishly and hope he doesn't ask any further.

"Okay, I get it." His open laugh relaxes me. "What's your name?"

"Adrien. What’s yours?"

"élias. I think we have the same major, we have almost all our courses together."

Now I have to laugh. "And I thought I was the stalker here!"

élias laughs with me and I feel like I might have found a new friend.

"What are you listening to?" I point at his earbuds, which are still blasting music... loudly. It sounds hard and I like hard. Makes élias even more likeable.

"Dead by April, my girlfriend's favorite band."

"Excuse me?"

élias laughs at the look of disbelief on my face. "Don’t look so surprised – Nika loves their music."

"Sorry, I just don't know many girls who listen to that."

"Nika is special." There is so much love in his words as his eyes light up. There's no mistaking what she means to him. My heart stings a little. I thought I'd found that too... and now I'm here. Alone.

"Are you from Paris or did you just study there?"

"I grew up in Paris and I never really wanted to leave... until I had no other choice. By the time it was set that I... couldn’t stay, the deadline for transferring had already passed and I could only put myself on the list of applicants for some universities as a latecomer."

"Oh, that's crap! Where would you have preferred to end up?" élias's voice sounds genuinely interested and compassionate and it's good to talk to someone again after such a long time. It’s great not to have to deal with snide looks or people keeping a noticeable distance.

"I don't know, honestly... but maybe more in the south? But Strasbourg is totally fine." Definitely far enough from home as it’s a five-hour car ride. Okay, only two hours by TGV, but I try to ignore that fact.

élias nods in agreement. "I can understand that very well. Have you had a chance to settle in yet?"

I think about how I can answer this question honestly without looking like a loser, but I fail. I hang my head as I shake it. "Not really... and I've been here since mid-August. But it's so difficult to strike up a conversation with anyone here. I don't know, I never had that problem back home."

élias looks at me questioningly. "You're not seriously telling me that you haven’t struck up a conversation with anyone. Every girl on this campus is hot for you! If you ask me, they just don't dare approach you ."

I laugh really hard at that. "That's the best joke I've heard in a long time! I mean, aside from the fact that girls aren’t really my thing, why wouldn't they approach me?"

Shit... I can stop myself from covering my mouth out of reflex in the last possible second. Did élias understand what I meant by that? Did he understand what I let slip out? That I like boys? Fuck... I finally meet a nice person here who I get on well with and then I fuck it up. I look nervously at élias, but he just laughs.

"I don't know, honestly. But I spent my entire youth watching boys getting it on with girls and vice versa. Never me, of course, but whatever. The fact is you could have 90% of the girls here without trying.” He grins at me before continuing. “Shall we go for a drink later? Nika and I discovered a cool little bar. Relaxed people and good music, and delicious sandwiches!"

I've been spending every evening at home alone for four weeks now, I'd love to get out. But I don't feel like third-wheeling all night while he's snogging his girlfriend. "Will I get to meet your girlfriend then?"

"Sorry to disappoint you. Nika has practice, so you'll have to make do with me."

"I can manage that, barely, but yeah."