Jamie stopped picking at his thumb for a moment, fighting the way in which his lips wanted to twitch upwards in something approaching a smile at the knowledge that the faculty found school difficult once too. A couple of seconds later, though, he went back to picking at his nails. “The teachers don’t think I’m trying.”
It was said easily enough. He didn’t look up as he continued, shoulders hunched protectively. His posture spoke of defeat. “It’s more that I’m just kinda stupid.” The worst thing was, Jamie actually believed it. It wasn’t that he didn’t try, it was that no matter how hard he tried he still couldn’t do it and he couldn’t make it work. And more than that, whatever it was that he could do made him so uncomfortable in his own skin - with the exception of when he was around Sam.
He slumped lower in his chair, stoically not looking directly at Chris, but he was watching him out of the corner of his eye. He went from fiddling with his hands to plucking at his jeans.