You were a steampunk and you were proud of it. You had the ability to make the most beautiful and intricate things out of copper, bronze, silver, and gold wire such as rings, ear cuffs, necklaces, and almost every accessory you could imagine. Then, when you added cogs and gears, you could make moveable things like animals and bugs, some of which could even fly! You had a made a dragon that followed you around everywhere you went; you named him Lukas.
Your mother and close friends appreciated your work, positive attitude, and passion, but when it came to school, you were alone. You were a steampunk and you dressed the part. Your school didn't have a uniform so you could dress how you wanted. You had pair upon pair of black, pinstripe pants that you tucked into and puffed out of tall, black, buckled boots. On top, you wore a white, long-sleeve dress shirt that you rolled up the sleeves and buttoned to the top button and tied a tie around your neck. You wore black suspenders to keep your pants up and a pair of goggles on your head. You loved the way you dressed, but to others who didn't know you, you were just a fool lost in your own fantasy. The most important part of your attire was your necklace. It was a choker with a circle pendant that was white with a black raven perching on a branch.
It was an old steampunk tale that people with this gift would make a pendant and someone else with this gift would make the exact same one and when those two people met, they would fall in love and be together for life. You believed in that story with all of your heart and you were constantly on the lookout for that person. It was hard to find that person, because not a lot of people were steampunk like you. To a lot of people you were a weirdo and you got picked on a lot.
You were shoved into lockers, your stuff was shoved out of your hands, you had even been locked in the men's bathroom once, but you managed to pick the lock with your lock picking tool. Despite your tries to stay positive and move on, you were starting to lose faith. The bullying was becoming more frequent and it continued to get worse and worse and you were about to break, then you was him.
He was tall, masculine, he had blonde hair that was perfectly slicked back, his crystal blue eyes were hard and concentrated, yet soft and caring. He was beautiful. His clothes caught you eye though. He was...he was a steampunk! His shirt was a bronze, tank top, straps covered his chest, his pants were baggy and brown, tucked into tall brown boots. He wore a dragon's eye ring on his left middle finger.  You wore one too; yours was red and his was green. He also had goggles perched on his head. He turned in your direction and his eyes widened as they laid on you. He began to walk towards you when he was approached by one of your tormenters.
“Hey there big man, how are ya?” one of them said, cuddling up to him.
He looked at her with a strange expression.
“I-I'm fine, can I please get zrough?” he asked politely.
He had a German accent that made you swoon. She held him back and stepped in front of him again.
“Hows about you and I skip class and go have some fun together, hmm?” she asked and walked her fingers up his chest and to his lips.
“Uh...um...hold on, I-” he cast a glance at you, but she turned him around and began to lead him away from you.
As he was being led away from you, he kept glancing back at you. You felt your cheeks heat up and you held his gaze until he disappeared around the corner. While you weren't paying attention, one of your other tormenters plucked Lukas out of the air behind you and threw him at the wall. You screeched in horror as his right wing shattered at the impact and he fell to the floor. You ran to him and  picked up his body and the scattered pieces on the ground. Once you got as many pieces as you could find, you ran out of the school and drove home in your (favorite car).
Once you got home, you ran to your room downstairs and locked the door. Your room was your workshop. This was where the magic happened. You set poor Lukas on your workbench, lowered your goggles over your eyes, and began delicately piecing his wing back together, replacing the parts you couldn't find. After a while your mother knocked on your door.
“______, are you alright? You're home very early. Did something happen?” she asked.
“Someone threw Lukas at the wall and his wing shattered,” you told her.
“Oh...anything else?”
You stood up and and opened the door, inviting your mother to converse with you.
“Mom, I saw another steampunk today,” you said and turned back to Lukas.
Her eyes widened.
“Really!? What was he like?!” she asked you excitedly.
You spun around in your chair, straddling the back.
“He was beautiful mom, but that girl that always picks on me got to him first so I didn't get a chance to talk to him. He seemed interested to talk to me though but she pulled him away from me,” you told her.
“D-do you think he's the one?”
You shrugged. “He did have something around his neck, but I don't know if it was even a pendant,” you told her.
“Well, I hope you get a chance to talk to him soon,” your mother said and kissed your forehead and walked out, closing the door behind her.
