The new semester had started at school, marking the halfway point of their senior year. By design, only the last period had changed for Wriothesley. The counselors thought a consistent schedule would help him so he couldn't complain. The first day of the new class was a rocky start. The teacher told the class they would have to change from their street clothes into gym clothes every day before class. He sent the class to their respective locker rooms to pick out a locker. It was then Wriothesley realized there was no changing area… it was open besides one or two bathroom stalls that were elementary school sized. Sirens sounded in Wriothesleys head. What was he going to do? He couldn't wear short sleeved shirts to the gym let alone change in front of other people! Neuvillette did not look pleased either. Both picked lockers near the back of the locker room in the corner, trying for some concealment.

The teacher had said gym clothes needed to be sweatpants or modest shorts and a t-shirt. These items did not go well with Wriothesley. He didn't see why he couldn't wear a long sleeved shirt or a hoodie…what a stupid dress code! The teacher announced that the second day of class would be endurance testing to see where everyone's physical abilities were. At least he had an advantage in that aspect.

On the way home from school, Wriothesley was telling Clorinde about the new developments in his new class. Clorinde didn't have to take the class due to being in advanced sports since freshman year. She was a damn good sharp shooter after all and a track star and a cheerleader.

"How the hell am I going to change into gym clothes?" Wriothesley groaned as they walked home. "And a short sleeve shirt? Hell no. People will… see me."

"Just wear your hoodie. It does not break the school dress code; he cannot make his own. You have Neuvillette with you… he can stand up for you in his student council position." Clorinde offered.

"And I certainly will." Neuvillette said as he came up behind them. "Sorry for the chase… I wanted to talk to you for a moment, Wriothesley."

"Yeah of course what's up?" Wriothesley asked as his phone rang. He pulled it out to see the caller ID. "I'm so sorry Neuvillette, I have to take this."

Neuvillette nodded and Wriothesley stepped away to take the phone call. Clorinde knew what the call was… it came every monday after school. It was a call from his parole officer. The two were just out of earshot of the conversation but the few words they could hear made Neuvillette both curious and worried.

"Hello sir… yes things are fine… yes i can pass… yes stop by whenever sir… no one knows yet sir… I won't investigate her. I know the rules. Thank you sir." he hung up the phone, returning to his friends. "I'm so sorry, what's going on Neuvillette?"

"Er…" He was thrown off by the sudden phone call. He had never heard Wriothesley speak so formally to someone like that. "It was about gym class… will you be alright? You seemed really upset in the locker room."

"Yeah, just changing in front of others isn't something I'm super comfortable with. Just got nervous is all I'll manage." Wriothesley smiled softly. "Thank you for the concern. But we need to head home unfortunately. We have a guest coming around soon so I need to be home."

"Oh of course… I will see you both tomorrow." Neuvillette waved as he headed back to the parking lot where he was parked.

"Parole officer will be at the house soon huh?" Clorinde asked once they were alone again.

"Yep… was calling as a heads up so i don't stay after school. I have to do a drug test." Wriothesley sighed.

"Do they really think you use drugs?" Clorinde raised a brow.

"No… they know i dont. They just have to in order to keep me on this side of the prison walls. It's fine." Wriothesley shrugged. The two walked quickly back to their home to wait for the arrival of their guest. It went easily without a hitch. Of course Wriothesley passed. He had never touched a drug willingly in his life. He wasn't going to start now that his life was going well.

The next day went as smoothly as possible until the final class… gym class. Wriothesley grabbed his gym stuff and entered the locker room. He opened the locker and looked at the people in the room. Only three other guys were in there. He could do this quickly. He tugged on the bottom of his hoodie and sighed. He couldn't do it… he wasn't mentally ready for the world to see him. Fuck it. He's wearing his long layers.

He quickly changed his jeans for basketball shorts and entered the gym. He saw Neuvillette sitting on the bleachers and sat down next to him. His friend raised a brow at the long shirt but didn't say anything. Neuvillette did not entirely know why Wriothesley insisted on covering his torso at all times but he had an inkling of an idea why.

