Chapter 2
Maroon

Not a word was spoken all threw the halls of South Park High as each student took out their beeping phones simultaneously, eager to see the new story or hesitant about the fact that it might be about them. Silent gasps and shocked looks crossed the faces of the majority of the loitering teenagers. None so looked more shocked then Craig Tucker's close group of friends: Tweek Tweak, Clyde Donovan and Token Black. Craig Tucker himself had the blankest look on his face as he stared down at his phone, ignoring the looks of horror/sympathy/shock that were sent his way from every direction.

Craig Tucker
The unshakable boy
Or is he?

Craig drew in a sharp breathe.

A better name for him is the town
emo. Or would cutter suffice?

Craig started hyperventilating.

That's right.
Your emotionless bad boy is nothing more
than an emo freak. Craig Tucker does
anything he can to injure himself on the daily.

Craig ignored his friends as the tried to talk to him.

Why, I bet if you get him out of his shirt,
then you'll see all the RECENT injuries
our dear Craig has caused himself.

A picture appeared then and Craig's eyes widened. It was a picture of him in the boy's locker room changing from his long-sleeved gym shirt into his hoodie. Craig always waits till the locker room is empty before changing. That way no one has to see him. See what he does. The picture was obviously taken from inside a locker and showed everything above his belt line just about. You could see the cuts on his wrists and torso. The burn marks, the bruises, the scratches. You could see them all...The picture was dated for just two days ago and so many of those cuts looked brand new.

I wonder what causes him to feel the need to
hurt himself so. Don't you? Maybe it's
because he hates himself, maybe
because he feels empty, or maybe because
he's in love with someone who doesn't
love him back.
Looks like we'll never know.

A video was attached this time and Craig really wished that no one had clicked play. The video was filmed through his blinds, but you could see clear enough. It was him in his bedroom, facing the window and repeatedly hitting his bloody crimson wrist off of his nightstand. A bloody switchblade was seen just on the corner of the bed and if you looked close you could see the slits where the buckets of blood were coning from. You couldn't see Craig's face though as his bangs hid it when he bowed his head like that. Craig soon stopped abusing his shredded wrists and began hitting his own head, pulling at his hair as he tried to muffle his screams of frustration and anger. The video stopped when he finally fell to his bed, unconscious. The video was dated for yesterday.

Craig felt numb.

That doesn't seem very in control, as
normal for our little Craigy.
Now, does it?

Craig was gone. He began running and running past all the shocked and disturbed students and out the school gates. He didn't stop, he couldn't stop. He could hear his friends calling his name as he ran, but he didn't care. He ran until the stitch in his side became to much and he collapsed to the ground in clear exhaustion, gasping for breathe and finding it hard to feel his lungs. He was laying on his back in the cold snow, staring up at the sky as more of the frozen liquid kept falling. His wrists throbbed at the memory of yesterday. They had filmed him while he was in the safety and privacy of his own room. How..? How...? How...?!

He felt tears sting his eyes and cursed himself for seeming so weak. Now everyone knew how unstable he was. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! A sob escaped his lips and he covered his eyes, rubbing furiously at them as if that would stop the flood and seal the gates. He bit his lip to muffle his sobs till it started to bleed. How could the Revealer tell everyone something so...so PERSONAL! A video and picture is just icing on the cake. Craig bets Cartman and probably even Marsh are having a field day. He bets they can't wait till they see him and rub it in.

"Cra-ACK-Craig?" A timid voice appeared from no where. Craig swore and tried harder to stop the tears.

"Hey dude." Another voice, god damnit.

"You okay?" A third...Why did they have to follow him...?

"I-I'm*hic* f-fine..." His voice trembled and he slowly sat up, only now realizing how cold he was. His friends knelt next to him and he stared down at his lap. He couldn't face them like this, why couldn't they have left it be. He wanted to be alone to wallow in his own misery.

He didn't expect the three sets of arms wrapping around him. Clyde...Token...and Tweek. They were his best friends and Craig realized with a start that they weren't leaving him. They weren't disgusted or repulsed by what he does. They were letting him know in that one simple gesture that they would always stand by him and they would love him no matter what. Craig felt another sob wrench past his lips and he began full on sobbing with his head on Clyde's shoulder while Tweek ran his hand through his hair (he hadn't even realized he lost his hat) and Token whispered calming words into his ears. No, they weren't his best friends. They were his family.

Craig found that at that moment he didn't care about Revealer's post on his issues. He just hoped that they didn't go crazy on another person. Slowly he calmed down and Clyde helped him to his feet as the others stood.

"Let's get you home man."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The Revealer smirks from where they stand in the school halls, among shocked students watching as the usually stoic Craig Tucker began running out of the school.

Next victim: Trent Boyett.