Again…I thought to myself miserably. This always happens. No matter how different I looked from my brother, Alfred, I was always confused with him, and getting in trouble for him. Sure our hair was the same color and our faces looked similar but we looked different in many ways as well.

My hair was shoulder length and curly while his was short. I had a curl sprouting from the top of my head when all he had was an annoying cowlick. He was tall and muscular, but I was short and lanky, but for some reason, no one seems to notice me. No matter where I go, it's always the same. I can't go on like this…a tear leaked down my paled cheek. Thoughts like this is what lead me to doing what I did. I looked down at my bleeding wrist; hands shaking so hard the blade fell onto the bathroom floor. I took a deep breathe through my mouth and flexed my arm, watching the blood flow freely.

I had never thought it would come to such drastic measures but…i-it felt...good. The pain made my mind feel clear, like the physical pain cancelled out the emotional. My brother rapped on the door several times, very angrily. He only seems to notice me when it benefits him.

"Matt! Get out of the bathroom! Hurry up!" he banged on the door again. I jerked and the blade bit into my wrist father. I bit back a cry of pain while grabbing a pile of tissues and blotting them against the cuts. I pulled my hockey jacket sleeve over my wrist and flushed to toilet.

"S-sure thing, Al" My voice trembled, with pain or emotion I didn't know. I rushed out before the blood could seep through the tissue and slammed the door to my room. It was Canadian themed because I found Canada was a better place to loose yourself in then…here. I glanced over to the calendar. It was only Tuesday. Not bothering to change from my school uniform, I fell onto my bed, cradling my arm while crying myself to sleep for the third time this week.

The Next Morning

I woke up, cloths stiff and wrist sore. The clock read 5:30 in blinking red lights. Al wouldn't be awake for another half hour so I decided to take my shower then. Thankfully I had a spare uniform which I hastily put on, carefully placing the sleeve of my shirt to cover my wrist. It was only the second week back of my sophomore year back from winter break, but I had received my permit a month earlier. Though AL and I were twins, our adoptive parents gave us different birthdates because we seemed too different. It was stupid if you asked me but….who does? Who would even notice if I just…disappeared? All at once, my mind raced to the only albino in our whole school, Gilbert. Lately I seem to catch him looking at me from the corner of his eye, but I dismissed it as my desperation for attention.

I arrived at school two hours before the homeroom bell, so I snuck up to the library. No one bothered me there, not like anyone would anywhere else though. I sat down in the farthest corner, away from the main desk, away from the computers, and started reading my favorite book, The Hobbit by Tolkein. The poor paperback has seen better days, but it has been my faithful companion for the past couple years. The bell for first period sounded and I hung head. US history honors was my destination, but I wish it wasn't. Keeping my head low, I slunk behind some slow students in the hall, waiting for them to move, but the yelling coming from in front of them told me there was a distraction much more exciting them class. There were three figures in the middle of the hallway, one on the ground and two more staring each other down. I ducked under a students arm to get a batter look and saw that it was Feliciano, the Italian student, which was sprawled on the floor, books scattered. If Feli is here that means… I looked up and wouldn't you know it, stood the tall, brooding German student, Ludwig. The idiot who didn't shy away from his glare was the piano geniuses himself, Fredrick.

"Don't you dare say that to Feli!" I hear Ludwig growl out. The smug Austrian refused to say anything, preferring to turn his nose up at the two. "He is not a queer!" Ludwig roared, lunging at the boy standing across from him. Without meaning to, I jumped in-between the fighting pair, causing both to fall away. They looked around in confusion, trying to see what had moved them. I sighed and started to pick up Feli's books but discarding the task when I saw it was hopeless.

I slumped down again and slunk away from the scene, heading towards the stairs when a small voice stopped me.

"M-matthew?" I kept walking, thinking it was my imagination, but a small hand grabbed my arm and I spun around in shock. Feliciano stood before me and, slight as he was, had to look down to met my eyes. "Thank you for protecting Ludwig." He started "I couldn't do anything and it makes me feel better when I know there's someone else in the school who would try and stop a fight." Tears glinted in his soft, caramel eyes, "H-he does so much for me but I can never pay him back." He choked a little but continued anyway "Roderick was right though" it was barley a whisper but being as my voice was soft as well, I could pick up on it with ease, "I am a- a queer. I can't help what I am, I can't help it if I like him, but I don't want Ludwig to keep picking up after me. Thank you." He finished quietly. I just looked up at him, not being able to say much.

"N-no problem." I assured, but he looked around as if trying to find the source of a noise. He wandered away, looking puzzled, leaving me at the foot of the steps. Tears gathered in my eyes but I quickly brushed them away. Feeling sorry for yourself won't change anything. Something whispered into my subconscious. I squared my shoulders. Though I may be invisible, I am Matthew Williams! I take pride in what I can do, not what I can't!

The wrongness of all that coursed through my veins and I trudged up the steps to another day in Hell. Sometimes I wondered if it would be better to be physically bullied, like in the movies, rather than emotionally by being completely and utterly ignored by everyone. Some one rammed into me, causing me to tip backwards down the steps. I tucked my head in and braced for impact, but it never came.

Trembling slightly, I looked up to see what had stopped my painful flight. Tearful bluepurple eyes latched onto wide, red ones. His face was so close to mine his white locks brushed my forehead like a gentle caress. Gilbert picked me up bridle style and carried me behind the steps. Placing my down gently against the wall, he brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face.

"Mein Gott," he murmured, as if entranced. He lifted his hand to brush back his hair, but I jerked my hands in front of my face, as if to protect myself. I didn't notice my sleeve had fallen back down my arm until a strong, yet soft, hand grabbed it. I fearfully glanced up into his face to see it twisted in anger. "Vhy, Birdie?" He asked lightly I snatched my wrist bad and struggled to my feet.

He grasped both my arms in an attempt to stop my escape. I struggled, tears pouring down my face. NONONONONONONONO! No one was supposed to know! I gave up, falling against his solid frame, sobbing. Gil released my wrists and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. The proximity of him was something new to me. I didn't want it to end, but I pulled away and ran straight out the door to my car.

No one would notice if I left, right?