I woke up the next morning and took a quick shower before changing into some black skinny jeans and a band tee. (outfit is on polyvore) I grabbed all of my school essentials and hopped into the car. It was a quiet morning with Shy driving, Justin thinking, and I humming quietly to myself. We pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car.

 "Oh yeah Shy! I'm staying after school today! My teacher needs some help with grading some papers and so she's giving me extra credit for helping her," I told her. "It's no big deal. Although thanks for telling me. Hey we should get Graters after school tomorrow since it's a Friday and all.," Shy said. "Of course! Who could say no to Graters?", I laughed and then we separated. 

I quickly opened my locker putting my violin in it and then got my social studies binder out. I slammed my locker closed and twirled the lock to zero. I started walking to breakfast to talk to my friends when I froze seeing Dylan with his friend, Shaun. I quickly took the alternate path although it was a bit longer. 

I got to my friend's table without out any problem and relaxed a little. I looked over to see my friend David and practically squealed in joy as I saw that he was holding brownies, my favorite food ever. "Happy birthday Gracie", he said holding them out to me. "David! You didn't have to although it is very much appreciated.", I told him taking a bite out of the gooey goodness. 

"Oh yeah we're throwing a party for you and there's no way in hell your not coming. And Jocelyn and Angel are going to take you shopping for the perfect outfit while me and the guys set everything up", Christian said smiling widely at me. I huffed but then laughed at him trying to be serious. "Okay okay I won't refuse", I told him making all of them smile widely. 

All of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to come face to face with Shaun. He raised his arms up and out of reflex I flinched and protected my face. I quickly realized what I had done and dropped my hands. I hid behind my friend David who is 6 foot 4. He quickly understood and stepped up to Shaun. 

"Do you need something?", he asked as all of my other friends moved closer to me just in case I had a panic attack. "I-I was wondering if I could talk to her. That's all I want to do is talk I swear. You guys can even watch I promise", he said and looked at me. I hugged David from the back and snuggled my head in his sweatshirt. 

After I got up my courage I walked out from behind David and dragged Shaun to a more quiet and private part of the cafe even though I knew my friends were going to try their hardest to listen no matter what. "What do you want?", I asked sharply. "Like I said before I just want to talk", he told me.I motioned him to continue and he took a deep breath before continuing. 

"Look I'm really sorry for whatever I said wrong at Dave and Busters. If you could just tell me what I said wrong then I could apologize and hopefully you'll let me try again. So how about it?", he asked hopefully. I looked him dead and the eye and then answered him. 

"Why should I let you have the privilege of being okay with me. What makes you think that I would just up and forgive you. You said it yourself, I'm not like any of the girls that your friend has liked before. In fact I'm not like any of you and I never will be. So if you have any humanity left in you then you'll leave me and my friends alone. Because you can't do anything to me. You can't hate me anymore than I already hate myself. And I'm trying to get better and you and your friends aren't helping me get better so I need you to leave me alone", I turned away from him and walked back to my friends who smiled at me for standing up for myself. 

My friends are a huge part of the solution to me getting better and I have no idea what I would  do without them. The announcer yelled out that we had two minutes till the end of breakfast so we grabbed our things and started walking to our separate classes. Corban and David have a class together, me and Angel have a class together, Cristian has his class upstairs, Seth's class is a couple doors down from me and Angel's classroom, and Jocelyn's government class is one wing over. 

We went our separate ways sharing a bunch of hugs and playful flirting. No one is actually dating each other it's just the way we act around each other. Me and Angel walked in and sat in our seats just before the bell rang. I smiled at my teacher Mrs. Singel and we started Act 2 in Romeo and Juliet. About halfway into the class someone knocked on the door. 

I growled a little to myself when I saw Dylan holding a note. Mrs. Singel took it then looked dead straight at me. "Shit", I mumbled to myself then grabbed my book bag and took the pass. I followed Dylan to the office where Mr. Penix was waiting for me. "What the hell did I get into now?", I asked him raising my eyebrows. "Well you know I love you but I owe a favor to Dylan's parents so that kind of rules it out. Sorry honey", he said before rushing out of the room. 

"Traitor!", I yelled at him before slamming the door. I went over and grabbed his candy jar and took out a Jolly Rancher. "What are you doing?", Dylan asked me. "I'm taking revenge on him by eating all of his candy", I told him before sighing, "Why am I here Dylan?", I asked him. "Well you were being difficult and wouldn't talk to me so I had to go to extreme measures", he said leaning against Mr. Penix's desk causally.  

I huffed in annoyance but sat back in Mr. Penix's office chair. I started twisting the chair back and forth slightly. "Well are you going to start talking or can I go back to class?", I asked giving in. He smiled to himself before opening his mouth to speak, "So I want to start again. No big top, rich places. Just normal. I want to be friends and I want to figure out what your normal is. I don't have any other plans than to be your friend. No evil plan behind it."

