Alright, here's chapter two! Enjoy, and review please! And warning, I'm pretty sure this chapter sucks, sorry. And thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

Dedicated to: Everyone that read the first chapter yay

A/N Allen seems kinda self-pitying in this chapter I guess and I kinda hate that but whatever it'll be gone in a few chapters so please bear with me oh and Lavi has a bit of crude language in this chapter so sorry if that bothers you

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM! I can barely afford instant ramen on my own, let alone DGM

Chapter Two:

Despair

Noun: The complete loss or absence of hope.

Verb: Lose or be without hope

His skin was stained purple and black as proof of what they thought of him. Their opinions on who he was and their feelings towards him marred his skin in bruises. He tried so damn hard to dismiss the insults they yelled at him, to pretend he wasn't hurt by the rumors and the girls who cowered in fear when they saw him, afraid what they heard in the hallways was true. Afraid that he really was a monster. He tried so hard to ignore the words on the crumpled pieces of paper that were thrown at him in class.

He tried so damn hard, but he was failing. No matter how much he pretended he wasn't, he was hurt, both physically and emotionally.

Not that they cared.

Back when he was younger, he thought it was a good thing that he was different. That's what Mana said. He said it was better to be himself than to be like everyone else. That being normal was boring. That it was okay being different from everyone else.

And now... For the first time in his life, he thought that Mana might be wrong.

But he had believed that when he was little, he had been proud of being different. He hadn't been hurt by the childish insults that were whispered about him on the playground, or those kids in his class who ignored him. Back when he was six, their parents were already slowly teaching them that if someone was different from you then you need to ignore them, be afraid of them. And then the kids learned from each other that if someone was peculiar then you should tease them, and they'd learn about hurting the weird kid later on.

But even back then, they didn't care if one day he showed up happy and energetic with brown hair and the next day he showed up to collect his things alone with hair as white as snow and a frown marring his young face and tears coursing down his cheeks.

And they didn't care when he never came to school again.

Allen walked through the mostly empty hallways, ignoring the few snickers he got. But for the time being, Allen couldn't help but realize how much worse everything would be if they saw his arm. His ugly, hideous arm.

"Hey... You see that guy over there? The one with the weird hair?" One girl whispered to the other girl next to her, supposedly being quiet, and apparently unaware that said weird-haired guy could hear everything.

"Yeah... What about him?" The other girl asked, unlocking her phone, prepared to type whatever she heard and text it to all her friends.

"I hear that he's an orphan. Ya know, that his mom abandoned him and stuff, but then the father killed himself or something to get away from him. Do ya think it's true?"

"Well yeah, I mean, if I was a parent I wouldn't want him as a kid either." She said, her fingers typing frantically on her cellphone screen.

Allen continued quickly down the hall, his shoulders back and posture straight. He had to pretend he wasn't hurt, had to feign that he hadn't heard or cared. But in a way, something inside him.. Broke. It's true his parents abandoned him, but he had had Mana. He had been happy.

But that happiness he once had was gone now.

And now, here he was sitting in the back of his calculus class, head down and staring at the paper the teacher had passed out. Although, his thoughts were't on the problems printed on the page, but instead on the note that had been thrown at him from a kid a few rows ahead. 'Die you freak' it read, the messy scrawl in black sharpie contrasting with the white lined paper.

The teacher continued talking about things no one really cared about, and Allen was lost in his thoughts. He knew he wasn't ordinary or average or normal or any of the things he wanted to be. He didn't have friends, he didn't fit in with the cliques.

After all, all you had to do was look at the small teen to know that he wasn't... Normal. That he wasn't like the other kids. He was different from them, he wasn't what normal parents would be proud of to call their son. Although, that didn't really matter, seeing as he didn't have any parents. He was just some orphaned kid with freakish hair and a freakish arm. A loser. A monster.

They all called him a monster, a demon... Because that's what he was to them. Everybody knew it.

And now, he was starting to believe them.

Lavi marched through the school, his thoughts consumed by the younger white-haired teen and self-proclaimed friend, Allen.

The longer Lavi searched for him, the more he was convinced that Allen was just a figment of his imagination that he had somehow convinced himself was real at some point during yesterday. And now, five minutes before the lunch bell rang, Lavi was seriously considering that the sophomore he met in the hallway yesterday was nothing but a ghost. But they shook hands, so he couldn't be a ghost, right?

Lavi was suddenly wishing he had read more books on the paranormal.

The bell rung with a shrill shriek, and as Lavi trudged up the stairs to his next class, he was considering the fact that the ghost/figment of his imagination theory might not be too far off.

English. The subject had always interested Allen, and he enjoyed the class very much. The other students didn't pay much attention to him, choosing to ignore him so they all had time to jot down the notes the teacher was writing in illegible handwriting on the whiteboard in green marker. And so Allen sat in the back of class, writing down some ideas he had here and there, but mostly just staring off into space.

The seat next to him was still empty, and Allen wondered if anyone was ever going to sit there. Not that it would bother him if the seat was never filled.

