*Toby's POV*

        "Hey Freakshow, wake up and get your ass ready for school!" Chris shouted, making me jump awake.
        I glanced over at the alarm clock I had, which hadn't worked since I got it at a yard sale back when mom was alive. It was already 7. Swearing, I jumped out of bed and hurried getting ready. I didn't have time to straighten my hair like I usually do, so it ended up being wavy in spots and obviously half assed. I smeared eyeliner on fast enough that it only took a few seconds, but definitely wasn't my best work, then changed into light blue skinnies and an old Asking Alexandria T-shirt. I swung my bag over my shoulder and was walking out the door when a thought suddenly popped into my head. Why didn't Dylan wake me up this morning?
        In the month that Newfield's had been shut down, he'd text me every morning to make sure I had enough time to get ready for school, since he was already awake. I'd been surprised to find out he lives in Cali, which was 3 hours behind where I live in Ohio. He just hadn't seemed like a Cali boy to me. I'd asked him why he was up at 4 in the morning, and it turns out he still was fighting off his insomnia, but had managed to get it to a schedule of going to sleep around 1 or 2 in the morning, then waking up around 2:30 or 3. Either way, he always woke me up, but not today. I checked my phone, and sure enough, no missed texts.
Good morning :) I sent, then shoved my phone back in my pocket.
        By now, I was nearing the school, and I could already see exactly what I woke up early every morning to avoid. Skylar and his group of scene jerks, hanging around the front of the school, their usual morning hangout. Having avoided them for about a month now, I was prepared for even this strange circumstance. I snuck around the back of the building, where the parking lot for students and faculty who drove was located, and snuck in that door. Skylar and his goons didn't drive, despite being seniors in high school, but hey, I can't say much since I'm not driving either .-. I got in the school okay and was just getting the books I'd need right off the bat, (PreCalc, Government and English) when my locker door was slammed in my face, nearly breaking a few of my fingers in the process. Then I was face to face with none other than the one and only Skylar Rollins.
        "Hey, didn't see you come in, fag," Skylar spat the word viciously, making me flinch. He laughed, then shoved me against the locker and got just inches from my face. "Bet you love being this close to a guy, huh?" He whispered eerily.
        "Leave me alone," I growled, surprising myself with how mean I sounded. Even Skylar seemed surprised, for a minute.
        "Don't tell me what to do," He fired right back, slamming my head into the locker, making my head spin and throb.
        I don't know what compelled me to do what I did, but it just happened. I moved without thinking and the next thing I knew, I'd shoved Skylar backwards, making him fall right onto his ass. He was shocked, then furious. He jumped up and lunged at me, then we were wrestling around on the ground, hitting, kicking, and flailing around like one of the whirlwind fight in cartoons. I admit, he was much better at fighting than I was, but I was definitely getting some good hits in too. After I was just starting to get the hang of it, I was pulled back, then so was he. I looked over at whoever had pulled me back, to find Mr. Massara, the English teacher/guidance counselor. Across the hall, Skylar was being held by the Vice Principal/football coach, Mr. Pickler. I didn't struggle anymore, just because I was suddenly pretty tired, which I guess the adrenaline rush had hidden. I also hadn't noticed the huge crowd of what had to be the majority of the school, gathered around us in a circle. Many of them seemed surprised.
        "Everyone get to class! The show's over!" Mr. Pickler yelled, immediately making everyone disband and scatter, going back to class.
        Skylar and I were dragged into Mr. Massara's office, and shoved into seats across the room from each other. For a second, Mr. Pickler and Mr. Massara whispered to each other just quiet enough that I couldn't hear whatever they were saying, then Mr. Pickler left and Mr. Massara sat down at his desk. He sighed, seeming tired, then looked from Skylar to me, then back again.
        "So who's gonna tell me what happened out there?"
        I stayed quiet, and stared at my shoes. I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I'm here. Just when I was starting to seem normal >.<
        "The fucking faggot-" Skylar started, making my face heat up and I glared at him.
        "Skylar, watching your language." Mr. Massara scolded. "Is this what this is all about?" He asked , looking over at me.
        I shook my head, but before I could speak, Skylar spoke back up. "He pushed me first!"
        Mr. Massara looked at me curiously. "Is this true, Toby?"
        My face was burning up, but I nodded, then quickly looked back down to my shoes. I didn't bother to tell him that Skylar got in my face and slammed my head against my locker first. I knew it wouldn't do any good, so why fucking bother?
        "Well, both of you fought, so according to district rules, you're both suspended for 3 days." I felt my heart sink. Chris is gonna kill me. "...But I want to actually resolve this."
        I looked up at Mr. Massara, confused, and through the corner of my eye, I saw Skylar look the same way. He grabbed a notepad and started scribbling stuff down. Skylar looked over and glared at me, but I was just so sick of fighting with him. I decided right then and there that I wouldn't let him get to me anymore, because it just wasn't worth all of this.
        "So for your suspension, I want you both to learn more about each other." Skylar scoffed as Mr. Massara handed us each a piece of the yellow notepad paper, with a question scribbled on each line. "Don't just have each other fill out the paper, actually talk to them about it. I want Skylar to write down Toby's answers, and vice versa, then turn them in to me the day you come back from your suspension."
        "What's the point?" Skylar whined.
        "'The point' is learning what the other goes through, so that maybe you'll start to be nicer to each other." Mr. Massara seemed confident in this, but it made me really uneasy. There's no way in hell that I wanted "Satan" Skylar Rollins knowing all of my secrets when he makes my life hell just fine without them.
        "Well what if we refuse to do it?" Skylar asked, making me wonder what he was so afraid of me finding out.
        "Then I guess you can both come back next year to see if you can get along then."
        We both groaned out loud, then glared at each other. Mr. Massara laughed. "Well, this should be fun. Don't forget this is due Friday."
        As we walked out of the school, Skylar stopped, grabbed the front of my shirt, leaned in close and growled just inches from my face. "If you ever push me again, I'll rip your fucking throat out."
        I wasn't scared, now though. Something between us had changed. He just didn't scare me anymore. Not now that I knew I kind of stood a chance against him. Now we were equal. I just stared right at him, not saying a word. Scowling, he shoved me backwards just like I'd done to him. I landed on my ass, and by the time I got back up, he was already stalking away, annoyed. I smiled to myself. I think I was really getting to him.