~Ludwig POV~
You were sitting at a restaurant with the girl who approached you. You didn't want to go with her, but she dragged you here anyways. Her name was (girl name you hate) and she was sitting in front of you, stuffing her face with fries and a burger, washing all that down with a shake. She offered to buy you something, but you just ordered a water, which was free. You didn't really like her, but she was crazy about you, and that was a problem.
You were interested in that other steampunk girl though. She was really pretty. Her (e/c) eyes sparkled, her clothes were so simple, yet spellbinding at the same time. Her (h/c) hair was cut short; probably to keep it out of her face while she was working. Smart girl. And speaking of working, her dragon was amazing! It actually flew around! You had tried to do that, but failed every time. You saw that other girl throw it at the wall and its wing shatter before you turned the corner. You felt bad for her. You noticed she was wearing a red dragon's eye ring on her left middle finger. And she had a pendant. Maybe she was the one? (Gnyh)'s voice snapped you back to reality.
“So, how are you enjoying your water?” she asked.
“It is refreshing,” you answered.
“You know, I think you and I were meant for each other. You being so big and handsome, and me being so fragile and beautiful...” she trailed off, gazing into your eyes.
You stayed silent. This girl was weird. You decided to change the subject.
“So, can you tell me about zat steampunk girl?” you asked.
She looked stunned for a second, then quickly regained herself.
“Oh, _______? I don't like her. I don't think you would either. She's kind of slow and really into herself. Also, I think she's a lesbian. She's always hanging out with girls and never talks to boys, she told you and took a loud sip of her shake.
“Maybe she's just looking for ze right one,” you said. “Do you have her number? On know anyone who does?”
“No,” she said plainly.
“Oh, ok. Vell, danke for taking me here but I really need to get going,” you said and stood up.
“But you didn't eat anything,” she whined as you pushed in your chair.
“I'm fine. I have food at home. Speaking of home, I should get zere before mein bruder starts to vorry,” you said and walked out of the restaurant.
You couldn't stop thinking about _______.
~Your POV~
You  were asleep when you heard your phone go off. You opened your eyes and glanced at your alarm clock; it was 2:52am. You didn't recognize the number calling you. You picked it up and answered.
“Hello?” you said through the mouthpiece.
“Hello, may I speak with _______?” the voice that answered was strangely familiar.
You narrowed your eyes. Who would be calling this early on a school morning?
“Speaking,” you said.
“Listen, you stay away form Ludwig. If I see you around him at all, I will make sure you never see your little sidekick bug thing again. He's not interested in you so don't try,” the voice snapped at you.
“(gnyh). How did you get my number?” you demanded.
“That's no concern of yours. You just stay away from him,” she answered and hung up.
“DID YOU HURT SOMEONE!? TELL ME!” you screamed into the receiver.
You noticed that she hung up and slowly closed your phone. Your mother came in to see what you were yelling about.
“_______! What happened? Why did you scream?” she asked as she rushed to your bed and took you hands.
“I got a call from (gnyh) saying that the guy, I think his name is Ludwig, wasn't interested in me and that I needed to stay away from him. But I never gave her my number. That worries me mom,” you said and accepted her arms around you.
“But isn't that the girl that always picks on you? She could just be lying,” she said as she stroked your hair.
“Yes, but she said that she was going to hurt Lukas again,” you said and Lukas gave a little squeak and flew to you. “And where would she have gotten my number? What if she hurt one of my friends?”
“I don't know honey. I'm sure she just knows someone who has your number,” she comforted.
“I hope you're right,” you said and kissed Lukas' tiny metallic head.
Your mother stood up from the bed, kissed your cheek, and walked out, closing the door behind her.
~time skip to morning~
You couldn't sleep. You were so worried that one of your friends was rotting away in an alley dumpster or something. You sat up and looked into the mirror. You had noticeable bags under your eyes. You sighed and got ready for school. After getting your usual on, you walked upstairs to have breakfast. You mother noticed your eyes.
“Did you not sleep well?” she asked.
You plopped down in a chair, rested your head on the table, and let your arms flop down at your sides.
“I didn't sleep at all after the call. I'm so scared that one of my friends is chopped up in a body bag or something worse. I almost don't want to go to school,” you said and Lukas came flying through the kitchen and perched on your shoulder.
“I think you should talk to Ludwig today,” your mother said.
“But he's not interested in me and if (gnyh) sees me around him, she'll take away Lukas!” you grabbed Lukas from your shoulder and stroked his back.
