When you look at Ryder, you think of a brave young boy, always out protecting the city, working on some invention or the other, planning out new strategies to use on the next mission. Basically everything a person could ever wish to be. Smart, confident, cool-headed. But was he always like that?

Ryder had been going to school for as long as he could remember, he didn't exactly hate school but the idea of waking up every day at the break of dawn to stuff the same useless information in his brain didn't really seem rather appealing to him.

Besides, he already knew everything that was being taught, maybe more, so why wasn't he allowed to do the things he actually loved in his free time? Oh right, because his parents said, "It's a waste of time, you'll never get anywhere doing... that." They were the two people who couldn't care less about Ryder as long as he scored well on every test, homework, assignment and exam, because if he didn't... well, he really didn't want to see what would happen.

The young boy had always been interested in computers and robots, often times, he would be alone in the corner of the play area, his classroom or his room, tinkering with yet another invention. His mind would wander on the vast possibilities of the variety of items he could make. He had always wanted to showcase his inventions, he knew it would impress people and maybe he would even make some friends, but the thought of speaking in front of a huge crowd with hundreds of eyes glued to him scared him to the core, so he never really did end up showing anything.

Another reason he didn't have any friends for a long part of his school life was the fact that he never talked to anyone for the fear of being judged, but despite his insistence and pledge to solidarity, two students, Katie and Carlos, had ended up being his friends. They were the first people to take interest in his projects, he was skeptical at first, because no one had ever paid attention to his work, but that may have been more of his fault than theirs, considering he never talked to anyone or if he tried to, happened to accomplished nothing more than squeaking out a small "Hi" before things got awkward and he felt like a nuisance and embarrassment for wasting the person's time. He would run away, feeling them stare at him and laugh or giggle about how awkward he was and how he couldn't even talk properly, or exasperated on why a random boy was wasting their time.

Ryder really didn't like the spotlight, as much as he wished he would be less afraid of just talking normally, his mind couldn't wrap itself around the idea. His friends however, thought otherwise.

"Ryder look!" Katie exclaimed, tugging the boy's shirt.

"Huh?" Ryder looked in the direction Katie's hand pointed.

"Annual... Robotics... Championship..." Carlos read slowly, "it's this Friday, and the winner gets..."

"Gets what?" Ryder questioned

Carlos's eyes widened "A cash prize of 1000 dollars!"

Ryder and Katie gasped loudly, earning them a few ugly looks from the rest of the students walking past.

"Ryder! You should totally join! You're inventions are amazing! You're sure to win!" Carlos said, beaming.

"Yeah! Imagine what you could do with all that money!" Katie exclaimed after.

"Thanks guys but... I don't think I want to..." Ryder said, shuffling his shoes and shifting uncomfortably.

"Awe, why?"

"I just- I don't think I'd be able to present my creations in front of... the whole school."

"Awe c'mon, it can't be that bad!"

"Yeah, and we'll support you all the way!"

Ryder gave them a small smile but stuck to his decision.

"Really guys, I appreciate your enthusiasm but it's just not something I want to do."

"Oh..." They said in unison sadly. "It's alright, I just thought you would enjoy it, after all, you do love inventing stuff, but it's your decision, I don't want to force you to do it if you don't want to." Katie said reassuringly.

Ryder immediately felt bad. It was true, he could possibly win the competition, and it was something he had wanted to do for a long time, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea, at the very least, he should give it a go.

"Actually on second thought, I'll do it."

"Oh my gosh! Really?!" Carlos said, but he quickly changed his demeanor, "But, you don't have to if you don't want to, we really didn't mean to force you."

"No it's alright, I want to do it." Ryder smiled.

"Yayyy! How can we help?" Katie asked

"Well, I'm gonna need a few things. First..." Ryder explained his plan and they all got to work the very next.

They put their blood, sweat and tears into the project, spending every ounce of time they got into perfecting the invention. Ryder loved every second of it and he finally felt his confidence building up.

Friday came sooner than they expected and they were all backstage helping Ryder rehearse his lines and making the final touches on his robot.

"Okay Ryder, you got this, just breath in and breath out like we told you to." Said Katie.

"And make sure you answer all their questions, the better the answers, the higher your chances are of winning." Said Carlos.

They both then exited the backroom, making their way towards the crowd and leaving Ryder alone backstage.

"I've got this, no biggie." Ryder told himself.

Waiting in the room was boring, so he decided to take a peek out of the stage curtain, and he immediately wished he hadn't.

