Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was that face. How could she have known already? I stared at myself in the mirror, toothbrush hanging from my mouth, heart beating in my throat. I couldn't chicken out today, not after I went through the trouble of transferring. Not after I'd run away the first time ...

Spitting out my toothbrush, I rinsed my mouth and washed my face. This was something I had to face. If she knew, well ... I would deal with that if it came to it. Hopefully, she would be the kind of person to leave well enough alone ...

Putting on a brave face with one last look in the mirror, I hurried downstairs to face the day.

For some reason, I had expected ... More. More stares. More name-calling. More pushing and shoving and insults. But none of that happened. I got to my first class unharmed. It was as if I were in some kind of bad dream, knowing something bad was going to happen sometime soon but not knowing what or when exactly it would happen.

Impending doom, I think it was what it's called.

Lunch rolled around and I mustered up my courage to go into the boy's bathroom, escaping the classroom before Link could come and talk with me. I spent my lunch hour locked in a stall, eating the food my mother had prepared for me. When the bell rang, I waited for the bathroom to clear before booking it to my next class, which I made it to just as unharmed as the first two.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn't go so well. As I was packing up my things at the end of the day, one of the guys I'd been rather intimidated by approached me. He was taller than anyone else in the class, and much more muscle-bound. He kept his red hair combed back, and he was sporting the start of a beard – which only served to make him look all the more intimidating.

Leaning on my desk, he sat on the notebook I'd been about to put away. I didn't let him know it bothered me, knowing full well that he was probably going to make a crack at me – I'd seen the way he treated his so-called 'friends,' and it wasn't nice.

"Hey, new kid. You got a name?" His voice was gruff, commanding. I couldn't help but look up at him, meeting those frightening eyes. They seemed to glow gold, but I knew they were hazel – people didn't have gold irises, after all.

"Sheik," I answered, heart pumping wildly. What did he want with me? I hadn't done anything to warrant his attention ... had I? "And you are?"

He whistled, turning to laugh with the friends of his that had circled my desk. "Hear that? He doesn't know my name!" Beside the five of them, I was a pebble, insignificant. But still he leaned forward, eyes capturing my gaze. "How's this, I'll tell you my name once. If you forget it, I'll give you a ..." He cocked his head and there was a loud popping noise, "Friendly warning."

The guys around my desk jostled one another, smiling and laughing amongst each other. This wasn't good. I'd already gotten on the bad side of the school bully. "Sounds fair," I squeaked, hoping my burning face wasn't giving away how scared I was just then. I couldn't afford to get into any fights.

"My friends call me Ganon, but you can call me Ganondorf. Got it?" He stood then, putting his hand on my shoulder – and on instinct, I shied away. He didn't like that. "Oh, tough guy thinks he's above letting me touch him!" Raising his hands in mock defensiveness, Ganondorf backed away with a crooked grin. "Looks like we got ourselves a new bad-ass in town. Tell you what, bad-ass, why don't we settle this tomorrow, before school. See who's the biggest bad ass in the school, huh?"

"I don't want to fight you." My ears were roaring. This couldn't be happening.

My words fell on deaf ears as Ganondorf and his friends started to roughhouse with each other, laughing raucously, ignoring me. They left me alone in the room to finish packing my things, panic and fear squeezing my chest. I couldn't fight him, I couldn't get into trouble – my parents would transfer me back into my old school if I so much as let my grades slip even a little, a fight would put me back into that hellhole so fast ...

No. I would just have to avoid Ganondorf from now on.

Thinking that I was home free after that awful encounter with my new enemy, I dawdled with putting my stuff in my bag. I didn't look where I was going, glancing up when I neared my locker to see Link waiting for me there. My heart nearly stopped. I couldn't deal with him too!

"Hey, Sheik!" Link called my name before I had a chance to turn around and bugger off.

Damn! "Oh. Hello." Why did I always sound so lame?

"We didn't see you at lunch." Link leaned against the lockers as I approached. The way he looked at me was too intense, and I felt myself become flustered.

"Sorry," was all I could come up with as I pulled open the locker I called my own. It was still neatly organized, since I'd just moved in, but I knew within the last months of classes it would most definitely become a disaster. Pretending to focus all my attention on getting what I needed from the small space, I hid my embarrassed face from Link as best as I could with him trying to peek over the door.

"So, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out-"

"I gotta go." I slammed my locker shut and turned to catch my bus, but Link grabbed my bag before I could escape, stopping me.

"Is something wrong? Did I piss you off or something?"

Without turning to face him, I readjusted my bag and shook my head. It took a moment for me to work up the courage to glance over my shoulder to see the frustration and hurt on Link's face and it almost made me lose my nerve. Almost. "It's ... Not that." I couldn't hold his gaze very long, turning my head to stare at the wall beside me. "I'm just not used to this, to having friends that just ... Accept me." The burning feeling returned to my face and I fled.

