Disclaimer: All characters and things you recognize belong to Epitome.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! And please remember reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome! This is chapter 2. I realized writing this chapter, that this is probably going to be a pretty long story. But don't worry, I always finish what I start. I have planned out where I want this story to go, and the sequence of events. And I already have the first paragraph of the last chapter written. And now, on to chapter 2. Idontknowanything

Chapter 2: And Now The Geek

Toby Issacs was a geek. It was a fact of life he had accepted long ago. And no matter how hard he tried, he was never going to be seen as anything more than a geek. He was a geek, a nerd, a brain. No one would ever see him as one of the "cool" kids. He'd been down that road too many times before; searching for acceptance only to find out he would never fit in with the popular kids. He had long since accepted his place in the high school social order.

"Hey, geek, watch where you are going!" some random guy with a really bad mullet hair cut uttered as he pushed his way past Toby in the crowded hallway. Toby had long ago accepted his geek status. That didn't mean he had to like it.

"Get a haircut, jerk." Toby muttered under his breath to the back of the guy with the mullet.

Sometimes he wished he had enough courage to tell all those jerks off to their faces, instead of under his breath to their retreating backs. But that was a lesson he had learned long ago. They torment you less if you don't stand up for yourself, especially when, physically, you are pretty much unable to fight back. So, he had discovered it was easier to take the little things than to cause a big confrontation. But that didn't mean he was happy about it.

He heard a familiar voice in the hallway, and turned to see a girl with blonde hair hurrying down the hallway in the opposite direction from a watching Ms. Sauve. He started to walk away, but apparently Ms. Sauve must have eyes in the back of her head or something, because he was stopped in his tracks by a voice calling his name.

"Toby! Toby Issacs," Ms. Sauve called out over the noise of the students roaming the hallway. "I need to talk to you a moment," She said.

Toby stopped. There was no getting away from Ms. Sauve when she wanted to talk. He had found that out last year, as he had spent an entire school day avoiding Ms. Sauve's summons, only to be caught just as he was about to head out the door at the end of the day. Might as well get this out of the way right now, so he could leave school on time today.

Toby started to walk back towards Ms. Sauve, and smiled as he said "Good morning, Ms. Sauve."

"Toby, can you come into my office for a moment?" she said.

"Sure, Ms. Sauve." Toby replied.

As they walked into the office, Toby wondered what Ms. Suave wanted to talk to him about. He hoped it wasn't another one of those "How are you doing?" talks she had subjected him to last year. Like he really wanted to talk to her about how much his life sucked before and how much it sucked now.

"Toby, I talked to your dad and stepmom, and they would like you to participate in a group therapy session I am setting up here at school, once a week. They have signed the consent forms, and all I need now is YOUR consent." Ms. Suave said.

Toby noticed she hadn't mentioned talking to his mom. Then he wondered why he noticed that. It wasn't like it was anything different to him. If you weren't an aspiring actor or actress, his mom didn't have much time for you. Which meant she didn't have much time for her own son.

"What's this group for, Ms. Suave? Geeks anonymous?" he joked, smiling, until he noticed Ms. Suave's return smile at his comment was more pitying than amused. "Great, Toby." He thought to himself. "As if she didn't already think I was a nutcase after what happened last year."

"No, Toby. It's for the students who were most traumatized by the shooting last year. It's to help all of you move past what happened and get on with your lives." She said.

"Most traumatized by the shooting? I guess that means those of us who witnessed it?" Toby said.

"Yes, it does. I already have Emma Nelson's agreement to attend, and a couple of other students." Ms. Suave said.

Toby stopped listening as soon as he heard Emma's name. Visions of comforting Emma, talking to Emma, becoming closer to Emma, and maybe getting Emma to see him as more than a geek danced through his head, influencing what he said next to Ms. Sauve.

"Count me in." Toby said. "Just give me a time and place." He said to a confused Ms. Sauve. She obviously hadn't thought it was going to be that easy.

Toby left Ms. Sauve's office, and started walking to his homeroom. Most students were still congregating in their cliques in the hallways, talking about summer vacations and catching up on a summer's worth of gossip. But Toby did what geeks always did – he headed to homeroom early.

He used to have friends to wander these hallways with, and a group of people to talk about summer vacation and catch up on gossip with. Heck, in grade 8 and 9 he used to have a girlfriend to hold hands with as he walked the hallways. Up until grade 10, he had a best friend to laugh and joke around with. Then things had changed. First, there was the summer break-up. But break-up wasn't the right word – a break-up implied that the decision was mutual. And there was nothing mutual about Kendra dumping him, stating something about being different people than when he was a grade 8 and she was a grade 7. Next, his best friend ditched him for some grade 7 kid with a fake I.D. and a penis pump.

Sure, after everything that happened, he and JT had become friends again. But it wasn't the same. How was he ever going to get past what JT said, and how JT had treated him after everything had happened? Even his best friend thought he was a geek. And now his best friend was sucking face with someone Toby thought would probably win the biggest geek contest hands down – although Toby would probably be the runner-up. Which was probably the reason he was walking to class alone today. There was only so much JT and Liberty togetherness he could take before lunch. Now he knew how JT must have felt when Toby and Kendra were at their mushiest back in grade 9.

There it was -- his homeroom. Toby felt pretty lucky to have made it here with only one minor shove and a "Get out of the way, geek," and a conversation with a guidance counselor. Usually school hallways on the way to homeroom meant at least 3 similar shoves followed by some juvenile comment and one of Paige's patented, catty, "you are a loser" remarks. Upon walking into homeroom, Toby was surprised to see two students already sitting there, in the front row, Ms. Hazilakos was standing in front of them talking as Mr. Simpson looked on from his seat at his desk. And then one of the students turned around slightly in his chair, leaving Toby to see the profile of his face. And Toby felt filled with an odd combination of anger and dread. He guessed today wasn't his lucky day after all.