THE SIDE YOU DON'T SEE
SUMMARY:
The Sanders High School is a very small school. It's situated in a tiny, friendly town where everybody knows everybody, so it's quite hard to fit in when you're the new kid.
STORY:
Virgil walked the empty halls of his new school trying to find anybody who could tell him where the princible's office is. After a few minutes of walking he began, as usual, to overthink things. He started worrying about being late and making a bad first impression. Maybe the princible will expel him before he even started school. If that happened he couldn't bare to think how his father would react.
As he was thinking he absent-mindendly scratched the scar on his forearm that was covered by a dark, oversized hoodie. When he still didn't see anyone he walked to the bathroom to calm his nerves before he gets a panic attack in the middle of the school. Talk about a first impression.
The bathroom was, like the rest of the school, covered with colours, drawings and all kinds of patterns that, surprisingly, calmed his fast-beating heart. Looking around, he noticed the walls had no signs of vandalism, only a small, poorly-drawn snake in the corner. The school was so different than his last and even better in many ways. He hoped his classmates are better here, too, even though he knew not to hope too much.
Noticing the warm feeling of blood inside his sleeve, he realized he was still scratching his old scar. Quickly taking off his hoodie he grabbed a couple of tissues and put them on the now bleeding wound. Soon, the cut stopped bleeding and Virgil was left realizing that he is now really late. He put his black hoodie back on and checked himself in the mirror. What he saw disgusted him.
A pale boy was looking back at him with dark bags under his eyes and messy hair that spiked up in every way. He had a few cuts on his face and neck which he clumsily tried to cover up with his hood. But the worst things were the eyes. The dead, bloodshed eyes that have seen too much darkness and not enough light. The ugly, muddy, brown eyes that were too big for his body.
He snapped out of it and ran to the nurse's office where he asked for the directions.
.
As soon as the bell rang, Roman and his buddies stood up and ran away from the torure that was Chemistry class. Arriving to his locker, he said goodbye to his friends and unlocked his blood-red locker.
Before he could take out his books he heard whispering coming from his peers. Looking up, he saw the most beautiful boy he has ever seen. Wait, why hasn't he seen him before? He knows everybody in this school and he wouldn't forget a face like that. Noticing the boy's uneasiness with all the stares and his hunched shoulders, he decided that talking to him now wasn't such a good idea.
Suddenly their eyes met and the boy quickly ducked his head and blushed slightly. How cute can he be? Only then did he notice his best friends', Logan and Patton's, knowing looks.
.
Virgil's day wasn't going too good. When he stepped out of the princible's office with his schedule, he walked to his locker feeling eyes on him. Sinking into himself he speed-walked to the assigned purple locker. Still feeling that everybodywas watching him, he looked up and saw a cute boy looking back at him. Embarrassed, he looked down, feeling the heat on his cheeks.
After putting some books in the locker, he closed it and walked to his class with his head down and his hands in his pockets. The classroom was half empty so he sat down in the back. Pulling out his books and waiting for the class to start, Virgil found himself dreading the rest of the day.
.
Patton loved school! He loved seeking knowledge and hanging out with his best friends, especially his crush Logan. But most of all he loved making new friends so when he heard there's a new kid, he instantly wanted to get to know them. The first time he saw him was in the hallway and he couldn't really talk with him as the mysterious boy escaped before he could get a chance. But there was something that intrigued him that moment. And that was Roman.
Even though Roman was the most romantic person Patton knew, he didn't fall in love easily, as he thinks love should be reserved for the right people. But the look he gave the boy made him think that the boy might be one of those people.
When the boy ran away, he and Logan approached Roman with big knowing smiles.
"You like him!" Patton yelled excitedly, as Roman covered his mouth in an attempt to shut him up, blushing furiously. Now Patton knew this is serious because Roman never blushes. He glanced at Logan who had a calculating face and he was sure Logan was thinking the exact same thing.
"Must you be so loud?" Roman whispered, while looking around to see if anyone heard.
"You like him!" Patton repeated, this time quieter, but still with an excited tone.
"What-...no...I-I don't even know him...how could-no..."Roman stuttered out, blushing even more
"Really? Well, that's not what your face is showing us,"Logan interjected with a sly grin," or maybe I'm wrong and you look at everyone with the same hearteyes." he added sarcastically.
"Seriously, Logan, you too?" Roman said giving up. "Uh, fine. I mean he's cute, but I haven't even talked to him yet. He could be arrogant, selfish, an asshole, or worst of all-" he took a dramatic pause "-he might not like Disney movies!"
Logan rolled his eyes at his best friend's dramatics and together they walked towards their next class.
.
