"You guys!" Ana came running down the stairs that led into Kumatora's basement. She, Ninten, Paula, and Kumatora all sat on a couple of couches surrounding a coffee table. In Ana's hand was a handful of papers.

"What's up, Pigtails?" Asked Ninten, sitting up straight and pausing the movie they were watching. Ana slightly raised the group of papers.

"I found something. About Lucas." She admitted, half shamefully, half satisfied.

"What do you mean?" Asked Paula.

"Well, really, it's about Claus." Ana mentioned, catching Ninten's full attention, "I printed out an article that I found while I was browsing the internet. Look at the picture on the front page! That looks a lot like Lucas." Ana pointed to the header image on the front page. In the photo were two boys, one with blonde hair, one with red hair.

"And that one looks like Claus!" Commented Ninten, pointing to the twin with red hair.

"Not only that, their names are in this. I'm convinced that this article kinda tells us about Lucas and Claus' past." Ana confirmed. The others stared intently, as if giving her an invitation to start reading. Ana nodded and cleared her throat.

This past weekend, 13 year old Claus Dolray was found alive in the woods near his hometown. He was found by two hikers, who managed to hear his screams. The couple found the teenager trapped underneath a large rock that may have been the result of a landslide.

Claus, at age 10, went missing shortly after the death of his mother, who was murdered. It is believed that the boy was overcome with grief, and took it upon himself to avenge her death by bringing justice to her killer himself. In the process, he became lost in the woods. Dolray confirmed later in the hospital that he survived off of squirrels and birds that he caught in the wilderness.

Three days before he was found, Dolray was crushed underneath a boulder that had fallen off a nearby hill. He would have surely died if it weren't for the two hikers who had found him. The boy has begun treatment for dehydration, malnutrition, multiple infected wounds, and his legs, which have been left paralyzed by the rock. It is estimated he will be able to walk again three to four years from now.

"I was convinced he was dead." Says Flint, Claus' father, "The loss of my wife was already painful, but the thought of losing my little boy was unimaginable. We are so grateful that he is alive and healing."

"We're twins, so we'd always stick together. Those three years without him were weird, I'd always see him in the corner of my eye and hear his voice late at night." Says Lucas, Claus' twin brother. The boy confirms that he has been through much needed therapy, as he would have hallucinations both auditory and visual of his supposedly dead brother multiple times a week.

Ana lowered the page and sighed.

"My printer ran out of ink before the rest could be printed. But I think we already have the general idea." She confirmed, a solemn look in her eye. Kumatora and Ninten stared at the article in utter shock, while Paula had a hand covering her mouth.

"My goodness...I knew that the twins had a troubling past, but I never thought that…" Paula never finished her sentence.

"No wonder Claus always has that sad look in his eye...even when he's happy, his face just looks...broken in a way." Ninten commented. Kumatora didn't say anything. She looked down at the photo on the article and studied it. It was a family group picture, with a man and a woman she guessed to be the twin's parents, with the two brothers standing next to each other, smiling innocently.

"Where'd you find this?" Kumatora asked.

"I was doing that thing where you look up the names of friends and family on Google and see what you can find, and that news story was the first thing that came up when I searched up Lucas." Ana said.

"Well, we can't let him know. We have to keep this a secret from him." Paula insisted, earning a nod of agreement from everyone else.

"He's already got enough dragging him down, let's not make it worse." Agreed Ninten.

"I just feel so bad, no child deserves to go through any of that. Especially Lucas, he's such a kind-hearted boy." Paula said.

"Well, now we know what to not mention around him." Said Kumatora. She laid back into the couch, hands behind her head, sighing, "Let's not think about it. Both of them are fine now, so let's not dwell. I already feel bad for intruding on their privacy."

The others agreed and joined her on the couch. But even through the rest of the night, none of them could shake off the sinking feeling. And all of them continued to wonder what else had gone on with that pair of twins.