There were hundreds of people and 3 very strict looking judges at the front, it was dark and he couldn't make out any of the faces but he could see the numerous sillohoutes that covered every inch of the auditorium. He pulled back the curtain and slowly retreated from the stage. In no time, he started hyperventilating, he felt light headed and his eyes burned. His heart was thumping against his chest and he felt a pulse on every part of his body. On top of that, none of the advice that his friends had given him worked.

"This was a bad idea, I shouldn't... I shouldn't have some here." He was finding it awfully difficult to breath, he considered turning around and running away but-

"There you are! You're Ryder right? I've been looking everywhere for you, you're up next." One of the student volunteers had caught him just before he could escape this hell hole he had put himself into.

"Oh... uh, y-yeah, I'll just... g-get my stuff."

"Are you alright?" She sounded a little concerned.

"Y-yeah." Ryder was now taking deep breaths between every word he said. He went to retrieve his robot and only then did he notice his hand violently shaking, risking to drop his project.

"And next up, we have... Ryder!"

"Good luck!" The girl said, giving him a little push towards the stage.

Ryder walked on stage and was immediately greeted by the blinding lights of the auditorium. He looked towards the crowd as he saw the hundreds of neutral faces stating at him, the judges stared at him, waiting for him to begin. His condition worsened now and he was breathing heavily, he set his robot on the table and began speaking, or at least, tried to.

"G-good evening, m-my name is..."

He was unable to say anything he paused and tried so hard to say his name but no voice came. It was all too much and he instantaneously ran off the stage, the volunteer screamed his name but he didn't listen he ran to the boys bathroom, locked the stall door, and cried his heart out.

Why was he so scared of talking to people?

What happened back there?

What was wrong with him?

Katie and Carlos came running after a while, they called out to him, tried consoling him but in vain.

That was the last time he ever took part in an exhibit.

He went home that day, exhausted and embarrassed and his parents were there when he entered.

"How did that... robot race thing go?" His mom asked him as he closed the door behind him.

"Oh, uh, it didn't go so well..."

"You ran off the stage didn't you?" His dad asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ryder looked at him with wide eyes, he knew they didn't go to the competition, they had been too busy, so how did they know..?

"How did you-"

"Oh please, you've always been socially awkward, it wouldn't take a detective to guess you ran away from your problems like a coward. Seriously, what the hell is so scary about talking? I've seen the other kids do it just fine. Why can't you do it?"

"You don't know what its like, having social anxiety, or stage fright, you don't know how I felt..."

"We're your parents Ryder, we know everything, there's no such thing as "social anxiety" or "stage fright"." his mom said, making air quotes with her fingers, "you just don't want to put in the effort or try solving the problem, all you like to do is look for excuses and blame your problems on things that don't exist. Really Ryder, how are you going to do anything in the future?"

And Ryder didn't say anything, he just went to his room as heard his parents yelling something about him being "disrespectful", he locked the door, jumped on his head and cried his heart out.

His parents weren't that understanding, but they weren't abusive or anything, at least, not physically. He had enough to eat, a place to stay and materials to help with school. He actually had quite a lot of those, considering it was his parents' top... and only priority.

Which was why when he moved to the higher classes, things got difficult. Forget about knowing more than what was being taught, he didn't even know what was being taught. The teachers were rushing to complete the syllabus, their explanations barely made sense, he was given homework after homework, asked to prepare for test after test and then for the upcoming exams. He had always been a straight A student, anything less would not satisfy his parents under any circumstance.

It started out with a 'B' on a chemistry test, surprisingly, his parents let him get away with it cause it was the first time (and they told him they expected it to be the last). But things went downhill from there.

It got worse the following exam, 70%, and now, all he would hear every time he entered the house or exited his room were names and insults, and one day, his parents decided there was no point in letting him study when he barely passed (according to them) and showed "no interests in his studies". They told him to work in the house, told him to clean the floors, wipe the windows, scrub the toilets, cook for the entire family, do the dishes, and in general, just become their free servant since it was the only way he could still be "useful". They still let him go to school, but that was only because it would be illegal not to. He was exhausted and his physical, mental and emotional health had completely deteriorated. He was tired all the time and had even distanced from his friends.

He had no social life, no light in his life, nothing to look forward to, it was an endless road of failed tests, low exam scores and work. Each passing day drained him more than the previous.

How he wished this would all end...

A/N: So I know it's called 'Spotlight' and it was initially only supposed to focus on Ryder's stage fright and social anxiety, but then I got thinking, "How can I make this more angsty and make the poor boy suffer more?". Make his parents unsupportive, strict and emotionally abusive :)

This is the part where I say "hope you enjoyed this oneshot", but I doubt you "enjoyed" it.

Lydian out.