Opening the rusty old door, Virgil walked into his small apartment checking if his dad's there. A couple years ago, he would have gone straight to his mother so his father doesn't notice him, but since the day his mother decided she couldn't take it anymore, it was just him and his father.
Feeling the smell of alchohol in the air, Virgil deduced that his father's home. Quietly, he walked to his room but before he could reach the door he heard his father's loud voice.
"Virgil, is that you, boy?"
Virgil stopped and walked back to the living room where he found his father with, what was probably, his fifth beer bottle that day.
"H-hi, dad" he said weakly.
"Oh, now you say hi! You couldn't come here right away, could you? No, no you're too important for me." Virgil quietly listened to his father's drunken rant,thinking if he could just somehow walk away now, he could go to his room and lock himself there. Unfortunately, his father had other plans.
"Are you even listening to me, you stupid boy? How self-centered can you be?" Virgil didn't even notice that his father got up until a strong punch directed to his stomach made him double over in pain. He knew it wasn't over. Sure enough, a punch followed, then another, and another.
There were black spots creating in the corners of his vision. He tried lasting a bit longer, but knew that his efforts were meaningless. Giving up, Virgil welcomed the already familiar darkness with a speck of relief.
.
Virgil woke up on the floor with dried blood around him. It took him a minute to realize what happened, but when he did, he slowly got up and limped to the medical cabinet that was always close on case he needed it. The cabinet wasn't full but it did have some useful stuff. He took the bandages and the dezinfection alchohol with his bloodied hands and closed it, purposely ignoring any mirrors.
He tapped some alchohol on his busted lip and the cut on his forehead. Knowing from past experiences that the area around his eye will bruise, he decided that he's going to put more black eyeshadow to hide it. After he was done inspecting his face, he walked, wincing with every step, to the bathroom where he took off his clothes.
Virgil walked into the tub and washed away the blood. By the pain he deduced he had at least one broken rib, a sprained ankle, a dislocated shoulder and some new cuts and bruises. Well, he had worse before.
.
Roman couldn't stop thinking about the new kid whose name he still didn't know. All his notebooks had at least two sketches of him or a poem about his eyes that were stuck in his mind since he saw him. What could he say. He was in love! Of course before he could make a move, they had to be at least friends. Noticing the time, he grabbed his books from the locker and rushed to his next class so he wasn't late.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice that the kid didn't come to school today, When Patton mentioned it he became worried, even though he doesn't know him well, so he asked around. Nobody knew where the new kid was.
.
After showering, Virgil put on his clothes and summoned the courage to look at himself in the filthy mirror. As soon as he did that he regreted it. There was a huge black bruise on his eye and some old cuts but other than that there were no visible clues of what happened last night.
Only then did he notice that he didn't go to school. He panicked knowing that if his father finds out he'll be pissed. After some time, Virgil stepped out of the bathroom tensing after he saw his father's lying figure. Fortunately, he was passed out so Virgil could do his homework without interruptions.
.
A boy with big, innocent eyes was sitting on the floor with his back against the door. There were loud noises outside that were terryfing the small boy. His eyes were shining with unshed tears and deep, unbearable pain. The noises were becoming louder and closer until the boy couldn't take it anymore. He took his Walkman and played the first song on the list. Soon enough, the lyrics started filling his brain and he let himself relax a bit. The calm lasted until there was a loud crash outside.
The boy jumped and rushed to the source ignoring the warnings his mother gave him earlier. Passing through the hallway he felt more scared than ever before. The fear only increased as he saw the broken plates and glasses on the floor. The boy kept walking until he found the source of the noise. And the scene he saw stopped him dead on his feet.
A man, with all his power and strength, was standing over an unconscious woman, radiating with rage. But the state of the woman was what scared the boy. At the man's feet, she was standing curled up, a bloodied mess, trying to make herself as small as possible.
The man's head snapped up when he felt another presence in the room and his rage-filled eyes focused on the boy, like a lion targeting his prey before striking. The pure fear and shock made the boy paralyzed so he just stood there and waited until the inevitable happened.
Until the lion attacks.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The man's voice startled him enough to talk.
"It was - I just heard a loud noise..." His gaze wandered to the woman's lying figure and the man's quickly followed.
"What did you do to her?" The boy's voice surprised even him. It was firm and commanding. The man didn't like that.
"That is none of your business, boy! Now go back to your room or there will be concequences..." His voice trailed of as he got closer to the shaking boy.
"N-no" The boy stuttered out. But, as it turned out, it was the wrong thing to say. The man slammed him to the wall, letting the pictures and the shelves fall on top of the boy. His hands pinned the scared kid to the wall making him unable to run.
"You think this will change anything? You think you can help her?"