        Dylan didn't respond all day, until about 8 pm.
(Dylan=red, Toby=cyan)
Fuck I'm sorry, Toby!! 8:01 pm
It's okay I responded immediately.
Did you make it to school on time?
Kinda ??
        I went on to describe what had happened, and the punishment. Not even a minute after I sent the 2 page text, my phone lit up and started ringing to Bewitched by Blood On The Dance Floor. My ringtone for Dylan -_-
        "Hello?"
        "WHAT THE FUCK!!!! ARE YOU OKAY?? I'LL KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKING-" Dylan was shouting so loud I could hear him even while holding my phone my arm's length away.
        "Dylan! It's okay, everything's fine." I could barely hear myself over his ranting and freaking out, but he stopped to hear me. A few minutes later, I got him calmed enough to not yell and talk like normal, though he still sounded extremely pissed.
        "Are you sure everything's okay? I can come get you if you need me to..." He offered, though I knew it'd be ridiculous to have him do it. Though I was dying to see him again.
        "No, everything's fine. I promise. We just have to answer those questions, then we'll be done."
        "God, you need to graduate faster!" Dylan whined, childishly, making me smile.
        "I'm trying." I said, half assed laughing. "Where were you this morning?"
        There was a pause that made me kind of nervous, but Dylan sounded perfectly normal a minute later, which kind of helped to ease my mind. "I overslept, then forgot my phone when I had to rush into work. I meant to call from work, but my boss hung around all day. I'm so sorry!"
        There was just a glimmer of doubt in my mind, but that was there for everything, so I disregarded it. Besides, Dylan never lied. Not to me.
        "Oh. Well at least you got some extra sleep in for once." I said, talking about his insomnia.
        "I know right! I've never felt so rested. It's great."
        We talked for almost three more hours, until I started getting tired. I didn't want to leave, but Dylan insisted, saying I sounded like I was drunk. So we said good night and that we loved each other, and I fell asleep just a few minutes later.

