When it came time for study hall that day, Star immediately went to look for Sky. She found him with his forehead against his locker, trying desperately to mentally talk himself into actually going to their next class, considering who else was in that class.

“This one we can definitely skip, Sky” she told him as she grasped his arm, trying to provide any little comfort she could.

“Same problem” he stated a little breathlessly, as if fighting the urge to hyperventilate, “if I don’t force myself to see him again, today. I’ll never be able to.”

“Sky, you don’t have to, not yet” she told him in a whisper.

“Yeah, I really do” he denied as he finally moved back from the locker and took another shaky breath.

“Fine, I get it; but can I just tell you one thing before we go face that prick again?”

“What?” Sky asked, his voice still struggling to make it past his lips.

“I’m really glad that you didn’t do what Tim did, this time” she whispered as she gave him a long hug as she forced more tears back.

Sky closed his eyes tightly at the sound of the tears in her voice and made himself reach up to put his arms around her too, and gently placed a kiss atop her head, “please; if me and Tim had done that the same week, you know what everyone would be sayin about me and him then. We can’t have me going to the grave with the world thinkin you weren’t enough for me” he told her as he squeezed her slightly.

Star just shook her head at the fact that his explanation wasn’t all that reassuring, but at least he was trying to find some tiny bit of humor left in the world; which she supposed was proof that there was a minuscule chance that he could recover from all of this one day, just possibly.

When they did enter their dreaded shared free period with Curt, the slightly older teen was already there, surprisingly enough. When the two entered the room, their heads immediately turned toward Curt’s seat to find him glaring back their way as he made a kissing noise and gave Sky a head to toe glance. Their hands then clenched one another’s so hard they nearly drew blood with those long black tipped nails of theirs.

“Sky” Star stated warily as he let go of her hand and moved toward Curt, “Sky!” she said more loudly as she rushed after him.

Once Sky reached Curt’s seat, he took another long moment to just glare down at him with the hatred scrawled across his face. Curt just shrugged up at him, “what the fuck do you want?”

Sky took another deep breath as he continued to hold the other boy in that hate-filled gaze, the other students now quieting and turning their attention to a confrontation none of them ever thought would happen. Another breath before Sky swallowed a lump and forced his expression to go blank, “I’m sorry about your friend” he stated through shaking breath, as all eyes turned to him with more than a bit of shock. But before Curt could respond through his own startled expression, Sky spoke again, “but I have to ask you something.”

Curt just scoffed as he shook his head up at Sky, “what?” was his only response, bit out though it was.

“When you heard that someone from this school killed themselves, who did you immediately think it was? Just curious” Sky stated coldly, but moved away to take his own seat without even looking back to see Curt’s reaction to his question, let alone hear his answer.

Curt was surprisingly rather silent for the rest of their shared period. Then again, most of the students were rather silent that day. When the two finally made it to lunch, Star sat next to him and laid her head sadly on Sky’s shoulder, “I get it though” was her greeting.

“What are you getting now?” Sky asked, though his voice was still devoid of any real emotion other than sadness.

“Can you imagine being a guy who’s struggling to admit that he likes other guys, then realizing one of your best friends is Curt? I can see why he didn’t wanna face another day” Star stated sadly.

“Chances are Tim would be the one bent over the sink as soon as Curt found out” Sky stated bitterly, which just caused Star to bite back more tears as she wrapped him in her arms again. But before Star could have any more of a reaction, Sky sighed, “shit, I forgot. I have to get that slip signed.”

“Slip?” Star asked as she moved back from where she had still been holding him close.

“Requesting to be excused from gym class for the rest of the year” Sky stated, though didn’t look up.

“But Curt’s not in your gym class. Or Tim either, now” she added more sadly.

“No, but Mathis doesn’t want me in it either. So at least he should be happy to sign” Sky stated, still trying to keep any emotions out of his voice.

“You’re gonna go see Mathis?” she asked warily.

“He has to sign permission” Sky returned with a shrug.

“You’re going to his office, next to the locker room?” she asked with a bit more fear then.

Sky averted his eyes and needed a moment before responding, “it’s lunch. All the rapists are out by the football field. Only their enabler should be there” and with that, he headed off to speak to one of the two people he wanted to see the least out of every person in the entire school.

When Sky headed back toward the locker room, he had to take another moment to force his feet to even carry him past the doorway. With another breath, he knocked at the open door of Mathis’ office where he was preparing a coffee for his own lunch break.

He scowled at the interruption, giving Sky’s appearance another disapproving look, even though his makeup was rather light today, “it’s lunch, not gym, Vargas. You don’t even have gym today” he added with irritation.

“I need you to sign this” Sky stated in the same numb tone, not able to look Mathis in the eyes then either. Instead, his eyes just staying on the window that faced the locker room, and the sink.

