Chapter Text
There were two boys named Angus at Mossy High.
Everyone called one of them old Angus, the one who’d been at the school since Year 8, tall, laid-back, and a bit of a smart-ass. The other one, who had just transferred in during Term 3, was New Angus, though some of the boys behind his back called him Fat Angus. He didn’t seem to mind. New Angus had a thing for a girl named Nikki, the new girl who’d only been around for three weeks. She was quiet, reserved, and carried herself like she already knew people were looking. And he looked, a lot. In class, during lunch, on the bus. He wasn’t really subtle about it either. His bag somehow always ended up next to hers, sometimes even on top of hers, like he was marking territory. Whenever she got off the bus, he followed a few paces behind, eyes drifting in places where they shouldn’t.
Today in HPE, while the other kids were playing basketball or netball or just walking laps to kill time until the bell rung for home, new Angus sat with his mates against the gym wall, pretending to scroll through his phone but really watching Nikki stretch with her weird group. His face was a mix of nervous excitement and guilt, the kind of look that gave him away instantly.
Old Angus noticed. They already knew each other, not close friends, but close enough to talk in passing, laugh at the same jokes, share a few inside ones from class. From across the court, old Angus caught the look on his namesake’s face, the way his eyes lingered too long, and smirked. When new Angus finally got up and wandered over to join the group, brushing his hands on his shorts like he’d just made a big decision, old Angus turned towards him, that same smirk still playing on his lips.
“Enjoying the view?” he asked, voice low, teasing. New Angus froze for a second, then laughed awkwardly, cheeks pink. “Shut up, bruh.” Old Angus leaned back, still watching him. “Didn’t say who, dude.”
It wasn’t much, just a joke, just a glance but in that moment, something shifted between them. The air thickened. The game noise faded. And for the first time, New Angus stopped looking at Nikki.