Trigger Warning: Implications of self harm.
9th grade had been awful. He had nearly died trying to get out of gym class. He had lost some of his closest friends after turning them into monsters during a Monster Klub meeting. Worst of all he had nearly been lost forever after some evil form of himself switched places with him for a good long while.
That's when he gained his fear of reflective surfaces. And being alone.
It was the summer between 9th and 10th grade when things really got bad. He started breaking down as what had happened the previous year finally hit him. He would freak out being alone even though the prime reason for it was locking himself away in his room, which he did so that no one could see what a mess he was. It was a self-destructive cycle.
The only ones to ever visit him or invite him out to do things were Bucky and Randy. Though Randy was a rarer sight.
Bucky was the first to notice that he was wearing long sleeved shirts in summer.
Randy didn't notice until 10th grade started and Howard made a bad joke.
No one noticed that Julian avoided the school bathrooms.
At least, not until the middle of November.
After dealing with a particularly ferocious monster during fourth period, Randy had gone to the bathroom near where it had been to take care of his personal business in the hopes that it would be abandoned so he could pee in peace. Though as he was about to leave, he heard a hiccupping noise from the last stall down.
Randy debated whether or not he should actually investigate it or return to class before deciding class was boring anyways and leaving a student alone to get stanked probably wasn't the best of ideas. Peaking under the stall door, he saw Julian curled up in the corner crying with his signature hat on the floor in front of him. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not.
"Hey Julian? Are you okay in there?" he asked quietly, not wanting to scare the poor boy. Julian had gone through way to much the previous year due to his own stupidity and selfishness, and he wasn't about to make things worse if he could help it.
Julian's eyes snapped open and stared at him. He hadn't expected anyone to notice him back there, or bother to check on him if they did.
"Julian?" Randy asked again, trying to get a response out of him. From Julian's wet eyes and red cheeks he knew that he wasn't alright, but he still wanted Julian to say something to confirm it. If he wanted to lie so Randy would leave him alone, then Randy wanted to give him the chance.
"I…" he barely managed to mutter out. Realizing that words were failing him, he shook his head "no".
"Uh… okay then… do you want me to come in there with you?" the ninja asked awkwardly, not sure what else to say or do.
"Please…" Julian whispered, then curled up on himself again.
Randy looked up to make sure there really wasn't anyone else there before crawling under the door to sit next to Julian. When he wrapped and arm around Julian to comfort him, the other boy instantly twisted himself around to cry into Randy's chest. Randy froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around Julian and rubbing his back comfortingly like he had seen people do in movies and tv shows. "What happened? Do you… want to talk about it? I promise I'll listen this time."
Julian stayed quiet, and just when Randy thought he wasn't going to answer he finally whimpered out "…t-the m-m-monster… it chased me in here…"
"The monster's gone now, you're safe." Randy had the sneaking feeling that wasn't the only reason Julian was wetting his shirt right now. Even Julian didn't have this bad of a reaction just from being chased by a monster.
"And… th-there are mirrors… out there…"
"Mirrors…?" Randy thought it over for a moment, then he realized what Julian meant and his heart sank. He hugged Julian tighter, protectively. "Don't worry Julian, it's okay. You don't have to worry about going back there ever again. I won't let it happen again. You're safe."
The two sat there for the next hour, Randy making promises to Julian that he hoped to god he could keep so the poor guy wouldn't have to suffer any more than he already had. They even stayed there through the bell and rush of students that were getting in one last break before heading home.
It wasn't until he got an angry call from Howard that he realized Julian had fallen asleep.