"Kumatora, what on Earth were you thinking? You could've gotten suspended!"

Lucas sat with Kumatora in the nurse's office. The tomboy had multiple bruises covering her arms, face, and neck, as well as a bloody nose and a torn jacket. She scoffed, stubbornly.

"That little chickpea asked for it." She muttered, turning away from Lucas, who sighed.

"Out of all the people you could've chosen to fight today, you had to pick Ness? You know how powerful that kid is, what did he say that made you attack him?" Asked Lucas, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Ness was the one who attacked me first! He asked me how my "tranny father" was doing, and I asked him how his "whore sister" was doing. That just set him off." Kumatora explained. Lucas flinched.

"He's really protective of his sister, Kuma. More than you'd expect. Tracy's like...the only thing he legitimately cares about anymore." He told her. Kumatora clicked her teeth and turned away from him. Suddenly, a small drop of blood began to run down her lips.

"Shit, my nose is bleeding again. Can you reach over there and grab a tissue?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly. Lucas nodded and handed her a tissue, and she gave him a quick pat on the shoulder in thanks. At that point, two people walked into the room. The school's principal and the guidance counselor.

"Good afternoon, Kumatora. And you too, Lucas." The principal greeted, sitting down on a stool in front of the two students. Lucas gave a small, polite wave, while Kumatora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Now, I understand that you got into a bit of a...scuffle with my son." The Principal recalled, a slight look of disgust on her face.

"I guess." Kumatora muttered.

"Well, I'm here to help. I've known you for almost three years, Kumatora. And although I knew you were a bit aggressive, I could never imagine you hurting someone else. I called Lucas here with us because I heard through other students that he was a witness to this unfortunate event." The guidance counselor, Wes, gestured to Lucas. Wes just so happened to be the father of Duster.

"I was, sir. Yes." Lucas confirmed.

"Well, let's talk about it. What sparked that anger in you, Kumatora? Was it something that boy said, or something else?" Asked Wes.

"He said that–!" Kumatora cut herself off, catching Lucas' glance. He sent her a stare that said 'Be careful'. She hesitated, "I was having kind of a bad day, and Ness accidentally bumped into me. I was kinda having enough this morning, so I lost my temper and pushed him. I guess we both kind of got too competitive." Kumatora falsely explained. Lucas was impressed she could make up a lie that quick. Both adults in front of them nodded understandingly.

"I get it. You were so frustrated that even being pushed a bit irritated you enough to attack someone. There's no need to be ashamed, Kumatora, I understand. We all have those days." Wes said. Lucas tried not to laugh, knowing that Kumatora was incredibly annoyed at the moment by the fact that this grown man who was most likely in his sixties was trying to relate to her.

The four of them talked for a while longer, until the final bell rang and students were dismissed. Unfortunately, Kumatora wasn't entirely off the hook. She was given a week of detention and lunchroom duty. She quickly left the room, but Lucas was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to meet the eyes of his principal.

"Lucas, darling, would you be willing to watch Tracy again on Sunday?" She asked.

"Ummm...sure, ma'am. I think I can manage that." He said. She thanked him quickly and they left the room. As Lucas sat on the bus heading home, he thought about Kumatora's wounds. He flinched upon remembering the bruises all over her arms and face. They weren't the usual small dark brown spot, they were a sickly shade of purple. Which meant that if Ness could hit, he could hit hard. He mentally crossed his fingers hoping that he'd never have to have a violent encounter like that.

The minute he stepped off the bus, he spotted Paula and Ninten just a few feet near the bus stop.

"You guys! Hey, what're you doing here?" Lucas asked, walking towards them.

"Your brother wanted to meet everyone, so he asked if we could come to your place. You don't mind, do you?" Paula asked. Lucas was a bit shocked at this. Claus never invited people over, especially people he didn't know.

"Uh, sure! So everybody else is coming?" Lucas asked.