“And what is that?” he asked tiresomely as he gestured to the slip of paper.

“Excuses me from gym for the rest of the year. I’ll just have a study period instead” Sky stated, his eyes still locked on the sink as he held out the paper.

“Oh, so because you’re some kind of twisted gender freak, you no longer have to take required classes like all the normal kids do?” he scoffed as he set the slip on his desk, glancing over it with annoyance.

“I’m not an athlete. I don’t need this class for any college I ever might try to go to. And you don’t want me in here confusing all those poor boys who can’t tell the difference between me and a woman. Can you please just sign it?” he asked in the same cool tone.

Mathis just scoffed as he looked back up at Sky, “are you gonna make a thing outta this?”

Sky just shook his head, “not exactly sure what the question is” Sky returned smartly.

“Are you gonna make some big fucking deal about whatever the fuck was going on between you and Spencer in here last week?” Mathis asked him more plainly, with more annoyance, as well as a bit of worry.

Sky then glared back at him, “watch out, it almost sounds like you might think something did happen after all.”

“He is a quarterback headed for a football scholarship. He does not need you starting shit for him in his senior year!” Mathis told him angrily.

Clenching his fists hard enough for his nails to draw blood, Sky glared back at his teacher, forcing down every immediate response he had right then. Finally, after another long moment and a deep breath, he answered, “then just sign the fucking paper.”

Meanwhile, back at lunch, Star was sitting alone looking rather dejected herself. That was when Crista arrived at the table and sat down with a sigh. As Star and she had really only started speaking to each other the previous week, Crista couldn’t help her curiosity at this sudden new mood swing that she and Sky seemed to have both succumbed to since Thursday.

“So, did something happen on Thursday?” Crista asked innocently as she sat down next to Star, looking around for any sign of where Sky might be.

“Other than the obvious?” Star responded, just shaking her head and looking down again.

Crista looked down too then, “yeah, other than my neighbor blowing his head off” she stated sadly. She then quickly continued as if to once more force away the memory of all the flashing lights just across the street from her own house when she had arrived home that day.

Knowing Sky had barely spent more than a few seconds in Crista’s presence yet in this life, as opposed to the relationship the three of them had just begun in that other life, Star attempted an appropriate answer; or at least one that wouldn’t make Sky any more upset than he already was, “Curt just got rough with Sky again last week. He was pretty upset. Sorry about that ride home.”

“Well, there was plenty of excitement waiting for me when I did get home” Crista added with a sad sarcasm. She then took another long moment to look around the room, her eyes searching for Sky to make his appearance. Seeing that he didn’t appear to have made his way back to lunch yet, she turned her attention back to Star. Her eyes then moved over the seventeen year old beauty, slightly biting away the blue glitter lipstick she had matched to her hair that day, “so I’ve been trying to figure it out, but you never really say anything one way or the other.”

“About?” Star asked, turning to the younger girl as well, her own eyes moving over Crista as she had a few more intimate memories of her young friend than her friend had of her just yet.

“So, everyone calls you brother and sister, but you’re not, really” Crista began as he eyes stayed on Star.

“Not sure what the question is there. But yeah, we have the same parents, but that’s only because the same couple adopted us. And we are the same age. But that’s just a... coincidence of nature” she stated with a bit of sarcasm, as she knew that nature had nothing to do with the way she and Sky had been brought into the world. “We just celebrate our birthday the same day, since we don’t really know exactly when either of us... came to be” she told the slight fib, as the truth was way too much to explain when they barely understood it themselves.

“But you two, you act more like...” Crista looked down with a slight blush.

“More like?” Star prodded gently, though she already had a pretty good idea what the rest of that sentence was, as the way she and Sky felt about each other was obvious to anyone with eyes.

“More like a couple” Crista dared, though quietly, watching for any adverse reaction to her words.

Star just allowed a sad smile, “yeah, we are sort of a pair; to put it mildly” she added with yet another sad smile.

Crista seemed to need a moment then to gather the courage for her next statement, “so, I guess, since you live together and all; I guess that means that you two have...” she just bit her lip again as she looked up at Star once more, the rest of the question in her eyes rather than on her lips.

Star looked down with another slight smile, “you’re asking me if Sky and I have slept together?”

“Please don’t be mad. I was just... curious I guess.”

“Not sure what there is to be mad about. Everyone pretty much assumes we have. Hell, our parents even know we have, now” Star added with a heavy sigh.

With a bit of a blush, and a slight gasp, Crista responded, “your parents know?”

“They actually have suspected it for a while. But then mom found my pills, just a few days ago. That was a fun dinner” Star finished with a slight sarcasm.

“Shit, no wonder you two have been so depressed lately. I’d be afraid to even go home” Crista stated with a worried expression.

“Believe me, there are worse things in this world than pissed off parents” Star stated with a slight sniffle.