I gave him a look. "Well what else do you want?", he asked. "How rich are you and your friends?", I asked him. "You want money?", he asked confused. "No. I don't want money. There's a class that rarely takes freshman's. I want in it. It's a writing class and by taking it I get two credits to go towards whichever class I want them to go. I still take the class but even if I fail the class the credits will be there. Can you get me into it?", I asked him hopefully. 

"That's all you want? Wow that's so easy. Of course I can get you into that class. Yeah it's no problem, just let me call my dad real quick", he told me. He walked out of the room real quick and then came back a couple minutes later. "Okay so your going to finish Spanish this year and then next year when your a softmore you'll have the class. And don't worry, I made it so that you can stay in orchastra and choir. And you can either have health or gym", he told me smiling. 

I looked at him curiously and he shifted from one foot to the other asking,"What?" I looked at him before asking, "How did you know that I have a Spanish, orchastra, and a choir class?" He looked away from me, "W-well I uh I just got curious one day and asked one of my friends up in the scheduling office what your schedule was", he stuttered out. "And why would you of all people want to know what's on my schedule?", I asked him a little worried. 

                                                                      (P.O.V Change to Dylan)

"This is the moment. It's now or never", I told myself. I opened my mouth but then only coughed awkwardly. "What's wrong?", she asked me awkwardly. I breathed in and out, counting  my breathing calming myself down. "I know that we haven't had the best past. And I hate that I bullied you and said all of those bad things to you. I know that it's wrong and bad and I only just realized not too long ago how much it was affecting and hurting you. And I want to say I'm sorry. Truthfully sorry. And I-", I was caught off as the bell rang. 

"I'm sorry but I really need to go. I have choir this bell as you probally know and it's all the other way of the school. Plus our concerts coming up and we are doing our songs from memory. So I'll see you later?", she asked me. I wasn't thinking and I grabbed her wrist a little tightly. "Ow", she whimpered and I pulled away my hand to see blood seeing through her sweatshirt. "Damn it", I heard her mutter under her breath before she ran away. 

I looked at my hand and gasped seeing the blood covering it. I went through the rest of my schedule worried as hell until I finally told someone. I was sitting next to T.J in Science class when he texted me, "Hey you okay? You look pale as hell." I texted him back, "I grabbed Gracie's arm a little tightly and when she ran away I looked down to see fresh blood covering my arm." Just then the bell rang. 

"Holy shit! Your serious? No jokes? I have math class with her for the next two bells so I can check on her. I mean she hates me cause I annoy the crap out of her but I can figure out how to check on her", he told me. I smiled at him greatfully and walked to the cafe. 

                                                    Change to T.J. P.O.V)

I went to my locker real quick before walking into math class a couple minutes late. Everyone but Gracie looked up at me. I huffed a little to myself thinking that this was going to be a little harder than I thought. I walked to my seat and got out the paper that Mr. Deepal told us to get out. I looked through my bag and couldn't find a pencil. No big deal I'll just ask someone for for one. I looked around and saw Caleb and Micheal getting pencils from Gracie. I then laughed as she threatened to cut off every part that makes them a man if they didn't return them. I walked over to Gracie getting glares from Mr. Deepal. 

"Hey Gracie. What's up?", I asked her leaning on her desk. "No", she said and then went back to doing her work. "What?! I didn't even ask anything yet!", I said raising my voice a little. I barely saw her flinch before she quickly covered it up. She turned to the senior behind her and asked about question number four. I saw him flick her nose real quick and she giggled. Actually giggled. I shook my head and turned to the senior. "Sup Deron. How's life?", I asked him. 

He raised his eyebrows at me and then turned back to his work. "Your not going to use me to get to her. And just because she gave pencils to us doesn't mean that she's going to give one to you. Anyways she actually likes us", he said still doing math. She laughed and threw him a bag of Skittles. "That was a good one", she said and laughed harder when he grinned wider. 

I huffed in annyoance and then slammed my hand on the desk in front of her. It hurt a little more than I thought it would and I winced in pain and shook my hand out. Mr. Deepal came over and told me to go back to my seat. I went back to my seat and continusly tried to get to Gracie throughout the rest of the class. Finally I got so frusterated that I grabbed her by the hand and walked out of the classroom with her and toe. 

I dragged her into the guy's bathroom and glared at the guys that were talking. They scrambled out and Gracie tried to get her hand out of my grip. "What the hell are you doing? Why the hell am I in the guy's bathroom? Let me go!", she yelled and finally I let her go. She tried to get away so in the blink of the moment I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me. Her back was to my chest and she was breathing heavily. 

"Please. Please, please don't hurt me. P-please. J-just let me go. I-I didn't do anything wrong. P-please", she whispered. She burst into tears and I pulled her closer to me hugging her tightly. I looked up as I heard footsteps and saw a very angry and confused Dylan. "What the hell is going on?", he asked angrily. I looked down as Gracie started shaking in fear. She slumped in my arms and crumpled in a ball on the floor. 