"Yah, they're all late. Can we come inside with you?" Ninten asked him, pointing to the apartment building behind the bus stop. Lucas shrugged and motioned for them to follow.

"Oh, and, uh...Luc? We think that we should talk to Claus about...you know, your issues with you-know-who." Paula mentioned. Lucas suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, heart pounding.

"No! No, I'm begging you guys, please don't tell Claus!" He pleaded, desperatley grabbing hold of Paula's hand. Her eyes widened and she stepped back a bit.

"Why not? The only way to get Ness to leave you alone is more support!" She insisted.

"No. No matter what, we cannot tell Claus. He gets so protective in these kinds of situations, and he's already busy enough. I can take care of Ness on my own, just please, please don't mention him around my brother." Lucas protested. Paula and Ninten looked at each other, concerned, but nodded and began to follow Lucas again. When they entered the apartment, Claus was immediately up on his feet and greeting them.

"You must be Paula!" Claus exclaimed, shaking her hand.

"That would be me! And by the looks of it," Paula turned her head to look at Claus, then at Lucas, and alternated a few times, "I'm taking a lucky guess; you're his brother." She laughed.

"Whaaat? What gave you that idea, we look nothing alike!" Lucas exclaimed jokingly. More laughter from everybody.

"Haha...well, it's very nice to meet you, Claus. I've heard so much about you from Romeo over here." Paula said, pointing at Ninten, who glared at her.

"Really? I've heard so much about you. When my brother came home during the first few months of being at your school, you were all he talked about. 'Claus, oh my god! She is so nice, I swear to god!'" Claus imitated his brother by raising his voice. Lucas elbowed him.

"I don't sound like that! You could've just used your normal voice, you know. It's not like we sound totally different." He said. The four of them spoke in the living room for a few more minutes until the buzzer sounded.

"Uhhh...this is the right one, yeah? This is Jeff! Jeffery Andonuts! How does this thing work?"

"Jeff, this is Ninten. Come on up." Ninten said into the speaker near the door. Five minutes later, Jeff, Tony, Ana,Kumatora, and surprisingly, Floyd.

"Floyd? What're you doing here?" Asked Lucas. The older boy sheepishly laughed.

"I, uh...saw your friends outside, and I found out they were visiting you, so I thought...why not? I can leave if you want." Floyd responded.

"Nonsense, you're welcome here any time. Everyone, I want you to meet my brother. This is Claus." Lucas gestured to his twin, who waved excitedly. Claus seemed very interested in his new acquaintances, for he spent the next half hour learning about each of them.

Eventually, much to Lucas' displeasure, Floyd brought up his least favourite person.

"So, how's Ness been treating you lately?" He asked. Lucas' heart dropped, and he quickly turned to Claus. He'd forgotten to ask his other friends to keep his situation a secret.

"Uuhhhh...Claus! Your phone is ringing!" Lucas quickly said, pointing to his twin's bedroom. Claus raised an eyebrow.

"My phone's right here." He held up his smartphone.

"Ummm...my phone is ringing! Could you...could you go get it for me?" Without even giving Claus time to answer, Lucas helped him to his feet and practically shoved his brother to the hallway that led to his room.

"Dude, what are you–" Floyd began. Lucas shushed him and made a zipping motion across his mouth, signaling for him to be quiet.

"Claus doesn't know about Ness yet. Let's keep it that way." He muttered through clenched teeth. Floyd blinked, confused, but nodded anyways. Right at that moment, Claus returned to the living room.

"Bro, I couldn't find your phone, sorry. Why are you looking at me like that?" Claus asked, sitting down on the couch between Ninten and Tony.

"Uuuhh...maybe it was just my imagination! Thanks anyways. Sooo...let's change the subject." Lucas insisted, trying to seem as unsuspicious as possible.

"No, no. I wanna know who this 'Ness' guy is that Floyd was talking about, is he a friend of yours?" Claus asked. Paula stifled laughter, earning a dirty glare from Lucas. He began to stammer.

