[Karkat POV]
You feel your shoulders tense. Fuck. Just fuck.
Gamzee is a mess. Maybe he won't admit he's hurting, but you fucking know it. And you can hear Vriska wailing in the background. You walk away from the stoner and you go back into class, ignoring the teacher.
"Calm down." You growl at them all gently. "I'll go get the assembly started. Vriska, Terezi, and Eridan, come with me." You scan the faces of the friends you had just called out, and shouldered past Aradia and into the hallway.
You glance over at the doorway. Here she comes; your girlfriend, Terezi Pyrope. She's holding onto her red dragon cane, and you can tell she's fighting back tears from behind her red glasses. The poor girl is blind, you remind yourself, and gently tug her over to where you and Gamzee were.
Vriska Serket follows behind her, pulling on her denim jacket to keep her sobs choked back. She undoubtedly liked Tavros, a lot, you think. It must be hard on her, too.
"Well, fuck, get up Gamzee." You look over at him. He's zoned out as fuck.
"W-Well, calm down Kar," you hear the stuttering of the science-junkie as he walks out of the classroom. His name is Eridan Ampora. You aren't big friends with him, but you don't exactly want to stick his guts in a blender either.
"He's not goin' to follow-w you, if you keep orderin' him around like that." Eridan folds his arms across his chest, over his precious blue and black striped scarf.
"Still having trouble with your W's, huh?" You snap at him sarcastically.
"Oh, come on now." Terezi chimes in, and steps between you and Eridan. "You don't really need to fight now, do you? Karkles, get your but moving to the gym." You feel your girlfriend grab hold of your wrist and begin to drag you through the hallways. She may be blind, but it doesn't stunt her stubbornness.
You turn your head back and glance over your shoulder. Eridan has pried Gamzee up off the ground, and Vriska is following beside Gamzee. They are quiet, for the most part, and you can tell Eridan is really swallowing his stubbornness to try and help.
Good, you murmur under your breath as you go to the office. They announce an assembly over the intercom, and you send Terezi off to go get the trio and place them near the front row.
The gym begins to fill in with students, anxious and nervous teenagers. Some are ready to leap from their seats, as others are trying to figure out why the tone of this assembly is so hushed and dark.
You stand in front of a wooden podium in the middle of the gym. Everyone's eyes lock on you, and the hushed murmuring dies down. You scan the faces of the many teenagers there; some of them are stricken with grief. You assume they already know.
"Alternia High," you begin, addressing the school as a whole. You nervously shift your weight to your other foot. "I don't want to be having this assembly, for the reason some of you know already-"
Some jackass in the back interrupts you. "Did someone finally blow up the chemistry lab?" This earns a trickle of laughter among the main body of students, however, most remain silent.
"No, you a-" you catch yourself from the swear that wants to roll right off your tongue. "I mean, no! It's about a student here. And some of you," your gaze locks back in the general direction that the jackass was sitting in, "will wish you never heard this. Because I knew the student whose caused our assembly today." You swallow again, gaining confidence. "How many of you here- the very students I'm looking at- how many of you pushed Tavros Nitram around?"
The crowd goes silent. You're glaring at everyone now. Not even the ones who are crying deserve a more gentle time.
"We got word today that our friend had committed suicide. Because of you idiots!" You watch as several guilty gazes drop to the floor. Some put their head in their hands.
"You wanted a laugh so gogdamn bad that you drove a perfectly innocent student- one of my friends- to his own fucking death. How does that feel?" All your emotion is being channeled into anger now. You catch a spark flare in Gamzee's eyes. He nods to you.
You look away from your friends, at everyone, at all of their tears, grief, or some even have blank faces. It disgusts you.
"Dismissed." You growl, and walk away from the podium. You walk completely out of the gym. Students begin to file hastily out, going back to class. You head toward Tavros' old locker. You sure as hell didn't know the combination, but the little guy may have kept his locker unlocked, much like many of his friends do.
B-26, left hallway, past the cafeteria. You reach for the cold, metallic handle just under the dial, and pull up. The lock sticks, so you pull again, muttering a curse under your breath. After some jumbling, it gives in, and the door swings open. You can see Tavros' books and notebooks stacked messily inside, as well as a few loose papers. But it wasn't too messy. He had some old Fiduspawn cards laying around, and one of his personal favorites- you knew because you had seen his hand crafted plush of this particular Fiduspawn a few times- was taped to the inside door of his locker. You gently pried it off, and looked at it in the palm of your hand.
Something flutters to the ground behind it, so you bend down to pick it up. The halls are almost empty now. It's a folded, white piece of paper. You unfold it. Tavros had such messy handwriting.
Dear guys,
I, uh, I kind of hate to be writing this, because, I'm wasting your time having you find it, and read it, but, I, I guess you found it because I managed to do, what I originally planned. I want Gamzee to read this, and, if it's no trouble, to remember, the conversation we had, around, a month prior to when this note was written, and, that's when I stopped going to school.
Uh, I'm, sort of, really sorry.
-Tavros Nitram
Your heart wretched. He may not be your best friend, but the little guy tried. Even in a suicide note, you guessed this is what it was considered, he still stammered over himself. You tucked the note back into a neat little square, put the card back on the inside of the locker, and closed it, pocketing the note. You figured you would talk to Gamzee about this 'conversation' Tavros had mentioned.
Gamzee was sitting in the back of the classroom, but the teacher was nowhere in sight. You ducked down the row of desks, and went to his desk. You placed the note down on it. "Gamzee!" You yell, and he looks up at you. The ridiculous gray-and-white clown face paint he always wears is smeared near the eyes. It makes your stomach turn.
Gamzee looks down at his desk. "And what's this little motherfucker all up and doing just sitting here. Does he want to be read or something?" Gamzee looks over at you, trying to smile, trying to send his normal flare of humor into this situation.
"Read it." You nod, and glance back up at the door. Teacher still wasn't in. Good, you guess.
Gamzee carefully picks up the note, and unfolds it, accidentally tearing the corner of the paper. "Aw, shit." His eyes scan the paper, and fade into a gentle, yet sad, smile. He put a hand over some of the words, and his smile flickered. "Wait a motherfuckin' minute."
Your gaze looks back at Gamzee. "What the fuck is wrong with it? It's a note, now what's with the conversation he mentioned-"
"Tavbro didn't fuckin' write this." Gamzee looks up at you. He's dead serious.
"What?"