There was not a Monday on Earth that Angus despised more. Slinking through the hallway from class to class, every student in their own little world; none of them anybody he wanted to see. Teachers in their own ways welcomed him back, Angus returning a silent nod. The other students stared at him. He didn't like it.

Art class was lonely. Amid the friendliest group of kids in the whole school and yet he felt no companionship. The seat across the room, the one his eyes never left, was empty. Neighboring students had begun to use it to store excess supplies. Soon the whole table top was covered in pencils and paper. He didn't like it.

Lunch was the worst. His eyes scanned the room as he stood in line. No sign of the friends Hannah sat with was produced in his examination. They must have been the first to know. Imagine! Three silly girls he couldn't be bothered to remember the names of found out before him. He scoffed to himself. He was jealous of people he never knew.

His table of theater troops were easy to spot, or hear rather. Being the loudest, most boisterous group he'd ever been with. He debated whether or not to sit with them. It rang true that they weren't familiar with him; maybe they'd leave the topic untouched. Yet, if they kept up their out-of-performance characters, the whole cafeteria would hear of their discussions. Angus would hardly make it out unscathed.

Gripping his tray he made his way out of the kitchen, looking for an empty table. The populous school never had a student without friend, and every chair was occupied. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Johnny. Johnny saw him right back. Something about the way Angus' eye was no longer as bruised and bloody as before got on his nerves. He turned to talk to his pals who sat around him, Susan right at his side.

The group of boys started laughing, Johnny once again giving him a glance. Susan's face was sympathetic. Pushing his shoulders back, he stared ahead and walked past them, intending to sit by the window, with a much quieter circle of pupils.

Out of seemingly nowhere a stone of some sort hit the back of his head. His feet flew out behind him, his face connecting with the floor. A few seconds later he looked up, his lunch scattered in every direction. Surrounded by stares and laughter, he picked himself up. An orange rolled out from behind him, something that hadn't been on his tray. Shooting glares at every soul laughing at him would take too long, and he decided to leave in humiliation.

He wished Malcolm were there.

The young blonde stood up to stop him. "Angus," she called, but she was stopped herself by the boy next to her. He stood up instead and walked in Angus' footsteps.

"Hey, fruitcake!" He called. Angus kept walking, his brow furrowed. "I said, hey!" Johnny sped up to catch him by the shoulder and force him around. "What part of 'stop' don't you fuckin' understand?" Angus was greatly sized down by the other boy, yet he wouldn't show any fear. He refused to.

"I get the picture, Johnny, I'm leaving." Angus turned to leave when he was shoved to the ground. Once again he was picking himself up the ground, his audience growing.

"What fun would that be? Who could I push around if you're gone? Speakin' of which, it seems you've been gone a lot last week. Sure missed ya'. What kept you away?" Johnny asked with a jack-o-lantern grin. Angus clenched his fist, one more insult away from wiping it off. "Go on, shortie, tell everyone why you were gone last week... Tell them!"

"Fuck you!" Angus yelled in return.

"Johnny, leave him alone!" Susan shouted. Angus gave her a half smile, grateful and proud that she was sticking up for him. "He hasn't done a thing to you, leave him alone!"

"Shut up, Susie, I've got this handled. He's done more than you think," Johnny spat, still looking down at Angus.

"Nothing that could be helped," Angus replied baring his teeth. "Johnny, may I talk to you?" he asked gesturing behind him. "Somewhere away from a crowd."

Johnny laughed. "Whatever you got to say you can say it in front of them. Right guys?" A couple kids close enough to hear him responded, in Johnny's favor of course. "See? Now get on with it."

"Johnny, I really think we ought to go somewhere else, I want to talk with you, man to man."

"To man? More like monkey." Those same kids who responded earlier laughed. Angus' fist clenched tighter, and he raised it to hit him, but stopped himself short. He exhaled slowly, calming his nerves as best as he could. Violence couldn't solve this battle, no matter how easy it might seem. No matter how much he was hurting, he couldn't let himself down now.

"Please. I don't want to make this harder on you."

