Karkat walked away from Strider's room quaking in terror. She's going to tell someone. I know she is. She somehow knows what's going on. I really really fucking hope I don't have English with her. As he walked, he shuffled through his growing stack of papers for his schedule. Glancing at the room number, he saw that the English classes had their own building, which happened to be right next to the math building. If Kanaya is in that fucking room I am turning around and ditching.

All of this took place in a few seconds. He started to walk out of the small courtyard the way he had come in, but decided to go around the other side of the building when he saw Kanaya in that direction. He could feel her gaze as he rounded the corner, nearly breaking out into a run before the excessive pain in his head forced him to stop.

Looking around, Karkat saw that he was in a sort of tunnel; there was about ten feet between the building and the school wall which had no apparent use. The ground was not concrete, unlike most of the campus, but it was actually a well manicured lawn. Looking around, Karkat saw that there was nobody else in this little grassy walkway. He paused for a moment, but was startled into action by the warning bell. He had to get to class.

The fifth stroke of the bell had just sounded as Karkat got through the door, light headed from his wounds. Looking out at the room, he was relieved to see that Kanaya was not, in fact, in this class too. Most people were still milling about the class, inspecting the posters on the walls or the small collection of books in a case. Some select few had already claimed their seats. Probably the ones who actually care about the class.

Karkat made a beeline to the best seat in the class, the corner desk next to the door. He had just sat down in it before a voice, he assumed the teacher's, rose above the ruckus. "Alright, alright. Sit down now and we can cover a few basic ground rules." The owner of the voice turned out to be a tall, rather attractive blonde woman. Oh, fan-fucking-tastic! Now half the guys in the class will be fantasizing about her. Probably a few girls too!

"So, first off, my name is Ms. Lalonde. Welcome to Freshman English. It is always a fresh start when a new school year begins, but it is especially important for you as this is now high school." Karkat attempted to zone out and fall asleep, but his body had decided that it was no longer tired. "My classroom rules are simple: You are to act like mature adults in my room. What this entails is not up for interpretation however. This means, no swearing, no interrupting anyone when they are talking, raise your hand to ask a question and WAIT to ask until I call on you."

The students in the room gave a collective moan of dismay at her next statement, "I've been told that I am a strict teacher, that I'm no fun. Frankly, I am fine with that. I'm not here to run a social hour; I am here to teach English. If any of you have a problem with that, you can leave now." She surveyed the class expectantly, waiting for someone to get up. When no one did, she looked pleased. "Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I have an activity planned for today. Each of you is going to write a letter to yourself about your feelings of going into high school. These will not be read by anyone other than you, which you will not read until the end of senior year." As Ms. Lalonde spoke, she counted out a number of papers, which she distributed to the front of each row to be passed back.

Upon hearing those words, the class perked up slightly. Karkat didn't care either way. It's just a stupid 'let's build school spirit' exercise. When he received his sheet of lined paper, Karkat dug around in his hoodie pocket for a pencil. Finding one, he started to write.

Dear Worthless Fuckass,

Today is the first day of freshman year. So far, it sucks. I managed to snap a rib, dislocate my wrist, and CRACK MY FUCKING HEAD OPEN! There also is a girl who follows me around named Kanaya. I think she might like me, but I sure hope not. If she does, she won't for long if she ever finds out about home life. My teachers are crazy and my fucking head hurts so bad I'm fighting to stay conscious. Anyways, you can go fuck yourself.

Fuck you, Worthless Piece of Shit

He folded it in half and taped it shut, just as instructed. Then, he made for Ms. Lalonde's desk to turn it in, but someone's foot somehow ended up tangled in his legs, tripping him. His letter was held in his uninjured hand, so his natural reflex was to catch himself with his left hand. He realized his mistake too late to rectify it, and simply gritted his teeth in anticipation. When the shock came, he nearly passed the fuck out in the middle of class. The force snapped his head forward, and a drop of blood flew onto the letter.

