Here's chapter 2!

There's not much to say except sorry for the late update D:

I'm working on the next chapter right now to compensate!

Enjoy :3

"Hello again," the doctor said as he walked into Matt's room. Following him were Matt's mother and father.

"Matty!" his mother screamed. She wrapped her arms all around Matt and started to wail. "I thought you would NEVER wake up, sweetie…" she pulled away to look into her son's eyes and as Matt stared back, he noticed she had noticeable wrinkles, bags, and crow's feet.

"Mom," Matt murmured, "your face…"

His mother widened her eyes, and then laughed bitterly. "Oh sweetie," she cooed, "how can Mommy worry about her appearance and her little baby at the same time?" She ran her fingers through his hair, but Matt spoke up again.

"Did you really break down?" he asked, worry clear in his eyes.

His mom didn't say anything. Since she was a model, she was supposed to look nice everywhere and anywhere, according to her manager. With her appearance looking like this, he assumed she wasn't working.

"Mom, have you… you haven't been working, huh?" Matt said monotonously.

Before Matt's mother could say anything, his dad intervened. "Now, Matthew," he said, "it's not like all of our income comes from your mother. You don't have to worry about anything." He ruffled Matt's hair and started to walk out the door. "You mother and I will go get you discharged from the hospital so you can go home today, alright?" They walked out the door with the doctor, and Matt was alone again.

Matt sighed, and laid back. He turned his back against the door and started to mutter. "I don't feel like doing anything. I just want to sleep." He buried his face in his pillows and he heard someone calling for him.

"Matty, sweetie!" It was his mom. "Hun, go get your stuff ready; we're taking you home!"

Matt did not move. Instead, he lied there, and started to think. I wonder why I feel so terrible right now, he thought. He wanted to take a look at the CD he had gotten, so he tried feeling for it on the table. Then, on the tips of his fingers, he felt the sleek, cold case. But, before he could grab it, his mom raised him up and started to untie his gown.

"Matty, honey," his mother cooed, "I know you're tired, but we're going home now. You need to get changed." After untying the gown, she pulled it off his shoulders and walked over to the table. "I'll get all these gifts for you, so just go and get dressed."

She walked out the door, not waiting for a response from Matt. He sluggishly pulled on his shirt and pants and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He did not try to get off the bed, but instead silently lifted the pillow, revealing the money he had gotten while he was in his coma. Checking to see if anyone was around, he quickly shoved all the money into his pockets, and grabbed his shoes.

Again, there was a knock at the door. Without hesitation, though, the person strolled in. "Matt," the voice called, "you still here?"

Matt's eyes lit up. "U-uh, yeah! I'm still here!" he replied. "Juan?"

And from behind the curtain appeared Juan. "Hey," he greeted, a smirk plastered onto his face. "I talked to the nurse at the front desk, and she said you were getting discharged today!" He took a seat on the stiff hospital bed.

"Oh, yeah, I know…" Matt quietly said back as he tried avoiding eye contact. He fiddled with his shoelace.

"Hmm," Juan said, evidently thinking about something to say. "Well," he started, "are you going to school tomorrow?"

Matt looked up with a less-than-excited expression on his face. "I don't know…" he said, "I don't feel like going."

"Oh…" Juan said, sounding a little disappointed. "Well—"

Interrupting their conversation, Matt's dad walked in. "Matthew, are you ready? Your mom and I are…" he trailed off. He even stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Juan sitting there. "Who are you…?" he asked, getting a little defensive.

Juan stood up stiffly. "Hey, Mr. Engarde," he tried to say casually, even extending a hand out. "My name's Juan. Your son and I are… acquaintances." He had a hard time keeping eye contact due to Matt's father's piercing gaze.

"Hmm…" his father said, scratching his chin, "How old are you, kid?"

Juan awkwardly scratched his head. "Um, I'm a freshman, sir."

"I see," he replied. Matt's father walked out of the room then. "If you're acquaintances with my son, you better see to it he doesn't get this badly injured again." With that, he left the room.

Matt sighed and looked apologetically at his friend. "Um, sorry, he's kind of on-edge about this whole thing…"

Juan smirked. "No worries. I was planning on keeping an eye out for you anyways!" He looked at the door. "You should get going soon," he said. "Do you want some help getting to the entrance?"

Matt started to put his shoes on. "That would help… Thanks."

As Juan accompanied Matt to the entrance of the hospital, Matt's mother quickly got a hold of him; but she paused to see who was helping her son to the door. "Um, who are you?" she asked with a weird look in her eye.

Before Juan could say anything, Matt quickly replied, "Don't worry… he's… he's my friend." He walked with his mother to his car. When he got in the backseat of the convertible, he turned to Juan and said, "Um, thanks… I'll see you around."

And with that, Matt sped away from his friend.

The closer Matt got to home, the more depressed he would seem to get. I wanted to hang out with Juan more, he thought sadly. But, at that same moment, he had arrived at his grand home.

As his mother helped him to the entrance, she started to bubble with excitement. "Oh, aren't you glad, hun? You're finally home!"

But, Matt did not respond. Instead, he robotically walked toward his house.

Right when they got home, they prepared their dinner. But, unfortunately for Matt, it was just a frozen dinner. He stared at it for a while, a bit confused.