I looked at Dylan and he looked at me. I picked her up and gasped at how light she is. "She's got to be at most 130 pounds. This isn't healthy", I told him. He grabbed the bag that had fallen off of her arm that she had somehow grabbed before I dragged her away from the classroom. "I need to go to Mr. Deepal to tell him that I'm going to take her to the nurse", I told Dylan and walked to Mr. Deepal's room. Everyone's eyes rushed to me and Mr. Deepal rushed over to me. 

"What the hell happened to her?", he asked as worried as me. "We were talking and then she whimpered, begged me not to hurt her even though I hadn't touched her and then passed out", I told him getting more and more worried by the minute. "Take her to the nurse right now", he said and then pratically shoved me out the door.

I quickly went down the stairs and ran to the nurse. I slammed open the door and laid Gracie down where the nurse said. The nurse checked her pulse and told me to call 911. I sat next to her and when the ambulance came, forced my way so that I could sit there with her. I held her hand the entire way there and was forced by several police officers to stay in the waiting room.

A couple hours later a doctor came out and called Gracie's name. I quickly stood up and the doctor peered over his glasses at me. "Well young man you should be very glad that you got her here in time. She had very little liquid in her and her stage two cancer just went to stage three. I also found multiple scars that looked self inflicting. But the ones I'm most worried about are the bruises. There looks to be both new and old ones. She also has a bruised rib and broke her ankle. I gave her crutches and she will need to take it easy for a little while. She can still go to school but she will need someone to help her out", the doctor looked me straight in the eye. 

I nodded my head and followed him to where she was. She was sleeping peacefully and had multiple wires connected to her, one of them connected to an IV. I sunk down in the seat next to her and barely reconized the sound of the door being closed softly. I grabbed her hand gently and started massaging her wrist with my thumb gently. 

I looked upon her worridly as she started to stir. "T.J?", she asked confused. "Hey", I said softly. "Where am I? What happened? Do my parents know? Please don't tell them!", she started crying and I hugged her. Her heartbeat started slowing down and she calmed. "I paid for your hospital bills and I'm going to take you to my house. Your going to stay there for awhile. At least until the doctor says your okay. And there's no other option. Your going to be okay", I told her. 

"W-what?", she asked. I looked her in the eye and told her again. She sighed and and agreed seeing as she had no say. we both looked up as someone knocked on the door. Dylan came in and I sighed in annoyance. "Is she okay?", he asked and I rolled my eyes. "She broke her ankle, bruised her rib and has a few bruises. She's going to be using crutches and needs to be watched continuesly to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid, I told him. He let out a sigh of relief and then a nurse came in telling both of us to leave. 

                                                       (Change to Gracie P.O.V)

The nurse's name tag said Sherie. "Hey honey, how are you feeling?", she asked me sweetly. "I'm okay", I told her. "Well sweetie I know you don't want to talk about and your going to try and lie your way out of it but why did you self harm? And who gave you these bruises? I figured it would be easier if you talked to me instead of the male doctor", she told me. I huffed in annoyance. She was right, I don't want to talk about how I self harm. But I can't talk about the bruises. Not only could I get in a lot of trouble, I wouldn't be able to live where I am anymore. 

She smiled sweetly at me and I sighed before asking her to close the door. I sighed and started my story. "when I was five my mom died. And my step dad really loved her. As did I but he took it really hard. He started drinking, like really drinking. And it was strong stuff too. I learned at a young age that I wasn't going to be taken care off, I was going to be taking care of him. And so I learned. Everything I learned, I either figured out on my own or asked google", I started off my story. She smiled at me as a way of telling me to continue. 

And so I continued, "As I got older I started to realize that my situation was not normal, I learned not to talk about it and cover it up. The most suprising thing? It worked. And so then I started figuring out who I am. That I'm pansexual and a-romantic. And people made fun of me for it. I had no one to talk to and I couldn't go to a therapist because then I would have to tell her or him about my father and I couldn't do that. And so as a way of relief I cut myself. And then his drinking got worse. He wouldn't even go to work anymore so I had to get a job. I work nights at a club as the bartender and after school everyday and every once in awhile I skip school to work my other job as organizer for the CEO of Arent Fox law firm", I told her finishing my story. 

"And the bruises", she asked me. "Oh those? I bruise super easily and I'm super clumbsy", I told her. I could tell that she didn't believe me but she had no evidence to prove me wrong and there fore couldn't hold me for further questioning. "Is your dad better now at least?", she asked me. "Oh yeah. I finally had enough and shoved him into a treatment center saying that he wasn't welcome back into the house until he got better. It was easy considering I pay the bills and all", I told her faking a giggle. She smiled and exused herself to go talk to the doctor. 

I smiled at her but as soon as the door closed behind her a frown settled on my face.