Lunch finally came and Pico found himself heading to the back of the school, placing his bag between the door to keep it open. He sat down on the gravel, pulling out his mod and phone. A few minutes into softly whispering the lyrics to "Boys Don't Cry" the crunching of gravel under someone's shoes could be heard.
When Pico looked up, he saw another redhead, around 5"10" wearing a purple turtleneck and black high-waisted slacks. His name was Scott, and by god was he popular. All the girls swooned over him, constantly harassing him.
"Oh, hello," He smiled upon seeing Pico looking up at him with those sectorally heterochromatic eyes of his.
"What do you want, gayboy?" He scoffed, shuffling away from him. Although Pico insulted him, Scott chuckled that saccharine chuckle of his.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh I'm sorry, hearing you insulting me with such a word is considerably humorous since you were the one dating a male last year," A smug smirk appeared on his lips and Pico's face burned.
"Where the hell did you learn about that?" he stood up quickly, fear almost lining his voice.
"Oh, you know, through the grapevine. I wouldn't be too worried about me "outing you", Pico. I'm certainly not against such a thing," He stepped close enough to where Pico could feel his warm breath against him. He smelled like mint and roses.
"At a loss for words, are you? What, does any male you see cause you to drool? Or is it just me?" Pico's face contorted in anger at the flirtatious comments.
"Shut up, fuckboy, I'm not in the mood for this shit," He growled, stuffing his earbuds and phone into his hoodie pocket. He fished out his vape, taking a long drag and blowing it to the side as he sat back down on the gravel and waited for the taller male to leave.
Instead, Scott sat down with him, placing a hand in front of Pico's face. Pico looked confused for a moment until his vape was grabbed. His face cringed in disgust as Scott took a hit, blowing it in Pico's direction and giving it back. The smell of peach wafted and lingered in the air, a smell Pico would normally love if it wasn't for the man who literally used his vape.
He wiped it on his hoodie, frowning.
"Can you leave? I don't want you here. Don't you have all those whores to fuck?" He grumbled and glared daggers at the other male. Scott chuckled and scooted even closer to Pico.
"Awe, don't be harsh. I'm over the women. They're more pests than anything. At least I get to hang around with a cute guy like you," He smirked and pinched Pico's thigh. His face turned bright red and hot, but he couldn't move. He covered his face and groaned.
"I'm not fucking cute, asshole. Are you blind?" Another low chuckle.
"Mmm… I beg to differ," he hummed pleasurably, almost like he was feeding off of the embarrassment.
"Oh, sure," he scoff-laughed, "What about me is cute, huh?" he gave another sardonic chuckle.
"Oh lemme see… That tooth gap of yours, those sharp canines…" Pico pursed his lips to prevent his teeth being seen, "Your fluffy as hell hair, those freckles, your sectorally heterochromatic eyes…" Pico couldn't handle the mention of his eyes, which he was teased for all throughout his life.
"Okay that's enough," he sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose, a tic if you will.
"I get it, okay? Fuck, I don't care how gay you are, the last time I fell for a guy we were together for 3 whole years. And you wanna know what else?" He stood, his voice wavering, "He left me in the dirt by saying he had eyes for some stupid, spoiled, whore of a gal," He felt the hot, thick, sticky tears roll down his face, "And then my stupid" he kicked over a garbage bin to emphasise, "FUCKING school, had to get shot up!"
Scott was uncomfortable now.
"Oh Pico you're not eating, Pico you're not acting yourself," He laughed bitterly, "Don't hurt yourself, what would I do if you were gone? The paranoia, fucking SOCIETY! I can't take it!" He curled up, sobbing and placing his hands behind his neck. His breathing quickened and soon he couldn't hear anything outside of his thoughts, which were screaming far too loud.
A teacher heard the commotion, looking for the source of all the ruckus. Once found, they rushed over and that was the last thing Pico could remember before he woke up in the nurse's office.
His dad was talking with the nurse, who was saying something about a panic attack. Pico couldn't tell, his mind was still buzzing. He just wanted to go home.
"He had a panic attack during lunch period. He was outside talking to a student and became stressed. The student wasn't very clear what had triggered the attack, but we could ask Pico once he gets up. Speaking of which- Oh, Pico you're awake," The nurse smiled a friendly smile and Pico cringed, turning onto his side and facing the opposite direction to her.
"Hey, kid. I gotta talk to you about something when we get home, okay? The teachers already gathered all the work for today and gave it to me. After we talk I need you to do them, alright? Come on, let's go home," Pico groaned and sat up, his bones achy from the shitty nurse bed. John helped him up, grabbing his backpack and carrying it out of the room.
"So what happened?" Was the first question. Pico's brows furrowed as he looked out of the car window, tapping his fingers on his thigh.
"Some asshole kid decided it would be funny to flirt with me," He mumbled, still a little embarrassed.
"Oh, what was her name?"
"It was a guy," he cleared his throat, looking down.
"What was his name?"
"Scott. He was being all flirty with me because…"
"Well?"
"He probably thought I was an easy target," Pico shifted in his seat, rubbing his eyes to prevent tears.
"What is that supposed to mean?" John's voice had an edge to it, and that made Pico worry. His worry quickly turned to his way of coping, anger.
"I'm fucking gay, okay? I have been for years now!" The car came to a stop at a red light, and Pico took this as a chance to unbuckle his seatbelt and slam the car door after he jumped out before John could say anything. His father sighed and continued on the route home, knowing Pico would make it there soon enough.