“(gnyh) can't tell you anything. He's probably interested in at least talking to you. If you're so worried about Lukas, hide him. Sometimes, you can be so much like your father,” you mother said.
You smiled at the mention of your father. He was the one who taught you everything you know about steampunk. The goggles you wear were  once his, all of your tools belonged to him, he even helped you draw up the blueprints for Lukas. He was the last thing you made together. You have very fond memories of your father. He found out how to get mechanical things to fly. He discovered it by inventing automatic flapping wings that harnessed to your body and they would work according to your body movements. He had tested them so he knew they worked. One day, he was going sky diving with them. He often did this with the wings and they always worked  perfectly. All the parts were put together very securely and were hard to accidentally jostle loose and they were extremely durable, so someone would have had to be messing with them before your father jumped. You father jumped, but the wings didn't move. Watching from the ground, you thought he was just joking, but as he got dangerously close to the ground, you could hear his screams. You and your mother ran towards him, calling his name, but neither of your were fast enough to help him. He crashed into the ground and you and your mother stopped, not believing what you had just saw. That was 5 years ago and it still brings tears to your eyes. You still miss your father as much now as your did then.
You drove yourself to school and made your way to world history, your first class of the day. You were usually the first person in the room because you liked the peace and quiet, but today, someone beat you there. There, sitting in the desk in front of yours, was Ludwig, except today he was wearing a nice brown scarf. You gasped and he turned to look at you. He stood up and began to walk towards you. Your brain freaked out and you bolted for the nearest bathroom. He tried to grab for you, but he missed and he watched as you ran down the hallway. You hid in the bathroom until the bell rang to go to your next class, welding. You walked in and sat in you seat. A few minutes later, guess who walked in the door and took the empty seat next to you.
“Hey, are you alright? Vy did you run avay from me?” he asked.
You broke a sweat and you glanced at the door to see if (gnyh) was standing there watching you. She wasn't but you weren't taking any chances. You took Lukas and hid him in your pocket.
“Hallo? Are you ok?” Ludwig asked again, waving his hand in front of your face.
You ducked your head to avoid eye contact with him.
“Yes I'm fine,” you said quickly.
He was about to say something but the ball rang and your teacher walked in and began explaining your   assignment. As soon as he was done, you zoomed to you station and began working. Your project was to make an animal out of iron bars. Ludwig shared the station with you, so you tried your best to ignore him and began working. The whole class, he watched your swift hands as they bended and melded bars together and by the end of the hour, you had the foundation for a medium sized Lukas.
“Vow, zat...zat looks amazing!” Ludwig complimented.
You nodded and cleaned up your station and Lukas flew out of your pocket and between the two of you, glaring at him.
“Und zis! Your little dragon can actually fly! _______, how do you do zese zings?!” he asked and was about to put a hand on your shoulder, but Lukas hissed at him.
The bell rang and you dashed out to get to your next class, but Ludwig was in that class, as well as all of your other classes! I was like the administrators were trying to force you together. It was torture, knowing that his beautiful face was right there, yet you couldn't have it. The last bell rang and you ran through the halls and parking lot to get to your car. You were about to unlock it, but you heard Ludwig behind you.
“_______, vy von't you talk to me? Are you scared of me or somezing? I von't hurt you, I svear!” he promised.
You sighed and turned to face him.
“I'm not scared of you, I'm scared of your girlfriend. She said that if she saw me talking to you, she would steal Lukas and I would never see him again,” you told him.
And speak of the devil, you glanced past him and there was (gnyh), glaring daggers at you. You gasped as she began running towards you, but luckily Ludwig turned around and her angry look dissolved and she bounded the rest of the way to you two, wrapping her arms around Ludwig's torso. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened. He looked into your eyes and saw that they were watering. He opened his mouth to say something when you heard your name being called by a familiar voice from across the parking lot. You turned to see your friend Lorenzo running to your car, panting for breath.
“Hey, _______, can I come over to your place?” he asked , then he saw your eyes.
“_______, what-”
“Get in,” you cut him off and got into your car, slamming the door angrily.
You backed out of your parking spot and sped out onto the street. Glancing in your mirror, you saw (gnyh)'s connect with Ludwig's. You looked away and drove home in complete silence.

TO BE CONTINUED......