Karkat's mind froze when he saw Kanaya pointing her delicate, manicured finger at him. The woman she had been talking to followed the invisible line made by her finger and saw him. Sh-shit! She made a beeline towards him, and he panicked. If they find out anything and call Dad, I don't even know what he'll do to me. Lurching into motion, he climbed the fence-like railing on the bleachers that were there to prevent anyone from falling off. For the second time that day, he found himself briefly gaining a moment of freedom before the hand of gravity reasserted its ownership of him.
Luckily for Karkat, the drop was only ten feet. He landed feet first and bent his knees to dispel the force of the impact. His effort only worked partially, for his rib throbbed, making Karkat lightheaded and his vision dim. Recovering from the impact, he sprinted out the convenient door that happened to be three feet away from him. Ignoring the hideous pain his rib and head gave him, he sprinted through what appeared to be a locker room and out an exterior door. Oh, God that hurts. But, if they catch me, I'll be hurting way worse than this tomorrow.
Emerging into the now deserted courtyard, he wildly searched for the Dumpsters. He knew he could hide between or behind them if need be. And his black hoodie would be perfect camouflage against the shaded purple. Charging wildly, blindly ahead, he turned back to look at the door he had emerged from. It was closed. Still sprinting, he turned his head back around and-WHAM!
His head had clipped a metal pole supporting one of the shade structures. The shock alone brought stars dancing in his eyes. He felt his body stumble and land on the cement. Then, the pain hit him. "AHHHHHH! FUCKING HELL!" he shrieked, writhing in agony on the ground. A steady stream of expletives gradually faded into nonsensical babbling as he felt, no, heard, unconsciousness rush upon him. If anyone had been there, they would have had to look very hard to see him, crumpled up into a tiny ball on the ground, in a deep shadow against an obsidian wall. If someone had seen him, they would have noticed a thick stream of blood running from his newly cracked skull into his hoodie.
Karkat was standing in his kitchen, paralyzed with fear. His father was holding his "carving knife", ready for another round of "trimming". The shadowed figure advanced on Karkat, holding the long, thin, razor sharp knife in front of him. His arm blurred, Karkat felt a horrendous pain on his chest, and suddenly he was standing with blood running down his torso, eleven two-inch tall letters carved into his chest: ABOMINATION. He knew he was asleep, but he couldn't force himself to wake up. Distracted by the sound of harsh laughter, Karkat looked up at his dad. The shadowy figure split into three, which then continued to multiply until Karkat found himself surrounded by shadowy, laughing Dads.
He began to hear them whisper at him: "You're nothing…", "You should die…", "Yes, die!", "Die!", "DIE!" The shadows all took up the chant. Suddenly finding himself able to move again, Karkat clamped his thin hands over his ears, but the chanting got louder still. Screaming now, he curled up into a ball on his bloodstained kitchen floor, rocking back and forth until the whispers ceased.
Karkat awoke right as the bell rang, releasing a torrent of humanity from the gym. He attempted to move, but his head absolutely throbbed. Tentatively feeling his cranium with his one uninjured hand, he felt a warm, wet, sticky patch on the entire left side of his head. He probed to the center of the pool, and nearly passed out again. No, I sure as hell am not going back there! Clawing his way back to reality, he realized what happened. I… oh dear God, I broke my fucking head!
He noticed he was in an out-of-the-way corner of the courtyard, steeped in shadow. He waited while the crowd dissipated, ready to head to the bathroom again. When the final bell rang, he waited five minutes and slowly got to his feet. No wave of blackness engulfed him, though his vision dimmed at the edges. Slowly, he limped over to the bathroom. This time, there was no caring observer to see the tiny figure make his way to the door. No one was there at all.
Once inside the bathroom, Karkat gathered paper towels and wet them in the sink, then wiped away the blood from his coal black hair. As the cold water gradually numbed the wound, he felt it with his right hand. Good, it's not bad, just a crack. Damn, should have been more careful. What were you thinking Karkat? You stupid dumbass! Hey, here's a good idea: LOOK WHERE YOU'RE FUCKING GOING, DUMBFUCK! He finished cleaning his head, and decided that he would have to go to class. Even with a goddamn head split open? Yes indeed, don't be a sissy Karkat. Any one of these people could take that without even blinking! Those shadows are right…
"Oh, fuck, I don't even have a schedule. Where's the damn office?" Karkat cursed himself for his stupidity. Looking at a paper map stapled to a bulletin board, he found that the office was right across the courtyard. He carefully walked over to it, and sighed in pleasure as he opened the door and a wave of cold air greeted him. Appearing casual, he observed the office, seeing a short line of people to his left and a picture of last year's graduating class on the wall to his right. The strange thing was the fact that it was nearly silent in the large room. There was only a quiet whispering from the front of the line.
After waiting in the line for two minutes, Karkat was up at the receptionist's desk. "Karkat Vantas" he intoned, and the receptionist gave him his schedule. Glancing over it, he saw what classes he was placed in: 1st Hour: Algebra 1; 2nd Hour: Study Hall; 3rd Hour: Adv. Social Studies; 4th Hour: Adv. Fresh. English; 5th Hour: Biology; 6th Hour: SEE GUIDANCE FOR DETAILS.
Huh, wonder what 6th is about. "Uh, excuse me? What's with my 6th hour class?"
"Oh, that? I don't know, you'll have to come back here then. Guidance is right down the hall, last door on the right. There's a plaque on it so you can't miss it. Now, get going to class!"
Karkat looked at the map on the back of his schedule and set off toward the one class that he actually liked. Math.