A loud bang produced by a fist hitting one of the locker behind Dave's back caused the two boys watching the fight to flinch, and for the Senior to abruptly turn his head towards the noise origin.

A boy, shorter than Zak, stood beside the cabinets with his hand still pressed against them. His mouth was covered by a light green balaclava, but despite it, anger and contempt shone from his deep black eyes, slightly hidden by his dark brown hair falling on them.

Harvey, with a clearly confused and anxious expression, stood behind the unknown kid, had his eyebrows furrowed together and was fidgeting with the hem of his baseball jacket, staring with horror at Dave still on the top of Zak, his knife pressed on the captain's cheek.

"The fuck do you want, fake mute nerd." Dave spat narrowing his eyes, voicing his hate towards the short boy. His harsh words broke the towering silence that lasted for a long moment after locker being punched, and dangerously increased the palpable tension in the room.

The Sophomore in the light green balaclava is a selective mute: he never talks, he's capable of doing so only with people he's comfortable with, which his no one. He communicated through his phone reading out what he would write, and more rarely with sing language.
He's rather popular as leader of the School Police, where chosen students basically go around school checking if everything's okay, if students outside their classes have a permit, and such.
Nobody knew his real full name despite his popularity, they knew it started with Me and his middle name started with Ga, so he got nicknamed Mega.

Dave's tease on his mutism caused to his nose to crinkle up into a grimace of disgust, and to the hate in his eyes to increase. Exhaling sharply, the short boy took his phone out of his turquoise hoodie with blue stipes in a quick motion, letting his finger dance on the screen at an insane velocity.

«I want you away from Zak. And the fuck out of here.» Mega's phone read with its robotic voice, his eyes narrowing as soon as their look connected.

"Or what, noob." the Senior retorted thinning his eyes in turn, shifting his weight on the knife on Zak's cheek, causing him to swallow anxiously as he moved his wide eyes on Mega.

A deadly stare from the short Sophomore replied to his questions, making him grit his teeth together and emitting a frustrated click with his tongue along with a enraged huff as he turned towards the baseball captain.
With a rough motion, Dave yanked Zak upper body from the ground, pulling him close to his face.

"It ain't over here." he growled to his hear, cutting deeper into his cheek before getting up and slamming his small body back against the cold ground. "Let's get the fuck outta here."

His two mates glared at Mega and Harvey as they stormed out of the locker room, but once Dave passed near them, he stopped in front of the short Sophomore, leaning in.

"You're gonna regret this bitterly, nerd."

Lifting his chin up, Mega thinned his eyes, his expression not changing a single bit from his threat.
In exchange of the younger hateful stare, Dave spat in his shoes, growling other insults under his breath before leaving the room.

The two young boy's eyes quickly moved on Zak, who lifted his upper body up with the help of his forearm, wiping the blood dripping down his cheek with the back of his hand, drenching his sleeve of his uniform with the warm and dense red liquid.

Without saying a word, Harvey hurried to his friend and captain, kneeling down and stretching out his hand, while his eyes swiftly ran on his small body to check his condition.

Zak's expression shifted into an angry one for the second time that day.

"Jesus fucking Christ Harv-" he started ready to scold his friend once again. This time, the Sophomore was faster, and cut him off immediately.

"Listen, bud." he started withdrawing his arm and leaning it on his knee. "I don't give a fuck if I'll have them on me now, okay? I want you fucking safe and alive, and even if we ain't that close, I still care about you. So shut the fuck up and let me help you."

Completely caught off guard by Harvey's statements, Zak stared at him for a good ten seconds before scoffing, with his usual grin growing on his lips and receiving a painful sting from the wound on his cheek.

"Wow." he hummed, blinking twice.

The Sophomore seriousness and determined expression quickly faded away shifting into a complacent one, and a smug appeared and widened on his lips.
He held back out his hand, who got grabbed right after by Zak, and helped him getting up from the ground.