He picked himself up gingerly, not wanting to put pressure on his hand. As he resumed his course, he heard a poorly veiled snicker, amplified by the near-silence of the room. When he got to her desk, she instructed him further. "Here is an envelope. Put your letter in there, seal it, and put your name on it. Then, put it in the box." She gestured to a hard plastic container, able to hold presumably hundreds of letters. Karkat did as instructed, nearly blinded by pain, and returned to his seat.

The rest of class passed quickly, Karkat's stomach making a rather fascinating conversation partner. Stupid stomach. Why do you always want to eat, huh? That's all you ever fucking want. Well, sorry, I have neither food nor money to buy it. Suck it up, Karkat, don't be a little sissy ass bitch. Why the fuck would you even think you deserved food? He was jolted out of his internal monologue by the bell, releasing them to their lunch hour. The class nearly instantly vacated the room, Karkat reluctantly following. Great, she'll be out there.

As it turned out, Kanaya was not right outside the door. Somehow, Karkat had expected she would be. He made his way to the cafeteria, somewhat surprised that there was no outside eating space. The smell of warm food made Karkat's stomach absolutely gurgle, but he had no money to buy it with, nor any real appetite. He hurt too much to keep anything down. Finding a table in one corner of the large room, he sat down and examined his stack of papers.

Many of them were notices detailing various clubs, sports, or other extracurricular activities. Yet, hidden among the trash, there were some notices of importance. For instance, there was a shortened version of the student handbook, a notice detailing when all freshmen had to have all of their textbooks checked out, but the one thing that made Karkat actually long for something was the flyer about the Start of School dance.

The front side of the flyer was a picture of what he assumed was last year's dance, seeing as the obsidian colored walls were present on the edges. He looked at the people, jealous of their carefree expressions, their unscarred skin, and their joy. For the first time in years, he actually felt like life had more to offer him than that which he had experienced. Quickly though, he suppressed those thoughts. Not a good idea to think like that, dumbfuck.

In a corner as he was, it was difficult for him to be spotted, but he could see the entire room. Scanning the writhing, noisy mass, he wondered why Kanaya wasn't in it. Heaving a sigh of relief, he began studying the grain of the wooden table he was sitting at when the door to his side opened, and in walked- "Oh, hello there Karkat!"- Kanaya.

"How many times do I have to FUCKING TELL YOU? Leave me the fuck alone!" Karkat had to shout to be heard over the noise, "I tell you over, and over, and over, but no, it can't seem to get through your thick skull that I AM AS DAMN WELL AS I EVER CAN BE!" Panting, Karkat got up from the table and made for the door, trying to shoulder past Kanaya, but she caught him by his sleeve.

"It would seem that more things get through your skull than mine. Well, right now at least."

Karkat froze, slowly lifting his gaze to meet hers, "Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? I didn't ask you to follow me around, I didn't ask you to hover over me, and I certainly didn't tell you anything like that!"

"No, you didn't, not verbally at least. But your body language suggested that-"

"I don't give a FUCK what my 'body language' suggested! LEAVE ME ALONE!"Attempting for the second time to shove past her, he failed again. "Get the FUCK off of me, now." He met her stare once more, this time glaring daggers at her.

"Wait, have you eaten anything? I see no trash or even crumbs on your table… Are you going to eat?"

"I, uh, I'm not hungry," Karkat muttered. His stomach, however, had a different thing in mind. It let loose a sound so loud it could be heard over the uproar in the cafeteria.

"Oh, sure. I do think your stomach did not get the memo on that. Wait here, I'll go get you some food." With that, Kanaya put him back in his seat, a little forcefully if truth be told, and set off toward the various lines.

KANAYA'S P.O.V.

Kanaya caught Karkat's shoulder as he tried to take the route of easiest escape. When he turned to glare at her, her observations in Social Studies were confirmed: his face was indeed gaunt, his eye sockets were sunken deep, and his eyes had blood vessels running through. Now that she could see him up close, she inspected his eyes themselves. As she looked, she saw terror, agony, and self-loathing in them. But, most of all, she saw hunger. Not just physical hunger either; this was a boy who desperately craved love, care, and kindness.