"Pshh, fine. Let's go." Johnny gave in to the smaller boy and followed him out of the cafeteria, a crowd of kids booing at their actors leaving the stage.

The hallway was quiet save a few stray kids eating lunch or studying. Angus took his spot near a few lockers and away from any nearby classrooms. The last thing he needed was a teacher to catch them and get him in more trouble. Then again, if Johnny took a swing, a teacher might save his life. "I just want to talk to you," Angus said making sure Johnny was still with him.

"Yeah, I got that part," Johnny replied. One arm leaned against the lockers and crossed over the other one. Angus could see just how big he was when he had to turn his head so it wouldn't hit the lights above them. Swallowing, he stood tall and firm.

"I heard about what happened," he stated. Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry about that, but that gives you no right to act like a bastard."

"Watch your mouth, asshole," Johnny growled. "As for what happened, I have no idea what you're talking about. You're wasting my time."

"The reason?"

"What reason?"

"Why you hate me so much. I heard."

"Wasting my time, fruitcake..."

"Just listen, I haven't done anything bad to you, it's all because of that one day-"

"Tick...tock...tick...tock..."

"I know your little brother died in a car accident!" Johnny stopped talking and glared hard at the boy.

"What?"

"I know about your brother, and your father-"

"You shut your MOUTH about my father!" Johnny yelled pushing Angus away from him. "You weren't there, you don't know WHAT happened!"

"You told Malcolm and he told me, and ever since then you-"

"Shut up!" Angus could see water in Johnny's eyes but he didn't quit trying to talk. He had to let him know. "You shut your mouth!"

"Ever since then you've hated me for being Mal's little brother. You never got the chance to grow up with one, so you take it out on me!"

"I said, shut up!" Johnny was crying hard now. There was no hiding nor mistaking the tears rolling down his face. Angus felt a little remorse that he had ever acted poorly towards him, though the history hadn't yet been made clear. A couple students had lifted their heads from their textbook or lunchbox at the commotion.

"You have every right to be angry," Angus said calmly. "You have every right to be angry, and sad, and whatever else. But picking on me for existing doesn't bring him back!"

Johnny's tear stained face glared up at Angus from the floor. His teeth flashed at him, his ears red. "Get out," he whispered. Angus backed away from him, seeing a face he didn't want to mess with. "Get out!"

"Johnny, I know-"

"Get the fuck away from me!" Angus took a few more steps back. He glanced at the kids on the floor. "What are you lookin' at?!" Johnny yelled. The kids resumed their activities leaving the student to himself. He had crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from any more wandering eyes. His frame was shaking, a sight Angus never expected to see. No sound was heard from him aside a few sniffs. Angus reached a hand out to him.

"Johnny, I-I'm really sorry."

"Just get the fuck away from me and stay the fuck away from me," he whispered again. Placing his hands in his pockets, Angus walked away. A few glances back at the older boy stung him, but he did as was requested. Another cafeteria fight would have been much easier than this. Both were messy, but only one could allow for the mess to be cleaned up.

More than a few kids watched Angus walk by the cafeteria. His tray still lay on the ground, the orange right beside it. He suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, not that he ever was. "Angus!" He turned his head to see Susan, standing up from the table despite the calls from her "pals" to sit back down. In response Angus shook his head and continued on. Finding his locker, he took his bag and headed home.

Everyone seemed to be gone when he approached his house. Good thing too, leaving school in the middle of the day like that. Not daring to place his schoolbag in open sight, he took it with him to his room and shut the door. It was tossed to a chair and he to his bed. Changing out of his uniform called for an effort he wasn't willing to give that moment. Beside his bed lay the bag of candy Malcolm had given him. He could only assume he was off at band practice again, the lucky duck. The candy was picked up and taken into his arms, a handful popped in his mouth.

At least he didn't have to worry about getting beat up anymore. If Johnny meant what he said, he was safe. Angus would have given anything for that result to come from a different scene than that of which he saw. Thinking about it gave him a pain in his chest, adding to the ones he already stored. He didn't like it.