A/N: So, I meant to say something here about not wanting to be insensitive, culturally. I'm willing to accept blame for any offense.
He and Trent just sit there, looking at each other. Trent is openly watching him shake, with a strange expression on his face. He knows it must be disgust. How can it be anything else? He knows the disease is disgusting. That's part of why he tries to hide it, to protect people.
He didn't know how bad things were until he was ten. That was the year his parents split up, and he moved to France with his mother. He was angry to be in a new place. He was angry at his father for choosing his job in Ohio over his mother… or maybe angry at his mother for choosing her job in France over his father. Either way, he wasn't happy.
At his old school in America, he had gone to the nurse everyday before lunch, but no one had cared. At this new school, the other boys made fun of him for going to the nurse.
Once, when they were playing soccer, he had to stop and prick his finger because he felt weak and shaky. They stared at the drop of blood, and they ran away.
For the rest of the year, they pointed and stared and whispered. "Don't go near him, he has the American AIDS!" They would say, just loud enough so that he could overhear, but not so loud the teachers knew.
In sixth grade, no one will play soccer with him or talk to him at lunch, so he starts eating in the library.
The first week of seventh grade, he has a low blood sugar the he ignores because he doesn't want to be different. He thinks he can hold out, but he can't. He has a seizure in front of the entire school, culminating in him peeing himself. After that, no will even speak to him in class.
Things do not improve in eighth grade. Everyone knew he was a freak, and no one would talk to him. So, he does things to make them. He's always bee smart, but now he decides to speak up. He gets harsh and snarky and funny.
When he moves back to the US with his father and starts his sophomore year at Dalton, he swears he will not be a target anymore. If no one knows how weak he is, no one can use it to harm him.
He is surprised that Nick, David, Jeff and Trent have been so nice. But, he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, seeing the look on Trent's face, which is half grimace, half look of deep thought, he knows that it will soon. His time of having allies, who might turn into friends, will be over soon.
He watches his friend, and wishes he could control time.