A/N: Just giving a warning right now that this story will contain mentions of self-harm, drug use, suicide, homophobia, and sex. Turn back now if any of those bother you. Thank you.

Sonny Moore wasn't your average sixteen year old. He was a quiet, shy boy while the other boys his age were loud and very outgoing. Sonny was made fun of a lot for this – something he couldn't help. Sonny was just quiet and shy by nature. He tried so many times in his life to be louder and more open, but he just couldn't do it. He was afraid to speak up – and for that, he was bullied a lot.

Little Sonny rushed through the halls in school, hoping not to run into his once childhood friend Joel Zimmerman. Joel and Sunny used to be great friends when they were little, but then something changed. In junior high school, Sonny noticed that Joel was talking to him less and less and eventually, he stopped talking to him until the eighth grade. One day in the eighth grade, Joel had slammed Sonny into the poor boy's locker and laughed at him when he cried.

"J…Joel! Let me out!" Sonny cried, banging on the locker door.

"Go fuck yourself, faggot," Joel laughed and walked away with his friends, leaving poor Sonny alone.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" The raven-haired preteen wailed loudly, "I thought we were friends!"

Sonny shivered at the horrible memory and entered his last class of the day – English. The teen found his seat in the back of the classroom and sat down, opening up his notebook. This was the only class he had Joel in and to be honest, he was scared to death to see his childhood friend. Usually after class, especially on Fridays since the teacher would leave early, Joel would keep Sonny back and punch him a few times.

Sonny looked up at where Joel usually sat, only to find the short-haired teen laughing with his "friends." Sonny frowned. He wanted the old Joel back – the Joel that never hit him, who never said nasty things to him, who actually still cared about him. That Joel was long gone and poor little Sonny almost started to cry at that thought, but the teacher snapped him back to reality.

"Okay, class. Today, we are going to work on a big project. This will be your final before winter break, so listen closely because if you fail this, you will basically fail this class," the old lady spoke at the front of the class, placing a piece of gray hair behind her ear.

"For this project, you will have partners –"

Before the teacher could continue, she was interrupted by the students chattering – excited that they could have partners for this project.

"–but I will be choosing who you will be partnered with," the teacher smirked as she watched the students groan in annoyance.

"But first, I will explain what the project is. For this project, you will have to read Julius Caesar and answer these worksheets," the teacher held up a big pack of worksheets. She sighed as more students groaned in annoyance.

"I know, I know. It's a lot of work," she said, putting the packet back on her desk, "that's why I'm partnering you all up. Now, I will tell you who your partners are."

Sonny listened carefully, hoping that he was paired with someone nice. He didn't know anyone else in the class besides Joel, despite being in the class for a whole semester. He was glad that he read Julius Caesar last year on his own. He understood most of the story, so he could easily answer the questions on his own if he needed to.

"– and Sonny More and Joel Zimmerman."

Sonny stared at the teacher in fear as she called his and Joel's names. He was partnered up with Joel? This wasn't going to be good.

The black-haired teen looked over to Joel, who was glaring at him. Joel's friends were also glaring at Sonny.

Yikes!

Sonny immediately looked back down at his notebook, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

"Now, I know how you all can't wait to get together with your partners, so you all will be spending the rest of the class working on the project," the teacher said, handing out the question packets.

"You may now pair up with your partner," the teacher walked over to her desk as she finished handing out the packets.

The room was filled with the sound of chairs scraping against the floor and chattering of classmates. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonny saw a desk being pulled next to his. He kept his gaze on his notebook as the person who moved their desk next to his sat down in it.

"Hey, faggot, look up."

Sonny winced at the harsh words and looked up at his partner sitting next to him.

"You better know a lot about Julius Caesar because I have better things to do than waste my life on some stupid project," Joel said, plopping his own question packet on Sonny's desk, right on his notebook.

"I'll… I'll take care of it," Sonny stuttered, not wanting to put up a fight with his partner.

"Good. You better get me a fucking one hundred on that project, too, or I'll pound your goddamn face in," Joel threatened.

Sonny held back a whimper and nodded, knowing that Joel would actually keep his word. The terrified teen opened up both question packets and began answering the questions. He could feel Joel's stare burning onto his face.

"Hey, we didn't even finish Julius Caesar yet. How do you know that?" Joel asked irritably.

Sonny looked at the question he was answering. It asked what Julius Caesar said as he was stabbed by his so called "friend" Brutus. The answer was obviously, "Et tu, Brute?" Sonny had thought almost everyone had known this, but apparently, Joel didn't.

"Yeah, I read Julius Caesar last year," Sonny muttered.

"Hey, speak up, faggot. I didn't fucking hear you," Joel said, smacking Sonny upside the head.

The black-haired teen winced and held back tears as his childhood friend hit him upside the head.

