i'm sorry. time for a little drama

TW: slurs, bullying, and blood

Cole spun his pencil around his fingers. He had gone through the first week of school alright. It was still odd without Zane and Kai but they always joined together at lunch.

Jay shoved his desk against Cole's and opened his lunch bag, muttering about pudding cups. Zane walked through the doors and promptly joined the two.

"Yo, is Kai joining us?" Jay asked. Kai had not eaten lunch with them for the entire week. It was obvious that the freckled brunet was upset by this, but he wouldn't admit to it. Zane shrugged and pulled out a container from his box. It was a very hot dish if the condensation on the container was any indicator.

"What has he been doing then if he's not with us?" Cole wondered out loud, scribbling on his spare napkin. He needed to practice drawing hands and feet now. Zane grinned as he removed the lid of his container. Sweet and sour chicken. "Whoa, nice. You made that yourself?"

"Of course I did," Zane boasted slightly before going on to answer Cole's question. "What do you think he's been doing? Getting to know Karlof and Skylor more. I think he likes her a little," the blond added absentmindedly. He didn't notice the slight deflation of the brunet. Then Jay perked up.

Obviously, he would when Kai walked through the doors that Zane had entered in. "Kai, over here!" he called out a bit too enthusiastically. The taller brunet smiled and waved at someone behind him.

It was Skylor, following close behind. Cole's grip on his pencil tightened so much that he almost snapped it in half. Jay softly growled. Zane didn't notice a thing, simply enjoying his meal with a thermos of honey lemon tea.

"Sorry I haven't sat with y'all at all," Kai apologized, bowing his head slightly. Jay groaned inwardly. He couldn't stay upset when the other made that face.

Cole was a different story. "So, uh... Skylor's joining us?" he questioned hesitantly. He would rather not have another person invade his friend group; he just got used to Kai. The girl shrugged and thumbed the lid of her thermos.

"Probably just for today. I don't know you guys that well so might as well," she answered smoothly. Her face wrinkled at the sound of her voice. It wasn't obvious to the others but it was to her- it was getting deeper and Skylor didn't want that. She stared at Cole passively. "If you want me to go, I'll leave. I don't really care."

Cole opened his mouth, but it clicked shut when he saw the eyes. Kai was doing the puppy eyes. It was unintentional because he wasn't even looking at the noiret but he was still sad. It was obvious Kai didn't want Skylor to leave.

Grimacing to himself, Cole said in a stunted manner, "Nah, it's fine. You can sit with us." Skylor smirked.

"Cool."

They ate calmly as they all caught up with one another. Everything was going fine...

That is until something was thrown directly at Skylor's head. It was a balled up piece of paper. She looked down at it and picked it up. Carefully, she opened it up. Then she crushed it once more, her hands trembling. She leaned over to cover her face with her arms. She didn't want anyone to see the tears already welling up in her eyes.

"Skylor, what is it?" Kai whispered softly. He gently removed the paper from her hand and unfolded it. He glared at it as if the paper had offended him and his ancestors.

"What is it?" Zane asked and leaned closer to see. He frowned deeply.

There, written in bold red pen in block letters, were the words "FAG CROSSDRESSER".

The other two boys peeped over, careful to keep their distance from Kai. The brunet was breathing sharply and heavily through his nose, his nostrils flaring and whistling with each inhale and exhale. The four of them jumped when Kai slammed the paper on the desk he was using, stood up, grabbed his metal lunch box, and stomped over to the group of kids that were tittering among themselves.

"Wait, what's he doing?"

"Jay, sh."

Kai crossed his arms as he tapped his foot, waiting for the other students to take notice of him. The boy sitting closest to him feigned an innocent grin. "Yes, what is it?"

"You wrote that, didn't you?" Kai started, his eyes burning with ire. Some of the kids in the group laughed but that was the only sound in the room. Everyone else was silent and watching intently to see what was going to happen next. The boy's grin widened and became crueler.

"Yeah, so what? It's true, isn't it? That freak," he emphasized, jabbing a finger in Skylor's direction, "will never be a girl no matter how much it wants to be. I'm sure you understand since you do the exact same thing."

Some of the students watching hissed at the boy's response. They eyed Kai, his knuckles completely white from his grip on his lunch box.

