He had just seen her scars.

Her physics teacher had just seen her self harm scars. Gods. It was just a matter of time before people would look at her as she walked down the halls and say, "Look, there's that freak," or, "Look at that depressed bitch. She's so weak." Why did she have to bump into Henry? Why?!

However, days passed and she hadn't heard anything other than, "Good morning," greetings. No one looked at her and said mean stuff. No one. Huh, that's weird, Astrid thought.

"Hey, Astrid!" A brunette girl called out. Astrid turned around and noticed her cheerleading friend. "Hey, Jess..." She said and sat down at the usual table in the cafeteria. "So, did something happen between you two?" Jessica asked and wiggled on her brows.

Astrid looked at her, wide eyed. "Who?" She asked, confused as to what she was talking about. Jessica just laughed and bumped her shoulder against Astrid's. "Our physics teacher, silly. Did you two hook up or something?" She joked.

"What?! Where did you get that from?!" She exclaimed. "I was out jogging a day or so ago and I wanted to stop by at your place but I saw Henry knocking on your door...what happened?" Jessica asked.

Astrid furrowed her brows. I must've been showering, she thought. "Nothing happened. I guess I was showering and I didn't hear him." Astrid said and shrugged. "What class do we have?" She asked.

Jessica smirked and looked towards Henry sitting a few tables away, talking with his colleagues before saying, "Physics."

Astrid's eyes widened and she groaned loudly before dropping her head on the table. "Woah, calm down before you give yourself a concussion."

"Whatever."

•••

"Good morning, class..." Henry said and placed down his maps and his laptop onto the desk. He connected the laptop to the projector with a cable and turned on both before turning towards the class.

"So, today, we're going to go though the PowerPoint and then a few videos."

Everyone in the class groaned. "Aw, come on! It'll be fun," He joked before pulling down the white fabric for the PowerPoint.

Henry went into settings on his laptop and changed the screen from laptop to projector.

"So, today, we're going to talk about wind. Because wind is something that has always existed. What types of wind is there?" He asked the class.

No one answered. As usual.

"So, the wind is caused by differences in the atmospheric pressure. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds. On a rotating planet, air will also be deflected by the Coriolis effect, except exactly on the equator," Henry said and showed the text on the PowerPoint.

"Write that down..." He said before sitting down in the computer chair at the desk.

He heard his students groan again. They took out their books and notes, picking up the pencil and starting to write that down.

Meanwhile, Henry looked at his best student who was in the back of the classroom, - like usual. Blonde hair, blue eyes, thin frame...he only knew one blonde, blue-eyed girl that looked that good and it was Astrid.

He didn't want to sound disgusting or like a pedophile but he had taken a liking on her. And it was killing him, mentally.

Because he knew something he was sure no one else knew.

Astrid was suicidal. And he hated that. Such a beautiful and kind person with such a big problem. He wanted to do something so bad. He wanted to talk to her and try to make her feel better.

He had to talk to her. He needed to. If he wouldn't, he'd go crazy.

Henry snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his student, Andrew, talk to the person sitting beside him. "Alright, knock it off you two. Did everyone write that down?" He asked.

Everyone either nodded or said a quiet "Yes." He smiled. "Can someone tell me the difference about high and low-pressure wind?"

Hah, just as he though. No one would answer. Typical stupid bastards.

"Ms. Hofferson? Can you explain the differences between high and low-pressure wind?" Henry asked and walked up to her desk slowly.

The blonde looked up from her notes and stared directly into his eyes. She took a second or two to come back to her senses, - his eyes were so green. She'd never noticed that before.

She gulped and inhaled. "Because of Earth's spin and the Coriolis Effect, winds of a low-pressure system swirl counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise south of the equator. It's called cyclonic flow. While winds of a high-pressure system swirl in the opposite direction as a low-pressure system - clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of the equator. This is called anticyclonic flow. Air from higher in the atmosphere sinks down to fill the space left as the air blew outward," Astrid said.

Everyone in class stared at her, awed and gaping. She snapped her head down and wrote down what she just had said.

"That's...that's correct, Ms. Hofferson!" Henry said and walked up to the PowerPoint. "This is now totally useless..." He muttered under his breath, turning off the laptop and pulling out all the cables.

"Eh...it's ten minutes left of the class...can you guys promise me to sneak through the corridors?" Henry asked.

Everyone said, "Yes," cheerfully and stood up, hanging up the chairs onto the edge of the table before grabbing their things and slowly disappearing out of class.

"Astrid...can I...talk to you?" Henry asked and pulled down the white fabric before letting it go, making it roll back into place.

The blonde stopped at the door, almost the last one out. She turned towards her teacher and moved, letting the few others go past her and to their next classes. Hugging her map closer to her chest, she sighed deeply.

Henry looked at her closely. All he wanted was to hug her and protect her from all evil. He walked up to her, standing in front of her. "I know you're going through some stuff right now but, please, don't forget that you're not alone. There are people around you who can help you. I can help you. I know what you're going through-"

"You don't!" She burst out. "You don't know what I'm going through at all. You don't know how it feels to lose both parents at the age of ten! You don't know how it is! You don't know..." She argued, tears flowing down her cheeks when she had trailed off.

"Astrid..." Henry began, grabbing her arms. "Please, I...I want to help you. I might not know how your life is but we have more in common than you think. I don't have a mother. I've never known her and my father wasn't the most supportive person in my life when I was younger, believe me. Please, let me help you."

"Why...why are y-you telling me t-this?" Astrid sobbed out.

"Because I trust you. And I want to help you..." Henry said with a small smile and placed his hand on her chin, lifting up her head softly. "Will you let me help you?" He asked.

Astrid looked up from the ground and into those emerald green eyes that reminded her of a warm summer day in the forest.

She nodded slowly. Henry breathed out, relieved that she accepted his help. It's a good start. "I'll help you, Astrid. Trust me," He said softly and carefully hugged her. Astrid smiled with contentment, feeling safe and secure for once in a very long time. "Here, let me take you over to my place," Henry said.

Astrid stiffened and pulled back. "Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. I live alone and I have a lot of food that's never gonna get eaten. Mind letting me invite you to dinner? I know the food here sucks," Henry confessed with a small chuckle. "I-I guess you could?" Astrid asked.

Henry smiled at her. "Great. Meet me at the entrance at 3:45 PM. Now, go before you get late to class," He said and let her go. Astrid nodded and turned towards the door, about to walk out. He stopped her. "Astrid?"

"Yeah?" She asked, inhaling deeply.

"Everything will be fine, I promise."

She gave him a small smile before disappearing out the door.