The man's fist collided with the boy's face and tears began to shine in his big, brown eyes. As the next punch came, the tears were already falling against the efforts to stop them.
"Are you crying, you little pussy? You're not two years old anymore, boy!" With that came another punch. This time to his stomach. Then again. And again. The tears were streaming down as the boy screamed his lungs out. Finally, after a blow to the head, the boy fell into the darkness.
When he woke up, the boy noticed two things. First, he was on the kitchen floor and second, he was in pain. Then he remembered what happened. He lied on the floor a bit more, his sobs filling the empty room. Empty?
The boy got up, in spite of the pain, and limped out of the kitchen. With a lot of effort, he walked to a room but when he tried to open the door it wouldn't budge. It was locked. The boy had a terrible feeling as he tried to open it up with force in spite of the pain. Thankfully, the door was old and it opened after some pushes. He walked in but stopped when he saw a human silhouette inside. The boy hid behind a closet, afraid of the silhouette, but soon he noticed that whoever it was, wasn't moving just... spining? And why weren't their feet touching the ground? Is the rope around their neck stopping them? Then he realized who it was.
"MUM!"
.
Virgil woke up with a terrified scream, tangled in blankets which were soaking in his sweat. He breathed heavily as his mind started clouding.
"Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream,..." he tried to calm himself back to sleep but it wasn't working. Knowing he wouldn't get more rest, Virgil shakily stood up to get a cup of coffee. He tiptoed to the kitchen. Then he remembered the nightmare. Slowly backing up, Virgil tried to fight the panic attack rising up but failed miserably.
He ran to his room and slid down the closed door as his mind darkened and the voices screamed at him because it was his fault, his fault, his fault,...
.
Logan was woken up by his mom's loud cooking. With a groan, he got up, still half-asleep, and walked to the kitchen. First thing he heard, other than the banging of pots and plates, was his mom's humming. He felt himself relax in the familiar tune as he sat down and waited for his younger brother to wake up.
When the little monster sat down, they all ate their breakfast in silence. Then, one by one, they packed their things and, with a hug, left for school. Or in his mom's case, for work. Logan was the last to go so he locked the door and hid the key under a plastic leaf. Knowing Rooman would be late, Logan first went to pick up Patton so they could wait for Roman together. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to spend more time alone with Patton. Nope, just thinking logically.
He walked to a big house and rang the doorbell. Soon, running footsteps could be heard before the door was opened by an adorable little girl with two pigtails who Logan recognized as Maria, Patton's younger sister.
"Logan! Mom, Patton's boyfriend's here!" Her face lit up when she saw the blushing mess Logan became after her statement.
"Maria, stop making Logan uncomfortable for your own amusement."
A woman gently pushed Maria out of the way, trying, and failing, to hide her smirk.
"H-hello, Mrs Katy, is Patton ready?" Logan managed to say after a bit of gaping and stuttering.
"I told you, forget the Mrs, just call me Katy," she pulled Logan in and closed the door,"Patton is getting ready, he'll be down here any second. You just make yourself at home."
Listening to Katy, he sat on the edge of a couch feeling quite uncomfortable with the whole is, he felt uncomfortable until he saw Patton coming down the stairs. He was wearing trousers and a light blue shirt with a cardigan tied around his shoulders. Logan also noticed how the glasses bring out his blue eyes. Those blue eyes he often dreamt about. Those blue eyes that he found himself thinking about so many times. Those blue eyes which were currently looking at him with worry. Wait...
"-gan, you okay?" Patton's voice brought him to reality and Logan noticed that he's been calling him for a while now.
"Yes, I'm good, just got a little lost in my thoughts." He felt his face heating up as he coughed awkwardly "Shall we?"
Patton's eyes were still full with worry but, knowing Logan wouldn't talk about it, he dropped the subject. M-Katy and her wife, Sarah, both hugged Patton and exchanged their goodbyes. While the heartwarming scene was folding out, Logan was adoringly gazing at his best friend. His gazing was interrupted by a knowing smile and a "go get him, tiger" from Maria
.
Where the freak are they?
Roman usually went to school with his two best friends Patton and Logan, but right now those two lovebirds were late! And, for the first time, Roman was not.
"Roman!"
Speak of the devil.
Roman turned to see Logan and Patton running towards him with shocked faces.
"Since when do you come on time?" The nerd of the herd, as Roman liked to call him, was quite alarmed to know that, for once, he was late. And he is never late!
"Since when do you come late?" Roman deadpanned.
"Okay, yeah, we had that coming!" Patton interjected before a fight started and the one last week was quite enough, thank you very much. He decided to change the topic, "Say, kiddos, have you heard anything about the new kid?"