She was not surprised by his protests; his arguments were simply a product of the hell his life seemed to be to her. Kanaya knew that she could not heal his wounds easily, if at all. But, she could take care of his hunger. "I'll go and get you some food. With that, she was off.

Seeing the line from this far away, Kanaya knew that by the time she got back, Karkat would be long gone. Gritting her teeth against the necessity of breaking the rules, she held her head high and let an air of authority envelop her. As she walked past, her line cutting drew a few looks, but she exuded confidence and certainty. Not even the security guards bothered her. Well, there is the value of looks. If people see purpose, they will not question it.

Quickly scanning the food for sale, she decided to buy as much food as she could carry. The lady at the register raised an eyebrow, but Kanaya simply said, "There's a meeting going on." Kanaya paid and walked back to where she had left Karkat, the slim-figured girl drawing more than a few stares with an armload of food. Unsurprisingly, Karkat was gone. Sighing, Kanaya left through the doors to go and find him.

The first place she thought to look was in the small courtyard outside of Mr. Strider's classroom. No one was there. She recalled that he had turned around the building's corner; away from where she had been. She had also seen nobody going to or coming from that area. She rounded the corner, and there he was, thirty feet away.

"Dammit, I thought I gave you the slip." Karkat looked furious with himself. He beat his forehead with his fist, berating himself: "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Look, I know that you're hungry, and I already ate, so don't let this food go to waste," Kanaya reasoned with Karkat. He looked questioningly at the load of food she carried,then turned around.

"I-I didn't actually think you'd do that. But my only question is why?" Karkat asked, not so much her, but more thinking aloud, "We both know that I'm not worth shit, so why?" he spun around. "Why?" he repeated in a choked voice. Kanaya noticed he had tears in his marvelous ruby eyes.

Sitting down on the grass, she laid out the food as she answered. "First off, you are not worthless. Get that thought out of your head, right now. As to why I'm doing this, if you can't figure that out then you are in a sorrier state than I ever thought." Karkat looked surprised at this. Kanaya could tell he was sorely tempted by the food, and his stomach gave another loud grumble.

"I-I guess I could… maybe… eat something…" Karkat said, fear now in his voice. "I just can't get the thought out of my head that this is all just a joke. That you're just trying to lift me up a bit before you drop me." As he spoke, his body started shaking again, his voice grew thick and choked, and the tears dropped from his eyes.

Seeming to be torn between his warring body and soul, Kanaya decided to put an end to it for him. Unwrapping the cellophane from a sandwich, she walked over to him and when he tried to speak again, she shoved the food into his open mouth. She watched as he tried to talk for a few seconds, but then his jaw started moving in a rhythmic way, chewing. He took the sandwich in his hand and wolfed it down in two more bites, hardly stopping to chew. His body was filled with the primal need to feed.

Kanaya pointed back to the pile remaining on the grass. Karkat followed her gesture and nearly tackled the food. He ate as fast as possible, his mind no longer in control. Kanaya watched as the large pile of food was poured into his rapidly opening and closing mouth. How long has it been since he last ate? She contemplated this for the next five minutes while Karkat managed to cram multiple sandwiches, no less than three apples, and about four packages of cookies into his body. He stood up from the scattered remnants of his voracious eating and looked right into her eyes.

They were still filled with pain and fear, but the hunger that was present before was gone. There was, in its place, a small spark of life. See, Karkat, life does exist outside of whatever hell you are in. As she watched, a small smile appeared on his thin face. The change made him nearly unrecognizable. His entire face glowed, his eyes sparkled and danced. For a brief instant, Kanaya believed she had never seen something so beautiful in her life. Then, the moment passed. The difference was as if a cloud had rolled over the sun. He was once again a small, pained, fearful boy. But she had brought him to life, if only for an instant.