"He's...uh...well, it's kinda hard to explain. He–"

"–is his boyfriend!" Ninten chimed, interrupting Lucas, who felt the urge to shove Ninten underwater until he drowned. His friend cast him a smug, teasing grin. Lucas managed to keep control of his need to shout an endless spiel of swears at Ninten, and instead nodded nervously.

"Y–yah! Well, not exactly. He's not a boyfriend as in 'lover', he's a boy, and he's my friend. Heheh...get it?" Lucas explained, desperately hoping that his brother would buy the story.

"Ooohh, I get it. It's like when a group of girls call each other their 'girlfriends'. Well, anyways, I wanna meet him! Can he come tonight?" Claus asked.

"No!" Cried everybody else all at once. Claus raised his hands in a defensive position, then slowly lowered them, confused.

"Um...we mean...Ness is really...not into social situations. He's really reserved, you know?" Floyd claimed, and the others all nodded to confirm.

"Ohh, I see." Said Claus, a slightly sad tone in his voice. Lucas knew his twin was thinking about how antisocial he used to be himself. He reminded himself that Claus was a strong young man, and would never let bad memories like that get the best of him.

For the rest of the evening, the group talked and became more friendly with Claus. By the time it was 8:00, they already spoke to him as if they'd known him for months. It was also around that time when people began to leave. The only person remaining by 8:30 was Ninten, who decided he'd stay the night, as he didn't have a ride back home and didn't want to take the bus at night.

Lucas decided to go to bed early that night, as he had an early doctor's appointment the next morning. When he said goodnight, he didn't even get a reply from Claus or Ninten, who were sitting together on the couch, wrapped up in their own little conversation. Lucas rolled his eyes and turned to walk to his bedroom. Even with the door closed, he could still hear the conversation outside, but couldn't make out what they were saying. At one point, the talking began to become less frequent, and then stopped entirely.

'They must have fallen asleep.' Thought Lucas. He smiled to himself, satisfied. Now he could actually get some sleep himself. Unfortunately, this was short lived.


He was woken up early the next morning with Claus knocking on his bedroom door.

"Lucas! Wake up, man! I have something to tell you!" He cried. Lucas shot up, terrified that something had happened, but Claus didn't sound scared or anything. He sounded excited.

"What's up?" Asked Lucas as he opened the door. Claus grabbed his hand and led him to the kitchen, where he then sat him down on one of the chairs.

"So last night...you know how Ninten stayed over?" Began Claus.

"Yah, where is he, by the way?" Lucas asked.

"He left at like...six this morning. Anyways, I woke up about ten minutes ago, and I only just realized this." Claus said, pausing for a moment.

"What?" Lucas quizzed. Claus took both of his hands and squeezed them tight.

"No nightmares." He whispered, his eyes gleaming. Lucas' jaw dropped.

"Wait, you're serious? None?" He confirmed.

"None whatsoever!" Claus threw his hands in the air. Lucas squealed in excitement and hugged his brother tightly, lifting him off the ground and spinning.

"You're absolutely sure?" Lucas needed assurance. Ever since Claus had returned from the hospital years ago, he had been suffering from awful nightmares each night, which even sometimes ended up with him waking up screaming.

"I am positive. I...I know this sounds crazy, but…" Claus didn't finish his sentence. A small tint of red crossed his face, and he began to shift uncomfortably.

"But what?"

"I think it might be because of Ninten."

Lucas, although he saw this coming, was surprised. He knew that Claus' life had gotten progressively better since meeting Ninten, but he never thought that he'd be able to stop having nightmares simply because of that. Then, Claus spoke up again, voice hushed.

"When we were talking last night...I told him about...you know." He admitted. Lucas gasped.

"I thought we swore we'd never tell anyone about you going missing!" He reminded.