The short boy felt Mega's eyes pointed on him, who was secretly enjoying the scene before his eyes.
So, he turned his head towards the younger, smiling lightly at him.

"Thank you, Mega."

After staring at him for a few seconds with his usual stoic expression, he started gesticulating with his hands.

«I still despise you.» he said through sing language, tucking his hands back in the hoodie pockets right after.

"Uh?" Harvey hummed confused, turning his head back towards Zak who grinned amused at the short boy response. "What did he say?"

"That he loves me a lot." he replied without looking away from Mega, all smug.

Receiving a clearly annoyed huff and eyes roll from the younger, the asian boy frowned.

"Something tells me he didn't." he pointed out, snickering with the Junior.

After enjoy that small moment without the immense weight of problems pressing against Zak's chest, his breathing became a struggle again because of it getting back.

"I don't understand how you knew, and especially, I don't understand how did you convince Mega to come for me." the raven haired boy admitted, passing his eyes from Harvey to the short boy.

The two Sophomores have most of their classes together, but never talked much. The only reason they knew each other, was because of the only thing the had in common: knowing Zak. They both had very different interests and personalities, so their friendship didn't work out. It was more of an acquaintance than a friendship.

Hard to believe, but the similar happened between Zak and Mega. Two exact opposites that caused nothing but arguments over arguments. They would most of their time together arguing over unnecessary things, and a very small amount of time joking and messing around.

Only then Zak realized he haven't talked with him since Christmas' Dance of the year before.

"I heard Dave planning something on you with his mates while running, and well, about Mega..." Harvey explained, glancing at Mega with a smile.

The mute boy stared at both of them, and with an annoyed sigh and his eyes rotating, he took out is phone.

«Maybe I don't despise you that much.»

Zak smiled tiredly at his friends.

"Thank you again, guys." he hummed, hugging himself.

«I didn't remember you this cheesy.»

"I didn't remember you this speechless." the older boy retorted playfully, covering his mouth with the clean sleeve of his baseball uniform as he tried to contain a laugh.

For the two boys surprise, Mega clearly smiled behind his balaclava, causing to the two to look at each other jaw dropped.
Coughing two time to catch back their attention, the mute boy pressed his index finger against the screen of the phone in his opposite hand.

«Let's be serious for a moment, now. What the fuck happened between you and Dave. And Vincent too.» he quickly added something, typing at his usual insane velocity. «I mean, I saw the articles about you and all, but Vincent never got mentioned. I remember you two splitting up because of a article involving him, last year. So, I don't really understand the situation.»

"Yeah, what happened, dude?" Harvey asked, glancing at him with a concerned look.

After sighing deeply, Zak sat down on the bench behind him, crossing his legs and bringing the uniform sleeves up to his fingers.

"Long story short, Vincent got mad at me for opening up with Darryl instead of him, and turned everyone against me." he started, letting himself fall back against the backrest.

The picture of Vincent's eyes full of disappointment, contempt and hate he saw the previous night in that shiny white bathroom, flashed before him. It felt like a punch well aimed in the stomach.

"And Dave took advantage of the situation, of my weakness, to, well... to take back his place, I guess. I mean," frantically bouncing his legs, he exhaled sharply, trying to recollect his thoughts. "After all, I overtook his popularity and his leadership in the team out of nowhere, so... I'm ninety-nine percent sure this is the reason he's so angry at me."

Another deep breath, his face sunk into his hands.
He felt the blood slowly drenching the right sleeve.

"Wow... Now that I think about it, this is... so fucking stupid." Zak breathed, shaking his head lightly.

Harvey, catching his last statement, worriedly glanced Mega, who exchanged with an unexpected hint of concern in his eyes.

"But... Dave always acted nice with you, why would he do that?" the asian boy asked after looking back at Zak, frowning.

"Masks, Harvey. Here, if you want obtain something, you gotta mask yourself up." the older revealed, letting his hands slip away from his face.