"Yeah, well, know how I feel about that?" Kai asked, his voice somehow steady despite his shaky body. The boy leaned closer is fake interest. It was a terrible mistake.

Kai's arm pulled back and his lunch box holding hand crashed down against the boy's face. Many people jumped, a few took out their phones, and everyone else either screamed or cheered. No one moved to stop the brunet as he dropped his lunch box and pushed the boy out of his seat before getting on top of him and repeatedly punching him.

Snapping out of his shock, Zane was the first to respond. "Kai, stop it! I-I-I'm getting a teacher!" The blond ran out of the room and rushed into the teachers' lounge, yanking on the arms of the teachers for Classes 2-A and 2-B.

Cole was second, surging forward and trying to lift Kai off the boy he was ruthlessly pummeling and spitting at in his native tongue. The larger boy was certain most of what Kai was saying was not school appropriate.

Jay rushed into trying to calm everyone down, shouting over their screams.

Skylor grabbed the paper and folded it into halves, not knowing what to do.

When Zane returned with the teachers, they separated Kai from the boy, who was now bruised and bleeding. Kai was hissing and kicking but eventually relaxed and slumped in his teacher's arms.

"Put your phones away now!" the teacher for 2-A ordered. Instantly, everyone obeyed. She crossed her arms, her foot tapping aggressively. "Now, we would like an explanation as to what was happening just now. Anyone?" It was dead silent, the complete opposite from moments ago. Not even the group that had instigated the whole event spoke up.

"Um..." Skylor raised her hand before dropping it and approached the teacher. She held out the folded sheet of paper to her. "They... wrote that and threw it at me."

The teacher eyed the paper, then looked down at the boy sitting on the floor, using his shirt to stop his nose from bleeding any more. "He did? Who's 'they'?" she questioned. Nervously, Skylor pointed at the entire group. They all hung their heads in shame.

"And just what were you doing, Kai? I didn't expect this from you," the teacher from 2-B asked. He was shocked, to say in the least. The boy pouted and crossed his arms.

"I got mad," he answered tersely, the anger still evident in his voice.

"That can't be the only reason!" the male teacher said.

"Well, he did say that Skylor and Kai were the same, dressing up as girls so they could 'pretend that they are,'" Jay answered for the teacher, quoting the words that the boy more or less said so himself. The female teacher glared at the students.

"I am emailing all your parents tonight about this behavior. Yours as well," she snapped at the group and Kai.

"How are you going to do that?" the still fuming brunet retorted. Before she could shout, the male teacher intercepted the conversation.

"What do you mean, Kai?" he asked calmly.

"We don't have a computer, just a phone."

"Then I will call them tonight, alright?" the male teacher concluded before the woman could. Kai nodded subtly. He patted the young boy's shoulder and let him go. "Alright everyone, back to your classrooms and seats. Sadly, we may have to restrict certain lunchtime privileges for an undetermined amount of time. Don't groan!"

Zane smiled sadly at his friends before getting up from the desk and leaving. Skylor grabbed her lunch before rushing for the doors, not even giving some sort of goodbye. The students shifted the desks back to where they were. Kai tugged on his teacher's sleeve.

"Can I at least go to the bathroom?" the young boy asked quietly.

"Hurry back, you have ten minutes." Kai nodded and sped walked to the nearest bathroom. He slammed the door of the closest stall shut before collapsing into a sitting position and sobbed heavily. He was late to class.

Several of the students from the group were suspended, including the boy that was injured. He was told that another incident like the one the previous day would result in expulsion. Kai, fortunately, only had an ISS, an in-school suspension, that extended for an entire month. He had to attend lunch and after school detentions as well.

After two weeks, the students of Classes 2-A and 2-B could sit wherever they pleased. However, Skylor resumed eating lunch in her own class, at her own desk, but thankfully still wore what she felt made her a real girl (although she already was).

Once his ISS was over, his friends had noticed instantly and were disappointed to see that Kai no longer wore what he wanted, instead just a hoodie and jeans most days.

aaaah, drama. don't ya love it (read: HATE IT) 'cause same.

Reminder to never bully and call people slurs. It can really hurt and no one deserves to be dehumanised like that.