( ^^ Just to give you an idea of what they look like)

Monday

I walked to school today. Got up extra early so that my folks wouldn't catch me leaving. Cause if this morning would've gone like last night, I'd have more bruises to cover up.

I live about five miles away from Westerburg, so the walk was long and tiresome.

I kept my head down as cars passed me, not caring if they slowed around me or, hell, even ran me over.

I had my earbuds in, blasting MCR so loud I thought my ears would bleed, but I didn't care. Losing my hearing was the least I cared about right now.

I was about a mile or so into my walk when I felt a drop of water hit my nose. And then another, and another, until a steady stream of rain began to fall from the sky.

"Perfect." I muttered to myself, putting my hood up.

After about five minutes of walking in the now pouring rain, my clothes and backpack were already soaked. Along with my hair which now completely covered my eyes.

Shivering, I continued my walk. Regardless of how fast I was, I wouldn't make it to school on time. It was 5:30, and I need to be there by 6:30. Yeah, that wasn't happening.

Just as I decided to turn around and go somewhere else for the day, a white car stopped in front of me. The guy who was driving got out and walked towards me. He looked a bit old to be in high school, but I took out one of my earbuds so I could hear him.

"Hey, buddy. You need a ride to school? It's pouring out here."

He had a slight Brooklyn accent and had a tooth or two missing. He tried to trick me into trusting him, but I saw through that facade.

I didn't respond. I just turned around to keep walking. But his face suddenly grew more annoyed and angry. My anxiety levels shot up, and I froze.

"I'm doin' you a favor and sparin' ya from a cold. Now get in the car now."

I couldn't move. Couldn't call out for help. I don't know what I was doing, but he came closer and grabbed my arm, pulling me to his car. Finally able to move again, I struggled as hard as I could, but he was far stronger than me. He almost got me in the car when another car halted beside his. The window rolled down and there was Roman. Prince of the school. Staring back. At me.

"Hey, Virgil, I was gonna pick you up this morning but you didn't answer."

Roman knows my name. And he's helping me. I could barely breathe.

"Hey, I'm his dad, alright? He isn't listenin' to me so I tried to get him in with some brute force."

He used the classic 'I'm his dad' tactic, of course. Not the most original idea, but everyone seems to fall for it.

"I've seen Virgil's dad before-"

No he hasn't..

"-and you sure don't look like him to me."

The man grew angrier, but gave up. "Whatever, kid."

He kicked Roman's car and quickly got in his, speeding away in the other direction.

"You need a ride? I'm actually driving to school, I promise."

I stared at him, but at the same time I wasn't. I could hear him talking to me, but it was like I was underwater. He became fuzzy and I couldn't make out any of his words. My breathing quickened and I felt I was losing control of my balance. I saw a figure whom I could only assume was Roman get out of his car and run over to me. The mere fact it was Roman made everything even worse. My legs gave out from below me. For a second I thought I was gonna die, but someone caught me.

Everything went black.

————

"You need a ride? I'm actually driving to school, I promise." I said jokingly.

He just looked at me with this glossed over look, like he couldn't see two feet in front of him. I quickly got out of the car and went over to him, and right as I got to him, he collapsed into my arms. His eyes were half open as he was shaking from the cold and from, what I could only assume, fear.

I didn't know what was happening. He was hyperventilating and I was clueless as what on earth to do. I quickly opened the passenger door and lifted him inside. I put the seat down so he could lie down. People were honking at me to move my car, so I dashed to the drivers seat and properly parked my car on the side of the road. As soon as I put it into park, I looked over at him.

I remember his name was Virgil. I've seen him around the halls before. It's quite hard not to. Most people would say it was because of the dark emo shadow that illuminated from him, but I thought differently. Though, I didn't know why.

He was still having what I think was a panic attack. I tried almost everything to snap him back to reality. First I tried shaking him but that seemed to make it worse. I kept trying different ways, but nothing worked. Finally, I got the stupid idea. The stupid idea that would ruin my life.

I grabbed his hand and talked quietly to him.

"Virgil, it's all gonna be ok. I'm here for you, it's ok."

I repeated this phrase over and over again as I held his hand gently. At first I thought my attempts to calm him were useless, but sure enough, his breathing slowly turned back to normal. I watched him snap back to reality.

He opened his deep brown eyes, slowly focusing in on the world around him. He moved his dyed purple hair out of his face so he could see. His skin was pale, and were those...through his foundation were...bruises and cuts.. His makeup must've worn off when he was getting poured on.

"The hell..?" he sat up and looked around, first to his right, and then turned to face me. A look of fear and panic shot across his face as he recognized who I was. I could hear his breathing begin to quicken again.

"Hey, man, it's okay now. You're safe."

He looked at me like I was insane.

"Safe? I'm in a car with Prince Perfect. Doesn't sound safe to me."

"I-"

"Go have fun laughing about me with all of your stupid friends."