The Sophomore nodded along with a sigh, while the shorter boy uncomfortably adjusted his balaclava.

"Uhm, have you tried to talk to Vincent?" Harvey dared to ask, shrugging.

«Top dumbest question ever asked.» Mega hurried to reply, glaring at him.

"Fuck off." he spat in response, glaring back at him.

"Of course I tried, and..." his right hand started to shiver at the memory of the feeling and pain provoked by his fist hitting the french boy's face. "It... didn't end well."

Staring at him with a sorry look printed on his face, Harvey frowned as he lowered his eyes on the floor.

"Guys?" Zak recalled, swallowing anxiously soon afterwards. "I presume you already read the articles about Darryl... and me."

After lifting his head and eyes on his friends, the Junior received two nods in reply.
He bit the inside of his cheek and hurried to look back down at the ground.

"Is... Is it true? What Darryl did, I mean." Harvey asked in a frown, tilting his head to the side.

Zak took his time to give an answer.
He felt sick, sick and stupid for bringing that up.

'Jesus Christ, why am I like this?' he spat in his head, cursing himself for being that helpless.

"I have no idea, and honestly? I'm terrified to know the truth about it." he hummed, passing a hand through his raven hair.

"Well, did you try asking him?"

«Really, how can you have straight A's and be this fucking stupid?!» Mega stepped in frowning at Harvey, who glowered at him in reply.

"He... He closed himself into his room. He won't come out, and... There's no way he doesn't hate me, I..." Zak's voice faded into a whisper, his hand quickly reconnected back with his face. "I'm... Bringing him so much fucking problems..."

In reality, he wanted to give voice to that annoying and persistent thought in his head. He really wanted to tell them that the real problem, was him. And he was right, he knew it.
That was nothing but a matter of fact.

"Hey, dude... I don't know him, but I'm sure he just needs time. Believe me." Harvey hummed attempting to sound reassuring, leaning a hand on Zak's shoulder.

Silence towered over the three boys for a long moment.
The short boy felt his anxiety quickly eating him from inside. It was a matter of time now.

"Skeppy?" the asian boy called.

'Here we go.' the Junior thought, his heart racing in his chest.

"Is... the other article, true? I mean..." he hummed, hesitating and fidgeting with the zipper of his jacket. "are you gay?"

Someone asking the same question Zak always searched an answer to, hit way different than expected, causing to his body to shiver. He was disgusted at the thought.
But for how much he hated it, he knew the answer.

"I might be." he breathed in reply, leaning in to hide his face into the dark shadow created by the led white and flickering lights on the ceiling.

The short boy felt their eyes glued on him. Burning his skin. Stabbed by their disgusted and judgmental glares.
His head spinning and his heart exploding.

Zak hated it. He hated how he thought that admitting it would get off a massive weight from his chest.
In reality, it just worsened the situation, duplicating that suffocating pressure, ending up without air left in his lungs.

"Zak, if you are, remember you're not alone, okay?" Harvey started, sitting down beside him. "Don't be ashamed of being gay or whatever you are. It's just... Useless, y'know? You can't be mad at yourself for something you have no control on." His hand leaned on the older boy's back. "You can't choose with who you fall in love with, and, give up. Give up on forcing your heart to shut the fuck up and love someone else, because it ain't gonna happen."

Zak frowned at the ground, trying to process his words.

"You wouldn't understand." he spat shaking his head.

Scoffing at his statement, Harvey gave a pat to his back.

"You're literally talking to a bisexual fella, bud." he announced. The short boy could feel him grinning even without looking at him.

With a brusque motion, Zak turned his head towards him.
He widened his grin in exchange of his captain's surprised expression.

«Well, it might not matter that much, but...» Mega stepped in, waiting for them to turn towards him before ending his sentence. «I'm aroace.» A smile clearly grew under his light green balaclava.