His mother chuckled a little and said, "Matty, eat up! I know we don't have that much money since Mommy hasn't been working, but I'll start modeling again tomorrow. This'll just last for a little while, okay?"

Matt slowly nodded and reluctantly ate his cold mashed potatoes, peas, and steak. "I just want to get into bed…" he said to himself.

When he finished his food, he quickly went up into his room and plopped into bed. I wonder why I feel so bad, he wondered as he dozed off.

Matt was woken up early in the morning by his mother. "Come on, Matty, you have school today," she said, looking very gorgeous in her modeling clothes.

Matt slowly got up and rubbed his eyes. He quietly replied, "I'm up."

Matt threw some clothes on, and trudged over to his father's car. "Are you ready?" he asked, calmly smoking a cigarette in their front yard.

Matt looked at his father with dead eyes. "I thought you told mom you quit smoking," he replied as he got into the passenger seat of the car.

His father chuckled, and said, "A lot can happen in two and a half months." He threw the cigarette on the floor and crushed it. Then, he proceeded to get in the car and drive Matt to school.

As Matt stepped out of the car, all the students started to stare at him. As he walked into the school, he could hear the murmurs of some of the students,

"He's the one, right?"

"Yeah. He was in a coma for two and a half months."

"Didn't he get his ribs broken?"

"Oh yeah! I saw that."

He tensely squeezed the books he was carrying, and went to his locker. But, as he stooped down to put in his combination, a group of freshmen approached him.

"Hey, you," the one in front of the group said. Matt looked up at them nervously. There were about five boys standing in front of him.

"It's all your fault, fag," one from the back yelled.

"If you hadn't cried like that, they wouldn't have gotten expelled," another said.

Matt cringed. They're talking about the two that broke my ribs, Matt thought in a panic. He desperately tried to escape such a terrible beating so soon, and crawled backwards and away from them… Until that is, he bumped into somebody.

In fear, Matt looked up. But, his face immediately lit up as he saw who he had bumped into.

Juan.

"Hey, guys," Juan said casually, but with a dangerous air, "Are you bugging my friend here?" He smiled, as the group of guys started to back away.

Juan walked up to one of them and grabbed him by the shirt. "If you ever bug Matt again, I swear I'll get you all good."

The boy started to whimper and ran away pathetically, tripping on things scattered in the hallway.

Matt stared in awe, and thought, This guy is amazing.

Juan sighed, and scratched his head. "Man, that was close!" He started to laugh, and turned to Matt. "You need help getting up?"

Matt stared at him, wide-eyed, and stretched out his arm. As Juan helped him up, he asked, "Why are they so afraid of you?"

As Matt stood next to Juan, he finally realized how tall and older-looking he seemed to be. Juan laughed again, and replied, "Some people think I'm some junior," he replied, leaning on a locker near Matt's. "Anyways…"

Matt looked up at his friend, and started to walk with him to their first class, which they had together.

Incidentally, Matt ended up sitting next to or near Juan for every class he had, which was a good thing. All they did in their classes was talk about unrelated things that went on while Matt was in his coma.

"Actually…" Juan said, playing with a lock of his hair, "there was something I wanted to ask you, but never got the chance to ask."

Matt looked at Juan. "What is it?"

Juan grinned at Matt. "Do you like acting?"

Matt stared blankly at Juan in response.

Juan kept talking. "Because the school's putting on an original play one of the students wrote," he explained, "and I was thinking of auditioning. And I was wondering if you wanted to audition, too."

It took Matt a while to process the idea, but when he got it, he started to smile. "Actually," he replied, "I've always wanted to perform in a play."

Juan grinned back. "Great. I'll just sign us both up after class, does that sound good?" As Matt nodded, the bell rang for lunch. "Oh, perfect timing. I'll see you outside, then," Juan said as he rushed excitedly out the door.

Since Juan left him alone, Matt started to walk slowly over to his locker, and as he started to rearrange the things in his backpack, another group approached him—this time, however, they were three girls.

When Matt looked up at them, he noticed that they were some of his fellow freshmen. However, they had very cold looks on their faces as they looked down at him. "U-uh…" Matt started, getting a worried look on his face, "can I help you…?"

The two girls in the back scoffed, and started to loudly whisper.

"Ha, he wants to know if he can help us."

"He really can help us."

The girl in front looked down at Matt in a kind of condescending way. "Matt Engarde, right?"

Matt nervously nodded, and even started to bite his lip in anxiety. "Um… yeah, what do you need?"

The girl in front looked around for someone. As she realized the coast was clear, she leaned in close to Matt. "Listen. You seem to be getting really friendly with Juan. We want you to stop."

One of the girls in back added, "Yeah, we ALL know you're, like, gay, so stop trying to, like, seduce Juan, or whatever you're doing. 'Cause we can, like, totally see through you, you know?"

Matt continued to stare at them and softly replied, "Um, I'm not gay…"

The girl in front laughed. "Yeah, right." She pushed Matt in the ribs, sending him back a little, and they started to walk away. "We're serious, Matt, you better keep your distance. Or else."

As Matt tried to get up, he winced. M-my ribs, he thought, keeping a hand to the inflicted area. "It hurts…" he murmured as he tried to get up in the empty hallway. "Why is there no one to help me…?"