Anne hadn't seen the sophomore with the flowing red hair in two days. She was running out of time to ask him to the dance and had decided to ask him next time she saw him. Not only that, but she was worried about him. Was he hurt? Was he...ok...?

"Anne-?"

"-I'm fine," she murmured, flashing her teacher a weary smile.

She was in a science, Human Anatomy class. But she wasn't learning; she was sitting in on the class and she acted as a student teacher. The bell rang, and just as Mr. Brauchman walked over to close the door, a student ran into the classroom, though he didn't seem out of breath whatsoever.

Anne's eyes nearly popped out of her head. It was Grell; she eyed him as he walked over to his seat. His face was covered with a heavy layer of foundation, but it was easy to tell that he was attempting to cover up several ugly bruises. Even his hair seemed duller than usual. But when the sophomore turned and sat down, she saw that his eyes were as sharp as ever. All pity for him vanished; he was not going to wallow in self pity and he did not seem upset, so what right did she have to be?

OO

As the class wrapped up, Anne gathered her things, ready to leave. While the other students had half an hour of freetime, she had another class to go to. But she had something to accomplish before leaving...

"Grell."

"...What?" the boy replied, looking up from a blank paper that had been assigned as homework.

The junior drew in a deep breath and her words came out smoother than she expected them to. "Wait at your locker after lunch."

He seemed confused, but didn't question what she said. He simply shrugged and replied with a simple 'whatever'. And with that, Anne left the room.

...

A boy with brown hair got out of his seat and sat on the red-headed sophomore's table, smirking. "Looks like even good ol' Annie wants to add some more bruises to that disgusting little face of yours." Annie was a name that everyone knew Anne hated; all the more reason to add it to an insult.

"Shut it," Grell growled, trying to ignore the other student by continuing to stare at his paper.

The boy only snickered more. "Look at you, fiesty! So then, why try to cover all of these bruises with makeup? Makeup will never make you pretty, or a girl!"

The sophomore clenched his fist, but said nothing, trying to resist punching the kid in the ribs as his taunts continued. "I mean, seriously-"

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave Grell alone already. As you can see, I have a test I need to study for and your incessant insults are interrupting the silence I need. Besides, you should act more mature and realize that even if he may be of homosexual orientation, he is able to hold his own, and as all of you ill-mannered barbarians say, he is capable of 'kicking your ass'."

In front of them, a boy with hair as black as a crow's feathers and with skin as white as snow, turned around, glaring at Grell's tormentor with irritated red eyes. His name was Sebastian, and it was a well known fact that the red-headed boy was always after him. It wasn't surprising though; he had good looks, and a nice body, lean and muscular from years of playing soccer. Yet, he didn't try to draw attention to himself, though it often found him.

The rude boy's sneer turned into a frown, and his face was turning red with anger. But before he could go off on Sebastian, his frown turned back into a wicked smile. "What have we here? The gentleman is sticking up for the stupid fag. This is definitely not something that happens everyday, now is it?" he chuckled, and he was the only one chuckling. Normally, others would have joined in by then. Perhaps it had been the soccer player's boldness that had silenced the crowd.

There came the sound of a moving chair from the corner of the room, then there were footsteps to follow it. Before the homophobe could even figure out who had gotten out of their seat, a powerful hand slapped him across the face, causing him to fall off the desk onto the floor. And his attacker was none other than William T. Spears.

"Did you not hear the sports junkie? Leave him alone already. Some people are trying to work, and you are being quite distracting and being truthful, you are pissing me off. It's a hard thing to do, but it's possible. Now pick yourself up off the ground and go back to your seat; or do I need to inflict more abuse on your face?" The black-haired boy's voice was that of a snarl, and his yellow-green eyes glittered dangerously; something they rarely did.

The student stood up slowly and finally backed down. After taking a long moment to glare at William, he went over to his seat and sat in silence. Will looked at Grell through the corner of his eye and gave a slight nod, before heading back to his own seat. Of course, William cared for Grell. But he avoided comforting the red-head, and that only made him feel more lonely than he already was.

Oh well;; at least this time he had had two amazing guys stand up for him. It was probably the first and last time something like that would ever happen...

He couldn't help but wonder from earlier...why was he needed at his locker after lunch? What was it that Anne, the junior that he always caught watching him, the one that had seen him get into many fights, wanted? Something told him she wasn't looking for a fight, either...