Hello. Your name is DAVE STRIDER. You are stuck in this INSANELY STUPID place, called ALICE SPRINGS. Sure, it sounds a bit nice, but then again so did that STUPID CHALLENGE. You are nearing your SIXTEENTH birthday. You were sent here after your BROTHER found you on the GROUND of your BATHROOM. You were BLEEDING pretty badly and now you're LUCKY to be ALIVE. Thinking back on it, maybe you DON'T WANT TO BE. After all, you can BARELY TALK now and it HURTS to do it. So you just carry around your trusty WHITE BOARD. You wear your turtle neck sweaters ALL THE TIME, despite them being so STUPID and UNCOOL. You just don't want people to see the UGLY SCAR on your NECK.

Your name is DAVE STRIDER, and you HATE your BROTHER.

The day had already started off bad. You had woken up to Kanaya, the cheery assistant to Doctor Lalonde, waiting for you. You then had a very deep conversation, mostly on Lalonde's behalf, about your feelings toward your brother. It wasn't that hard to keep in conversation. You had just written 'I HATE HIM' on your board and showed it to her numerous times. It didn't seem like she had gotten the message, so you had just stood up and walked angrily out of the room. And she had let you.

So now you were walking around the hallways, waiting for one of the doctors to open up the music room so you could start working on your sick beats again. At least that was something you could keep doing, no matter how fucked up your voice was.

In fact, you were about to head down there to see if the room had been opened yet when you caught sight of your derpy roommate, John Egbert. You gave him a slight nod, continuing on your way and only sparing a glance at the others.

"Hey motherfucker." You turn at that raspy, soft whisper to find none other than Gamzee Makara next to you. The one person who probably hated you more than Karkat did. And Karkat hated the world. You simply nod to him, deciding not to use your board yet, since it might take him a bit to read the writing. Not that he was stupid, far from that, but all those years of pot had done some damage.

"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" No one in the hall flinches as Gamzee yells. You're all very used to it by now. You glance over to him, raising an eyebrow and motioning with your hands. He nods, his weird clown makeup quirking into a grin. "Oh really bro? YOU THINK I CAN TAG ALONG?" You shrug, kind of hoping that he chooses not to. Then again, you can't exactly force him to stay.

"Uh, h-hey Gamzee, Dave." You glance over and down to see Tavros had rolled up next to you two. You nod to him, mouth quirking into a slight smile.

"Hey motherfucking Tavbro." You know immediately that Gamzee won't start yelling words again. He almost never did around Tavros. You decide to leave the two lovebirds alone and quicken your pace. You glance back as you turn the hallway and they don't seem to notice you're gone. In fact, Tavros is even letting Gamzee start to guide his chair, something he barely let anyone do. How adorable.

You're relieved to see the music room's door wide open, and when you enter you're not surprised to see your friend Jade Harley already in there, the guitar she always used in her grip. You wave a hello to her and she waves eagerly back, taking a glance at your board and frowning a bit, green eyes softening.

"Hard day so far?" She asked and you find yourself nodding, erasing the board and very much hoping that Gamzee or Tavros hadn't seen that.

'Yeah. Rose decided to talk 'bout the big brother again.' You write carefully, showing it to Jade and having her nod a bit once she finished reading it.

"Oh. That sucks. I hope you know that you won't have to worry about him much longer." She smiles a bit, looking at something distantly and you find yourself reminded of why she's here.

Jade claimed she could see the future. She said that it happened while she was asleep, where she was on this amazing planet and could see what was going to happen in the clouds. It was okay most of the time, but on some days she wouldn't show up anywhere, and you'd find out that she had a breakdown because of something she saw. At least today wasn't one of those days.

Jade's still staring off about five minutes later and you move over to your small area, one practically no one touched. Everyone except for that douchebag clown-freak of course. Who else would have done their best to fuck up your one place you can easily relax? Because, you were pretty sure the whole place wasn't covered in purple paint last time you were there. You narrow your eyes and turn just in time to see the smug face of Gamzee Makara casually making his way past the door to the art room.

Your grip on the whiteboard tightens until you see the panicked face of Feferi Peixes, a mutual friend with Jade, looking at you from the door to the room.

"Dave! Doctor Lalonde and Miss Maryam are looking for you. John fainted!" She looks like she may cry, but you don't really care. You're already halfway out the door before she can say anything else. If it had been anyone else, you would not have cared this much.

But then again, John was your dirty little secret.

A/N:: Thanks to fujikawaii10346 for the review! :3 Don't forget to read and review, please! :3 Flames are welcomed! :D