To say I didn't sleep well last night, would be a massive understatement. After consoling Ciel about what he had witnessed, he pleaded to sleep with me and ended up pushing me off my bed in the middle of the night.

Not that I could really sleep before that, my mind was too occupied with thoughts of Claude and worrying that Ciel would lose his smile again because of me.

I don't have any plans on breaking my promise to Ciel, no, I won't continue to purge if it makes him cry. Especially now that he knows. But that would only partially solve one of my problems, what do I do about Claude?

My head rests in my arms as I wait for the bell to ring. First period math class, my stomach was in hopeless knots as I wonder whether Claude will show or not.

I can feel my eyes growing heavy, the lack of sleep just starting to catch up with me as I yawn.

'Maybe.. I'll just close my eyes for a moment.'

"Sebastian? Wake up! You can't sleep in my class."

I crack one eye open, lifting my head slightly, I look up to see my teacher standing beside me with her arms crossed. She does not look pleased..

"O-oh.. I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to sleep." I can feel my cheeks growing hot as the stares from the other students bore into me.

"Well then perhaps instead of staying up late, you get to bed at a reasonable hour."

I stare down at my desk, embarrassed about having all this attention drawn to me.

"I'm s-sorry.. It w-won't h-happen again.."

Ms. Vaughn walks away. Her heels make a horrible 'click, click' sound as she walks back to her desk. I self-consciously grab my elbow as I stare at my lap before noticing something near my feet.

I notice shoes, black converse like my own but not mine.

'Claude.. When did he get here?'

I can't bring myself to look at him. I'm still far too confused about his behavior, it makes little sense for him to be mean then suddenly nice.

'Why? Was it just because we were at work?'

I find it almost impossible to focus as my teacher moves about the room pretending like math can ever possibly be 'fun'. Even the worksheet I was given remained mostly blank as I couldn't seem to finish a problem without forgetting what I was doing.

I can see Claude from the corner of my eye, he solves the entire worksheet with lightening speed, after flipping it over he leans back in his chair. I can't tell if he's staring at me but I can feel his eyes on me.

'Or maybe that's just me being paranoid..'

After solving the last problem, I flip my sheet over and stare at the blank page on the back until the bell finally rings. Before leaving I hand in my worksheet, Claude is directly behind me but I pretend not to notice.

For some reason I had decided to wear my olive green cardigan with my blue jeans today. I was starting to regret it because olive green wasn't exactly my color.

'But when did I start caring about that?'

The hallway is loud as students press against each other, trying to get to class before the bell rings. I push myself into the swarm and move with the current knowing I had to stop by my locker first to get my government book.

I wanted to look behind me, to see if Claude was there. But I didn't want to know at the same time.

'Lately my mind is as confusing as his actions.'

Upon reaching my locker, I can't help but stop and stare. The warning bell rings causing many students to run to their classrooms giving me more room to stand back and stare at my locker.

'Fuck you faggot'

'Somebody... my locker... Why?'

I stare at the graffiti on my locker for what felt like forever. The ugly red lettering covers the entire front, free for anybody to see.

"Well it's not like they're wrong eh, Princess?"

Claude's voice penetrates my thoughts as he walks past me, smirking.

'Did he do this?'

A blush covers my entire face as I feel my ears grow hot with an obscene amount of both anger and embarrassment.

'I should clean this.. I should clean this.'

The final bell rings, the bell that tells me I'm now late for class which would mean a lecture and a mark against me. Too many marks and I'll end up in detention which I didn't want to deal with.

Sighing, I open my locker and take out my government book. I try not to look at the mess on my locker as I close it and re-lock it.

'I'll clean it.. later.. It's not like the whole school hasn't already seen it.. I'm sure there's photos of it on facebook.'

Almost as though it was planned, my phone buzzes with a text message. I look around for a teacher before pulling my phone out.

'Ciel:

Keep your head up, Sebby. Don't worry about what other people think.'

I slide my phone back in my pocket, not wanting to risk having it taken by a teacher as I head towards my Government class. A small part of me still somehow hoped that I wouldn't get in trouble for being so late.

'High hopes, high hopes.'

The sound of the lunch bell pulls me from the worksheet I currently held my nose in. Immediately the other students begin collecting their backpacks while my Psychology teacher yells out our homework.

Today's lesson had been particularly trying as it covered Self-Harm. I couldn't help but notice my teachers eyes continuously drifting to me as he spoke.

'There's no possible way he could know, stop being paranoid. Just because Ciel noticed your occasional purging, doesn't mean everyone will magically notice your arms.'

After putting my worksheet away, I gather my books in my arms and head into the busy hallway.

Thoughts of my graffitied locker slip back into my thoughts but I push them away, not wanting to deal with it right now. Ciel had texted me during class, saying he would help me clean it after school, but I was embarrassed in the meantime.

'Though it's not like everyone hating you is a secret exactly.'