"I know, I know, but he noticed mom and dad's shrine, and...well, I couldn't control myself. Don't worry, I made him swear not to tell anyone. Anyways, after I finished, he just kinda…" Claus wrapped him arms around himself, "...held me. Like this. And he started whispering things to me, like 'It'll be okay' and 'You're so brave'. And...well, I fell asleep, and next thing I know, I'm awake feeling more safe than I ever have." Claus finished with a smile on his face. Lucas found it difficult to be upset about his brother telling their deepest secret; he was so proud.

"That's incredible, oh my gosh…" Lucas breathed.

"Yah, I know."

"And you think that–"

"I love him."

Lucas paused. What Claus had confessed to him had been so predictable, but so sudden. He stared at his brother, mouth open in shock, eyes wide. Claus bit his lower lip and held eye contact, sweating nervously.

"You...really? I mean, I kinda guessed that, but...I'm just surprised that you're actually admitting it now!" Lucas told him, shrugging. Claus laughed and put a hand over his face to hide the fact that his blush was growing darker.

"I figured...the first one I had to confess to was me." He said. Lucas grinned and hugged him again, tighter this time.

"Four years ago...did you ever think your life would be so perfect?" He murmured. Claus' grip on his shirt tightened.

"I never even thought I'd be happy again…" Claus replied, sniffling. Lucas rolled his eyes and pulled away.

"Don't start crying, you baby." He teased, punching Claus lightly. Claus laughed and wiped at his eye.

"You're the one who sobbed for two hours because you found out that fruit flies only live for a day." Claus shot back. Lucas scoffed and walked away, grabbing his coat off of the rack near the door and put it on, then grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"Well, I've got a class full of kids I need to teach up. It's 9:00, won't you be late for your own job?" Lucas gestured to the clock beside him.

"I...think I'll call in sick today." Claus said, smiling. Lucas could tell he wasn't actually sick, but he understood why his brother wanted to stay home. He couldn't even begin to know how horrible it must have been to have night terrors every single night for three years, and he definitely couldn't begin to know how incredible it must have felt to suddenly sleep soundly after all of that pain.

"Alright. I'll see you later, man." Lucas said, and he left the room, locking the door behind him. As he travelled out of the apartment and down the familiar route to his bus stop, he couldn't help but feel overwhelming pride for his twin. He ignored the few concerned glances from strangers who noticed he was smiling a little too much for 9:00 in the morning, and even brushed off Duster when he entered the studio.

"You seem chipper today, kid." Duster commented, as he put down whatever paperwork he was working on.

"I got good news today." Lucas simply replied, pulling off his sneakers and replacing them with his dance shoes.

"Mmm, if anyone needs that right now, it's you. How's school going?" Asked Duster, sitting down in his usual chair with a tired grunt. Lucas did the same in the chair next to him and sighed.

"Just as hellish as you'd expect. You know Ness? He got into a fight with my friend. They beat the crap out of each other, and I had to bail my friend out of being suspended or something, then I had to deal with your annoying dad." He complained, earning a chuckle from Duster.

"Yah, my dad's a loser. But still, ook who's got an exciting high school life. I remember when I was your age, I got in a fistfight almost every day. Every troublesome kid has that supporting friend, and you have the misfortune of being that friend. You also have the misfortune of being Ness' bail 'friend'." Duster recalled, leaning back.

"I'm just so frustrated! I don't like to hate people, but I hate that stupid, arrogant, obnoxious...awesome, wonderful person who has the best sister in the world! Good morning, Tracy!" Lucas' tone of voice changed in almost an instant as the young girl enthusiastically skipped into the studio.

"Good morning, Mr. Dolray and Mr. Vaglio!" Tracy greeted, as she neatly set her coat and backpack against the back wall and began to untie her shoes. Lucas turned to give Duster a terrified, 'that was close' look. Duster's lower lip quivered, as he tried to hold in laughter.

"How's your week been?" Asked Lucas. Tracy looked up at him and gave him a gap-toothed smile.