"Wait," Zak spat, bringing both his hands up as a signal to stop. "Are you two okay in the head? This isn't a good timing for trolling." His eyebrows furrowed together into an anxious and confused expression.

«Idot.» Mega replied, still mocking him for that time he misspelled 'Idiot.' via message.

"Crackhead." Harvey added, crossing his arms as he movde his eyes on him with a playful grin widening on his lips.

"Wow." he replied after letting his hands fall on his legs, frowning at the two boys. "Okay then."

Both the Sophomores laughed, Harvey loudly, while Mega way more silently, with the back of his hand pressing against his balaclava in front of his mouth.

Zak realized something.
At the end, it really worked.
The weight on his chest decreased.

"Thank you, guys." he thanked once again, reciving two smiles in exchange.

Little he knew that it was nothing more than a bubble of oxygen in the pitch black sea he was drowning into.

Zak's fingers danced on the cold door, reluctantly sliding away from it.
His chocolate eyes couldn't move, hypnotized by the wooden object towering in front of him.

'I hate this.' both his and to his sides closed on themselves. He really meant it.

It was hard to get over the fact that a single piece of processed wood was enough to cut someone off your life.
Expecially when that someone was more than a simple 'someone'.

Silently walking to the bathroom, Zak passed a finger on the cut on his cheek. The blood was still fresh.
He sighed and stopped in front of the mirror, still covered with a dark blue towel.
His hands clenched on the sides of the white sink as he tried to recollect his messy thoughts and informations.

The short boy didn't move for a long moment, then, out of rage, he grabbed the cloth off the mirror and threw it outside of the room, on the ground.

"Fuck!" he shouted in a whisper, tight-lipped.

Anything or anyone in particular caused that sudden peak of wrath.
He was just angry.

After catching his breath, he leaned back on the extremities of the sink, transferring his weight on them.

Zak missed Darryl. Every single thing of him.
By now, they would be on the roof, playing the guitar, stargazing or simply chatting.

"If only I hadn't gone to that stupid party." he breathed clenching his teeth, pushing himself away from the sink.

He found himself back in front of Darryl's closed room. His eyes became glossy instantly.

"Hi, Darryl." Zak quietly greeted, talking to him for the first time since he returned from training. His forehead and hand leaned against the closed door.

On his lips grew faint and tired smile.

"Things are kinda falling apart, out here."

A ounce of blood dripped down his cheek, falling on the floor.

"And so am I."

"Goodnight, Darryl."

[unedited, 3157 words.]
im so disappointed on
how bad last chapter did.

「QnA」

What's your gender, age, nationality, sexuality and personality type?
im a 17 and a half years old male, i live in Switzerland, im bisexual and im an INFP-T, apparently :)

How much of the book is left?
im not sure, tbh. im planning on reaching about 40-50 (?) chapters with a bad and a good ending, maybe even a neutral one, but im not sure abt the last one.
thanks for asking :) <3

How are you? Are you okay? Is actually everything good or is it getting worse?
thank you for the concern, but the answer is no. things are getting worse, and honestly, im so fucking tired of everything.
but, please, dont worry about me, really. its nothing but a waste of time.
ly <3

What's a great coping mechanism for you other than writing?
the point is, i dont have another one :')
id say drawing, but it doesn't help me as much as writing do.
in fact, the "small break" i talked about in my board, didn't last a single day, im helpless lmfao.

What genre of music do you listen to? Top three songs? Have you written a song before?
lmfao most questions were about music, idk why yall so intrested on what i like tbh-
uhm, i honestly listen to very different types and gernes of music, my three top songs? I'd say "sick thoughts - lewis blissett", "monsoon - br.eakfast". (both in the slowed version.) and "freaks - lotus eater & freddie sunshine". pls dont judge me, im really insicure about what i listen to ok bye.
and ye, I've written several songs, but i only shared one of them so far, the one in the chapter named: "21 | Feelings." :)

u can leave here more questions, I'll reply to them in the comments :) <3