"Ah, fiddlesticks." The teacher (1) muttered under his breath, walking over to his desk and grabbing the clipboard off the cluttered surface. "I forgot to take attendance."

The teacher read off the list of names, checking off the people who called out 'here!' upon hearing their name. Allen only rose his hand when his name was called, and no one payed any mind to the boy in the back of the room.

"Lavi Bookman?" There was silence, and Allen's eyes widened. That was the boy he met yesterday, wasn't it? Lavi Bookman, huh?

"Do we have a Lavi Bookman in here?" The teacher called once again, and was answered by silence. People looked around, as if expecting that Lavi was hiding under one of the desks.

And just as the teacher was about to mark the absent column, the door practically slammed open, and a redhead burst inside with a jolt. Allen looked at the door out of the corner of his eyes, and was startled to see the boy from yesterday standing there slightly out of breath as if he had just run across the school campus... But then again, he probably had.

"I'm here! Sorry I'm late!" He plopped his bag on the floor near to the empty seat next to Allen before slinking into the seat himself with a sheepish grin on his face, ruffling the back of his fiery hair.

"Now tell me, Mr Bookman, why were you so late? It's almost fifteen minutes into class time."

The sheepish grin grew wider as Lavi answered the question. "Well you see, I kinda got lost."

"And pray tell, how did you manage that?"

Lavi shrugged, pulling out a notebook and pen from his backpack that was lying on the floor. "I dunno, it just kinda happened. One minute I knew where I was going and the next minute I didn't."

"Well, Mr Bookman, don't let it happen again."

And then the teacher went back to his lecture, placing the clipboard back on his messy desk and picking up a blue marker and writing more notes on the whiteboard. During this time however, Allen was panicking that Lavi would recognize him and laugh at him for yesterday. He could practically imagine how it could all go down.

'Ha! You and me, friends? Yeah right, as if that would ever happen. Freak, go back to hell. You disgust me, I would never be friends with the likes of you.' Lavi said as he raised his fist, bringing it down on Allen's face as the air was filled with a cold laughter.

It could happen exactly like that.

In fact, it was fairly plausible with a school like this. But in fear of the scenario he had come up with in his head coming true, he kept his eyes fixed to his notebook, writing down all the random thoughts that came to his mind, desperately trying to shut out the world around him, especially the older teen sitting next to him.

But, as fate would have it, Lavi did notice him. Almost instantly. The singular green eye widened, and a smile spread across his lips. Lavi had finally found the boy he had been looking for all day, and he mentally sighed in relief. Allen was sitting right next to him, which meant he wasn't a figment of his imagination like he had considered, which meant he wasn't insane.

Now all he had to do was talk to the kid. Which proved to be far more difficult than one would originally think. After all, he didn't want to sound like an idiot, and he had been rather straight forward yesterday. What if he scared Allen off? And Allen was just so cute and interesting, he didn't want to do that. No, he wanted to know more. Why was Allen here? Why did everyone hate him, besides the fact that he looked different? Was there any reason for why he was treated this way, or was it just 'kids being kids'?

To be honest, Lavi almost did a double-take when he saw the state Allen was in. The wounds from yesterday had turned into ugly bruises that stained his pale face, and most likely everywhere else on his body that was covered by a baggy white long-sleeved button-up collared t-shirt and dress pants. Did the kid really dress this way out of his own free will? Well, then again, Allen looked damn good in it, so Lavi would let the clothes slide. But seriously, he was such a small kid, and he didn't do anything to deserve those bruises. What the hell was wrong with the kids at this school? What kind of person would do this type of thing to someone like Allen?

Inhaling, Lavi tried his luck, deciding to just go for it. "Hey, Allen. I was looking everywhere for you today." Instantly, Lavi swore at himself mentally. 'Way to sound like a fucking stalker, Bookman. Nice going.'

As Lavi swore at himself, Allen was in the midst of a small panic attack. Why had Lavi been looking for him? So he could laugh at him, maybe beat him up a little? To mock and tease him and say terrible things about him? Well, why else would someone as seemingly popular as Lavi be looking for him? There was no other possible reason, right? They weren't really friends after all.

After a moment without Allen replying, Lavi tried again. "So how's your day been going?"

Allen rolled his gray eyes. Surely the redhead already knew what his day must've been like. Countless threats and insults, scared whispers and punches. Glares and disapproving glances. Surely he knew that already, so why was he asking? Just to rub it in Allen's face?

"...Fine." Allen whispered in reply, still staring at his notebook.

The white-haired boy wanted to believe he had a friend, really he did. He wanted to have that someone that he could tell things to, that he could have inside jokes with. The person you'd call up on the weekends when you were bored and the person who could answer every question about you. The person he'd call a best friend. He just wanted a friend. But he wouldn't let himself be so naive as to think that this other boy really wanted to be his friend.

Lavi counted it as a good sign that Allen replied, and so he continued. "Do you have any plans for lunch tomorrow?" Lavi figured he might as well ask, he had already stated that they were friends, so why not? It was just lunch after all, it wasn't as if he was asking the kid to marry him.