My stomach felt heavy with regret. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. If he didn't know before, I was sure he knew now. It physically pained me to even entertain the idea that he knew. Knew that I wasn't what I should be. That I was a freak of nature.

I didn't deserve to have him as a friend. I wouldn't be able to bear knowing that he knew.

The bus ride home was awful. Holding in tears and cursing my very being for simply existing made the ride almost intolerable. Once again, I raced up the stairs and locked myself in my room the moment I got home. Dealing with my parents would have to wait.

Crying into my pillow took full priority.

I woke up to the phone ringing. The bright alarm clock next to my bed shone obnoxiously at me when I rolled over, realizing that I was still wearing my jacket and backpack. It was well past when my family ate dinner, and the sun had already set a long time ago, but the smell of food was strong. Glancing at my door, I saw that the door was unlocked and there was a plate of food on my dresser, waiting for me.

At least my parents weren't completely heartless.

Stripping out of my school clothes and changing into pyjamas, I took the plate back downstairs to heat it up. Unfortunately, my mother was in the kitchen, talking on the phone. But I had to eat, so I decided to endure her company until I was finished eating.

Covering the mouthpiece as I threw the plate in the microwave, she mouthed to me how I was doing. I gave her a so-so hand motion and turned to watch the progress of the potatoes with gravy and vegi-infused macaroni on the plate as it heated.

I tuned back in to her conversation when I heard that name. Were they ever going to get it? I was starting to doubt it.

"She's right here. Yeah. No, no, everything is fine. Yeah, it sounds like she was just being bullied at school. You know how kids are."

I cringed, gritting my teeth. How long would it take before they acknowledged that I wasn't their fucking daughter? I was Sheik, I had always been Sheik, their son. Could they just at least respect me by not talking about me behind my back? Was that so hard to do?

"Oh yeah. She's adjusting fine."

She.

"The school is a little far, but the bus comes by to pick her up."

Her.

"Oh no, it's not that bad. Our daughter did the research and she was the one to decide it was okay."

That was it. "Mother!" I whirled around, eyes clouded with unshed tears and chest aching in anger. Catching her attention, she muttered something about being just a moment before covering the mouth again and asking what was wrong. "I'm not your daughter, I'm your son! If you can't fucking deal with that, then I'm done with you! I'm done with all this bullshit!"

Stunned, she looked at me with wide eyes. I knew what was coming. The victim card. I wasn't going to wait for that. Not bothering to grab any of my things – my wallet was already in my pocket – I stomped over to the front door as my mother ended her conversation. Slipping on my shoes and slamming the door, more with frustration than anger, I ran. Again.

I ran until I couldn't any more. Unfamiliar with the area I ended up in, and ignoring the frantic calls from my parents, I followed the streetlights to a playground. Even though it was close to eleven, there were still people out playing on it. Luckily, the swings were free, so I went to them, feeling them call out to me.

For a while, I just swung, pushing the swingset to it's limits and feeling one side pull out of the gravel on the height of my swing. The wind felt great on my face, muscles burning angrily at the workout to distract me. When I had calmed down, I noticed that the swing next to me was occupied too, and with the last person on earth I wanted to see just then.

"Hey," he said when I noticed him. "I didn't think I'd see you here this late."

Playing with the gravel at my feet, I was glad it was dark. "Yeah," my voice was husky and raw, throat screaming for water. "Same to you."

"What brings you?"

Not really wanting to answer, I just shrugged.

Link heaved a sigh, pushing himself off the gravel and letting his momentum carry him forward and back. "Look, Sheik. I know we've only talked once, but ... I'm here for you. Being gay in high school is hell, I definitely know that. I also know that sometimes you just need someone to talk at." Shooting me a meaningful glance, Link pushed his legs out, keeping his swing going. I couldn't help but notice the way the dim light from the street threw him into shadow. It highlighted what muscle you could see on his arms and neck. He looked just ... Perfect like that.

But I knew he would never like a person like me. Never.

"Thanks," I muttered, joining him in swinging once more. We stayed silent for a long time, until his friends – most of them I didn't know – came to bid him farewell. It wasn't long after that he left me too.

By the time I had the presence of mind to answer my phone to my screaming parents, it was close to two in the morning. Tired as all hell I barely listened to their lectures, forced to endure them explaining to the police that their daughter had come home, that Zelda was back and no need to panic when I did finally get picked up and driven home.

Falling asleep purely because of my physical exhaustion, I found myself waking up late and missing my bus. Well. Maybe transferring hadn't been for the best. Not only had I let my bullies win, I was off to the worst start ever.

At least it was Friday again.