Lunch break eventually arrived and Az noticed that Holly was still rather upset.

He sighed before making his way towards the bathroom, only to find that it was filled the brim with students who looked rather familiar.

Sitting by the corner was Eric and it looked as though he was crying.

Az tried turning around to leave, but-

“Azizi? Is that you?” Eric asked as he looked up at Az with swollen eyes.

He then stood up in a rather awkward manner before walking towards the frozen Az.

“That fucker did it. I know he did.” Eric muttered as someone closed the bathroom door.

“You’ve come to console me, haven’t you?” Eric asked as he gently placed his warm hand on Az’s cheek.

“W- what happened?” Az asked.

“My dad… Lucas killed him.” Eric said.

Az’s heart fell to his knees.

“How- did you see it?” Az asked.

“No, but I know it was him. They were supposed to have a meeting yesterday. My dad wouldn’t stop talking about it.” Eric said.

Az noticed that Eric’s knees were trembling.

“I’m… I’m sorry, but I afraid there’s little I can do to comfort you.” Az said.

Eric looked into Az’s eyes.

“He took something from me… I think it would be fair if I took something from his as well.” Eric hissed.

“Wait! We’re not that close-“

“Zoey… you should’ve seen how much she suffered when she found her last pet all broken.” Eric said as the other boys moved in closer.

“Wait! I’m not that close to Zoey either-“

Eric punched Az in the face, sending him falling onto the cold bathroom floor.

Eric then kicked Az in the stomach countless times before letting out a guttural scream.

He then fell next to Az as he cried.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. But I just can’t let him do what he wants.” Eric said before crawling back to his corner.

“Do it.” Eric said and the other boys proceeded to beat up Az, who couldn’t hold in his screams as his bones met the front end of many polished shoes.

Ayden’s vision blanked as his entire body burnt from pain.

It got to the point where all he could do was awkwardly squawk every time someone kicked him.

The bathroom door eventually burst open and two teachers shoved the group of boys aside, revealing a beaten Az on the floor.

Blood oozed from various places and his body convulsed weirdly.

He was in so much pain, he couldn’t hear what the shoots and yells that filled the bathroom.

He then groaned as he was carefully carried out of the bathroom.

Countless other students watched as he was taken to the front of the school where an ambulance awaited.

Zoey pushed through everyone and even stopped the paramedics.

“Az! Who did this to you?” She barked with wide eyes.

Az let out a pained groan before a loud crash came from the school’s entrance.

“Come on! Zoey! Send your brother’s dogs. Let them loose on me as well, you arrogant bitch!” Eric yelled as countless teachers and students tried restraining him.

Zoey’s face twisted into a scowl.

She then realized that the paramedics were standing completely still.

“Well? Get going!” She cried.

The paramedics did as instructed.

They loaded him into the ambulance and rushed towards the nearest hospital.

Az wondered who Lucas was.

Az wondered why everyone feared him so much and he wondered if it was even safe to ask.

.

..

Az opened his eyes to find his parents quietly arguing next to his hospital bed.

Sitting quietly next to them was Rose.

“We couldn’t have known this was going to happen.” Radhi said.

“I know, but looking back, did you really have to work on the Acan pillar?” Gloria asked.

“No. Not really, but you know how it is. They pressured me into it.”

Tears welled up in Az’s eyes as the conversation between Gloria and Radhi took a turn.

They started yelling at each other, but Az couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Radhi eventually stormed off and Rose comforted Gloria before they too left the room.

Az then cried for what seemed like forever before eventually falling asleep.

His pains were numbed by whatever it was the hospital staff gave him.

.

..

Az stood against the fence on the hospital’s roof.

He was set to be discharged the next day and so he wanted to walk around for a bit and maybe get some fresh air.

He then heard the rooftop door open.

He turned to find Rose.

She walked towards him with a small yellow box.

“Hey, champ. Your parents will come pick you up tomorrow, but Gloria said I should bring you this.” Rose said, but Az lowered his head in response.

“What? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” Rose asked, with a voice that sounded like it was concerned, but Az didn’t care.

He didn’t want to see her.

Not then, at least.

“Mmm… I’ll leave this here.” Rose said before placing the box on the wall.

She then left without saying anything else.

Az felt to his knees as tears welled in his eyes.

He hadn’t intended on ignoring his aunt.

Actually, he desperately wanted to talk to her about a certain something and maybe clear the air, but he couldn’t.

He had grown to hate his aunt and he hated himself for that.

Az eventually returned to his room where he watched as the sun slowly sank into the horizon.

The door then opened and Az turned to find Zoey. Sanding behind her while scrolling through his phone, was Lucas.

Zoey sat by Az’s side while Lucas leaned against a nearby wall.

“Hey.”

Az kept his head lowered.

“I understand if you don’t want to consider being friends with me anymore.” Zoey said.