"I uh..." Allen stuttered, lost on the thought of 'why'. Why would someone like Lavi want to know what he was doing for lunch? There was no reason he needed to know that information, but he had such a happy sparkle in his emerald eye... "Um, I don't have any plans at the moment." The petite teen finished, turning to the next page of his notebook.

The redhead stifled a laugh, careful so the teacher wouldn't notice. "Pfft, there's no reason to be so formal. We're friends, Allen. You can be yourself around me." Lavi laughed with a dazzling smile.

And as he stared at the brilliant smile Lavi flashed at him, Allen could say for once that he honestly and truly believed the words that were spoken to him.

"Thank you." Allen replied, knowing it was probably a stupid thing to say, but he could't think of any other thing to say, because he really and truly was thankful. And again, for the first time in a long while, he smiled a bright and true smile, and Lavi swore it was one of the most breathtaking things he had ever seen. And this smile was just so absolutely real and so painfully beautiful, and Allen couldn't remember the last time he had smiled like that.

Maybe he had a friend after all.

English class was over, and the two packed up their things, taking their time. They had passed the rest of class telling jokes and chuckling silently to themselves in the back of class as they passed a note full of random doodles and quips back and forth. Allen wasn't entirely sure they were friends yet, but it was close enough for him. Lavi was his good acquaintance, and Allen had legitimately had a good time.

Maybe he was just setting himself up to be hurt and betrayed, but at this point, he didn't entirely care. He honestly liked Lavi as a person, and he wanted to believe that for once, he had a friend. That for once, someone didn't care about his strange hair color or freakish scar.

Just this once.

Maybe he had opened up too soon, maybe he should've just ignored the green-eyed teen sitting beside him. Maybe that's what he should've done, but he hadn't.

"Hey, Allen, what's your next class?" Lavi asked, stuffing his things carelessly in his bag as he turned to face the younger teen.

"Uh, Chemistry I think." Allen was still rather soft-spoken and shy, but he was slowly coming out of his protective shell.

"Hmm, I don't think I have any other classes with you... Then I'll see you tomorrow, right?" He asked with a smile as the two walked out of the door together, walking down the hallway. He liked Allen, he really did. They would be great friends, he could tell. Allen was smart and sarcastic, and he seemed kind. He just hoped that Allen would come to trust him more as time went on, but he couldn't blame the small teen for being cautious around him. After all, everyone else in the school had been acting like a major asshole to Allen, so of course the boy would be skeptical at any sign of kindness or friendliness.

Allen rolled his gray eyes, a smirk forming on the corner of his mouth. "We do have English together, so luckily for you, I suppose that you will see me again."

"You sassy lil' fucker you know what I meant."

And Allen just gave a small grin in reply.

Last block was over, and Lavi had decided to visit Allen at what he figured was his locker, seeing as that's where they met yesterday, and Lavi just kinda pieced it together that it was Allen's locker through pure wit and intuition (well, that's what he claimed, but he actually had seen Allen closing his locker door yesterday and happened to have photographic memory).

The older teen managed to get there as soon as Allen had finished shuffling down the hallway to his locker, softly groaning in pain the entire way. Fresh bruises marred his face, and Lavi instantly knew what had just transpired in his absence.

"Hey little buddy, you sure you're doing alright?" He asked, walking closer to Allen as said boy opened his locker door and pulled out his needed binders and backpack.

Lavi could't help but wonder what kind of terrible things they all said to him this time. He had heard some of the rumors himself, and they weren't nice. There was talk about him being an abandoned orphan and a murderer. It was absolutely terrible, and Lavi hated every rumor he heard. He knew it wasn't true, not about someone like Allen.

After all, they didn't even know his name.

But Allen just forced a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Lavi knew that they weren't close enough for Allen to tell him the truth, and he knew that if he asked Allen might just distance himself from him or become irritated. Then again, if this was Lavi in Allen's position, he wouldn't want to talk about it either. He'd have to become much closer to Allen in order to get the answers he wanted, and that would take time. It'd take time to gain Allen's trust and friendship, but it would happen, Lavi was determined to make sure it did. He didn't want this white-haired boy to be all alone.

So, he just smiled back at Allen, letting the younger teen believe that he accepted that answer as the truth. And as he watched Allen fumble with his locker, wincing with every movement, Lavi was left with his thoughts. Sure, Allen said he was okay... 'But if I glance at you again, will you still have that look of despair etched on your face?"

To Be Continued

Don't forget to review!

(1) If you have any ideas of what I should name the teacher, please tell me, otherwise it'll just remain "the teacher" throughout the rest of the story.

VOTE: Now, some of you may have noticed the dictionary definitions at the top of the page by the chapter name and stuff (I added one to the first chapter too) but do you like that idea? Should I change the look of it or scrap it completely?

A/N This is my first time writing a DGM story, so if any of the characters are off, please let me know. Like if Allen or Lavi needs to be more sarcastic, Lavi needs to be more humorous or something, let me know so I can fix it! Thank you!