"Very nice! The other day, me, my mom and dad, and my big brother all spent the whole day together. I can't remember the last time we did that!" She exclaimed. Lucas couldn't help but feel a small bit of sympathy of the family. No matter how much he absolutely despised Ness, no child deserved to be neglected by parents.

"That is very nice, Tracy. How is your brother?" Lucas asked out of sheer curiosity. Tracy giggled.

"Nesley's doing okay. Yesterday, he said he wishes you were dead, but I'm pretty sure he was joking." She told him. Lucas forced a fake laugh, but on the inside, he felt his blood run cold. Ness wanted him dead now, and that couldn't be good. Although it was unlikely, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd meet the blade of a knife in his chest in the next few days.

"If you murder me, I hope your mugshot looks awful." Lucas mentally swore, as if sending the message telepathically to his nemesis. He forced the negative thoughts out of his mind as more kids began to enter the studio.

The class seemed to fly by quickly, and before he even knew it, he was escorting the last child out into the lobby to his parents. Once the kid was gone, Duster burst into hysterical laughter and leaned against a wall for support. Lucas glared at him as he began to pack up his things.

"Wow, he wishes y-you were dead, haha! Ohhhh my god, kid. You're screwed! That poor little girl has no idea, my god…!" Duster gasped, placing a hand over his mouth to try and stop the laughter.

"You're being really helpful, thanks." Lucas said angrily. Duster rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Oh, please. You're a big kid, you should know when I'm joking. Look, Kiddo. Just keep on doing what you're doing. Don't let him know he's getting to you, stand your ground. You can do that, can't ya'?" He asked.

"Yah, I guess. I just don't know for how long." Lucas admitted. He was too modest to tell Duster how much his motivation actually meant to him. It seemed as if every Saturday, his half-empty mood would be turned half-full by his coworker, and he was grateful. He began to understand how Claus felt when he was around Ninten. Everybody had that one person that just made their day better.

On the bus home, Lucas' newfound good mood was once again ruined. On the seats next to him sat two girls who looked to be his age, who were both sharing a magazine. They were talking in hushed voice to each other, but he could make out what they were saying.

"He is so hot, oh my god."

"Did you know he's the mayor's son? I read that somewhere online."

"Really? Imagine being his girlfriend!"

"Don't even get started, that would be paradise!"

"I also read that he said he was growing out his hair so that he could donate it to cancer victims."

"Oh my goodness, what an angel!"

Lucas rolled his eyes and tried to drown out the girl's marveling. He knew that Ness was the topic of their conversation, and desperately wanted to let them know of what it would actually be like to know him personally.

Finally, the bus screeched to a halt at his bus stop, and Lucas was the first to sprint off. Surprisingly, Claus happened to be outside as well.

"Hey, brother! What're you doing out here, I thought you were 'sick'." Lucas asked him.

"I saw a news report that said there were like...ten muggings this morning, so I didn't feel comfortable with you being out here by yourself." Claus said.

"Dude, I'm seventeen. I can take care of myself, you know that." Replied Lucas, as he took his brother's arm and they began to walk.

"I know, I know." Claus admitted. Instead of entering the apartment building, the twins walked right past it and continued down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going?" Asked Lucas. Claus shrugged.

"I don't know. We haven't hung out in a long time, let's just go find something to do." He said. Lucas gave him a suspicious look.

"We're meeting Ninten somewhere, aren't we?" He guessed. Claus hung his head.

"I'm too scared to talk to him alone!" He whispered.

"Oh, come on."

"No…! This is the first time I've ever fallen in love in my life, and I have no idea how to deal with it." Claus said through clenched teeth.

"You'll be fi– there he is!" Lucas pointed in a random direction, and Claus quickly pulled the hood of his jacket over his face.

"Where?!" He cried.

"Joking." Lucas grinned.

"You son of a–!" Claus nearly attacked him, but realized he was still in public, and calmed down. He dug his fingernails into Lucas' arm.