"I just couldn't do it." Wriothesley admitted. "I'm wearing long sleeves and it's not a big deal."

"No it's not a big deal. You can do this." Neuvillette reassured. The rest of the class filed in shortly after. Navia came up to the boys and hugged them, happy to have them in class.

"Oh I don't want to get all sweaty right before the school day ends!" She pouted. "I'm just so glad I have you guys in here with me!"

"Happy to have you Navia." Wriothesley laughed and patted her back.

"Mr. Wriothesley!" The teacher called. "Do you have hearing problems?!"

"No sir. Pretty good hearing." Wriothesley said, stepping in front of his friends to address the teacher.

"I told you all YESTERDAY that there were to be no long sleeves or hoodies in my class room! It is a safety hazard!" The teacher's voice was gradually rising.

"Well it's really not. It's in the school dress code so I can wear them. I don't think it will hinder me therefore I will wear them." Wriothesley crossed his arms, not backing down to the teacher on a power trip.

"You will take off the hoodie or go to detention. Plain and simple." the teacher glared.

"I will do no such thing and lose the attitude man. I get you're a teacher but what you're doing is not exactly earning my respect. I also find it odd that you want to strip a student so bad." Wriothesley laughed a bit. This made the teacher see red and get into Wriothesleys face. Neuvillette flinched, worrying about his friends' flashbacks.

"How DARE you speak to me like that! Do I need to call the principal down here!?" The teacher yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are, punk?!"

"You know what… let's make a deal, teach." Wriothesley smirked. He had an advantage in this. He was ready to play his winning card. "One of the activities is climbing the rope, right? I bet you I can hit the top and ring the bell in under a minute. If I win, I get an apology from you and I can wear my hoodie whenever I want to in your class. If I lose, I will never wear a hoodie in your class again and I will do detention after school for the rest of the year. Deal?"

"Wriothesley no…" Navia mumbled. "That's a risky deal."

"Consider it done. But you can't have your hoodie on to do it." The teacher pulled out his stop watch and stepped to the mat. "You really think you can climb a 30 foot rope in a minute punk?"

"I know I can. Time starts when I touch the rope." Wriothesley said. He stepped to the mat and looked up at the ceiling. It seemed simple enough… climb the rope, hit the bell and slide down. His secret was going to come out eventually anyway. Spring was around the corner and he would be losing the hoodies anyway. Maybe it was just time…

Wriothesley sighed and slowly took off his hoodie. It was like peeling off a layer of his own skin to him. Clorinde was the only one who knew what he looked like under the layers and the fact his friends were about to see scared him. He took a deep breath and ripped it off. Underneath was a plain black t-shirt covering a majority of his torso but his arms…

His arms were covered in dark pink and red scars. There were cuts and slashes covering 60% of his arms. He has small discolored marks all over like polka dots. They looked like healed cigarette burns. There were several small dark black tattoos that look crudely done. A letter R tattoo peaked out from under his left sleeve. A lot of things made sense to Neuvillette at that moment.

Wriothesley winked at the searing teacher before rubbing his hands together and jumping on the rope. His muscles bulged as he pulled himself onto the rope. The timer clicked, notifying its start. Wriothesley wasted no time. He pulled himself up the rope as fast as he could. It wasn't a challenge to him in any form… he worked out every single day of his life for the past 7 and a half years. He climbed the rope in the blink of an eye and slapped the bell at the top, setting it off. He wrapped the rope around one hand and let go slightly, beginning to drop down. He grabbed the rope again and repeated the process so he could drop down without rope burn. He jumped off the rope around 3 feet from the bottom.

"So…" He panted slightly. "What was my time?"

"...47.3 seconds…." the teacher stared at the watch in amazement. "But… how…."

