Ding ding...
Ding ding...
Ding ding...

You groan and sit up, rubbing your eyes. Your alarm shouldn't be going off yet. You still have ten minutes. What the hell is that noise then?
You glance over to your computer to see an incoming video call from Karkat. You take a moment to squeal like a girl before you compose yourself and answer the call. His beautiful image pops up on the screen a second later. He must've opened the blinds because natural sunlight filters into the room. It makes him look like an angel, you swear.
He takes a moment to look you over before he chuckles. This crushes your self esteem momentarily before he says, "Your room must be pretty cold. Your nipples are hard."
You flush scarlet and quickly throw on a discarded shirt. You're half tempted to growl some retort back at him out of sheer embarrassment, but instead, you simply smirk and reply, "Why're you looking?"
"It's right in front of my face. What else can I look at?" He counters with a smirk of his own.
You snigger and lay back down with your laptop on your stomach. "Touché. Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"
Karkat barks out a laugh and shakes his head. "Why would I be?"
You frown at this, quirking an eyebrow. "Aren't you my age?"
"Are you seventeen?" He asks skeptically.
You nod. "Just turned seventeen in December."
He goes on. "Hypothetically speaking, yes. I dropped out, though."
Both of your eyebrows raise in surprise. "Your parents let you do that?"
Again, he doubles over in a fit of laughter. "My parents are never home. They're protesters. They travel around boycotting against every stupid little thing. I swear they do it just to be a civil nuisance. It's all just some big scam to piss off the government. Haven't seen them since I was in ninth grade."
You frown. "How'd you get away with dropping out, though?"
He smiles, but it looks rueful. "I told them I wanted to drop out so I could follow in their footsteps and travel around with my friends protesting."
"They bought it?" You ask in disbelief.
He nods. "Do you want to know a secret?" Your eyes widen as you quickly nod, eager for him to share his knowledge. "If you don't do what you want in life, then why live? If they don't want to be a part of my life and would rather spend all their time protesting unimportant shit, who am I to stop them? Like I said last night, the world is a harsh place. You have to have dreams. Something to live for."
"Do you have dreams? Aspirations?" You question curiously.
He nods, his sad smile returning. "Yes. They're sky high."
You furrow your eyebrows and frown. Something about that doesn't sound right. "Do you mean you have high hopes?"
He chuckles weakly. "I mean my dream is to die. To go to this so called heaven."
Your eyes widen in alarm. "That's not something to live for. You have to have something you want to do besides that. Don't you want to fall in love? Have a family?"
"I don't believe in love," he states bluntly.
"You're kidding..."
"I'm dead serious. Believe me, I have a high interest in romance and the concept of 'love'. I just don't think my 'soulmate' exists. I often tend to think that maybe they did once, but met an untimely death. Maybe they got hit by a bus or were stuck down by lightning. Who knows, really? All I know is that love isn't for me."
"You never know. Your true love could be out there looking for you," you respond hopefully.
"Then they aren't looking hard enough. What about you, lover boy? Your love's at school. Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Karkat quips.
You wince as a sharp pain shoots through your chest. "Yeah, I guess so..."
"I suppose I'll allow you to call me when you get home," he muses as he taps his chin.
"I'm honored," you say as you place a hand over your heart in mock appreciation.
Karkat rolls his eyes in response. "Just go already. And one more thing: Good luck today. Really."
With a small smile, you nod. "Thanks, oh fearsome leader." He ends the call, fighting a grin as he does so. You can't help but sigh. Today is going to be a long day. You're going to have to face everyone, and you're not sure you're ready to do that.
Then, you stop. What was it that Karkat said? Something that would help you cope with everyone?
You have to strike fear into them, Dave. Make them know that you won't tolerate their incompetence.
Yes, but how?
Are you well built? Able to hold your own against someone?
Yes, you think so.
Violence. Violence and fear go hand in hand. You want to make all the pain stop? Use it to your advantage.
That's right. Violence. Fear. It's what controls people. But how can you do that? You nibble at your lower lip as you dig through your closet. A Slipknot shirt that your brother had handed down to you? That would have to do. Black skinny jeans and grey Converse? That's pretty emo. Add your grey beanie and ditch the shades, coolkid. You're going goth.
Once more, you pause. Rose is an expert at all things dark and scary. Maybe she could help. You send her a quick text.

You: hey rosie i need your help
Rose: I already told you that I'm not doing your homework for you.
You: no not that
You: i need you to help me be uh
You: goth
Rose: . . .
Rose: Really?
You: yes
Rose: Meet me at the bathrooms in the basement by the science wing. No one ever goes there.
You: why the secrecy and why the bathrooms?
Rose: You want to pull off the emo/goth look? Makeup is a must, even for males. Can you handle that?

Taking in a deep breath, you bite the inside of your cheek and reply:

You: hell yeah
You: bring it lalonde
Rose: Excellent. Come prepared. I will see you soon.

You love Rose. You really do. Unfortunately, you know her well enough to know that you've literally just fucked yourself over.