"You pull a stunt like that again and you're dead." Claus threatened, obviously embarrassed.

"I love you too." Lucas responded smugly.


"There are three different techniques in conflict when it comes to story writing. Can anyone name them? No? Nobody? Self vs. Self, Self vs. Society, and Self vs. Others. What I mean by that is…"

A small crumple of paper flew onto Lucas' desk. His eyes shifted and he caught sight of Kumatora gesturing for him to read the note she had passed. He obliged.

'How did Sunday go?'

Quickly, he scribbled down his reply, and tossed the note back to her.

'If you're talking about how watching Tracy went, it has good. If you're asking about what happened afterwards, fucking awful.'

Kumatora looked up from the note and mouthed to him, "What happened?"

"Ness happened." Lucas replied silently.

"What'd he do?"

Lucas lifted up the sleeve to his dress shirt, revealing a large bruise on his arm. Kumatora cringed and shook her head. She wrote something down on the note and threw it to him.

'That kid is brutal.'

The teacher turned around to face the class, and Lucas and Kumatora stared ahead and sat up straight to avoid getting caught. Thankfully, the bell rang and the two quickly packed up and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

"Jesus Christ, this is the first time Ness has ever legitimately hurt you. I mean, physically, at least." Kumatora said.

"Yah, I know. He's pushed me into lockers before, and he always does that annoying thing where he holds my arm behind my back, but he's never actually hurt me. I'm getting kinda worried." Lucas explained. Upon arriving at their usual lunch table, they were greeted by Tony.

"Hey, guys." He said, giving a small wave. Lucas immediately noticed that something was wrong. Tony always greeted them with a cheerful attitude, but he seemed down today.

"Hi, Tony. What's up? You sound unhappy." Observed Kumatora.

"Well, auditions are up for the school musical, and I'm gonna be out of town for all of them." Tony explained.

"Wait, they never announced auditions! What show is it this year?" Asked Lucas.

"Les Miserables, the usual high school performance."

"Oooh, cool. Well, I'm sorry you can't make the auditions. Maybe you can help out with lights and sound or something." Suggested Kumatora.

"Yah, I guess. It's just that Les Mis is a total classic, and it's been my dream to perform in it ever since I was a kid." Tony said.

"You could always just audition via video." Paula suddenly appeared and sat down in her usual seat.

"Hey, Princess!" Greeted Kumatora.

"Hey there! Cupcake, Bear-Tiger, Nutmeg." Paula high fived each friend with the respective nickname. Ana, Ninten, and Jeff all arrived not too long after Paula. Tony once again brought up his situation.

"I'm with Paula, just tell them why you can't make it to auditions, and ask if you can just send a video." Ana said.

"Yeah, I know a few people who've done that. You'll be fine." Assured Ninten.

"Yah, you'll be fine." A new voice invaded the conversation. A hand rested on Tony's shoulder and gripped hard. Standing above him was Pokey, his little brother not far behind him.

"What are you freaks doing here?" Demanded Kumatora, reaching over and pushing his hand off of Tony's shoulder.

"Our usual lunch table is all filled up. Our pal Ness has gotten a lot more girls following him around ever since that magazine article with him in it was published." Pokey explained, pointing to the table he used to sit at, which of course, was overflowing with other students. However, of course, Ness just had to glance over and make eye contact.

"Well, looks like one seat just opened." Muttered Paula, glaring at Ness, who jogged over to their table.

"Pokey, Picky, my men. What're you doing over here?" He asked, slapping both of his friends on the back.

"We wanted to see how our little group of thespians were doing, Nessie." Explained Picky.

"Oh, that's right. How're you doing, Blondie? I haven't checked up on you, lately." Ness asked, gesturing towards Lucas.

"Fine." Lucas spat.

"Yikes, someone's mad about something. Guys, we'd better leave, looks like we've got a badass over here!" Ness exclaimed, laughing obnoxiously afterwards.