        Over the next day, I stayed up in my room and talked to Dylan while he was at work, since he didn't have to wake me up for the next couple of days. It was strange not being in school, but in a super good, rather be bored here than there way. I literally did nothing productive all day, and barely got out of my bed. It. Was. Awesome. ^-^

       Day two of the suspension, I woke up to Chris beating on my bedroom door.
        "Shut your fucking phone off!" He barked, sounding really pissed. It wasn't until then that I noticed my phone's LED was blinking off the hook, and it was chiming out with the loud obnoxious ringtone I'd chosen for messages from people I didn't have in my contacts.
        "Sorry!" I yelled, grabbing my phone and hitting the volume down button until it was muted. I had four missed calls and three missed texts from a number I didn't know, all from the last twenty minutes. -_-
Hey.
Toby?
Dude fucking answer me.
Who is this?
About fucking time. It's Skylar The response came right away, making me sigh.
What the fuck do you want?
I want to get that assignment done. Meet me in the park in ten minutes.
        I scowled at his bossiness, and the fact that he hadn't even asked, but got up nonetheless. I pulled on a pair of red skinnies, and put on a Disturbed T-shirt, then my ragged old black and white converse shoes. I grabbed the paper with the questions and a random notebook from my desk, with a black pen, then headed out the door, shoving my phone in my pocket.
        I got to the park in just over 5 minutes, but Skylar was already sitting there on one of the picnic tables, looking annoyed. I frowned and walked over.
        "Hey." I said, sitting down across the table from him, then took in a deep breath. He had a black eye that I know I didn't give him. "What happened?"
        "None of your fucking business," He snapped, then looked at his paper and grabbed his pen. "How old are you?"
        "18," I answered, annoyed that he was so pissy. "What about you?"
        "19." He said curtly, rolling his eyes and writing down '18' next to the first question. "What's your biggest fear?"
        Evan, I thought bitterly, though I'd never tell him that. "Um, snakes." I lied, not caring that it was pretty obvious, especially since I'd paused for a minute or two.
        After a second of staring at me doubtfully, he wrote it down, then started to move on to the next question, before I cut him off.
        "What's yours?" I asked expectantly.
        "Dying." He said right away, then paused while I wrote down his answer. I hadn't meant to, but I let a little bit of a laugh escape my lips. He scowled at me. "What's so funny?"
        "Nothing," I said quickly, my face turning red as I looked away.
        "Fucking tell me!" He demanded, seeming to get angrier with each passing second.
        "It's noth-" Before I could even get the words out, I saw his fist flying right at my face, then felt a sharp blow and strange warm wetness from my nose down. My hand flew to my nose, which was gushing crimson blood everywhere. I cried out and fell backwards off the bench as the pain hit me. As I lay there, sobbing into my hands and writhing on the ground from the pain, I saw Skylar get his stuff and walk away, leaving me there in my agony.
        After maybe ten minutes, I'd managed to get to my feet, get my stuff and stumble back to my house, my nose still dripping blood the entire time. When I got in, Chris laughed at me, and I went straight up to the bathroom.
        I held a rag to my nose and looked up at the ceiling for ten more minutes, then the blood finally slowed down and eventually stopped. By now, the shock and everything had set in and I was crying, sobbing uncontrollably, sitting on the linoleum floor. I cried for a few more minutes before I, still sobbing, managed to get up to the medicine cabinet and pull out an extra razor I'd hidden, before I had to go to Newfield's.
        I fell back onto the floor and pulled up my sleeve, revealing the ruined skin, seared with countless scars. I put the blade to my skin, not worrying about ruining the scars anymore. Just as I started to press the blade down harder, I heard Dylan's voice in my head.
        "You're not a freak, and you're not whatever else Kat said. You're my best friend and I love you. I hate seeing you hurt like this, especially for people like her. She isn't worth you hurting yourself. Please, you have to stop."
        Memories of Newfield's flooded my mind, particularly when I'd cut myself in the bathroom, after Kat had called me a psycho. I looked on my arm and quickly found the out of place scar, jagged and crooked. Dylan had helped me, fixed it up and had convinced me to try and stop right then and there. Remembering the safe, warmth of him embrace and how he just knew just the right things to say to me to make me feel so much better, I threw the blade away, not noticing where it'd gone. The tinkling of the metal on the tile was the second most beautiful sound I heard; other than Dylan's voice. I wiped the tears from my eyes and decided I was done crying because of Skylar, who really was as worthless as Kat.
        I got up off the floor, cleared my throat, and called Dylan, to thank him once again for helping me.

       *So, there you have the first chapter of the sequel! ^-^ Sorry it took so long to finally get this up, but I was having some issues coming up with a good plot. But I have one now! :D So I shall update soon, and enjoy!*