I can hear side comments from students behind me as I push within the crowd towards the cafeteria. I ignore the comments, I ignore the names, the insults and the giggles. None of that matters, what matters is that Ciel is happy and that I graduate.

'And that they don't start bullying him..'

That concern had crossed my mind a few times, though it seemed like Ciel was doing well for himself with making friends and maintaining a neutral stand-point with everyone.

But that could always change.

'It won't. Don't think about that. Ciel is a great kid, everyone will leave him alone.'

Shrugging it off, I look up from my shoes as the crowd in-front of me slowly breaks apart as everyone exits down various hallways, disappearing into random classrooms.

I considered myself lucky to have 'A' block lunch. Lunch periods at my school are broken into three segments. 'A, B & C' as to prevent an overflow of students from attempting to all cram into the small cafeteria.

However, having C lunch is considered 'unfortunate' as most of the food has been sitting out or has already been picked through.

'I wish I had lunch with Ciel.. Though I wouldn't be able to sit with him. They'd surely pick on him if they saw me with him.'

Ciel had been given B lunch. I had seen him in the halls only a few times, but he was usually surrounded by friends and didn't notice me.

"Hey, Princess!"

I turn around and see Claude walking up behind me holding a single textbook on his shoulder.

Swinging the textbook to his side, he comes up beside me, I stare straight ahead, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing the anxiety in my eyes.

"Ignoring me huh? Man that's harsh.. What did I ever do to deserve that?"

I remain silent as I turn down a random hallway. Lockers line the vacant hall as I walk with no intended destination. I had no desire to be followed to the cafeteria, but where could I go?

"Has anybody ever told you that you're rude?" Claude laughs, but I refuse to look at him.

"This is too funny, Princess is ignoring me now! How cute."

Stepping out in-front of him, I clench my fists at my side.

"Could y-you please s-stop b-bothering me?"

Raising one eyebrow, Claude steps towards me before grabbing my shoulder and pushing me against a locker. He slams one of his hands against the locker above my head, bringing his face within inches of mine he smirks.

"You're funny."

I can't help but slink back, turning my face to the side I can feel the anxiety welling in my chest even more.

"W-Why are you d-doing this? W-What d-did I do?"

Turning to face him, I meet his gaze.

Claude doesn't respond, his eyes stare into mine as he seems lost for words.

After a seemingly long silence, he grab my tie and yanks me towards him, but he remains silent.

My eyes never leave his, I can see a portion of my reflection in his brown eyes. His cologne invades my nose again as Claude's eyes search my face for any sort of reaction.

"Leave him alone!" The feminine voice surprises both Claude and I as our eyes dart to the right.

Heading towards us in a fury is a tall boy with long and intense red hair.

"Let him go! Leave him alone, Claude!"

Claude releases my tie and steps back, his eyes sweep over the newcomer.

But the nameless boy never falters, holding the same glare as his eyes bore into Claude like daggers.

"What is he your boyfriend?" Claude spits out at the boy.

"Would it matter if he was? Leave him alone." The boy takes a few steps towards Claude, who then slinks back before storming off into another hallway.

I can't help but stare at the strange student as he approaches. A smile now covers his face as he reaches out and begins to fix my tie.

"Don't let him bully you like that. If you never stand up for yourself he'll never stop."

"W-who are you?" I question as I watch the boy's eye's carefully. They're a strange green and gold color, very unusual, so unusual I think they might be contacts.

Smiling, he releases my now fixed tie.

"My name is Grell, Grell Stufcliff. What's your name?"

"I-I'm Sebastian Michaelis."

"Well Sebastian, you just made a new friend. I hope you don't mind." Grell smiles wide, his smile makes me feel happy.

'Almost the way Stella makes me feel.'

"I don't, no.. I'm g-glad. But c-can I ask y-you something?"

"Sure, shoot."

"What's his problem? I don't recall ever doing anything to make him hate me.."

My eyes drop to the floor, I'm a little ashamed of my situation but I know I need help. I need somebody other than Ciel to tell me how to deal with this.

"Ah that's a toughy.. Claude is well... Well first of all his full name is Claude Faustus. Secondly, Claude used to be part of this big gang downtown but he left and apparently he's been trying to rebuild his life, get some normalcy you know? But I don't know, I don't think it's that easy to leave a gang. I figure he must be taking out his stress on you."

'Claude was in a gang?'

"How do you know all of this?"

"His parents are family friends, he was a lot of fun as a kid. I don't know what happened though, he just changed suddenly and I don't know.. We never hung out after that."

Grell shrugs, before slipping his arm over my shoulders and guiding me back towards the cafeteria.

"But you know, we should go eat, Bassie. It's your lunch period too right? I think I've seen you in the cafeteria before. Lets go eat before all the good stuff is gone!"

'Bassie?'

"Okay, that sounds good. I am pretty hungry.."

Hey Grell! Welcome to my fanfic! So nice of you to join us! =D