He began to gather himself back together and opened the door. Not thinking, I grabbed his wrist, which caused him to tense up.

"I won't tell anyone, ok? We can keep this between us, just..please let me give you a ride. It's the least I can do."

He stared at me for a moment, as if trying to decipher a code written in ancient writing. After a moment, he sat up, fixed his chair, his hair, and fixed his school bag.

"Alright then, princy. Drive."

I don't know why, but my heart jumped a little at him calling me princy. Nobody had ever called me that before.

I switched the gear shift to drive and began continuing driving to school.

Virgil put down one of the sun shades and opened the mirror. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him look over at me while I was driving. He slowly removed his foundation from his bag and began covering up the bruises, hiding them from the world once more.

The radio in my car was playing my Ultimate Disney CD I got for my birthday from my dad. The song currently playing was "For the First Time in Forever" from Frozen. My seventh favorite Disney movie. The new ones are good, but I'm one for the classics.

"Don't let them in

Don't let them see

Be the good girl you always have to be.

Conceal.

Don't feel.

Put on a show.

Make one wrong move and everyone will know."

My heart stopped as I listened to Elsa's verses. I looked over at Virgil nervously as if somehow listening to those words somehow gave him the key to all my secrets.

I could see him looking at me out of the corner of his eye as well.

————

I looked in the mirror and to my dismay, my scars and bruises were plainly visible on my face. I glanced over at prin-Roman, to see if he was watching me, but he just kept his eyes on the road. When he was talking to me before, either it was just my imagination, or he didn't even care about my bruises. Wait. I get it. Of course he didn't care! I'm just the invisible freak everyone walks all over.

I slowly reached into my bag and grabbed my makeup, fixing my appearance so all that was left visible on my face was my heavy bags under my eyes. I put my makeup away and fixed my hair so it was hard to see my eyes and rested my head on the back of the seat.

Shivering, I finally noticed the subtle music playing in the background. It was..a Disney song. My favorite Disney song. Currently in the song, Elsa was belting out how she had to hide her powers from the world. But for some reason, instead of feeling calm like I usually do at this point in the song, I felt uneasy. Although I don't have magical ice powers, I do have a screwed up life. And just like Elsa, I try to "put on a show". I blushed at myself for making such a stupid comparison, which was thankfully covered by my makeup. I felt that just by listening to this song with Roman, I was giving him the key to all my feelings and secrets.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, only shocked to see he was doing the same. I put on a fake disapproving face.

" You really listen to Disney?"

"Yeah I've always been one for Fairy Tales."

"How could I have guessed?"

He looked somewhat offended and got defensive.

"What's so bad about liking Disney movies?"

"They're all so...childish. The guy always gets the girl no matter what, and there's always a happy ending."

"What's wrong with a happy ending?"

"Too unrealistic."

"Sometimes we don't need realistic movies. The world already sucks as it is. Some people need light hearted things to get through it."

"God, you're so cheesy."

He turned off the music.

"Alrighty then, Hot Topic, what do you suggest we listen to?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I took out my crappy Android and the cord, plugging it into the AUX. I went to my playlist and began flipping through songs. Finally I chose 'I'm Not Ok (I promise)' by My Chemical Romance. As the song played, I calmed myself in listening to the depressing words.

"Well if you wanted honesty

That's all you had to say.

I never want to let you down or have you go

It's better off this way!

For all the dirty looks

The photographs your boyfriend took

Remember when you broke your foot

From jumping out the second floor?

I'm not ok!

I'm not ok!

I'm not ok!

You wear me out..!"

Roman lowered the volume while the song was playing.

"So you like listening to the songs about how gloomy life is?"

"I like songs that're relatable. Shows that I'm not the only one who has a screwed life."

That comment seemed to shut Roman up. We finally pulled into the parking lot. I quickly gathered my things and took my phone out of the AUX.

"I'll spare you the embarrassment of being near me."

"Wait, Virgil-"

But I was already out the door as I quickly walked away across the lawn of the school.

Roman's p.o.v

As Virgil walked away, I quickly composed myself, got my bag, and jumped out of my car. I watched for a bit as he crossed the lawn, his clothes still soaked from the rain. His shoulders slouched forward as people gawked at him. I studied his back for as long as I could before my twin brother, Remus, ran over to me from the bus, yanking me into a fake hug.

"Brother! How are you this fine morning? Shall we set fire to the science room today?"

"Uh..no thanks. I'm good, really."

Although Remus and I were twins, we were polar opposites. I liked Disney and Musicals. He liked...well let's just say he uses incognito mode a .

I pushed him away from me, already annoyed. I looked up again to see if Virgil was still there. He was about to turn the corner, but he stopped and turned, sensing my watching him. We locked eyes for a moment until he quickly walked off out of my view.

I felt myself blush as I walked next to Remus. He was talking to me, but I was zoning out. All I could focus on was-no. Not happening. Not in a million years. I'm straight. I like girls.

...