"I work out a lot. I'm not just tall and bulky. I'm a muscular dude. It wouldn't hurt you to lift weights every now and again." Wriothesley laughed and cracked his neck. "Seeing I won… I get to wear my hoodie whenever I want and you owe me an apology. I'd like it formally on paper please. Handwritten… gives more authenticity. Oh and I am leaving early for the day since you chose to be a dick." The entire class cheered for Wriothesley, the teacher seeming so defeated. Wriothesley grabbed his hoodie off the floor and headed towards the locker room. He entered, hearing the door close but then open right behind him again and be locked. That locking sound made him stop and assume a fighting position instinctively.

"Hey it's just me!" Neuvillette said quickly, raising his hands.

"Shit…" Wriothesley sighed and relaxed. "I heard the lock and that just triggered old reflexes. I'm so sorry."

"You're okay… I just wanted to check on you. Wriothesley…" Neuvillettes' eyes softened and he approached his friend. He brushed a gentle hand along his arm, causing the other to flinch a bit. "Wriothesley… is this what you couldn't tell me…?"

"It's part of it, yes." The other's head dropped in shame. "I always wear long pants and hoodies to cover my scars. I was… abused when I was young."

"Abused is not the word I would use for this amount of injuries." Neuvillette's eyes were teary. "My friend… I wish… I could help you take away some of this pain."

"Neuvillette you misunderstand." Wriothesley sighed. He took a step back and looked around, confirming they were the only two in the room. He lifted off his t-shirt to show his entire torso. He had three large slash scars across his thick chest. His stomach was filled with the pale circular scars that are all over his arms as well. There was a large tattoo of cerberus on his back that wasn't as crudely done as the other tattoos. His arm tattoo read 'Rina'. Under his left peck was a curved hypertrophic scar that took precedence over the rest. "I say it was abuse but you are right… it was a lot more. This… this is why I wear long shirts. To save people from seeing this. You and Clorinde are the only ones to know what I look like under this hoodie. There's others too just… you know… below the belt."

Neuvillette didn't realize he was crying until Wriothesley was wiping his cheeks clear. He didn't know how to process the pain he felt for his friend. He wanted to know what happened to his friend. He wanted an explanation as to who would ever hurt such a kind soul. "Wriothesley… I just… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I ever tried to force any of your past out of you. I'm so sorry for the pain you felt. I'm so sorry you felt alone."

"I haven't felt alone since I met you." Wriothesley smiled. "You never gave up on me even though I pushed you away so many times. Please dont feel sorry. I am working through it all. All I ask is that you dont think differently of me."

"Can I ask something of you?" Neuvillette asked softly.

"Well of course." Wriothesley smiled.

"Whenever you feel comfortable with it… you don't need to wear the hoodie around us anymore. Navia will say the same as I did and I am sure Clorinde has been encouraging you for this step. You can relax around your friends." Neuvillette reassured his friend.

"You got yourself a deal." Wriothesley laughed. He really had matured since he arrived at this school. He went from the shy quiet kid who had 0 confidence to telling off a teacher and taking his hoodie off. His life was becoming one he only dreamed of. He had friends… he had a future…

He went home shortly after he got dressed and Neuvillette returned to class. Later that evening Clorinde came home after practice, finding Wriothesley standing in the kitchen with a hot mug of tea. She set her bag down and sat at the island.

"So Navia told me what happened in gym class…" She started.

"Yeah… Neuvillette followed me into the locker room to make sure I was okay. I showed him… pretty well everything. He cried Clorinde…" Wriothesley said. "I didn't think showing him would affect him like that. I may have ruined our friendship."

"I think you're an idiot." She sighed.

"Ouch! You wound me." He grabbed his chest in a playful jest.

"You do realize why he was crying, correct?" She raised a brow.

"Because my childhood story is extremely sad even with the two sentence version?" Wriothesley asked.

"Holy shit you are dense. I am going to take a shower." She laughed and went upstairs.

"Wait Clorinde! What does that mean!?" Wriothesley asked, following her to the stairs.

"It means you lack situational awareness but I am proud of you for taking off that hoodie." Clorinde smirked before closing the bathroom door. Wriothesley scratched his head. He didn't understand what she meant. But the man would find out soon enough.