"I… I said I read Julius Caesar last year," Sonny said, speaking up a bit louder so Joel could hear him.

"Is that all you fucking do, you stupid faggot? Just read all day like you did when you were a kid? Pathetic," Joel scoffed.

Sonny couldn't help but let a few tears out and roll down his face at the harsh words. See, Sonny could handle the physical beatings, shoving into lockers, punches, even Joel spitting at him, but he could not handle all the emotional abuse.

Luckily, the bell rang and the students began to walk out of the classroom, happily talking to their friends.

Sonny picked up his things and tried to rush out of the classroom, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Did I say you could leave?" a harsh voice said. Sonny turned around to find no one other than Joel.

"You're crying? Fuck, you're still the same goddamn crybaby from ten years ago, aren't you?" Joel laughed. He slammed Sonny against the wall by his arm. He yelled out in pain.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you that weak?!" Joel exclaimed, "Anyways, you're coming to my house so I can make sure you're doing the project. I can't fucking fail – I have to make it to my senior year. Five pm. You know where my house is."

With that, Joel let go of Sonny and walked out of the classroom.

Sonny let out more tears as he carefully grabbed his arm that Joel gripped onto earlier. He pulled up his hoodie sleeve to find that the word "faggot" on his arm, which he carved into himself the night before, was now open again and bleeding through his hoodie.

"Dammit," Sonny muttered, pulling his sleeve down.

He walked out of the classroom with his things and immediately went into the one-stall men's bathroom down the hallway. He closed and locked the door behind him and pulled up his hoodie sleeve. The teen turned on the water and put his arm under the stream. He winced at the stinging sensation.

Once he thought his arm was cleaned off enough, Sonny immediately pulled out the bandages from his backpack and wrapped up his wound. He applied pressure it as hard as he could so it would stop bleeding. He couldn't believe that Joel had gripped his arm hard enough to make his cuts start bleeding again.

Sonny carved that nasty word into his arm last night during a panic attack. He had thought too much about the hurtful words Joel would say to him, especially the word "faggot." That word hurt Sonny the most and Joel knew that, which is why he would constantly call Sonny a faggot. It hurt Sonny so much because he was actually gay. Now, Joel didn't know he was gay, but if he did, may God have mercy on Sonny's soul.

The black-haired teen pulled his hoodie sleeve down and grabbed his backpack, walking out of the bathroom. He sighed of relief once he saw that the hallway was empty. It meant he didn't have to deal with Joel. Sonny made his way out of the school and began to walk home.

Sonny pulled open the door to the small apartment he shared with his mom and closed the door behind him.

"Mom, I'm home!" Sonny called, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey, honey," a woman looked at him and smiled. She was Sonny's mother – 32 years old and still looking as young and beautiful as ever. She had wavy, long black hair like her son, but her eyes were a piercing, icy blue color. She was a short five feet while Sonny was five feet and four inches. He was pretty self-conscious about his height, but being taller than his mom boosted up his confidence slightly.

"Hey, mom," Sonny smiled softly at his mother and gave her a hug. Sonny loved his mother so much – she was such a strong, caring person and she gave Sonny the strength he needed.

"How was your day at school?" Sonny's mom asked, hugging her son back and then turning her attention back to the dinner she was cooking.

"It was good," Sonny lied. He hated lying to his mother, but she already had so much stress – work, money, worrying about if Sonny ate or not. The last thing she needed to worry about were some petty bullies bullying her son.

"Hey, mom, do you remember Joel?"

"Yes, I do. You two were inseparable when you guys were small children," Sonny's mother smiled, looking up at her son.

"Well, I was paired up with him for a project in English class, so I was going to go over to his house at five if that would be okay," Sonny said, hoping that his mother would be okay with this.

"Oh, baby! This will be your first time going to a friend's house in years. Of course it's okay. I have to work tonight from ten to seven, so I might not be home when you get home," Sonny's mother stated.

"Thanks, mom," Sonny smiled, then looked at the clock, "it's four thirty already?!"

Sonny's mother looked at the clock as well. "Oh my, I guess it is! You should get going, hon."

"I will. Have a nice day at work," Sonny said, giving his mom another hug.

"Thank you, honey. Have fun at Joel's house," she replied, hugging her child back.

"I will, don't worry," Sonny smiled and gripped onto his backpack straps. He walked over to the front door.

I'll try…

"Do you have your cell phone with you?" Sonny lifted his head up to look at his mom.

"Yes, mom."

"Is it charged?"

"Yes, mom."

"Do you have your charger with you?"

"Yes, mom."

Sonny's mother walked up to him.

"Yes, mom! Yes, mom!" she mimicked, giving a small chuckle. Sonny chuckled as well.

"Have fun, baby," she said, holding the door open for her. Sonny thanked her and left the house.

I hope this goes well…