Karkat sat with his back against the wall, watching for anyone who might intrude on his personal grassy haven. It seemed like nobody knew about it, or that it was so far out of the way that no one ever came there. Still, it's a quiet place. Perfect for getting away from the noise. He still hurt like hell, but it was far more manageable. The previous day, it was so bad that it had dulled his senses, always trying to get him to fall asleep. Now, it was able to keep him awake. He shivered in his thin hoodie; his underfed body could barely produce enough heat to keep him warm.

He sat there, thinking about yesterday's events. I still can't comprehend why she can even bear to be around me. I'm so disgusting I make myself want to vomit. As he thought, he slowly curled up in a ball, bringing his knees to his chest. Kanaya though, she's so perfect. She has everything. How can she get herself covered in filth to try to help me? I'm sure she knows it won't work and that I'm not worth the effort. Wrapped in his dark thoughts, he did not notice Kanaya approach him until she sat down next to him.

"Um, good morning Karkat."

Karkat's reaction was to jump up and nearly sprint away before his instincts realized she was no harm. "S-sorry, you startled me."

"There's no need to apologize, I did startle you, after all." She sat down next to him, looking at the narrow strip of sky above them. "Have you ever seen the city in the morning? Or the evening?"

"No, I live a few miles away, and don't really go outside very much."

"Oh, that truly is a shame. The late afternoon is possibly the best time of day; the sun reflects off the windows and turns everything golden. And in the morning…"

Karkat listened as she waxed eloquent about the city at different times of the day. Sounds like a real sight. I bet she's eventually going to try to get me to see it with her. It would be wasted on me. "Wait, what was that last bit? About me eyes?"

"Oh I was just saying that today's sunrise was the exact shade of your eyes. It was such a wonderful ruby."

"You're actually saying that you think my eyes are wonderful? You're kidding, right? My eyes are a disgusting, freakish, fresh-blood color! They're hideous!"

"No, they're not! They're wonderful. I've never seen eyes like that before."

"Sure, just say it, I'm a freak."

"Karkat, how on earth do you expect anyone to help you if you talk about yourself like you are less that trash?"

"I never have expected anyone to help me, as if I needed it, and I am less than trash. Don't you get it? You're wasting your time on me. Go find someone worth your attention." He curled back up into a ball, clearly telling Kanaya 'this conversation is over'.

She refused to take the hint, and instead put her hand on his back, right between his shoulder blades. He's so thin, I never noticed with his baggy sweater. His shoulder blades are poking out from his body! "You just can't talk about yourself like that. I decide where to invest my time, and you are the one who needs it the most. Thus, my presence."

"If you knew anything about me, you would run away from me." Karkat's voice was thick with emotion, "I am the singularly most disgusting individual you will ever lay eyes on. I'm not worth the dirt on your shoes."

"It doesn't matter how many times you say it, it doesn't make it any less wrong."

"You don't even know me. I drive every single person away from me. They see me for who I really am: a worthless piece of shit."

"No, they see you for who you think you are, but you think about yourself in the wrong way. I'll tell you what I see: you are incredibly strong. Yesterday, you went through classes with a cracked skull, a broken rib, and God knows how many other injuries, yet you didn't once let loose a sign that you were in pain. Just thinking about that makes me cringe."

"I was also sleeping half the day, so a good portion of that 'strength' is just sloth."

"What about the other part?"

"Fluke."

Kanaya wanted desperately to continue the conversation, but the bell rang, signaling the beginning of classes. She watched as he got to his feet, purposefully twisting so that his broken rib was being compressed, painfully so, by his body. Yet he didn't even flinch, not a flicker of pain showed in his eyes. They went their separate ways, each having a class to get to.

That day, the classes were full length, so the teachers actually were able to do something. Karkat took the pretest for math, trying to focus on the problems, but the pounding of his head was such a distraction. Also, it didn't help that he became a magnet for flying objects.

He knew half the stuff on the test from his advanced pre-algebra course in eighth grade, but felt he got nearly every problem wrong. Great job, dumbshit. Certainly aced that one, champ! He turned his test and answer document in to Ms. Crocker and sat back down. Almost instantly, she looked up straight at him with an eyebrow cocked, seemingly surprised.

During study hall, he ignored Kanaya as she tried to talk to him, eventually feigning sleep to get her to stop. Instead, she once again put her hand between his shoulders. He was so small her palm covered the area between the blades, and her fingers covered half of them. He could feel the Ibuprofen wearing off, so when the bell dismissed them, he took another, washing it down with a sip of water from the water fountain.

Strider had an activity planned where every student in the class was given a handout with fifteen different activities. The task was to find someone who had done the activity and get them to sign in the space provided. From the get-go, Karkat saw that he had nowhere he could sign.

One of the girls with an empty sheet walked up to him, asking for a signature. "Sorry, can't help you."

She raised her eyebrow in surprise. "You didn't… see a movie over the summer? Go somewhere out of state? Out of the city? No? Nothing? Sheesh, what'd you do, sit in your room all day and play Xbox all break?"

"No, I don't have a gaming console. That's a question on the sheet."

"So what did you do over the break?"

"Absolutely nothing." Apart from getting used as dad's personal knife sharpener, punching bag, and the occasional errand runner.

"Wow, must have been boring."

"Yeah, kinda." You kidding? I was always too scared to be bored. The girl walked off, and Karkat sat until the class ended.

English class was the most rigorous of the day. Karkat not only had to take a pretest, but also had to select a book from a pre-ordained pile and begin taking notes about various things within the story itself: the setting, the characters introduced, things like that. He was almost glad when the end of class came, but realized that lunch was next. She'll probably want to buy me lunch again. It's such a waste of time, effort, money, and food. She should know I'm not worth it.