"Well, at least he's more of a badass than you, because he actually stands up for himself." Defended Ana.

"Oh, really? Then how 'bout this. Has anyone noticed a slight change in Lucas today? Anyone? He's wearing his sleeves down. I've spent enough time around this loser to know that he always wears his sleeves up." Ness claimed. Lucas froze. He'd been wearing his sleeves down to cover up the bruise on his arm.

"I'm wearing them down to cover up the mark you left on me." Insisted Lucas, trying to add growl to his voice to sound somewhat threatening.

"Are you sure you're not trying to cover up any marks you've possibly left on yourself?" Ness shot back. Ninten, who'd been trying to stop himself from getting involved, had finally snapped. He pushed Ness away from him forcefully, despite the pleas from his friends to stop.

"You're sick!" He cried, advancing forwards to try and attack Ness. He was held back by Kumatora, who obviously didn't want to be involved in another fight. Ness, who was also losing his temper a bit, was being held back by Pokey.

"You stay the hell out of this, pretty boy!" He shouted, struggling against his friend's arms.

"Don't fucking call me that!" Ninten protested. Lucas had never heard his friend swear in an offensive sense, or even raise his voice at someone else in anger. Ninten had always seemed to be a chill, laid back kid.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot how delicate you theatre people were!"

"Delicate?! Since when was theatre 'delicate'?!"

"When it was created for people who want to waste potential, that's what!"

"A career in theatre is not a waste of potential, you little mutt! It is an art that needs to be respected!"

"You're the mutt here, I'm what you could call a purebred! The one that everyone adopts because they're perfect! People only adopt mutts because they feel sorry for their miserable lives!"

That's it!"

Ninten, out of adrenaline, managed to break free from Kumatora's grasp and grab Ness by the collar of his shirt. The two boys managed to be pulled apart before a fight could break out, and thankfully, no supervising teachers were in the cafeteria at the moment, so no detentions or suspensions were made. However, as Ninten was dragged away by his friends, he spouted a long line of insults at Ness until they reached the hallway.

The moment they were outside of the cafeteria, Kumatora let go of Ninten, who then burst into tears.

"I can't believe I just did that!" He exclaimed, backing up against a wall and sliding down to the floor, hiding his face in his hands. His friends all gathered around him. Lucas put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Ninten, don't beat yourself up over it. Everyone loses their temper at some point, it's okay." He assured. Ninten shook his head.

"No...no, it's not...I'm so sorry, Lucas, I should've left it alone. Just...what he said about you, dude. I couldn't let that slide!" He hugged his knees to his chest.

"You and I both know he was trying to make one of us snap. You know he was making up shit, Ninten. I have respect for myself, and I know my body is precious, I'd never even think of hurting myself." Comforted Lucas. He took one of Ninten's hands and gripped it tightly.

"Lucas is right, man. It's okay. Ness is just a fucked up kid, that's just the way it is. We can't control it. But what we can control is how we respond." Ana told him, taking his other hand.

"I know...I'm just sorry I wasn't able to control how I responded to that." Ninten apologized, giving a weak smile.

For the rest of the lunch period, the group assisted Ninten in calming down and pulling himself together. Lucas understood why he was so upset over that ordeal. Ninten had a vocabulary where 1/3rd of it was made up of vulgar words or topics, but he'd never gone as far as to actually insult someone or threaten them, let alone try to get into a fistfight with them. Despite his brash personality, Ninten was a good kid.

After the violent event, Lucas told himself that he needed to be more careful. He wasn't just in a teasing situation anymore.

Ness wasn't just a kid who took joy in seeing others suffer, who happened to dislike Lucas and his friends. He full-on hated them, and he obviously had the goal of making their Junior year in highschool a living hell for all of them. This boy had managed to get Ninten,, the nicest, most kind-hearted boy in the school to not only insult him, but attack him.

He wasn't a bully anymore.

He was a despicable, backstabbing sadist.