Az thought about what Zoey would say next.

His heart threatened to seize as Lucas glanced at him.

“Az… please look at me.”

Az looked into Zoey’ big brown eyes.

“I’m sorry. What happened was my fault. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” Zoey asked, but Az kept glancing at Lucas.

“Stop it! Lucas, get out!” Zoey yelled as she gently held Az’s hand.

Lucas left the room and Az eyes finally settled on Zoey.

“Your… brother… has he ever killed someone?” Az asked.

Zoey’s eyes widened before promptly narrowing.

“I don’t know. My brother does lots of things… but let’s focus on you. It’s gonna be a bit awkward when you get back to school, but if there’s anything I could do-“

“You mean, if there’s anything you brother could do.” Az wheezed.

“I- yes.”

“Zoey… why don’t you have any other friends beside Holly?” Az asked.

“I have plenty-“

Zoey stopped as she looked into Az’s half open eyes.

“Holly's my only friend. It’s not like I’m not fine with just being friends with her, but I want to make actual connections and bonds with people who aren’t afraid or-“

“Trying to fuck you?”

“Exactly!” Zoey said with a faint smile.

Az took a deep breath before looking at the roof.

“My dad is cheating on my mom.”

“What?”

“You said that you wanted to be my friend. Friends listen to each others problems right?” Az asked as a tear rolled down his face.

“The past couple of days has been nothing but pain, tears and confusion. I don’t know what to do and-“

Zoey gently wrapped her arms around Az as he wept.

Az then cried for some time before Zoey let go.

“Now what? Just because we’re now friends, doesn’t mean that the pain will stop.” Az said as he messily wiped his tears.

“True, but at least we’ll have each other.” Zoey said as she offered Az her pinkie finger.

Az wanted to mock her rather childish gesture, but he linked his pinkie with hers regardless.

“What happened to Eric?” Az asked.

“I yelled at him for a bit, but other than that, nothing. Do you want me to-“

“No. Leave him be and if he comes for me again… well, just leave him be for now.” Az said.

“OK.” Zoey said.

A moment passed.

Then another.

“Sleep up. I’ll see you soon.” Zoey said before leaving.

Az closed his eyes as he realized that his heart had been beating rather frantically.

He took deep painful breaths as his eyelids slowly fell.

.

..

Az was eventually discharge as he had suffered mostly minor injuries. The problem was that they were scattered across his body.

Gloria accompanied Az to his room and she watched with a pained expression as he sat on his bed.

“Are you sure you want to go to school tomorrow?” Gloria asked.

“Yeah. I can’t keep missing days.” Az said as he took off his jersey, revealing his bruised arms.

“Umm… do you wanna talk about what happened? The principal didn’t clearly explain why those boys hit you. Are you being bullied?” Gloria asked.

“N- no. Can I be honest with you, mom?”

“Yes! Definitely, sweetie.”

“The boy’s name is Eric. He recently lost his dad and he kinda took out his anger on me.” Az said.

“Why on earth would he do that? Its not like you and anything to do with his loss, right?”

“I don’t know why he lashed out at me in particular. I just found him crying in the bathroom and next thing you know, he punches me in the face.” Az said.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that he lost his parent, I would have sued the living shit out of him. But I already talked to the principal and he said he’d assign to you a guardian of sorts. What do you think?”

“Sounds… cautious. Good.” Az said before Gloria gently rubbed his hair.

“Good. Now, get some rest.” Gloria said before standing to leave.

“Wait!” Az cried before standing up.

Gloria gasped as he tightly wrapped his arms around her.

She felt him quiver and convulse, but he didn’t let go.

“I… I love you.” Az said.

“I love you too. Hey, tell you what. We should go out this Saturday, yeah?” Gloria asked as Az let go.

“Yeah.”

.

..

Az awoke painfully completed his morning routine.

He then boarded the train to school.

The train stopped at station G03.

Holly stopped into the train before standing by Az’s side with half open eyes.

Her hair tied in a messy bun, her clothes were creased and she smelled rather badly.

“Hello, Az.” She greeted with a wheezy voice.

“Hello.”

“I see you’re still as cold as ever.” Holly said.

“What do you mean-“

“You have money, right?” Holly asked.

“Wait, what?”

“Nothing. You just seem rich, is all.” Holly said before turning to face Az.

“Could you perhaps… give me a loan?”

“Holly… I think-“

“I’ll pay you back. Trust me.” Holly said as the train stopped at station G03.

“Mmm… I think I should ask Zoey about all this.” Az said as he stepped out of the train.

“Don’t tell her anything.” Holly said, prompting Az to stop walking.

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because if I involve her in any more of my business, someone will get hurt. Actually, I advise that you stop seeing her as soon as possible.” Holly said before skipping in front of Az.

She did a twirl before smiling brightly.

“Why don’t we ditch the little bitch and hang out on our own?”